Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:56 pm on June 16, 2025 Permalink  

  Times Change 

  There is no certainty in our lives, nor has there ever been.  Ironically, we pull up our boot-straps, we acknowledge the changes and adapt.  No family, no business, no community is immune.

  Oh my gosh, if I get Dennis going, the litany knows no bounds.  Our community is the county seat for our Watonwan County.  A certain pride goes with that. 

  We have many empty storefronts.  We have an empty lumber yard that had been a multiple location family-owned business for decades.  Our family restaurant on main street is listed as “For Sale.”  The family bakery that is in its fifth generation is listed as “For Sale.”

  The saddest listing came last week was the College.  Karen has as close to a general mercantile as not.  She fought when covid tried to close her down as “not essential.”  Karen won that fight.  Her business is for sale and she will continue as if nothing has changed.  It is a viable business for sale for someone to walk in and call it theirs.  What has changed is the hours that her doors will be open allowing for the fact that she can pretty well tell when it pays to keeps the lights on.  I’ve known Karen for decades, as she was the clerk for the City of Lewisville.  A very fine person.

  Our community is service orientated with a Mayo hospital/clinic, a Veterans’ Clinic, a Lewis Drug, a dentist, an eye clinic, an active Fleet-Farm store, one large grocery store, several attorney offices, and, of course . . . the courthouse. 

  Surprisingly, a new laundromat and car wash broke ground this last week.  It will be located to the south across from the Fleet-Farm.

  From Stauffer Avenue’s perspective, we have everything we need for our wellbeing.  We are very grateful.  There just isn’t much to entice new families or new business ventures.

  Well, that’s about all the trivia that was running through my mind today.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:14 pm on June 15, 2025 Permalink  

  It’s a Sunday 

  It’s a day when all fathers and father-types that go over and above taking care of their families get some TLC.  Unfortunately there was no sunshine to shine bright on them.

  Dennis had an early celebration last night at Sadie’s party.  Dennis’ entire family, less one granddaughter, was together for the event.  I couldn’t have been happier for my ole cowboy.  Denise had him home by eight.  He was tuckered but happy.  Dennis slept until nine this morning.  Sweet.

  My studio time today paid off big time.  All has been prepared for the sewing machine to begin assisting in making this project get real.  While in the studio, I listened to KNUJ church service from Grace Lutheran Church in Gaylord.  A great send off to the week coming tomorrow.

  Dennis’ request for a supper meal of French Toast, sausage and orange juice, that is so doable.

  I checked in with Aunt Janet from Brownton last night while I was home alone.  We always have plenty to chit-chat about.  Other than my brother Calvin, she is my only and oldest remaining from my father’s family.  Janet is ninety three and enjoying her own home.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:38 pm on June 14, 2025 Permalink  

  A Saturday the 14th 

  This was a look-forward-to appointment today.  It was time for haircuts and pedicure.  Marie allocates  Dennis and me two hours every four weeks.  The best time spent ever.  We both come away feeling renewed.  Coming home we had a light snack as a lunch.

  As for the studio today . . . it remains dark.  I have thought through plans for Sadie’s thirty-six tee-shirt menagerie.  I will use eighteen shirts sewn together color to color.  No sashing in between the twelve inch blocks.  Eighteen on the front and eighteen on the back.  I will use a lightweight batting.  It may end up fifty by sixty, as she said she didn’t want a full sized quilt, but a throw.  I am not up to doing two individual projects with the batting, the backings and the binding. 

  This afternoon, Denise just picked up her dad.  Denise, Tom and Dennis are traveling to the community center in Eagle River, right north of Mankato.  Sadie is having a bash for her retirement of 25 years in the military as well as her 40th birthday.  Sadie entered the Minnesota National Guards in between her junior and senior years of high-school.  Good grief, she looked and acted young.  There will be people fifteen feet deep from military to friends and family.  The event is slated to begin at six.

  To my awareness of self, I do not do well in huge crowds with a lot of noise and commotion.  I don’t feel or stay centered.  Dennis knew immediately, that I would be staying home. I will be here welcoming him with open arms.  I was very thankful that Dennis had acquiesced to ride with Denise rather than he and his little red pickup heading out on their own.

  I am on stitching and watching traffic duty this afternoon.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:32 pm on June 13, 2025 Permalink  

  Busy Day 

  Having a good night’s rest helps to get through morning routines, aka: local effort

  I have been eying the wall hanging in the kitchen since the first months of 2025.  Down it came.  I had done a really sweet wall hanging several years ago for the summer time.  Hey!  It’s summer.  Most of the blocks incorporated the embroidery module.  Two of my favorites were the fruit jars that had fire-flies captured within them behind clear mylar.  The pitcher of lemonade has lemon slices behind mylar.  The empty pop bottles, a perfect spot for pinwheels behind clear mylar.  The red pickup is of red venal.  As luck would have it, it fit perfectly in the spot by the back door.  It was a fun challenge.  I had bought the kit at the Bernina Shop in Bird Island.  I have not forgotten that I also have a kit for a wall hanging in the Halloween motifs.  I have not done many wall hangings of late as to . . . what will become of them?  I couldn’t get a good angle for the photo.  My bad.

  

  The next item was to put out a tray of Rode’s frozen cinnamon rolls on parchment paper.  It takes about three to four hours for them to be ready to put in a 350-degree oven.  The bag of a dozen rolls does come with two small pouches of icing to put on after they have cooled.  The secret is to use a light spray of Pam on one side of clear plastic wrap to cover the tray.  The yeast heat helps them come out perfectly.

  

  With that being done, I headed to the studio to steam press the last of the nasty curled up tee-shirt fronts.  I counted and I have thirty-four 12″ squares.  Hmm.  Now comes the pondering as to what to make out of them.  Too many for one quilt as it would be king sized.  Two small ones!  I dug out from my stashes.  I have a good selection of various fabrics of stars printed on them in a good selection of colors.  Too much for one day.  I shut the studio down.  I will take pencil to paper to see what comes next.

  We had a gully washing of a rain shower just a bit ago, just like we did during last night.  I have had a busy great day.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:37 pm on June 12, 2025 Permalink  

  Trivia 

  Our supper last night with the refrigerated Smokehouse Burnt Pork Ends was delicious.  It had just the right amount of the bar-b-q sauce on it and in three minutes, it was table ready.  The tray that held the pouch that had a one inch slit cut through the top allowed even heating.  I am not sure what the wattage of our small microwave is, so I always use the digital thermomotor to make sure the 162-165 temp has been reached.  I cut one end open with a scissors and slid the fair into the serving tray.

  How can any supper not be good when there are sautéed onions in the mix with the fried potatoes.  The Vidalia onions are just the best for flavor and they don’t seem to play havoc with the eyes watering.

  The stint in the studio went well.  Slow but sure, I am making a dent getting the stabilizer steam pressed onto the back of each 12″cut-out.  If I focus on one step at a time, the project is not overwhelming. 

  Dennis’ son was in the patio porch when we got up this morning.  He stayed until noon.  It doesn’t interfere with my day.  This afternoon, Dennis went to have coffee with his life-long friend, Lyle Grove.  Lyle lives in one of the city-owned apartment complexes.  Lyle gets lonely and he had called last night asking Dennis to come over.  Dennis has commented that sometimes, it feels good to be alone with just him and the cats in the patio porch. 

  I will touch base with Dennis when he comes home and we will discuss his day while I make us some supper.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:28 pm on June 11, 2025 Permalink  

  Last Straw 

  I have been limping along with my Motorola cell phone for quite some time.  Yesterday was not a good day.  The last straw broke my resolve in putting up with the aging cell phone.  As I was going to sleep last night, I had made a decision.

  This morning, with my cell phone in my pocket, I headed off to Radio Shack five blocks up the street to the west.  Dennis was asleep in his recliner.  I left the garage door open so he would know I was off in our car in case he awoke before I got home.

  I had two very helpful young people to help me.  My request: I needed a new phone and a payment plan.  No more purchasing time and knowing I needed to purchase only when the phone went dead.  A notification when I received a text message was high on the list.  That was very lacking on the old phone. 

  I now have a Samsung phone.  The plan I have is $45.00 per month with auto payment every month on the the 11th.  Unlimited phone and text with a reasonable amount of internet use.  I very seldom use the internet on the phone as my lap tops take care of that.  I will receive an email telling me that that amount has been put on the credit card every month.  All the data from the old phone was transferred to the new one.  I have an info sheet with all my information, such as my user name, my password, etc.  All was checked before I left Radio Shack.

  Dennis had just gotten out to the patio porch when I got home before noon.  Transferring all the data took quite some time.

  I have sported a rare slight headache for most of the day.  Nothing serious, just annoying. It may be from the angst of the phone business or the heavy air as it is deciding if it is going to rain or not.  No studio time today, just several loads of laundry.

  I already have an onion diced that I will sauté and then add the half bag of Simply Potatoes in the fry pan.  That plus the Burnt Pork Ends that is fully cooked that needs to go into the microwave for a bit.  I have had the Beef tips from the same Smokehouse products from the grocer.  Coleslaw, pickles and bread rounds out supper. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:14 pm on June 10, 2025 Permalink  

  A Difference 

  What a difference a day makes in air temperature.

  I took it slow this forenoon in the studio.  I wanted to open the package from Amazon with the fusible 100% cotton woven stabilizer.  It did not disappoint.  Dennis came down to check on me.  As it looked at various tee-shirts that had been cut to size, he commented that our toilet paper had more heft than some of the knit shirt designs.  I had to agree.  When cut into the knit it rolled up resembling one of those fruit roll-ups.  It was not my intention to spend any amount of time in the studio.  Dennis and I ascended to the first floor.  Time for reflection.

  A time back, my administrator to this blog, had made a comment if I was still comfortable doing a posting everyday.  It would be at my discretion if I felt I needed to make a change to lessening them.

  My daily postings may not always seem to have a heavy amount on content.  It’s about allowing me to express myself as thoughts come to mind.  Keeping up with local, state and federal news is important to me though I choose not to include any of that in my posts.  I may not have exposure to the wide world outside our home every day, every several days or even every week.  With somewhat limited mobility in large busy settings, how great that I have choices.  What is absent in my days are the exchanges of thoughts with family members where one simple thread leads to a volley of memories of days long gone by.  I live in the present and can articulate with the best, but I sure am not about to let go of sweet tender memories.  I do not sugar-coat memories.  Some can sting as if it were yesterday and not decades.  Memories such as those do not define the individual or individuals.  I can and do forgive, bit I am not one to forget.  Yup . . . it’s like a steep trap.

  If it has not been guessed by now . . . I am a very complicated Grammie type of being.  I thrive to learn.  I thrive to unravel solutions in my home and in my passions.  Very little overwhelms me. 

  Back to content of my postings: my days that I experience could write volumes, but I pride myself in limiting the daily posts to about 350 to 400 words.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:59 pm on June 9, 2025 Permalink  

  Tuesday the 9th 

  Today was chilly enough that I pulled a heavy sweater out, both for my walk and to spend time in the studio.  Fluctuating temps are not unusual in June.

  It took some time for me to decided what the size of each saved tee-shirt front would be going forward.  Twelve inches seemed to work consistently.  At this point, I do not know how many tee-shirts I have cut up.  I am thankful that yesterday’s tidy tidy has paid off.  It is going to be quite the project. 

  

  I have a twelve inch square that is going to work out great to make sure, I can get the majority of the design centered.  Out came the various weights to hold the temp-plate in place.  A new blade in the rotary cutter before any cutting is just as important as a new needle is when sewing. 

  

  Measure once, measure twice before the blade goes down.  I won’t be doing all of this “the last cut” today.  Moving the weights and the pressure of the rotary will not get the best of me in when taking a few shirts at a time.  It did help to have KNUJ playing in the background and with a cup of stout coffee.

  Dennis’ son picked up Dennis this forenoon and who knows where they were off to.  Last week when Ken brought his dad home, Ken made sure he saw his dad through the back door and into the kitchen.  Grr!  Ken had them check out at the Darfur bar.  Two drinks is more than Dennis had had in a very long time. 

  I am closing down my afternoon with some hand stitching in my bedroom porch while also taking in checking out the traffic.  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:54 pm on June 8, 2025 Permalink  

  Perfect Day 

  With the clouds, mild temps and a brisk breeze, this would be my all time favorite perfect day.

  After a walk, I went right down into the studio.  The first thing I did was to cut open with the Worx scissor the four pack of C batteries I had bought in the grocery store yesterday.  I almost choked on the $13.98 price tag of them.  I had been without a radio for over a week in the studio.  I knew they were on the list for Sam’s Club the next time we went to Mankato for a better price in a larger volume container.  I had waited long enough. 

  The Worx scissor is going to come in handy for the encased plastic containers that are horrible to get open.

  Today was a tidy up day in the studio.  Odds and ends of purple fabric needed to be put away.  Some of the fabric was piecing materials and some of it was leftover flannel that I had used for the backing.  A Christmas placemat that I had embroidered.  I used my eight inch stool to take down the metal box of memorabilia items to add to it.  Wall shelves to the east and church tables to the west.  I had support.  Some of those items were taken down from the attic when Kersten was lending a hand.  Get it tidied up before the tee-shirts would take over!

  I picked out two red, white and blue wall hangings from the totes.  Bright colors for the living room.  Sometime the amount of wall hangings in the totes will need to be addressed with the kids.  Also there are two quilts that I did with Tri-Chem fabric paints.  One pattern is of Sun Bonnet Sue and the other is of Overall Sam.  I have kind of been kicking around selling those two.  Again addressing that with the kids sometime.  Not soon . . . just sometime.

  When Carrie’s had been here the day before Esther, Megan noted a few small ants in the bathroom.  I kidded her about having live entertainment.  Over time, they had been increasing.  Every day I would add another drop of Terro Ant Killer to the two pads in the areas behind the sink and next to the heat run.  I went outside to the east area that the bathroom was on the house.  No sign of ants outside.  Today, there was a lessening.  I have no idea what they were after.  More drops of the Terro for any late-comers.

  Dennis is feeling the day of walking at the acre with his brush killer yesterday.  The ole cowboy still thinks he is in his 20s.  I can’t do anything to change his mind about what he wants to do.  The 500 mg bottle of Tylenol rattled as he headed to his recliner for a nap.  I hope it helps where ever it hurts.

  We are having Manwich sandwiches, potato chips, coleslaw and pickles for supper.   

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:15 pm on June 7, 2025 Permalink  

  Cloudy Saturday 

  Gray and cloudy is the day.  That didn’t much bother what we had on the agenda.

  Dennis mixed up a gallon of brush killer so he could in turn go to the acre and do some spraying.  His Harbor Freight pump sprayer is very doable.  The sprayer was full and the gallon jug for easy refill.  For decades there had been a tree that had had a ring of aluminum lawn fencing around it about a foot tall.  The aluminum has been long gone but the ridge of dirt around it has harbored thistles and other weeds.  Dennis got in a good amount of walking.  There was one huge stump of a tree that Ryan’s crew did not take out.  A lot of barb wire grown into the tree.  The stump is about four feet tall and Dennis gave the area around it a good spraying.  In about six days the effect of the spray will be able to be seen. 

  After my morning walk I headed to the studio to do a batch of tee-shirts.  I came up from the studio for a coffee break.  After checking things on the laptop, I decided to do a second batch of the shirts.  Well, well, the tee-shirts have been cut up with a rather huge bag of the cotton and poly leftovers geared for the garbage.  The backs of the shirts I did bag up for Dennis in the garage.  If nothing else to wipe the hands off when working with mower oil.

  Both Dennis and I had a good day of getting things done and kept under control.

  Late on a Saturday afternoon is a good time to visit the local grocery store.  Everyone buying up for the weekend have been through the check-outs.  Dennis gave me a ride in the car and kicked back listening to the radio while I headed in with my list.  Now, all the groceries have been put away in the refrigerator and or in the freezer.  I have a Maria Cullender cherry pie in the oven with the crumbles to be added on later. 

  Fixing our meals here on Stauffer is more desirable than eating out. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥