Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 3:01 pm on February 1, 2022 Permalink  

  A Team Effort 

  Today June and I had a date out at the Lewis Pharmacy.  We had been talking about it for some time and today was the day for us to get our Shingles shot.  We had procrastinated long enough.

  I had Shingles the year after I retired . . . 2010.  It started like an itch on my left arm.  Within 24 hours, I was in pain 24/7.  Even with a formidable tolerance for pain, this kicked my butt in my awake hours and in trying to sleep.  The open blisters that weep do not feel good with anything touching them.  They didn’t feel any too good being naked either. It remains a virus within us during our adult lives that invaded during chicken pox as a child.

  It took me back to our Boon Lake farming days when Orlin had Shingles in the dead of winter.  Both Carrie and Kevin were small and tried hard to be busy and quiet in their play.  I needed that as there were livestock chores to be done.  We no longer had milk cows, but we did young stock as well as having sows that were farrowing.  Many trips from barns to the house.  There had been something akin to clear nail polish that needed to be painted on the Shingles blisters that was to seal them and not let the weeping spread.  Believe me, I was thrilled when Raymond and Lena came over to keep the kids busy while Orlin was upstairs in bed.  We made it through the worst of the first two weeks.  After that it took some time for Orlin to regain overall strength.  It was a good thing Orlin had sick leave from the shift work at 3M in Hutchinson.

  Shingles effects the nerves in the area of the Shingles outbreak . . . mine was the left arm and left shoulder.  Some damage can remain and is called postherpetic neuralgia.  I went on to have reverse shoulders in both the right and left.  The stroke hit on the left side.  All in all the left arm shows resilience in my now . . .  day-to-day life.

  Our insurance does not cover the vaccine shot for Shingles.  WTF!  I gladly plunked down the $200 this morning.  Within 2 to 6 months the second shot for shingles needs to be administrated for an additional $200.  Again, I will willingly do.  Dennis has had his given to him at the VA clinic here in town.

  Considering how all encompassing Shingles are, I would encourage anyone over 50 to get the shots.  It takes one down for several weeks.

  When June and I had sat for the 10 minute timeout at Lewis’ we went to her apartment for coffee and banana bread.  We, the Shingles team, called it a good day.

   
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  Noreen 4:32 pm on January 31, 2022 Permalink  

  Road Trip 

  Today was a road trip to New Ulm as my car needed an oil change.  As I have an extended warranty, it is a good feeling to have it go through a once-over.

  I stopped at Hy-Vee on my way out of town.  I wish we had one closer, not that 35-40 minutes is that far.  The price at Hy-Vee is so much less than our grocery store.  We are thankful to still have a grocery store as that is more than some small towns.  When our business takes us to New Ulm or Mankato . . . why not purchase the groceries we are in need of.

  When I got home I chatted with my main advisor on what the car garage had on their tick list.  Kevin knows an automobile from exterior front turn signal to tail pipe.  I feel secure going forward with my new used car.  It is a 2012 model, but most take it for a much newer.

  Dennis had a check up at the VA clinic here in town.  He also had a good checkup as to his INR level . . . the blood clotting indicator.  There is a prescription med that is now the latest and greatest . . . also very expensive that would not be covered under the Well Care that we have to cover our prescriptions.  Once a month Dennis has such an appointment which is five minutes from home.  He is comfortable as he has stated many times, it’s like a mini physical.  Can’t beat the level of security that that brings to the ole cowboy.

  This last calendar year, we had $129.00 out of pocket for Dennis’ meds.  Even with the stroke and heart surgery that I had in 2021, my out of pocket was $89.00.  Our coverage via our policy was $15.00 per month for each of us.  This year, 2022, the policy is $10.00 per month for each of us.  We know we are very fortunate to be in relative good health.  I have stood in line many times in the pharmacy and the individual in front of me has been handed a small bag after laying down several hundred dollars. 

  Dennis drove me to the customer UPS depot and the latest Trettin Christmas stocking will be at rural Stewart tomorrow.  Other than a new grandchild, I should be off the hook for additional stockings for a time.  I will keep the additional fabrics on the back burner.

   
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  Noreen 3:20 pm on January 30, 2022 Permalink  

  Sundays 

  Sundays are not like they used to be.  

  Decades ago when the fare for a Sunday afternoon didn’t have any big plans, there was always a plan “B.” My parents lived several sections to the southwest.  We were on the same telephone exchange and a short phone call allowed for the coffee pot to be put on whether I was headed there or if the folks were coming over.  Even though my sister meant a long distance phone call, it was worth it to see if that was a chance for a visit on a Sunday.  She was a five minute drive and most of that time was spent on their one mile long driveway.  If I had struck out with mom and my sister, it was not out of the question to pack up the kids and visit their grandmother in Hector, perhaps fifteen miles away.  Sundays were meant for chitchatting.

  Hmm.  All those options are now gone.  I feel the loss.  Dennis’ family members are not great chitchatters.

  Left on my own today, I decided to tidy up the laminate flooring in the house with my mighty little shop vac.  The Filter Queen vacuum is the studio’s go to for tidy, tidy.  It is too cumbersome for going up and down steps.  Since the hardwood floor Swiffers have been updated, they aren’t worth the trouble.  They pick up little.  New improved . . . they are not.  Dennis helped with pushing everything around, so the total area could be done in the living room and both bedrooms.  Taking the last bit of breakfast coffee when we were done, I did have to comment how thankful I was that we have no carpeting and that we have a tiny home.  I know that heavy furniture would get moved once in a blue moon and the amount of dust bunnies we found today under the furniture would have been the same volume, just growing month by month.

  Dennis wandered to the patio porch and I stirred up a stroganoff for two with some of the pork roast from last night.  Having the evening meal nailed, the next stop was the studio for several hours. 

  The way the first minutes went, I questioned if I should stay at it or not.  The first mistake was that I had not tightened the ratchet on the embroidery hoop.  Floating fabric is not a good thing.  The next item to stop the machine was . . . I had not put the bobbin into the machine.  I must say after that, the stitching went well.

  Sunday evenings have several good programs on the PBS stations.  I will be planted in my chair after the supper dishes are done.

   
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  Noreen 2:25 pm on January 29, 2022 Permalink  

  A Saturday 

  My plans today were to give the bathroom and kitchen a lick and a promise.  With our forever home being in the tiny house category, it doesn’t take much to be out of place and it screams “Clean me!”  I got with the program.

  Dennis and his friend Dwayne went for coffee.  It was just what Dennis needed . . . getting out and about and not dwelling on what he couldn’t change . . . his foot.  No doubt he would love to put on a shoe and move some older snow around.  That isn’t going to happen for some time.

  I had put together a grocery list for the late forenoon and right now the kitchen is letting me know, I had made good choices.  There is a pork shoulder roast in my mom’s blue speckled enameled oblong roaster with a sliced onion, baby carrots and two large peeled potatoes snuggled in along side for the roasting process.  We have not had a treat like this in a long time.  Dennis had offered a tuna pasta dish but nothing beats a total meal in a blue speckled enameled oblong roaster.  Set at 300 degrees for a long afternoon in the oven . . . tasty.

  When Dennis got home this noon, he decided to get the vehicles washed this afternoon.  The streets are dry for now and getting the salt residue off is a good thing.  Both his pickup and my car may well be the last vehicles we need to own.  I hope so.

  My brother called today.  As he is cleaning some items after Lois’ passing, he had to fly some things past me.  The Bernina sewing machine shop in Decorah must have seen Lois coming.  Calvin had found ump-teen attachments still in sealed boxes for her machine model.  Many were at a $200.00 crack each.  Lois had not done any sewing for many years.  Calvin equated it as a man that buys tools because they are available.  Calvin has placed an ad in the Decorah paper.  Whoever decides to contact him with an offer would be reaping quite the honey pot.  

  I am not spending any amount of time in the studio today.  I did go down and prep some supplies going forward.  It always feels like a treat when I don’t have to start from scratch the next time I visit.

  May all of you relish this warm weekend.  On days such as this one, I feel as if I am missing something.  That would be the fact that I am relishing a quiet home as the furnace is not spinning the meter off of the house.

   
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  Noreen 6:25 pm on January 28, 2022 Permalink  

  An Aunt 

  What a dose of “need.”  When nephews have no moms or mother-in-laws . . . there comes the need for an aunt to pitch in.  That would be me.  Eric now has a price range to know what to sell his mom’s sewing machine for.  Larry tapped me for one more Christmas stocking to sew.  His son, Alex, brought home a girlfriend for the family to meet.  As it were next weekend there is still some Christmas to enjoy for the family and a Christmas stocking with her name on it would be just one more way of saying “Welcome to the family.”

  I don’t mind helping family out as long as family know my kids come first with my time and energies.  There will be a package at the UPS depot on Monday and arrive in rural Stewart in plenty of time.

  Dennis knew I was busy in the studio so he brought out his culinary skills.  Canned stew over mashed potatoes . . . I will take it any time.  Dishes are done and I did frost the scones that he had baked.  A very good end to a very good productive day.  On another good note, I did find the missing two pieces of the broken sewing machine needle from yesterday.  It would be just like me to forget about it and have it end up in my stocking when I would go down there for a quick errand and not have shoes on.

  Who doesn’t enjoy a break in the cold!  This weekend looks promising.  As frigid as it has been the concrete drive froze clear of snow.  

  Dennis has turned a corner with pain from his foot surgery.  I am so happy for him.  In six days we will meet with the surgeon for stitches to come out.  I have read on the Mayo Portal that the biopsied big toe has no sign of osteomyelitis, a fancy name for no infection of the bone.  That would have been big time cruel if there was another surgery right around the corner.

  We have no plans for the weekend.  I flew that past Dennis and I got no argument.  Sweet.

   
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  Noreen 4:18 pm on January 27, 2022 Permalink  

  Yesterday 

  Yesterday I got a phone call to see if I could come into the eye clinic today as Dr. Pinke wanted to visit with me in regard to the tests that he ran last week.

  Needless to say it did cause some concern.  Why would he need to speak with me!  What I was in for was images in full color of my actual eyes.  Whatever a doctor can see when they dilate your eye, I was seeing on his computer screens.  I could see the thickness of the cornea, the macular and what impact the pressure was in each eye.  The end result was that these tests were now the base-line of glaucoma going forward in each eye.  Right now there is no concern.  My left eye is stronger than my right eye.  In time to come, it may mean eye drops of some type.  In six months I will have an appointment and these same tests will be run again to see if any factors have changed.  I went home feeling much relief.

  The temps are falling just as they said they would.  I spent time in the studio this afternoon.  All went well until the thread jumped out of one of the tension disks.  What it does is called a “bird’s nest.”  Also known has a huge mess of threads under the bobbin and in this case it also broke the needle.  That hadn’t happened in a long time.  I cleaned up the mess and finished that block . . . lights out in the studio.

  We are doing Subway for supper.  A treat indeed.

   
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  Noreen 3:13 pm on January 26, 2022 Permalink  

  A Balmy Day 

  24 degrees and not much wind . . . equates to a balmy day.

  With my recently widowed brother living in Decorah, Iowa, there is not much I can do to help.  I have kept in touch with him as well as his son, Eric, that lives near Duluth.  The one item that neither one of them knew what to do about, was Lois’ Bernina sewing machine.  I asked them for the serial number and the code number on the back of it.

  This morning I reached out to Kelly at Creative Stitches in Bird Island.  He was able to tell me the sewing machine was new in October of 2011.  I then went online and found a site of Bernina sewing machine reviews.  It could well bring from $1,500 to $1,900.  When I relayed the information to Eric, I told him my homework was done and put it into his hands to work with his dad.  

  Today was intended that I would spend time at my friend June’s apartment for coffee.  We had not gotten together since before Christmas.  It is her first winter out of her home where she had been for decades with her husband.  Now a widow, it is quite the change with no concerns over winter weather.  We caught up with each other in fine fashion.  It felt good to get out of the house other than for doctor appointments.

  Dennis decided to follow suit and meet up with his friend Lyle for afternoon coffee.  I know it will do Dennis good to take his bandaged foot out and about.

  When the two of us meet up for supper, we are having a creamed chicken dish with baking powder biscuits.  Something a bit different for the two of us.  It is one of the “take and bake” dishes from Hy-Vee that I had picked up a while ago and had stashed in the freezer.  I cut the contents in half and returned one half of it back to the freezer.

  It will be a treat if tomorrow is as nice as today.

   
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  Noreen 3:11 pm on January 25, 2022 Permalink  

  In the Cold 

  When Dennis came in at noon he said he had tried.  He had tried to let a big yellow kitty into the porch to get it in out of the frigid cold.  It would not come in.  Dennis just felt so bad for it.  It may have a hideaway where it takes refuge, let’s hope so.

  Our three kitties don’t even sit in front of the patio porch doors.  They are tucked into their baskets.  Harriet and Snuggles curl up together into one tight ball.  Honey Bunny is up in the rafters of the pickup garage.  She is no one’s fool.  Heat rises from the furnace Dennis has going.

  Ironically, Dennis’ daughter, the nurse, in Mankato is home for five days with covid.  Her twin sister in Silver Bay, northern Minnesota, works in a VA health facility, is also home with covid.  Go figure.

  Dennis is doing better each day.  Keeping busy on a slow scale allows for less thought on the discomfort of the foot.  It does work.  He got the ice knocked off of the furnace vent.  Yippee, we will continue being warm and snug in our home.  Staying busy . . .  I would be speaking from experience.

  It is mid afternoon and the studio is closed for the day.  Closing it down is the best way to take a break before I mess something up.  Tomorrow is another day.  I would have thought that the dream I had last night, the project would have been done.  Two of my stitchers were at our home with me in the studio.  Wishful thinking.

  I checked with Dennis.  We are good for one more night, the last night, of the bean and ham soup.  Nothing warms the innards like hearty soup.

   
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  Noreen 4:03 pm on January 24, 2022 Permalink  

  Sunny and Bright 

  I keep my eyes on the sunny yard and not on the temps.  If I don’t dwell on it, this too shall pass.

  Grandson Ryan is over today to use the snowblower to clean up around doorways, recycling and garbage bins.  After that, the big red bow will be coming off of the front door.  That will be the official end to all things Christmas.

  Bean and ham soup is going to be tasty for supper.  I might say that the studio can be a bit chilly on days such as this.  Good shoes on the feet takes care of leg cramps.

  I do have reading material for the first floor to take up some time, but my heart is in the threads and fuzz right now.  

  The first nice day I will be getting my car’s oil change done in New Ulm.  I have heard of the Sewing Seeds Quilt Shop that sounds intriguing in New Ulm.  I have no needs, so that stop is still up for debate. 

  With this winter being both of my kids’ crack at owning their own businesses . . . what a cold winter to cut their teeth on.  I believe they will be doing just fine.  All that can be done is keep chins up and take it one day at a time.

   
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  Noreen 3:43 pm on January 23, 2022 Permalink  

  The Other Shoe Fell 

  Dennis’ surgery was Friday.  Last night during the early morning hours, the other shoe fell.  I had been telling him to stay off of his feet and keep the foot up at all times.  Last night when I went to bed I commented “If you didn’t have that wooden shoe you, you would act like you never had surgery.”  Sure enough, the strong numbing solution that had been injected into the foot and around the incision site wore off.  OMG!

  We were up and as soon as possible there was a pain pill taken.  It was actually two extra strength Tylenol.  Dennis was tucked into his recliner and he slept until eleven this forenoon when the pain woke him up.  At that time a stronger pain pill was given with food.  He . . . we . . . will get through this.  Yesterday when I checked on him in the patio porch, he was in the garage getting the snowblower gassed up as he heard we would be getting measurable snow.  At that time I took the key to it as well as pulling the key from his pickup.  What a fellow.  Today he knows full well what I had been counseling on.  If the foot is kept raised there is not near the amount of blood going to the incision and the throbbing will be lessened.  

  He didn’t want his phone in his pocket as he hated the world.  I have been there and done that.  I am working with him and not fighting against him.  In between time, I am giving him space by being in the studio.  

  I had been doing some work on a project that needed a bit of concentration.  Today was a good day to dig back into it.  The block with the fireflies is stitched with those in the glass jar having a clear piece of plastic stitched over them.  The pitcher of Lemonade has three lemon circles free floating under clear plastic that has been stitched over the pitcher. It takes a bit of trimming after all has been stitched down.

  I will keep plugging away on this project as this next week we have no appointments.  Sweet.  Dennis does agree, we need to get to the bottom of medical appointments.  A very good reason to mind the “Ps” and “Qs.”