Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from July, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 1:11 pm on July 7, 2023 Permalink  

  Another Gift 

  Another welcomed day of cool temps.  A great gift.  Breakfast under my belt, garden shoes on and out the door I went.  The Roundup I applied yesterday had a lot of weeds hanging their heads.  I chose three more Hosta to cover with my pails before the Roundup was sprayed.  Some of the broadleaf weeds looked sicker than some of the clover.  Hmm.

  With Honey Bunny trailing after me, I went to the far east to check on an older Hosta bed.  What my intentions are is for the plume grass to take that entire area over.  The white feathery plumes are beautiful in the late fall.  Each plume also has a seed pod for birds to harvest.  When I got closer to the area, I could not believe the amount of Nightshade plants.  They are easy to pull up and before I knew it, I had a bail of them piled up.  My gardening time was over.  Tomorrow I will take a clipper with me as there are several Elm trees that have gotten a pretty good start.  I intend to pull all the nasty unwanted, staying with my early hours as the temps may decide to climb over the weekend. 

  I visit the library and take home quite a few books from the rack of books put out to pasture.  When I came in from gardening, I enjoyed a cup of breakfast coffee and finished the one in my bedroom porch.  What I do with them when I have finished, I plunk it into the recycling bin just as the library does with those not taken home by anyone.

  My stitching of counted cross stitching took me up to the time Dennis came in for a noon half sandwich.  I had leftover meatloaf on a slice of bread and Dennis had a tuna sandwich.  One length of thread does make headways in the stitching.

  I had been contemplating a project in the studio.  There had been quilt blocks saved on a flash drive.  Rather than the multied colors on each block, I wondered what the design would look like in silhouette for either a placemat, a pillow or the popular mug rugs.  I have one such prototype under the needle right now.  When it is stitched out, I will need to confer with a partner in crime for decision time.

  Take care everyone and keep the balance in life as your main focus.

   
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  Noreen 2:23 pm on July 5, 2023 Permalink  

  Glorious Rain 

  Rain came unexpectedly last night before supper.  No idea how much it totaled but it was appreciated.  This morning after I had some laundry started, the garden shoes came on.  This is the first summer that we have direct sunlight on an area that had always been in deep shade from the old Lilac bushes.  I am not sure if that has called forth unwanted foliage or if it is the luck of the draw.

  With the rain of last night, there was easy pulling of some of the weeds.  I also took a pliers and pulled up some trees that were wanting to make a start.  There was a Cottonwood that might have been around since last year.  No budging with the plier.  I dug down into the dirt several inches and used the clipper on the root.  Time will tell.

  After several hours, I called it a day for my gardening.  The air was so glorious, I hated to quit.  I know better than to overdue the shoulders, arms and hands.

  Before going in to finish up the laundry, I got my plan in place for tomorrow morning.  I have a small sprayer that holds perhaps a quart and a half.  There is a pretty strong mix of Roundup diluted with water in it.  My plan is to cover up the Hosta plant with a pail and spray the clover around the Hosta plant and leaving the Hosta covered for a time.  The back area of Hosta is loaded with clover.  Never had that before.  It looks like a nasty ground cover.  It can’t be pulled up by the root as the root is like a piece of thread ready to break off.  I have several pails to place.  The other weed is much like a hairnet that lies flat on the dirt and branches out from the main root.  Wherever a tendril grows out, it puts down roots of its own.

  So I have my plan in place for these mornings that promise nice air.

  It is the end of my day with local effort.  Dennis just got home from mowing the blue barn acre.  Tomorrow he will mow the remaining acre.  He also has had good local effort for the day.  When we were in Mankato on Monday, I picked up several “minute meals” in Hy-Vee.  I will heat up one for supper.  My plan all along was to get some gardening in when I saw the weather forecast and still put out a hot meal for our supper for several days running.  Nailed it!

  Catch ya tomorrow.

   
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  Noreen 1:35 pm on June 27, 2023 Permalink  

  Let it Be 

  This year the garden spots are on their own.  Whatever can come up and be proud . . . let it be.  If we could have more than a tiny sprinkle of rain, there are some weeds I could pull.  Me and a hoe do not get along.  I think the jewels of purple blooms at the picket fence may very well be a weed.  Each year I marvel at these plants.  I am sure they multiply by the seeds they drop.  We now have some on the east side of the house.  Whatever they are, I enjoy them and I encourage more next year.

  I did work in the studio for a time today.  My shoulders, arms and hand recovered quite well from some free motion quilting yesterday.  What I didn’t count on was my right knee.  Having the pedal to the metal yesterday . . . the knee sent me a message during the night.  Today as I have been stitching, I am using my left knee on what I call, “the foot feed.”  Many sewing machines have a bar on the right side of the sewing machine cabinet that engages the stitching when the knee puts pressure on the bar.  I think I could have sewn an entire wardrobe of clothing without the knee bucking.  Free motion is a whole bunch of stitches.  I have gone through six full bobbins.

  I have started a new book to enjoy whilst in my bedroom porch sitting upon my cherry red chair.  I picked books off of the “free” shelf.  It doesn’t seem to bother with who the author is . . . I can easily get with the program.  With reading, sewing and some YouTube channels, my days have a good balance.  I am contemplating adding one more diversion.  I have not done any counted cross stitch since . . . it seems like forever.  I have checked things out and a design called a sampler can be done in just one color.  I am leaning towards that.  Simplistic and yet satisfying.  I’ll let you know how that will go. 

  In thinking, I believe there is a whole bunch of items in my world with the “let it be.”

   
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  Noreen 2:17 pm on June 22, 2023 Permalink  

  Not a Nice Day 

  For me it was not a nice day and I didn’t even have to do much outside.  Dennis decided to mow and I wanted to help by picking up the downspout around the perimeter of our home.  We have PVC pipes as down spouts.  I couldn’t stand them upright but I did get them off to the side on concrete.

  Dennis finished mowing shortly after twelve noon.  Oh my gosh, I watched from afar.  The dust just rolled.  The rain dances are deemed a failure.  Even if we get rain this weekend, the grass will continue to struggle as the weeds do not.  All I could do was give moral support.

  Yesterday I had picked up a 6.5 lb. shoulder pork roast that I cut in half when we got home.  One half went into the freezer with the other half being put in a gallon sized zip bag. I marinated it overnight with teriyaki sauce.  I flipped the bag over every time I came near the refrigerator.  This morning the roast and the remaining contents of the bag went into our small crockpot with the low setting.  I must say this mid afternoon it has a good aroma.  Giving Dennis ample time to rest and shower, we will have a later supper than usual.  I have a bag of seasoned diced precooked potatoes to go with the roast.  Cranberries will top it all off.

  Having kept an ear out on Dennis and the mower, I headed to the studio this forenoon.  My goal was to get the second quilt top sandwiched.  My weights came in handy to keep everything held down and squared.  I did do some pinning as well.  Having done the first quilt in the same fashion, I now know, I need not do quite as many safety pins on each of the sixteen blocks as I had done prior.

  My prayer and wish for everyone is to take the afternoon heat carefully.  The highest temp often comes in the late afternoon.  Nothing is as important than our wellbeing.  Rest and hydration so the morrow can be taken on.

   
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  Noreen 1:51 pm on June 13, 2023 Permalink  

  All is Well 

  The sun is out and the temps are getting into the 80s.  I sure did enjoy these last cool days.

  My housewife jobs this morning included very little.  I folded some laundry and put eggs on to boil.  A batch of egg salad with quite a bit of minced Vedalia onion to be folded in with the mayo.

  Dennis had a forenoon nap that took him right up to twelve noon today.  Dennis was then off to mow some yards.  Yesterday Dennis only mowed our original yard.  He kept the basket catcher on and I couldn’t believe how the power of the mower swept up every little bit from our late winter into our early spring.  When he asked me to use the leaf blower to blow him off, it was dirty dusty.  I knew this afternoon he would be getting our far east lot mowed as well as the blue barn acre.  It will be a good run for his new used Snapper.

  With KNUJ radio one, I finished pinning the quilt top.  I decided to use black thread on the top and an orange on the backing.  I am not the best at free motion quilting and the black thread over the dark t-shirts would do a bit of camouflaging.  Everything is set up for me to stitch tomorrow.  It will not be a long stint of stitching.  Wrangling the sandwiched 75” x 75″ project will take patience and some arm wrestling.  I didn’t feel that Old Alley was needed for the quilting.  If I manage two or three blocks a day, it will suffice.

  Dennis just pulled up to fuel his mower, so I will check in with him.

  Tomorrow is hump day and I hope you all enjoy whatever the day brings.

   
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  Noreen 3:07 pm on June 12, 2023 Permalink  

  Quite the Day 

  The older ones on Stauffer Avenue are having quite the day.

  It’s not unusual for Dennis to pick up Dwayne for coffee.  It is unusual when the fellows came back home several hours later to pick up the implement trailer.   Dennis’ 2007 Sears rider is in the shop for repairs.  Dennis had been looking at new mowers, but the sticker shock had him pursuing the repairs on the Sears mower.  Dennis and Dwayne had looked over all the items they possibly could on a zero turn Snapper mower in Madelia.  I think the Snapper will serve Dennis well.  If the Sears is repairable at a reasonable price, it will come in handy mowing around the house.

  I have been in the studio with my quilt top and safety pins.  I won’t get the top totally pinned today.  All is going so well. I don’t want to overdue with the hands and pinning.  I have had pins contributed for the cause.  The more the merrier.  When a package from Amazon came last year with pins.  These pins may have been dubbed “Diaper Pins,” but the ease of using them to go into multiple layers and then removing them is outstanding. 

  I believe supper will be late this evening.  I can’t blame Dennis for trying out his Snapper.

   
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  Noreen 1:40 pm on June 11, 2023 Permalink  

  Great Sunday 

  It was a very cool morning, and . . . I loved it.  An oatmeal and flax meal hot breakfast and I was out the door.  There was that Elm tree that needed the lopper treatment.  After some of our older Lilacs were cut down last summer, there is no shortage of young plants coming off of those stumps.  Yes, we would enjoy that privacy between neighbors again as these young plants grow.  We do not need as many as what shot out of the ground.  With my clipper this morning, I decided to cut off those that were intruding into the Hosta area.  I know if I continue to whack and stack some of them, they will decide to die back. 

  While I was doing gardening, Dennis had a pail of Dawn dishwashing liquid in his trusty pail.  The tracks of the three slider doors were caked with dirt from the winter.  A bit of elbow grease did wonders.  The garden hose was strung out, the doors were closed and the tracks were flushed out.  We both couldn’t figure out where all the clatter was coming from.  Snuggles was off chasing a squirrel up the oak tree in the neighbor’s yard.  There was bark flying from his claws.  He was a good thirty feet up in the tree.  I think he surprised himself.  No squirrel was caught.  After a time he decided to back himself down.  

  By 10:30 I had accomplished what I set out to do in the gardens.  The studio was my next stop.  Dennis came down with his cup of coffee this afternoon to see how things were progressing.  Of course I had KNUJ radio on.

  It is now 2:30 this afternoon and the two backings for these two quilts have been cut and sewn together.  The quilt tops are 75″ x 75″ and the backings are 84″ x 85″.  Sewing two lengths of 44″ wide, less the salvage, is making up the backings.  The last thing I did was open up one of the packages of batting.  It has been unfolded and taking air on the church tables after having been crunched into a plastic bag.  

  Perhaps tomorrow I will tackle securing one of the backings on the church tables with an arsenal of thumbtacks and strapping tape.  It needs to be as taut as I can make it.

  The lights are going to be turned off in the studio and I might take a cup of cold coffee and join Dennis on the front deck.  It is a wonderful cool day.

   
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  Noreen 2:01 pm on June 10, 2023 Permalink  

  Moral Support 

  Thursday, with a bit of elbow grease and lots of moral support, I worked with Dennis to tidy up the patio porch.  It is not 100%, but a dang site better.  Dennis went on to clean the pickup garage on Friday and today the car garage.  Dawn dishwashing liquid to the recue.  When I went out to ask Dennis in for a noon half sandwich, the corners of the car garage were tidy, tidy.  I did notice the recycling bin’s cover didn’t go down all the way.  There is one shelf on the north wall that Dennis said he would need help in deciding what to keep and what not to.

  Never ever will our outside dwellings stay spick and span.  All we can do is give it our best . . . often.

  I noticed this morning, there were no mosquitos outside.  I headed to the area of our picket fence to the north.  Oh my gosh.  We have never had Night Shade plants like there were out there.  Good thing with the rain it pulled up easy.  Wild thin vines that crept around stronger plants.  Those leaves looked like wild morning glories.  Kudzu vines can be seen draped around trees and shrubs, killing them.  I found one of them, also.  All I can think of is that our old lilacs kept this area in dark shade.  Last summer we cut down the old rotting lilacs that had trunks as large as dinner plates.  This year that whole area has full sun.

  Neighbor Jan came out and she worked on her side of the picket fence while I was on our side.  I think we gave each other moral support.  With my clipper I whacked off many, many volunteer trees: Cottonwood, Elm, Oak and Maple.  There was one Elm that I will need to visit with the lopper.  I did rake up a huge pile of the Maple seeds.  They will end up in the burning ring . . . soon.

  When the black flies began biting, I headed for the studio.  As of this posting, both quilt tops, 75″ x 75″ each are done.  I did unfurl the yardage of the backing for this tops onto the church tables.  That will be for another day. 

  When Dennis came in to check on me, he commented how warm it felt in the studio.  Ah ha!  It dawned on me that the dehumidifier needed to have the setting changed.  When we had gotten water in the basement, I had the setting at “44.”  The recommended setting should be about “54.”

  Dennis declared it was shower time and I will follow close behind as it feels like the humidity has done its number on the both of us.

  Catch you tomorrow!

   
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  Noreen 3:46 pm on June 7, 2023 Permalink  

  Rain in the Afternoon 

  I am hoping the rain that has begun falling at 4:30 will continue for a while.  The backyard has cracks in the soil.

  The luncheon that Dennis and I went to in Mankato was the close of the Chosen Frozen Korean Veterans for this area of the state.  The letter from the home organization laid out all that was needed to be sent to them.  The funds in the treasury were dispersed to three beneficiaries: the VFW post where the meetings have been held for repairs and to the Blue Earth County Library.  Though it was a mere $2,600.00, no money needs to be sent to the home organization.

  We were home shortly after two in the afternoon.  I called a friend, June, to see if she was up for company.  June had lived down the road on Stauffer Avenue until two years ago when she moved into an apartment.  June has never driven so the relationship is a bit one sided.  June had a severe change in her life this spring, when she went to the hospital with COPD.  June walked everywhere, everyday.  This may not have been brought on as suddenly as first suspected.  Today she showed off her portable oxygen bag.  She is on oxygen 24/7.  A whole lot for this 82 year young person to adjust to.

  It was as I was returning home that the skies got dark with a horrendous clap of thunder. 

  I came down into the studio to put up a few items I had purchased at JoAnn Fabric.  Not much needed here in the studio.  When all was said and done with t-shirt quilt blocks, there were two not needed to make the top times two.  I will make those two blocks into pillows for Michel’s two small sons.  Pillow forms: buy one, get the second at 50% off.  Why not.

  It will be interesting when I close down the studio to see if the rain is continuing when I hit the first floor of the house.  I can only hope.

  Tomorrow I will be at the hospital here in town by nine for my metabolic blood panel to be drawn.  Small inconvenience for reassurance.

   
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  Noreen 1:39 pm on June 4, 2023 Permalink  

  Oh So Warm 

  This Sunday is oh so warm.  I was outside early and the feeling was putrid.  The biting bugs didn’t seem to mind it.  I did not stay out long.  

  With a cup of rich hot coffee I checked out my usual items on the HP in the living room.  Nothing much new there so the cherry red reading chair and a book caught my attention next. 

  Yesterday we had a delivery from Amazon.  There was one item in the kitchen we could never do without.  Kevin had found it and I am sure . . . on Amazon.  Every time Dennis used it, it always had the same comment . . . “I could kiss that kid.”  It had saved us from having to have clerks in the grocery stores to open containers before we left the stores to come home.  Alas . . . it had gotten some issues.  From using it time and time again, the wear and tear was making it less effective.   There were certain sized containers that were opened more frequently that bore the brunt of the wear and tear.  It was shear bliss when the “pop” could be heard as the seal of a container was broken.  There was nothing to do but visit Amazon for a replacement.  Never was there a better investment of $10.00 for a new handy helper.  There were other items as well in the package to assist opening of containers.  Dennis and I both knew which implement would be used the most often.  Seek and ye shall find.  If Kevin had not given us our first one we would have never known how easy it was to open containers of all sizes.

  Dennis has had a good day of watching crime television programs either in the patio porch or the living room and playing solitaire.  I have been in the studio going slow and steady on quilt blocks.  The forecast had been right on allowing us to know how uncomfortable this Sunday would be.  I peeked ahead.  This coming Friday I saw a temp in the 60s.  Halleluiah.  That will be the day, I will get after some unwanted plants among the Hosta.