Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 3:06 pm on August 11, 2021 Permalink  

  We Are On It 

  Dennis has been on target today.  Yesterday I threw out a thought or two for a storage idea for my stash of fabrics.  Today he made a trip to the Fleet and Farm store.  There will be one more step to complete tomorrow.  Time will tell.

  After a very busy day yesterday, I took time to sit in the west house porch and do a bit of traffic watching.  The back can buck . . . so why not play to it until it feels like cooperating.

  The internet is a wealth of knowledge when I seem to be short of it.  Some of the fabric I was given yesterday was a poly/cotton.  I needed more information going forward to make use of it.  It is durable, can be somewhat more so than 100% cotton.  Poly/cotton does not shrink . . . also good to know.  In quilting with it, do not mix with any other type of fabric or blend of fabric.  Also good to know.   I am not a fabric snob in thinking that only one designer or widely known designers and their collections of fabrics need to be purchased and thus used.  Paying $10.98 and up to 12.98 per yard need not be the norm.

  I come from a time when the back of shirts and blouses were saved as options for use in quilting.  Printed chicken feed sacks were used.  What amazes me is that quilts using fabrics such as these had stood the test of times.  I have quilts that my grandmother and mother made using fabric that was purchased in a Ben Franklin store.  They have been used and abused and made it through laundering only getting softer each time.  

  My mom, Lena, had a favorite quilt pattern, Trip Around the World.  I dug out my pattern of it today . . . as I can’t stay out of the studio for an entire day.  My wheels are spinning.  I can envision a sweet quilt top coming forth and I have just the sewing machine to quilt them.

  If I manage a quilt or two from this newly acquired stash, I know I will find homes for them.  In the mean time, I will be keeping an ear out if there is someone to share this fabric with.  The more stitches, the merrier.

   
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  Noreen 1:40 pm on August 10, 2021 Permalink  

  Perfect Timing 

  Yesterday’s tidying the studio was perfect timing.  Today I went to Fairfax.  Kevin’s Garage was as if there had been some tidying going on their as well.  It’s difficult when the seller has lived his whole life dragging his feet and now it was time for the bear to do it in the buckwheat . . . and clear out the old for the new owner.  Hat’s off Kevin and Kersten.

  I popped in on Kersten at Casey’s.  Just as I was leaving the parking lot was filling in for some lunch fare.  Busy, busy.

  Dennis and I processed some sweet corn this afternoon that Kevin had sent home.  There will be good digs in the freezer this winter.

  I had wanted to take care of some fabric I acquired this afternoon, but the corn came first.  I have a hard time turning down fabric that is new and waiting to be made into something that can bring warmth to family or a donation.  The honey pot of this gift was the 100% flannel.  I prefer backing quilts with flannel.  Sister-in-law Jo taught me that trick.  The quilt doesn’t shift and slide off of the bed with flannel like it does with woven cotton. Dennis is going to help me find a spot in the studio for it.  Dennis is a pushover to help when there is one of his favorite supper dishes coming.  He definitely knows where his bread, spread with apricot jam, is buttered.

  The air is sultry outside and it will take some time for the kitchen to cool off from blanching corn.  It is small potatoes compared to all the canning I have under my belt from decades past.  If there was an empty fruit jar, we were not done processing anything from pickles to every type of small vegetable that grew in our huge garden.  After the potatoes were dug, even the tiny ones found themselves in a jar.  They were perfect for a quick slice as fried potatoes.  

  That era of my life was the best ever.  A farm wife that could milk a cow, clean a manure gutter, throw silage from the top rung and butcher a chicken in five minute flat.  And . . . I had a sewing studio in those days as well.  There is so much to enjoy in those memories.

   
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  Noreen 1:50 pm on August 9, 2021 Permalink  

  Good Intentions 

  Headed into the studio with good intentions of working with the sashing. the strips of fabric in between quilt blocks, of a quilt top.  

  I looked at the partially empty carton of bottled water and decided they might as well be put in the refrigerator.  Out to the garbage can with the carton.  What once had been a huge cardboard box was now a flattened piece of carboard. It went out to the recycling bin.  Thus it went . . . from one small item of organization to another.  I had not seen anything that was out of place for . . . months.  It was as if someone had given me a clean pair of eye glasses today.

  At about twelve noon, I found my way to the church tables and a length of fabric.  After cutting three lengths of 3.5 wide sashing . . . I realized that was enough for now.  Pressing down on the rotary cutter for the 27″ long cut did not sit well with my sternum that is working overtime to knit itself back together.  I did piece, pin and sew in place what I had cut and then went back to some cleaning in the studio.

  I have burned up most of the afternoon by piddling.  The last endeavor was taking the sewing machine down to its interior to allow for a good cleaning, oiling and putting in a new needle.  I will be ready when the lights come on the next time.  

  Dennis just came home from the commercial laundry up town.  The huge double layer knotted polar fleece blanket of his needed freshening up.  I know putting that in our domestic washer would have been asking for trouble.  We may have had a lot of ninety degree days, but when Dennis naps in his recliner, yup, the polar fleeces with all the hand tied knots is pulled into service.

  So has this day gone by.  Nothing urgent got done but . . . enough in my studio that I do feel good for having traded a day of my life for a studio that got tided and organized, that will greet me another day.  The “another day” always spurs enthusiasm when all is in its place and I can pick up right where I need to be in a project.  Sweet.  Good intentions . . . don’t talk about it . . . be about it.

   
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  Noreen 1:35 pm on August 8, 2021 Permalink  

  Small Amount of Rain 

  A small amount of rain is better than nothing . . . but not by much.  It may have dusted off the leaves.

  Today was play day for me.  Dennis napped and in the quiet of the day, I was in the studio.  This is August!  The 2021-2022 school year is in the near future.  This will be Megan’s senior year! I have been working on a quilt for her for a long time.

  In the fall of 2020, I was planning and scheming with only a small start with the embroidery.  I had chosen the collection of “Words of Wisdom.”  Each block with a colorful design and a tidbit of wisdom would be the body of the quilt.  I had been listening as to what was Megan’s favorite color for the moment.  That may very well change over time.  Not a huge concern.

  Today was the day to get them all trimmed to 7″x 9″ for the process to continue.  This is not going to be a huge quilt, though at this time, I, myself, do not have any final dimensions.  The width of fabric that I put the blocks together with and the width of the borders on all four sides of the project will tell the rest of the story.  I wanted something that could be rolled up, balled up and head out to college with her.  College . . . slow down the clock.

  I didn’t stick with the studio nonstop.  I took breaks with cold coffee and a book at the dining room table.  Taking breaks is the key to any success I hope to achieve.

  The new week brings with it . . . no appointments.  Rare indeed.  It may allow me to take a short trip out of town on my own.  I do have choices.  To the south is the Old Alley Quilt Shop to check out fabrics.  To the North is a trip to Kevin’s Garage, where there is already fabric waiting for me to take home.  Time will tell.

  The rain showers are over with.  Not nearly enough.  Take it the way it falls.

   
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  Noreen 4:24 pm on August 7, 2021 Permalink  

  “Uncle” 

  It is Five on a Saturday and I am saying “uncle.”  The Riebe cousins, second and third cousins, had a great day in the village of Darwin.

  My mother was one of eight children.  Seven of those families were represented there today.  My uncle Bill’s daughter, Arlene, has passed away.  There was enough food for an army.  I don’t think an army would have been nearly as noisy.  Laughter amid a lot of talk . . . can’t beat it.

  On the way home we could have dropped in to see family.  Sorry Kevin, I was too weary to have fully enjoyed a visit with you and Kersten.  We left home at nine this morning and five o’clock on the nose this afternoon we were home.  I believe this was the longest outing for me this calendar year.  It was priceless.  The picnic shelter had a mild breeze blowing through all day.  The soft seats of the car on the ride home felt wonderful.  

  As we drove the two hour drive, it was interesting to see where there were rain puddles.  In relationship to the miles, the puddles were few and far in between.  We have had showers on two occasions that didn’t even register in the gauge.

  It’s time for me to settle in for the night.  There will be so many different conversations going through my mind.  Dennis would mingle with others different than I did today and it was fun to compare notes as we drove home.  

  All that I have left to say is “uncle.”

   
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  Noreen 2:47 pm on August 6, 2021 Permalink  

  Friday With Saturday’s Chores 

  Tomorrow we are going to a family gathering from my mom’s side of the family.  There were eight siblings.  I have many Riebe cousins.  Many of them stayed in the Litchfield area.  We are getting together in Darwin at the city park, we try to do it once a year.  It has been a year that I am sure has brought many changes to many.

  Tomorrow would have been bedding laundry day.  We had that whipped out today, Friday, by twelve noon.  Chased a few dust bunnies as well.  Nothing worse than coming home from a day of play to feel behind the eight ball of what is waiting to be done.

  A dish to pass was all that was requested for tomorrow.  After kicking that around for several days, I decided on cooked rice done with milk and sugar.  Everyone from this group grew up on it.  When cooled, a sprinkle of cinnamon tops it.  

  I dug out the double boiler kettle.  I didn’t have the whole milk that works the best, so I opened a can of Carnation milk.  I knew I could add 2% to it and have it turn out great.  I had forgotten how long it takes when you use one and a half cups of rice.  The long grain rice takes a long slow time.  We are now coming to the two and a half hours and it has been put into a bowl for cooling.  We are two hours away from the gathering and it will travel well.  This will be a long day for me, but I sure am looking forward to getting out of Dodge.  I will rest up later.

  When I have been really hungry for the rice pudding, I have bought a small container in the grocery store deli department.  Silly me.  It’s watery and an insult to the rice pudding.

  The worst part of preparing this dish is the cleanup of the top portion of the double boiler.  It does help to put some water into the top and allow the bottom to continue boiling.  The steam process does help.

  I couldn’t leave the kitchen for fear I would forget to add milk to the rice.  I boiled some egg noodles, chopped up an onion and browned a pound of ground beef.  I had bought some of the Better Than Bullion in the grocery store.  It comes in a small jar and has a jelly type consistency.  It needs to be refrigerated after opening.  I had either the roasted onion or the roasted garlic.  I used two tablespoons of the garlic and stirred that into the hot meat mixture.  Aroma . . . spot on.  I then called upon Dennis as to how to top it off.  His decision was the white Alfredo sauce.  We are now having a dish reminiscent to Beed Stroganoff.  No veggies this time.  Supper has been planned and only needs oven time.

  I know after supper and I have showered for the day . . . I will be off the clock.  

  In regard to the studio:  my household chores come first in any day.  If I have gotten done what the home requires, that is when I take the steps to the studio.  In time, the first floor items will be accomplished in less time as my stamina improves and then . . . watch out!

   
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  Noreen 2:10 pm on August 5, 2021 Permalink  

  Farming 101 

  Yesterday after Dennis had attended his Korean veterans luncheon, Dennis went shopping.  Look out Menards . . . he meant business.  Watching the farm channel, all sorts of ideas can be implanted into the subconscious.

  When Dennis came home he needed just a bit of help balancing a box that needed to be unloaded into the garage.  My goodness, it was large enough to be a coffin.  We now have a sweeper to pull behind the riding mower.  Dried grass, small twigs, leaf tips and Black Walnuts . . . all swept up for a tidy yard.  It took most of the morning for assembly.  I was on hand for a live demonstration this afternoon.  It did all that was claimed.  Running over the walnuts takes a toll on the mower blades.  Dennis will have one spot where he will pull the cord to empty it.  The squirrels will need to bring their shopping cart as the pickings will be quite easy.  One stop shopping. The acre looked as if it had indeed been swept.  Good job for improving the homestead.  A new machine addition can make an ordinary task have new life breathed into it.

  I got a text that the stitching group from Mankato is alive and has made it through the covid lockdowns.  Next week they will be heading out to Lacrosse Wisconsin for a full day of quilt shops and lunch.  I will be passing on this jaunt. It’s a bit too early for me to make a long day of it.  There will be other events to enjoy with the group.

  A clinic appointment this afternoon with a Cardiologist from Mankato was interesting in regard to what is usual and customary after heart surgery.  Come to find out, I am right in the ball park of statistics.  The weariness that befalls me in the late afternoon is the body telling me . . . enough.  “Listen to your body, it does not mislead you.”  I have one clinic visit left this month and that is with our family doctor, who has been pushed back with all the specialty doctors.

  It feels so right to be back in the rut here on Stauffer.  There is no place like it.

  I am going to monitor some of the commercials on RFD.  Our one acre has all the equipment it needs.

   
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  Noreen 2:34 pm on August 4, 2021 Permalink  

  Today is August 4th, 2021 

  Today, I realized in hindsight, that I have missed the ball. 3,000 posts ago, I should have printed out my first posting.  It sure would have been an interesting read.  Since that first post, how the words have tumbled out of me.  It may have been as many as eight years ago.

  When Kevin first suggested a blog, I don’t think I knew what that was.  After Kevin had set it up, I was totally out of my element.  Taking photos with my camera was one thing.  Creating folders, resizing them, labeling them, placing them in various galleries, were all parts necessary to download for viewing as a part of the blog.  There were emails sent asking for clarification more times than once.  This old gal had serious doubts.

  I have taken breaks in posting from time to time while recovering from surgeries and life events.  So . . . why do I continue.  It is basically a diary.  Do I need to know if it is read by others?  Not really.  There was an option of receiving comments and feedback.  It didn’t take long I asked Kevin to remove that option.  How less than desirable people even found it by happen stance was unbelievable.  

  Putting down thoughts and feelings each day is healing.  I can let go of that which I have no control of.  Reading what I have put down the day after, allows me to puzzle through and find solutions in my thoughts, my words and my deeds that are so close but elude me.  Hard to explain but it works for me. 

  My mind is quick and Dennis’ is not.  Mine is like a rapid firing AK-47 gun.  Dennis’ is like a cork gun.  When I need to explain something to him, I hope for a quick response, it’s not forth coming.  The blog is akin to me talking to myself and getting a solid answer.

  What I enter each day is only sharing who I am and what I am . . . a hermit enjoying a very satisfying life with few bells and whistles.  See ya next time.

   
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  Noreen 1:53 pm on August 3, 2021 Permalink  

  Had to Try It 

  Dennis left home this morning for the coffee clutch at MC Donald’s.  I left home to visit a friend that I had just learned was in a swing bed in the nursing home here in town, due to having a stroke.  How could I not go to lend support.

  When I found her room, I knocked and then stepped in.  Leora looked at me and I was invited in.  It took me a short minute to realize she didn’t know who I was.  I took  a chair and made small talk winding the conversation to what may have brought me to visit.  Leora doesn’t know what, why or when anything has happened.  She did say how nice it was to have company.  For the next hour we reminisced about a time long ago when she grew up on a farm in Nebraska.  I was so thankful I knew enough about Leora that I could visit right along with her about farming experiences.  Never once did her current circumstances come into the conversation.  I said my goodbyes and she said I could stop in any time and perhaps the next time she would have some fresh cookies.

  Wow!  What an eye opening visit that I had had with a now, perfect stranger.  I will follow up with her daughter as to what may lie ahead for Leora and possible recovery.  Leora walked every day with her small dog, BJ, and had a wonderful balanced life . . . just as I have now.

  When I got home, the lights went on in the studio.  I had a grateful attitude.  With YouTube running. I had to try one more twist on incorporating miters with fabrics that I had leftover from the tablecloth.  When I stub my toe on projects that don’t want to gel, it sits in the back of the white matter until I find the solution.  Yesterday had been a day that I knew I should not have even turned on the studio lights.  Today, a new day with a better outlook.  I have decide that this 13″ x 13″ finished item could hold a centerpiece in the center of the solid blue of the tablecloth.  I did learn a sweet technique to finish off putting a border on any size of fabric using miters.

  Seeing the day through the eyes of my friend, brought me up short.  Life with challenges is sweet when I realize with thankfulness the arsenal of recovery, grace and patience God has put within me.

   
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  Noreen 2:11 pm on August 2, 2021 Permalink  

  Patience and Grace 

  Patience and Grace can be a little short sometimes . . . in me.

  The studio is much like a bunker with concrete on all sides and the floor.  It’s the egress that can let out some sounds unbecoming to . . . anyone.

  After I had attempted a new project today by reading in one of my quilting books and running a YouTube video over and over, I went out to visit Dennis in the patio porch.  Dennis was taking a well deserved break from mowing the acre.

  I needed to vent in regard to my proficiency or better yet . . . my lack of it with my left arm and hand.  Dennis looked at me with the puppy dog look he can pull off with his brown eyes.  The comment I got back was “If you weren’t so Goddamn bullheaded and stubborn you wouldn’t be able to do half of what most people that have had a stroke can.  I watch you and have to remind myself what you have been through.”  Bless his heart.  Yup!  I am bullheaded and stubborn enough for the both of us.  

  I am not about to give in or give up.  My middle name is Laura, after my paternal grandmother.  She was basically evicted from her lifelong farm by a greedy son. Laura started her new life being wheelchair bound in a mobile home that my dad and his brother Lester remodeled for her.  She had her trusty treadle sewing machine and the will to make a new home for herself.  Grandma did a bang up job of it.  She was back to baking cookies, bread and pies, all from the height that her wheelchair would allow.  Kevin and Carrie both have a small puff quilt that was made under the needle of her treadle machine while living in her new home.  They each also have an African (that’s what Grandma heard when the word afghan was said) . . . Priceless. What a namesake that I have been blessed with.

  I plan on working hard to fill those shoes of her’s.  I am going to have bumps in the road ahead of me.  A long as I stay upright and breathing I am in it for the long haul.

  Tomorrow is a new day and I have made sure to write down the YouTube title as it is going to be viewed again . . . until I get it and the patience and the grace.