Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from December, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 4:19 pm on December 22, 2024 Permalink  

  A Smile 

  I will have a very wide smile on this face with many laugh lines for the remainder of the day.

  Life long friend, Sharon Skolberg, called this afternoon.  The tires got very warm as we traveled down memory lane.  Knowing that she is well and will be going into 2025 within a cozy home that she and her daughter Gail’s family share in this wonderful tricked out “shed-home.”  Amazingly we always pick up right where we left off.

  I had been in the studio working towards the completion of the last few Christmas decorations I had stitched with the cross stitching.  It’s one thing to complete a cross stitched item but I refuse to start something new until all has been totally finished with additional fuzz and threads.  

  I have picked up on some gals on the YouTube channel that also enjoy stitching.  When I see and hear their tales of the number of “wips” (works in progress) they have, it boggles my mind.  Some are as high as 30-40 items all in their own project bag.  I am a monogamous stitcher.  One at a time.  That is why I will finish up these four projects that will end up as mini pillows.  My mind can only ponder of the amount of resources tied up in patterns, cloth and floss.  

  I have had a wonderful day and as soon as the last sentence of this blog has been posted, the lights in the studio will go dark.

  Dennis just came in and when he opened the back door and gave me a “Hello.”  I jumped. I was deep in thought.  He had been out to Fleet Farm and had purchased a mineral block to put out in the backyard for the deer.  The backyard has tracks up the wa-zoo.  Dennis commented the mineral block is supposedly apple flavor.

  Supper will be a bit after five.  I made a new batch of crab salad this morning and Dennis and I sampled it at noon.  Of course, it will be better after today as the flavors need to co-mingle while in the refrigerator.

  As we were at the grocer’s yesterday and had bought some broasted chicken, we had bought enough for this supper as well as last night’s.  Nether one of us will mind a repeat of the menu.

  Yes, indeed.  The lights are going out in the studio as I need to share with Dennis my phone call from Sharon.  Sweet.  Yes . . . Kevin got a shout out from Sharon.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 4:03 pm on December 21, 2024 Permalink  

  Quite a Day 

  Pedicures and haircut were the order of the day.  We always enjoy the time with Maria as we come out of her shop with happy feet and a lowering of the ears.

  After that I had my grocery list in my pocket.  Dennis came in and manned the cart while I lead the way up and down the aisles.  A little variety in the kitchen makes meals easier to plan for.  The list was fulfilled.  Dennis suggested we pick up something for supper.  The choice was several broasted chicken breasts with some macaroni salad as a side. 

  While we were unloading the groceries, grandson AJ from Mankato was at the little red pickup to help.  The fellows were off to the patio porch for more chit chat.

  Yesterday I finished a project I had been stitching on for some time.  Its not that it was such a huge project but finding just the right ones for the job was a challenge. 

  You all know, I don’t throw away anything if there is any kind of an emotional attachment to it.  I had been saving two spools from my dad’s workshop that he had in the basement of their home.  I have no idea what they were ever used for.  I know looking down the shaft of each one, something must have ran through them.  It matters not, because I wanted to do something with them that might cause someone a moment or two before they too couldn’t figure out what they were used for and throw them away. 

  Once I had a design stitched I wondered how to affix the fabric stitched out pieces to the spools.  I glued buttons on both sides of the designs.  After they had dried, I used butcher’s twine to lace the two sides together.  When someone comes with two viable hands I am hoping to have a better job of the lacing done.  Noreen, well done. Another fine job of keeping times past to be current.  If nothing else . . . to add to the mystery of what Raymond’s treasure was actually used for.

  The sun has gone down and I can feel it in my sewing porch.

  This has been a wonderful day.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:39 pm on December 20, 2024 Permalink  

  Indeed 

  Indeed, we did get a snow that piled up to several inches.

  The back door and a snow pusher got a path out the door and to the car’s garage door.

  Next on my docket was the front deck and the steps down to the sidewalk.  The sun was forecast to shine today and no matter how cold it is, the sun has power.

  Today is the day!  The solstice.  The days will begin to get a bit longer.

  Yesterday I was going to make a call . . . no service.  Yup, it was time to purchase some time on my Tracfone.  The last time was in May of this last year.  It never gives a clue.  $135.00 and I was back in business.

  The call I was going to make was to my brother, Calvin.  Calvin did answer and he and his son Eric, had landed at Eric’s home late Wednesday night.  All ties to Decorah have been cut for Calvin.  Calvin’s son Jason will pick up the last his items at the mobile home park where he has lived the last several years.  I am so happy for Calvin.  Cloquet is where the assisted living unit is that Calvin will settle into.  It’s about 25 minutes from where Eric and Cecilia live.  Jason runs the interstate quite often and when passing through grabbing an Uber to visit Calvin will be a good thing.  As in our family genes, Calvin never talked about feeling isolated, but it took Eric about five minutes to broach the topic of moving.  Good deal.

  Amazingly, my Command strip replacements came in today’s mail.  They are up on the studio wall and tomorrow I will hang up the hoops.  Sweet.

  Dennis’ daughter and her husband needed to go to Mankato yesterday morning and about 5 miles from Lake Crystal there was an Amazon truck in the ditch.  Denise said the trailer was so far in the ditch a small car could have driven under it with the angle of the accident.  She said there were also two security trucks with multiple fellows handing the freight up to the road side like an assembly line. 

  Denise had her eyelid surgery last Thursday, just a week ago.  There is so much swelling and she said it felt like lit matches were in the lids.  She is working and can’t wait to get home to put the goggles with ice pockets on.

  This evening’s supper is Bisquick pancakes and Jimmy Dean’s pre-cooked breakfast sausages.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:18 pm on December 18, 2024 Permalink  

  An Elf 

  An elf complete with a stocking cap pulled over the ears.

  Last night while we were having supper, I heard a snow shovel scrapping at the back door.  When Dennis went out to close down the porch kitties, there were tracks that had come and gone from the north.

  This morning Randy was back with his long line of green Deere.  No snow blowing, but he scrapped the drive clear of the snow that had fallen.  I thought he had gone home to do some of his own, but again I heard a snow shovel, this time at the front door.  Randy was clearing off the front deck and clearing the snow from the base of the steps and the short sidewalk.

  I pushed open the front door and greeted Randy, allowing him to know the appreciation we felt.  The snow on the front deck had not been walked on and it was so dry, his broom could push it off.

  My morning entailed going into the studio to work with the embroidery module.  Yesterday was successful and just like any tool shop, having all that is needed handy beckoned me.

  I had barely set my coffee cup down and Dennis’ daughter, Sandy the nurse from Mankato, came down into the studio.  She commented that she really didn’t know if I was still doing any sewing or not, but I noticed a bundle under her arm.  Sandy needed curtains at 50″ and 63″ was the norm.  Off came the embroidery module and we set to work on a hemming project.

  I cleared one of the church tables, gave her a tape measure, plus a supply of pins and let her get to it.  Sandy had never used a rotary cutter, so I warned her to keep fingers clear.  Measure once, measure twice and cut once.  I set to the hemming while she did the second panel.  While I was sewing the second panel, she was pressing the first one.  No, Sandy had no iron at her home.  She had planned on leaving the curtains with me, but everything went so well, she would be able to  take down the towels on the bedroom window and have her curtains up by dark.  She thought having all the right tools made it seem doable.

  During that time, Dennis came home from mailing some letters.  Dennis made it into the studio (the first time since his hip surgery, very slowly) and a good visit ensued for him and Sandy.  She commented that the highway from Mankato was clear.  Last night at six, KEYC warned that 169 leading this way was very icy.

  I had spent my allotted time on the cold cement floor of the studio and shut the studio down when Sandy left.  My plans had no time frame.  Tomorrow seems just right.

  This evening it is baked potatoes, stir-fried raw, peeled and deveined shrimp and green beans for supper. 

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:50 pm on December 17, 2024 Permalink  

  Meeting 

  Rather late in the day yesterday, we had a department head meeting.  100% participation.

  New ideas were brought forth.  The findings and solutions were accepted.

  We canceled the trip to Mankato today.  In part due to the possibility if snow.  The other major portion was that making a trip that would entail just about a total of 100 miles when we could accomplish the same thing traveling a total of a mile.

  My concern was handling a bag of 32 lbs of cat foot.  Dennis does not leave the pickup when we get to Mankato.  I can arrange my shopping cart so a bag of that cat food falls into the cart.  Getting that bag out of the cart and into our vehicle . . . not so good.  From here on, we will get the 16 lb bags here in town.  The same goes for anything else we need for supplies within our home or the pantry.  Shopping in town more frequently when something is needed appeals to me, rather than buying in bulk.  The trip out of town just doesn’t make sense, when I feel like a pack -mule by the day’s end.

  Our first appointment out of town is January 13th, when Dennis has an eye injection.

  What I did do today was to spend time in the studio and fire up the embroidery module.  I had not used that since this last May when I made items for Megan’s kitchen as she was preparing to get her own apartment ready.  Fiddling around and checking things out, the inspiration was a little slow coming.  As the adage:  you throw enough stuff at a screen, eventually something will stick.

  The snow is here. Perhaps not a huge amount, but enough that some can make the vehicle fish-tail around a corner.

  All is quiet and all is calm on Stauffer Avenue.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:20 pm on December 15, 2024 Permalink  

  Thawing Temps 

  Strange December weather.  I have no idea what was forecast for this winter, but one day at a time.

  The older ones on Stauffer have been sleeping as if we were hibernating bears.  The thermostat gets turned down after nine at night to 65 for the night.  Dennis even commented as he had usually been the one up at seven or so.  Its more like nine before the feet are hitting the floor.  I don’t think its a bad thing at all.  We seem to get all things taken care of that are necessary.

  The local meat market was visited in the recent past.  I had put a 2.5 pound of arm roast out to thaw overnight.  This morning I turned the crockpot on high for the time it took me to get the roast really to plop it in.  Huge onion rings were placed on top of the roast that I had rubbed down with Lawry’s seasoning salt.  Supper will be ready by 5:30 or six.  Dennis announced he would be making instant mashed potatoes.  We have been doing the real deal on potatoes for a very long time.  I think he wanted to see if he still remembered the recipe.  Tee Hee!

  For a time this morning, if I ever wondered what it would feel like to be totally blind, the onion I was dealing with let me know.  I made it as far as getting the onion on top of the roast and getting the crockpot cover on.  I literally felt me way into the bathroom to soap up my hands and rinse, before blowing my nose and grabbing a wash cloth to rinse my eyes out.  I swear, my eyes were rimmed with red for most of the day.

  I am my father’s child.  Raymond would love eating a raw onion sandwich but his eyes would pay the price ever so dearly.  Even when mom and dad would visit and I would be in the kitchen preparing a meal that included an onion that needed to be prepped, dad would go outside for a bit regardless what the weather.  

  I have been doing some reading and hand stitching this afternoon.  I also checked in with Dennis’ daughter Denise.  Thursday she had had eye surgery.  Her eyelids were folding over her eyes, big time.  Thursday night she looked very bad.  She has off work from Casey’s until tomorrow, Monday, morning where she has a huge pair of dark glasses ready.  Today she commented that the itching, of course the healing, was bad.  I remember Orlin and his sister Micky having that same syndrome.  I don’t know if they had had surgery.  Oh the little things we take for granted.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:45 pm on December 11, 2024 Permalink  

  A Rescue 

  We have a small USA flag, 5 x 8 or so, that is stripped on a steel electric fence post on the corner of the sidewalk out the front door.  The wind had been nasty and the flag had gone all the way down the post and was on the ground.  This morning after getting dressed, I gingerly went down our front steps with a safety pin in hand to shore up the flag so it could proudly fly freely again.  It may have been a quick fix, but I rely on that little flag telling me which way the wind is whipping for the day.

  This may sound quite like what an older person partakes of, but it is me.  Several nights ago we had precooked brats and sauerkraut.  There were two brats and some kraut left.  I tucked them in the refrig.  The last two mornings I have enjoyed a brat/kraut sandwich for breakfast.  Heated in the microwave for a bit and it made for a good start of my day.  I may very well do the same if there is pizza left over from the night before.  That doesn’t happen often as Dennis doesn’t like pizza.  Is it about not wasting food or is it enjoying food that tastes good enough to finish.

  This morning, I made Dennis the crab salad that he enjoys.  It did make a fairly large batch.  It was at a cost of $11.00.  The box of Suddenly Salad complete with the Italian seasoning did pair well.  I dare say there was a lot more imitation crab than what is found in the fare that is purchased in a deli.  That was more as if they had a piece of the crab meat and had drug it through the remaining ingredients.  Dennis will enjoy the batch for several noon lunches.

  On another good note, we have a second night of the chicken oven meal of last night to enjoy this evening.

  There is a wind chime hanging from the evergreen on the northwest corner of the house.  It has been entertaining me for days as the wind has had its way with it for days.  I do not mind it.  Hmm.  It makes me think there should be a second one with just a bit of a lower pitch for a full cascade of entertainment. 

  I spent time in the studio this forenoon and when I came up, the sun was warming and welcoming as I sat and read in the cherry red chair of my bedroom.  It may well feel quite different when the sun goes down and the wind continues.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:39 pm on December 6, 2024 Permalink  

  Return of Fall 

  I am going to enjoy some warmer temperature as it may be short lived.

  I had a busy day on the first floor.  Laundry running gave me a chance to get frozen tenderloins out.  Yup.  Chicken Rueben, hot meal coming up for supper.  I like to dice/cube the chicken before it is completely thawed as it cuts so much easier into the pieces I like.  The next time I shop, I need to look for Poultry seasoning that is in a shaker container.  The container I have is loose powder.  All I can do is put some on my palm and swipe it over the chicken with my other hand.  Too much in one place is not a good thing.  The spices in it are worth the addition.

  I finished four small pieces of stitching.  It was time to get them into the basement on the padded Quilter’s Square and Block pad that the kids found for me in Goodwill a time back.  They average 4″ x 4″.  I will pull out interfacing to put on the back and then some patterned backing fabric.  I have either the poly fill or the crushed walnut shells to fill the pillows with.

  Today I ordered a new brush attachment (about as big a round as my closed fist) for the basement Filter Queen.  The brush was the go-to attachment.  Now that the vacuum has had a good cleaning, I will be more apt to use it down here in the studio.

  Dennis’ job jar, in total, was the back entry floor.  I don’t require shoes to come off when anyone comes into our home.  Of course there is bound to have stuff come in.  I don’t appreciate cigarette ashes mixed with what Mother Nature can drag in.  Nope, sitting on the steps of the back entry with his foot holding open the screen door to let in the cold and blow ashes in to have a cigarette before bed, using a soup can as an ash tray . . . no more you ole cowboy.  He comes in from the patio porch at eight at night.  You could set your watch by it.  If he made for almost two months without a cigarette during the hip surgery time, he can make it from 8 pm to 8am without choking off.  Yes, I know how to stand my ground, because I am reasonable.

  My hope everyone within my reading proximity, gets that last little bit of outside work done while we have no snow or ice to contend with.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:52 pm on August 17, 2024 Permalink  

  Four Legged Friends 

  Our porch kitties are for sure the four-legged friends that are our sweet spots.  Hark, there is some competition in the backyard.

  The last several weeks we have had two young fawns hanging out enjoying munching on clover.  When we first noticed them, they still had their white spots.  Yesterday, they were showing mostly their rich tan color.  When Dennis came in at eight last night, he said they were bedded down under the Hackberry tree.

  And what, would you ask, are the porch kitties making of all of this!  The sliding screen of the east patio door is barely wide enough for all three of them sitting on their haunches keeping watch.  All they want to do is watch from their safe spot.  Amazing.

  Sleep came easy for me last night.  At 8:30 this morning, I had to fight to keep my eyes open.  Once the feet hit the floor, I was running an agenda through my mind.  As I enjoy the first cup of coffee, I do check everything over on my HP, including the weather for the day as well as banking information and obituaries.

  As Dennis was heading to the Dollar General to buy several gallons of distilled water for his CPAP machine, I headed into the studio.  The 24 quilt blocks were waiting on the church tables.  My goal was to sew half of them together . . . four per row and three rows sewn together.  At a bit after three, all lights were turned off in the studio with my goal having been met.

  Our supper is going to be a smorgasbord of items from last night’s supper tied together with scrambled eggs.  It will meet all of the major food groups.

  Nothing news worthy to report.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 1:08 pm on July 3, 2024 Permalink  

  Fleeting Thoughts 

  After a successful trip to my dentist, I settled in to my bedroom porch to pick up where I had left off with a YouTube video I had been watching.  

  Dennis was immersed out in his patio porch with a television program.

  Traffic of all shapes, sizes and colors speed by, hopefully to come to a stop at the four-way stop just feet away to the north.

  Wouldn’t one and all be surprised if they knew more about the little home and its owners at the 109 location.

  This home is Dennis’ and my safe spot.  Of course nothing is for sure or guaranteed.  This is a place that we never lack for food or rest.  It is the perfect home where Dennis and I  have found the cure for weariness, sadness, fears and uncertainty.  We share happiness and celebrate each day we have as well as decades of memories.  Our mantra is: save the best and leave the rest. 

  I trust and pray that my children have also found their homes to be their safe place sanctuaries.

  Tomorrow is the 4th of July.  That in itself brings a flood of memories. 

  Dennis and I will be celebrating this long holiday type weekend right here on Stauffer Avenue.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥