Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 12:42 pm on May 18, 2023 Permalink  

  Drippy Day 

  I knew a drippy day was coming.  I put my garden shoes on and went after the sweet yellow blooms that were in my Hosta beds.  Of course when Hunny Bunny and Harriet saw me amongst the plants, they needed to check things out as well.  When I finished one area, before moving on, I made sure to break off some of the cat nip plants.  That was all the invite the kitties needed.  They each tied one on.  The first trip fantastic of the year. 

  The photo is of the Star of David flowers that volunteer each spring.  When the greenery comes up, it looks like a sea of chives.  Each sprout puts out a sweet little white flower.  After the blooms are spent, all the greenery dies off.  They spread like crazy from the seeds of the blooms.   I have worked hard at digging them up where I don’t want them . . . forget it.  Ironically when dug, there is what looks like a little onion set, thus they look like chives when they first come up. 

  Two winters ago, Dennis had gotten a bale of road ditch hay to put under the Maple for the deer to nibble on.  Last spring, there were spears of long grasses that had had the seeds carry over.  This morning, I took out a huge patch of cocklebur young plants.  Dennis was right on, weed seeds can lay dormant for a long time.   The heavy rains had sent a lot of clusters of the Maple seeds to the dirt.  I raked up some as they can root so fast and easily to show a group of little trees.  Each day I will do a bit outside. 

  This drippy day is the best day to re-introduce myself into the studio.  All the lights were turned on and the threads and fuzz were beckoning me.  I did finish embroidering the last design times two.  It was time to get to the next step.  That step would be adding a quarter inch of trim to the 16″ square blocks.  I had done this with AJ’s quilt and it really brightened up the t-shirts.  It took me a while to remember how wide each strip had to be cut to be feed into the bias tape maker.  The next thing was to set the zig zag stitch to sew the four strips onto each of the 32 blocks.  All systems were a go for trying my plan out.  Yup, I’ve got it.  Perfectly cut 1/2 inch orange strips.  When they have become bias tape strips they are sewn around each block, two inches from the edge.  This photo is one of the blocks I created to fill out what would be needed.  I love my Bernina Tool Box software.

  It felt good to get back in the groove of the studio.

   
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  Noreen 1:43 pm on May 17, 2023 Permalink  

  Back to Normal 

  My precious studio is back to normal.  It looks fresh and it smells fresh.  They are talking about possible rain tomorrow.  As I looked everything over, I did close all the basement windows.  They are so easy to operate.  No taking a chance of having rain find its way in.

  When Dennis came back from having coffee with Dwayne this morning, he had been to Fleet Farm and brought home two new filters for that sweet shop vac that had done its duty with the water seepage we had experienced.  We will be back to sucking up threads and fuzz.  From the sounds of it, more people than not had had water coming into their basements.

  Dennis put in three hours of mowing yesterday.  He felt very pleased as well he should.  It’s not hard labor but our old Sears rider does not have power steering and the seat is sat out.  There is a lot of trimming around the house.  My push mower has the season off.  Hopefully the mowing will not be more than a once-a-week task.

  I am looking forward to doing some stitching tomorrow.  It seems as if I will need a refresher course.  If I recall, I have one design to stitch twice and then the 32 total blocks, 16 in each of the two twin sized quilts are ready for the next step.   

  The oven dish of last night got a thumbs up.  There won’t be a problem serving it again this evening.

   
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  Noreen 2:12 pm on May 16, 2023 Permalink  

  Tuckered 

  Today began the washing/damp mopping of hot bleach water on the concrete floors in the basement.  The stairwell closet has ceased with the seepage.  Good deal.  The cistern closet was also dry.  Both were homogenized.  

  I had lowered the setting on our huge dehumidifier Sunday.  In time it will be set to its usual which Complete Basements recommends at 52%.  We are scheduled for them to check the sump pump system later on this spring.  It has been so wonderful to be able to open the basement windows that Complete Basements of Mankato put in at the same time of the tile around the perimeter of the basement and the vapor barrier under the bathroom.  What we really appreciated was going with Complete Basement for everything.  One stop contact if something goes amiss. If the city’s system had not been overwhelmed, we would not have had any water problems in the large basement room, aka: my studio.

  Dennis began mowing at 12:30 today.  He has been by to re-fuel.  I think his hinny will be ready for a break this evening.  It’s easy to think there is another day coming for some additional mowing, but once Dennis starts, not so much.  

  After the damp mop was retired until more of the same tomorrow, it was oven dish prep.  I had one bag of the rotisserie chopped chicken in the freezer.  There was also a bag of pepperoni that was close to the “sell by” date.  A can of white kernel corn and Alfredo sauce was folded into the sha-bang.  One jar of sauce was not going to cut if for this batch.  Pouring on only half of the jar of Alfredo, I poured into the jar some heavy cream and gave the jar several hard shakes.  Folding all ingredients together for a good moist dish.  Between butter and cream, you can never go wrong.  As Dennis doesn’t care for pizza, this oven dish is close to a pizza.  Pasta in exchange of a crust.  In times past, Cassey’s had a chicken alfredo pizza.  To top things off, I threw in a handful of sharp cheddar shredded.  It made a huge batch, so I split the full blue speckled roaster contents in half so the freezer also has an offering for another time. 

  Folding the prep of an oven dish and mopping of concrete, I am going rest the arms to sit on my bright red reading chair for a bit of a break.  It is a partly sunny day with 79 degrees.

   
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  Noreen 2:24 pm on May 15, 2023 Permalink  

  At Last 

  At last the sun is out.  

  It was an early morning for me.  The bulk of the water debacle was over by supper of yesterday.  We went down every several hours to vacuum up the water from the closet that had seepage.  This morning I was set to handle the five by ten jute carpet that of course was wet.  Yesterday Dennis and I took turns folding the carpet in half and vacuuming off the back of as it had a backing of canvas.  That worked quite well . . . better than being able to get a lot of water vacuuming the jute side.  

  I used up the majority of our canned goods by folding the carpet over by half and then putting down the cans.  The carpet was tented.  My plan was to get the carpet off of the floor.  I did that with both ends.  The fan that we had running in the cistern closet was set on the north end of the carpet.  A fan that Dennis had had in the patio porch was running on the south end.  Getting air to the top and bottom of this carpet will help it dry.  Once the carpet is dry it can be folded and moved so we can clean the floor with bleach water.  After that I will shampoo the jute surface.  Patience is all it takes.

  By ten I had motored to New Ulm for servicing of my car and the renewal of the warranty on it.  I was amazed the amount of standing water in the fields.  Where there were culverts, the water shot out of them.

  By noon I was back home.  Dennis had checked the yards and the yards are too soft for mowing.  In fact, there is an area that still has standing water.  Did I mention?  Patience is all it takes.

  I do believe this Grammie will be ready for bed by the time the street lights come on this evening.

   
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  Noreen 2:22 pm on May 14, 2023 Permalink  

  Seeing is Believing 

  They are telling us that the rain is over, but until I see that the concrete in the drive is dry, I am being doubtful.

  Our neighbor has a huge rain gauge and when I visited with Randy, he was reporting 8.9 inches since Wednesday.  Hmm.

  When I got up at seven and saw the city crew was pumping water from the main holes, I didn’t know what to think.  I got up and had my usual routines before I wanted to reassure myself all would be good in the basement.  The fact that the sump pump hardly took a break made me need to find out for myself.  I flipped the switch for the basement lights.  When I could stand at the top of the basement steps and see an overhead bulb reflect off of the floor, I knew all was not good.

  It matters not what lay ahead as we would not be the only people doing a bucket brigade.  The first thing I did was to clean the canister of our shop vac.  I couldn’t do anything in the large studio room until the floor drain was down.  After an hour, I knew it was safe to run the shop vac, the floor drain was down.  The sucked up water could be poured into the toilet.  There is a closet right next to the stair steps that water was running over the first basement step and going into the tile for the sump pump.  Of course the far corner of said closet is quite a bit lower than next to the steps.

  We have a wonderful old wooden courthouse chair in the studio that is on rollers.  After the shop vac was set up for wet vac, I set the shop vac on the seat of the chair.  I began sucking up the water from the floor of the closet.  I could tell when the canister was getting full.   I would roll the chair over to the toilet and empty it and go back for more.  This water was coming in fairly fast.  Though we had the eve spouts on the house to have taken the rain away from the house, the ground was like a loaded sponge.  The foundation on the east side of the house had a crack that was like its own faucet.  Eventually the seepage will subside.

  Nothing had gotten ruined as nothing sits on the floor in the studio.  It is after all spring.  Spring cleaning of the cement floor in the studio . . . it’s a good thing.

  When the skies clear, I will believe the rain is over . . . for now. 

   
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  Noreen 1:39 pm on May 13, 2023 Permalink  

  Rain and Wind 

  Of course when the ornamental crab tree blossoms are beginning to open, the strong south wind complete with rain gives us flutters of pink blossoms.  It never fails.

  As I have just two blocks to embroider for the two twin-sized t-shirt project, I decided to head south to The Old Alley Quilt Shop for the fabrics of the back, the sashings, and corner stones.  I also purchased the batting.  With each of the two quilts being 75″ x 75″ I may be able to handle the actual quilting on my sewing machine.  If I run out of steam, I would bundle the tops, backing and batting and head to the quilt shop to have then long arm them.  Time will tell.

  I am a long way from making that decision.  The dark drab quilt blocks are going to have the bias strips on all four sides to brighten things up.

  As I was driving highway 4, I got some thinking done.  By May 28th, I need to contact Chuck Spaeth car dealership to extend my warranty.  I purchased the car in 2019 and had the premium warranty put in place.  I also need to have an oil change.  The last oil change was in November at the same time new tires were put on.  The tires were not new at the time of the purchase.  When I got home, I called the dealership and spoke to a gal about the warranty and to make an appointment for the oil change.  I was told I could come in Monday and take care of both items.  Sweet.  The warranty will be for 20,000 miles or four years which ever comes first.  I have put on about 20,000 miles since the purchase and felt that would work going forward.

  Dennis has gone out to the fix-it shop to see if Charlie has information on the three new blades that the Cub Lo-Boy mower needs.  Wouldn’t you know it?  He just left and now there is a fairly heavy rain shower.  We surely do not need this.  As I was driving to Sherburn, it seems that the heavy rains have concentrated near and around St. James. 

  Day by day the Hosta are peeking through the soil.  It is rewarding.  Last May, 2022, I relocated many from the east end of the acre to fill in around the patio porch.  The Hosta unfurl their greenery and it keeps the weeds down, plus giving cool hiding spots for the three kitties.  I will not be purchasing anything from the garden nurseries.  The Russian Sage under the southwest windows is giving up many new little plants.  I may find a few spots for those.  If there are too many in close proximity, they tend to want to tip over from the weight when they are in full bloom.

  Rest easy from the week’s work.  The work will be there waiting for you on Monday morning.

   
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  Noreen 2:21 pm on May 12, 2023 Permalink  

  Drip, Drip 

  Coming awake this morning, I heard the drip, drip of rain off the west awning.  It was quite easy to put off getting the feet to hit the floor.

  After a cup of rich Folger’s coffee, I knew what would be in my job jar for the morning.  Dennis’ grandson AJ has tricked out the patio porch’s television so Dennis has many choices for viewing.  The tale that was told to me was that one of the patio porch’s cats stepped on the remote and now there was a problem.  Hmm.  It mattered not.  There needed to be a fix-it.  The end result was that the HP laptop needed to be in the porch to type in a new password via the secure prompt on the television set.  Of course, it didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped.  Nonetheless, by twelve noon the channels were up to be viewed.

  My goal today was to check on several friends.  Sharon couldn’t attend the stitchers yesterday as a short text had let us know about a vehicle issue.  I wanted to make sure Sharon was not in the vehicle when the issue occurred.  The short of it was . . . yes,  she was in her car on a busy highway when the transmission went out.  Sharon is safe, thank the Lord, the car is no longer going to be able to get Sharon to future stitcher luncheons.

  My once-time neighbor June ended up with covid during April and never quite got back on her feet by the time she was a negative.  Several days in the hospital and she now needs to be on oxygen via a tank to be her best friend.   Building her lungs up is the challenge.  We didn’t visit long on the phone as she doesn’t as yet have lung capacity for much.  June is on the mend and will need to keep in touch with the pulmonary department in Mankato as her left lung is quite fragile. 

  In between time, I have been building my count of quilt blocks for the twin t-shirt quilts.  It is a challenge to create blocks with keeping of the firemen’s theme.  It is far more fun than challenging.  Dennis came down and checked on things in the studio and gave a thumbs up on the latest pair of blocks.  Dennis is in awe of what I can pull together between websites and then getting it stitched out.  That is why he was confident that getting his television back on track was possible.

  The air is chilly and with more rain today . . . the furnace may be turned back on to take out said chill.

   
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  Noreen 2:24 pm on May 11, 2023 Permalink  

  Glub, Glub 

  Three plus inches of rain in these last 24 hours.

  I ran away from home this noon to meet with my fellow stitchers in Mankato.  As I drove east, the amount of water . . . everywhere was humbling.  Earlier this morning as the thunderstorm kept dumping water, I watched the flooding of our patios.  I kept my fingers crossed in regard to the patio porch.  It looked as if it had been close.  The water did recede once the rains quit.

  Back to the stitchers.  Today was the first time a new location was targeted.  NaKato is a sportsmen’s bar and grill.  The booth and small table in its far corner indicated they do not cater to a group of chatty women.  The menu was extensive but also on the pricey side.  I enjoyed a portion that was served on my platter of chicken strips and tots.  I took a box home with me.  I did ask if I could have a child’s portion and was told no.  My choice of seating was a wooden chair pulled up to the table.  I had a good time catching up.  I excused myself at 1:30 as the teeny tiny voice was telling me the back and hips had had enough.  I know from gatherings of old, the group might continue till three.  I wished them all a great afternoon and I would see them in June.  It felt good to be in the seat of my car which is very comfortable.

  I got home a bit after 2:15.  Dennis was doing the tidy, tidy in the garage porch.  That is when he expressed how happy he was that the carpet had remained dry. 

  According to KEYC television, we may be receiving more rain.  Hunky Dory! 

  We are having a repeat of the oven meal of last night’s supper.  Dennis really enjoyed the shredded cheese I had added.  My box of chicken strips most likely will be my tomorrow’s breakfast.  I have no problems with that.

  The trip up north yesterday, reiterated for me, how happy I am for the Fairfax team.  It is easy to do a stop and chat as Fairfax is a 46 mile trip.  Doing a stop and chat to Eden Prairie is quite another story, but text messages seem to be working out fine.

  Catch ya later.

   
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  Noreen 3:52 pm on May 10, 2023 Permalink  

  Sweet Treat 

  This afternoon Dennis and I made a trip north.  The kids had spied with their little eyes when they were out and about, a chair that might fit in nicely into our little home.  Today that bright red cheery chair settled right into my bedroom which is also my reading room.

  When we were settled, I tried out the adjustments on the chair . . . a total of six of those.  I have never had a chair with which to read by that actually fits my body.  In times past, I never gave my body a thought.  Now, I know that teeny tiny voice that can be ever so annoying . . . is my body voicing its opinion.  I now know to listen to it.

  What made our road trip complete was stopping at the Dairy Queen for small sized ice cream cones.  Yum!  Our first of the season.

  Dennis decided to mow our original lot this late afternoon.  He heard of possible weather coming in for tomorrow.  It is the last of the “first of the season” areas to trim.  Dennis mows this first quite high to give it all a leveling out.  He does have a method to his mowing.  Early on, we decided I would not be doing any mowing.  Using the weed whip is a movement of twisting at the waist like waving a wand for success.  The push mower involves hitching up the shoulders as mowing in one straight line isn’t going to happen . . . not a good thing, lots of turning corners. 

  There was a half bag of pasta that I decided to cook up.  Some all beef meatballs were thawed.  A jar of Alfredo, a huge hand full of shredded cheddar cheese from the freezer, the pasta and the meatballs will be put in at 325 degrees at about 45 minutes.  I always use my thermometer to make sure the dish will be piping hot.  Thus is our supper.  There is determination to continue cleaning out the freezer.  Fear not . . . we will not go hungry whilst on Stauffer Avenue.

  Good thing we had our sweet treat early in the afternoon.

   
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  Noreen 1:14 pm on May 9, 2023 Permalink  

  Yellow Beauties 

  This morning after Dennis went out to his PT appointment, I went after those yellow beauties that were determined to be in the Hosta bed off of the patio porch.  Our spray on the grass areas seems to have a good carry-over compared to the yard south of us across Stauffer Avenue.  Some of the Hosta are slow to show, so I kept my size nines out of the area.  With all the deer that trampled the snow in this same area, it will be interesting as time goes by.

  I knew Dennis would be picking up Dwayne after the PT appointment this morning for a coffee at McDonald’s.  It’s good for both of those fellows to keep up with the rest of the crew.

  The static on the radio might mean a thunder shower coming.

  A friend of mine called this morning for the information on the fellow that did our front deck.  I was more than happy to give him a great reference.

  After taking a long walk down Stauffer, I went to the studio.  Putting forth effort to make each and every project that comes out of my studio the best that I am able to is very satisfying.  Trying to keep two piles of blocks as similar as possible for the twin-sized quilt can be a challenge.  Michael’s sweatshirt, hmm.  I tried to replicate as much as possible.  I used by Bernina Tool Box to bring my created block a close second.  I am happy with it.

  When I looked out, I saw Dwayne and Dennis with the heavy implement trailer hooked to the little red pickup.  There were ramps engaged.  I knew that before long, the Cub Lo-Boy was going to be driven up onto the trailer.  I stayed on the patio making sure I could punch 911 if needed.  Dwayne was off to the side using hand signals.  Here we had two 86-year-young fellows, doing what they used to do in a heart beat.  After the tractor was loaded and chained down, Dennis stopped at the house to get his wallet.  When he came around the front of the pickup with a wide smile . . . his favorite snap western shirt on, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth,  it took me back thirty plus years when this ole cowboy knew no challenge.  Today, Dennis was in his element.  The Cub L0-Boy is going out to the fixit shop north of town for new blades on the mower. 

  I am quite sure that sometime this late afternoon will find Dennis in the patio porch with Snuggles on his lap.  Snuggles will get to hear all about the day’s activities, well maybe not all of them, as Dennis slips in a nap.