Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from February, 2020 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 3:45 pm on February 28, 2020 Permalink  

  Sunny and Bright 

  A day that started out as gloom and gray has turned into a sunny and bright Saturday.

  There is an unexpected funeral in our plans for Saturday as one of Dennis’ Korean veteran friends has passed away and we will be attending his funeral tomorrow in Windom.

  For our household, we moved our Saturday schedule into today . . . a sunny and bright Friday.  Retired folks can work around anything.  While the bedding laundry was humming, I hit the floors with the vac.  Getting under the beds is always easier when the beds are naked.  

  About twelve noon the usual and customary first floor items were taken care of and that includes having cold salad leftovers for supper.  I headed for the sewing studio and Dennis was not far behind.  That right there tells me he is feeling better.  He hadn’t been down the basement stairs all week.  I queried Dennis on some colors of thread.  Dennis has always had a good eye for colors.  His choice was the best and that sent me to the church tables with my project to pick out a row of stitches.  Dennis’ choice was to have the thread totally blend in with the fabric while my picked out stitches had been a contrast.  His choice was right on.  Each time a pause is taken to get fabric straightened under the needle it causes an ever so slight jog in the stitching. 

  I have the wall hanging of embroidered barns completed.  Each unique barn has its own unique quilt block in the barn’s gable.  These designs struck a cord with me in regard to times gone by.   It has been made to fit the width of the stairwell going into the sewing studio.  The meandered stitches within each block are spontaneous.  No two squiggles are alike.  Dah! In time I am interested in fine tuning my spontaneous meandered, aka: free motion quilting.  Let the YouTube videos begin!  These wall hanging blocks were  done on what is called man-made ultra-suede.  It had a bit of a stretch to it.  It began as a “what if.”  It is now able to be enjoyed in our home and the suede is no longer a twenty-year-old prisoner in a fabric stash box.  This project insured that I had no cabin fever to fight.  I had a challenge to keep me going in between dust bunnies and helping Dennis get around with the bout of gout that had moved into his foot.  As I mentioned earlier, each day his mobility is improving and there is nothing to be slighted in the sheer willpower to get around.  Considering what I have heard from other caregivers, Dennis has been a great patient.

  The sun is attacking the dusting of snow we received last night like gang busters.  The birds are singing their tunes and the squirrels are raiding the few kernels of corn that the deer have left behind.  It seems as all is as it should be on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 5:23 pm on February 27, 2020 Permalink  

  Tolerance and Patience 

  Tolerance and patience . . . very important tools in day-to-day life.

  I am not by nature a very patient person.  What I do to grow patience I can attribute largely to my stitching.  One stitch at a time, one minute at a time as a caregiver to Dennis.  Of course feeling less than good is not anyone’s desire.  It happens to me and it happens to Dennis.  His season of gout is bound to run its course.  Until that time, I can tolerate his restlessness.  I can tolerate his less than good mobility for getting those dang socks and shoes on.  I had almost forgotten how to tie shoes for someone else.  The little things that need patience and tolerance is a far cry from what many individuals need to go through when the partner is suffering a chronic illness will nothing positive in the future.  Who knows when turn around is fair play.  

  Gray skies moved in today and I decided to visit my friend June on the other end of Stauffer Avenue.  I actually took the car as Stauffer Avenue is a rutty muddy mess.  June lost her husband last year after a lengthy illness.  June is a great friend and understands when there is a need for me to run away from home for several hours.  We caught up with each other and what our families have been up to.  Driving home I felt lighter.  

  We are going to have a cold salad for supper.  There has been a Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad, Italian flavored box in the pantry for some time.  With two cans of Albacore Tuna packed in water, a small can of peas, some mayo and a sprinkling of grated cheese the salad came together.  Dennis usually likes a hot meal for supper, so I promised him some hot buttered toast. 

  Tomorrow I will turn the lights on in the sewing studio and try to build my level of patience and tolerance and have a finished project.  Life is good on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 6:49 pm on February 26, 2020 Permalink  

  Lesson Learned 

  It seems as though I am destined to continue learning . . . not all bad.

  I am frugal, ultra conservative . . . also known as cheap.  I have been working on a stitching project for some time.  The base fabric I have had for a least twenty years.  The fake suede blocks endured the embroidery.  Nephew Brett gives me quilt batting that he trims off of the ends of the quilts that he does on his longarm.  Generally those strips are at least 80 inches long and about 24 inches wide.  Earlier in the month I used multiple of these strips encased in a covering for a pillow to showcase a spring stitching,  

  Today I used paper tape, an adhesive backed, very thin tape used to hold surgical hardware in place.  The tape tore off the roll with very little effort, and before I could blink, I had multiple strips of quilt batting taped together to be adequate for my 36″ x 42″ wall hanging.  Things were rolling right along.  The backing for the wall hanging was measured, cut and laid out.  The sandwiching was completed. 

  All the settings of the sewing machine were in place – complete with the correct pressure foot.  I was ready to do some free motion quilting within each block, stitching together all three layers.  Even with several trips out to the garage to help Dennis with some items, I came back and picked up right where I had left off.  This wall hanging was actually going to be!  “Shut the door.”  The thread began to shred and the bottom bobbin thread was being pulled up to the top.  So much for smooth sailing.  All I could do was take the project out from under the needle and begin picking out bad stitches.  Sitting at one of my church tables picking away, I realized this mess had happened where I had taped the quilt batting together.  Good grief!  Where the needle had not touched the taped area, it was wonderful and I had quite a bit of the good area done.  I realized that there were two individual strips, 42″ in length that I would run in to thread shredding and stitch picking.  The adhesive of the paper tape was sticking to the needle and thus the thread was shredding going through a sticky eye of the needle.  I shut the sewing machine off and went up to get a cup of coffee and think about what I had done.

  There is tape sold exclusively for joining quilt batting.  Why would I spend money on that when I had all these rolls of paper tape from multiple hospital stays.  All I can say is cheap, cheap and more cheap.  Obviously the medical adhesive is quite different from the JoAnn’s product sold in the notions department.

  Eventually I cooled off and returned to the sewing machine and dug through my manual for the sewing machine.  I also did some YouTube.  What I had in the sewing machine was a titanium needle, good for multiple hours of stitching.  I found out that needles that were stainless steel and less desirable and less durable in today’s world of sewing and stitching may possibly have a surface that would not attract the adhesive to the degree that the titanium needle’s surface would.  It is a gamble.  I dug through a box of needles that were from Lena.  The size 12 that I found wasn’t rusty but it sure didn’t have a nice shine to it either.  I had nothing to loose.  I did a test run to make sure the puncture hole of the needle didn’t leave a dark mark as some metals can.   

  I found a spot on my project that I could match up the new stitches where the older shredded ones had been picked out and held my breath.  I could not believe my stroke of good fortune.  We stitched right through that nasty taped area with the same quality of stitches that I had first begun with.  I didn’t get very far after that blessing as it was supper time.  Five o’clock and the lights go off in the sewing studio.  Tomorrow is another day. 

  So will I purchase the JoAnn Fabric product the next time we are in Mankato . . . probably not.  This wonderful needle of Lena’s will be in a special spot for the next time I tape together batting.

  Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup was on the menu.  Our tip:  one can of soup for each of us, non-diluted.  It’s most likely 150-160 calories per can.  It sure beats the watered down version.  We have been enjoying it that way for a long time.

   
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  Noreen 5:00 pm on February 24, 2020 Permalink  

  I’m Thankful 

  Well . . . here I am on Stauffer Avenue for the entire day.  Our stitcher’s lunch had to be postponed until next Monday.  Bummer.  

  One of our stitchers is under the weather with an episode of gout.  Sharon can’t get her shoes on let alone socks.  Hmm.  Yesterday when I visited with my Aunt Janet in Brownton, she was suffering from gout in her hands to the degree that she can’t enjoy her favorite past time of reading.  Her hands hurt too much to hold a book.  As of last night, Dennis’ right foot is quite swollen.  Does gout spring forth in abundance in the spring of the year?  

  I am thankful that I am not experiencing what three of my favorite people are experiencing.  

  I managed to rumble around the main floor of the house for the morning and hit the sewing studio this afternoon.  I am experimenting on how to quilt within the blocks of the suede barn blocks.  As quiet as the main floor of our home is, I take it that Dennis is really not in the mood for much socialization.  That is the exact sentiment I got when I did give my friend Sharon a phone call this forenoon.  She reiterated how Dennis felt . . . “don’t really care if anyone even looks at me let alone try and do something for me.”  Yup, I am thankful for whatever aches and pains that I may have and will leave the gout patients to their own.  Dennis is on a medication for gout, but when I researched it, it may well take three to four weeks for it to impact the uric acid that his kidneys need to react to.  I did find out from Sharon that Advil is really hard on kidney function.  I did not know that and am thankful that Dennis has not tapped into that bottle in our home.

  Advil is hard on kidneys, Aleve is hard on the liver function.  Again, I say, I will put up with my minor aches and pains and tough it out.

  The sun was out for some of the day and the temperatures were high enough for melting to take place,  My oh my, Stauffer Avenue is one huge mud puddle.  I am thankful I have had a good day.  Catch you all tomorrow.

   
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  Noreen 4:34 pm on February 23, 2020 Permalink  

  Sun and Done 

  The sun is so bright today, I had to close the sewing studio early and call it done,  as much artificial light there may be down there, it is no substitute for the real deal.

  I noticed that Dennis has had several of the patio slider doors open as I observed him with his vacuum in hand.  His three dwellers have not been outside much this winter.  When one of the three cats have wandered through the doorways, they don’t last long and the first thing they do is clean off the paws.  They have gotten spoiled this winter.  

  Our coconut oven dish from yesterday was so-so.  It was part custard pie and part custard pudding.  I will be using whole milk the next time for that extra added fat that custards need.  Rather than one half cup of Bisquick that settles in to making the self crust, I will try three-fourths cup.  Of course what is in the pie pan will not go to waste.  The flavor was wonderful.

  This wonderful weather must hold out until Tuesday!  Tomorrow the stitchers are going to get together in Mankato.  We had to bug out last week Monday due to the weather.  Way too many cancellations due to weather over the recent months.  Once a month gives us a chance to share, vent and explore what has been going on in their own sewing studios.  No . . . there is no door prize as to who has broken the most needles while working their whiles. 

  Dennis’ knee is gaining strength and I say “hats off.”  He has been working it each and every day.  As much as this has pained him, I have checked every day and there was no visual sign of swelling or redness.  Deep inside there may be a tendon that got pissed off and retaliated.  I do know what it feels like when the body sends strong messages to “do no harm.”  Hopefully we live and learn and get our strength up for the next onslaught.

  I am about to hit our pantry shelves and see if there will be a bit of a grocery list to go to Mankato with me tomorrow.  Either Cubs or Hy-Vee . . . gotta love the variety.

  By the way . . . the sun is streaming through the west windows and being splayed onto the laminate flooring in the living room.   There is no hints of dust and such from the floor show.  Yes!  That new vac did a fantastic job.  It always griped me when the Swiffer would leave teeny tiny dust particles showing on the floors in the sunlight.   I know!  Tell me I don’t need to get out of the house and out of town for tomorrow!

   
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  Noreen 4:50 pm on February 22, 2020 Permalink  

  Busy Day on Stauffer 

  The birds woke me this morning at seven.  How could I not get up and start the day.

  Today was a Saturday just like mom Lena would have appreciated.  Bedding to the laundry.  If it weren’t so muddy the quilts would have been on the clothesline.  The new vac came out from the attic steps.  This was going to be its maiden run on the entire house.  I could set the vac in the middle of the living room and hit all points from there.  All furniture was moved and I swear I heard a dust bunny groan.  When Dennis came in from the patio porch for more coffee I was just winding down.

  I did put a new pad on the Swiffer and went under the beds.  There was not enough lint, fuzz or whatever to amount to anything.  Any other time, the Swiffer would have been loaded to the gills with the fuzz and lint from the flannel sheets and the flannel quilts.  We have a keeper for a first floor vac.  

  After I made a short grocery trip run, I turned on the oven to make a pie.  I had see the recipe on Facebook.  Both Dennis and I like coconut.  This recipe had few ingredients and using the Bisquick in the mix, it made its own crust.  It is out of the oven and we will either be having a piece of coconut custard pie after supper or it will be coconut custard pudding.  In hindsite I should have purchased whole milk rather than the 2% I did use.  There is something to be said for the fat content in whole milk in making custards.  Time will tell.

  As the house was filling with the smells of the pie baking, I turned the light on in the sewing studio.  My suede barn wall hanging is now completely sewn together awaiting the quilt batting and the backing.  I made it specifically to fit in the stairwell coming down into the sewing studio.  It will need quilting within each block for good adherence to the batting and backing.  That I haven’t figured out yet as the suede is a bit temperamental under the pressure foot and the needle.  I may have to use my Teflon presser foot for easy gliding.  As I mentioned I have not crossed that bridge as yet.  Each of the twelve different style barns have their own unique quilt block in the gable of the roof.  I see many actual barns that have plywood renditions of a quilt block on them.  That stems from a time of long ago when slaves were fleeing to a safe haven.  Those barns and buildings were like a code of safety.  What goes around, comes around.  

  It’s about time to close down this sewing studio shop and think about supper.  That is not my most favorite time of the day.  The older I get, the less meal planning I enjoy doing.  Let’s just get some veggies and protein in us and call it a meal. It’s time to close down this busy day.

  The weekend is sunny and bright and I hope it stays around for a while.  A friend of mine posted on Facebook that there are more storms coming from the west long about Tuesday and our area has 15″ on the map.  Good grief!

   
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  Noreen 6:44 pm on February 21, 2020 Permalink  

  It was a Day 

  With the sun that was out all day, how could it not be a great day.  Everything goes better with sun and the higher temps didn’t hurt either.  Our concrete drive is about clear of snow and ice.

  Dennis’ grandson had come over on Wednesday to scrap off the snow from the garage roof and the house roof.  That was all that was needed.  Today the dark roof surface sucked up the sun and most of the areas are free for the next round.

  I received my official letter today that the Mammogram was a good read.  I am good to go until next year.

  We were to go to Mankato tomorrow for Dennis’ great granddaughter’s second birthday.  We did cancel out.  Sadie lives in a home that the entry has a full set of steps either going up or going down.  Dennis is doing much better with his stressed knee, but not with that many steps in the mix.

  It was a canned soup supper tonight.  It seemed to fill the bill.  I had been in the sewing studio for a while and took a break to walk the driveway several times to take in that great fresh air.  No way do I trust walking on my usual trail as I have an idea there may be either ice or muck under the layer of snow that is remaining.  

  The weekend promises to be a good one.  May everyone take part in it and relish a break from winter . . . that is promised to return next Tuesday.

   
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  Noreen 4:39 pm on February 20, 2020 Permalink  

  Much Needed 

  Everyone needs the circular file bin.  Though we recyclable, there is no end to what I need which is more than one of the circular file bins in my sewing studio.  

  As I can move around all four sides of my church tables, sewing table and ironing board, it is important to have bins . . . everywhere.  I can make a mess everywhere.  It is not to say that sewing is “no-mind.”  If I take my mind off of what is in front of me, it could be . . . one for the file bin.  That was such yesterday afternoon.  I was working on my suede cloth barn stitchings.  Before I knew it there rose such a clatter it made my teeth ache.  I had missed one of the steps to get the thread into the right tension slots.  The green button let me start the stitching . . . for only so long before all went to hell.

  The mess when you don’t thread the machine right is called a birds nest.  That nest is underneath the stitch plate where mountains of thread have balled up pulling along with it some of the fabric to be stitched upon.  The needle has been pulled down and . . . by the way, been bent.  All that can be done is to get out a long handled sharp blade and begin sliding it under the pressure foot to get some leverage.

  As it turned out, I did have enough of my suede to redo the block that I mucked up.  It took me awhile to clean out the area in the sewing machine.  As I was hacking away to get the material out from the small hole of the stitch plate, it took the basement vac to suck up all the frayed pieces of stabilizer and suede.  What better time to take the machine down and oil it and do a cleanup.  With a new needle, I did get that block embroidered in fine shape.

  Lesson learned: some days if you can’t keep your mind on what you are doing, it’s time to shut off the lights and leave the area.

  Things to be grateful for: when Kevin redid our kitchen and bathroom the three foot door going into the bathroom is the perfect size for Dennis and his walker to get through.  Dennis will get through this, it just takes time and patience . . . from both of us.

   
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  Noreen 4:24 pm on February 18, 2020 Permalink  

  Clean and Fresh Day 

  With the snow of yesterday, this morning everything looked fresh and clean.  
  We did have cleanup to do around doorways.  Wouldn’t you know it!  A nice layer of ice under the snow.  Foretold is fore warned.

  Before we got too excited to play in the snow, Dennis went to his coffee group at McDonald’s.  It is one of the healthiest things for him to do.  Finding out how other fellows tackle things in stride . . . no one needs to feel like the Lone Ranger.

  By one this afternoon, I rode with Dennis to the Elevator to pick up the pails of shell corn for the deer.  Truth to be told, the ole cowboy had spent three days moving snow with his walk behind blower.  The right knee was letting him know that turning each time in the same direction, manhandling the turning of the snowblower tends to twist the knee without realizing it until . . . you wake up on the next day and it is letting him know in no uncertain terms . . . enough is enough.

  The two of us pretty well have things taken care of outside.  In between time I have been working with the ultra suede fabric from my stash.  It washed up and dried beautifully.  As it has been folded and stored for quite a few years, the fold marks do tell a bit of a story.  With that being said, I am working on stitching out some barn designs on the suede.  I think it will work itself into a wall hanging of some sort.  That is yet to be decided.  I had purchased these designs after I had been to the quilt retreat in September of 2019.  Larry’s wife had asked me to do some pillows for her as she wanted them for gifts at Christmastime.  We did send off a pillow for JoAnn about the same time.  This is my first crack of cranking something out for Stauffer Avenue. 

  Ya know what!  Spending $10.00 on a collection of designs sure can bring about many hours of creativity for me.  My day is balanced.  A bit of support outside with Dennis, an errand here and there, having meatloaf in the oven for supper . . . I deem it a good day.  Best of all we are cleaned out in the driveway.  We can run away from home if the whim hits us.

   
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  Noreen 3:16 pm on February 17, 2020 Permalink  

  It is a Sign 

  It is a sign that today was not to go off as planned.  It was not to be.  Today was my day to get out of Dodge and meet my stitchers at Baker’s Square in Mankato.  I had heard rumors that there was to be light flurries hitting the southeast portion of the state.

  It was a good thing that my stitcher Sharon had a more in depth weather forecast.  Sharon called at 8:30.  The end result is that we will try for next Monday.  I live 45 miles west of Mankato and one of the gals lives 45 miles east of Mankato.  It could have been a very slippery sliding day as the snow began at twelve noon and Dennis reports by three this afternoon we have had at least three inches and it may not be done.  

  The first thing Dennis had going this morning was to take the shell corn pails to the elevator for pickup tomorrow.  The deer vary in number.  There is a doe and two fawns that come as early as 4:30 for supper.  This morning I got up just a few minutes before six and there were three bucks rooting around in the hay bale under the Oak getting the last vestiges of corn.  Never fear, I went back to bed until 7:30. 

  Dennis has been talking about getting the vehicles to the car wash and this forenoon was the time to get several layers of grime off of them.  Just as he drove the car into the garage it began to rain.  Well . . . that didn’t last long.  At noon it began to snow in fine wet stuff and before long we had large beautiful flakes being driven by a north wind. When I think about it, I have had more social events canceled than I can well afford. My hermit status is really getting socked in.   

  My plan was to stay out of the sewing studio today.  That was until one this afternoon.  Dennis kidded me when he came into the house. “That didn’t last long.” I was brave enough to ask him how he would feel if he didn’t get out into his patio porch.  “I’d be lost and be a pain in your stiff neck.”  We both have our favorite hangout.  

  I’ve been rambling long enough and today I will have very little to offer for “local effort.”  By the way . . . that term came about from the Minnesota Department of Revenue while I was working.  Yearly property values were determined by the level of sale value per usage.  The assessor’s job was to attribute each year’s taxable market value per parcel as per what the market indicated.  The Revenue counted on that taxable level being within 90% of what the market indicated during a certain time frame per individual classifications.  “Me” . . . I was the local effort.  If I didn’t put out to maintain that 90% guideline fairly and equitably, there would be a state mandated increase across the line whether it was fair per parcel or not.  That phrase of local effort has become our household humor on keeping Stauffer Avenue up to par.  Tee Hee!