Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from February, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 5:36 pm on February 12, 2018 Permalink  

  I now know why some women I know go to what is known as “Quilt Camp.” They pack up their sewing machines and what they plan on working on and away they go. Several days and perhaps several nights of work tables provided with electrical supplies and a bunk house type housing for sleeping.

  There is no way our little home provides more than several hours without life happening. Laundry to switch out, groceries that may be needed and of course the trips up and down the steps to be a good care giver.

  On second thought . . . it sounds like a lot of commotion and work. Travel time, yaking it up with good intention table mates . . . I’ll take my chances here on Stauffer Ave.

   
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  Noreen 5:38 pm on February 11, 2018 Permalink  

  Yesterday I questioned myself as to why I would take on a huge quilt project (along with a few other items I can think of). Not only in piecing scraps but in the 95″ x 105″ size.  It was not requested of me. It was all about ME. I believe if I quit challenging myself I will be on a downward slope . . . maybe even a fast slippery slide. If my attitude is that I don’t want to do it . . . I won’t try to do it.  It may become that in time the will and want to try is there but I no longer am able to do it. I do believe my purpose in life is to grow and to do and be there when I am needed.

  This winter I challenged myself to keep moving and not loose the momentum that I had last year with walking every day.  It just so happened that keeping the driveway clear of snow was doable. Slow and steady.

  With all that being said . . . I wish I would get with the challenge of “What’s for supper?”

   
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  Noreen 4:29 pm on February 10, 2018 Permalink  

  RFD 

  Saturday is a great day for the Rural Free Delivery television programming.  Hmm.  I need to take that back.  Dennis enjoys it every day.  Seeing the tractors that he may very well have farmed with all smartened up with new paint and such brings back many memories.  Saturday late afternoons brings on some great country western music as well as gospel music.  With any luck there might be more on than television in the house and . . . we have stereo.  Dennis’ command center, aka: the west porch of our home.  Sitting in his favorite chair allows him to watch traffic, listen to good music and even work in a game of cribbage on his computer.  What a venue.  Actually its a great place for him on these cold days.  Sun streaming in from the south can make anyone feel cozy.

  Dennis did give a hand with the huge quilt project.  It is coming into its own.  It will be a lengthy stitching time for the quilt.  Extra size means extra maneuvering under the needle.  To begin the quilt stitching Dennis has helped me roll up the quilt from each end.  Fastening the rolls with a loop of thread will make it easier to work it from the center to each end.  In time, no matter how it is done, it does become a lofty task . . . literally.  The titanium shoulders will get many breaks.  Slow and steady.  It did help to put the expanded ironing board next to the church tables for support.  This happy scrappy quilt will make me wonder . . . why?

   
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  Noreen 2:49 pm on February 9, 2018 Permalink  

  I Never Gave it Much Thought 

  The sun is bright with enough wind that I hear the wind chimes in the Evergreen on the northwest corner of the house.  It was a minus three this morning when I got up at eight.  Dennis had already been out to the garage porch to enjoy his coffee, his breakfast snack that he takes with him and of course to check on his cats.  Dennis was already in his recliner for a nap when I tiptoed to the kitchen. I put a kettle on to get some eggs boiling while sipping the first cup of coffee for the day.  After a cup of coffee with the boiled egg cooling, I never gave it much thought.  I got dressed and suited up to clear the drive of the snow that had come over night.  It was a good three inches of soft fluff that could easily be pushed with my snow pusher.  I think this was the first time it had taken me long enough to get the job done that my fingers began to feel the cold when I came in.

  A second cup of coffee sure hit the spot while I warmed up.  I never gave it much thought.  I went down into our pantry and got a can of white chicken meat to make a batch of chicken mixed with boiled eggs and mayo for a noon snack.  Tasting as I went I knew it would go over good.

  Dennis is awaiting a surgical date for his right carotid artery later this month.  I think many naps are a great thing.  After checking on Dennis I headed down to the sewing studio.  When I began the project for Dennis’ granddaughter, I never gave it much thought about managing a king sized quilt.  I knew I could pull on memories of Mom and her Riverdale Quilt Club.  A small group of ladies met in each other’s homes and worked on quilts for each other.  Sandwich lunches and afternoon coffee and by the end of the day it was unlikely there was much left to quilt.  Many of the quilts were hand stitched and some were tied with yarn depending on what the owner of each quilt desired.  I don’t have a quilt club.  I don’t have a group.  I have my ingenuity.

  

  Since the fall reorganization of the sewing studio, maneuvering tables makes the work area oh so doable.

  Dennis did have an appointment out at the clinic for the afternoon.  Me myself and I decided to get things rolling for Erin’s quilt.  I never gave it much thought to take my sewing machine station down and make sure I could get around all sides of the church tables.  With the sun shining through the south windows we now had a plan.  I dug out all the weights that we have used and abused over the years.  I have my huge bag of safety pins ready.  When Dennis returns home, I will use his help to get the quilt top onto the layered batting and backing. 

  I go through my days never giving it much thought that I can’t achieve what my plans are.  One step at a time.  Sometimes it is one step forwards and several back, but . . . failure is not an option.  

   
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  Noreen 6:32 pm on February 8, 2018 Permalink  

  Six o’clock and there is still the possibility of seeing across the street before the street lights come on. I do believe we are nearing a chance of spring.

  Dennis had a coffee guest out in the patio porch this forenoon. Coffee and Rice Krispy bars made for enough visiting that the rocking chairs never lost momentum.

  I did clear the drive of snow before Doug came for coffee. Looking back over the week it has been piddling with small amounts of snow three days out of four. Being energized from the sharp cold air I worked on my happy scrappy quilt for Dennis’ granddaughter. I don’t think anyone sleeps in a regular sized bed anymore. This quilt top is finishing out at 95″ x 105″.

  Supper is over, the dishes are done and we are off the clock for the evening.

   
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  Noreen 4:53 pm on February 3, 2018 Permalink  

  It Is In Progress 

  

  Dennis’ oldest grandchild, Erin, lives at Silver Bay and works in the Veteran’s Home located there. She has three small girls. Erin has never asked for stitching from my sewing room for herself, though some for her daughters. The other two granddaughters have not been quite so reserved. Erin would make a great “Flower Child.” She dresses the three girls in skirts and dresses and does the curls and braids. I looked through the stashes and Dennis agreed a happy scrappy quilt for Erin was due. The 72 blocks will be bordered with the pink paisley and the blue paisley will be the cornerstones. Dennis helped with pressing and cutting. It sure helps on my hands. It is in progress and it will be a slow and steady process. A perfect project after tucking away the Christmas wall hangings. Projects using what I have on hand is the best. Yes, it helps that I have inherited stashes from friends who had quilted. When I work with those fabrics, it brings many wonderful shared moments.

   
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  Noreen 5:23 pm on February 1, 2018 Permalink  

  It Helps a Lot 

  

  When working on a scrappy quilt it always cuts better if the fabric lies flat. It being bitter outside, Dennis lent a hand. In this type of weather, my dad, Raymond, could have been found cutting out quilt squares. When I worked on Kersten’s Pokémon quilt, Kevin ironed all my squares so I could do the embroidering. Yup, it takes family to get the jobs done.

   
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  Noreen 4:42 pm on January 30, 2018 Permalink  

  Who Knew! 

  

  Humph! This did close down the embroidery unit of my sewing machine faster than a power outage or a design that had become corrupt while it is being stitched. Who knew that of all my thread stashes this gold metallic has no substitute. The project has been rolled up until our next road date, most likely February 6th when Dennis has an appointment in Mankato. There is bound to be a plan “B” that will surface tomorrow in the sewing studio.

   
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  Noreen 6:15 pm on January 27, 2018 Permalink  

  In time to come when people talk about the “good old days” I am quite sure it will consist primarily about working through situations of cell phones, modems and any and all computers problems.

  Mediacom did have to resolve the problem with our land line phone. It was my joy to work with my HP Notebook consistently dropping the wireless printing option. No, I don’t print out a huge amount of items, but dag-nab-it I want it when I want it.

  Earlier in the week when I was contriving to embroider the fabric for the black 12 Days of Christmas, I must have screwed up something in the download of a design from the online site. Yes, I made sure that I had clicked the option that let me remove the USB stick safely. After that download I had lost 75% of the designs on my Bernina USB stick. With the phone issue fixed, the printer was printing, I had promised myself to get the USB problem resolved. I have all the designs saved in a folder in the File Explorer. I had been working with the HP Notebook and the USB flash drive in the living room acknowledging the message that the device was corrupt. I must have missed a prompt at that time. Even though I had tried it several times I did not see a prompt.

  I happened to be in the sewing studio this morning and sat down with the old Dell laptop with Windows 7. I inserted the USB stick and immediately there was a prompt that the device was corrupt, ya, I knew that. What popped up next was a prompt to “scan and restore.” You bet I clicked on that. I watched that green line move across the screen and I don’t think I blinked or took a breath. And then . . . there it was. Done. Totally scanned and restored. Amazing grace. I was leery but you betcha all the folders with all the designs within each folder were intact.

  That was it for me. The sewing studio was shut down for the day as I was content. My stuff was o.k.

   
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  Noreen 5:26 pm on January 25, 2018 Permalink  

  The Quiet is Over 

  Today is a Thursday and what with the snow that we had on Sunday and Monday we had managed to keep busy.  It wasn’t until Tuesday evening when Carrie popped off an email that she had tried to call us but always got a busy signal.  Humph!  On thinking about it we realized we had not had any tell-a-marketing calls since the weekend.  That also tells the story of how little Dennis and I use the phone.  I had been keeping busy working on a binding for a scrappy quilt and Dennis was surfing his Facebook, checking out the RFD television channel and napping.  

  Wednesday evening I finally contacted Mediacom with the land line phone problem.  Using my cell phone I checked multiple items that the gal on the other end of the line prompted me through.  It was finally down to having a fellow stop by.  This afternoon a Mediacom fellow spent a lot of time checking things in our home.  Two old people and we have six options for picking up a land line phone.  We don’t believe in needing to rush to pick up a phone call.  Considering that we hadn’t even noticed the phones weren’t working, it brings a chuckle.  Three are wireless, one is hard wired into the kitchen, one is hardwired into the bathroom and the sixth is a phone with a phone jack in the garage porch.  Bringing in the phone from the garage porch and plugging it into the modem finally told the problem.  The problem was the modem.  It allowed internet and cable television but no land line.   So here we are . . . totally hooked up.  Within an hour, the tell-a-marketers were at it.  The quiet is over.  We have talked about letting the land line go.  For the $19.00 a month we had decided cell phones are not what all the people our age are accustomed to.  Amazing what can happen to our little world, and . . . we still getter done.