Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from June, 2020 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 2:29 pm on June 2, 2020 Permalink  

  Good Feeling 

  Right now the temp is 99 degrees, feels like 103 degrees.  We got done what we needed by 10:30.  Dennis needed to clean the filters in the Koi pond.  Working with water is not a bad thing when it’s warm.  The tree blossoms and tree seeds make problems with his pond pumps.  The enjoyment of the Koi pond is still greater than what it takes to keep all things going.

  My agenda was to paint the service door on the west side of the patio porch and call the west wall done.  This door was a used door at the time we had the patio porch built.  It was red when we got it.  The black gave it a look to tie it in with our color scheme.  I know for a fact that the door didn’t get a paint job when we last painted the porch.  The added designs on the door are plastic moldings.  The panels don’t soak up paint, they just needed a new layer of paint to cover the faded look.  That paint job got done, just in time before the gnats found me.  It was a good feeling.

  This afternoon Mr. Moody stopped in and wanted a refresher walk through as to what we need him to help us with.  With the warm temps I am not sure where he will begin.  I know the ridge roll on the top of the garage will be done either early in the mornings or in the late afternoons.  

  Yesterday when Carrie and Megan came, I was not at the door when they came in, and I did take note there was a lot more noise than having two people walk in.  When I got to the kitchen, there was a huge cooler on the floor.  Carrie delivered enough frozen meals that she had prepared for us, to take care of us two older ones for quite some time. Carrie, realizing that older folks coming in from cleanup that still is ongoing from the tree trimming plus working on the garage doesn’t easily wet one’s whistle to fix an evening meal.  Dennis was in awe as I was.  Just to be clear, Dennis and I have never gone to bed hungry.  Carrie wanted to contribute and it was and is appreciated.  The heavy help with our home has been taken care of in years past from the Fairfax team.  This year, it is what I would call, nuisance work that can’t be overlooked.  And . . . I admit both Dennis and I have had a birthday or two.  

  Dennis has gone over to have coffee with his friends who live in one of the apartment complexes in their gathering room.  I have a book going in the west porch of our home.   

  I hope those who are essential workers can come home and kick back to take care of themselves to rejuvenate for the next day with the humidity and temps.  Still not clear as to why some businesses are still not open as per the governor’s orders.

   
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  Noreen 3:42 pm on June 1, 2020 Permalink  

  A Warm One 

  After  yesterday’s wonderful day, 93 degrees today feels like a bit much.  We had a few errands to run and we nailed that by ten this morning.

  The treat of the day was a visit from Carrie and granddaughter Megan for the noon lunch and the afternoon.  I think they were ready to get out of the metro after the last week of what the metro was experiencing up to the current day.  Yup, it’s quieter here.

  It was fun visiting with Megan as a now seasoned employee of the Mustard Seed Garden Nursery.  Though she may only have been working 26 hours a week for the last two months . . . she loves it.  Her jobs include retail, watering and even rolling sod.  She said the learning curve is a daily thing.  Grandpa and I are so proud of her.  Not many of her friends nailed down a summer job as the virus didn’t allow for many options. 

  Of course, Dennis sent home a treat with Megan. There were enough York patties for the whole family.  Grandpa cautioned her to keep her little brown paper bag close to the car air conditioning. 

  This warm weather should lift as the week goes on.  Dennis has the overhead fans on in the garages and the patio porch to mix with the breezes coming in from the south.  I am planning on staying indoors during this spell.  I have barely said “Hello” to my sewing studio for weeks.  During that hiatus my goal was to get the garage scraping done.  Nailed it, complete with some painting!  I will be content cooling my heels for cooler temperatures before putting my painting dudes on for the next round. 

  By the way Dennis’ hamburger hotdish from last night was fantastic.  A great mix of sauteed onions, browned ground beef, a brick of creamed cheese, Alfredo sauce and pasta.  Dennis is right on, it would be a good dish when family comes over. 

  Stay safe in the heat.  Hydrate often and I pray the sweat flows easily . . . the self-coolant of our bodies is amazing.  I am one who can sweat easily and that makes it hard to get my pants pulled down and then pulled up when the bathroom visits call.  I hear from those who don’t sweat easily, the heat is hard on them.

   
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  Noreen 3:30 pm on May 31, 2020 Permalink  

  Short on Words 

  When weariness sets in, the words get short.  How could I not take advantage of this wonderful day and be outside.  Yes, I was outside with my ice cream pail of Behr paint.  As breezy as it was, I still needed Dennis to give me a spray for gnats as I twirled around.

  There are no words for me to explain how happy it makes me to do things for myself and for us.  These short jaunts of painting are perfect.  Not hours on end, nothing too physical . . . just seeing some accomplishment in taking care of our home.  Dennis is right there making sure I have a glass of water at elbow length.

  We got done what was on the planner for the day . . . that being the west side of the patio porch.  Figuring in slider doors plus an access door, there isn’t that much real estate to cover.  The perfect amount for us two.  I wanted to clean out my ice cream pail of paint and as I sat on the patio looking at the north side of the garage, I must admit our garage is fragile.  Due to building permit requirements, we could never build a new garage as the set-back rules would not allow the three feet that we now have between the garage and the alley. 

  I put Kevin’s advice in action.  As the octagon window in the bathroom has some challenges in the exterior framework, the advice was . . . keep the frame filled with latex paint.  It has worked over the years.  I decided to do the same with some of the siding boards on the north side of the garage . . . I filled the missing areas of some of the boards with paint.  You betcha!  In several days time if and when I paint that wall and the paint has hopefully dried, I will give those boards the same loving care as the rest of the wall.  Replacing one rotten area would only lead to taking the entire wall of siding off.  Nope.  Not going to do that.  In several years, if the garage is still standing, we will put steel on it.

  This next week is deemed to be humid and hot.  I may or may not continue with painting.  What I did do was put a rhubarb cake in the oven.  It is one of Mom’s recipes.  The pasta hotdish that Dennis put together while I was painting will be heating up the oven and it will be doing double duty.  As Dennis has remarked so often, “We never go hungry here on Stauffer Avenue.”

   
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  Noreen 1:57 pm on May 30, 2020 Permalink  

  Mild Saturday 

  Could we please have this type of weather all season?  Beautiful bright day with temps in the 60s, but . . . the gnats made their entrance into the day.  By the grace of the great bug spray that Kersten shared with us from Casey’s last year, being outside was doable. 

  We had to try it.  We had what was needed.  We had the will.  We had the the gumption.  Most of all Dennis had my back.  It is now mid afternoon and the east side of the patio porch looks . . . wonderful.  Slow and steady does the trick.  We actually decided to do the most difficult side first.  In times past we didn’t think that putting the potting shed 20″ from the side of the patio porch was a big deal.  So much so that the Koi pond attached to the potting shed is also less than 20″ from the patio porch.  As I said, slow and steady to figure it out.  There was no physical harm done to any retiree in this event.  The Behr paint covered oh so well.  We knew our limit and now all things are tidied for the day.  Maybe tomorrow will be another day of working on the patio porch.  Good grief. The hard part, the scrapping, is done.   

  Sleeping on fresh bedding this evening after getting a few remnants of paint off in the shower, we will be as good as new.  Yippee . . . tomorrow is a new day!

   
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  Noreen 2:27 pm on May 29, 2020 Permalink  

  Recovery Day 

  Dennis and I had been talking about taking some of the heaviest limbs off of the huge Maple tree in the backyard.  We have had three close calls of portions of limbs coming down.  No damage, but it sure is a mess when it all comes crashing down at one time.  With a tree trimming company, they have the equipment to make it manageable.  Unexpectedly, yesterday was the day!  The fellow had a cancellation and we were it!  It was a full day of it.  Maneuvering about as the tree is right on the property line of our neighbors was a challenge.  Tight quarters to say the least.  There were three huge limbs hanging over our neighbor’s garage.  If the wind had taken one of the limbs down, it could have cut the garage in half.  The saving grace was that with the workers on site, our neighbors decided to clean out some of the dead branches out of their Oak tree that hung over our garage.  It worked out well.

  The company that came and did the tree work was great.  They were careful beyond belief and the cleanup that they provided . . . oh my gosh, that would have taken Dennis and I the rest of the summer.

  This morning we knew that the acre needed mowing.  It also gave a chance to make sure there were no unexpected branches that we missed yesterday to mess up the mower blades.  Oh there are a few dents in the yard from heavy chunks hitting the ground.  In time they will fill in.  We are not about to fill them in right now with new dirt and grass seed.  We are still recovering from having the tree trimmed up and all things that come with that type of job.  Our neighbor gal was out this morning filling in her little holes . . . us, not so much.  

  Today is Friday and it has been a full week for the older ones on Stauffer Avenue.  The temps are great and as luck would have it . . . no bugs as yet this season.  We are patting ourselves on our backs for having the acre looking good.  I will have quite a bit to keep me busy with the perennials under the trees that were trimmed.  A bit of raking and keeping Dennis’ little burning ring going, it will all turn out just great.  The sawdust may be considered good mulch added to the soil.

   
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  Noreen 4:02 pm on May 28, 2020 Permalink  

  It’s Been A Day 

  It has been quite the day here on Stauffer Avenue.  I am short for words right now but I can tell you our huge Maple tree was given a lift today by having some of the limbs removed.  In the past we have been fortunate when the wind took some limbs down that no buildings were harmed.  We had one taken down on the south side and several on the north side that were hanging over our neighbor’s garages. It is the late afternoon of this Thursday and all the clean up is done.  The worker bees that did the work had a great sense of putting everything right.  The Eagle has landed.

   
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  Noreen 2:26 pm on May 27, 2020 Permalink  

  Truman Lumberyard Trip 

  It was planned to get the 1″ x 4″ lumber home for the garage work.  June is right around the corner for our handyman to come on over!  As our lone lumberyard has been for sale for some time, there hasn’t been any new product coming in.  The one 1″ x 4″ x 8′ board that Dennis brought home from this lumberyard for $6.00 looked like beavers had had their way with it.

  Fifteen miles to the south we headed to Truman’s lumberyard.  What a great layout.  In one of the offices we had a chance to visit with Vaughn.  Vaughn had worked at the Overson lumber yard in St. James before they took bankruptcy last year.  Vaughn also owns a rental house that butts up to our acre.  It felt comfortable to make a purchase this morning.  When the yard worker brought out our 10′ boards to the pickup, all I could say was . . . “Oh my gosh, they are beautiful.”  The yard worker commented that they handle #2 pine.  I took that as a good thing.  We were pleasantly surprised that the price for the eight 10′ boards was $40.19.  Yup, we are totally prepared.  Dennis will go to our local stores for odds and ends that the handyman may need.  The high end items are on site.

  We enjoyed coming back to St. James via the back roads which took us right through South Branch where my family had lived when Carrie and Kevin were in their high school years.  Our building site that we had cleared the grove out and kept it mowed is totally obliterated and overgrown with . . . everything.  Too sad.

  Today in the mail I received the update from Medicare in relation to the cost I have incurred to date for medications.  The cost to me thus far was a whooping $6.20.  My blood pressure pills are the only prescription meds that I take and it runs about $2.00 plus for three months.  I feel fortunate when I see the bag of pills some pick up and pay for.

  I visited the vacant home a bit north of us as the owner, Roger, was mowing his folks’ lawn.  I asked if it was okay to pull some rhubarb.  I now have washed and chopped one bag in the freezer for a crumble dessert and one pan in the oven of the crumble dessert.  Dennis is quite sure that it will be cool enough for a dish topped with some ice cream by eight this evening.  He is most likely correct.

   
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  Noreen 4:59 pm on May 26, 2020 Permalink  

  Big Trip 

  We headed to Mankato today to visit Home Depot.  List in hand, stimulus money tucked in the wallet, ready to seek and search.  

  I had really read a lot about exterior paint.  I feel confident that the Behr product will serve our old garage well.  The garage was initially constructed with pallets that were in the area after World War II.  There have been many band aids applied over the years.  We believe there are many years of service yet to be gleaned.  Dennis and I have promised each other that when this coat of paint begins to go shabby, there will be permanent siding put on the walls.  We had the garage jacked up quite a few years ago to add 12″ concrete blocks on the foundation.  The gravel floor that had been in the pickup garage then became a beautiful concrete floor that attached the pickup garage to the car garage.  I remember when Kevin cut a doorway to open up access to both garages.  Oh for memories.

  We found everything on our list.  The plastic shutters are on order.  12″ x 80″ to put on both sides of the three sets of patio slider doors. We talked about that quite a bit.  The ones that had been on were of course lightweight formed vinyl.  They had been removed several times as the siding on the patio porch needed painting.  Each time they were removed the brittle vinyl that had experienced every bit of cold and hot temps possible.  They held up and the bucks and cracks were ignored for another decade of use.  The shutters really dressed up the patio porch and it tied in well with the house windows that sport shutters.  The end result of us two old timers’ thoughts . . . we want to keep the property up and looking like those who live here care about their home. So be it!

  When we got home, Dennis had a letter from the DMV.  His application for the enhanced driver’s license needed more proof of his residency.  Hmm.  Of course our courthouse is closed but the phones are still working.  I knew Jessica from when I was at the courthouse.  This time I had “people.”  Jessica looked up the info.  My information flew like a cloud and my license was issued to be mailed to me on May 21st of last week.  What had happened to Dennis’ as we both had submitted identical info . . . who knows.  We were standing right next to each other.  Jessica was able to copy our real estate taxes to submit that as well as his voting info.  I thanked her dearly as we don’t need to make an appointment to come into the courthouse.  Jessica said it has been very difficult serving the people during this time.  

  I call this a successful day.  Now if the rain showers would just settle down and things could dry up a bit.  For what it is worth . . . life throws us a curve once in a while with checks and balances with paperwork.  It takes patience and understanding and time.  I have been on the other end and I know no one purposely causes issues.  When you mix humans and computers . . . there is bound to be a glitch sooner or later.

   
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  Noreen 4:23 pm on May 25, 2020 Permalink  

  Pacing Myself 

  It’s a holiday to many.  Today is a day for me to keep moving.  It’s the best health tip of the day.

  This winter when Dennis fed the deer under the Maple tree, we were showing a good crop of greenery among the Hosta.  No . . . I didn’t get it all taken out, but I did get the black soil showing in a fairly large spot. We had five inches of rain last week and now with another four tenths over the last two days . . . it’s a bit wet and muddy in some spots.  After I needed to put on a lighter weight and cooler shirt, it was time for a break on the patio.  

  It didn’t take long and we had Harriet and Snuggles lying under our lawn chairs. They also needed a break.  I was surprised how much traffic there was and it was enjoyable to sit back, take it in and have the scent of Lilacs drift by.

  After a lengthy break and having had a good lunch, I had one spot on the patio porch that needed some TLC in regard to scraping paint.  With that done, I do believe I am done scraping and steel brushing paint chips.  I have been working on that project over the last three weeks.  A little bit at a time and it counts up.  Didn’t hurt myself doing it and now it is done . . . ready for the next step.  I will admit that paying someone for work that I can do, doesn’t make much sense.  I have more time than money.

  Dennis had wanted to go to Mankato today for supplies.  I felt we needed a break at home.  Dennis has been on the go for several weeks with staining whatever surface he could find that could use Cedar stain. We now have a stained bench, a post with a decorative piece of garden art on it, a hefty wood bridge in the backyard as well as Roger the Moose made out of a cedar power pool.  It all looks as if someone cares to keep things tidy . . . and Dennis does it well.

  Dennis had dug through the salvage yard of our fellow that does field tiling for some scraps to help out as tree surrounds to guard against rabbits that love to chew on bark.  Dennis scored and the hand off was well received and appreciated.  When I take notice the legs are a bit wobbly on the ole cowboy, especially after climbing off and on the Cub-Lo-Boy for mowing the acre, it’s time for some rocking chair time in the patio porch watching the Rural Farm Channel.  Pacing Dennis is just as important as it is pacing myself.  Knowing the limits is important for both of us. It’s not much fun shopping for supplies in Home Depot if one is tuckered. Dennis has learned the joys of riding the battery-driven shopping carts and Home Depot will be open tomorrow.  

  It’s the end of the day and I will comply with Dennis’ request for a light supper . . . a fried egg sandwich with a dish of vanilla ice cream to follow into the evening.  Sweet!

   
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  Noreen 4:04 pm on May 23, 2020 Permalink  

  A Day Fit for A King & Queen 

  It started out as a damp wet morning.  It didn’t surprise me when Dennis came in from the patio porch and headed for his recliner.  It did feel like a blah day.

  For my part I was on a mission.  I had bought a new shower liner some time back.  Today was the day to get Mr.Clean out as I wanted to make sure all soap scum was out of the tub.  Can’t put up a new shower curtain if the tub doesn’t spit and shine.  The fiberglass tub can always use a good going over.  I can understand the fiberglass being used to the degree that it is, but . . . nothing beats the old cast iron tub with the enamel finish, as long as it is intended to stay in one spot forever.  

  The surround of our tub has always had a glass-like finish.  When Kevin installed it years ago, I got the message loud and clear.  Water spots are not desirable.  We have done a great job.  No water spots.  It only takes a minute after each use and it is a lot easier to do it often rather than a entire day’s worth of waging war on the drops.  The actual tub itself has a finish that has become a bit yellow over the decades.  Clean as you might, it is what it is.  Today as Mr. Clean and I were done,  I asked Dennis for some of his car wax.  I can tell you that now the fiberglass shines like the best enamel that ever lined a cast iron tub.

  Long about three this afternoon, the sun came out.  Dennis checked and when he saw I had conquered wiping off all the car wax from the tub and I had caught my breath, he started hemming and hawing around. Cutting to the chase he wanted to know if I would buy into helping to mow the acre.  Why not!  I felt grubby and sweaty, what was a few more events for the day.

  This was the third time we have mowed and in these last seven days, it was the heaviest cutting yet.  The push mower did a half swat in several places.  To Dennis’ credit, the acre needed it.  All is good and when we see our accomplishments, it takes away all the weariness.  After all, it is Saturday.  Saturday’s have always been the day of the week when the head goes down and you don’t come up for air until the chore is done.  Had we left the mowing until Monday we would have had to have someone with a baler come in.

  More traffic is abound.  People are tired of being cooped up.  Have a safe weekend.