Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from August, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 1:23 pm on August 5, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Ken, Thomas   

  Storms of August 

  There haven’t been that many days in August and already we are scratching our heads as to what may be left for Mother Nature to spring on us.  High winds are always a concern when there are mature trees.  Our neighborhood was at one time a pasture on the edge of town.  Yesterday’s Maple limb that came down didn’t damage anything.  Our potting shed and patio were spared by a good 10 feet.

  Dennis’ son trucks for Hartland Trucking.  Though Ken lives in Arizona the dispatching takes him far and wide with him being out on the road for sometimes as long as three weeks.  Yesterday Ken surprised us as he was headed with a load to Owatonna and had been given a layover so he could spend time with family.  This morning Dennis went with his son in the semi to take the load to Owatonna and to also pick up a load somewhere in close proximity.  Ken’s truck was brand new in November and this would be a great time for father and son to revisit their trucking days when Dennis had several trucks on the road.

  I didn’t have anything planned and was enjoying a cup of coffee and looking through some mail.  I couldn’t believe my ears.  There was a chainsaw sawing and it was in our backyard.  News travels fast in a small town.  Dennis’ son-in-law was busy making the sawdust fly.  Thomas loves his chainsaw and takes advantage of using it whenever possible.  The down side . . . when the chainsaw stops, Thomas is done with the job.  He doesn’t help pick up the results of his sawing.  I did ask him to hook up to the two wheel trailer and bring it up to the garage as the tree dump will be the recipient of the cut up limb.  There was no reason for me not to begin loading the branches.  Taking several breaks in between, the trailer is loaded and the area has been raked and no worse for the event.

  As I walked back to the garage to help Thomas hook up the trailer, I could not believe what I had not seen earlier. The large Hackberry had a large limb that had been split from the main trunk.  It was either hit by lightening or the wind tapped into a weak spot.  Oh my gosh!  Thomas looked at it and I told him to not even think about tackling that.  That is a job for a professional.  One that has a bucket and has insurance.  No way am I going to be living with guilt on my hands if Thomas got hurt.  It’s not a one man job.  I have already put in a phone call to a fellow for him to come and take a look and give an estimate.

  With everything handled and under control I came in for a glass of water and to peel off my soaked clothes to begin cooling off.  We had a storm come through at 3:30 this morning.  The wind, lightning and thunder was intimidating.  What it left behind was two inches of rain and high humidly . . . and a splintered Hackberry.  I knew I was getting warm while I loaded the trailer but did not realize just how warm until I was done.   Getting on dry clothes, I looked out and low and behold Ken and Dennis with the semi loaded were parking at our curb.  Ken will be using his dad’s pickup to pop in and see some family and friends before getting back into the semi and taking off for Chicago on Monday.  It has been a full day for this Grammie and I am so thankful to be able to take each day in stride and get it done.   It is a wonderful thing to have help when it is needed and I don’ t take it for granted.  I make it right with doing sewing and quilting when I hear a hint of what is wanted.  Right now I have a bag of t-shirts that Thomas’ daughter would like to have made into a quilt. Working with titanium knees and shoulders I am cautious with whatever I do.  Knowing when to take a break is important.  Some jobs might not get done in one day.     

   
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  Noreen 3:58 pm on August 3, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Aunt Lorraine ( 7 )   

  Today is for pause, reflection and regrouping after we have had company for the greater portion of the week. This morning I looked around and . . . yup, I need to get some order back in Stauffer Avenue.

  When Aunt Lorraine travels she pretty much brings quite a bit of luggage with her. The nesting process begins complete with her own sewing machine. We had a quilt top that was in need of help for her daughter: Christmas 6″ blocks to cut and trim and several other projects in various stages of completion. As she moved in we adjusted our space to allow her to get comfortable. Mind you, when we took her to the motel each evening about nine, her nest in our home remained as she had a second nest at the motel to work at before she went to bed and prior to us picking her up in the morning. She doesn’t require much sleep and is usually up by five a.m. I understand this.

  When the kid’s grandma Esther Schafer went anywhere, her crocheting went with her. Various plastic containers that once held ice cream had projects complete with the correct crochet hook that was needed and always within a hand’s reach. You couldn’t have one without the other. Esther and Aunt Lorraine could be kindred spirits.

  Aunt Lorraine is totally deaf in her right ear and has challenges with the hearing aid in her left ear. She misses a lot of what is going on around her. This, I believe, is where the “all encompassing” sewing and quilting comes in. It’s her own world. Well, by golly . . . Dennis and I invaded her world and had a great time with her. I am a bit hoarse today and am steering clear of the sewing studio to allow for some perspective to return for what I had been working on last week.

  I have no doubt that when we left Aunt Lorraine at her son Mark’s home, she had her sewing machine set up at his home before we got back to our home. Priceless.

   
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  Noreen 7:01 am on August 2, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Aunt Lorraine ( 7 )   

  It is early on this Thursday. I am enjoying my second cup of coffee before our day begins. The lights in the sewing studio will not be put on today. Aunt Lorraine is out at the Super 8 and no doubt stitching up a storm as she never travels without a sewing machine. After Dennis and I have a bit more alone time we will be picking up Lorraine and getting her checked out of the motel. Then . . . it’s on to Mankato where Lorraine has a shopping list. It will be a visit to a quilt shop, JoAnn’s Fabric store and Mills Fleet Farm. Lorraine noted the feed sack dish towels I have been stitching on for Christmas gifts for Dennis’ daughters and granddaughters. Lorraine will be taking some of those wonderful towels from Mills Fleet Farm.

  Somewhere along the line this morning, we will be having lunch and Lorraine made sure we knew lunch would be on her.

  Lorraine’s son Mark’s home is our destination by late afternoon near Hastings. I did ask Lorraine when she will be departing Minnesota and heading back to Arizona. Her airline ticket is for August 25th. I do applaud her for being on the Minnesota visiting trail for five weeks. Lorraine lives with her daughter Carol as the sole relative in Arizona. Lorraine does have a lot of family contacts in Minnesota. Each year it does tug at her heart if moving back to Minnesota would be a good thing for her. I believe in her heart she knows that it would be too much of a transition and it soothes her heart by making plans for next year’s visit.

   
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  Noreen 3:28 pm on August 1, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Aunt Lorraine ( 7 )   

  Second full day of sewing studio work with Aunt Lorraine. I haven’t put in full days such as these since I retired nine years ago. Dennis wants me to find out what she is “taking” as she is 88 years young.

   
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  Noreen 5:47 pm on July 26, 2018 Permalink  

  I was sure the cool temps this morning plus a brisk breeze would allow me to go out to the backyard and pull some weeds. I had my garden shoes on and in no time I had mud clumped to them. Our backyard may take a whole bunch of time to dry out. As long as my shoes were already muddy I stayed the course regardless of the mosquitoes. I did have about 10 minutes before some little bugger sounded the alarm for the attack. My arms and neck have ridges.

  Late forenoon I came in and tidied up for a trip to Mankato. Three months ago via Facebook, I took notice of a group of machine embroiderers that were getting together to share and vent. I have enjoyed getting together with kindred spirits . . . all for the love of stitches. Machine embroidery can be enjoyed by anyone . . . all that is required is patience. I have only been working at this for two and a half years. I still have so much more to learn. Being curious to find ways to accomplish what is the ultimate end result is very rewarding. Trying to put a time frame on a project . . . that is so not happening. For some of my larger projects, I couldn’t even give you an estimate of the hours that it represents.

  Yesterday I had caught a television show that was having a discussion on Alzheimer situations. It also mentioned dementia as many of the symptoms are similar. At the point where individuals may be brought in for a diagnoses, one of the first items that the medical teams take note of is the speech of the individuals. Often times those who are afflicted have narrowed the choice of words that are used in their conversations or the number of words in a sentence become less and less. Well, my kids . . . I don’t think you need to be concerned at this time. I am still quite wordy. Priceless.

   
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  Noreen 5:41 pm on July 23, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Lorraine ( 6 )   

  Today I traveled north to pick up Mom’s sewing machine that I had taken in for repair. Repair people for sewing machines are much like your family doctor. You know them, you trust them, and when you have a good one, you make sure to give them your business.

  I knew Hwy 4 would have a detour as they are putting in a round-a-bout into one of the heavier traveled intersections. I decided to take the detour. Oh my gosh. I was taken from Renville County to Redwood County and then through a portion of Brown County before I was reunited with HWY 4 back in Renville County. I felt as if I had been traveling for days.

  The sewing machine has been retrieved, I got some good tips from the Bernina gal and I walked down the sidewalk and checked out the quilt shop. I had taken several fabric swatches with and picked the creative juices of the gal. She was very helpful and it will make my time here with my aunt Lorraine next week go quite smoothly. Interestingly enough, the quilt shop is for sale and my Bernina people are trying to work with the city’s Economic Development so the Bernina Shop could move down the block a bit and purchase and combine the quilt shop with the Bernina Shop. Each of these businesses have added much to the small town on Hwy 212. I hope it works out for each of them.

  When I returned home I drove within a mile of the detour and took several miles of gravel roads to work myself around the detour. In that area, there seems to be very few roads that go around sections of land squarely, but meander. My detour on the main detour was still an experience, but it worked.

  It’s great to be back at home and enjoy what seems to be several nice days coming.

   
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  Noreen 5:15 pm on July 20, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Dennis ( 40 )   

  Lots to Smile About 

  Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my abilities.  I fell in love with a quilt pattern that led to finding wonderful flannel fabrics in a quilt shop in Bird Island.  Hmm.  The snow was flying in January and it seemed like the perfect project.  Dennis is never satisfied with the heft of blankets.  I was sure this would fill the bill.  It is surprising how much weight the threads add to the quilt top.  I chose a flannel for the backing and a poly batting.  I had to wait until July for Sharon to long arm the quilt.  I got it home this week and then I bit myself in the butt.  I don’t like to have UFOs, unfinished objects, in my sewing studio.  Today threatened rain off and on and I went in the sewing studio to work on cutting, ironing and sewing on binding.  Let’s get this done!  It is supper and I am calling it a day.  I have  a lot to smile about as there is one step left to finish this winter project and that is sewing down the binding on the right side of the quilt.  In a perfect world the binding should be sewn on by hand . . . meaning lots of tiny stitches each pulled through one at a time.  My hands can no longer do the hand sewing, thus it is under the needle of the sewing machine.  There is no way I could sleep under anything this heavy.  Dennis will no doubt sneak the polar fleece blanket either under this quilt or over it.  I don’t mind.  I made it for Dennis and how he chooses to use it is up to him.  I am smiling as I am so close to putting this mound of flannel to bed . . .  literally.  I will be smiling right up to bedtime.

   
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  Noreen 5:39 pm on July 18, 2018 Permalink  

  By golly . . . I do believe my ole cowboy is feeling better than in some time. How do I know? He and his life long bud, Lyle, went on a road trip looking at old tractors. There must be a glimmer of an idea for one of the two. I wouldn’t mind if Dennis did find something that interested him enough to bring one home and begin the tinkering. Everyone, young or at the age of 81 needs to have their creative juices wetted.

  We will be having my aunt Lorraine from Arizona coming for a visit towards the end of the month. In times past she has dug right in to helping me with a sewing studio project. Right now I am in need of finding a project or creating a project. Lorraine is 87 and has the zest for all things sewing. Last year while she was here enough fabric was cut for a queen sized scrappy quilt. It took me some time to get it all sewn together and quilted. Dennis’ daughter Sandy took the finished quilt home this early summer. I have some time to get my creative juices going and have something lined up.

   
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  Noreen 3:44 pm on July 16, 2018 Permalink  

  It Happens 

  

  It does happen when a good project catches a hiccup. No wonder this Bird of Paradise squawked at one point in the stitching. I had the edge of the towel caught under the hoop during the stitching. We don’t throw the towel out any more than we would throw the baby out with the bath water. The portion of the stitching where the hem of the towel was caught is just a bit on the hefty order and the hem had surgery. If there has to be a boo-boo fixed . . . just do it and own it. After the surgery this piece of stitching will go into the water bowl to have the stabilizer washed off of the backing. The surgery came first so as to not fry out the area of cloth that was cut out. The towel will be dried and pressed and from my reckoning . . . as good as new. On the topic of what was to be a yard workout day . . . we got the acre done and trimmed. I did comment to Dennis that there may be some checking out of a new replacement trimmer. The Black and Decker trimmer is great. The problem is that it is old enough that new batteries for the configuration that is needed can no longer be purchased. The battery that it has doesn’t hold a charge long enough to get the entire acre trimmed where it needs it. Of course the battery takes a fair amount of time to recharge. Checking out new trimmers will take some doing. Since the time that this current trimmer was purchased, I have had both of my shoulders replaced and my hands have become more fragile . . . both items have had arthritis as the culprit. I will be taking a few trimmers out on a test in regard to the weight of it and the mechanics of what it takes to keep the trimmer engaged. This will not be a quick choice.

   
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  Noreen 5:28 pm on July 13, 2018 Permalink  

  More sifting and sorting and I have met my target. My sewing studio no longer looks as if it is getting tricked out for a garage sale. I love “tidy.” The cistern closets have been put back together. It makes sense that two older folks such as Dennis and me wouldn’t need to put anything on the floor for storage . . . for now. In part there was no way I wanted to take a chance of just in case there may be a spot that would like to cure a bit more. I had socks on when I put the shelves back on the wall brackets and there were no indications of socks wanting to stick to the floors. At supper Dennis commented how good it felt to be able to navigate the basement and not wiggle through isles of stuff. Yes, Dennis . . . our basement is back to normal . . . again. Dennis’ comment alluded to the fact that we have thought that many, many times. Hey, if we don’t try to keep our little homestead up to snuff one item at a time, it could be overwhelming. I don’t do overwhelming well.