Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:12 pm on June 6, 2024 Permalink  

  Under Attack 

  The strong gusts of wind are lobbing pine cones right and left onto our west awning.  It does make quite the bong.

  There was one run to Lewis Drug today.  Dennis and I are quite content to spend time right here on Stauffer Avenue.  Dennis had a huge day of mowing yesterday, I encouraged a nap in his recliner. 

  Last night for supper I enjoyed a soft egg on butter bread.  Very tasty.  Vanilla ice cream later on wasn’t shabby either.

  Neighbor Jan popped over this forenoon to see how I was doing.  She was surprised in the over-all process.  I assured her it all went according to expectations and skill set of the dentist.  Dr. Pitcher, at the on-set, said he could and would refer me to Oral Surgery Of Mankato as extractions of roots could be a challenge.  I immediately told him, I would do just fine under his care.  All that referral would have done is added mileage and extra expense as they would have put me to sleep, with possible stitches.

  I checked in with daughter Carrie as she is two weeks out of her cancer lung surgery. 

  Text messages . . . where would we be without them!  I do very little on Facebook.  Very little brings news via emails.  I do have a smart-phone with no internet connection, neither does Dennis’.  We seem to get along just fine.   

  I would have thought once school was out, the traffic passed our home would have lessened.  Not a snowball in hell chance of that.

  Right now there are leaf tips, flower pots and litter flying south down our street.

  JoAnn’s Fabric has apparently solved their filing of bankruptcy.  That was proven today as the box containing two bags of pillow stuffing at a hugely reduced price and a $1.27 shipping fee was delivered by FedEx.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:43 pm on June 5, 2024 Permalink  

  No Deck Sitting 

  The high pitched hum of mosquitos sent me right back inside this morning.  No morning deck sitting for me.

  Dennis did some garage/shop work this morning as the dew was quite heavy.  Long about eleven, he was off to get a mower out of the back garage.  I don’t say anything, as he needs to be his own person.  I was relieved when that person was finished with all the lots at three this afternoon.

  I do keep an ear out as to where he is at at any given time.

  Over my years, I have known discomfort from various surgeries.  Man oh man!  The inside of my lower lip is sore and raw.  I knew the dentist was seeking somewhere to get the leverage to remove the two roots that were flush with the gum.  That area was the inside  of my lower lip.  Nothing can pass into the mouth without passing over the interior of that dang lip.  With my chin swollen and having two deep colored bruises down each side of my chin, I could pass for a wooden marionette.  It is surprising how little the amount of salt may be in food to set off the fire of the lip.  Actually what worked well today was peanut butter on a spoon to be licked off.  I am saving my pureed apple sauce for supper’s dessert.  Aren’t I the big wimpy person!!  This also shall pass in due time.

  The middle of the week already.  May your days treat you kindly.

  With that I take my leave.♥

   
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  Noreen 3:01 pm on June 4, 2024 Permalink  

  Gray Skies 

  With fairly strong winds you would think the gray skies would be blown away . . . not.  It looks like rain.  The winds are bringing the cotton tree’s fluff down.  They make a mess on window screens and also air filters on the lawn mowers.

  I went in for my 24 hour check up with Dr. Steve Pitcher.  He was very happy with how the bottom gum looked and surprised my speech was so clear.  When he did the litmus test on the bite:  first the right side, then the left, and once in the middle. He said he would see me next Monday.  When the swelling goes down, things can be different.  He did say my black and blue chin may become a darker bruise yet.  I paid my bill and got the discount for it.  Sweet.  No bill coming in the mail.

  July 1st, Steve and Kris will have their daughter Morgen join the dentistry family team.  She will be moving here from Salt Lake where she attended college.  Wonderful to know that our community will continue with great medical professional caregivers.

  I made Dennis a hot meatloaf sandwich for noon.  I got a piece of butter bread down.  For breakfast I had had an individual cup of apple sauce.  Both tasted good.  After lunch I sat in my rocking chair and dosed off.  Not my usual thing to do, but I can’t say it felt bad.

  I am working on a counted cross stitch.  Monogamous white on mottled blue.  I have three items that I can switch off and on to.  Having a book going is also a good thing.

  I think soon Dennis will let me get on the zero-turn to help.  I would welcome it.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:37 pm on June 3, 2024 Permalink  

  The Rest of the Story 

  This . . . June 3rd, was the target date that I have been waiting for since the first part of March.  That is when two of my teeth that had caps on them rotted off.  Those two teeth kept my lower partial in place.

  I had been going to Steve Pitcher as my dentist for a very long time.  We took a break when Dennis needed dental work and Aspin Dental in Mankato could fit him in.

  Since 1965, I have never worn vanity teeth.  I have them in one form or another and they will be in my mouth 24/7 with breaks for cleaning.

  My appointment today was for one this afternoon.  I walked into the house at 2:10.  During that time, my lower jaw was filled with Lidocaine and I was told it would take three hours to subside.  Two extractions were just the roots of said caps.  Two were full blown teeth.  I heard Steve say scalpel and he told me he would smooth out the soft tissue where these four teeth had been making for a better fit in time of the bottom plate.  The next process was smoothing some bone.

  No stitches.  I am to clamp my mouth tight shut as much as possible as that pressure will lend to blood clotting.  Very little rinsing of mouth.

  When I got home, I poured myself a cup of fairly warm coffee.  Stuck a straw in the cup and had several cups of coffee while keeping my mouth clamped tight . . . better than a rinse.

  My supper is going to be a Sprite float via a straw.  When I go to bed, I will put a kitchen towel on my pillow as I am sure I will drool.  Tomorrow I go back at 11:30 for a look-see by Steve.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:59 pm on June 2, 2024 Permalink  

  A Sunday 

  The air is really nice with a breeze from the southeast.  I have been enjoying said breeze from my bedroom porch with windows open.  I have heard that the mosquitoes are bad.  A fellow down the way has long pants on, a long sleeve sweatshirt and a hoodie tied under his chin.

  Today Dennis’ niece from Moorhead came for a wonderful visit.  Her parents are here in St. James at the cemetery where Jeanie brings flowers.  Jeanie is 77 and has been a great ally from Dennis’ side of the family.

  We have had a light shower of rain this afternoon.

  Tomorrow at this time, I will either have a lower set of teeth in my mouth or close to it.  I am so ready for this.

  The evergreen off of the northwest corner of the house must have quite a few nests of blackbirds or starlings hatched out.  The noise is . . . a lot.

  Yesterday for our evening supper Dennis made meatloaf with one pound of ground beef and one pound of pork sausage.  I could taste the ample amount of Worchester sauce.  Mum is the word.  It was a good pairing with instant Idaho potatoes. Hmm, that is where the cream went for my morning coffee.  Reruns this evening of it.  Can’t beat that.

  I am quite sure Megan will be sleeping in her own bed this evening in the state of Virginia.  We knew that all children grow up but . . . other people’s . . . right?

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:26 pm on June 1, 2024 Permalink  

  The Weekend 

  Today I was very content to be in my studio.  Dennis’ daughter, the nurse, from Mankato drove out for some plain talk with her brother, Jeff.  Yesterday I had set up the patient portal so Sandy could read Jeff’s medical info.  I then backed off.

  Sandy is a hard core nurse.  Jeff doesn’t want treatment . . . he will die.  His thinking is that in one month, it will be all over.  No.  Dying could take months and it would be very painful.  Everyone is on the same page, except Jeff.  I know Dennis very well and he will do for Jeff what I am not willing to.  I will work very hard to not let this come between Dennis and me.  I can stay in my corners, keep busy and keep my mouth shut.

  That being said, I worked with my “new to me” padded pressing mat from Kersten and Kevin’s find in Goodwill.  I am enjoying making pin cushions in between reading, sewing and stitching.  Megan took one with her the last time she visited.  Yes, the processes are timely.  I have time.  I have designs to stitch called Stoneware.  Once they are stitched they are squared up on my pressing mat.  A backing fabric deems them to be little pillows that need to be filled.  I am on the fence about that process.  Spun poly can be stuffed into each pillow.  It doesn’t make for a very sturdy pin cushion.  I really like the crushed walnut hulls.  I know in pet stores, it is sold as lizard litter.  Price wise, of course, the hulls are more.  At my wonderful place in life with very few needs in the clothes department or housewares, the price is not the ultimate.  Ease of working with threads and fuzz is sweet and brings contentment.

  I have found gluing on the trim is worth the time it takes rather than over-cast stitching that would not be uniform.  I also found out some of my glue containers need to take a hike.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:48 pm on May 31, 2024 Permalink  

  Drip Drip 

  I awoke to rain showers and it began again at two this afternoon.

  I am pooped.  Not physically, just mental.

  It started Wednesday when Dennis got a call from his son Jeff that he needed a ride to our St. James hospital.  No more was said.  Thursday night Dennis gets a call from Jeff, he needs a ride home from the Madelia hospital.  The Madelia ambulance took Jeff from St. James to Madelia.

  This morning Dennis picked up Jeff from his apartment for a sit-down to see what was going on.  Jeff came with recent papers.  Jeff has liver cancer and there is metastatic involvement.  This has been going on in Jeff for some time.  How unfortunate for someone that had so much going on for himself.  I did go out to the clinic as Jeff wanted me to have access to his records.  I can only offer moral support.

  On a bright note, Aunt Janet and I had a great hour telephone visit this mid-afternoon.  She no longer goes out to the old family farm where her nephew lives and farms.  She does still enjoy making baked items and someone from the farm picks them up from her to take out.  Her and I are ten years apart.  My sister and I were six years apart.  Sweet conversations.

  When Dennis came back from taking Jeff home, we both felt wore out.  It is still knowing what is going on so as to not have to wonder.

  It is still doing the drip, drip.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:04 pm on May 30, 2024 Permalink  

  The Week is Closing Down 

  The last thing we had wanted to do today was to make a trip to Mankato.  Every year Denis qualifies via the Veteran’s Clinic to receive a pair of shoes with the specific orthotics to make up for the lack of toes on his left foot.  The VA sends a prescription to the Limb Lab in Mankato and they allow us to know when we can come to their clinic.

  This morning Dennis, one foot at a time, had a laser image taken of each foot.  The orthotic is thus built.  The right foot also has an orthotic to make sure Dennis will walk evenly.

  Anyway, in three weeks we will be notified when the shoes are at Limb Lab.  It was great to be home by noon.

  There was a huge flat box on the front deck from the mail delivery.  The Fairfax family are frequent visitors to Goodwill.  In the mail they sent me a portable padded mat for pressing.  Wow.  It will be perfect to pin and and stretch stitched items.   Quite a few useful items have been added to the studio via Fairfax.  Kersten thinks nothing of having a dozen or more items each day being sent out via the post office of eBay items she has sold.  I am sure she could land a job in any retail store at Christmas time for special gift wrapping.  I called her to give her a huge thanks.

  As I sit in my bedroom porch using the laptop, I have a full view out to the south.  Our neighbor to the south has been fighting the wonderful aluminum storm windows of days gone by.  It was the in-thing to conserve energy and get rid of the heavy wooden storm windows that needed changing out if you wanted a breath of fresh air from windows being opened after a long cloistered winter.  Oh how those suckers could get blessed.  Been there . . . done that.

  The southeast wind is harsh.  Perhaps we will make it to the weekend without rain.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:54 pm on May 29, 2024 Permalink  

  Wednesday 

  —-And a wonderful balmy Wednesday it is.  Low 70s seem to be the perfect temps for mowing yards.  Dennis waited until after twelve as the grass had had a lot of dew.

  Dennis checked his eyelids for cracks this forenoon while I decided some cookies would be nice.  I had picked up a box of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix.  Hey . . . if it looks like a cookie and smells like a cookie and tastes like a cookie, I don’t care as long as I can handle the process of getting it from the powder form to the oven.  I have saved the dastardly aluminum cake pan to use with baking paper.  The one tray could have used a few less for baking, but all went well.

  It is now the afternoon.  My dishes have been washed, a load of laundry has been washed and dried . . . and how sweet that I have one last cup of breakfast coffee to enjoy.

  After three lots have been mowed, complete with a water break, Dennis is on to the far southeast acre, also known as the blue barn acre.

  The blackbirds are kicking the babies out of the nests.  What a commotion of noise as the babies are hunched up wondering what has happened to the food truck.

  Tomorrow afternoon we have an appointment with the Limb Lab in Mankato.  Dennis has prescriptions for new shoes every 8-12 months due to the fact that orthotics do wear down.  He is thinking that the next time, tie shoes might be better than Velcro as Velcro has a limit how snug the shoe can be adjusted.  Tie shoes do not know those same limits.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:21 pm on May 28, 2024 Permalink  

  Safe and Sound 

  Whenever we take a road trip quite a distance from Stauffer Avenue, I’m thankful when we come home safe and sound.

  Yesterday we checked on the Eden Prairie gang.

  Carrie was one week out of the surgery she had had.  Wonderful to see her recuperating at home after all went well.  Their yard looked as if Nicholas and Jeremy were keeping up with energized grass growth from rain showers.  Megan was counting the days and the boxes yet to be filled for her return to Virginia on Friday.  Megan has been helping in the store while being at home from the college year.

  The traffic yesterday was heavy.  I doubt anyone can quote you what the speed limit should be driven at.  That little red pickup was clocked in at 65 mph or less.  

  Sunday evening Dennis visited one of the food trucks that were up in the park.  He brought home a Taco Plate for one as this was a new experience for us and who knew what to expect!  Three large softshell tacos filled to the brim with meat, lettuce, chopped green onions, cheese and hot sauce.  Side orders of re-fried beans, and rice and chips.  It was all the two of us needed for our meal at the price of $13.00 . . . and it was very tasty.

  Sunday afternoon we had help with an item that had been in the back of his little red pickup for almost two weeks plus.  When we last had an appointment for Dennis at the radiology department in Mankato, we stopped at Hobby Lobby.  Dennis with a tape measure and me scoping out the sale items in their lobby.  I found the perfect size of an item for our tiny house.  It was marked “As Is” as it was a scratched and dent item.  No dents.  It had to stay in the back of the little red pickup as it was too heavy for Dennis and me to unload.  Hobby Lobby fellows had had no problem.

  Sunday I spied with my little eye that Dillion from across the street was home.  I went over for a chat.  Dillion got his heavy duty dolly out of his garage.  The cabinet went up the front steps right into its resting spot without Dillion even breaking a sweat.

  I will enjoy having some storage space close by.  My household office area has always been a small computer desk in the living room.  All we did with it is use some Silicone Lubricant on the metal slides of the drawers for better ease of opening.  Sweet.  Each barn door slide has two shelves.

  All is well with my soul.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥