Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from November, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 4:09 pm on November 29, 2024 Permalink  

  Smug 

  Dennis and I thought we were so smug having everything buttoned up and taken care of.  Not!  Our snow scoops were still in the potting shed.  Dennis came in from doing that task with a grim look on his face.  We have had just enough rain that the base of the wooden door was froze in and down.

  I countered with me getting bundled up and the two of us would work together.  I had spied the ice chipper in the car garage all summer and fall.  I took the ice chipper and Dennis made sure he had his phone in his pocket and the two of us took off down Stauffer to the potting shed door.  Phones are a necessary evil in case one of us had a mishap.  Both of us on our handy dandy canes.

  It didn’t take all that much of sliding the ice chipper under the wood door where there was no ice,  inching toward the iced area and before we knew it . . . mission completion.  I got the door closed as tight as possible with the concrete block.  If a wee creature finds its way into the potting shed for shelter from the cold and snow, bless the little ones.

  The ice scrapper is back in the garage and all three of the snow scoops are by the back door.  God willing . . . they won’t be needed.

  The wind has blown itself out, all is calm.  I am not about to check on the temperature right now.  If I don’t know it . . . it won’t bother me so much.  But I will say, even bundled up for our escapade, my fingers did feel the cold.

  We are having a breakfast type of supper.  Steaming hot scrambled eyes, sausage and hot buttered toast.  There is some blackberry jam just waiting to be spread.

  This black Friday is going down as not very much retail therapy as my little sander did not get delivered as had been mentioned.  Perhaps tomorrow.  

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 4:06 pm on November 23, 2024 Permalink  

  Saturday the 23rd 

  Damp weather out.  I checked and there is no rain coming for our area.

  Our tree dump is still open as evident of all the trailers and pickups heading north with their goodies.

  Dennis reported that when he took his little red pickup for a jaunt around town today, he had to do a drive into and around our acre.  I need to stop calling it the blue barn acre.  I think it would be better calling it our park acre.  We did an amazing amount of work this year to get it looking quite spiffy.  Dennis even gave Kevin the tour of the park when they were here several weeks ago to help Dennis get the outside items buttoned up.  If all goes well with us, 2025 will see a few more trees taken down so the driveway off of the Hammond highway is a bit easier.  Our tree-man, Ryan, said to give him a shout when we need him.

  My buttoning up was getting the old black office chair in from the front deck.  The chair had served me well this last season as breakfast coffee in the mornings was enjoyable out on the deck.

  I have put in my time in the studio working on the old trunk.  Under the paper that I am taking off is the rough wood that I can easily see the etchings of a saw.  The cover of the trunk shows better lumber.  The metal bands holding the trunk have done a darn good job.

  Our supper is going to be frozen waffles and frozen breakfast sausages.  

  The freshly-laundered flannel sheets guarantee good sleeping conditions for this night.

  I am saving some hand stitching for this evening that I will work on under the magnified light.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:05 pm on November 22, 2024 Permalink  

  Friday with Sunshine 

  All is quiet as the winds have gone somewhere else.

  This morning it would not have been out of the picture to see my phone as it could have been whirling in the toilet.  Being the adult as in being an advocate for all things medical for Dennis H. Curry . . . sucks.   

  It was eleven this morning before I could start my day.  No, I had nothing urgent going on but that is besides my point.

  The time in the studio had to switch to the FM option of my little battery powered radio.  KNUJ had a football game on.  It was some kind of play-off.

  The old trunk I am working on is really satisfying.  As I am not using any power tools, there is no mess that I can’t vacuum up.  Good grief.  The studio vacuum is the old Filter Queen.  It still works great.  Every component of it is extremely heavy.  Even lifting the length of hose to table top use makes me thankful to the small shop vacuum that we keep on the main floor.  I don’t think that vacuum even has a name.

  Initially I thought I could use Mod-Podge to seal the areas where the fabric was stuck on and then decide what to do next.  It has become easier to take off the oil-cloth of the cover of the trunk when I realized the remainder of the trunk was paper that was glued on.  In reading a YouTube, I found out that those old trunks used glue somehow from horse cadavers.  I didn’t go beyond that tidbit.

  This project is peanuts compared to what mom, Lena, had tackled over the years, even thinking of my grandmother Laura.  I was still in school when the family went to Laura’s for a visit.  Laura was refinishing a dining room table in the summer kitchen, using the edge of a butcher knife.  No solutions or chemicals.  Grandpa Christ’s job was to keep the butcher knife sharp.  In thinking, I know shellac was used frequently.  Over time the shellac would blister. 

  We are having a dish that I pulled from the freezer for supper.  It is a pasta, tuna and pea dish using Alfredo sauce.  

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:57 pm on November 12, 2024 Permalink  

  Whew! 

  The wind is horrific enough to make one’s garters snap.

  I have returned from New Ulm’s Chuck Spaeth’s garage.

  Tires have been rotated with a complete total vehicle check over.  During the last month the message center on the left side of the dash had a “Low Tire Pressure” blinking light that would show for a few seconds and then would show “Oil Change necessary.”  Whatever was going on has now been taken care of.  I also have a new $188.00 battery.  The one taken out of the car was functioning at 45%.  Dennis needed a new battery in his little red pickup in September.  We are good to go.  Both of our vehicles had new tires in the last months of 2023.  Neither of our vehicles have been on the road much this year.  That’s beside the point.  Both vehicles are road ready . . . security.

  I was thrilled that the waiting room of Spaeth’s had two hard chairs.  The remaining chairs are as soft as Marshmallows and digging out of them to get back on your feet is not a pretty sight. 

  Tomorrow at 1:30 I will see my cardiologist in Mankato.  He will allow me to know what the Echocardiogram that I had two weeks ago has shown.  I am going to nab Dennis along to get him out of town.  I do plan on picking up some groceries.  The pantry in the basement is looking quite bare.  It’s a good thing to use it down to the bare bones, rather than some items waving as they have been in storage too long.

  We are having Chow Mien for supper.  It’s quick and tasty.  Lena used to take the bagged Chow Mien noodles, break them up, using her super powers to melt chocolate to pour over the noodles and with a tablespoon drop mounds of them on wax paper for crunchy cookies. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:46 pm on November 10, 2024 Permalink  

  Squirrels 

  With no snow cover the squirrels are tucking away goodies to last them through the spring of 2025.

  The sun popped out for about five minutes.  Heavy air is abound.

  First things first this morning . . . even before my first cup of coffee.

  The crock pot is doing its thing for our supper.  The fare will be a pork roast, carrots and onions.  This time of year onions are questionable.  The very center can be bad.  I cut three planks of onions, with the centers missing and laid them on top of the roast.  I will follow with boiled potatoes.  The potatoes that will be left over make great American fries for another meal.

  With my stitch projects, I thought I had hit a brick wall.  The project called Believe was stitched on a skimpy piece of blue fabric.  So much so, I glued it right into the hoop.  Out came Kersten’s stash of goodies from Dueber’s.  I really liked the lace trim with pearls sewn onto the edge.  With many, many pins, I glued the lace trim to the outside rim of the hoop.  When I went down to the studio this morning and took out all the pins, the lace cupped around the hoop.  Try hard as I could to stretch the outer edge of the lace . . . nothing.  Up on a nail hanging from the floor joist of the studio, I spied with my little eyes, a red embroidery hoop.  It is the same type I use all the time, only my favorite is much smaller and easier to hang on to.  It took a few tries to get the finished stitched pieced in the center of the hoop before I used the most tension possible to zap it on top of the project.  When the tension is released it snaps itself and the project into the ring.

  The stitched item called “Faith” ended up being an odd size.  I dug around in the cistern closet and found a frame I would need to make work.  In my fabric stashes I found the perfect blue to sew around the stitched item.  Of course it didn’t look straight.  Again to Kersten’s stash.  Gluing down the narrow trim with seed pearls in it allowed me to fudge and make it look better.  Hey!  If it were perfect it would have a label included that had a foreign country named on it. 

  Life is good here on Stauffer Avenue.  I decided the studio would be open again for business on Monday . . . or maybe not.

  Dennis starts PT tomorrow at 11:15 with Dan Kern.  I am excited for Dennis.  His left leg had gone through three angioplasties working to open up blood supply.  His leg being weak prior to the hip breaking needs this PT big time.

  The crock pot is telling me to get some potatoes ready for the saucepan on top of the kitchen range.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:47 pm on November 5, 2024 Permalink  

  Gray Skies 

  Gray skies, rain and a touch of fog.

  The alarm went off at six this morning and by 7:30 we were on 169 heading to Mankato for Dennis’ visit to the heart center.  His heart had been monitored for 14 days during the hip replacement saga.

  Interesting.  One of Dennis’ blood pressure meds was removed from him right after the hip surgery.  Metatropral slows down the heart beat.  He had been on that med for years.  No wonder his pulse was always in the mid 50s.  The heart halter gave a consistent reading for his pulse to be in the high 60s.  That is still low, but it is now his normal.

  Dennis does not need a pacemaker.  If such time arises that he is dizzy consistently or has episodes of passing out, in he goes for an out-patient procedure.  A battery operated little gismo will be placed under the skin with a wire going to the heart.  It is then monitored with a wireless reading just as his CPAP is done now.

  Henceforth, once a year, a cardiac doctor that travels to St. James once a month can do the same thing as we traveled to Mankato for this morning.  I like that.

  We were back in St. James by eleven this forenoon.  Dennis and I visited on the way home non-stop.  Even to not decide is a decision for us.  We are happy with our plans for this day, November 6th, 2024.  We came home feeling contentment. Dennis napped in his recliner and I did some stitching.

  Supper is going to be bean and ham soup.  Dennis likes a bit of vinegar in his bean and ham soup.  I have a small bottle of some fancy vinegar that he likes.  So be it.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:26 pm on October 28, 2024 Permalink  

  Warm Winds 

  Winds are strong but not strong enough to keep the Asian Beetles at bay.

  Today Dennis’ son Ken from Masa, Arizona, has spent the day visiting Stauffer Avenue.  The post brought the shower chair and Ken is putting it together as I type.  Father and son chit chat on the front deck as well.  Ken will be 65 in July of 2025.  He plans on retiring and getting a job hauling for the fertilizer company in this area.

  Monday always calls for laundry.

  Lewis Drug was at the house by 11 this morning.  Meds delivered.  We are good.

  Dennis’ new driver’s license came in the post today as well.  He’s good for another four years.

  I have an Echocardiogram tomorrow at 11:30.  Denise will come and stay with Dennis until I get home.  It’s wonderful that someone from Mayo in Mankato can come and do it here in the St. James clinic.

  Dennis’ occupational therapy for today is swapping out a load of laundry.  Every little bit of movement helps get the left leg a little stronger.

  Supper is a frozen Mac and Cheese for Dennis and I am doing a salad.  That reminds me, I need to boil some eggs as I like a chopped egg on my salad as well as chopped onions.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:18 pm on October 2, 2024 Permalink  

  In Studio 

  It is Wednesday and I am in the studio.  Ester’s wooden box got some love today.  Working with double-sided tape can be tricky.  I had the 1/2″ roll I needed to apply the fabric band on the wooden band at the bottom of the box. 

  Today I measured once, twice and three times for the hand-stitched embroidered band to fit comfortably on the area between the bottom band that is stapled onto the box and the area after the cover is put on the box.   3.25″ finished is what I have to work with.  Folding the remaining fabric over on each side was the task at hand.  Lots of pins.  Oh so many pins to achieve the consistent 3.25″.  I used fabric-backed stabilizer to iron on the back of the embroidered band to do just that . . . to stabilize so as to not stretch when the two-sided 3M double-sided tape is applied.  I have left the band to totally dry before it and the tape meet up. 

  Tomorrow I may well tackle the tape.  My plan is to run three rows of the one-inch double-sided tape onto the back of the embroidery.  I will start the roll of tape and leave a tail.  I know if I try to start taking off the backing at the point I want to start, it will not be a clean start.

  The studio is going to be closed down.

  Well anyway, Dennis is having a good day of birthday.  I need to get an onion in as he is already salivating on fried potatoes with lots of onion.  Dennis wanted a scramble for supper.  That is the fried potatoes with lots of onion, chopped up Jimmy Dean pre-cooked sausages and scrambled eggs put in at the very last. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:17 pm on October 1, 2024 Permalink  

  One Down 

  One ground’s keeper done, down and showered.  The mowing of the acre today was a dust windy accomplishment.

  Last Thursday there had been a lot of heavy equipment on that soil.  As dry as we have had it, the soil was easily pulverized, easily moved with the wind we had today.  Good news . . . no bugs.  I was just finishing up when Dennis came over on the Sears mower to check up on me.  When I was going to head to the garage, I simply had to slowly drive along with the zero-turn as what had been cleaned up.  It was a wider swathe from south to north than it had appeared at a glance.  It was surreal to drive alongside the lot-line to be within three feet of what those neighbor’s backyards looked like.  If one tin cat finds it’s way over that rickety fence, my broom is coming out for a three-point landing.

  Dennis put the mowers away and I walked home.  I picked up a few branches and put them on the fire ring.  I could not walk past the flower bed without pulling up a lot of unwanted greenery.  One root of this certain weed can put out a web of greenery that covers everything up.  As I continued to work, I was contemplating my next decision.  I have always had perennials around the base of the huge Maple tree.  The deer have been snacking.  The drought has been hard on the plants and watering them is not going to happen.  It wouldn’t take Dennis a nano-second to spray that area with his weed and brush killer.

  I think I will wait until after this Saturday.  Dennis said AJ was coming to cut down and off the ancient dead lilacs on the south side of the white picket fence.  If there is life in the roots and they can stool out from said roots, fine and dandy.  If not, I will enjoy looking at Jan’s lilacs on the other side of the white picket fence.

  I could not believe that there is one small snowball bloom on the bush that usually blooms in early May.

  Dennis just came home from getting his two small gas cans filled.  The little red pickup wouldn’t turn over when he was ready to come home.  A new battery solved that little spendy problem.  

  We are having Tilapia fish and boiled potatoes for supper.  Tilapia is our favorite fish to fix.  Dennis will have his salt-free butter for his spuds.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:20 pm on September 29, 2024 Permalink  

  End is Near 

  Where oh where has this month gone!  October is only 2 days away.  Hmm.  The ole cowboy will be 88 on the 2nd of October.  I had asked him if he wanted to do or plan anything special for Tuesday.  Nope.  He made sure I understood he was content and happy right here on Stauffer Avenue.  I will make sure that he has a cake for his day.

  As I am working this posting, I can look to the south or the west.  What do my wandering eyes see?  Bugs.  Lots and lots of bugs.  Asian Beatles and Boxelder bugs flighting in the sunshine.  Ishi.  The suction cups that Boxelder bugs have on their legs is creepy when they latch onto you.

  I am from the old school.  Extra furniture to make things handier was not in the budget.  What did work for me was to find several boards around the farm that would be cleaned or painted.  In the grove I would find old bricks to take home and clean them up.  Before too long, I would have a handy book shelf by using two bricks to sit on the floor.  Next add a board.  Add bricks on the end of the shelf, lining them up so they were placed consistently with the two on the floor.  Eye appeal was everything.  The amount of bricks on each end was determined by how tall your books were.  The finished height of the shelving unit depended on how many boards close in length could be found, plus how many bricks could be scrounged up.  This DIY thought process is alive and well today on Stauffer Avenue.

  The “5” magnification lamp is located at the end of my 60s vintage sewing table as it sits on the floor.  The flexible goose-neck needs to reach 15 inches across said table where my cherry red chair is for the hand stitching.  Another item I addressed with the “5” is that for me to have my stitching far enough away from the lite lens of the lamp and still allow my hands to move over and under the fabric,  the lamp stand needed to be taller as it sat on the floor.  The table clamp that came with it would have had a lesser degree of help.

  I’ll bet you all wondered where I was going with my board and brick shelving unit solution.  Here goes.  I went into the basement of our home and I brought up two bricks that had been put to use down there over the decades.  Nice clean bricks.  Two bricks placed under the heavy metal base plate of lamp, brought the height of the lamp unit up right where I needed it.  My hands can work freely while I look through the “5” lens.  

  Sometimes that old Raymond logic is just the best when I need to help myself find what works the best for me without a whole lot of extra bells and whistles.

  We have leftover chicken ruebens for supper and I am going to bake a tube of Pillsbury’s finest biscuits.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥