Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from May, 2025 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 2:28 pm on May 31, 2025 Permalink  

  It is Going to Be 

  After another several minutes and a few more stitches, the purple quilt will be finished.  Dennis came down to visit in the studio this afternoon.

  I have put in a fairly long day today in the studio.  Once there is calibration on the chosen design, it doesn’t make sense to work at it for a time, shut things down and begin again tomorrow.  When all is going well, finish it up.

  I will have photos for tomorrow’s post.

  Dennis’ son Kenny stopped in this afternoon while Dennis was here with me in the studio.  I am being forthright.  Being a trucker for most of his life, he really doesn’t have a personality with which to carry on a conversation as his awareness of more than trucking is nil, and he is not the least bit interested in advancing beyond that.  Dennis is so much more and I appreciate and respect that.

  I very much appreciate the fact that Dennis’ daughter, Denise, is putting him up for his visit.  Cable television, a recliner and being fed fills the bill.

  This is short, but I need to close down the studio.  The air is chilly down here.  And . . . this is a finish.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:08 pm on May 30, 2025 Permalink  

  Summer 

  Summer is coming this weekend.  I have enjoyed the cooler temps.

  Today is the first day of the cotton seeds flying from the Cottonwood tree to the northwest of us.  It can play havoc on air filters when lawnmowers are running just sucking them up.  The one tree that did show us some grace was the huge Maple.  The tree seeds that spin in the air like small airplanes were slim to none.

  The studio felt cool this forenoon.  Enough so that I wore a sweater.  The sump pump continues to run intervals.  That announces the fact that cold ground water is running on three sides of the studio via the tiling.

  When I work on the purple quilt, I can see daylight at the end of the tunnel.  What I can also feel is the action of the binding that is needed to finish off the raw edges.  Sewing the yards of binding on one side of the perimeter of the quilt is step one in a two-step process.  Step two is taking that binding and bringing it over to stitch it to the top of the quilt, meaning my right hand needs to grip that half inch of binding fabric to cover the edge of the quilt to feed it under the needle for the last hurrah.  I let those two steps to be done in just as many days, showing some mercy to the ole body.

  For another day in the studio, the eight blocks that are eight inches by ten inches need to have some stitching to ward off the batting bunching up.  I sized up the process for possibilities.  I do believe I need to think on this.  Most likely the solution will come to me as I lay in bed this evening before dozing off.  In the mean time, the lights went dark and the radio was turned off.

  I put a pork steak into the little blue speckled roaster for the oven to be ready for our supper.  A bit of bold and spicy marinade on the top will seal in the flavors.  The pork to fix for meals today is not the pork for meals that I grew up with.  It is now by far leaner and more flavorful.  Instant potatoes and green beans will round out the fare . . . plus whatever else we come up with.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:08 pm on May 29, 2025 Permalink  

  Today the 29th 

  Today my post will be a photo collage of what I deem a successful stitching operation via the sewing machine.  Finding a design that would work, was hunt and peck.  I was not up for the colors as down-loaded.  The design called for eight thread changes during the 56,000 plus stitches.  The thread changes were up to me to allow this stitched out finish to resemble Megan’s cat, William.  I set the stitching at 85% of the downloaded design to make sure my choice of stabilizer could handle the density.  Lots of decisions.  The end result allowed for a pillow finish.  All was measured, measured and one time more.  I opted for a less dense name to be stitched.  Stripping off the colors was something I had never tried before from what the Bernina Tool Box allowed.

  

  

  

  With that I will take my leave.♥

   
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  Noreen 2:37 pm on May 28, 2025 Permalink  

  Gray Skies 

  I knew when I got up this morning the streets were wet.  It didn’t take long and I was in the studio.

  I have two projects that are on my radar to finish before I tackle the mountain of tee-shirts that Sadie brought over for a quilt.  Today in the post, an electric scissor was delivered from Amazon.  The brand name is Workx.  Their products have good reviews.  I had ordered extra blades at the same time.  Even a rotary cutter can play havoc on hands and shoulders.  The case that it came in was unzipped but I took nothing out as I am not ready for that task.

  Yesterday at supper time, Dennis’ son, Kenny, drove up.  He had retired from the over-the-road in Arizona and came to Minnesota to drive grain from northern Minnesota to the ship yards in St. Paul and take fertilizer back.  It was a setup from a fellow that was a snowbird where Kenny lived.

  No more backing up to a load and hitting the buttons to dolly up a load or unload it.  This was in and out of the cab. climbing the ladder of the load to secure tarps, etc, etc.  I did not respond when he said he couldn’t take that much physical work.  His shoulders hurt, his legs and feet are swollen.  Hello.  At 325 lbs, his idea of working for $300 a day in cash for one load each day . . . isn’t working out so good.  Living in a truck and showering at Kwik Trips for nothing if you are filling fuel.  I have no idea where he is hanging his hat while here or for how long.  Hmm.  I may not see much of Dennis as now there are two smokers in the patio porch.  I will take it slow and gracious, but my meal plans are for two and the bathroom is for my personal use.  Kenny has a sister, cousin, nephew all living here in town.  Spread the wha-wha-wha.

  I have a new stitch in process.  The five patterns are fairly small and they were labeled as a Congress of Eagles.  They are intended to be stitched monotone.  I will use red floss and blue floss, deciding which design to use either color.

  Stitching does enhance my resilience.  It shifts my focus away from small and annoying stressors.  I can totally zone out.  It brings back a neutral mood and helps my brain to feel safe and in control.  If anyone can make an “x” on fabric, they are stitchers.  The floss tubers on YouTube sit and chat into their telephone cameras sharing what their’s has held.  It is no different than me plunking out my blog.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:05 pm on May 24, 2025 Permalink  

  A Quiet Town 

  Out little town is quite quiet for a Saturday.

  There is a whole lot of humming being done by mowers.  Two inches of a needed rain will do that for yards.  Our yards will be in for mowing sometime next week.

  This forenoon, I took my handheld clippers and clipped off a lot of volunteer trees.  I know they will be back.  I just wanted the instant gratification of not having to look at them for a time.  The Elm, Maple, Oak and Black Walnut got whacked.  I took no favorites.  I need to do a Lena.  Mom had her ways.  With rubber gloves on, she would have brush killer full strength.  She would dip a rag in the brush killer and wipe and swipe the leaves of the naughty volunteers.  It may have taken awhile for the effect to get to the stem and then the root.  Lena was a patient person.  The next sighting of a few trees, I am going to try to give them a treatment.

  The sewing machine needed some TLC after a diligent job done well.  A new needle, oil syringe, soft brushes . . . I went to work.  Behind the bobbin case, with a pair of long-handled tweezers, I got a ball of lint that was hiding.  Success!  No sewing today.  I did decide on a piece of tan suede fabric to make the pillow with for Megan’s cat to be appliqued onto it.  I have the name “William” loaded from the Bernina Tool Box onto a flash drive for the embroidery to be done.  As it is a small design, I plan on doing a prototype of the stitching first on a scrape of suede to make sure I have enough stabilizer on the back so it will lay totally flat with no puckering with the applique that is lying flat.  You know . . . don’t have time to do it right, but always time to do it over.  

  Dennis tells me the air feels cool.  It is the type of cool that I most enjoy on this spring Saturday.

  With that I will take my leave.♥

   
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  Noreen 1:57 pm on May 22, 2025 Permalink  

  Great Spring Day 

  It may have been cool this morning, but my oh my, what a great spring day.

  I had a PT appointment this morning.  After a good going over and assessment by Mike of my back, hips and legs, it was my last session.  Over these fourteen appointments, I have been given and used daily several exercises that being done, perhaps several times a day, allow me to maintain mobility throughout the day.  The end of my days are not fraught in pain as they had been.  It’s all about me being reasonable with what I expect of my body and what I put my body through.  In my mind I think I am still the same person that chopped wood to put through the Warm Morning stove that we had in the Buffalo Lake schoolhouse.  Silly ole me.  Fourteen session have given me a lot to think on and now act upon.

  It is going to be a challenge to put me first in some situations that arise here on Stauffer Avenue.  I am going to think about the reactions of my physical actions.  That is what is going to allow me to stay in my home, doing what gives me contentment, joy and happiness.  Sweet.  I have a voice and I know how to ask for help when needed.  

  On an update of the stitching process of yesterday.  The cat design that I stitched out is a keeper.  Being very careful, I will cut it out going very close to the stitching.  Then by outline-sewing it to a durable fabric, embroidering on the cat’s name, and making it into a pillow for Megan.  As the stitching of the 56,000 stitches was quite dense, I had only allowed it to be stitched at 85%.  The design itself lays very flat, but not so much the cotton fabric around it, thus cutting it out much like a large patch.  Stabilizer can do only so much.  All of this finishing work is for another day.  In the meantime, in between time, I have a cup of breakfast coffee left to enjoy while watching a floss tube YouTube.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:31 pm on May 21, 2025 Permalink  

  A Good Amount 

  I would call two inches of rain a good amount for our area.

  There had been a time in the past when Megan knew every inch of the studio.  She managed it all very well.  That was great from my point of view.  She had spied with her little eye had I had been working on an embroidery for Kevin and Kersten’s dog.

  Now, she remembered that I had done an embroidery of their dog Kody and had put it in a frame.  When Kody got sick and was no more, Carrie had put Kody’s tags attached somehow within that frame.  At Easter, when Carrie’s family was visiting, we had come down to the studio so Carrie and Megan could pick out a cork box pouch for each of them.  Megan asked me if at some time I could do a stitch-out of her cat William.

  I had not forgot about the request.  I hit the internet hard to find a cat, which Megan’s cat looks a lot like Snuggles.  A site I had never visited is where I found a design of a cat from the chest up.  It didn’t look like any cat we had ever had.  I did get it downloaded onto the Bernina Tool Box where designs can be manipulated.  I took off all the various steps of color changes and put in mostly white with some black from the cheeks up through the ears.

  Today I decided to give it a try.  I am doing my posting as the embroidery is in progress.  I don’t want to leave the embroidery machine unattended.  If all works out, Megan will not know of this ahead of time.  I may have to use a bit of fabric paint in a spot or two.  The design is half through stitching of the 56,000 stitches.

  In between time, Dennis’ niece from Morris had stopped in.  Jean always comes this time of year to put flowers on the grave sites.  I have a child buried in the Hutchinson Cemetery.  Little Scott Howard is with his Lord, no longer at the cemetery.  That’s all I have to say about that.

  I am going to see this project through in the studio.  I never run the sewing machine at a high speed.  With any luck, I will be joining Dennis at our dining room table in time for supper.  

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:21 pm on May 20, 2025 Permalink  

  More than Drips 

  Even into the late hours last night we had lightning followed by loud thunder claps.  I have no idea what the rainfall will measure.  It did come down slow enough that the patio never had water standing on it.  Now . . . that is a nice soaker.

  I did get up during the ight, which is not unusual for me.  Actually is was five this morning.  I went back to bed and slept until nine.  Dennis had a coffee date with Dwayne and I had not heard him get up or leave the house.  I guess I had needed that much rest. 

  My goal today was to put back a semblance of a living room.  For a time after Dennis’ hip replacement of last October, earlier in this year, he was falling quite a bit in his bedroom when he got up.  I had stripped his bedroom of anything that he could get hurt on.  The spindle rocking chair and the night stand produced bruises as he fell onto them.  The rocking chair I had put in the closet.  Dennis has not fallen for some time.  It’s all about getting on the feet and standing still for blood circulation to get to the legs and feet.  Today, as I said, the living room has been arranged to allow the rocking chair out of the closet.  Dennis’ bedroom remains pretty well stripped.  I am not taking any chances.  I can now get into the closet with freshly laundered clothing that needs to be put away.  So things go.  Do what is needed for safety within the home.

  The photo of the day is the stitched project I have finished, complete with my name and the year stitched on it.  It was called Quaker Christmas II, using two colors of floss.  The titles of Christmas songs are stitched in green with the remaining done in burgundy.  I used a piece of cloth I had from days of old.  It was a crunch to have the design fit.  I had sewn fabric along the sides to allow it to be hooped.  I used a 6″ hoop.  The stitched area is 18″ x 26″.  I checked and Michael’s has foamboard choices large enough for me to stretch and lace this.  I really enjoyed knowing that this project was always there to pick up.  That plus a 15″ x 15″ foamboard is on the shopping list.  A piece of hardanger that Kevin’s gave me years ago needs to be redone.  There are always plans in my days.

  
  

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:04 pm on May 19, 2025 Permalink  

  Monday the 19th 

  At supper last night, Dennis commented that he was going to take Monday off.  He had had a busy day, grant it.  His day didn’t stop at supper.  His friend Charlie north of town had been good enough to put Dennis’ Cub-Lo-Boy with the belly mount mower out in his yard that gets the MN HYW #4 traffic going by.  He asked if Dennis could drive out.  “See you later” as he headed out the door.  He was gone for some time.  Not surprising as the gift of gab, both fellows have.

  When Dennis got home he announced the tractor and mower were gone.  Charlie had put an ad in a farm collectable type magazine.  The Cub and mower now reside in Blue Earth, MN.  Wow.  Dennis made good for Charlie doing this task for us.  Dennis has always said we were in this together.  Thus the proceeds were divided.  Sweet.  Dennis had enjoyed the experience over these years of using the Cub that he had bought off of a life-long friend.  I had not said anything about him selling it.  One day, out of the blue the Cub went down the highway to Charlie’s.  Paring down is the wise move.  Making decisions while they are ours to make and not be forced upon us.

  Well . . . my flooring job has been completed.  Spic and span.  I know, it won’t last.  I was surprised that over the years, it had gotten quite a few nicks from sharp object being dropped on it.  It has and will continue to serve us well.  We are not planning on any remodeling in our tiny home. 

  The rain that has been moving in from the northwest is here.  I hope an ample amount will be had.

  I am winding down my day with deciding on another hand stitch project as I have completed the one that had my attention for some time.  I think I am due for some small projects for just as small pillows.  I believe I am set to go with what I have on hand.  Watching floss tubes on YouTube, from all over the world, always have good ideas.  Nerissa from New Zealand had a great update this afternoon. That is the sweet thing about what is available right here in my bedroom porch.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:46 pm on May 18, 2025 Permalink  

  Success 

  Stauffer Avenue is having a successful day on this Sunday.

  As I laid in bed last night mulling over the day.  I decided to work smarter than harder on my grubby kitchen floor.  Today with my arsenal in tact I tackled another third of the floor.  With the Swiffer mop in hand, I used a heavy rag and loaded it with that.  I again used the spray on the floor.  But . . . this time, standing upright, I was able to clean another area.  After success, I loaded a wet Swiffer pad to make sure I removed any residue of the Mr. Clean Clean Freak from yesterday and today.  One more day of it.  Yes, Lena, I need to get into the habit of damp mopping the floor once a week to stay ahead of more than just the fine layer of dust . . . thus making it easier on myself in the long run.

  AJ from Mankato stopped in to see us.  He and grandpa Dennis took the blades off of the Sears riding lawnmower.  Off to Fleet Farm for a new set.  After the new blades were on, the mower was tried out.  Success.  This set should last Dennis for some time.  The key . . . don’t run over branches.

  The embroidered project that I was working on for Maria is done.  Her cosmetology apron has never looked so good.  She was timid in her request and I enjoyed doing it for her.  I did save the image as well as the color choices if she decides to have a few more done.  Why not!

  

  Yesterday I felt strong enough to tackle the kitchen floor.  Today I felt capable to continue with less physical discomfort.  I am sure by tomorrow I will feel fantastic as the project will have been completed.

  Our supper is going to resemble a poor man’s beef commercial.  I have leftover instant potatoes to make patties out of and give them a flip in a fry pan.  I had some beef brisket slices in the freezer that will be added to the leftover beef tips we had on Friday evening.  It’s a win, win.  Leftovers get used up and Dennis gets a hot meal.

  A success on all fronts for this Sunday.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥