Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:26 pm on August 27, 2025 Permalink  

  Thankful 

  We are taking part in the last week of August 2025.  I am ever so thankful that we do not have breaking news on Stauffer Avenue.  Our home and our community are our places of refuge.

  Dennis looked through the last entries of a photo album I have put together.  There was a huge such album put together when Raymond and Lena celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  It was done up with padded covers front and back.  Lots of lace sewn within the seams of the white satin covering front and back.  I took the album that had yellowed with age, completely apart and salvaged a perfectly good album.  I will use some of my craft paper to cover the inside of the covers.  There had been no shortage of the use of a glue-gun to put more satin on.

  Over the years I had played around with printing off photos and surprisingly many 8 x 10s.  A re-purposed album feels so much better than either keeping it as it was or throwing it away after the photos had been taken out.  It was a choice that I had made and I feel good about it.  The 8 x 10s have a new home.

  The remaining item to be addressed is sending my nephew Eric, his families memorabilia.  It is one small task remaining for another day.  Our living room has returned to a semblance of normality.

  I am winding down on the sifting and sorting.  It was a huge project that Dennis had opted out.  He liked the end results but not the participation.  It’s kind of like partaking and having your cake and eating it also.  Nuff said.

  Well . . . actually not.  Over many years that somehow have turned to decades I have learned: When I complain I make myself a victim.  I can leave the the situation at the moment or I can change the situation of the moment.  Or . . . I can accept the situation as all else brings no resolve and I am the only one feeling less than.

  I am thankful for each and every task that I take on and can complete it to the best of my abilities.  

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:21 pm on August 26, 2025 Permalink  

  The End 

  Is there really an end when the sifting and sorting begins?  I think not.

  Today, I checked things out and we only have to keep 3-4 years of income tax forms.  Thank you!  We have several cabinets in our living room with drawers.  Yup!  Even drawers no higher than two inches can hold a lot of paper stuff.  A plastic bag next to my chair and one by one items were gone through.  

  Dennis thought all of his items were ready to hand off to his daughter Sandy . . . not so.  More photos that can trace his grandchildren from 0-present day.  Even some photos of his time in Korea.  I was very happy when he took pen in hand and put the date on them . . . 1955.  The photos gave him pause and I am sure along with memories.

  We are both pleased with our endeavors.  Do this sifting and sorting right the first time and it may not have to be repeated.  You now that is not true . . . I know that that is not realistic.

  In between time, I poke and stab a few stitches.  That time allows me to ponder what the next step is going to be and where will it be.  I was always one to keep info manuals when we bought something for possible replacement parts.  That filing cabinet in the studio is the next on my list.  I would bet money that some of the items are no longer on board here at Stauffer Avenue.  I glanced at the cabinet when I took our paperwork from yesterday down to the Harbor Freight storage container on one of the shelves.  When I snapped it shut, I couldn’t look the other way.

  Our dehumidifier has a filter screen mounted on a stainless steel frame.  There has been a lot of fuzz and threads going on in the studio.  Megan’s sewing project alone looked like a hen had been in molt.  All I needed to do was unscrew the panel holding it and take it to the sink to run water over it on the backside to flush off the stuff.  Got that done.  The next was the furnace filter.  I need to make a reminder that I put in the last replacement one.

  My day is closing and I have had a successful one.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:08 pm on August 25, 2025 Permalink  

  Monday the 25th 

  And . . . the week marches on.

  Yesterday I visited the Dollar General.  My quest was two totes of different sizes.  It took me longer to get that job done than I would have ever guessed.  Lots of totes piled up.  Just as many covers lining the shelves.  Now . . . find the correct cover for my two choices.  I do believe I may have scored the only two such couplings that was feasible.   The totes are in the house and more will be done with them on another day.  Got that done.

  Our Monday started out slow . . . perfect.  There was a list that we had left on the corner of the dining-room table yesterday before bedtime.

  We had four errands for this Monday.  Dennis drove and I navigated.  Hey . . . we don’t take our responsibilities lightly.  IBP was the first stop to fill the car with gas and for Dennis to buy a pack of cigarettes.  We have one drop-box off for mailings.  It is really inconvenient as it is on the same parking lot as the eye clinic.  Dennis shucked the VA prescription bill into the drive-up slot dodging patients pulling into the same lot for their eye doctor appointments.

  Our Pioneer bank was the next stop.  As was our fortune, I knew the young gal’s family that waited on us.  It always feels good when I can feel a connection when we need help with our personal business.  It was explained to us that though our will has been notarized, it is not a legal binding document but only used to help family decisions going forward.  Got it!  We also took care of making sure, if something happened to both of us at the same time, family would have access to our joint checking account.  I have heard horror tales that in the case I just mentioned, there were usual bills that could not be taken care of as the joint account closed.

  Our final stop was at the courthouse.  Dennis had the country radio station on and I toddled in.  I always stop in the offices where there are still some old timers working that I had worked with.  It is slim to none.  The tabs for our car needed to be picked up.  I didn’t have long to wait for an opening to be waited on.  No so for the portion of the counter where the employee was speaking Spanish and she had a long, long line of customers waiting.  Dennis put on the new tabs as soon as we got home.

  So that is our day in a nutshell.  Lots was accumulated with good feeling following.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 10:29 am on August 24, 2025 Permalink  

  A Sunday 

  It’s a Sunday of mild temps with a breeze strong enough to rattle a windchime in the northwest corner of the house.

  Today, looking out the south windows of my bedroom porch, there is activity.  The neighbor’s sunflower plants are and have been in full bloom for awhile.  The stalks are strong enough that little birds perch on the bloom for a treat.  Oh for the innocence of it all.

  My bedroom porch is a combination of eight windows and two doors.  Very little can get past me either looking out or keeping tabs on the inside of our dwelling.  Sweet.

  The grass is glistening this morning.  The sump pump is running.  Son-in-law Tom can be heard mowing the acre.  All is right with the world.

  Me?  What am I up to.   I have had a cup of coffee with some breakfast nourishment.  I am dressed with my hair combed.  I am on a roll.  My stitching is laying on the 1960s sewing table under the south windows of my bedroom porch.  The stitching is a monochromatic worked with black floss.  I usually have magnetic markers laying in the formation of a “L” so I know where I left off.  Hmm.  I didn’t do that at the last Saturday stitch.  I have been sitting here hunched over trying to discern where that “L” should have been placed . . . count, count, count.  That winds up the gray matter for the day.  All is not lost.  

  The neighborhood has a shingling job in the works.  What great temps for that kind of work.  It is a great feeling that our job jar of large projects would echo if a penny were dropped into it.

  I have soft plans for this day.  The week has met quite a few of my objectives.  The best part is that none of them will need to be repeated, done and done.  It is now on to the usual and customary.

  Oh my goodness, there are several very yellow canary type birds enjoying some sunflower seeds.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:11 pm on August 23, 2025 Permalink  

  Wonderful Air Outside 

  The shift in this fall feeling weather had Dennis geared up.  Our home’s exterior needed a bath.  Tiny cobwebs had caught all sorts of little leaf tips, bugs . . . you name it.  The process started out slowly and my job was to make sure he had the walker that he can also turn around and sit on.  I stayed out of the way, but kept an eye out.

  In between time over these last weeks, I had begun the arduous task of sifting and sorting photo memorabilia.  Dennis’ daughter Sandy was my designated Curry to take all that I came across for Dennis’ family.  I had started small books for each of the five kids.  All additional loose family photos, great grand’s school photos went into a legal sized manilla file folder.

  Right now the living room is quite busy.  I will find out my nephew Eric’s mailing address in the northern part of the state and Eric will get all that I can put together of his family’s.  I am not concerned about my brother Michael’s family as I know the photos I have of their family, is a duplicate from what his family has, that would also be true of my sister Elvera’s family.

  Now . . . that leaves the photos that I have and plan on keeping for a time of the events that I have an emotional attachment to from my 81 years.  There are the photos and memorabilia for Carrie.  There are the photos and memorabilia for Kevin.  As the stash of memorabilia from my mother landed up in my home, there are plenty of duplicates for my children and me.  

  This task has kind of haunted me for some time.  I know I already feel as if a weight has been lifted.  The weight that I felt was reminiscent to the time when my mom’s farm home and then her apartment needed decisions to be made.  I am making choices for my children and then they in turn can make their own choices.  I am not assuming anything about my choices.  If I have doubts . . . Carrie and Kevin are receiving those choices.  Share, share . . . share alike.

  In between time,  I have a meatloaf to pop in the oven for supper.  Dennis made instant mashed potatoes for last night’s supper and there are ample to heat for this evening. 

  Dennis has half of his task left for tomorrow.  It made me happy that he knew when to hold it and when to fold it . . . Just like the song-writer, Kenny Rogers.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:13 pm on August 22, 2025 Permalink  

  A Sprinkle 

  A sprinkle here and a sprinkle there.

  The quest on Stauffer Avenue continues to allow for no matter what comes down the pike, it is not to be a burden on our children.  I am not sure if the fact that I know my way around P’s and Q’s is a blessing, but it does cut out the middle man.  We sold the back garage to Dennis’ grandson and I did the deed-work that was needed to transfer the title to AJ.  The deed stated that Alex John was a grandchild and the property was stated as being a gift.  That was that.

  Yesterday and today, I worked my way through the will that Dennis and I will have notarized next week at our bank.  Dennis and I have always worked together to the betterment of each of us and we don’t plan on stopping that.  Planning needs to be accomplished.

  Who knew when Dennis and I made a home together, there would be anything that needed to plan around.  A camper refrigerator in the kitchen, a used washer, dryer and cooking range from Leverson’s in Odin complete with the hook-ups.  My, my.

  Lots of water over the dam as the decades have flittered on.  Nothing so serious that forgiveness and trust didn’t or couldn’t fix.  Stability has always been paramount with me. 

  Indirectly, my father gave me that in the home that Dennis and I built from the ground up.  How did my dad figure into this?  Raymond sat with me through all the classes I needed to qualify for the license that carried me through my employment until at the age of 65, I could retire with stability.  Dad was wise beyond his years.  Dennis and I managed to pull off the same thing that Raymond and Lena did decades earlier.  Sweet.

  I have had several good and busy days.

  The rain is still just a sprinkle.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:04 pm on August 21, 2025 Permalink  

  To Decide 

  Last night after supper has some questions about . . . stuff.  We have been very diligent about our stuff.  Stiffing, sorting . . . but not much pitched.

  This morning after we had had our coffee and Dennis had even caught a nap, we got on with the program.  First thing first.  Dennis wanted to know where our dog-tags were.  Those tags refer to the identification of a program we entered into quite a few years ago.  Dennis and I have donated our remains to the University of Minnesota Medical School.  Last year when we met with our local funeral home in the event that Jeff had passed away, in visiting, we were thanked for thinking ahead.  Medical schools appreciate donors.  Well anyway, I knew just where they were.  I need to get a bit more additional information posted on our kitchen’s bulletin board.  

  There were additional items Dennis wanted to discuss in regard to where some of our personal items would find homes.  We discussed it, we agreed on it and we shook hands.  As family members come to see us, they will be leaving with what our wishes are.

  Today I have stayed on the first floor taking in some stitching.  I had been quite busy in the studio and my hands were ready to stay limber with the stitching.  There is no hurry in my stitching.  I enjoy the process of taking one stitch at a time.  It brings me much contentment.  If I am fortune enough to finish a design, then hands off to the project.

  We haven’t decided on what our supper will be this evening.  Last night we had grilled cheese sandwiches with a cup of soup.  It was Progresso Basel Tomato Soup.  No water added.  The flavor was wonderful compared to the usual run of Campbell’s tomato soup.

  There is a bit more time for stitching this afternoon.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:11 pm on August 20, 2025 Permalink  

  A Wednesday 

  Today seemed as good of a day as any to find the bottom of the laundry basket.  Humid or hot, shed the days clothes at the end of each day and let the shower do a refreshing act.  Nothing feels as good as having clean clothing await one.  If the washer and dryer quit, I would be making sure of a one-day delivery and set-up.

  While everything was humming along on the first floor, my studio needed a tidy, tidy in the worst way.  The embroidery module will be taking a well deserved break.  My tool kit came out on the church tables and I was hunting every last bit of thread and fuzz.  When the sewing machine needle pounds away on anywhere from four to five layers in the embroidery hoop, there is chaff hiding and I mean to find it.  I am not a fan of the canned-air that can be purchased.  The last thing I need is to have threads and fuzz blown in places I can’t get to.  I have some old dental tools that Dennis had for some of his gun cleaning and repairs.  One in particular has a wicked hook on it.

  Needles are very inexpensive and I don’t shy away from replacing them . . . often.  A good needle, a bit of oil in the right places makes for a good experience the next time the studio lights come on.

  With the machine attended to, the next item on the church tables was putting away all the various spools of thread in every color imaginable.  Isacord is the brand of thread Bernina recommended when I bought the sewing machine and I have stuck with it.  The Swiss made a great sewing machine and the Germans manufacture great threads.  I store the threads away from windows.  Sun is not a good mix.  I also store them in numerical order with the tail end on each spool tucked around the base and the base then snaps holding the thread securely.  Can you imagine the mess if there were tail ends measuring in inches and stored willy-nilly.

  The next time I visit the studio, everything is in its rightful place, ready to enjoy. 

  Nicholas started school this week as a six foot tall senior.  Megan shared with us that a testing score that is used for college placement, Nicholas was short one point from the test being at 100%.  Good for Nicholas and perhaps good also for college grants.  Physics . . . I can’t put a spin on that in my real life here on Stauffer.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:55 pm on August 19, 2025 Permalink  

  Job Jars 

  I love it when I can knock off a job jar or even better . . . two.

  With all the rains, there was a small spot where the sidewalk meets the west patio right off of the garage’s service door.  That spot was now sporting thistles, nettle grasses and everything in between.

  I put on my gloves and with Dennis at my elbow, the less than good greens were tackled.  Surprising, a lot of it pulled up by the root.  My favorite hoe is one used by farm workers that work sugar beet fields.  The head is triangular with a long handle.  The closer my hands are to the end of the handle my trajectory will angle the head to slice right underneath the dirt and get at the roots.  Oh yes, it was wet dirt.  After the pile of greenery dries, it will get hefted into the garbage for next Tuesday.  There were some plants that were still showing some green and Dennis followed behind with the brush killer.

  As humid warm . . . hot that it felt outside, I was thrilled to go into the studio and work with Maria’s shop aprons.

  Everything that could go wrong was dealt with yesterday.  When Maria bought the shop on our Main Street during the covid, there was also a shop in Windom that had closed.  Maria’s husband is very handy.  The shop in Windom was called Lilly’s and done in shades of pink.  Those in Windom were thrilled. Even if it meant Lilly’s would only be open three days, Monday, Wednesday and Friday she had eager customers.

  

  Maria loves butterflies.

  Our Main Street shop was closed by the gal looking to retire, so this shop needed some spit and polish.  This shop is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

  Maria is a hard working gal that keeps her LPN license up as well as all the licensing needed for the acrylic nails.  Maria is young enough to me my daughter.  Her youngest child graduates in 2026.  Her two sons have gone on to trade schools for full time jobs.  Where they find time to purchase fixer-uppers is beyond Dennis and me . . . but they do.

  I don’t think there is much that has come easily, including moving her parents, and they are legal, from Texas to live next door to them in one of the homes they have fixed up.  How could I not do something for Maria that she never would have asked for.  The pink shop apron will be worn in Windom.  Her black shop aprons are donned here in the Main Street shop.  Doing something for someone . . . sweet.

  I didn’t count the shop aprons as a job.  I still need to do the second job and that is putting fresh bedding on . . . straight from the laundry.

   
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  Noreen 2:12 pm on August 18, 2025 Permalink  

  New Week 

  This is Monday, a new week and a new start in the studio.

  I had everything set yesterday when the lights went out in the studio.

  All that was needed this morning was a check on the outside to see if we were going to float away today.  I was up at 4:30 for a bathroom break and the lightning, thunder and rain was just beginning again.  Oh well.

  When it was all systems go, I had not counted on a bad bobbin.  As the logo was beginning, the bobbin set the screen to a total stop.  I had just filled it but I cut the threads and re-threaded the bobbin and the top black thread.  Try, try again with no success.  

  I pulled out a brand new bobbin and filled it.  Just to be on the safe side I checked if there was any bit of a thread under the hood.  After all that everything worked great.  With a computer that masks itself as a sewing machine nothing really surprises me, it just needs time to find out what is at the bottom of the issue.

  I had a reason to look in the book and I have been working with this machine since 2015.  Oh so many millions of stitches and many more to come.  I have realized that if there is a hurry notation on any project . . . forget it.  I think it’s Murphy’s Law . . . what can go wrong will.

  I am about to close the studio down for the day.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥