Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 1:52 pm on April 1, 2025 Permalink  

  Grr! 

  The wind from the southeast was horrific.  Grr!  Again I was at Lewis Drug noting the wind.  There was no way I could get around having it target my car.  I can’t do the drive-through as the left arm doesn’t do reaching through an open window and reaching.  No . . . I knew what I was up against with the wind not allowing the door to open easily and when I came back to the car, I nicely backed through the open door for my butt to find the seat.  Grr!

  When I got to PT, Mike wanted a re-cap of how things were since last week.  Upper right hip burned as if on fire.  The chine of my right leg was or felt as if it were numb.  That’s all he needed to hear.  Forty five minutes later I was lucky enough to see through the discomfort to make it out to my car.

  Dennis had a noon snack and hot coffee waiting for me when I got home.  Dennis had done his good deed and taken his friend Dwayne for McDonald’s coffee and then a drive around the county.  Dwayne and Dennis graduated together and used to go roller skating and old time dancing together.  A lot of history.  With Dwayne not being able to drive any longer he really appreciates a morning such as this had been.

  We are having a mix of moisture.  Snow, rain . . . the birds don’t care.  It is allowing patches of green to be seen in the yards.

  My next PT is Friday.  With tongue in cheek . . . I can hardy wait.  It has to be done and I know it will get better.  Sometimes the cure is worse than the pain.  No!  That is not true.  I want to navigate our home as best I can.

  Our supper is going to be a tuna sub.  Sweet.

  With that I will take my leave. ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:26 pm on March 31, 2025 Permalink  

  My Birthday 

  It is indeed my 81st birthday.  How does it feel?  Not really any differently than a yesterday.

  My mom, Lena, had reiterated to me the day of my birth.  She had been helping with the farm chores just as she did every day.  On that Friday in 1944, a horse was used getting hay from the stack to be used for the milk cows.  The horse had had a mind of its own and Mom was pretty well shuffled around.  Later that day, Dr. Hovde from Winthrop came to the farm and I had a birth day.

  Today, in 2025, it has been a quiet day.  It’s chilly enough for the furnace to run once in awhile.   There was some extra laundry as Kevin and Kersten had assisted with a tidy, tidy in the attic.  Over time, things that had been covered up while stored.  Some has since been removed and those coverings needed freshening.  Yes . . . I like lightening the load.

  We have just enough of leftovers from yesterday to make a supper out of it.  That’s always a good thing.

  In between the laundry loads I managed to stitch a few lengths of threads in my bedroom porch. 

  Tomorrow I will have PT at the clinic and run a few errands around town.

  With take I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:29 pm on March 30, 2025 Permalink  

  Sunday the 30th 

  Too Pooped to Pop . . . a great feeling!

   
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  Noreen 2:05 pm on March 29, 2025 Permalink  

  Drips 

  We are having a drip here and a drip there, not enough to constitute a rain shower for today.  Last night after supper we had claps of thunder that rattled several of the house windows accompanied with a rain shower.

  We are prepared for having company tomorrow from Fairfax.  Hmm.  I even have a list for what is known as a little help for the older ones on Stauffer Avenue.  Sweet.  Our next batch of company will be coming at Easter.  I am quite sure another list will be ready by that time.  Sweet.

  This afternoon I am doing some stitching in my bedroom porch.  PT Mike also looked over my right wrist and encouraged activity for it.  Nothing strenuous, just continued movement.  Got it!

  Both the heating bill and city utility bills have posted.  The worst of both for the 2024 and early 2025 are over.  Whew.

  Our supper this evening is a cup of soup with a meat sandwich.  A perfect meal for a dismal day.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:06 pm on March 28, 2025 Permalink  

  Friday the 28th of March 

  We are in the middle of rapid weather patterns that can change.  The best way to prepare is to take it the way it comes.

  PT was interesting this morning.  Mike had me walk a hall with just me at the helm, no cane.  The stroke effected my left side.  When I walk my brain doesn’t trust me when I poke out my left leg for a step.  I put out that left leg but am in an unvoluntary hurry to allow my right leg to take the brunt of that step and every other step I take.  This has gone on for some time.

  It didn’t surprise Mike that after the stroke I received a lot of occupational therapy.  After a prescribed amount of that therapy I was released.  Those at that time do work with the neurological side of a stroke.  Mike is now interested in working with the physical stability post stroke.  Its never too late.  The services that PT offers does not come out looking for patients to help.  I have exercises to do at home to build the stability in my hips so the mental alarms become fewer.  Had I not bit the bullet to come for help after a fall, I would be missing out on . . . the rest of the story.  

  Our bodies and minds are so amazing in what we can do.  They also are masters at protecting us . . . from ourselves.

  I came home hurting and did a bit of local effort and then took the time to run a few hand stitches, and then back to local effort.  That is how my afternoon has continued.  Nothing done excessively.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:37 pm on March 27, 2025 Permalink  

  A Good Day 

  I had a very good start to this Thursday.  I could definitely feel some good result of PT of yesterday.  I didn’t feel all that great when I came home yesterday.  No mercy is shown. 

  I took advantage of that and spent about four hours in the studio.  I will go back to PT at 8:30 tomorrow morning.  When the lights went out in the studio, everything had been tidied.  It is so much more enjoyable when a new day in the studio does not have to do a cleanup job of a previous time.

  Dennis drove me to the grocery store here in town this afternoon.  We are getting company on Sunday for my birthday.  Sweet.  I was not going to count on feeling the flight of fancy tomorrow.  Saturday is my prep day for Sunday.  Planning is what allows all things to fall into place.

  We have tinges of green showing here and there in the yards.  The birds are really going after the tuffs of grass looking for a snack for themselves.  The Thrush birds have been checking out our awning spots for next building.  They are repeat customers.

  The groceries we purchased need to be put away.  The kitchen floor was just for giving me a short respite.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 11:13 am on March 26, 2025 Permalink  

  Needed This 

  It is not yet noon, but after a huge event in the studio that I worked my way through, I needed this.  To sit down and put a few words out as the sewing machine is working its magic on an embroidery project.

  Early this morning I got a call to re-schedule my morning PT to one this afternoon.  No problem as I am very flexible.

  I had two projects set for the studio and this re-scheduling would allow me to have some studio time.  First on the agenda was a sweep of any loose threads caught underneath.  A new needle and then some oil.  It is a good idea to clean the cutting blades.  The cutting blades save me having to take a scissor in my hand and nip the threads off of the needle.  Another thing is when the embroidering is going on and colors need to be changed, the cutters cut the thread before a new color begins sewing.

  I went into the “settings” of the machine to find the icon button to begin cleaning the cutters.  I knew it the moment I did it, I hit the wrong icon button.  All seemed well and I continued with threading the sewing machine and putting on a hoop.  Then . . . nothing.  I mean nothing.  There were lights on but no one was home.  The sewing machine was frozen.   Of course I felt panic.  I went back in my mind to when I had hit the wrong button and realized that icon was to re-calibrated the sewing machine.  I had never had to do that.  

  I didn’t even notice my coffee cup was empty, I turned around to my Dell laptop and typed in YouTube.  What a marvel YouTube is.  Yes, the computerized sewing machine needed to be re-calibrated.  A gal told me to shut the machine off, which buttons to hold down and then turn the sewing machine on.  A screen came up with cross-hairs on the upper left.  With the stiletto that came with the machine, I needed to hit the middle of the cross-hairs, the screen took the cross-hairs to the bottom right.  When I hit that middle the screen went to the bottom left.  As soon as I had done that, the sewing machine gave the usual grunt when I turn it on. Wow!

  Grammie learned to slow down and realize not to take for granted the steps to do what we love to do.  There are definite reactions to my hurried actions.  I put a very favorable comment to the YouTube.  By putting this post out while everything was so fresh in my mind helped to cement in my mind what and how I would feel if my sewing machine was seriously sick and needed to go to Bird Island to have Kelly fix it.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:16 pm on March 25, 2025 Permalink  

  A Tuesday 

  It is mid-afternoon and I have just come up from the studio.

  I have had such a gratifying day . . . me, myself and I.  When everything goes well it is truly sweet.

  Last night on a YouTube, I happened upon a site in regard to rug weaving.  It was so entertaining and it took me back.  Taking me back to the Boon Lake farm.  I am not sure what ad had been answered, but it allowed for a Necome four harness fly shuttle loom to be set up in our basement farm house.  The rest is history.  By the way, when Orlin and my dad went to pick it up, the Kimball area rings a bell, there was a huge amount of rags yet to be cut up to make a rug with.  Never a dull moment thereafter.

  Seeing as how Lena had had a rug loom for a long time, she was a great one to learn all the ins and outs.  Raymond knew how to put it together for us. 

  Oh for the memories.

  As luck would have it, there was one more goodie to come out of the freezer.  Our supper is going to be a rotisserie chicken pasta Alfredo casserole.  Gosh, if only an elf could only fill up our freezer with more goodies such as that. 

  Tomorrow morning I will have my second session at PT here in the clinic.  I am ready for it.  Dennis cautions me to rest or take it easy.  No way am I going to let what does work in my body atrophy.  My tendons and muscles need to move.  Sitting is the worst thing for it and the worst thing for anyone else for that matter.  What I do do in my days is not what caused the current situation.  Besides, staying busy and productive takes my mind off of discomforts.  The mind can fool the body. 

  With this I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:25 pm on March 24, 2025 Permalink  

  In Training 

  Quite a while ago when I was doing the box pouch cork phase, I also had a small quilt project perched on the end of the church tables in the studio.  That was a project that entailed quite a few embroidered blocks that never got to be in anything finished.  I had had fabric pulled together of various hues of purple.  It felt right that today, was the day.

  With a new blade in the rotary cutter and a cleared off area on the church tables the measuring tools came out.  This will be a blanket type of quilt using a bit of this and a bit of that from my fabric stashes.  I had not used the rotary cutter for some time and I think Grammie got weak.  I take this project as perhaps a bit of training for when Sadie brings her tee-shirts.  What muscles I had in my arms have gone pretty much to soft tissue.  With any cutting it is measure once, measure twice and then cut by pressing down hard on the rotary cutter so one pass will do the trick.

  As it was close to three this afternoon, I knew I had had enough and the studio went dark.  So far the project measures 35″ x 65″.  Another day I will find from the stashes, fabric to bulk out the width.  I cut, I sewed, I pressed and then pondered.  As I grow this project, I need to keep in mind that I have six yards of flannel for the backing and that is not changing.  Of course the backing will be pieced either lengthwise or widthwise.  I am not ready for that decision.

  These decisions would have been right up Lena’s alley.  She was a marvel of taking less than nothing and turning it into something that would take a blue ribbon any day.

  We mutually agreed that the last of the chili that was in the freezer is going to be our supper.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:21 pm on March 23, 2025 Permalink  

  And Again 

  It may be getting old, but . . . again I am referring to the blustery winds.  First from one direction and then to another. 

  I took coffee and headed to the studio in time for “Radio Church.”  Grace Lutheran from Glencoe in part sponsors it.  I find it enjoyable.

  I will let you know that last night’s poor man’s Shepard oven pie went over well.  Might try that again some time, as one of the stuffing mix is too much for us for one meal.

  When we have extended family stop in, they usually are interested first and foremost what Dennis has been up to.  Then, they want to see what’s going on in the studio.  I enjoy having something extra that I have stitched to send along home with them.  My completed items in the stash was bare bones.  I hope to soon have that rectified with Dan River hand towels from Amazon.  First things first, they hit the laundry for factory sizing to be washed out.  Once that is out during the laundry, it remains to be seen as to what type of stitching they will tolerate.

  When Megan was in the Eden Prairie State Club, Carrie had gotten towels from Amazon so each girl had a towel embroidered for skate guards.  Amanda from Creative Stitches, aka: Bernina, digitized the logo for me.  If I remember there were 80 plus towels for the skate club.  Yes, I was re-embused and happy to contribute.

  My stitching won’t be anything in that number count . . . just Grammie enjoying her studio and its possibilities.

  This afternoon there may be a possibility that will be added to the studio.  Dennis’ granddaughter Sadie, the military E9 gal, sent me a text with a question.  As of the last day of March, Sadie will no longer be in the Minnesota National Guards of Red Bull.  Sadie is 35 and has been in the military since she joined up in her high school junior year.  We give her so much credit for her service as she started a family during that time.  She is ready for “more” in her life.  Grandma Noreen has been asked for one more tee-shirt quilt.  I did not hesitate.  It meant the world to Dennis when she would come over and swap tales of her military experiences during her three tours and Dennis’ in Korea.  Sweet.  Time will tell how it all will work out.

  Subway will be our evening’s fare on this Sunday.

  With that I will take my leave. ♥