Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:55 pm on February 23, 2025 Permalink  

  Happy Sunday 

  Hard to believe how far the mercury on the thermometer has climbed since last week at this time.

  I had no idea what plans Dennis had for the day, so I played it by ear.  I was in the studio when a reflection in one of the studio’s window caught my eye.

  Grandson AJ from Mankato was here checking on his grandpa.  Sweet.

  I stayed in the studio and let the fellows solve all the issues of the world.

  When the back door opened and AJ called down to see if there was anything I needed help with, I took a pause.  Then I remembered.

  Our pull-chain lamp over the dining room table had called it quits some time ago.  We had a new one waiting in the wings and here was a tall fellow to help us out.  The only thing I wanted to save was the little Hummingbird that was affixed to the end of the chain and had been a gift.  It took all of five minutes and the new hanging lamp and its cord on the ceiling hooks . . . ready to use.  This lamp even has a dimmer aspect to it.  We are back in business.

  I have been muddling around in the studio.  I do want to use up a bit more of the cork fabric from Amanda in Bird Island.  I do have zippers that now have the zipper pulls on them.  My solution: forget about putting a lining in the box end pouches.  That is a bit more of a struggle than I need.  Dennis has some great grandchildren, one boy and seven girls that I could make some zippered boxed pouches for.  Main-streaming the design, I could make them look like pencil cases.  I have a plan going for another day.

  With all my muddling and piddling around in the studio, I am brave enough to fail at trying something new.  Isn’t that what life is all about!

  By the way the crab salad is a winner.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:03 pm on February 22, 2025 Permalink  

  A Thawing Day 

  Wherever snow was hiding, it is getting a run for its money.  Say hello to mud.

  Today I have laundry going and Dennis is in charge of changing it out as the cycles finish.

  . . . Hmm . . . Dennis just pulled into Stauffer Avenue.  He doesn’t fool me, he gets around A-OK.  Oh well.

  An ample bowl of crab salad is co-mingling in the refrigerator and I have chicken tenderloins sliced into chicken strips for supper.  

  

  One more time there is determination to take care of Dennis’ recliner.  We have done the patching of the look-a-like leather.  We have done the fabric cover.  Today, I came up from the studio with my next fix.  Years ago we had room-darkening shades when Dennis was an over-the-road hauler.  Shade rollers can go bad.  I did not do away with the flannel backed vinal shades themselves.  Never underestimate my stashes.  With a strip of the Gorilla Duct Tape holding the covering to the top of the chair and doing a tuck, tuck here and there time will tell.  I can tell you, just getting that tape off of the roll is a work-out.  

  Actually at noon Dennis had thought we would be taking a road trip tomorrow.  When he saw me in action with his chair, he let on that he thought it was time for him to check out Slumberland in Mankato for a new chair.  All of the components of his electric recliner work just fine.  It’s the dodgy covering that is crap-o-la.  There was ample amount of the shade so that when Dennis sat in the chair, everything pretty much stayed in place.  Again, time will tell.

  Let’s hear it for farm-girl logic!

  With that will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:23 pm on February 21, 2025 Permalink  

  Friday the 21st 

  I don’t know about anyone else, but I had a great day to wind up this week.

  The studio was mine until one this afternoon.  I knew that at 1:30, I had an appointment to get my glasses straightened at Dr. Pinke’s.

  I have completed my first lined box pouch with cork fabric.  Wow oh wow!  What a learning curve.  There is no way, the lessons I learned through this project will be forgotten in the near future.  I took it one step at a time and always had the tutorial playing on my HP.  Good thing those tutorials can be re-wound till the cows come home.  I put in one of the zippers I had worked on last week.  I missed one step and thus the one inch handle on one of the ends had to go by the way-side.  Perhaps next time.  Will there be a next time.  I would hate for the hands-on lessons to be lost.  I will say, that my hands and shoulders are do for some quiet time.  No muscles or tendons were harmed with this experiment.  Tee Hee.

  

  

  The grocery store was the last on today’s list.  We are set for quite some time going forward.

  No . . . I have no idea what we are doing or having for supper.

  With that I will take my leave.

   
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  Noreen 3:31 pm on February 20, 2025 Permalink  

  You Bet 

  It was above zero at ten this morning and . . . you bet . . . I was in the studio.  KNUJ was turned on with all the overhead lights.  Grant it, it had been some time, and there was some re-acquainting to get done to familiarize where I had left off.  The studio is my happy place.  It matters not how long it takes me to get some things done.  Zipper placement took many, many pins and multiple checks and balances.

  Once the zipper was sewn in place and the top stitching was accomplished, I was satisfied.  I shut the sewing machine down and opened up the tutorial on YouTube to check out what tomorrow would bring.  I do not want to hurry through the project as cork fabric does not take kindly to having to tear out stitches.  It did seem that this cork was heavier than I had used in the past.  Nope.  Same weight.  My hands and arms are different than in times past.

  I came up to have a cup of mid-afternoon coffee and soak up the sun’s rays in my bedroom porch.  A bit of hand stitching to round out the afternoon.  From somewhere there is enough snow to cause dripping off of the awnings.  It’s just a sight for sore eyes.  I am hoping this is not a false positive in the world of Minnesota’s weather.

  Last night we had pan-fried Tilapia with steamed carrots and Dennis’ famous instant potatoes.  I also threw in the last six shrimp in the pan.  I have enjoyed having them once in awhile.  Sam’s Club has the huge de-veined shrimp.  So easy to fix, once they are totally thawed.  Toss them in a frypan with a bit of Olive oil and give them a toss.  When the gray color turns to a pink, they are ready to enjoy.

  This evening the remaining of the potatoes will be warmed in the frypan to give them a sear.  Pre-cooked cut-up sausages tossed in and make sure they are heated through.  Add eggs that have been shaken in a fruit jar.  The eggs don’t take long and we have a skillet meal.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:18 pm on February 19, 2025 Permalink  

  Bad Day 

  Even Snuggles can have a bad day.  Dennis relayed that Snuggles got on his lap this morning and meowed in the lowest slowest meow he had ever heard coming from a cat.  It had sounded more like a cry than not. Though the garage never gets colder than 40 degrees, even kitties can get cabin fever.

  Though I have quarantined myself to the first floor of our home until our temperatures are over zero outside,  I do commiserate with anyone that is feeling hemmed in.  Thankfully, neither Dennis nor I feel the need to be out and about.  Yesterday’s outing to the clinic did us just fine. 

  Dennis’ grandson, Ryan, stopped in this morning for a minute.  Ryan is a huge ice-fisherman.  The ice on our lake outside of town is about 15-18 inches thick.  Burr!  As we left the clinic yesterday, we did do a whip around town.  By the huge number of fishhouses on the northwest portion of the lake, it seems that fish are biting, or . . . its a place for fellows to retreat to.

  I can report that I am having a day, one after another, that they for sure are not bad days.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:27 pm on February 18, 2025 Permalink  

  I Choose the Sun 

  I am choosing the bright sun with lots of power rather than checking on how cold it is.  I can’t do anything about either one of those, but the sun shinning makes me feel there is better days coming.

  Dennis gave me a ride out to the clinic this morning for the lab work I was scheduled for.  The lab work was for metabolic levels in my blood.   I just checked the Mayo Portal to see my results.  All levels were either at the mid-point or a tad bit on either side.  The GFR level is always one that I for sure want to be mid-point.  The filtration that the kidneys do can be impacted by various medications.  The chloride was a bit to the right of the mid-point.  I am a heavy coffee drinker and that can effect that level.  That can be off-set by drinking as much water during the day as I do coffee.  Always, there is room for improvement.

  Dennis is on his way to Lewis Drug this afternoon.  Last Thursday, I noticed two of Dennis’ scripts needed renewals.  Lewis Drug is more than happy to fax the clinic with such a request.  Here we were on a Tuesday forenoon and we stopped at Lewis Drug and still nothing.  I called our clinic, just as I had called them yesterday to allow them to know I was concerned.  I had gotten the lingo about some doctors being out . . . yada, yada, yada.  Lewis Drug called us that at 11:45 they had the renewal from the medical clinic.

  Our clinic is in serious trouble with a lack of sufficient doctors to cover the patient load.    

  Dennis was also going to stop and get Seafoam to put into the gas tank of the little red pickup.  

  Nothing serious or drastic going on, just hunkered down taking it one day at a time.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:46 pm on February 17, 2025 Permalink  

  So It Is 

  It is getting closer to the end of February.  With that comes my hope for less frigid temps.

  Staying put on the first floor of our home goes easier for me if I stay busy.  Easy Mondays can be done when the laundry baskets look as if an eruption has taken place.  Not difficult to push buttons.  I like to get the duds out of the dryer and into a lot of places from which to pull from.

  Dennis got the c0okie sheets down from on top of the refrigerator.  One sheet got a lining of Reynolds Wrap for a pound of Farmland bacon to be done in the oven.  Baked enough that when we want to use it, it takes a nano-second in the microwave.  The second sheet was covered with a baking sheet of parchment paper for a dozen of the Rhodes frozen rolls to thaw on.  The kitchen had the fragrance of a five-star restaurant.

  With several balls in the air, the day does fritter away.  This mid-afternoon there was a “Come to Jesus Moment.”  I would not deny Dennis a nap anymore than mom, Lena, denied Raymond a nap after the noon lunch break.  Upon the nap being finished, I need a partner that is in the present to pick up what I need help with.  I did remind Dennis that I am a hard nose but still harder on myself than I would ever be on him.  We hugged it out.

  We all were given the gift of “Free Will.”  I find that my free will has tighter boundaries than Dennis’.  In the end we are taking care of each other and our home is in fine stead.  Good grief . . . will I ever be able to put Esther Schafer’s voice out of my head . . . “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”

  A container of an oven dish was taken out of the freezer this morning and supper is a given.

  I did get a call from our clinic early this morning and rescheduled my lab work for tomorrow forenoon.  That is doable.

  So it is.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:59 pm on February 16, 2025 Permalink  

  Wind Chimes 

  The wind chimes on the northwest corner of the house tell the tale.  It is not only cold but also windy.

  I have stayed on the first floor of our home today.  The intermittent sun has given my bedroom porch an added feeling of warmth.

  The traffic past our home has steadily increased as the afternoon has gone by.

  The only plans for the week is that I have an 11:00 am appointment at the clinic tomorrow for my annual lab work.  My primary doctor had an opening to go over said lab work in the second week of March.  As I have no issues, I agreed to the appointment when I could get it.  Our clinic is very short staffed for physicians.

  I have nothing news worthy to report.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:16 pm on February 15, 2025 Permalink  

  Feathers 

  The snow showers today look more like feathers that have escaped from a feather ticking.  Not to be fooled, the light-looking snow has a way of piling up.  When I look out of my west bedroom porch windows, those feather-like snowflakes are flying sideways with the wind gusts.

  My goal today was to clean the sewing machine from the top to the bottom.  Putting in a new needle after doing the oil application . . . it is ready for some stitching.  I pulled some cotton fabric to go with the cork fabric I chose.  The cutting of the pieces needed, plus the correct length of the zipper needed are lying on the bed of the sewing machine.  The bobbin and the machine itself has been threaded.  The zipper foot has been attached and recognized by the sewing machine with the 9mm sewing plate installed.  That is where I left everything in the studio.  Tomorrow may be a sewing day, dependent upon how chilly the air is in the studio.

  The chicken tenderloins have been made into chicken strips for a quick pan fry for supper.  I use a high quality of olive oil.  One day I may look up the olive oil store that is on Madison East in Mankato.  Who knew a complete store of olive oil could sustain itself.  I also know some people actually drink several ounces of a quality olive oil each day for good health reasons.  Hmm.  Dennis is in charge of the green beans and potatoes.  

  For the remainder of today and this evening, I will be hand stitching.  Dennis has his favorite cop show on in the living room.  So many choices but the sirens and screaming shows win out.  I have choices on my HP in my bedroom porch.  To each his own and then all is well.

  With that I will take my leave.♥

   
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  Noreen 2:37 pm on February 14, 2025 Permalink  

  A Day 

  This is a day of sweet sentiments.  I prefer the thoughtful sentiments of memories rather than the material sentiments.

  Decades ago, it was all important to get the Valentine boxes that had been made at the kitchen table, nights on end, to the school for the grade school parties.  Sweet memories.  I don’t know if the little ones now even have the option of those sweet boxes.  One of Dennis’ great nieces posted that the kids in that school were given brown paper bags that they could take home and decorate for the next day party in their class.  Hmm.

  On this day, I have just finished in the studio for the day.  All of the hardware that I had for the zipper tapes were completed yesterday.  Today I made sure that all the zippers were such that the zipper pull hardware would remain on the rails wherever and whenever they were called into service. 

  Usually no one else is about in the studio.  There are times when Dennis’ daughter, Sandy, comes and her two small granddaughters are with.  There is no dust bunny safe if that happens.  They have come up from the studio with things in hand I had left out.  I can only imagine the zippers lying on the table with the shiny pulls just waiting to have a tug.

  For my own personal well being, I don’t like to have items in the stashes of the studio that would appear to have no use as I didn’t follow through.  I like the mission completion feeling.

  Before I came up from the studio, I sifted through the specs of some patterns I had downloaded.  There is always thought for another day.

  This evening Dennis and I are having Subway for supper.  Splitting a foot-long is all that either of us can put away.  Our favorite is tuna with lots of toppings. 

  It’s very gray out with heavy air.  KNUJ reported snow but when I checked the weather map, some snow went north of us and some went south.  I am sure we will be included with what is coming next.

  I trust all of you find joy today and with that it may bring a smile.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥