Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from April, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 1:09 pm on April 14, 2023 Permalink  

  A Sweet Friday 

  Dennis and his friend Dwayne joined the rest of the fellows at McDonald’s.  I had a plan when I got up at eight.

  The breeze from the south was brisk.  My plan was to give loft to the leaves next to the picket fence between neighbor Jan’s and us.  With the old rotting lilacs having been cut out last summer, I was able to get right next to the fence.  I had help.  Snuggles was right there sniffing every time when a layer of leaves was lifted.  From there the two of us walked to the far east line of the acre.  The branches that had blown down over the winter, I put on the trailer that was parked to next to the garage.  There were too many to carry to our burning ring closer to the patio.

  I had worn out snuggles and he decided on a nap in the patio porch.  I found the dandelion poker and took out some of the plants that had made it through the winter.  Some of the catnip plants were greening out.  I poked a few of those and Harriet appeared from nowhere to enjoy the high from chewing on them.  Sweet.

  The last of my outdoor energy, I used on clipping off the old canes of the Russian Sage on the southwest corner of the house.

  I walked into the house right with Dennis as he returned home from the coffee clutch.

  My thought process while doing some yard work is that I need to build up my strength after a long winter’s nap.  Doing housework and taking time in the studio is not allowing leg muscles to remain strong enough to supplement my core muscles.  A little bit at a time and it feels sweet.

  I took an hour and opened a new book to read, sitting in my bedroom porch.  The breeze through the west window was just as great as the leftover breakfast coffee.  That hour gave me the moxie to cook up some pasta.  The meatballs from Easter had enough spices to carry them to today.  I used some softened cream cheese into the drained hot pasta along with the minced, cut up meatballs.  Supper on Stauffer Avenue is on!  Dennis is doing up my dishes as I type.  Can sweetness of the day carry on?  I think so.

  All that remains for the day is changing the dressing on Dennis’ foot.  I have so enjoyed this day.

  I did share the same sentiment as Dennis did when he came home.  The black flies are out in force.  Dennis had stopped at nephew Brett’s garage.  All that there is at the site is gravel as the fellows are getting the trailers ready for DOT inspections.  The black flies were making the fellows work one handed as they were swatting flies away.

  Too much summer, too quickly.

   
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  Noreen 2:35 pm on April 12, 2023 Permalink  

  In Progress 

  When the temps jump up into the 80s in such short order, there is outside work beckoning.  I did tackle some of the outside items this morning.  

  When individuals are kind enough to move mountains of snow at their convenience, there is bound to be some after effect.  This morning I found my favorite little rake and tackled the clumps of sod that had been pushed up at the same time the snow was moved.  It took me quite a while.  Slow and steady as I took the job in stride.  The wind from the south was strong, just as strong as the sun’s rays.  I was happy when I could work in the shade of the evergreen on the northwest corner of our home.

  When I walked our backyard I couldn’t help but think that the deer did a wonderful job of aerating most of the area.  It will be interesting to see if any of the Hosta appreciated the many footprints in the soft soil.

  When Snuggles and I had put quite a few snow implements into the potting shed we kicked back and thought well, “For the first attempt of spring yard work, we did well,”  This definitely is going to be a work in progress as the spring days will beckon us outside.  The two spots of the Fern Peonies, are just showing some bright red little buds poking through.

  I did walk through the studio this afternoon picking up a roll of paper toweling.  I did stop at one of the church tables to take a peek at the project that will have to wait for a bit.  It for sure is a work in progress.  I had kicked off my garden shoes and made the trip into the studio in stocking feet.  Holy buckets the floor was ice cold.  The water finding its way around the perimeter via the tile heading to the sump pump . . . I cannot imagine what the temperature of that water would be.  I picked up the towels and beat feet out of there.

  By the way, the haircut turned out well.  Bless Dennis’ heart.  Before I got into the chair, he commented to Brenda that when he had to help get my hair to lay down for a road date, he liked the way I looked when the hair was snipped in all sorts of lengths.  Dennis knew how I had fought with my brush to get the heavy lengths to do something.  No . . . Dennis is not my stylist, but him talking and commenting to his niece went very well.  Like I said, bless his heart.

  Tomorrow the stitchers are meeting at Baker’s Square in Mankato.  We have cancelled more times than not since before Christmas.  The winter didn’t allow Thursdays to be safe.

   
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  Noreen 3:52 pm on April 2, 2023 Permalink  

  A Chilly Day 

  With the wind, it sure doesn’t feel like it is in the 40s.

  We had a quiet day.  The carpenters were busy on our front door.  Just a bit of finish work for the new week and the project will be completed.  Dennis is making one run to Truman in the morning to return some items to the lumber yard and bringing home a few needed pieces.  Dennis and me are thrilled to have this done and done to perfection.

  Our sump pump is running once in a while.  I did peek to see where the water being pumped out was going.  Right now it is running onto the surface of the yard north of the house.  I had a gut feeling the tile that is under ground was not thawed as yet.  As long as it is puddling, I am fine with it.

  I don’t expect that there will be anymore runs to the elevator for shell corn for the deer.  We are sending them off to a spring season knowing they had corn on a daily basis for it to turn to heat within their bodies.

  The first full week of April.  May we all feel blessed as we enjoy this most holy week.  I know I surely am feeling it.

    

   
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  Noreen 2:06 pm on March 31, 2023 Permalink  

  79 Years Ago 

  My mom, Lena, told the tale that seventy nine years ago the team of horses that she was using to feed the young stock at the feed bunk were spooked and she had all she could do to get them under control.  In the hours before supper of that day, Dr. Hovde of Winthrop made a house call out to the farm.  Whew!  I might have been an April fool’s day child.  

  Today has been a wonderful birthday.  I put up the birthday cards from Carrie’s family and Kevin’s family in the studio.  A bit of cheer to warm the heart.  

  We were up early this morning as there was thunder and lightning.  The hail didn’t last long but the rain sure did.  When I looked out the bathroom window it caused some concern as the patio looked flooded.  The next time I looked out the water had gone down.  Does this mean the frost is out of the ground?  Our patio porch has a chance of staying dry this spring.  This was the 25th year of the Comfrey and St. Peter tornados.  Our patio porch had just been completed when we watched the weather as the skies turned black to our northwest in the last days of March.  I was called to help Brown County do the property assessments of the damaged homes.  Not an experience easily forgotten.  We have been enjoying that patio porch for more years that can be recalled if not for a news update of what happened so long ago.

  I plunked around in the studio.  It was high time to put a patch on Dennis’ everyday jacket as there were feathers peeking out of a hole.

  When Old Alley gives a call that AJ’s quilt has been longarmed, I know the lengths of binding needed to be readied.  The 400 plus inches has been sewn together, pressed in half and wound onto a cardboard.  I am prepared.

  I am not prepared for what they say will happen with heavy snow and wind beginning this evening.  Winter needs to go away.  Weather forecasters have been known to call it wrong.

  The first days of April are entitled for spring time weather.  I will say when I look at our backyard that has cleared of snow, the grass is a welcomed shade of green.

   
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  Noreen 1:04 pm on March 26, 2023 Permalink  

  A Great Day 

  A trip to Montevideo yesterday was an eye opener.  If we think we have late melting snow to contend with, that area, two hours northwest of us, was unbelievable.  Count our blessings.

  Granddaughter Sadie is now officially commissioned as a Sergeant Major in the army military.  Both Sadie and Grandpa Dennis had wet eyes as Dennis pinned on the insignia.  Dennis was in his Korean dress and had many of the higher ranking come and visit with him afterwards.  I drove home and guess who caught a nap.

  We are back in our home and the usual schedules feel good.  Fresh smelling laundry never gets old.  Dennis has the east patio clear of ice and snow.  When I went out to the patio porch for a visit, the trails that the deer have taken across our backyard to get to the shell corn Dennis has been putting out, glisten in the sunshine.  They are trails of ice for now.

  Dennis had gotten his carpet vacuumed this afternoon and is working on putting some Murphy Wood cleaner on the wood buffet we paid $25.00 for years ago at a garage sale.  A handy television stand plus great clean storage.  The key is to keep the bottom doors closed as even a crack of an opening invites the kitties to explore.  Nope, nope, nope.  It’s bad enough that they can get onto the rafters in both garages and we have kitty prints on both vehicles.  It’s time that the weather allows them to spend most of their days outside and explore what has been going on in the yards over the winter months.  Lots of sniff, sniffing.

  We do believe that we will not have the patio porch or the patios flood this spring.  The cold freezing temps during the night really helps with the freeze drying.  The sun is helping with the snow banks shrinking.

  My yearly trip to Bird Island for the servicing of my sewing machine is tomorrow.  I have no problems to report.  The cutting blades that cut the thread each time the pressor foot is raised after a seam has been sewn will be replaced.  It is a wonderful benefit that saves my hand to no end.  Not having to raise and lower the pressor foot manually is my second favorite benefit.  The third is the automatic needle threader.  Yes, my stitching is enhanced to allow for creativity to continue.

  I do not know how long it will be before I get the call from Old Alley that the t-shirt quilt has been long armed.  I have a few embroidery projects to work on in the meantime and then there is the binding to make for the huge king sized whooper.

  Life is wonderful on Stauffer Avenue.  May it also be on your neck of the woods.

   
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  Noreen 3:00 pm on February 25, 2023 Permalink  

  An Outing 

  It took the bright sun and the promise of a 28 degree afternoon.  Dennis took me on an outing to downtown Sherburn to the Old Alley Quilt Shop.  Oh my gosh!  I had not visited there since the stroke, aka: 2021.

  Dennis said to take my time as he had the sun coming in his little red pickup window.

  Going to Sherburn, 28 miles from home, the west bound lane of Hwy. #4 was iced over in spots.  The wind was doing its best to keep it that way.  Coming home two hours later, the east bound lane was free of ice.  We could see the sun was doing a number on the iced-over areas of the west lane.

  Now I have fabric to continue working on AJ’s t-shirt quilt.  I did inquire about having them long arm the king sized quilt sometime in the future.  I cherish what my arms and hands can do.  95″ x 105″ is a lot of cumbersome three layers of fabric under a limited amount of real estate, aka: distance from the needle to the right to the hub of the sewing machine.  I did do a king sized quilt five years ago.  Then it was a challenge.  Today it would break my spirit.  Old Alley needs to have customers.

  This morning when I looked out of the bathroom window, there was a frenzy going on in the backyard.  The squirrels were digging out kernels of corn the deer may have left behind and stomped on.  No sooner had the squirrels done their best, the huge crows came and flew away with the treasure.  Oh for the pecking order of life.

  Today gives hope that spring will be coming.  There is slush and under the slush is ice.  This Grammie is thrilled that Dennis took me on an outing, and thankful to be home . . . safe and sound.

  This outing will do me just fine for some time to come.

   
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  Noreen 2:40 pm on February 23, 2023 Permalink  

  The Calm 

  It seems as if this week has lasted forever.  

  I realize the wind may be raising havoc on the roads even if the falling snow has stopped.  Being on the outskirts of town, we are sheltered.

  I have no idea how much snow we had.

  Having shot down Dennis’ plea to use his snowblower, his retreat to the patio porch can be respected.  Dennis wants to do the things as he always has.  I admire that about him.  He is able to run errands in his little red pickup as he hops in and he hops out without too much waking in his Velcro boot.  Walking behind a  snowblower requires digging in the legs and feet to turn the bulky and heavy thing round.  Best to farm that out.

  Next-door-Randy was here at 7:30 and our drive was cleared.  Randy also cleared Stauffer Avenue that runs along the overhead door of the garage for the little red pickup.  All was well until the city came by a bit later and plowed Stauffer Avenue.  No way would the little red pickup leave the garage after that.

  I bundled up and worked the bins for garbage and recycling out of the snow at the corner of the garage.  I pulled them into the drive as I knew grandson Ryan would be by later.  I cleaned up the snow next to the overhead door of the car garage.  Randy had pulled or blown away what he safely could.  He can get only so close.  When I cleared the back door, the snow, when pushed off, showed clear concrete.  It felt good to have gotten the snow moved that I could.  The wind was whipping snow and soon I was covered in a light covering of the wet.  When I came in the house the aroma of so much freshness was if I had brought in clothes off of the clothesline that had been hung out wet and froze dry.

  By two this afternoon Ryan had been here with a skid loader and made short work of the snow next to the garages.  The little red pickup could venture out at will.  Ryan also went into the backyard.  With the bucket of the skid loader down, he scrapped away the snow next to the patio porch and pulled it into the backyard.  Dennis will have a flat surface to put his pans out for feeding the deer.

  No corn was put out last night.  It was mixture of snow, sleet and rain.  Of course there were tracks all over the backyard checking to see if corn had been put out.  I am sure one disappointment will not keep them away.

  I hope everyone made it safe through these last days.  This year’s winter is like a bad houseguest.  It doesn’t know enough to realize it is no longer welcome.  Today’s calm is sweet indeed.

   
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  Noreen 2:25 pm on February 22, 2023 Permalink  

  Off and On 

  With the snow being an off and on thing, it’s hard to tell where this storm is at.  The wet sticky snow has slowed the traffic down.  Dennis’ grandson stopped by with the skidloader and took out some snow.  When Ryan tipped the bucket over to empty it, he had to trip it several times to get the snow to fall out.

  The first floor needed some mundane tidy work.  By noon all had been accomplished.  There are days the studio has lost some appeal.  A good book in my bedroom porch won my attention.  There are options in the refrigerator for supper.  It is going to be a night of “everyone is on their own.” 

  The dressing of Dennis’ left foot is going swiftly compared to January.  If we continue following the doctor’s orders . . . that is all we can.  Patience can be hard to come by.  The Old Adam in all of us wants to be in control. 

  Esther Schafer, I can hear you as if you were sitting at my table; “If life doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger.”  Her strong deep laugh never let anyone think they had a reason to bellyache.  Dennis doesn’t belly ache, he just pushes buttons.  Gotta give the fellow credit for trying.

   
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  Noreen 2:41 pm on February 18, 2023 Permalink  

  Saturday the 18th 

  Spring can’t be far behind when we go from minus temperatures to 35 degrees today.

  I think the patio porch kitties could smell some warmth in the air.  When Dennis went out at six this morning, all three bounded out the slider door to the east.  They may not have stayed out long, but after days being cooped up in the patio porch, they needed to check out the deer tracks and skat, the rabbit poop and where a squirrel had traveled.  It was then nap time.

  Today was the first time we passed on a great grands birthday party in Mankato.  Charlee B’s mom is in the guards and there are a lot of kids invited for this 5th birthday party.  We will stop in another time when we are in town.

  After the first floor got tidied and a load of laundry was in the works, I headed to the studio.  Saturday’s  AM KNUJ radio has sports items on.  I went to FM Minnesota’s 100 for country music.

  The stashes were visited this last week and I have three combinations piled together.  There will be one with predominate green, one in burgundy and one in blue.  I am sticking with the log cabin pattern.  Dennis offered to cut fabric.  What could I say!  I chose the green batch.  With a brand new blade in the rotary cutter . . . why not?  My job was to line up for  2.5″ cuts.  Dennis cut two layers each time and with his strength plus the new blade, it didn’t take long he had 7 yards of 8 different colors cut in 2.5″ strips.  No mis-cuts in the bunch.

  I know that “jelly rolls” are very popular with quilters.  A variety of coordinating colors and prints rolled up cut in 2.5″ strips.  I do not know how many yards are included, but according to the price, I would hope a reasonable amount.

  I will be hiring Dennis again.  Even with a new blade, pressure is needed for clean cuts.

  Today Dennis’ grandson AJ was in town from Mankato.  AJ has done a lot for Dennis to hook up his television so he can watch channels from the Godahl tower, via putting up an antenna on the east side of the patio porch.  He configured good reception via a booster plugged in on one of the outlets in the kitchen.  Dennis has a Samsung Smart television that I had in the studio at the time we were getting cable television from Mediacom.  Dennis also has Hulu and YouTube choices.  AJ also configured the Samsung television in the living room with the same options.  We really appreciated all of AJ’s understanding of getting this set up for us.  The savings in ditching cable television every month was astounding.

  What I had AJ do was to bring me his Harley t-shirts he has been saving.  I will be making AJ a t-shirt quilt from his Harley shirts.  The barter system is alive and well.

   
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  Noreen 2:50 pm on February 16, 2023 Permalink  

  Glad Tidings 

  The surgeon in Mankato had put an order in for Dennis to see Dan Kern here in St. James.  Dan is a certified wound doctor.  This allows us to have someone keep an eye on the progress of Dennis’ left foot without a trip to Mankato.  We may still have those trips, but not nearly as often.

  Tonight Dennis will be able to sleep in bed without the huge heavy Velcro boot.  First night since January 11th.  The stipulation is that he cannot get up in the morning or during the night without having the boot on.  The foot is not yet ready for weight bearing.  Dennis and I shook on that.  I will gladly be rousted out of bed before my time to get us through this.  I always say “us” as we are in this together.  The wound still needs to be dressed every day as the steps we take to keep it clean and dry will serve us well.  It amazed me as I do this every day how much the bottom and other areas of Dennis’ foot sweats.  The gauze does wick it away and that needs to be changed every day.

  Dan commented that the photos he took told a much better story than what had been taken last month in Mankato.  Yippee!

  That was all I needed to hear this forenoon and Dennis’ bedding was stripped before twelve noon.  As hard as one might try, the corrugated sole of the boot was bound to have some grit caught in it.  Where were those darn Morning Doves when they were needed.  The south window was ready for them to tidy up the bottom sheet and get their share of grit.

  Dennis drove me to the grocery store after our clinic appointment.  I could not believe the ice that is everywhere.  The snowbanks glisten with a crust of ice that the sun needs to burn through.  Getting in and out of the vehicle I chose snow-covered footing.  Yup, when I stepped on it, the top crust cracked and the next person walking there will be on ice. 

  Spring will makes itself known just like in all the years past.  It is hard to be patient.

  Dennis has gone to the elevator and picked up the shell corn for the deer.  Their trails through our backyard had filled with rain when we had the inch of rain several days ago.  If I were younger and steady on my feet, I could slide for some distance within their trails.