I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
It’s a good thing how this project worked out. It is the 2nd of May and time to be getting my fingers dirty out in the yards. These four quilts for the great granddaughters are quilted and hemmed, ready to add some snuggle time for Addison, Ava, Bella and Josie. It will be some time before I seek and search for any peach toned fabric to be used in the sewing studio. Whew!
This morning when I got out of bed I had decided that with the temp at 34, feeling like 22 with a 24 mph northwest wind, it was too nasty to walk my two miles. I piddled around picking up the house, made beds and did a quick check of items to put on a grocery list. Before I realized it, I had the mittens out, my walking shoes were on and I was suited up with a slathering of face lotion to protect from the wind. It may be true that it takes six weeks for an action to become a habit. I like it. I like it a lot.
A trip to the big town and I am pooped. JoAnn Fabrics is the worst place to get service. A massive store with less than enough help to move merchandise. “Yes, I want 3.5 yards of batting” and “No, I am not willing to splice 2.3 yards to 1.2 yards to make the 3.5 yards.” Clerk: “We are instructed to use each roll up as it is sold off.” My reply, “I may not need any at all.” I did get my 3.5 yards in one cut. Now, in the quiet of my sewing studio, I can cut the yardage in half to do the last two peachy quilts. UGH!
Our pantry has our “often used” products on the shelves in the basement pantry. We did have a late lunch at Culver’s and we have agreed that supper is not needed nor warranted. Our road date was successful. We are the happy content ones on Stauffer Avenue.
It may be raining outside right now, but indoors, who cares. I did get going on my walk before the clouds threatened to break open. Yesterday I could barely stay upright from the strong winds of the south. This morning the northwest wind was wild and it was downright cold. I had gloves on but I can tell you a good pair of mittens over them will be what will be used for tomorrow the way the forecast predicts.
Dennis ran errands for us today as well as made a trip to our friendly dentist for a check up on a wire on the partial that had made an owie in his mouth. Right on target. I had two prescriptions that needed refilling and a total of $4.00 and a few cents and I am in high cotton for the next 90 days. I feel so fortunate that I am able to enjoy the health that I do with such a small amount of meds to keep me on track.
When the rain began I took coffee and put myself to work in the sewing studio. With the radio on the stitches seem to fly. I have two of the four peachy quilts done that are for the great granddaughters. It’s a great feeling to be making
headway and I feel good about what use can be made of fabrics that would otherwise sit on a shelf. I think Dennis will like the news I am about to give him. I need quilt batting. I have fused together all that I had and now a trip to town is warranted. We have not had a road date since the week before Easter. He asked just as late as yesterday morning if I thought we needed anything. I know I will also put together some grocery items and he will get to choose where we will fine dine at. I have an idea it will be Culver’s and that would be fine with me. The meat in their hamburgers is perfection. But . . . in the mean time I need to get upstairs and pull some supper together minding the fact that Dennis has a sore mouth. He did mention that it felt worse after the dentist was done digging around in his mouth. They just love to pick around while they have you in a vulnerable spot.
Rain and clouds are a part of spring. With our city being torn up in multiple directions for three mini round-a-bouts to be installed, I am sure this is the last thing needed. In addition there is a huge infrastructure repair that is taking in six blocks south of Main Street running parallel with all the work. Needless to say the traffic includes a lot of frustration. That frustration of drivers within town is my reason for doing my walk east out of town on the county road. The shoulders are wide and my choice of time to walk coincides with people already having entered town for employment and the quiet before the noon hour. It was 47 degrees when I left home but it was cooler when I returned and now with thunder boomers it may very well even be cooler.
I have made huge inroads in the sewing studio. My sister-in-law, JoAnn, does a lot of quilting and we
compare notes once in awhile. Jo is never concerned about the backs of the quilts in regard to it being a match of fabric colors and prints. With that being said the stack of peach is gone. Of course I didn’t go crazy with odd choices for each. I did honor the shade of peach that was represented in each of the quilt tops. If I didn’t have challenges in my day-to-day life, it wouldn’t be my life. I have been able to take each day as it comes. Some have had tears, some have had surprises, but even with that mix each day is just a down right blessing.
When I realized this morning that the noise I heard was the evergreen right outside the house being whipped around with rain, I closed my eyes for a bit longer. Nope, eight in the a.m. is my limit. Until I knew the rains were over with, I decided to boil eggs for some egg salad, take out some frozen dinner rolls for tonight’s supper and take the meatloaf out of the refrigerator that had been in the freezer. Supper was planned.
I did head out for my walk and as soon as I was five minutes out, I realized I should have put bricks in my pants. I remembered that the winds at Redwood Falls were deemed to be 40 – 45 mph, but our back door is sheltered enough that I was caught off guard. Nonetheless, I headed east on the county road. By and large I was doing steps going forward but every once in awhile I was caught off guard and took a side step to counter balance the wind gusts.
I started walking in seriousness the 18th of March. After a full month, I look forward to putting on the walking shoes and heading out with the intent of pushing a bit farther from time to time. If I think I can’t make it home, I know anyone heading west into town would take pity on a white-haired senior citizen if I stepped out into the lane of traffic with at least 50 feet for them to see me. Na, most likely I would call Dennis and have him come for me. As strong willed as I am, neither of those options are in my plans. As Megan had always said, “Grammie, I know you can do it.”
The sewing studio had a good workout this afternoon. The four peach, peachy pink and orangie-peach blankets are 
getting closer to fruition. Each measures 52 x 72. Perfect size to be drug around from place to place as needed by the little ones. Today I decided to put their names on them as they are all similar, but still different. I pieced together batting enough for two of them. Dang it, I will have to purchase some batting for the remaining two. It felt good to use up some leftovers. Tomorrow I will hit the remaining stash in that wonderful color pallet and begin piecing the backs of the blankets. I am not in a rush, just making good use of time, talent and . . . stashes.
The amount of rain we had didn’t amount to squat. The air was cool this morning as I could see my breath as I walked. It was a great day to spend the rest of it in the sewing studio. Dennis came down and did a lot of cutting for me. As I 
am working up the peach fabric for the three great grands . . . there happens to be a fourth great grand from Dennis’ daughter, Sue, who lives in Silver Bay, in the next block from the three great grands. This great grand lives right here in St. James. Shame, shame on the older ones on Stauffer for a brain fart. At some point when the St. James grand visits and stays with the Silver Bay grands, we didn’t want anyone to feel like they had been forgotten. Anyway, what’s one more twin sized quilt in relationship to my time, Dennis’ energy and the dastardly “stash of peach.” We might get all those yards of fabric worked up and put to good use yet.
In the recent past I had received a gift from a fellow quilter. Hmm. It does ring true that we gravitate to colors that we enjoy. Lorraine must have really loved peach. My goal is to turn her passion into useful colorful blankets for wee ones . . . and we seem to have about six of them right now ranging from just about two to six. I feel better working towards an end to usefulness rather than pushing the “peach stash” from shelf to shelf. Right now I have one top done for a twin sized bed. Not fancy, but colorful enough for a little boy or girl to wrap up in while watching cartoons. The remaining peach blankets may be tricked out in other colorful trims, but the pattern will be the same. Grammie is up to the challenge.
This is the time of the year when you cannot take for granted what an outdoor thermometer reads. It may be a 42 degree reading but in the open with the raw winds it is more like . . . “Get a warmer jacket on for Pete’s sake.” And that is what I did this morning as I headed out for my walk. The trail I have been taking is a by-pass out to the industrial park. As of tomorrow the open field along the trail that the city owns will become the command center of a huge road and street project. My luck all they would find of me would be a turquoise smear of what had been me wearing my jacket as a huge self-propelled earth mover had mowed me down. The Canadian Geese that have kept their vocal cords tuned up honking at me while I passed their way will surely get a workout from all the commotion of the construction site noise. I must say they were a bit touchy.
To keep my life balanced I have dove into trying to work up some fabric in my stash. Peach not being my color will provide
me a chance to make some blankets for the three great grands that live north of Duluth. Boring peach has just gotten a dose of lime green. It can serve such a better purpose than being stacked on a shelf – way to the back of the shelf as I would pick out some of my more favorite colors to work with. I did check the color wheel and this was what I thought would be the most appealing to three little girls to take along to their summer cabin. They do quite a bit of the evening fire pit before bed time. Can’t have too many cover-ups from the chilly northern nights.
Dennis is off visiting his buddies, who both happen to be in the hospital here in St. James. By the time he returns I will have selected some soup for our evening meal. What with my birthday this last weekend, we should kind of push back from the table a bit and have a few lighter meals. Dang that is hard to do. It isn’t really all that painful and I know myself well enough that if I am working with fabric, I dare not snack in between meals as clean fingers are a must. Catch ya tomorrow.
Spring was officially declared and the sun decided to take a break. When I went for a walk this morning it was misting. With the wet fall and winter bringing with it warm temperatures off and on, the mist and gray skies allowed for a very bad smell of all the rotting foliage along the walk. We will definitely need a good spring rain to clean things up followed by lots of sun to dry things out. Every day there is a pair of geese that are not shy about letting me know that I am not welcome. Though I am a good fifty feet from them, they feel threatened.
I have made inroads into my creative commotion. I know of many little people in the Curry clan that will make good use of some extra blankets. A color block motif will be alive and well as these peachy blocks will be pulled together using a band 
of brown in between them. Getting the project to the point that I could lay some fabric blocks out for a “look see” takes the “what if” out of the equation. A new week is right around the corner. I know Dennis will be busy as his last two life long friends are both in the hospital. The good news is that their rooms are right across from each other. Dennis will be making a coffee run tomorrow as both are requesting a cup of Casey’s coffee. Apparently the hospital coffee has gotten the thumbs down.
I had an occasion to have coffee with someone I had worked with at the courthouse. We had not caught up with each other since last fall. Hashing over news of our husbands, kids, grand-kids, etc. took a fair amount of coffee. It seems that we are doing what we enjoy and taking the time to slow things down. I had told her early on that I would have to watch the clock as I had an appointment with a chiropractor. Empathy was given referencing that spending many years in an office environment can leave aches and pains to contend with. I didn’t comment to any great degree. What I was thinking was . . . decades ago using a pick ax to chop frozen silage out of our silo most likely could attribute for some of the ware and tear on the ole body. Many farm chores of that same magnitude were just every day needs that had to be met. That may be the reason for some chiropractic appointments. If I were going back, most likely I would do it all over again. It was part of being a farm family. Good times!
That being said is why I now have the patience to deal with a few minor aches and pains and to be wise enough to seek
help before it takes over my days. That would not be a good thing. I enjoy my life of puttering. Hurry is no longer in my vocabulary. A slow persistent pace serves me quite well. Testament to that is my table of creative commotion that is looking a little better today. The embroidery unit lets me know when to change thread color and then I am off to the opposite side of the sewing studio for some fabric detail. Sweet! The tortoise would understand.