Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from November, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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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.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:13 pm on September 28, 2024 Permalink  

  What’s Up! 

  To the west of us and to the southeast of us, there are lilacs blooming.  Very full blooms of soft lavender.  Truly this has been an unusual year.

  AJ was here this morning bright and early.  I was still in my robe having my first cup of coffee.  Dennis was in the patio porch.  The two fellows are planning a day for next Saturday.  I will wait until then to see what is popping.

  Just so you all know, we are minding the salt in-take.  For supper we are having an oven meal and it will be the chicken rueben that has been in the plans for several weeks.  The deal of staying away from anything in a can is being adhered to.  Unfortunately, I had a jar of sauerkraut open in the refrigerator for a time.  It is getting used up this evening.  Also . . . no red meat.  That will not be hard to stick to.

  As I was getting the oven meal ready, Dennis had the garden hose strung to the patio porch watering down the two small evergreens really good.  Yes, they are out in the open but amazingly having the potting shed five feet away from them is just enough shelter to keep the rain from hitting them.  His next task was washing out the tracks of the three sliding patio doors.  Yes . . . I think when we hear things from professional people, such as doctors, we tend to go with their advice a bit easier.

  I dug around the cistern closet for some beads.  Those that go thrifting had given me an unusual shaped red plastic carry case about as big as a bloated football.  As you open the lid it rolls over and over, exposing with each roll a tray of plastic beads.  I had never seen anything like it and oh yes, the trays had various plastic beads.  Every once in a while, Grammie gets a wild hair.  I am not sure where this wild hair is going.  I will keep you posted . . . but I have beads.

  I have been working with Grandma Schafer’s silk floss.  Using the “5” magnification helps ever so much.  It works best if I leave my prescription glasses on.  I work for about two hours with the project and then I turn to reading.  As I have had an indication all summer that when my yearly eye exam comes around, my lenses will be changing.  No, I do not feel as if I have eye strain as I do my various tasks.

  Dennis is patiently waiting for the time, 4:00 p.m., when the oven will be turned on to pre-heat it for the oven meal.  I can’t say I blame him.

  It would be interesting to learn why our lilacs are blooming going into October.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:45 pm on September 26, 2024 Permalink  

  Hello Thursday 

  The sun is out, bright and warm.

  We had thought the tree man would be here several days ago, Monday.  We knew we were on his list.  Early this morning, it was the sound of the chainsaw and the shredder going at it.  I walked over to the acre site at noon.  Many pieces of equipment.  The crew were on noon break.  Yes, Dennis and I were in agreement, just get it done before a nursing home gets Dennis’ funds.

  No, the nursing home is not anywhere in our future plans in 2024.  We have bit off several properties over the years.  We clean them up so the grass can grow and mowing is the maintenance.  Many years ago, this acre was the site of a bottling plant in St. James.  Over time, people were with no respect, and nothing was done other than to toss stuff over the fence from the south.

  In between time today, Dennis has gotten his shots and also an appointment for his yearly medical with his primary VA doctor in St. James.  I knew it was hard to tear himself away from the tree site, but he got it done.  

  This would have been a day that my dad, Raymond, would have been sitting on a pickup end-gate, right beside Dennis.  The thrill of seeing all this equipment making short work of what would have been labor intensive not so long ago.

  The tuna sandwiches were good for last night’s supper.  Cottage cheese was the second item on the table.  Today, I added two chopped up boiled eggs to the tuna.  Another night of no-salt eats.  Tomorrow Dennis goes back out to the Mayo Clinic here in town for another lab work and then to the doctor to see what these days have proven.  How grateful that we don’t need to motor to Mankato or Rochester.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:33 pm on September 25, 2024 Permalink  

  Not Long 

  Not long after I had been using my pruning shears, taking out volunteer trees, I was very warm in the sun.

  It might be 79 out today, but it feels like 88.  Some people have a difficult time starting new trees, not here.

  Earlier this summer, I had Dennis kill off whatever was growing under the Hackberry tree in the backyard.  When I asked him to kill off the area right next to the sidewalk on the north side of the porch, he took it all the way along the patio to the back door.  Yup, the killer works.  Oh well.  Take my own advice and use more words.

  The salt-free supper went well last night.  The next trip to our local grocer’s, I will buy some salt-free butter.  This evening we are having Albacore tuna with a hearty amount of onions mixed with mayonnaise, where there’s a minuscule amount of salt in it compared to miracle whip.

  Dennis’ appointment for his yearly eye exam went well.  There is no need for the lenses to be changed out.  Tomorrow, Dennis goes to the VA for his flu shot and the Covid booster.  I do neither.  He will also pick up a form that will allow him new glasses when needed from the VA.  I am sure the paperwork will explain how it all works.  So many people complain about the VA services they receive.  I have no idea what state or planet they are from.

  No stitching today.  The day seemed to fill up on its own.  Maybe after supper a stitch or two will be taken.  Hard as I try, my internal clock has wound itself down by nine or nine thirty.

  Snuggles seems to be getting back on his feet.  Finding a spot of bare black ground to roll in, he is as black as the ace of spades.

  That is all I have to report on today.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:57 pm on September 21, 2024 Permalink  

  What’s Up 

  There is quite a bit popping loose on Stauffer Avenue.

  Next Monday our favorite tree man will be coming back to the blue barn acre.  The remaining light brush that runs east to west will be taken out to the south line of the property.  We had been on his list for a time.  The tree dump where most of this is going is only a 1/2 mile to the north of us.  Ryan had wanted to get the jobs done that were farther from St. James first.  It will feel so good to do it and get it done.  It is surprising that once the property owners on the south side of that property fence realized we were cleaning, no more extra garbage found its way over the fence.

  We are having guests tomorrow, Sunday.  Megan is coming home from Virginia and she wanted to make a trip to see us.  Fantastic.  I don’t know how many of the family of four is coming.  It won’t be a long visit as her flight leaves late Sunday to take her back home.  Dennis and I will take however many minutes as possible.

  As I am doing this post, Dennis is manning the crockpot as the sloppy joes are being fixed in the crockpot.  I like to have the flavors co-mingle and that could not happen if I start the process at eight in the morning and have them arrive at eleven.  Beans, chips, dip, pickles with the dessert being the frosted pumpkin cookies from our local bakery.

  When we stopped at the bakery before doing the grocer’s. I waited in line until a young Hispanic fellow could ask me how he could help me.  When I told him how many dozen of pumpkin cookies I wanted, he reach behind himself and picked up the pre-packed bags.  I chuckled and he said it made the day so much better when they had bagged cookies ready.

  I do have a progress report on Esther’s wooden box embroidery.  All of the stitching is done.  I had to scrounge for an additional 18″ of a substitute blue floss. Nothing like cutting it close.  The remaining of the project will be done in the studio enlisting the sewing machine and various other of my supplies.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥