Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from October, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 5:54 pm on October 13, 2018 Permalink  

  If one stood in a sheltered area where the sunshine would hit, it felt wonderful this afternoon.

  We had visitors from the far north country today. The entire family of Dennis’ daughter, Susie, her husband and their daughter Taylor came calling. Granddaughter Erin and her husband Paul have three girls. I think the tiny town of Silver Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior was quite empty today. Grandson Ryan and his daughter live here in St. James and joined in. Daughter Sandy drove over from Mankato so she didn’t get left out. With Dennis and me it was a group of 13. Lots of visiting, lots of giggling. Lots of sad faces.

  The four great granddaughters have always beat feet for the backyard to enjoy the swing and running off a lot of pent of energy from the long ride. The strict instructions were given in the best of terms that the concrete patio was as far as they could venture. With three inches of rain this last week over the newly tilled backyard, it would have been a situation of kids being muddy right up to the tops of their shoes. We assured the girls that next spring the yard would be ready to play in. Five year old Josie had to be content collecting leaves off of the concrete . . . and there was no shortage there.

  Lots of hugs and goodbyes until a plan can be made towards Thanksgiving. Dennis didn’t miss a beat. He was in the mode of getting the horse tank set up in the Lincoln car garage. The hope is for Indian Summer, but he feels the need to get prepared. No one likes to have all of what is necessary to come crashing down at one time.

   
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  Noreen 5:11 pm on October 12, 2018 Permalink  

  When the sun shines I feel just like the calves that we had when Orlin and I farmed. On a good day we would let them out of the pens and into the pasture and they would run; kick up their heels and frolic. Well . . . to tell the truth, my frolicking days are more like stepping out of the house via the back door with a cup of hot steaming coffee and just suck in the sunshine and fresh air. In my mind I am kicking up my heels and running through our acre.

  Our minds can get us trough a tremendous amount. Dennis and I often comment to each other . . . and sometimes we are commenting to ourselves that all in all, even in some bumpy days we can find the positive in it. My finger dexterity gets me bending over for some good aerobic exercise as I may drop more than I can hang onto.

  Positive thinking turns into finding ways of Dennis and me getting most of our work done on our own. We grunt. We groan. We take a lot of breaks. Each evening one of us asks of the other “What are we going to do tomorrow?” Nothing comes to mind. Invariably, the new day brings activity to the forefront. Dennis enjoys going to one of the apartment complexes to have coffee with life long acquaintances once or twice a week. A comment that Dennis has made there has come back to me: “Anyone that says they don’t have anything to do and they are bored should come and visit with my wife. She will find something to do on a dime.” Silly ole cowboy.

  The sun is setting and I am enjoying a cold cup of breakfast coffee. My frolicking for the day is done. It was a day like many: it was a great day and we managed to get some local effort worked into the day and will be ready for another one tomorrow: God willing.

   
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  Noreen 4:11 pm on October 10, 2018 Permalink  

  Yesterday I had posted the all encompassing day I had with technology. Sometime in the afternoon as I had been whizzing by Dennis’ recliner doing the upping and downing into the sewing studio, he asked me why I just didn’t take the HP Notebook to the basement and let it run on its battery. With that, I would be next to the printer and the sewing machine. Kuddos for Dennis thinking of that.

  Within the last weeks we have been on the run with outside work. Many trips to the back yard, front yard and anything in between. The electric tiller had been an extension of my arms for quite a bit of that time. Lots of steps. Lots of good exercise. Believe it or not when we have several days of raining weather and I am housebound, my body doesn’t like it. I look forward to moving for rather long periods of time. Sitting is my enemy.

  You might wonder how this works into the projects of stitching I take on in the sewing studio. I now have my two church tables set so I can easily get around them. It is not unusual for me to actually do walking laps around the tables during a stitching stretch that the sewing machine is doing. Neighbor Jan just smiled when she stepped over one day and I was doing laps. Hey! Stick around older folks. We are entertaining and quite resourceful. I am at the stage in my life that having things set up so I don’t have to exert myself is not healthy. I don’t mind having legs that feel like noodles sometimes. I like knowing that my body and I are on the same page: keeping me going, keeping me upright and keeping me happy.

   
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  Noreen 6:01 pm on October 9, 2018 Permalink  

  What a ducky day. Sunday evening’s showers were unexpected but having the rain continue right up until this Tuesday evening is a bit much.

  When Kevin and Kersten were here on Sunday to till up the yard, Kersten spent time with me and my computer files. Successful machine embroidery goes hand in hand with computer files and folders. Though the sewing machine stitches according to what is on the flash drive that has been installed into the sewing machine, too many files on the flash drive can really drag down the sewing machine reading all that is on it until such time I find what I need. Working with Kersten allowed me to understand how to flip from the DVD drive to the folders I could create in the document portion of the computer and then load a design in the “F” files which is what the flash drive is referred to.

  Today I worked almost non stop with stitching files. My Aunt Lorraine comes to stay with us each year for several days. She is a kindred spirit when it comes to quilting and embroidery stitching. Several weeks ago a package came in the mail for me. It was like Christmas. The package included 18 individual stitching collections. Each collection had approximately 20 designs with the ability to stitch out each of the 20 designs in four different sizes. Four sizes for four different sizes of hoops to stitch from. I had pushed copying these collections off to the side as they intimidated me. After Kersten left, I was ready to tackle it.

  Here it is supper time and I have only three of the collections remaining to put into individual folders on the computer. I named each of the folders in the “Documents” the same as I named the folder on the “F” flash drive. I would have had to have purchased multiple flash drives to accommodate all these designs. I did prof each document file by loading one of the designs in that folder onto the flash drive and then plugged it into the sewing machine. I then printed out the image of all the designs in each collection as the log of what colors of threads to use is important. Once I mail back the original DVDs to my aunt, that tutorial would be lost. My brain feels like mashed potatoes. My legs feel like noodles. Why you might ask that my legs ache? My HP Notebook is in my living room. The printer is in the sewing studio as is my sewing machine. I could have moved the printer to the living room but I don’t trust myself taking the sewing machine up the basement steps.

  After all the dirt work yesterday, I am not sure which was more wearing to my ole body.

   
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  Noreen 5:44 pm on October 7, 2018 Permalink  

  There has been a plethora of activity on Stauffer Avenue. Dennis ran an errand to Fleet and Farm to get several bags of lime to put around our evergreen tree. This should neutralize the acidity in the soil that the tree gives out. That is on our plate for Monday.

  I had the electric tiller going and thought I was in high cotton. I was working under the Lilacs and getting soil worked up that had not been moved around for a long time. It was time to get some tilth in the soil. I love my little tiller. 18 lbs is just the right amount for me to handle. That project was going to be the “It” for the day.

  That was until Kevin and Kersten drove up with their diesel Ford tractor with an amazing tiller behind it about 1 o’clock. It was a trailer full. The mighty blue tractor sure did a great job on an area that may have been 25′ x 30′. By the time Kersten had helped me with some computer files, the boys . . . Dennis and Kevin, were loading the tractor and tiller.

  By four, us four were sitting down to share a meal. The day was great. Of course, it had to rain about that time. Nothing serious but dang, that was suppose to be the forecast for later on this week. If the weather cooperates, Dennis and I will be doing the grass mousse tomorrow. It should be interesting. Dennis commented when the city puts down grass seed with a water hose, they really don’t care what shape or how hard packed the soil is. The soil that Kevin worked up looked like a sea of finally sifted soil. As I said . . . just a great day.

   
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  Noreen 4:47 pm on October 6, 2018 Permalink  

  Oh boy oh boy. A slam dunk day for the older ones on Stauffer. I finished a commissioned stitching project for a benefit. That felt wonderful. No problems. When I stitch on a blank piece of fabric and then cut the fabric to the project size I have some leeway in case of an oops . . . just get out another piece of fabric. When the fabric is already sized and hemmed being a ready item after the last stitch, I do hold my breath.

  Dennis was in search of some items from his Korean War days. I was quite sure they were not in our home but I was diligent and search high and low. The attic corners were totally sought out. Nothing. It did bring to site a few items that I will able to pass along or to donate.

  Dennis has the acre mowed hopefully for the last time. It surely will be the last, won’t it? We are having chili for supper and are calling it a day. It’s easy to close down on a day such as this as it has been dark and gray all day long.

   
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  Noreen 5:55 pm on October 5, 2018 Permalink  

  This is not what I would prefer for an October fall day. Following a half inch of rain during the night the gray skies settled in for the entire day. Dennis’ son-in-law made short work of the large limbs that had gone down several days ago. Tom does not pick up what his chainsaw has cut. We are thankful for what he does do. What was left was a mess of small twigs. By noon we had everything loaded and ready to take to the tree dump. You cannot tell by the looks of the backyard that we had to play lumberjacks today.

  Decades ago all of the cut up Maple would have found its way stacked into the machine shed to dry for the wood furnace that was in the farm home of my parents. There was no duct work in the farm house. In the center of the living room floor was a metal grate four feet square. Whatever heat the wood furnace could generate was felt coming up through that grate. There was also a grate in the floor of the second floor to take whatever heat could rise. That was the total heat source for our bedrooms.

  Do I feel guilty when our forced air furnace brings heat from various heat registers throughout our home via duct work? No. I enjoy all the memories of times past. I enjoy our comfortable home without all the labor intensity of those days of old. Yup . . . I am spoiled.

   
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  Noreen 5:28 pm on October 4, 2018 Permalink  

  The morning started out early as all of Hwy. #4 traffic is coming past our home for a time due to detours. Jake brakes on the semis are noisy. We were both up and at it by seven this morning. After several cups of coffee I noticed even our neighbor to the south was up and picking up branches from the strong winds we endured throughout the night. Once I noticed he had his fire pit going with a roaring fire, I began picking up our light weight branches to keep the fire going. That went on until almost eleven this forenoon before I was up against the limbs that would need a chainsaw. I didn’t realize how chilly the air was until I quit moving and then I felt chilled to the bone. It was close to a 50 degree difference from yesterday afternoon.

  We had company for noon lunch and the good visiting lasted until 4:30 this afternoon when we bid each other goodbye until the next time. A great day that I thought couldn’t have anything else fit into it. Dennis then mentioned that we would be having company tomorrow.

  I am sure I will barely be out of bed tomorrow morning when I will be hearing Dennis’ son-on-law’s chainsaw tackling the larger limbs of the Maple tree. If the strong winds had been continuous yesterday it would have done less damage than when the additional gusts of winds would hit. By tomorrow at this time all will be taken care of and the mowing of the acre will be smooth sailing with no branches to run over and raise cane with the mower’s blades. That may be happening on Saturday.

   
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  Noreen 4:37 pm on October 3, 2018 Permalink  

  What a weather day. I drove north and had fog that was a challenge from time to time. Dennis drove east to Mankato and had to pull over at Lake Crystal because the rain was so heavy the wipers couldn’t keep up on the pickup. We both came back home safe and sound. We were sitting out on the patio this afternoon about four, watching the clouds when the wind shifted to the north. Huge gusts of wind and when we heard a crack coming from the back patio, we headed into the patio porch. A maple branch that was broke off from a viable larger limb is large enough, I know Dennis and I will not be able to move. It just missed the potting shed. We are in the house and will stay put for the evening and let happen what will with these winds.

   
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  Noreen 5:38 pm on October 2, 2018 Permalink  

  What a grand day for my ole cowboy to have a birthday! It started off with his favorite pastry: apple fritters. A year ago, Dennis slept through his birthday. Much has changed for Dennis with his health. What a wonderful thing for us. Dennis was at McDonald’s by 8:30 to visit with other fellows near or about his age. Dennis grew up in St. James and the stories that can be shared . . . a good thing. This afternoon found Dennis at one of the apartment houses here in town that has a meeting room with a group that gets together for afternoon coffee.

  He did blow in and out to check on me. Ya right . . . he needed to let the jaw relax a bit.

  I stayed in the sewing room for most of the day with great success. Here it is at 6:30 and it is quite dark out and I am ready to close down the studio and put my feet up for a bit. Tomorrow I will be traveling north for some car repair. The tick list for the coming of colder weather is getting short and by no means was my car going to be slighted.