Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from August, 2018 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 6:10 pm on August 17, 2018 Permalink  

  After having 1.5 inches of rain yesterday I have made an administrative decision. Our backyard was just about to the point that I could walk and not get muddy shoes. The large square perennial garden in the backyard has had its last season. It is about 25′ x 25′ and it has given me much joy over the last twenty years. We have had and will always have a low area to content with and the rain of this year drove that point home loud and clear.

  When nephew Brett does get a cement job done here I will have an area right off of the patio that will hold the perennials that I have an emotional attachment to. The ideal time to move them will be in the spring of 2019. The rest . . . will be going by the wayside. This morning I spent a fair amount of time pulling some plants up and getting them ready to be mulched. Between now and the snow flying I have decorative rock to move, some posts that have held garden art will be taken out, etc. Next spring I know of a fellow and his Ford orchard tractor that has a great garden tiller and the area will be tilled with grass seed following. The area around our huge Maple tree and the patio porch will still allow me to get my fingers dirty.

  The passions that amount to “busy work” do wane followed by new “busy work.” The thread and fuzz that I enjoy has remained with me since I was a child. It endures. It is satisfying. It challenges me. With the condensed gardens and the thread and fuzz, I know that I will remain busy as there are a few challenges that Dennis occasionally brings into my life. All in all I have a balanced life. I like it. I like it a lot.

   
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  Noreen 6:32 pm on August 14, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Aunt Lorraine ( 7 )   

  Today we voted in the primary. It was the first thing on our list this morning. Dennis dropped me off and he was off to the parts store for some brushes for the generator on his Cub Cadet. The tractor has been a good project for Dennis, beside the fact that the back portion of the acre doesn’t take him long at all and it is done.

  I headed for Windom with my cousin’s quilt top. Christine had a few minutes to visit with me. Christine works at a drug store that fills prescriptions for over 30 different health care facilities in the area. Christine was appreciative so she could take the quilt top and make plans for it to be quilted sometime in the future. It ended up to be a bit of a story as to how this quilt top got wonkie. Christine didn’t sew the quilt top together. Aunt Lorraine who has Macular Degeneration had her hand in this. It doesn’t matter as the project is back with Christine. The family does worry as to what will happen when Lorraine’s eyesight continues to deteriorate as there is no cure for the Macular eye disease. All the more reason for me to continue taking care of myself as much as possible.

  The skies have threatened all afternoon, but I am afraid the rain has dissipated before it hits the ground. All is good here on Stauffer Avenue. So many blessings abound here in our home. Priceless.

   
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  Noreen 6:02 pm on August 13, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Aunt Lorraine ( 7 )   

  There are mornings that block out the rushing of traffic past our home. This morning was one of those great awakenings at 8:45. I had been in a wonderful dream of some times past. When I opened my eyes looking out the window to the east I was entertained with a flutter of Black Walnut leaves. The leaves that had turned yellow and gold fell like a vail. I stayed still for some time to let the dream fade. What a great way to start the day.

  Dennis had received a letter from Ford that his little red pickup had a recall on the air bags. After several cups of coffee in the patio porch we headed to Sleepy Eye to get the skinny from the dealership there. We will be receiving a call with an appointment time when they are able to replace the air bags. Dennis asked me to ride with him. His plan was to keep me out of the sewing room a bit longer as he knew I was feeling some strain in my shoulders and hands. Bless his heart.

  This late afternoon I gave Thomas a call that he could come and pick up his daughter’s quilt. Check! Call that project done and out! I will be taking some time to tidy up the sewing studio, complete with the Swiffer on the concrete floor. I do take time to hit the multiple waste baskets with thread and fuzz, but to no avail, some sneak by. I have no plans to hit another project head on. I need a bit of time to reflect on what would be fun to work with. In other words I am going to do a “needs analysis.”

  Dennis just reminded me that I have a quilt top to deliver into the owner’s hands. When Aunt Lorraine was here several weeks ago, her and I spent a lot of time tearing apart a quilt top for her daughter that had refused to lie flat. Once we had the issues taken care of Lorraine decided to leave the quilt top with me rather than her taking it with her to Arizona, only having to mail it back to Minnesota. Lorraine’s daughter works in Windom about 26 miles from here. I believe I will surprise her at her place of work and put that quilt top where it needs to be. I am leery of having someone else’s project in our home. There are less than good things that can happen and I would never be able to make it right. We will see what tomorrow brings.

   
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  Noreen 5:57 pm on August 12, 2018 Permalink  

  Update on T-Shirts 

  

  Here is the skinny on t-shirts: they could pass for oil cloth tablecloths. None of the 16 shirts I had to work with were plain soft cotton t-shirts. The rubberized vinyls have taken over. This may be the last of projects such as this for me. A stabilizer needs to be put on the back of the shirts so they become a square that is able to be worked with in organizing and stitching the quilt top. All of these shirts had to have a pressing cloth laid on top of them to allow the heat of my iron to adhere the stabilizer on the back of them. When quilting the top of the quilt, I needed to stitch through newspaper on each block as I didn’t have the special presser foot that rolls over the vinyl. The newspaper then needed to be removed via the perforations that the stitching did. Bummer to the nth degree. Tomorrow I will dig through my stashes to find something to use as the binding. No . . . the back of this quilt has not been photographed. I was not going to purchase any new yardage for this project and it got pieced and pieced and pieced. Sew be it.

  I will say that the morning right up until twelve noon was spent outside on the patio visiting with neighbors.  The air was nice with a bit of a breeze and no biting bugs.  The wonderful morning enjoying coffee and chit chat started the day off great.  I knew what I had been battling these last few day with this quilt and there was no point of putting it off.  As I have said there may not be any more of these quilting bartering projects.  I would sooner offer . . . not putting myself in a bartering situation to begin with, especially when it involves family.   

   
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  Noreen 5:29 pm on August 11, 2018 Permalink  

  Dennis and I had decided last night that today would be a quiet day with little to nothing that would need to be done. Dennis enjoys the Rural Farm television channel. It goes from tractor auctions, to insights on farming in various states and the best part for Dennis . . . the gospel and country music.

  It is difficult for me to sit on my hands. I did linger in the patio porch this morning for enjoying several cups of coffee. Not much breeze. Looking out to the east there was plenty of activity. The squirrels were having a hay day. The neighbor’s Oak tree has a fair amount of acorns to be had. The acorns are green as grass and perhaps that is the way for the squirrels to enjoy them.

  Snuggles did catch a squirrel last week. Dennis watched the entire hunt go down. Snuggles feels so heavy when he sits on my lap, but according to Dennis is was greased lightening on Snuggles’ part that was the end of that squirrel. The catch was not to be eaten but to be played with. When there was no more movement by the squirrel, Snuggles sauntered off. Within a few minutes Dennis had the dead squirrel in a plastic bag and into the garbage. Last year we learned our lesson. We did not pay attention to Snuggles’ conquests until we could smell them.

  I finished off the day with getting a far amount done on the t-shirt quilt for Thomas’ daughter.  Thomas had been on site quickly last week when we had a huge Maple branch go done.  The barter system is alive and well on Stauffer Avenue: have chainsaw, will travel . . . for a t-shirt quilt. It’s all good.

   
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  Noreen 4:33 pm on August 10, 2018 Permalink  

  It may be hot and humid, but after a full day here on Stauffer Avenue, I still love my ole cowboy and I love our home. Dennis and I work well together. I went with Dennis to a doctor appointment for a few checks and balances in regard to his meds after his system has adjusted to the carotid surgeries. It takes a bit of time for everything to settle in and adjust to increased blood supply throughout the entire body and the brain. Dennis is on track for a good quality of life.

  We could no longer put off mowing and trimming the front yard. It was getting shaggy, complete with several Black Walnut trees that had sprung up since the last mowing. Obviously the squirrels had forgotten where several of their treasures had been buried. Sewer lines and water lines running under the front yard may not be hampered by tree roots this year or next year, but the future needs to be safeguarded. With a good supply of electric cords the entire drive can be blown off with grass clippings. Yup, you all know me well . . . tidy, tidy.

  I was dirty, sweaty and smelly. Might just as well round out the day with some cleaning. With Dennis’ help of moving furniture in the patio porch, it got a full blown cleaning and vacuuming. Kitty baskets were taken out, shook out and freshened up. It was too bad that the ole Tabatha stayed put in her basket until Dennis literally rolled her out onto the patio.

  Super time is here and neither one of us really don’t care what we put in our mouths for nourishment. I do know that there will be a variety that satisfies the established pyramid for balance. Yup . . . there is no place like home.

   
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  Noreen 3:59 pm on August 9, 2018 Permalink  

  Today, it finally feels like home here on Stauffer Avenue. There has been a lots of activity and none of it was focused on the wind damage that is now totally cleaned up.

  Last week it was the visit of Aunt Lorraine. We deposited her at her son Mark’s on Friday.

  Saturday Dennis’ daughter, granddaughter and two of the great grands popped in from Mankato just before noon. Noon! Lunch! A five month old, a three and half live wire named Lux, plus four adults counting Dennis and me to do a lunch. Out came the selection of cold cuts that I had not as yet opened: pickles, veggie sticks, some fresh fruit to cut up and chocolate milk. Everything was on track until Lux opened the refrigerator and spied the boiled eggs that were peeled ready for making some egg salad. The mother determined that Lux could have one of the boiled eggs at her plate at the table. But, she only would eat the whites of the boiled egg. I expected that either the mother or grandmother would cut the egg and give Lux the whites of the egg. No . . . Lux decided she wanted to do it. Seriously! I think I am still finding specks of the yolk when least expected. I am all for allowing children to find their own way, but . . . who is the adult here! I am here to say that I always appreciated how Carrie handled age appropriate activities when delegating what Megan and Nicholas could do on their own and what needed for the adult to step in.

  We were finishing up noon lunch when Dennis’ son Ken surprised us. He popped in just in time to have ice cream cones that Dennis was doing for everyone. He had a lay-over with his Arizona based semi and the load he was carrying. As it turned out he took the load to Mankato and then was off from Saturday until yesterday, which was Wed. It is always good for Dennis to have time with Ken as we don’t have any plans on traveling to Arizona anytime soon. One of the challenges was that he desired wheels to get out and around to visit friends and family. There was no way he wanted to drive around my old lady Lincoln. That left Dennis with his 1968 Cub Cadet to get around with. I doubted that Dennis minded that one bit. From Saturday until yesterday there were numerous people popping in and out catching up with visiting. Several trips to the grocery store were needed for impromptu meals. Our “old people schedules” . . . were out the door.

  Today was the peace that passes all understanding. Our home is quiet. As much as we love company, it does catch us off guard when nothing allows us to gear up emotionally and physically before our sweet domain is going to blow up in our faces. A bit of a warning is always a good thing. Yes, you have it . . . we are spoiled rotten. We like it . . . we like it a whole bunch. As hot as it is today, I am happy I don’t have to be anyone . . . but me. When Dennis visited his recliner after lunch I believe he felt the same way. This is our home sweet home.

   
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  Noreen 3:22 pm on August 6, 2018 Permalink  

  Us older ones on Stauffer are finished with trees, shrubs and bushes . . . for now. I had planned on taking the day easy with all things that need to be kept tidy inside the home. Neighbor Jan came over and said she was in the mood to help with a Lilac bush of ours that suffered from the heavy snow and ice of the late winter months. I said “O.K.!”

  Jan was back with her electric chainsaw before I could get my garden shoes on. Older Lilacs branches tend to grow in spirals. By the look of this bush with branches as big a round as a quart fruit jar is, it has seen many seasons. There were some that were gnarled and twisted and just waiting for relief. Jan had the saw dust flying in no time. The project needed to be done and the two wheel trailer that I loaded yesterday was still on site with room to stack these branches on top. Dennis had been gone and was quite surprised by the pile of extras to load. Job well done by two neighbor gals.

  I mentioned yesterday that I had contacted a professional fellow to take down the huge Hackberry branch that had split from the main trunk. He gave us an estimate and said Tuesday would be the day. Today is Monday and the workers were here by one this afternoon. It was amazing to see them tackle the project. Dennis found a comfortable lawn chair and took it all in. It was the very same thing Dad would have done. Two hours later the job was done. As the tips of the branch was cut off of the larger base, the bob cat attachment drug it right over to the shredder and fed it in. The heavy logs were loaded into the truck pulling the shredder. One fellow operated a huge gas blower to wrangle the leaves and small branches into a pile while the second fellow followed behind with a wide broom attachment to sweep the area. Slicker than a baby’s bottom. We had one Evergreen stump in the same area from a time back. The bob cat fellow went up to it and hugged it with the attachment that he had used to feed the branches into the shredder and picked it up out of the ground as if it were a toothpick.

  We are amazed. We are thankful for such great service. We are thankful that we didn’t have to clean this up. It would have taken us several days even if someone with a chainsaw had chunked it up for us. We live in a small town. We know and have “people.” Priceless.

   
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  Noreen 3:58 pm on August 3, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Aunt Lorraine ( 7 )   

  Today is for pause, reflection and regrouping after we have had company for the greater portion of the week. This morning I looked around and . . . yup, I need to get some order back in Stauffer Avenue.

  When Aunt Lorraine travels she pretty much brings quite a bit of luggage with her. The nesting process begins complete with her own sewing machine. We had a quilt top that was in need of help for her daughter: Christmas 6″ blocks to cut and trim and several other projects in various stages of completion. As she moved in we adjusted our space to allow her to get comfortable. Mind you, when we took her to the motel each evening about nine, her nest in our home remained as she had a second nest at the motel to work at before she went to bed and prior to us picking her up in the morning. She doesn’t require much sleep and is usually up by five a.m. I understand this.

  When the kid’s grandma Esther Schafer went anywhere, her crocheting went with her. Various plastic containers that once held ice cream had projects complete with the correct crochet hook that was needed and always within a hand’s reach. You couldn’t have one without the other. Esther and Aunt Lorraine could be kindred spirits.

  Aunt Lorraine is totally deaf in her right ear and has challenges with the hearing aid in her left ear. She misses a lot of what is going on around her. This, I believe, is where the “all encompassing” sewing and quilting comes in. It’s her own world. Well, by golly . . . Dennis and I invaded her world and had a great time with her. I am a bit hoarse today and am steering clear of the sewing studio to allow for some perspective to return for what I had been working on last week.

  I have no doubt that when we left Aunt Lorraine at her son Mark’s home, she had her sewing machine set up at his home before we got back to our home. Priceless.

   
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  Noreen 7:01 am on August 2, 2018 Permalink
  Tags: Aunt Lorraine ( 7 )   

  It is early on this Thursday. I am enjoying my second cup of coffee before our day begins. The lights in the sewing studio will not be put on today. Aunt Lorraine is out at the Super 8 and no doubt stitching up a storm as she never travels without a sewing machine. After Dennis and I have a bit more alone time we will be picking up Lorraine and getting her checked out of the motel. Then . . . it’s on to Mankato where Lorraine has a shopping list. It will be a visit to a quilt shop, JoAnn’s Fabric store and Mills Fleet Farm. Lorraine noted the feed sack dish towels I have been stitching on for Christmas gifts for Dennis’ daughters and granddaughters. Lorraine will be taking some of those wonderful towels from Mills Fleet Farm.

  Somewhere along the line this morning, we will be having lunch and Lorraine made sure we knew lunch would be on her.

  Lorraine’s son Mark’s home is our destination by late afternoon near Hastings. I did ask Lorraine when she will be departing Minnesota and heading back to Arizona. Her airline ticket is for August 25th. I do applaud her for being on the Minnesota visiting trail for five weeks. Lorraine lives with her daughter Carol as the sole relative in Arizona. Lorraine does have a lot of family contacts in Minnesota. Each year it does tug at her heart if moving back to Minnesota would be a good thing for her. I believe in her heart she knows that it would be too much of a transition and it soothes her heart by making plans for next year’s visit.