Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from August, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• 

  Noreen 1:38 pm on August 4, 2023 Permalink  

  Not Nice 

  It does not feel nice out.  The dewpoint and humidity are very high and neck and neck.

  Tomorrow we leave home at nine in the morning heading north.  My mom’s family, Riebe, are very good at getting together once a year.  Surprisingly, many of the families have stayed close to the Litchfield, Darwin and Dassel area.  We are getting together at the city hall of Darwin, home of the giant twine ball.

  Dennis and I talked over what we should bring for the pot luck noon meal.  It is too far to have a hot dish prepared and stay hot for the trip.  The same could be said about a cold dish.  We decided on three dozen frosted cupcakes.  I did post that on the Riebe Facebook site earlier this week.

  I have remembered the weed that Dennis got onto his clothes earlier this week.  The weed got on and stuck on.  The sandbur is a nasty weed.  The t-shirt has been plucked clean.  As I type, Dennis is working on his pants while in the patio porch watching his favorite television shows.  Bless his heart.  It may mean doing this clean-up job in shifts.

  My hoop for stitching came in the post.  Someone made a fortune using the same PVC tubing as there are so many other uses.  The four sides push together.  Having had a 6″ x 6″ and now an 11″ x 11″, a variety of sizes can be made depending on what you need as parts are interchangeable.  It does work well.  With a push the partial circular add-on clamps the fabric.  The work area is nice and taut.  It takes a bit to get the straight push-on edges used often enough for them to be somewhat relaxed so you don’t loose your fingernails getting them off. 

  Take care my special people as cooler weather is said to be coming. Know that Dennis and I will travel safely.  My next post will be Sunday, the 6th of August.

   
• 

  Noreen 2:04 pm on August 2, 2023 Permalink  

  A Day that Goes Well 

  The older ones on Stauffer are each having a good day.

  With two half gallon sprayers mixed to do battle with the burdock, he was off.

  I stayed behind and spent time in the studio.  I have been away from stitching for some time.  As I was looking at stashes in conjunction with graph paper, I got a phone call from Gibbon.  On the 12th of this month, two t-shirt quilts will be leaving the studio.  Sweet.  I continued on with what will be a scrappy quilt of every color under imaginable.  All the cotton prints will be petite floral.  Once it is on paper, that is half the battle of making the 8″ finished blocks.  No seams to match in the way that I will lay them down.  I do know that it will be 7 blocks across and 8 blocks down with three different configured blocks to make up the top.  By using a half block on the left of the first row and then using the half block on the right of the second row, staggering down the 8 rows, that will illuminate seams that need lining up.  With my blocks being designed, I also will know how much of each piece of fabric to cut.  Not much waste is going to be had.

  I did snap a photo of my stitching.  Keeping the pamphlet close by for encouragement. I am pleased with the progress.  Yes, it is wrinkled.  As I work, the area under the needle is stretched taunt in a hoop.  Steam pressing is way too far in the future to worry about.  I am waiting for Amazon to deliver a new hoop to me.  The one I had been using was a 6″ x 6″ and needed to be held in my left hand as the right hand worked the needle in and out.  Though the left hand does not operate well, I could tell the pull all the way up to my left shoulder.  The one that is coming is 11″ x 11″.  I will be able to rest the top of it on my book rack and the bottom will sit on my lap, leaving the left hand be at rest.  It takes awhile to get everything on board for the best process.

  Dennis now has a pair of pants dedicated to the blue barn acre work.  Without realizing it, he had brushed against the weed that has little stickers that embed themselves into the fabric.  Dennis tried the shop vacuum and the 3M lint roller.  I will wash them by themselves and we have held the dedication ceremony.

  Dennis and I have each had a productive day with all things going well . . . keeping it reasonable.

   
• 

  Noreen 2:24 pm on August 1, 2023 Permalink  

  Tuesday the 1st 

  Hello August 1st.  Where did you come from?  The pages of the calendar seem to have a breeze that continually flips them at a fairly high rate of speed.

  This morning we checked with each other as to if all parts were moving, albeit a bit slowly.  From bending over and over and over, I could feel a bit of tightness in the ham strings from yesterday’s events.  It still felt good.  No yard work today.

  I have been known to eat cold pizza for breakfast.  I can now add the remnants of a Subway’s tuna sandwich.  I am not a fussy eater.  Bring on the leftovers.  Dennis not so much.  So be it.

  On one of my scribble pads are the notes comprised of a possible scrappy quilt.  I have thought long and hard for a sewing machine project.  I have the idea.  I have the sizes of the fabrics, 8 pieces needed within the block.  It would be a 52″ x 64″ top.  The next item would be going down into the studio to check the stashes as this would be a no-purchase necessary project.

  In the meantime, I have finished one of my books and am working on my hand stitching.  After today, I may have a photo to share.  By no means close to a finish, more like a work in progress.  I am not easily put off by timely projects.

  So . . . I am off to the studio.  It has been a long time since the lights were on.

  Hump day is in the sights, may you all look forward to it.

   
• 

  Noreen 1:42 pm on July 28, 2023 Permalink  

  Light Show 

  When  a bathroom call got me up at two, there was quite the light show in the northwest.  Hopefully someone, somewhere got a rain shower or two out of all the lightning that was seen.

  The quiet has settled in here on Stauffer for me.  Dennis is up and he and Dwayne were at McDonald’s this forenoon.  I did hear him get up a little after six.  Me?  I drifted back into slumber until eight.

  Reading and stitching is keeping me going.  The sewing machine is getting some well deserved time off.

  For a time, there was talk that Facebook would be implementing a fee.  Nope.  The same mindless posts that I know were flooded in on my site by me “liking” something.  The same goes for emails.

  I do enjoy the YouTube subscriptions I signed on to.  A bit of air time and I am content.  For the most part the house is totally quiet during the day.  Dennis has two televisions in the patio porch until the outside air doesn’t have a breeze, then he is in with the remote in hand.  Even these days the kitties have been stretched out on the bare concrete floor of the garage. 

  May the weekend treat you well and may the temps take a bit of a dip.

   
• 

  Noreen 2:24 pm on July 26, 2023 Permalink  

  Hmm 

  At 6:15 this morning the rain shower came.  At 6:30 the rain shower was history.  Just enough to feed the uncomfortable day that was dawning.

  Nephew Brett came over this forenoon with some work for Dennis.  It is a gun that needs a lot of cleaning.  Right up the ole cowboy’s avenue.

  I had a thawed pork roast with bone in that went into a baggie with Worchester marinade.  I sliced into the roast with a sharp knife to allow the marinade to seep in during these next 24 hours.  Tomorrow morning, it will hit the crock pot.  It will just be too dog gone hot for anything more than that.

  This afternoon, the furniture store from Hanska delivered our two occasional chairs.  Free delivery along with a $20.00 check.  I had thought they would need to take the sleeper sofa with them, thus the $20.00 charge.  Our carpenter will enjoy the sofa sleeper in his new home.  Priceless.  Dennis got a recliner in 2015.  These two chairs are taking the place of the sleeper sofa purchase from 25 years ago.  We are not a household that purchases furniture often.  I very much enjoy my teak wooden rocker that was purchased in 2009.  We are set.

  It is very uncomfortable outside this afternoon.  The mail did deliver the five office chair casters that I ordered on Amazon yesterday after we returned from Mankato.  At noon lunch, we decided to take this next step slowly.

  In the mean time, I am switching off from reading to stitching until supper time.  That may well be a chicken salad sandwich.

   
• 

  Noreen 2:55 pm on July 25, 2023 Permalink  

  So the Heat Begins 

  This morning as I had coffee on the front deck, the air felt good.  I knew what the forecast was for the remaining week.  Dennis made a departmental decision to travel to Mankato this forenoon.  Dennis had an agenda.

  The chair that I have in the studio is going to be eight years old.  It is a sister to the cherry red chair that Kevin and Kersten found for me.  Both have “Bernina” embroidered on the back of each chair.  The chair that the kids gave me had the pamphlet from the company attached.  I went online to see about replacement castors.  They are of the type that look like there is a plastic hood over the casters.  One of the five casters on the studio chair . . . half of it fell off onto the floor.  It was easy to see that each half would push together making one caster that rolled easily.  I would call it a sprocket mechanism.  The company’s website said “not available.”

  Dennis thought casters, much like on any office chair, could be found in Mankato.  Not!  We spent our gas getting to Mankato, so we picked up some groceries.  When we got home, I went on Amazon.  A set of five casters will be at our home tomorrow for $14.98.  Spinning our wheels looking through various stores, and the winner is . . . “Amazon.”  Taking it slow and easy and in time, we will have the chair moving easily.  The full unit will come and there will be a metal prong to fit into the leg of the chair.

  Everyone take it easy in the coming days.

   
• 

  Noreen 12:51 pm on July 23, 2023 Permalink  

  Sweet Sunday 

  An agreement was reached for today.  I would ride along in the little red pickup to the blue barn acre and help refill our gallon pump sprayer with the correct amount of water to the correct amount of Roundup.  

  The areas around some of the trees has a fair amount of volunteer weeds.  There is only so close Dennis can get with a mower for now.   Much needs to be picked up such as pieces of broken off limbs from Brett’s skid loader work.

  Dennis sharpened the lopper yesterday and we were able to take off a lot of spindly new growth from the trees.  Each bit of work does us good and improves the look of the acre from the road.  Anything we cut down is laid in a direction that we can pull it to the larger pile towards the back of the acre easily.

  Now in early afternoon, I can either read or stitch.  The light from the windows aids either one.  I will say, “My Spot” is sweet.  I now have the green project bag completed with the lime green zipper.  The setup allows for my stitching tools to be close at hand near the wooden book holder from decades ago that was sent to the trash when I worked at the courthouse.  It fills my use to the max as I can no longer hold a book to read with my hands.  The cherry red chair has great support for either of my wishes.  The sweet little green metal chair has a coffee cup close at hand.  It came out of Kevin’s shop years ago with the stipulation, that I would enjoy it “as is” with the dents and chips.  Absolutely.  Megan and Nicholas always enjoyed pulling it up to the table when they stayed with us.

  Enjoy this sweet day as the Lord has made.

   
• 

  Noreen 3:23 pm on July 22, 2023 Permalink  

  Quite the Day 

  The main objective for the day was laundry.  When Dennis works outside, it doesn’t matter if two t-shirts hit the laundry or a dozen.  Clean clothes is desirable.

  By 10:30, I was ready to ride shotgun over to the blue barn acre.  Lopper and weed whip in the pickup and we were off.  There is a lot of the Kudzu vines in the trees.  We did cut a lot of it off, down to the roots.  The next step will be our little pumper gallon sprayer with a strong mixture of RoundUp to go around the trees.  There is one Black Walnut tree with a crop of nuts in the greenery.  Right next to it is a very old Mulberry tree.  The ground around it is full of berries that fell once they were too ripe to hang onto the branches.  Every time Dennis mows it is looking better.  Once tall weeds are cut, it gives the good grass a chance to stool out.

  By twelve noon we were home, giving legs and arms a break.

  I did go down into the studio and check the YouTube video on what the next steps would be for my project bag.  Watching a video over and over breeds familiarity.  What needed to come first was a good cleaning under the hood complete with oiling and a new needle after the embroidery I had done for Kersten.  Using the machine doesn’t hurt as long as I keep it cleaned and oiled.  Just like a valued vehicle.

  Tomorrow may see some actual stitching.

  When Dennis visited the studio, we agreed on soup with a fried egg sandwich on the side.

  Happy Sunday coming around the corner.

   
• 

  Noreen 1:28 pm on July 21, 2023 Permalink  

  Back at It 

  Today after enjoying coffee on the front deck, I began making plans for the studio.

  As I sat looking about the neighborhood, I couldn’t help but notice the leaves on the trees are cupped, hoping to catch so dew.  Well . . . as dry as it has been, I don’t think we hold out hope for dew that heavy.

  I had been catching some YouTube videos in regard to fabric project bags with zipper closures.  Hmm.  I could use one of them for my counted cross stitch project.  My bag would be 16″ across by 14″ deep before sewing seams.  The instruction pamphlet can easily slide in without crinkling it.  First thing I knew I would need is a zipper at least 16″ long.  I happened to have a lime green 24″ zipper.  The length can always be cut off.  The next item to check on is the box that holds green fabric.  Yup, I have some of that.  The bags are lined.  I also have some of the Fusible Wonder-under iron-on for stiffening.  Gotta love a full service studio.  I have completed the fabrics that needed cutting out.  The Fusible Wonder-under is also ironed onto the fabric of the back of the printed fabric of the bag and also the back of the front of it as well as also the smaller shorter front fabric that the zipper is sewn onto as well as the shortened front piece.  That was all for today folks from the studio.  Tomorrow is another day.

  I do want to read a bit this afternoon in my “cherry” red chair.  Thanks editor! Tee Hee!

  Dennis and I have agreed on supper, which is always a good thing.  Chopped up pre-cooked meatballs, warmed up left-over instant mashed potatoes combined in a heated skillet.  Just before all is heated through, an egg put on the top of said mixture and give it all a toss so the egg has a chance to scramble.  We call it a smorgasbord.

  Rest well all that have had a good run of this week.

   
• 

  Noreen 2:13 pm on July 20, 2023 Permalink  

  Thursday the 20th 

  Hmm.  They said if we were not included in the rain showers of last night, we would be in for a long spell of warm, hot and dry days.

  Once I had three needles threaded for stitching in my bedroom porch, I headed into the studio.  It does accumulate more than is warranted.  

  My sister-in-law is a registered nurse.  Her mother does not have Blue Cross Blue Shield Senior G0ld insurance as Dennis and I do.  At ninety plus, her mother battles open wounds from bumping into things.  I offered JoAnn whatever medical supplies we had left from the lengthy bout Dennis had had with his left foot.

  Today what was left of supplies I made a first-aid kit for the Fairfax team of usual items that could be used at home or in the shop.  The remainder is in a tote with a cover and handles of what we may put to use.  Got that cleared off the studio floor.  The pair of hard soled shoes and one knee high boot, all with Velcro, is also stored in a basement closet.  Whew, what a good deed done.

  When Dennis went to the eye clinic yesterday, he came home with an appointment card for October 18th of this year.  Yippee!  This morning the VA clinic needed him for an INR blood draw, clotting check.  That was spot on.  The VA is a monthly check.  Being five minutes away and taking another five minutes to completion is no big deal.  Fewer appointments are always favorable.

  Dennis just came in for an afternoon coffee break.  Nephew Brett had been over with a skid loader and pushed as much of the loose brush together on the blue barn acre as possible.  That allowed Dennis to mow a bit more and then he followed up with the weed whip.  The 1.14 acres looks tidy from the Hammond Hwy.  At some time, there are trees that could be cut down as none of them are keepers.

  Tomorrow, the weekend begins.  The month is flying by.