Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from August, 2013 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 4:47 am on August 18, 2013 Permalink  

  No Grass Growing Under These Feet 

  I am known to sleep until 8 a.m. and then begin enjoying the day.  This morning I was wide awake before seven and when the feet hit the floor it was all systems go.

  

  Good Eats on Stauffer

  I think it began yesterday when I went to the grocery store and they were literally giving away ripe bananas. I have never seen a grocery cart – top and bottom filled to the brim.  Before I went to bed I had a banana bread recipe laid out.  All during the night of sleep I must have been formulating the plan for today.  By 8:30 the kitchen was filled with good smells as the bread was cooling on the wire rack.  Another pot of coffee was finishing up and that was my cue to take a fresh cup and enjoy the patio before I rolled into making a cold salad for a family gathering tomorrow.  Oh course the batch ended up being large enough for Dennis to sample some this evening for supper.

  It is the year for weddings in our distant families and there can be no wedding without a bridal shower.  It does get to be a challenge for a shower gift when you know that within the month a wedding gift will also be needed.  I went and made nice this afternoon but did hurry home to help Dennis with the yard mowing.

  My job is the push mower and trimming and I must say the yards look good enough to stay home and pretend we are at a resort.  What more could we ask?  A comfortable bed with a familiar bathroom and the food is always exceptional.  As busy as this day was, no grass had a chance to grow under my feet but I managed to accumulate quite a bit of it on my clothes, in my hair and of course the eye glasses really got splattered from the weed whip.  This was a great day.

   
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  Noreen 3:29 am on August 17, 2013 Permalink  

  The Lull of Early Fall Weather 

  Here it is a Friday of what has been just the best week of outdoor temperatures ever.  They are forecasting heat and humidity coming back for the week of August 19th.  I can easily put that on the back burner until I have to deal with it. We have been able to be outside until we decide we have had enough rather than being driven inside by heat and biting bugs.  For right now the house windows are open and the symphony from birds is just filling the house this afternoon.  The huge evergreen on the northwest corner of the house does not discriminate.  The tiers of branches are home for nests of all sizes. I have been in and out of the house multiple times but decided on doing hand sewing in the living room as I didn’t want to miss out on the happy chirping by being in the basement sewing room.

  According to all the music we are enjoying we must have the happiest birds in the entire neighborhood. Dennis and I do have several birdbaths in the backyard but the saving grace for our birds is a creek that runs just a block east from our home. The small amount of water we can offer our feathered friends is nothing more than a quick fix in comparison. The awning on the west side of our home has been the Thrush’s paradise for many years running. Every once in a while something will catch my eye as I look out the west windows and then realize the mama Thrush is cleaning house and we have wisps of nesting materials dangling. Clean on Mrs. Thrush.

  This is just the type of lazy hazy days I wish would repeat itself over and over. It’s the peace that surpasses all understanding. My hope is that many of my family and friends can feel this blessed and peaceful as well.

   
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  Noreen 6:01 am on August 16, 2013 Permalink  

  I am so enjoying the cool temps. The gardens have had a break from the heat and it’s amazing how everything has perked up. Catch ya later.

   
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  Noreen 7:11 am on August 14, 2013 Permalink  

  Road Trip Day 

  Believe it or not I almost have no words left to either verbalize or to type.  My sister and I took a road trip and covered multiple stops to see family members that we proudly call cousins.   My cousin Vernie’s daughter has a coffee shop in Dassel and it was a great lunch and the talk just flowed even though I had only met Caryn via Facebook.  Caryn’s parents stopped in and what a great time sharing the now, the then and the what if.  Why do we put off keeping up with those that we share so much history with?

  We took the back roads to Hutchinson and lo and behold cousin Arlan was out on the John Deere mowing his yard.  Arlan and his wife Vonnie invited us in and the visiting just became this steady hum that soon put their dog Sprinkles into a nap at our feet. Arlan did say that he was reluctant to bring the mower to the area we had parked at on his yard as he thought we might be from the Jehovah Witness unit.  Silly man.

  After Elvera was deposited safely at her home in Stewart I back tracked a bit north to see my brother Michael and his family in Boon Lake Township.  JoAnn is a nurse at the Hutch hospital and Mike is delivering lumber for Simonson Lumber in Hutch.  Their daughter Laura and her family have just moved back to Minnesota from North Dakota so that was a plus to catch up with Laura.

  It is time to get out of my traveling clothes and get comfortable.  It was a huge day for this docile introvert.

   
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  Noreen 6:53 am on August 12, 2013 Permalink  

  Wonderful Rain Fall 

  At first when I woke up this morning I thought the day would literally be a wash.  The 1.2 inches was a Godsend.  Though it’s nice to get a break from mowing the yards, eventually the brown grass doesn’t have much eye appeal.

  The sun broke through the clouds about the time Kevin and Kersten came for a visit with Bell and Sophie.  It’s so hard on the grand pups and their noises to try and follow all the new smells when they come to visit.  The best part for them was running head long into the long mud puddles on Stauffer.

  No way I could resist having a bit of a fix-it list as extra hands are available.  O.K. I admit it.  Dennis and I don’t know how to go about fixing some items and it comes second nature to Kevin, and Kersten knows just which tools to hand off to him.  I don’t take his skills lightly as I know he has had to work hard time and time again to acquire and then hone those skills.  Kevin and Kersten’s property and vehicles benefit tremendously from not having labor amounts added to materials and parts.

  Dennis hosted brats on the patio for a great meal after all was repaired and tidied.  Bell and Sophie were not left out of the picture by any means.  Rocking chairs do wonders to settle a full stomach as the conversations that ensued touched all bases.  We didn’t find any answers or solutions to world issues but we did visit long enough that the pups were lolled into naps at our feet.  When the Ford pickup headed back to Fairfax the mud puddles all had had time to have soaked into the hungry dirt and gravel.  As the pickup headed out two faces peeked through the pickup topper and I know that the tails were doing double time.  It was a great day right here on Stauffer.  The sun setting on green grass and the air smelling fresh just makes one want to smile and stay quiet for a bit.

   
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  Noreen 7:34 am on August 11, 2013 Permalink  

  Funeral days seem to encompass the entire space between my ears. My daughter said it is easier to move forward than wait. I like that idea. Thanks Carrie.

   
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  Noreen 3:27 am on August 10, 2013 Permalink  

  In Real Estate It's About What Feels Right 

  Over the forty plus years of working in the real estate assessment profession the challenge was always put forth as to the real worth of a parcel or a building in regard to it’s taxable value.  It had bearing on the age, the condition and the style.  In the end it was all about how comfortable the property felt to its occupant.

  

  The Wren House Designed by Dr. Seuss

  In our small community one would be hard pressed to find the perfect property that is so often portrayed in the media.  The train runs the length of the town many times during the day and night.  One mile on either side of the tracks and you are out of town.  Several food processing plants emit the smell of bacon bits that are being processed.  In the fall of the year we have pink corn chaff floating every which way via the breeze and winds as they change direction.  No one thinks twice about any of those things as it becomes the familiar essence of normal.  Normal brings with it tranquility and contentment.

  I can tell you that this afternoon our tenant in the backyard couldn’t express enough how content she was in her home.  So much so that I thought any moment she would become hoarse and the chatter would stop.  Mrs. Wren loves her Dr. Seuss home.  It is bulging at the seams with life much like our home.  Size doesn’t seem to deter her as generally there are bits of twigs hanging out the front door as she is re-arranging the traffic pattern within her home.  Mrs. Wren drove home the point that home is where the contented heart is.  I must so agree with her.  It would take something quite spectacular for Dennis and I to consider leaving our world of contentment here on Stauffer Ave.

   
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  Noreen 3:25 am on August 7, 2013 Permalink  

  A Very Good Thing 

  We are stewards of what we have been given on this great earth.  I feel that this earth can always use another great tree.  My Dad had a love for Black Walnut Trees.  I don’t think it was all about the fact that the walnuts could be harvested and used in Mom’s kitchen, he just liked them.  In 1988 when I first happened upon my home here on Stauffer Avenue, within the first year my dad brought me a Black Walnut seedling.  After my Dad passed in 1992 my brother Michael brought me one more of the trees that Dad had started in a five gallon pail.  Both trees are doing well and I am sure they measure well over fifty feet in height.  It’s a good thing that we realize we need trees and their leaves to filter our air.

  

  Squirrel’s Addition of a Black Walnut Tree

  Over time I have planted a Northern Red Oak tree and also an Ornamental Crab Apple tree.  The Mountain Ash tree made it only twenty years and I have since realized that they do have a hard time in Minnesota.  As we added a variety of blooming shrubs in the backyard it became a quest to see which blooming shrub should be the next to be added.  I think the biggest success story needs to go out to a friendly squirrel.  In the far backyard is the most beautiful Black Walnut that I have nurtured since it was just visible above the grass.  This tree has been so successful I found another little fledgling just this week that is a now being sheltered from the ever aggressive lawn mower.

  It is very rewarding to see additions to the yard come into their own.  Mother Nature at her finest is a very good thing.

   
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  Noreen 3:34 am on August 4, 2013 Permalink  

  Like Father Like Son 

  Oh my gosh.  Sometimes events take place and I am tele-ported back in time.  Forty nine years back in fact.  In 1964 Orlin and I lived in a rental home in Riesel Texas.  It was single-wall build and built on grade.  We had mud daubers (harmless, but looking like wasps) that would build nests in our closets when we were not looking.  Scorpions would hide in our bath towels and we wouldn’t see them until you were soaking wet and ready to come out of the shower reaching for that selfsame towel.  The back porch was infested with termites but —  it was our first home.

  Orlin was so proud of finding a used riding mower at a great price that he couldn’t wait to use it in the backyard.  He didn’t score the mower until late in the day but the head lights of the 1956 Buick Hearse lit the way for him to get that yard in shape.

  Fast forward to 2013 in downtown Fairfax as son Kevin and his wife Kersten are making their mark in real estate.  Everyone needs a weed whip to take care of less than desirable greenery.  When the weed whip is acquired late in the day, why not use the headlights of a Ford pickup to light the way?  Priceless!

   
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  Noreen 7:28 am on August 3, 2013 Permalink  

  Today was a day of catch up around the yards and house. There doesn’t seem to be a chance of any rain so Dennis and I did some tag team on watering the gardens. The smell of the wet dirt was great even if it was artificially induced. The plants looked great after the leaves had been washed off. Catch ya later.