Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:06 pm on July 17, 2025 Permalink  

  Another Nice Day 

  The birds were loud this morning.

  As I lay in bed, listening, I was putting together my agenda for the day.  I have a notification that an order from Amazon may be here later this week. 

  After my two cups of coffee, I headed to the studio to check out my sewing machine.  It had really done wonders with the last quilt.  Fuzz and loose threads can cause a whole lot of problems going forward.  I had not had the radio on for several days.  Of course the broadcasts are all about the county fair taking place, with Redwood being the first.  Watonwan County fair began yesterday with entry day.  I hope they have a good turn-out.

  Earlier this week, I received notification that my cousin Shirley Wendlandt Hahn had passed at the age of 76.  Her husband, Ron, had passed away several years ago from complications of a stroke.  Prior to passing he knew Shirley was showing signs of dementia.  Everything was in place for Shirley to be living in a health care facility after he was gone.  Dementia is so hard on the organs of our body.  I will not be attending the funeral and I have let my aunt, Janet, know this.  Janet is 93 and is the youngest of my dad’s family.  Her twin brother has been gone for many years.  Janet lives alone in her home in Brownton, Minnesota.

  Shirley’s father, Lester, was one of my dad’s younger brother’s child.

  In the mail yesterday, Dennis received a summons from our district court to report for jury duty.  Refusal can be submitted after the age of 70 with the pertinent date of birth information.  Dennis put the reply in the mail today.  Nope . . . not going to do that ditty any more. 

  I continue looking out the bathroom window and seeing the barren Hosta beds.  I feel nothing but sweet relief.

  I noted on the news the 7.3 earthquake that hit Alaska on it’s southwest side.  Kodiak, Alaska was in its range.  Hmm.  When we lived at South Branch, Orlin had applied for an assessor’s job in Kodiak.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:36 pm on July 16, 2025 Permalink  

  Lightning Show 

  As I was headed to bed last night there were plenty of lightning flashes.  I did hear it begin to rain about two this morning.

  I had an objective for this Wednesday.  The laundry basket had erupted onto a portion of the bathroom floor.  Not a safety bet by any means.  I added to it by Dennis’s bedding.  Who in this day and age has a linen closet to pull additional sets of bedding from.  I did the bedding first as it gave me a chance to do some tidy, tidy in Dennis’ bedroom.  It then became a game of swapping out between the washer and the dryer.  As soon as the bedding was dry, it headed right back to the bedroom.  Tiny homes make for interesting making up of the beds.  A wiggle here to give a tug, a wiggle there to give a tug.

  By mid-afternoon all is as it should be on Stauffer Avenue, with the laundry done, folded and put where it belongs.

  The rain finished this forenoon, but with the humidity at 96% . . . time will tell.

  When I was in New Ulm on Monday, I had stopped at the Hy-Vee grocery store for some items on my way home.   I literally was “meals on wheels.” The Hy-Vee in New Ulm does something that the Mankato location does not do.  New Ulm always has a variety of meals prepared, ready to be heated and served.  Monday evening we had a prepared meal of meatloaf, green beans and mashed potatoes with gravy.  No kidding, it was enough to be split in half for the two of us.   I had coleslaw on hand to add to it.  Their meals are $8.00 each and are not shy on the flavors.

  Tuesday evening we had a meal of Progresso Vegetable Beef Soup with a tuna sandwich split in two.  Plenty for the two that had not done much for the day.

  This evening, Wednesday, we are having the second of the Hy-Vee meals that I had bought: a full turkey sandwich drowning in turkey gravy with mashed potatoes.  A half sandwich for each and I will pass on the potatoes and rather enjoy the remaining coleslaw that we have.   I have had a full day of Grammie the housewife and will enjoy putting a hot flavorful meal on the table easily.

  Our appetites are no longer what they used to be.  The $8.00 price per these meals is not the draw but it is very reasonable and fills the bill.  We don’t eat out very often as I prefer having a very good indication of what we are eating, rather than the deep fat-fried options here in town.

  We are having a nice reprieve from the heat that has been around.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:39 pm on July 15, 2025 Permalink  

  A Quiet 

  This afternoon, I am in a quiet place.

  Within this last week, there have been closures that brought about this quiet.

  I finished a quilt that needed quite a few hours of contemplation, many hours of application in regard to sewing skills.

  That quilt finish brought about the portion of a barter and the end of any chance that I would do gardening again.  It was a relief.  No more looking out the window and seeing work that was needed but which I could not do.

  I had been concerned about my vehicle driving from home to places I had appointments.  I knew it was not operating correctly.  Monday that doubt was erased by visiting the repair shop.

  This morning, I had a clinic appointment in regard to high blood pressure that I had not experienced since I retired from a rather stressful position.  I was in an exam room with a blood pressure cuff that the nurse put on my right forearm.  She programed it for four individual readings.  She said she would be back in several minutes.  Indeed, I was nervous.  The standing monitor had a screen on it that pulsed as the cuff tightened on my right forearm and then relaxed.  Four times.  After a notification bell, the nurse came back in and programed the monitor.  It then read the average of the four reading.  I was thrilled beyond measure when the monitor read 118/70.  I had been hoping for this and would have been even happier if the bottom number had been 60.  I will check the portal later on if there needed to be a message from my primary

  Within these last two weeks I had cut my caffeine consumption down drastically allowing only two cups of coffee during my waking hours.  I also had been given an additional medication of 2.5 mg of Amlodipine for blood pressure. 

  I came home and decided the remainder of the day would be quiet.  Dennis’ son-in-law is doing the mowing today . . . also a good thing.  For what we pay Tom, knowing that Dennis is not overdoing it, is also a peaceful feeling.  Yup, I like the quietness of it all.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:19 pm on July 14, 2025 Permalink  

  Bit on the Warm Side 

  This morning before Dennis was up for the day, I was on my way to Chuck Spaeth’s in New Ulm.  I had noticed within the last month, that when I was heading down Stauffer Avenue the car would hesitate.  It would do it several times.  I didn’t hesitate when they gave me an early, for me, appointment.

  After about an hour or so of watching other customers in the waiting room, I got a one on one.  It was a wind-something, or maybe an air-something that had not been secured tightly during the last oil change and the sensor for that component was activated.  Believe me, it was over my head.  No charge.  If I notice this same situation again, I am not to hesitate but give them a call and a new sensor will be ordered and it will be under my warranty.  That info is now on my record at their shop.  I was relieved that I would not break down somewhere when I traveled.  Just because we carry Triple-A does not mean it could be very inconvenient.

  About three-thirty yesterday afternoon we got company.  Sadie came to make good on our barter agreement: a tee-shirt quilt for yard work.  I was in charge of keeping Charlie B, a second grader, and Maverick, a four month old dog, out of the biting bugs.  It didn’t take me long to engage Charlie in a computer game that came up on Dennis’ laptop.  It was called “Coin Flip.”  I was tails and she was heads.  She had a paper score card and this was serious.

  Dennis told Sadie where all of our garden goodies were in the potting shed and she went to work.  Using his walker that he can turn around on and sit, he kept his granddaughter company.  Nothing was spared.  From the huge Maple to the far west edge, within ten feet of the house, it all came down via a weed-whip, looper, or a clipper.  Sadie raked it all off and using our wheelbarrow, it is on the burn ring.  When it’s dry, Dennis will burn it.  With all the tours she had had in the military, she was fit for it.  No breaks until it was done.

  After her and grandpa came in the house, Sadie washed up and was ready to see her quilt.  She loved the two sided idea of using the tee-shirts.  This was a wonderful barter.

  When I got home from New Ulm, Dennis had already filled his Harbor Freight pumper up twice with Brush killer.  All the open stems of what Sadie took down will let that brush killer go down to the roots quickly.

  How do I feel about giving up gardening?  I have had the best of it.  Even when Orlin and I lived in Riesel, Texas, I had flower gardens.  It means more to me now that I can be as independent as I am, than putting stress on this body that has done its share.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:09 pm on July 13, 2025 Permalink  

  Sunday the 13th of July 

  The air index from the smoke can definitely be seen and felt today.

  I have been thinking a lot today about an invite the came from the Riebe group posting.  It is a Riebe annual pot-luck get together on Aug. 2nd in the Darwin City community hall at twelve noon sharp.  Surprisingly, the majority of the Riebe family line has settled right around that very same area.

  I do know that probably sometime this week, I will contact the cousin that is ram-rodding this and send my regrets.  It might sound as if the regret is self-serving.  Hmm.  That would hit the nail right on the head.  At a minimum of a two and a half hour car trip one way for a three hour event . . . that is only part of the refusal.  We have taken part in this gathering several years ago.  Taking in the acoustics for several hours allowed for noise at a decimal that made my brain go wonky.  Wonky as in the fact that since the stroke the loud confusion takes a very real physical effect on my stability.  The chairs are of the metal type that one would find at an event where they are stored for each what is needed for a group.  Having had fourteen sessions with PT, concentrating on the lower back and hips . . . chairs of this type are not a good fit for me.

  With all of this being said, I would be paying too high of a price for this gathering.  I currently am doing very, very well in my home and its surroundings.  Being able to manage with medication for physical discomfort and being able to move from place to place often to offset muscle spasms is working very well.  I don’t want to rock the boat.  With so many people about, there might be a span of five or ten minutes with a meaningful conversation with any one person.  If this event was for either Carrie’s family or Kevin’s family there would not be a moment’s hesitation . . . Grammie would be right there, regardless of what the recovery would entail.  Kenny Rodgers, the singer, had a great line in one of his songs: “You have to know when to hold them, you have to know when to fold them.”

  As a comparison, yesterday for Dennis’ class reunion, it was a ten minute car ride to the event.  The seating was on cushioned support.  We were gone from home for two and a half hours.  Sweet.

  It is very difficult becoming selfish in what works and what does not for just a short time but for the long haul.  I plan on hauling this ole body around as comfortably as possible for a very long time.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:16 pm on July 12, 2025 Permalink  

  A Date 

  Dennis and I had a date for this noon.  We headed to the River’s Edge Golf Course’s restaurant. 

  Today was Dennis’ Class of 1954 reunion from the St. James District 840 school.  I have attended quite a few of his reunions and of course know most of his classmates and their mates that have remained in the area.  I got Dennis’ clothes ready as well as my own.  Nothing fancy, just a bit out of the norm.  Yes!  Grammie even opened up her tiny pull-out drawer of some cosmetics.  

  One small calendrical screw top container has been my staple since Carrie introduced me to the Mary Kay cosmetic line of goodies.  It is a container called bronzing beads.  Multiple colors of beads made from compressed powder, each a hue of a tan color.  You dance around a cosmetic brush picking up a bit of this color and a bit of another color.  I have not been outside to speak of this year, so it was a brush full of color going from the forehead down to the chin and then across each of the cheeks.  Grammie was ready.  

  I remember Carrie went somewhere on a plane fight and of course with her, her cosmetic bag.  The air compression in the plane or such, when going to use the beads at sometime later, unscrewed the lid.  All the beads had popped, leaving a container of loose bronzing powder.  Too funny.

  Well unfortunately, Mary Kay no longer makes the bronzing beads in their line-up and I don’t do glamour very often.  Mine should last for some time.

  Anyway . . . back to the class reunion.  Dennis had a great time.  The girls in his class all came up and gave him a hug.  Someone had their yearbook.  Under his photo was the ditty, “Happiest and jolliest fellow!”  I will say, he had a ball joking with those girls recalling those school days.  The other fellows, men, didn’t seem to be at the same party.  There were group photos taken.  This is the last reunion this class voted on going forward.  In truth, they were all getting close to 90 years of age.  The remaining funds of the class, a whooping $200.00 for postage, will be used in reprinted photos and mailed out to the classmates.  The info sheets that were handed out listed 39 deceased.  Dennis’ class was the largest class ever, through the 60s, 140.

  The food at River’s Edge was wonderful . . . way too large of servings.  Guess who brought a box home!  Dennis will be having supper of lobster mac and cheese and I will be doing chicken strips and fries.

  A great day and it’s great to be home.

  With that I will take my leave. ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:57 pm on July 11, 2025 Permalink  

  Heavy Air 

  This is Friday and we may be in store for a thunderstorm or two.

  Today, I stayed on the first floor of our home.  It was a day where I stayed quiet in my bedroom porch.  My body was resting, but my mind, as always, is curious and busy.

  I enjoy what I can glean via YouTube.  Stitching and quilting from around the world is there for me to seek and search.  New ways of doing the same old.  I remain intrigued by watching what others are quilting.  I do not believe I have another quilt in me.  I may continue piecing quilt tops from my stashes for the ladies at the church to finish up.  It’s hard to put by the wayside the threads and fuzz completely.  It no longer temps me to visit a quilt shop to touch and feel the newest fabrics.  Been there and done that.

  I admit my energy level here within my own home is all I could ask for.  From eight in the morning to nine in the evening, I can still pack in a good day’s effort, though a bit slower than in times gone by.  I enjoy keeping our home tidy.  Navigating the stairs to the studio does not pose a challenge: that’s where my passions lay.

  I do enjoy my stitching in my bedroom porch.  On my list is a visit to Michael’s in Mankato for a piece of foam board.  I have the dimensions written down for the two pieces I will purchase.  I have the Quaker Christmas II that I stitched, that I will stretch onto one of the foam boards.  The Santa’s of days gone by are taking a break from our living room.  I am ready for a change.

  I did go to the grocery store this afternoon.  I was actually seeking and searching a certain soup brand of bean soup.  Both Dennis and I really enjoy it as a break from the chicken noodle.  No such luck today . . . try, try again another day.  I picked up several items for Dennis’ breakfast box that he takes out to the patio porch each morning with his coffee.  I no longer do any baking from my kitchen other than the occasional tray of frozen cinnamon rolls.  Looking 89 in the mirror, Dennis likes his sweets and who am I to withhold them.  Sweets and cigarettes have not taken him down thus far, so let the man enjoys what he likes.  I, on the other hand, am capable of making my own choices out of the grocery store.  I kind of like the readings from my last workup at the clinic. 

  We are having some wonderful cold chicken sandwich spread that I made up from leftover rotisserie chicken.  Of course it has chopped onions in it.  A cup of hot soup will accompany it.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:48 pm on July 10, 2025 Permalink  

  Thursday 

  About 2:30 this morning we had a real gully washer of a thunderstorm.  The lightning lit the sky as the rain ran off in sheets from our front awning.  The wind blew so hard there were evergreen tips from the evergreen tree on the northwest side of our home on the south edge of our driveway.  No hail.  I had checked the weather map before I had gone to bed so it was not a surprise.

  Yesterday it began.  Dennis’ son-in-law mowed down the foliage from around the base of the huge Maple tree and shredded it.  No more Hosta, ferns or Bleeding Heart plants.  Yes, there was also a lot of less than good greens.  After that area has had a chance to dry from last night’s rain, Dennis will use brush killer and treat that area.  As I said, so it begins.  Slowly but surely Grammie’s love of perennials will be no more.  That’s all I have to say about that for now.  Thanks, Forrest Gump.

  Dennis went to check on his life-long buddy, Lyle Grove, on Wednesday afternoon.  Rather than a nursing home there is a gal north of town that took Lyle in.  She works from home for the Watonwan County Human Services.  When Dennis came home and told me her name, I could put a face to her.  Her home was clean and welcoming.  Sandy had coffee and cookies for the two fellows as they chatted about days gone by.  Lyle said he was very content.  Lyle has little site remaining and has had hearing loss his entire life.  Eighty-nine years ago, families didn’t pick up on hearing loss until a child struggled in school.  Dennis felt better about Lyle’s situation after he had checked it out. 

  This evening we are doing Tilapia fillets, with refrigerated Simply Potatoes, hash brown style.  I already have the onion diced for sautéing before I add the hash browns.  Cole slaw will round out the meal.  Oh, I can’t forget the bread n’ butter pickles.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 11:08 am on July 9, 2025 Permalink  

  Well, Well 

  This morning the song “The Old Gray Mare” came to mind.  

  I have had a good run in the studio that was quite timely.  The old adage that no good deed goes unpunished does have a ring of truth; being tuckered.  Yesterday the close of the day found the tee-shirt quilt folded.  Done!

  
  Yesterday when Carrie visited I was able to take care of some business with her, just as I had with Kevin.  Sweet.  Great to hear that all was well with the metro family.  Carrie helped me with the new phone as there was enough crap that came on it to totally boggle my mind.  My goal:  receive a phone call, make a phone call, receive a text, send a text and take a photo.  As Bugs Bunny used to say . . . “That’s all folks.”

  With so much goodness happening in the studio and with family, was it any wonder that I rolled out of bed at 9:05 on this Wednesday morning.  I had not heard Dennis getting up and taking his breakfast box to the patio porch.  But . . . it sure does make for a short morning.

  I do have a plan for the afternoon.  My studio floor is in great need of a vacuuming.  Here a snip of fabric, there a snip of quilt batting.  It was halfway through the project where I left behind the need to hit the circular file for threads and fuzz at each venue.  I have always kept my heavy-duty Filter Queen canister vac in the studio plugged in and ready to go.  I cannot believe how heavy  the wand is for doing the floor.  It is full-grade metal.  Right now looking over the studio, it is not the welcome I need to begin a new endeavor.  A little bit of time will get it whipped into shape.

  This is earlier than I usually post, but it felt right to slowly work myself into being more active.  Studio . . . here I come.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:38 pm on July 8, 2025 Permalink  

  Happy Tuesday 

  It has been a great day.

  I had several loads of laundry that kept me busy this forenoon.

  Carrie texted that she had someone to close her store today, so she drove out from Eden Prairie this afternoon.  Lots of chit chat to get caught up to date since she was here for Easter.  Dennis joined in.

  As the supper time is approaching, this will indeed be a short posting.

  I had a decision to make in regard to letting Sadie know her quilt was done.  She won’t get to see it until she holds up her half of our barter:  I would do the quilt in exchange for yard work.  Well spring yard work came and went.  Now the foliage has gotten taller.  My desire is to have it all weed-whipped down and raked.  When the foliage is dry enough to have Dennis burn it, I have decided to let Dennis use the brush kill then.  If I can’t take care of a garden, it’s a heart breaker to look out the bathroom window and see it taken over by less than good things.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥