Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from September, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 4:08 pm on September 19, 2018 Permalink  

  I have issues. I have had such a great run at getting things done outside with Dennis helping. Bang! Damp weather sets in for several days and I have a challenge in shifting gears. It takes awhile of wandering around the house to find what I want to settle into.

  There is a reason why we have been knocking out the work outside. Some is fall work getting prepared for a change in the seasons and some of it was what had been put off from last year. Nothing serious; nothing putting us in harms way . . . just homeowner responsibility.

  The reason for our working together is that I have a partner this fall. Most of last year, Dennis was not present in our day to day schedules. The carotid arteries, that seemed to be impossible to diagnose, and the massive amount of medications that had been prescribed trying to fix what was wrong, resulted in Dennis sleeping his days away. Since the end February, when the second carotid was repaired, I have seen improvements right along. The carotid surgeries were not an instant fix. His brain needed time to adjust to the flow of blood and then figure out how it was going to send signals to him as to what his days would, should and could be like. Oh, there are still naps, but not to the extent of getting up at eight, sitting down for a nap at nine, getting up at one in the afternoon and catching a nap in the afternoon in his patio porch and ready for bed at nine.

  Dennis being 81 allows for naps. With the digging out of gardens, hauling in dirt, cleaning out garages, repairing Santa; Dennis has been right there. He bought a 1968 tractor and worked on it and is working on it.  He is present in each day. The prescribed medications have been drastically reduced. This has been a good run at fall. Dennis is amazed how good he feels. He is moving, he is visiting friends and today he decided to make one of his amazing hot dishes for supper.

  I found my niche in the sewing studio today and my issues went away.  I had not put the embroidery module on the sewing machine since June. It felt good to work with threads. Dennis brought down coffee and even played a few games of Solitaire on my 10-year-old Dell laptop. Life has always been good on Stauffer, but this fall “good” has a bit of a different feeling.

   
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  Noreen 3:52 pm on September 18, 2018 Permalink  

  A fairly gentle rain. Lots of storms around us, but we were spared. When we were on our way to Mankato for Walmart dirt with the pickup last week, Dennis pulled over to see what the red light was that had popped on. It was the ABS light; a brake situation. We pulled out the owners book and knew we would be making an appointment to get it checked out at Rod’s here in town. Today was the day of the appointment. Not knowing what it would all entail, Dennis took it out there this morning and I picked him up to give the repair fellows all the time they needed. Rod called this afternoon. The pickup was ready and the repair bill would be $127.37. I took Dennis out to get the vehicle out of Rod’s way. I was very curious when Dennis returned home as to what had been found. What was found was some short red hair around the area where a wire had been chewed on causing the red alert light to come on.

  We had let the pickup sit out for several days when we were working on . . . whatever, and used the floor area of that part of the garage. We do not have any cats that have red fur. We do have many, many red headed squirrels. Rod mentioned that there would be no way a cat could get up as far as this wire was. All is good to go.

  When I was coming back in to town I noticed one of the corn fields next to the repair shop had a field of corn that looks like it is about ready for harvesting. The stalks are totally brown; the ears are hanging down and the husks have split open. Yup . . . fall is right around the corner. These two older ones are well prepared.

   
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  Noreen 5:12 pm on September 13, 2018 Permalink  

  A true return of summer complete with humidity. I am holding out for next week when it promises to be a great fall comfortable week. We decided to make a trip to Walmart today. All garden supplies are half off. We are making headway on landscaping the north side of our home. Tomorrow we will be unloading another twelve bags of garden dirt on the west end of the patio. With the electric tiller working up the surface of the dirt it will work well to put down a layer of soil and then trying out the seeding method that Dennis is ready and loaded for. He has talked about using the seed that is incorporated with a foam mousse via the garden hose. Time will tell. The north side of the house needs some TLC. There is nothing like getting some dirt under the fingernails.

  While I am waiting for the temperatures to settle down, I have a project to finish in the sewing studio. The studio has been ignored for some time. As I have often mentioned, a balance in my day makes for a happy Grammie.

  Hmm. The days of hearing “Grammie, Grammie” seem to be lost. Dennis says he just hates it that Megan and Nicholas had to grow past those cherished days. That’s okay. Memories can’t be taken away from us.

  On the down side, we needed a new coffee pot. We don’t spend a lot on pots. As long as we can program them, there are choices well under $20.00. I got the new pot set for the time and when it is to go off in the morning. I poured in a huge amount of water to have it run through the pot before using coffee grounds. Slow reflex on my part . . . the water was running out of the bottom of the pot as fast as I had poured it into the reservoir. What are the odds! Dried and re-boxed that in a heartbeat. The receipt and a huge notation on the box awaits the next trip to Mankato. Dennis suggested I visit the Shopko store here in St. James until we make the next trip to Mankato’s Walmart. Life in the fast lane.

   
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  Noreen 2:16 pm on September 11, 2018 Permalink  

  A quiet morning. Dennis went off to McDonald’s for coffee with fellows that he has known most of his life. It could well be dubbed “The Over 80 Club.” Dennis says the coffee is awful. I am sure their “go to” items do not include coffee.

  A great breeze took me to sit on the west patio with coffee and junk mail that I have been collecting from the last week. What caught my eye was the flyer from JoAnn’s. Patterns for sewing were on sale. I used to do that. I sewed clothing for Orlin, Carrie, Kevin and myself. Leisure jackets that matched the three of them, robes, PJs, a three pieced suit for Kevin and lots of clothing for Carrie through her high-school years. I did not pay the price per pattern that was listed on the flyer from JoAnn’s. Simplicity, McCall’s and Vogue were listed from $22.95 to $35.00 each. Oh my gosh. In the hay day of my sewing in the 50s and 60s McCall’s and Simplicity could be bought for $1.25 or $1.50.  Vogue always was a bit higher but still reasonable. Even with today’s 30% off, it would not be economical to sew garments in relationship to what can be bought ready made. One would really want to have that “I made that” stigma. Not me. Not anymore. The world of knits and even cotton with a bit of a stretch can be found always on a sale rack somewhere. Yup, I am a sale rack shopper.

  With the junk mail having hit the recycling container, Snuggles found a spot on my lap for a nap. Being lazy and reminiscing, looking out to the east, I couldn’t believe that about 30 years ago, I couldn’t have had the view I have today. The evergreens that bounded the east line of the property swept the ground with their boughs. It was total greenery.

  Dad and Mom came for a visit. Mom needed a home perm. Dad and Mom pulled up with their tandem truck. Dad had an agenda. While I twisted Mom’s hair onto the rollers for the Lilt home perm, Dad had the chainsaw going trimming the evergreen boughs up the tree trunk. His reasoning was for winds to take the snow through and not cause huge snow drifts. Dad went from the backyard to the front yard trimming, trimming. With the hair task finished, Mom and I put on gloves and helped Dad load up the truck box. It was filled to the brim. Even with the end-gate off the box, it was quite the heft to get the job done. Of course there had been coffee breaks and a noon lunch that had been worked into the day.

  Here I sit today enjoying the view. No longer doing pattern sewing, no longer whacking and stacking clearing the yard, well I did clear out the square garden just several weeks ago. No longer giving Lilt perms.  My life has changed. My life is sweet. My memories are sweeter.

   
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  Noreen 5:23 pm on September 10, 2018 Permalink  

  An indication that we have been having heavy traffic past our home is when a water truck makes multiple passes during the day to keep the dust down on our concrete road. Four blocks north from our home the city is digging out a holding pond that is to work directly with the infrastructure to take pressure off of the storm sewers when we have heavy rains. It encompasses two city blocks and it is deep. That is from Dennis who does a daily trip to that area for a report. The city had used that area for decades as a spot to get rid of dirt type refuse of building and street projects. There are side dumps, and gravel trucks of various sizes and colors that keep up a steady flow going to and from. It is all getting hauled out to the south end of town. State, county and city are working together to fill in a spot out south that will become a huge parking lot to handle a portable cement plant when highway 60 is rebuilt next year. With all the rain of this area, the hauls are nothing but huge clumps of wet clay. Wet clay on tires drags it onto the city streets. The company has their own street sweeper that also runs by multiple times. Talk about dust composed of clay. The water truck does about as much good as me peeing on the street. No windows open until after seven in the evening. The haul from seven to seven.

  Last year the heavy traffic put in place detours in town past our home as we had two round-abouts that were placed. Some day we will again be a quiet small town dwelling.

   
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  Noreen 4:25 pm on September 8, 2018 Permalink  

  That was the last straw. We needed to mow the acre today and I had Dennis start my push mower so I could mow the front yard and around the house. As I was finishing up, my eye caught the north side of the house. Admittedly the north side of the house is about 25′ from the neighbor’s driveway and we don’t spend any amount of time in that grass area. What my eye caught was green moss like discoloration on the white siding. We have had a wet summer with very little full sun shining on the north side of the house.

  I finished mowing and the put on old shoes to begin washing off the house. I had a brush that I could telescope the handle to the height I could manage and yet reach the height of the greenery. I set the hose attachment for a sharp spray. When I started spraying water up to the roof line, the muddy rivets of water began to run down the siding. I followed up brushing what needed it with a cleaning solution, followed by rinsing. A bit weary but also feeling satisfied on a good job done.

  This actually all worked out well. In July we had worked on the slope of the yard on the north side of the house in relationship to the foundation for a good run off of water rather than having it pool close to the house. That was less than good dirt. It had a lot of clay in it. With all the rain, we are confident that the dirt mixed with clay has firmed up. Now with the house washing it needs to dry up a bit.

  Dennis was making a run to Fleet Farm and I rode along. As I sat in the pickup waiting, I noticed that their pallets of summer products was getting quite low. I got out and checked. They had 10 bags of garden dirt left. We came home with those 10 bags. In the next days or perhaps weeks, we will be putting this black garden dirt on top of the clay on the north side of the house. This is not a quick half day job for us. The bags were 40 lbs. at the time they were trucked to Fleet Farm, but with them being out in the weather, I think they might weigh a bit more. We have lots of time to get this done. It will need to be put on and raked. You know me: nice and tidy. Dennis wants to try the water activated seed that is put on with a harden house leaving a blanket looking covering. From now until then we will be collecting cardboard boxes to cut apart to protect the foundation of the house from the seed spray landing where it will do no good but make a mess on the concrete.

  Lordy, Lordy, if it is not one thing it is another. It is good to get this stuff done as it is warranted while the weather is nice. The weather was chilly this morning turning out to be a good day for a workout. That chilly morning spurred me on to make a batch of chili. Having a large enough batch to have some in the freezer doesn’t hurt either for a quick meal sometime down the road.

   
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  Noreen 6:34 pm on September 7, 2018 Permalink  

  It has been known for quite some time that Dennis is a cat lover. For myself I can enjoy cats or dogs. Dennis has often remarked that traveling with a dog is not easy. Leaving a dog behind with a handler is not easy. Either way, the dog doesn’t know how to react . . . their world has changed. Now with a cat, a cat is so independent, they really don’t care if the human is around or not as long as the litter box, water dish and food dish remain in place. We have enjoyed vacations away and made sure there is someone to take care of the litter box, water dish and food dish.

  Our patio porch does sport a furnace that services the garage for the pickup and the car. In the winter, the entire area never gets colder than 40 degrees. It took us awhile to realize that the cats would launch themselves off of our vehicles and sleep on the rafters above where the air was warmest. Why fight it? For some time there have been baskets with cushioning above both vehicles.

  It has happened that we have been gone all day to come home and realize that one of the cats had been stranded aloft for the entire day. Today we began to make plans for an exit if and when one of the cats would get stranded above the pickup. One situation at a time. It will be interesting to see how this all works out. I assure you, I will keep you posted. This project was in Dennis’ plans before we got side tracked with the Santa restoration. That was a good thing as it bought me some time to put paper to pencil for more detailed plans before heading to the lumberyard.

  Ah yes . . . life is always interesting here on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 6:16 pm on September 5, 2018 Permalink  

  There is no place like home after a day of errands in Mankato. Dennis enjoys his noon luncheons at the VFW for the Korean veterans once a month. It is good for Dennis to visit with fellows from other towns, not just in regard to Korea, but life in general.

  I use that time to bop around and find what I need. I was disappointed. I could not believe that Lowe’s did not have my all time favorite 3M Strapping Tape. It may have had a fancier name, but come on, there was nothing that resembled it for purchasing. I settled on 3M 2x Stronger Duct Tape. I didn’t want to come home empty handed as tomorrow I want to work on Santa’s dressing room, aka: the original storage box. I may still run uptown tomorrow to our hardware store and Fleet and Farm for a look-see about the strapping tape. It is my favorite for secure taping.

  The saving grace was we both got good hair cuts at Great Clips. It never matters which gal we get, they check their cards as to how the previous cut was done and it is a win, win.

  One of our last tops was the Goodwill Store in Mankato. It is the cleanest, nicest store to schmooze through. Dennis likes the polo shirts that have the collar and it must have a breast pocket. Got it! In fact, I found two in his size. I admit we spoil our cats with laundry baskets that are cushioned. I admit that I will spend five dollars on a blanket at Goodwill, cut it in to two and allow their life to be comfortable. I will not do laundry for cats. After multiple shaking out, airing out, I will return to Goodwill and purchase a replacement. That’s just how we roll with the cats.

  The weariness that I feel this evening, I don’t want to do a road trip type date for a long, long time.

   
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  Noreen 5:17 pm on September 2, 2018 Permalink  

  Each day comes and before my eyes can focus, I do say a quiet quick prayer of thanks for the night’s rest I have had. These past years the amount of rest I take each night is considerable more than when I was on the W-2 Form routine. Oh well. It’s not the quantity of awake hours, but the quality of them. Dennis is right there with me in enjoying good sleep and a lot of it. He can squeak in a nap during the day . . . that’s not my case.

  I am at the age that exceeded Dad’s by a year and a half. I am happy that I am going about my days much like Dad’s. Up to and including his last day he was busy doing and taking on tasks for others.

  Today was no different for us. I include Dennis in the “us” as he is my sidekick for projects we take on. It started with a text yesterday of inquiry. The texting went back and forth for a time and then an agreement. We have a new project awaiting us in the patio porch as of this afternoon. We can’t get at it right away, but we are on it. For the age of us and for what we take on we have more on our plates than bland food. It’s been a great day and I am sure this week will be just as full and interesting for Dennis and me as the last.

   
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  Noreen 5:13 pm on August 31, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Carrie ( 12 ), Megan ( 9 ), Nicholas ( 6 )   

  The beginning of the last long holiday weekend of the summer. Our surprise was a visit from the metro kids. Carrie, Megan and Nicholas spent the afternoon with us. What a treat. Megan had a sewing project that we needed to get nailed down so that when she went to purchase her fabric she would get the proper amount of yardage. It is hard to believe that she will be having her 15th birthday in December. The teachers will have a challenge with Nicholas. What happens between the ears comes so easily to him. Nicholas will be 10 in November and has a kind spirit. The need to compete while participating in sports does not interest him. Right now he is anticipating playing golf next season as he and his dad got quite a few rounds in this late summer. While Megan thrives with ice skating events that she had this summer, Nicholas’ highlight was kayaking on various lakes in their area. This visit will be the last for some time as the school year will be off and running on the 4th of September. It was a great day.