Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from January, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 2:58 pm on January 12, 2024 Permalink  

  Toss Up 

  Today it is a toss-up as to which is less desirable.  We had very little new snow but the wind is moving around as much of it as possible.  Toss-up or . . . either or.

  With the wind from the northwest, the seven foot tall shrub on the northwest corner of our home, that never gets trimmed and acts as a buffer, is a Godsend.

  A testament can be given for the Command strips that mesh together, bonding to hold up to 16 lbs.  I never planned on testing them to that extent.  They are marketed for hanging frames.  I used them to hang my scrappy quilt on the living room wall.  One strip on the wall and the matching strip on the back of the quilt.  This project was taken on with me going solo.  Knowing what and how this was going to be done, was easier on me than trying to explain it to a second party.  I do not take chances. I know and have the logic to proceed one step at a time while stepping on the second available flat area for my feet on the kitchen stool.  Using the third and the highest step was never an option.  If I wake up tomorrow and the quilt is still hanging on the wall . . . I will be thrilled. 

  We have had Jimmy Dean sausage and gravy on hand for some time.  The refrigerated package of four bags had an expiration date far far away towards the end of 2024.  The contents will be heated in the double boiler sauce pan.  I fear it would scorch if the heat contacted the bottom of the saucepan directly. Sometimes the microwave heated item does not stay hot for very long.  There were leftover instant mashed potatoes from last night.  They will be flattened onto a paper plate and microwaved.  Those I know I can get hot enough.  The Jimmy Dean goodies will be spooned on top for each individual’s liking.

  I have not given up on the studio.  My limbs need to recover from doing the two days quilt on the wall project.  It was one day to put the Command strips on the wall and today to get the quilt with matching strips hefted up onto the wall.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   

   
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  Noreen 3:01 pm on January 9, 2024 Permalink  

  Better Late 

  Who ever commented on the saying, better late than never . . . hush your mouth.

  We were doing just fine with no snow.  It was a range of 3-4 inches of first wet mist and finally some official looking snowflakes.  

  Randy next door did not disappoint with his green line as he blew our drive off.  I made sure to have the snow off of the front deck, steps and concrete sidewalk and pushed it all onto the drive before Randy arrived.

  Dennis used his walk behind to clear the garage door opening that faces Stauffer Avenue.  If that little red pickup can’t get out, there would be a sad face.  I, on the other hand, don’t plan on going anywhere until I know there is no wind to polish road surfaces.

  I am a naughty Grammie sometimes.  My heritage is the “old Adam.”  It is better to give than receive.  I will go along with that. . . to some extent.  It took quite a bit of talking this Christmas to convince Dennis to forego giving gifts this 2023 Christmas.  He really, really always enjoyed getting his little stashes together for my children and Dennis’ children.  He would start making plans in October with lists of grandchildren and their spouses.  We were blessed with Thanksgiving guests and Christmas Day guests in our home.  Special.

  It would have been equally nice if someone from Dennis’ family had visited or called to visit in the latter part of December.  Nope.  Nada.  Not even the daughter that lives four blocks to the south of us.  Hmm.  Dennis was ready to receive well wishes from his family.  Maybe next year.

  I have retrieved some supplies from the studio.  I have a variety of Command Hooks, strips, etc.  Soon my Santa quilt will come down from the north living room wall.  I would like my scrappy quilt put up in its place for a while.  I have the adequate supplies, I now need a plan of attack.

  My attack for supper is a hot meal.  Two pork chops, au gratin potatoes and steamed broccoli.

  If you must travel, be safe.  I would rather think about you, than read about you.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:08 pm on January 6, 2024 Permalink  

  Maybe? 

  Maybe we may have a dusting of snow coming.  We knew it would come sooner or later.  So far it has been a gift.  

  First floor local effort was done right off the bat.  No . . . the clothes have not folded themselves.  They are hiding in the clothes dryer.

  As a gift from my children, our first box of 2 meals of Hello Fresh was delivered yesterday late afternoon by UPS in an insulated box with a package of dry ice to keep all safe.  This morning, while Dennis was spending time with his grandson, I went about so we would be having turkey spaghetti for supper with sliced cucumbers and garlic bread.  Many seasonings I have not used before.  I sampled it and if Dennis wants his spicier, I held back and he can add more if he likes.  Sometime in the coming week, we will be having a glazed porkchop meal with trimmings.

  Yes, we had stressed no gifts were needed.  Sometimes ya gotta know when to hold it and when to fold it when it comes to family.  At least it wasn’t 160 acres.  Hmm.  Shame on you Grammie.  You should be better than that.  OK.  The horns have been pulled in.

  The air is heavy, damp and still.  The entire neighborhood has been quiet.

  Well, I am on to folding the laundry.  A Saturday in the new 2024 year and so much for the quiet as the neighbor kid decided to race up and down Stauffer with his dirt bike, riling up a lot of dust and loose gravel.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 4:17 pm on January 4, 2024 Permalink  

  Thursday the 4th 

  Slipping into the 2024 without a glitch.

  Dennis had been heard remarking about a friend in the Trimont health care system.  Last night I offered to ride along with him.  This morning after coffee we headed south.

  I find that if I put out ideas for Dennis’ day, it goes a long way forward for him.  His yard work is on sabbatical.  No snow to move around and that leaves keeping me company in the house or snoozing in the patio porch.  I am so thankful that the child in me has lots of interests to keep two of us busy.

  After we got home, Dennis volunteered to mix up a batch of Betty Crocker peanut butter cookies for me to bake out.  Why Not!

  The cookies have been baked and we are having waffles and pre-cooked Jimmy Dean sausages for supper.

  Hmm.  We did get a call from the police department this afternoon.  Jeff was hit while riding his three-wheel bike and they are looking for him.  Sorry . . . not at this address.  Grandson Ryan told his grandpa that Jeff was on probation for drunk and disorderly and they can’t find him.  He was on probation.  Just what an aging parent needs to quiet the soul.

  Thanks to the times when Megan played at our home, I have the perfect storage for all my easy-to-use pins.  Pins are always needed and I said good-bye to the Glad zip lock baggies.  This is much classier.  A traveler case and all of the naughty, hard to use safety pins are in the lower-class storage.  Sweet.

  I achieved success in self-framing my latest cross stitch project.   I have watched enough videos on YouTube to realize people make a very good income doing the “finish” on other people’s stitched items.  All I want to do is satisfy myself.  Was it hard to decide where and how to hang it?  No.  I just took the first available hole on the wall from where the Santas had hung.  Easy does it.

  Tomorrow, the end of the new week.  May everyone I cherish measure for themselves what is needed in each 24 hours for peace and comfort within themselves.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:23 pm on January 2, 2024 Permalink  

  Gray Skies 

  The gray skies are better than zero visibility due to blowing snow.

  The studio session went well today.  As the embroidery module worked its whiles, I was on the back side of the studio at the church tables working my whiles.  I take constructive criticism well.  With a few hints from Christmas day, I manned the adhesive spray can with a delicate touch.  Spraying on a sample piece of paper first before spraying on my finished item.  All is well and perhaps tomorrow, when I pick it up, it doesn’t fall apart, it may find a place on the living room wall.

  I did have my small heater on turbo while I was in the studio.  When I had had enough of the lower level, the heater was the first thing I shut down as it has a cool down cycle that I wanted to be around for.  Around the church tables I went pulling chains to close down lighting.  Do I need them all on . . . no.  If I am inclined to stay busy in the studio, I might as well have it lit well.

  Dennis did the errand today as I had one prescription to be picked up at Lewis Drug.  It was zero copay for a $59.00 refill.  Sweet.

  This evening we are having a picnic type of supper . . . beef Johnsonville wieners and a can of pork and beans.  Add a piece of buttered bread and we will call it good.

  For all of the neighbors that had maxed out on the exterior Christmas lights, they are missing out on a great opportunity in getting them down.  Up on the house tops, click, click, click . . . it wouldn’t take much of a mist or snow covering for it to be slippery dangerous.  I did enjoy the lights.  Thank you neighbors.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:53 pm on December 28, 2023 Permalink  

  A Thursday 

  On this Thursday the 28th, I did see about a dozen snowflakes fly, and then . . . no more.

  My day is going very well.  Before the first cup of coffee, I had the washing machine going. 

  On to putting our supper into the crockpot.  I had no idea that Wal-Mart put together meals in one sealed tray; a bed of new potatoes, carrots, celery on the bottom, a cut of Chuck Roast on top that a flavor packet moistened rubbed on the roast with more liquid added to the flavoring poured to the bottom with an onion on the top.  It is now 1:30 in the afternoon and I am getting whiffs of our supper.  These darn kids find out all the new and improved ways to make days . . . wonderful.  Thanks.

  I do like to put into practice challenging items here in the studio.  One photo has images of designs I found to download onto my computer.  When I had bought my sewing machine, I purchased the Tool Box software.  There were some free images to play with that I have never used.  I was able to combine those images onto one text box, making a complete design.  I then loaded that text box onto one of the flash drives I just smartened up yesterday.  I made sure when I used that flash drive it came up on the sewing machine as I had planned.  

  With all loaded into the sewing machine there is also a file on my computer, I was able to print out the complete image from the tool box screen with all the called for colors of thread I will need in the stitching process.  As my machine is a Bernina and the Tool Box is exclusive to Bernina, the Isacord threads are recommended on the embroidery and are thus in the printout.

  My day has gone well.  I will admit getting things done on the computer for the sewing aspect, does take me awhile.  Do it over and over till I get a satisfactory outcome.  As I said, challenging myself is a very good thing.

  The studio will go dark as soon as I send off this posting.  It is now time for some reading and hand stitching.  The studio will be there and here for another day.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:05 pm on December 17, 2023 Permalink  

  Time Flies 

  I am here to tell you of a rare experience of time flying.  This happened as recently as this morning when I realized it was 9:30 and I was still under the covers from a night’s rest.  Talk about rare.  Dennis said I must have needed it.  Wise ole cowboy.

  The usual items on the first floor were tackled for my local effort.  Hmm.  Twelve noon.  I made a decision right then and there that the studio would have to get along without me today.  Absence will make the heart grow fonder as the next task is taken on with the quilt.  The three inch border needs some free motion stitching.  That will make doing the binding easier.

  What I did work through was my telephone history.  Sometime last year I had let the minutes run out and I couldn’t figure out why there was a weird message and no phone calls were coming through.  I now know that I am good until 6/24/2024.  Whew.

  A call was taken this afternoon from my aunt in Arizona.  Her son Mark had clued me in that she has some dementia.  I let her choose the topics as when I would ask her something, she didn’t acknowledge that it had been asked.  After a short nine minutes she was ready to end the call.  Unfortunate but reality.

  I checked in with Carrie after a one-day knee surgery that took place Thursday of last week.  Something about a meniscus injury happening sometime in the past from winter sports.  All went well and recovery will not be as long as first thought.  Good news.

  Dennis has requested a bowl of steaming hot oatmeal for supper with just a bit of brown sugar on the side.  I can handle that.

  Time is flying as Christmas is coming soon. 

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:59 pm on December 9, 2023 Permalink  

  White Stuff 

  We will see if the white stuff is going to be a dusting or measurable.  Either way, KNUJ is saying next week the temps could get rid of it.

  I came into the studio after getting the second bed’s bedding in the laundry.  Putting off what can be done is not my style.  Am I methodical?  Yes.  If I see something, I cannot unsee it it.  If a plan had been designed the night before, it might as well be in concrete.  Doing as well as I have after the 2021 stroke, has made me even more methodical.  Continuing to do what and how I always have in my adult life brought me to the point that doing for myself was the only way to get back whatever strength I could.  When I am in bed, lying on my right side, I feel the left hand creeping into the fist that feels right for itself.  I consciously move my hand and the fist of my left hand over to my right hand so the right hand can hold the left hand and splay out the fingers.  We do what we can.

  The quilt top is completely pinned . . . whew!  The top is spread out on the church tables with all the pins standing at attention.  Enough of that for this day.

  I moved with my chair over to begin cleaning my sewing machine from bottom to the top.  I have various cleaning tools just as any mechanic has theirs.  I don’t use canned air as it may well move lint, thread ends and fuzz deeper into the portion of the machine I do not have access to.  With a new needle in, I was getting close to a finish.  I decided to put the free motion attachment on to the machine and make sure all was well before putting the quilt under the needle.  I did a test stitch and it was all good.  Out of my stash of threads I pulled the light blue cone of silk cotton.  Finding an empty bobbin to fill, the machine hummed like the well oiled machine it was as the bobbin filled.  The machine is threaded and then it was shut down for today.

  My bedroom porch is beckoning me to either read or hand stitch and perhaps watching a bit of the white stuff.

  By the way, Dennis’ oven meal of tuna pasta was fantastic.  Food always tastes better when someone else has fixed it and tidied up after themselves.  Having a second meal of it this evening . . . it’s a good thing.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:37 pm on December 8, 2023 Permalink  

  Busy Household 

  On days such as this, hanging out quilts while the bedding is in the laundry would be sweet.  Those were the days just as Archie Bunker would have sang.

  I busied myself with the laundry and Dennis did a Gordon Ramsey stint in the kitchen making an oven dish for supper.  The menu for supper is a Tuna pasta with peas and Alfredo.  Can’t go wrong if we pair that with jellied cranberries.

  When Dennis cooks I disappear into the basement as soon as I can as his cooking includes doing up the prep dishes.  Granted, he goes through more prep dishes than I would.  It’s a win, win for the household.

  I worked on the pins to hold the quilt sandwich together.  One more day the pin baggie will show that the finish for that task will have been completed.  I have enjoyed this scrappy project so much, I am not rushing each step.  The free motion quilting is not going to be rushed.

  The novel I am reading is heavy on facts pertaining to anthropology science of an event that actually happened in Guatemala when an entire village was taken out with machetes’.  It is getting really interesting as I am on the last 100 pages.  That novel coupled with the stitching project that is also nearing completion within the next several weeks.  With my hobbies and local effort, a busy household is here on Stauffer Avenue.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:05 pm on December 5, 2023 Permalink  

  Powerful Sun 

  Dennis just came in to get several gallons of water in the plastic jugs that he goes through with distilled water for his CPAP.  The three porch kitties go through their fair share, plus Dennis has two patio plants that he keeps in the patio porch.  Dennis commented on how warm the powerful sun can keep the porch through the glass slider doors.

  The studio kept me busy until one this afternoon.  My next port of call was my west bedroom porch for some hand stitching.  I knew just what Dennis was alluding to.  The south windows had the powerful sun warming my back as I sat stitching in the cherry red chair.

  Before we covered the MKX for the winter, Dennis had run it through the ultimate car wash uptown.  He then spent some elbow grease by putting on a coating of the Hybrid Solutions ceramic spray coating.  Dennis also did his little red pickup.  He purposely ran the pickup through the car wash to see how the ceramic spray coating held up.  He did not have to use any toweling as the water was shed spotlessly.

  So now I think I want to try that same product on the step-in shower surround.  I do dry the surround every time it is used because I know even soft water can leave its mark.  We had used car wax on the old tub surround.  I think it is worth a try.  Dennis just cautioned me to not get any on the floor of the surround.

  With the calendar being on its last page and with no medical appointments . . . this is sweet.  Our pantry is full and fresh milk will be the item needed as the week and weeks goes on. 

  Last night for supper Dennis had made a batch for four of instant mashed potatoes knowing there would be ample leftovers.  This evening a small can of Dinty Moore’s Beef Stew spooned over the potatoes will be a good call.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥