Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from September, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 1:57 pm on September 24, 2022 Permalink  

  Saturday the 24th 

  A breezy cloudy day.  I do know that we had rain last night.  I saw puddles when I got up.

  Today there would have been a funeral in my home church: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Stewart, Minnesota.  A classmate of mine, Ronald Penk, lost his battle.  It now makes three fellows, all from the Stewart area and from the class of 1962.  I opted to stay home as we expected company.

  Dennis’ daughter, Sandy, drove out from Mankato.  Sandy is an RN and works for the clinic in New Ulm.  Sandy wanted to check on her dad and most importantly, his foot and how he was progressing in the healing department.  Thumbs up!  Good news from a professional.  Sandy shared that wound care is a huge part of what she experiences at work.  The healing process is a slow one.  Sandy moves from doctor to doctor in her work week and never knows what her day many bring.

  Sandy helped me move a hanging lamp that was above my bed.  Before cataract surgery, I could easily read in bed without my glasses.  Now the glasses are the last thing I take off before getting into bed and the first that I reach for when getting out of bed.  Reading is now done sitting up to a table.

  The hanging lamp is now over the area where I read in my bedroom porch.  Soon the days will be shorter to the point that the daylight I now read by will be a memory.   

  I also had a wall hanging that needed to be swapped out in the living room.  Amid the patchwork the words, “But those who hope in the Lord, will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like Eagles; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not feel faint.”  Isaiah 40:31. 

  Dennis is taking a nap this afternoon and I have just shut off the lights in the studio.  I had stitched on the last row of the purple log cabin quilt top when Sandy arrived.  I have not even paged ahead to see what kind of border I will be doing.  The mystery that will wait until another day.

   
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  Noreen 1:21 pm on September 23, 2022 Permalink  

  First Day of Fall 2022 

  It is the first day of fall and the leaves are falling as they are heavy with the rain that has been falling since I got up.  The temps were told to stay in the 50s today and they are spot on.

  Dennis was home from the VA appointment by nine this morning.  When he did come home there was one single of the three porch kitties that wanted out.  With all doors kept shut over the night time hours, it does stay snuggly from the sun of yesterday that was taken in.

  No walking for me today.  I needed to be content doing the bicycle peddling.  The studio lights were on by ten this morning.  As of this afternoon, I have five of the purple log cabin rows stitched.  A break from standing over the church tables as well as bending over the sewing machine was needed.  My body does not tell fibs on me. 

  I am keeping track of my right knee.  The total knee replacements are now eighteen years old.  I was told at that time that they were possibly not for the long haul.  Hmm.  I am being mindful of when I feel a need to take it easy and just what I was doing at that time.  Clues are important.

  Megan was in a communications class.  She reached out for us to answer a question that the professor had posed to them to reach out to grandparents.  It was a response as to what we valued and deemed important at our age.  My answer to her was simple.  I texted her that we want to stay in our own home for as long as we can.  With good medical care it is important to adhere to what we are advised of.  Megan texted back as she thought that was a very good answer.  Our sweet college student.

  The UPS truck made a stop today for Dennis’ three month supply for his CPAP machine.  It is an automatic renewal and the best part is, it knocks out the need for us to make a stop at the Mayo Store in Mankato.

  We are having a Stauffer Avenue smorgasbord supper this evening.  It amounts to Jimmy Dean precooked sausages, heated and chopped up.  Several eggs broken and beaten, added to some leftover Betty Crocker scalloped box potatoes we had last night.  Well blended in a skillet . . . it is called a high protein supper.

  May the weekend bring all into your lives and hearts that bring you contentment.

   
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  Noreen 2:15 pm on September 22, 2022 Permalink  

  A Nowhere Day 

  Today is Thursday the 22nd and we needed to be nowhere for the entire day.

  Yesterday our agenda was to take a load of limbs to the tree dump at four in the afternoon.  I was prepared with my old garden shoes, gloves and a jacket in case a branch came my way to leave a huge gouge in an arm.  On the trail we were behind a huge dump truck loaded with limbs.  I had never seen anything like a truck that had a ladder on the back of it with a fairly comfortable looking chair attached.  We paid our $2.00 and got in line.  When the fellow driving the truck got out, he was fast on his feet and he scaled the ladder in a few seconds.  Then I saw the controls.  There was a huge jaws attachment on a bucket that the truck driver could control.  It took only three nips with jaws and his load was empty.

  The truck driver came over and told us to pull up next to his truck and he would empty our trailer.  Wow.  Talk about making fast work of our load.  We would have been tugging on the limbs for quite some time to get them to pull off easily.  Of course, Dennis had to chit chat with the driver.  The rig was from Sleepy Eye doing a job in St. James.  Dennis’ niece had been his teacher when he was in school.  Small world.  Within a short while we were home, had the trailer parked at the east end of the lot, vowing to each other . . . no more tree work this year.

  Dennis did have coffee and cookie guests in the patio porch this morning.  Doug, from Madelia was over for a VA appointment and stopped afterwards to share his Alaska fishing trip news.

  After my walk, I had local effort to do in the bathroom, laundry and kitchen.  Tidy, tidy.  There was success in the studio.  Of the six total rows in the purple log cabin pattern, I have three rows looking smart.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  Tomorrow Dennis will be making the five minute trip to the VA for his INR (blood clotting test).  I will be enjoying the entire day at home.  

  I did need to change Dennis’ dressing on his left foot after lunch.  We are down to a 3″ x 3″ band aid after applying a solution of Iodasorb.  Iodasorb kills bacteria better than Betadine and heals from the inside of the wound out.  It pulls out any seepage that could slow down the healing.  It is not covered by our insurance and was $78.00 at the Mayo Store.  BTW, the only item not covered for Dennis throughout these last ten months. Well worth our cost to get this great headway in that left foot project.  The fact that he can wear a shoe on that foot . . . sweet.  We did get an appointment yesterday from the prosthetic and limb store in the old Madison Mall in Mankato.  It is a medical prescription from the VA.  We will be traveling to Mankato next Tuesday.  Dennis will be fitted for shoes and a prosthetic insert for the left foot as it has a diminished size compared to October of 2021.  One more item to get done during these fall months.

   
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  Noreen 1:55 pm on September 21, 2022 Permalink  

  Hump Day 

  While Dennis is at DR. Pinke’s eye clinic for the specialist from Mankato to do an eye injection, I am going to pop out a post.

  Son Ken needed to find an alternative driver to take him to the Sioux Falls airport for his 3:15 flight back to Arizona.  These injections that Dennis needs in his right eye do not take a back seat.

  I was up early this morning.  There are times after the bladder has gotten me up for a bathroom call, I am wide awake.  This was one of those times.  Neighbor Jan works at the school and leaves home by 7:20.  Jan came over to the picket fence and commented that it was a bit early for me to be gardening.  That it was.  I was up, the temps were nice and cool . . . why not.

  Dennis and I had achieved our goal of getting the dead lilac cut out and now it was time for some landscaping 101 to make the most of the area that looked . . . naked.  We have always had a love of old metal wheels.  Last year Dennis painted them.  For the immediate future the wheels placed here and there will suffice.  As we placed the wheels against the posts of the fence, Dennis was very careful around the antlers of the concrete deer.  Now wouldn’t that be a home accident waiting to happen! The Autumn Joy plants around the deer took a beating, but they will come back next year with perhaps a few more of them added.  They love the sun and the Monarchs and bees like them as well.

  The lights in the studio were turned on today after a period of darkness.  When the weekend had brought quite a bit of company, it was easier to kick back and take the days the way they came.  Hmm.  The first thing I noticed was that there were some stitches that needed to be removed.  In fact two rows of 60″ each that needed to be taken out.  Concentration was not at its best when done.  I now have all of it taken care of and the next time . . . let the stitching begin. 

  When Dennis gets home from the eye clinic I will have his eye patch ready to wear under his glasses for protection.  The tree dump opens at four this afternoon and the trailer with the dead lilacs is already behind the little red pickup.  The branches are loaded as such that by me taking ahold of their bases and Dennis driving forward slowly, the bulk of them will come off easily.  Yup . . . we have been there and done this before.

  When we get home I have two stuffed green peppers to pop in the oven.  Supper will be a little later than usual but we have no where that we need to be tomorrow.

   
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  Noreen 12:28 pm on September 16, 2022 Permalink  

  The End of the Five Days 

  Hello!  This is the earliest I have ever sat down during the day to put down thoughts.  Shh!  The house is quiet.  

  Dennis is on his way to the Sioux Falls airport to pick up his eldest child for a long weekend visit.  I know that the families from Silver Bay will be traveling here also.  It is a “come one, come all” type of weekend.  Everyone has a place to stay here and there about.  Our tiny home is off the hook.  It is a good time to get in Dennis’ family get together before the weather turns.  That may be here before we know it.

  The stitcher’s luncheon yesterday was informative on many levels.  Some have experienced Covid, after shots and boosters being had.  The degree of symptoms were varied.  We have one stitcher that travels and gives lessons in quilt shops.  She also is gearing up to participate as a vendor in several town’s events.  I applaud her for the vim and vigor.  I don’t know if the fact that she lives with a daughter, not having to be responsible for home and yard upkeep, enters in.  It works for her and the rest of the group gets to experience the wares that she has lined up. 

  This same trooper had taken in a class of table top weaving.  As I looked at her finished sample it took me right back to the Newcomb Fly Shuttle four harness rug loom that was such an integral part of our home for decades.  A “For Sale” ad had been answered in the Willmar area.  Wow.  My mom used a two harness loom in her basement.  My dad and Orlin made the trip.  We had an automatic instructor on how to set up this loom after having it been taken apart for the journey.  So many moving parts.

  Not only did they come home with the loom but also many prepared balls of cut rags ready to try it all out.  This lady had been ready to retire.  

  News traveled fast.  So many yards of rugs we wove.  It was not unusual to come home from work and find boxes of cut rolled rags with notes attached as to what length was desired.  $.10 an inch was the going rate.  Many orders for warp was sent in to Lima Ohio in various colors.  I still have several spools of the cotton warp.  Sweet memories. 

  The most significant memory of weaving in the farm house, was of the lady from Shakopee.  She had visited many thrift shops purchasing wool garments and coats of certain colors.  She had people that cut them into strips no wider than the size of what a wooden pencil would be when twisted.  Our loom could weave 42″ in width.  She wanted specific colors of warp that we sent for.  When we felt we had twelve feet in length woven, we would have to release the brakes and let the weaving relax.  More than likely more would be needed to weave.  The goal was to weave four such lengths in equal lengths.  When she picked them up, she had someone on board to weave the four lengths, side by side, together for a room sized rug using more of the same warp we had used for weaving.  That job was by far more than $.10 an inch.  It was jewel tones that were beautiful.

  When I heard the story that was shared yesterday of the table top loom, I could relate to the bug that was felt in the lure of weaving.  I also knew I had done that . . . been there! 

  Several of us just take in the energy of the luncheon and come away with a new appreciation how walks of life may be different, but the love of thread and fuzz literally ties us together.

  Once I have the laundry done, I may still have several hours of quiet left.  Sweet!

   
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  Noreen 1:46 pm on September 14, 2022 Permalink  

  Check That 

  Though we were home from the big city by twelve noon, we had two items to check off with no repeat of them needed.

  I have been up since 4:30 and now in the mid afternoon, I can feel myself drooping.  We were at the heart center in Mankato by 8:45.  I have said it before . . . Dennis does not get us to appointments late.

  I now have a cardiologist assigned to me.  Dr. Mohammad Sarref is the Senior Associate Consultant for Cardiovascular Diseases for Mayo at Mankato.  The doctor led off with allowing me to know he had looked over my records the night before.  There was no catch up needed.  There are no additional meds required.  He recommended that I repeat the esophageal test in one year.  I told him I had no qualms about swallowing a camera if it meant I could be assured of a healthy aortic valve.  He reiterated the need for staying active with rest being just as important and resting before fatigued.  Leaving, I felt reassured that I was in good hands with a business card for Dr. Sarref.  If any concerns are had between now and in a year, do not hesitate to call.   

  We then motored on to St. Peter to pick up the clock that was being repaired.  It now runs via a battery.  A very small shop with an ever so interesting work bench.  I had a spot cleaned off in my sewing studio on a shelf so the time can be glanced at easily.  It is better than having it sit where there was an outlet and not easily seen.

  It was home sweet home for us.  No medical appointments out of town remaining for us for the remainder of the month.  I am thrilled.

  With that being stated, I am going to take in a luncheon with the stitchers tomorrow at Baker’s Square.  No . . . Dennis cannot come with.  Tee Hee!

   
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  Noreen 1:31 pm on September 13, 2022 Permalink  

  Summer’s Back 

  With not the heat that was predicted, the sun still has power.

  I surely do enjoy my walking crutches.  The stability of the cuffs that hold the upper arm plus the hand holds . . . sweet.  Walking and doing the peddle exercises, hopefully a bit more strength than before. 

  We did get a letter from our family doctor in regard to Dennis’ nerve conduction study of yesterday.  Dennis does have a pinched nerve stemming from the elbow of the right arm.  I looked up the medical term within the letter on the internet.  If rest does not help, there is a surgical procedure.  Dennis said until the wound on his left foot is totally healed, he is not looking to do anything about his right arm.  He feels the arm situation has been going on since March, it can wait a bit longer.  If nothing else, my skills as a nurse needs to have a break.  I agree.

  Tomorrow the alarm will be set for six in the morning again and we will be meeting a cardiologist in the heart center in Mankato.  Truth to tell, I have not spoken to a doctor in regard to my heart since I was released to Kersten and Kevin after the heart surgery in June of 2021.  One on one, I do have some questions and I will be interested in what the esophageal scan reveled that I had last month.  How do I feel physically?  I think other than not having as much energy as I think I should have . . . all is good.  Recovery from a surgical procedure passes in time.  There is no recovery from what a stroke takes from one.

  Dennis had coffee with the fellows at McDonald’s and came home with some around the town news.

  My news was that after the appointment tomorrow morning, we can motor on to St. Peter to pick up dad’s clock from It’s About Time.  Dennis is going to take his old pocket watch along for a look-see.  Neither one of us likes to let go of items we have an emotional attachment to.

  I stitched a bit and ironed seams.  A total of twelve quilt blocks require one more 2.5″ strip to be added to them.  It will be interesting as to what layout I will choose.  Neighbor Jan stopped in Sunday afternoon and wanted to see what I had been working on.  The fact that the log cabin block could be so versatile was amazing to someone that does not own a sewing machine.

   
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  Noreen 2:03 pm on September 11, 2022 Permalink  

  9/11/2022 

  I can only imagine the news coverage on this the 9/11 anniversary.  I have opted to enjoy the KNUJ radio.

  Dennis is relaxing in the patio porch and catching a nap off and on.  It has been quite the week here on Stauffer Avenue.  Dennis ram rodded it well.  With three implement trailers full of limbs that needed to be removed and just as many trips to Mankato for medical appointments . . . a day to kick back was warranted.  Yes . . . I experienced the same week.  I believe I can plan and remember the calendar a bit better for us to cover all bases.

  Sundays are my times to take my walk on the concrete street that runs in front of our home.  The thoroughfare for heavy traffic the other six days of the week, Grammie needs to stay out of the way.  The air was brisk this morning and I enjoyed every step of it.

  All has gone well in the studio today.  This latest project I have dubbed my purple phase.  Other than one mishap with the shears, I have not had to pick out a single stitch that has gone astray.  Sweet.  Curiosity got the best of me.  I had been using the assembly line technique until today.  I wanted twelve blocks totally completed so I could put them into a semblance of how they would look when stitched together.  The remaining blocks do need the last of the dark purple stitched to them.  That may be for another day.  This pattern called Log Cabin could be stitched with strips as narrow as an inch or the option I used was 2.5 inch in width, which is the usual.  My finished block is 14″ and to join them, I will use a 1/4″ seam.  The block could continue with more colors added of light and dark.  A round and a round it could go.  

  The book of Lena’s I am using has many different configurations on how these blocks can be joined.  I took a photo of two pages but there were just as many illustrated on three more pages.  I could continue cutting strips of every color under the rainbow and not ever have two quilt tops identical.  As I had mentioned before this booklet is titled “Quilt in a Day.”  As a retired stitcher, I have not kept track of my time in the studio.

  A quiet day calls for a soup and sandwich supper.  Again, I will set my cell phone alarm for six tomorrow morning.  The Mankato appointment is for 9:30 at the wound specialist and then Dennis has a double hitter at 10:45 at the specialty clinic for a nerve conduction test for his right arm.  I have never heard of a stroke just hitting the arm from the elbow down, but . . . time will tell.  Dennis has been fighting and working his right arm to build strength to no avail.  I remember the day in spring when he bent down and used his right arm with the brush to push some grass clippings into the dust pan.  Dennis stood, holding the dust pan and brush in his right hand heading to the kitchen waste basket.  Before he got to his target, his right arm dropped with all it was holding.  This nerve conduction test has been prescribed for a long time.  I agree with Dennis, finding out what gives, and then it can be accepted.  Life and its mysteries.  Esther Schafer, the kid’s paternal grandmother . . . “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”

   
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  Noreen 2:09 pm on September 7, 2022 Permalink  

  Road Trip Day 

  We couldn’t remember the last time we were able to make it to the Korean’s luncheon in Mankato that is held on the first Wednesday of every month.  Dennis has made many good acquaintances with a common thread. 

  There were five of us wives in attendance as well.  The business meeting follows Robert’s Rules of Order in fine fashion.  What is happening is that the members are becoming fewer either by death or age prohibiting mobility.   

  After the meeting and the noon luncheon, Dennis and I continued on to St. Peter, another 10 miles up the highway.  We were on a mission to take a clock to a business called “It’s About Time” in St. Peter.

  When my parents moved a home onto property across from the homestead at a time when Minnesota State Highway #100 was expanding, homes that were condemned were sold for few dollars on the hundred.  The home that they chose had a fireplace in it.  That was not the main interest but . . . there it was.  Dad was bound to have a mantel clock to sit upon his mantel.  This was in the time of the early to mid 60s.

  Dad passed away in the 90s, and in time Mom moved into an apartment in Hutchinson.  Mom settled in to a one bedroom apartment.

  At a time when my brother was going to move to Decorah, Iowa, they came for a visit.  He left a cardboard box on the work bench in our garage.  During the next week, I was walking past the work bench and spied the cardboard box that had written across it, “old clock.”  Inside was Dad’s electric mantel clock.  Sweet treasure.

  I have enjoyed that clock in my sewing studio ever since.  It had the West Minster chimes on the quarter hour and struck chimes on every hour.  During this last winter I noticed it had stopped working.  I unplugged it and when the correct time came around, I plugged it in and for a very short time it kept time and then stopped.  It has been unplugged ever since.  

  The fellow in the shop today understood the emotional attachment.  I had the clock to him in 2017 for repair.  The coil within the electric mechanism would get so hot when he plugged it in today and it ran for a time, it was not good.  His suggestion was to make it run on batteries.  He didn’t know how much room there would be inside for the chiming.  Even the face of the clock behind the glass front was so minimal, he didn’t know if there would be room for the second hand after the electrical install.

  Ya know!  In a perfect world our treasures would be the same decades after decades.   Literally, they would be timeless.  With the clock not being electrical, I can have it setting in the studio where my eye would catch it ever so easily.  Without the chiming . . . I can hear it easily in my memories.  How special that in this day and age, there is a fellow that knows it’s not all about perpetuating our throw-it-away world.  When I get the phone call, I will be excited to have Dad’s clock back home.

   
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  Noreen 12:12 pm on September 4, 2022 Permalink  

  A Day 

  Yes, it is only 12:34 pm, but it feels like Dennis and I have had a full day.

  In passing, we had mentioned to Dennis’ son-in-law that we had some branches that needed trimming.  “No hurry.”  Tom had been cooped up after a surgical procedure and he now had the word that there were no restrictions.  Wow!  Tom has a Husqvarna chainsaw that is his favorite toy. 

  At 6:45 the doorbell was going off.  Tom was on the patio porch waiting for us to get out of bed.  Dennis is quicker at getting dressed than I am.  Dennis put Tom off long enough to get a bite of breakfast down, so he could get his meds taken.

  The first stop for trimming was the east end of the acre where a Black Walnut tree that was planted by a squirrel, now stands at 25′.  It’s hard to mow when low branches insist on knocking off a cap.  By the grace of God, the fellows were slowly moving up towards the buildings as a maple shrub had a dead limb.  This was all giving me a chance to be dressed by the time Tom and Dennis reached the patio.

  The lilacs north of the patio are ancient.  Some needed to be put out of their misery.  From the bathroom window I could see which were baring ends showing nothing but dead leaves and branches.  Tom lit into them like a man that has one speed.  Just like that Tom and his chainsaw were on to the next customer by 9:30.  Dennis and I just looked at each other.  What the hell just happened!

  Dennis and I needed time to sit on the patio to have our coffee and the remainder of a breakfast.  At a slow pace Dennis got a trailer behind the little red pickup and he and I began loading from the east end of the acre where cleanup was needed, moving towards the buildings.  By the time we did get to the garage, the trailer was full and we tied the limbs and branches down.  It being a holiday weekend, they will stay loaded until Tuesday and we will fill it up with lilac limbs and branches.

  What my initial plan was for the day was to fix an oops with my sewing from yesterday afternoon.  Remember me commenting on getting a new Gingher scissors?  I had the latest fabric strip that had been sewn on, still folded over and not even pressed flat yet.  With scissor in hand poised to cut two blocks apart, I heard a loud door slam and the hand jumped and closed.  Yup.  The scissor sliced through the 2.5″ width.  Unfolding the area now makes for a 5″ width repair.  This afternoon with ample breakfast coffee at my elbow as I cool down from the tree trimming, I will pull out my arsenals of repair ideas and supplies.  This block will be saved to be completed.  I know when all is said and sewn together, it will not be the focal point of the purple log cabin quilt.

  Dennis is in his recliner for a well deserved nap.  I have all the time in the world with many deep breaths . . . this too shall pass.