I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
Not much can be said about January, other than . . . I am sure happy it will soon be history.
I worked in the studio for several hours, then taking a break to have a noon lunch with Dennis. I will admit that the basement studio can be a tad chilly. No, my electrician did not stop by today. Without my little heater . . . chilly was the word.
Update: My electrician is here and I will continue this tomorrow.
It is a day that chilly would not cover. It is downright cold. A day when south windows can suck in the warmth of the sun . . . and it does.
I found contentment in the studio. That is no different than what Lena would have done on a day such as this.
The home that they moved onto the site across from the farm homestead, had Lena’s sewing room with good window light. Mom could be found in her sewing room on a Sunday afternoon and dad, Raymond, was in the basement in his woodworking room. Each content doing what they enjoyed, but not so busy that the coffee break at three could be forgotten. Surprisingly, mom and dad took to having Folger’s instant coffee. It made sense why the tea kettle was usually on the back burner, full, with a heat setting on low. It didn’t take long and that setting was turned up and coffee was on.
I am not one for a coffee break in the afternoon. I will do away with the breakfast pot of coffee, cold or hot and then . . . no more.
Today was the day to see what the fabrics I had pulled together would look like in a prototype. All was pulled from what I had in my stashes. It feels good to whittle down what has been purchased in times past. When I follow quilting sites on Facebook, I have most surly seen more unusual pairing. This new project is going to do quite nicely.
Interestingly enough, yesterday we discovered when one of the plugin outlets took a dump the other day in the studio, there was a second one that went out in the living room. Both were original to the house. A lamp that was plugged in at the living room site also is no longer. Electrician Dale will get out his little tester when he comes to visit this next week and have some work to do. I am quite sure I know what the culprit is. My newly acquired electric heater that sat under my sewing machine keeping my legs warm was plugged in directly to the box on the post in the studio. I had not trusted it being used in conjunction with a power strip.
Nothing serious was caused. Older homes, like older folks need to keep up with what is needed for high efficiency.
On this most chilly of days, it was indeed a labor of love that needed to intercede.
Dennis came home yesterday with one of his refills that Lewis Drug had filled for him. I expected him to put a pill bottle on the counter when he came home. A flash of copper colored tin foil caught my eye. A total of 60 pills were on sheets of this copper colored tin foil. Each pill was to be pushed out of its surround when needed twice a day.
Dennis commented at supper that he had not gotten a pill pushed out. I told him I would get one for him. I couldn’t get the pill to push out through to the foil background. I got out a small scissor and cut around the pill.
Last night while watching television and sitting at the dining room table, the labor of love ensued. It took me quite some time to tackle the project of getting 60 pills cut loose to put in a pill bottle for Dennis.
I thought to myself, how dumb was this latest move from a drug company. If there had been another 80 plus person living on their own, realizing a scissor was needed to access a pill, those pills could easily be shaved down to a less than metered amount of the drug that was needed. It took me very carefully getting the pills to pop out of the protective covering. Mission completed. The gal at Lewis Drug told Dennis that this way of packaging prescription is on the horizon.
Today is cold. Today I spent some good time in the studio. It felt like my home sweet home.
This evening, we are having Johnsonville Beef brats and pork and beans for supper, giving the kitchen a feel of summertime . . . maybe.
The sun is so bright today. If I don’t look at the temps, I would think spring has begun. Not so fast!
This weekend has a cold snap planned that should and would keep everyone safe and sound within their own homes. Not even brand new vehicles are hardy enough to ensure safety in the bitter cold. This would be a home sweet home weekend. The strong winds of today are making travel risky north of us. Amanda at the sewing shop in Bird Island, closed the shop due to road conditions.
Last night we had a sampling of our hearty beef soup out of the ever humble crock pot. It was tasty. The carrots, potatoes, and green beans were tender and the perfect addition. I was happy I did not add the celery. Celery really overtakes in the flavor department. After supper out came my containers for putting a bit of this tastiness into the freezer. We will have a second helping of this soup this evening and then move on for supper fare for the weekend.
This morning I was pumped to get into the studio. I had previously everything cut for a log cabin pattern in the hues of tan to brown. I stitched six inches and all stopped. I began checking out the electrical aspects. Sure enough the box on the post in the center of the room had no life. I double checked the power strip that had been connected to it. It worked fine when I plugged in across the room to that existing box.
At noon I called our electrician, Dale. Dale will be over next week and we will be back in service. The box that went kaput has the old fabric covered wiring going to it. Better to be safe than sorry. Much depends on those items that I expect to work when a switch is flipped. I do have the two most important items, the sewing machine and the iron, rigged to work until next week. Nothing running across the walkways on the floor. I have until next week to check over the studio to see where extra boxes would be needed.
Life is always open for challenges. I do like the fact that self reliance serves me well.
Yippee! The sun is out. It may have started our day at zero this morning, but the sun has power.
Today I had a treat for myself. I went to First Avenue Styles here in St. James for a pedicure. Hats off to Maria in buying the shop and doing a total remodel, including putting in three pedicure chairs. Sweet indeed to have such a great service available just blocks up the street.
We are on the last leg of our beef soup. I did two cups of carrot rounds and two cups of diced fresh green beans and added to the crock pot before I had to leave for my pedicure. While I was gone, Dennis peeled five potatoes and had them in cold water, waiting for me to dice them when I got home. It sure does smell good in the kitchen.
Doing the incision dressing every day is going well. The worse part is getting the foot situated as it needs to be in the Velcro boot. Five different 2″ wide straps to fit into buckles to tighten makes for a total workout. We can do it!
I don’t have a cold, but my nose doesn’t know that. It thinks it can drip at will, and . . . it does.
I looked at the calendar and we are off the clock with appointments until February 7th. Now that is great incentive to keep that foot incision done daily for healing.
Not really gale force winds, but it is howling in our huge evergreen. According to the news, the snow blowing across the highways south and west of us is to be reckoned with.
Dennis got clearance yesterday for being mobile. No lifting, pushing or pulling that would cause the legs to put pressure on the foot. That sounded good to both of us. This morning he went to the courthouse to purchase new tabs for his little red pickup and to mail some letters.
I am making good on the quest to make some hearty beef soup. I had a beef roast in the freezer that has now been cubed and is in the crock pot. It will stay on the low setting until the cubes are tender to the taste. A bit of beef broth can’t hurt.
Tomorrow, the potatoes will be peeled and cubed along with carrots cut into rounds. Can’t have beef soup without diced onions that have been sautéed. Frozen green beans will be diced, and who knows what else will find its way into the crock pot.
We did enjoy Herring for lunch. Lena was big in making her own herring to be enjoyed. The fellows would catch Perch and that fish was just the right size for canned herring. Lena and her brother Melvin, that lived on the radar site north of Duluth, always were sharing fish recipes. Nothing ever went to waste.
A fair amount of dust bunnies were captured today. There is a certain spot in the living room where, with the help of the forced air furnace, it is likely to capture the limit.
A bit of snow is in the forecast. Dennis commented that at this point we already have had 50″ which would amount to our over all winter season.
We have done the daily dressing of Dennis’ incision and I believe I am going to sit in my bedroom porch and read a bit while also watching some traffic.
It is 3:45 on this Tuesday and we are home from the medical appointment.
Today we met with Luke Madsen’s second in command on the surgical team. Jody said the incision looks clean and good. 
No stitches pulled through . . . a good indication that Dennis has followed instructions. No stitches come out of this. They will dissolve on their own. The incision needs to stay dry and that calls for changing once a day. Our bodies are mostly water and after a surgery of this type, it will weep at the site. The boot is worn 24/7.
We picked up supplies for the wound care, so that won’t be an issue.
As a treat, we had lunch at Perkins. We had not done that in ever so long. I picked up items to make some beef soup at Hy-Vee. I also scored Herring in Wine sauce. It was priced at $4.99 for a pint. I picked up two pints. It is an excellent source of protein. I remember Lena buying Herring in the Super Value store in Hutchinson out of a huge wooden barrel back by the meat counter. There was a ladle hanging on the side of the barrel . . . help yourself and the container was then weighed.
As we have had a main meal of the day, we agreed to having a dish of ice cream later on. Wow, two treats in one day.
Now at four in the afternoon, the sun wants to come out . . . but not trying very hard. We will take whatever we get!
We are thrilled to be home with good news on the medical side of things.
The news at noon said the sun had been out for a short time this forenoon, but I missed it. I had gone into the studio and tidied up after the segment of putting zippers into the pant legs of several pair of Dennis’ pants. There is a spot for everything and when everything is in its place . . . all goes so much better. It is comparable to the tools needed in a repair shop. If put back when finished with it . . . it will always be able to be found.
My patient is doing well. Last night when I dressed the incision, the wound was dry to the touch. No stitches have been pulled out. When I was done, there was plenty of padding for protection before setting the foot back in the boot and Velcroing it in. No rubbing of any sort! Dennis has been very cooperative. This morning he asked if he could pick up Dwayne for coffee. Dwayne no longer drives and was tickled to death. They picked up coffee in the drive through and drove around the community. No harm, no foul. There was very little activity, other than stepping into the little red pickup and then stepping out again.
This morning I checked out the picket fence. Dennis thinks two bucks got into a tussle with one jumping the fence, getting its hoof caught. The bucks have shed their antlers at this time of the year, so it was hard to tell who was what. We are down one picket. As luck would have it, we have an extra picket in the garage. Plenty of time for a repair this spring.
Happy Monday everyone.
Yesterday I thought was Sunday. Hmm. Basically, I do stay on track 99.9% of the time.
Yesterday Dennis took my camera to the patio porch and Dennis did score a great photo of a deer feeding just on the other side of the sliding patio door. I went out for a bit to see if more would be coming to join in for some shell corn.
I sent the photo to Megan, Nicholas and Kevin’s. I received swift replies on all accounts.
We came in about 4:30 thinking all the traffic on Stauffer Avenue had scared the deer away until after dark. I was putting supper on at five and I glanced through the bathroom window. Oh my gosh, talk about a feeding frenzy. Dennis has decided he would try again this evening to see if a photo could capture a crowd of deer coming for corn.
The frost has been on the trees all day. Though a wonderous sight, it does make me wonder if the frost and the fog has made the roadways a bit slick.
I took a vacation day and have done squat. I do have wound dressing to do before supper. This will be ongoing for some time. I cannot complain about doing it, as I am thrilled the patient is as good as he is. I am not sure how many I could vouch for that might have gone through the same thing.
Perhaps maybe tomorrow I will have a bit of spunk.
I hope all is well wherever you are.
How dark can the clouds make it?
Dennis is on a mission. He is sitting in his rocking chair in the patio porch with my cell phone, primed to capture a photo of the deer when they come to eat. They come within two feet of the sliding patio doors. Time will tell.
We needed some protein for noon lunch. A batch of egg salad sounded good to both of us. I always make mine with a hefty amount of diced onions. Good grief. I had five white eggs and one brown egg to boil. The white eggs were a pick here, a pick there to get the shells off. Dastardly job. The brown egg peeled in a heartbeat. In the end it was all worth the effort.
I had planned on a visit to the studio. Truth to tell, my hands were weary enough that I scrapped that idea. For all the effort, it was tempting to go to the store for a container of herring, also good protein.
We will be doing an encore of the oven meal for supper. I just love leftovers.