Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 4:31 pm on November 21, 2017 Permalink  

  A Day to Reflect 

  Without opening my eyes this morning, I was sure what I had dreamt had actually happened. I had dreamt we had snow and a lot of it. Outside the wind was howling through the tall Evergreen rattling the wind chimes. No snow, but the computer said it would have a wind chill of six above zero. I decided the 25 mph wind would not be good walking weather.

  With that being said, I did pay homage to my shoulders and hands today. I had completed two quilts in the last three weeks.  I set deadlines for myself and as I completed the tasks at hand, it was very satisfying. I didn’t hurt myself, I decided to take a break from the sewing studio.

  Dennis encourages my sewing studio to the nth degree. What Dennis would not approve of, and he has verbalized this, is putting quilts together and stacking them on a shelf. This year there have been twelve quilts stitched with care and love and given to family members. I have never in Carrie’s 50 plus years made a quilt for her. As it turned out two quilts were given to her as . . . it just turned out that way.

  Four quilts went to Dennis’ great granddaughters. Addison, Ava, Bella and Josie received pretty much the same pattern, but each had their name embroidered on their own treasure.

  Dennis’ granddaughter, Sadie, wanted a t-shirt quilt made out of remembrance of a fallen hero that she served with in the military as well as he being a high school mate.

  Dennis’ granddaughter Amy had saved many of her son’s clothing for a quilt to be made out of those who represented Oliver as he was about to turn four.

  When we attended a graduation gathering this summer, I knew I would have a great nephew who would be there who was moving into his first apartment after finishing his vo-tech training. Tyler took note it was done in fall colors, just as his birthday is in fall. Sweet.

  I have a nephew that is an over-the-road trucker and Jason received a quilt for the sleeper in his truck.

  Yesterday two quilts were sent off via the post office for two Schafer nieces.

  I had planned on doing Carrie’s quilts. The rest just fell into place. It’s been pretty special that several friends’ fabric stashes have ended up here on Stauffer Avenue. Very little fabric for these twelve quilt tops needed to be purchased. I watch JoAnn Fabrics for 50% off for quilt batting. Many of the backs for these quilts have been pieced. Through all that our basement got a bump with new windows, an air system and getting a vapor barrier put in place for a portion of it.

  Don’t you worry. I have some very special quilts put on a shelf for family members. They may not need them today, but perhaps when they do need a quilt, I may not be able to handle the project. Hell’s bells . . . that’s not in my tea leaves . . . for a long, long time. That is the main reason we purchased the Bernina Embroidery sewing machine. Cutting, piecing and handling bulky quilts to finish it from start to finish can be difficult on the shoulders and hands. This sewing machine can serve me well no matter what the arthritis dishes out.

  What can I say? I feel so fortunate and blessed.

   
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  Noreen 1:55 pm on October 27, 2017 Permalink  

  Years in The Making 

  February of 1999, Kevin agreed to spend his weekends bringing Stauffer Avenue into the 21st century.  Where to start?  Plumbing was the answer.  During that winter Kevin made the trips from New Ulm to St.James with energy and tools on board.  Hmm,  he was among the troop just this last weekend, October 21st, 2017, that was helping us out here on Stauffer Avenue with a job jar.

  Since 1999 this little home has been worked on continually.  Kevin was on board in 1999 for the remake of the bathroom, the kitchen, and the half bath in the basement that included plumbing, wiring and heating.   In time, our contractor, Elwood, put in new replacement windows, insulation of the home and new siding.  In time, we have repaired what was needed, never to let it go until another day.  This fall it was time for new basement windows, a complete air system for the home and today was the final chapter . . . we hope, of major items.

  Today, Complete Basements came back and used the same crawl space that Kevin had worked through in 1999 putting new plumbing in.  Today, a vapor barrier was put in to seal the area’s dirt floor.  In times past, there was an exterior crawl space door, the one showing Dennis from the outside. When we had the foundation sprayed with foam that door was closed off.  We have always left the crawl space open to make sure we weren’t fighting frozen water pipes.  With it being open the chances of the dirt floor filtering in moisture and maybe a smell or two was possible.  Not after today.

  As it worked out the fellow in charge of today’s project is our contractor Elwood’s son.  Ben and his co-worker from Complete Basements came in with snow flurries abound.  It took them about five hours to maneuver around and under heat ducts, PCV pipes and water pipes.  How could I not have a noon lunch for them.  This is what Dennis and I hope is the last of the huge projects to secure our home for quite some time.  We are well aware that when you own property, it takes repairs and we will stay on top of them.

  

  We had an additional item that we have been fighting with Internet access via a wireless router.  Mediacom came with a new one on board.  When I told him the one we have had was over ten years old, he didn’t seemed surprised that we had called for a service call.  When the fellow looked at the situation, he allowed us to know that the Mediacom modem was equipped to handle the wireless situation.  I know when it came in the mail a time back, Dennis and I were just happy to get it connected to the coax cable correctly.  Ya see . . . its like this . . . older ones such as we are, not only need family to guide us through changing times but also reliable service people to take us by the hand and then . . . here we are.  We have a wonderfully safe and comfortable home, even if it takes us almost 20 years to get the job done.

   
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  Noreen 3:48 pm on September 23, 2017 Permalink  

  Ready For Worker Bees 

  On my walk this morning, I mentally worked through what I wanted to accomplish today.  The primary target is covering up with what I would not want to get dust on in the sewing studio when three worker bees show up on Stauffer Avenue to put in new windows.  I had been doing some stitching in a small area I had carved out and of course, there were supplies to tuck away.  I think it has been over twenty years since the ironing board was folded up and tucked away.

  By pushing everything into the center it has meant many of the seek and search items I have wanted to access this last month have been buried or packed up.  I have held up well, all things considering.  Being accustomed to going down and whipping out a stitch or two and having my wings clipped hasn’t really hurt me any.  If anything I have given a lot of thought on how to configure it after the new windows are in and we can again spread out.  Oh how I will appreciate the end result of this upheaval next month at this time.

  Dennis has been battling a head cold of huge proportions for the last two weeks and has been left out of the sewing studio project.  We finally got a prescription for five days of antibiotics.  Dennis has plans coming up and the last thing he needs is to have them delayed or canceled if coughing and chest congestion causes him to be out of the loop.

  With four of the 9′ x 12′ poly throws, I sat on my sewing chair in the very vacant sewing studio and surveyed how to go about hitting as many of the high spots as I could to prevent concrete dust or leaves blowing in as windows are removed and the prep work for the new windows is underway.  All electrical devices needed to be unplugged.  I can only imagine the circuit breakers popping if items overheat under plastic.  Not to worry.  Dennis’ television set will remain plugged in until Monday morning.  

  This project is the most anticipated since Kevin redid our kitchen and bathroom.  The poly purchase came about as I recall, you can’t get the job done and done right without a mess.  No pain, no gain.  I am totally prepared as I have a noon lunch planned for the three worker bees to enjoy in the patio porch for Monday’s noon lunch.  My mom, Lena, always feed those who had to come and do work down on the farm.  It shows appreciation of their skills and . . . if the worker bees don’t have to leave the property to find a place for lunch, they are more apt to return to the project at hand sooner and not get waylaid.  Thanks for the tip, Lena!

  Oh my gosh.  I am ready!

   
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  Noreen 3:57 pm on September 20, 2017 Permalink  

  I Didn’t Seek and Search in the Right Places 

  November of 2015 is when we purchased my new sewing machine.  Guaranteed lessons could be given at any time by appointment.  With it being a 120 miles round trip, I haven’t as yet asked for a lesson.  I easily learn by reading and by trial and error.  There have not been very many projects that hit the circular bin due to operator error.

  Just yesterday I was sharing the time I spent on getting conversion printout charts for my files in regard to the best thread colors to use when embroidering.  Obviously, we would be traveling back and forth to the sewing machine shop for the machine to have regular checkups and have the firmware updated, so I began using the brand of thread that the shop sold.  Isacord it is.

  

  PES is core-spun threads by the Mettler manufacturer.  This chart can be scrolled through until all 14 colors have been shown and ideally identified by a code.

  Sometimes in the homes of retirees, it gets quiet.  It gets really quiet when Dennis is under the weather. It is no more than right that when he is resting in his recliner that I keep the noise and commotion down to a dull roar.  As I was cleaning up some fuzz and threads in the sewing studio I picked up the huge manual that came with the sewing machine, mainly to dust it off.  In the quiet of the house I sat down and began going through it, page by page by page.  Hump . . . I don’t ever remember seeing that little symbol on the sewing machine.  What?  It does what?  At the time the embroidery unit is ready to begin stitching there is a panel of the colors as it works its way through the design from the first to the last color.  The colors represent the code number of choice from the origination of the design pattern.  For 22 months I have been needing to take the time to look up conversion charts for each and every embroidery project that was not a product of Bernina and then having to find the Isacord color closest for a match.  Apparently Isacord is “in like” with Bernina. 

  

  There in all its glory is the correct code and the name of the thread color for my Isacord thread.

  Well, shucky darn.  I put my pointy little pencil on that semi-circular design and there is a built-in conversion chart for 35 different brands of thread.  It was a good thing I had my mouth shut or I would have dropped my teeth.  I felt elated, I felt embarrassed and I felt a bit ashamed.  So . . . .why can’t this sewing machine wash my windows? The saving gift of hours of time that sometimes made the difference of “do I really want to stitch it out when I could find an easier design?”  I love reading.  Why hadn’t I read the manual from cover to cover to begin with.  In all honesty there was, and is, so much detail in this machine, I learned and dealt with the situations as they arose.  Today felt like Christmas.  Yesterday I was at a point that the color charts almost had me whipped.  Today was just the right time for me to get better acquainted with my purchase.  

  There are some things in the horizon with the embroidery aspect of the machine that I will attend a class or two.  It will involve software that will enable me to choose any pattern that I currently have and add script.  It will all be laid out on my laptop as a total project, loaded onto a flash drive and then loaded onto the sewing machine.  Currently, I have had to measure once, measure twice to make sure the script is centered above the design while the hoop is on the embroidery module.  Currently I have limited fonts and can only do one line at a time.  The number of fonts in the new software is endless and the number of lines of script will only be limited by the size of the hoop that I choose per project.  There was a trial that I could download for a month.  I worked with what they allowed and it was pretty amazing.  

  I enjoy pushing my limits in life.  I enjoy trying for new adventures . . . and I do mean try hard.  This has been another satisfying day in the life of the retirees here on Stauffer Avenue.  It would be better if Dennis could just shake this summer cold before the weather becomes colder.

   
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  Noreen 2:53 pm on September 6, 2017 Permalink  

  My Mind Wanders 

  Mowing the lawn today in such wonderfully comfortable temperatures was a treat.  For me, pushing a lawnmower is “no-mind” work.  I couldn’t help but let the mind wander back to Monday when we were at my cousin Dan’s rural farm for the threshing event.

  

  This family grew up in the farm home that Dan now calls his home. My grandparents Christ and Laura are sitting in the front on their 50th wedding anniversary. From left to right: Kenneth, Janet, Lester, Corrine, Raymond (my father), Esther, Lenard, Jerald (Dan’s father), and Maynard. Janet and Kenneth remain.

  My great grandparents settled in Penn Township.  It may have even been my great-great grandparents.  I will need to check on that.  At the time that my great grandparents were too elderly to continue farming, my grandfather, Christ, took a wife, Laura, and continued farming while taking care of his parents within the family farm home.  As Christ and Laura took the elderly role of the Penn Township farm, the youngest son, Jerald and his wife Marian, took up the reigns as Christ and Laura remained in the family farm home.  It was by no means a large home.  One bedroom on the main floor and three in the second floor.  

  Today, Dan at the age of 52, is the next in line and had taken the family farm and continues the heritage.  Dan’s parents both died at fairly early ages.  Dan has two sisters that are not involved in farming.  Dan has never married.  What has happened is Dan’s father’s identical twin sister is a widow and lives in a small town only eight miles away.  More days than not Aunt Janet drives out in the forenoon to pick up the slack in the house.  Dan fixes a huge breakfast for him and the hired hands after the livestock chores.  It is a late breakfast.  There is no noon meal or three o’clock coffee break.  Supper is eaten before the evening livestock chores.  Dan milks 120 dairy cows with another 50 head of stock in various stages.  Monday, I did hear chickens as they pecked and scratched here and there and everywhere.  Dennis had walked the farm site and there were also hogs on the farm place.

  Monday, after the threshing was done, I helped Dan’s aunt, and she is also my aunt, get supper ready.  There were seven of us to prepare for.  Aunt Janet and I had gotten a pork roast into the oven earlier in the afternoon.  It was a down-on-the-farm supper of pork roast, boiled potatoes with gravy, creamed cucumbers, broccoli and a baked dessert.  Later on Dennis made a comment to me that a peck of potatoes would not go very far at that supper table after a hard days work.

  We stayed long enough for me to help Janet do up the dishes and put away the extra chairs.  I took the time to look through the downstairs rooms.  I had spent many summer vacations in that house and even more so after Jerald and Marian began a family and I could be a go-for, for my uncle and his wife.  Go for this and go for that.  The wall papers on the walls have not changed in 65 years.  The linoleum on the floors is the same.  Dan is a very progressive farmer and has grown the 160 acres into 700 acres that he owns.  Among the farm implements, Dennis counted seven different tractors, two mixer mills for grinding feed and a skid-steer loader.

  Dan still preserves the traditions of his fore fathers.  Last Friday after the evening milking, he and the hired man butchered three hogs and got them prepared to put into the walk-in cooler for the night.  This cut up pork would be divided among him and his siblings and perhaps others as they tackled the job on Sunday afternoon.  Saturday morning he and the hired man left after morning chores and drove to a destination close to the Nebraska boarder to pick up a six-week-old male pure-bred white German Shepard puppy, named Roscoe, to add to the farm and keep the two-year-old female Molly, also a pure white pure-bred German Shepard, company.  They are both registered with the American Kennel Club.  Dan’s 16-year-old niece did the 120 milk cow milking that night alone as well as the other livestock chores.  An amazing fete that Dennis is still scratching his head over.  A 16 year old who loves going out for track and basketball, staying on the honor roll and being able to step into Dan’s farming operation.  Alisson did say it was the best part time paying job she could imagine.  Her dream is to become a vet.  I am sure sometimes during the summer it is a full time job.

  Here is the kicker.  Before Dan left for the puppy trip, he told niece Alisson to go into the house at three in the afternoon and turn on the oven to 300 degrees as he had huge roasters of lard to render out.  By the time he would get home it would be ready to put the liquid lard into crocks and let it come into the solid form.  You know . . . . he had that time frame down pat from previous times.  You also know there will be lots of homemade baked goodies coming out of that huge kitchen oven with the lard giving it a taste that no cooking oil could achieve.  With the help of my Aunt Janet, there is a lot of canning and freezing of produce as the garden brings the goodies to perfection.  Dan’s married sisters love coming and raiding his fruit cellar where the rows of jars are standing tall and the freezers are overflowing. 

  This November Aunt Janet is going to be 84.  Dan’s life will change so dramatically in time to come.  It has been close to mother and son rather than aunt and nephew all these years.

  As I mentioned, Dan is preserving traditions that have gone on in this farm home over the last 100 plus years.  It was nothing that had to be learned.  It is the day-to-day living that was handed down from one generation to another just as natural as breathing.  Monday, it was if I was back in time at the age of seven standing beside my grandmother Laura, helping with peeling potatoes and cucumbers as soon as Grandpa Christ and Uncle Jerald would be sticking their feet under the table, waiting for supper.  Priceless!

   
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  Noreen 2:12 pm on August 1, 2017 Permalink  

  Just Thrilled 

  

  Yesterday when Calvin and Lois were visiting from Decorah, Iowa, the catching up was fast and furious. Lois mentioned she had brought some items to share from Calvin and my parents. When I went to attend to a bathroom break, I noticed a cardboard box was sitting on the dining room table and we continued our visiting on the patio. It was not until they had left for their return road trip that I went into the house and then opened the cardboard box that was labeled “Old clock and figurine.” Oh my gosh! It was the mantel clock that Mom and Dad had bought for their 25th wedding anniversary in 1963. In time to come it sat on their fireplace mantel. It is a Westminster Chiming Clock. The figurine had been a gift to Dad to commemorate taking his turn at grandkids. That figurine also always had sat on the mantel. I waited to plug in the clock this afternoon until it coincided with the time on the face. I was so nervous. I had no idea if the minute hand would actually move. It has been running for two hours as of now and the chimes on the quarter hour and the hour are . . . right on! The tag on the clock says it was cleaned and oiled on August 27, 1989, at Hager’s Jewelry Store in Hutchinson, MN. What can I say but a huge “Thank You” to Calvin and Lois for bringing such a thoughtful, meaningful gift to our home.

   
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  Noreen 1:43 pm on July 28, 2017 Permalink  

  Here is My Heritage 

  Youngest brother, Michael, sought and received the info on the Riebe (my mother) and Wendlandt (my father) lineage from his DNA.  This would also be my lineage.  Ya . . .  I checked, we are biological siblings.

  99% European Broken Down:

  53% Scandinavian

  34% Eastern Europe

  4% Western Europe

  5% British

  3% Jewish

  1% Irish

  As Paul Harvey would say, “The rest of the story.”  It does reveal to me that I do come from strong hardworking individuals.  My temperament . . . dang those Irish.  What my children’s father’s linage would be will remain a mystery for now.

   
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  Noreen 4:10 am on July 11, 2017 Permalink  

  Sanctuaries 

  Sanctuaries perhaps bring to the mind places such as holy temples or auspicious buildings.  My definition of sanctuary is a place of retreat, a hideaway, a haven or a safe place, aka: my sewing studio.  This is where I was always intended to be.  When my children were babies and I was a farm wife, I had a sanctuary much like the one I have today on Stauffer Avenue.  

  Our farmhouse was quite small.  Four people could comfortable sit around the kitchen table even though the table needed to be pulled away from the north wall and the person sitting on the east side of the table prohibited access to the kitchen cupboards.  It worked.  The open dining room and living room were the expanse of the width of the home.  A double bed in the downstairs bedroom with a double dresser was pushing it for a rag rug to lie flat on the floor in between them.  The upstairs had two bedrooms both with the slanted knee walls and also had the only full bathroom in the house.  So what does an enterprising family do . . . make every square inch of that full basement work for the family.

  A bit of plywood to make a surround and the stool in the basement felt private.  A laundry sink with a medicine cabinet above it came in handy when either the upstairs bathroom was occupied or it was handy coming in from the outside with hands that needed washing but not necessarily wanting to take work shoes and clothes off to make the trip through the entire house to get to the upstairs.

  We made a closet out of the southeast corner of the basement that was large enough for two Sears and Roebuck freezers to sit side by side as well as house the fuel oil furnace.  The west portion of the basement was divided by a concrete block wall.  The south side was for the fantastic family room.  Ya, we had a family room in the 60s in our basement.  The finer finishes of that family room . . . we really need not get into.  The north portion of that basement had a root cellar complete with shelves that held all of our canning jars, crocks of rendered lard and, of course, sauerkraut.  The remaining of that north area was my sewing studio.

  My Christmas present that year from Orlin was a sewing table to hold the new Sears and Roebuck sewing machine, model 1820.  The table had pull out leaves that allowed the table to sit down a bit for ease of the user.  The machine was tricked out with cam and a button hole attachment and could do zigzag.  To finish out that little sewing studio, an office chair on rollers and a fold down cutting table.  Wow!  It was very snazzy and I was content.  It was easy to keep an eye on Carrie and Kevin as the first thing they learned was to come down the wooden basement steps on their butts one step at a time until they could master walking them.  A piece of carpet on the floor for the kids to play on with their toys,  an old brown velvet sofa from an auction from which they could nap on or watch television completed the ease of me sewing while having the babies close by.

  Eventually Orlin had a vinyl recliner in the family room.  Some days it just felt great to come in from the heat of farm work, go into the cooler basement and take a well deserved break.  We couldn’t turn down the score of a piece of slate chalkboard for the kids to write on.  Yup . . . quite the score.  Kevin was sitting on the arm of the sofa contentedly watching television and lost his balance and fell against the raw edge of the slate and cut his back.  Thank God for nearby laundry baskets to pull white clean dish towels out of to tightly wrap around him as we headed to Hutchinson’s emergency room.  Oh my God! Such a little back and such a long cut.  Kevin was uncomfortable and Carrie had gotten very scared taking it all in.  I remember . . . that night I rocked Carrie and Kevin both in the huge over stuffed rocker from Grandma Schafer until Orlin came in from checking on the barns and took one from me one at a time up to bed.

  Umph.  Today I had just finished a mending job for Kevin here in my sewing studio and memories just flooded in.  Old ones and good ones and very tender ones all the way around.  Yes, I am where I am meant to be, here in my sanctuary where good things happen.  I often times am here with: me, myself and memories. 

   
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  Noreen 3:05 am on July 5, 2017 Permalink  

  No Photos Needed 

  This is the 4th of July, 2017.  I can go back to various days just such as this with no photos needed to bring the memories of celebrations back as if yesterday.  What did we do for the 4th of July celebration before Kevin was born . . . I have no clue, nothing jumps up.  

  Kevin’s first birthday brought a family picnic like no other.  It started with a thought and before we knew it, suggestions were made throughout the relations and . . . yup, we would host the picnic.  The picnic included the Schafer clan, the Riebe clan, the Wendlandt clan and friends and neighbors in between.  On the farm in Boon Lake Township we had a sprawling grass lawn to the west that enjoyed shade and breezes from all directions.

  Orlin’s nephews, Craig and Frank, came to stay with us several days before the 4th and they were in charge of the lawn mowing, the branch pickup duty and anything else that their uncle Orlin could think of.  We were milking a herd of Holsteins at that time and the chores of the hogs and chickens kept us busy and we welcomed the help.  

  Before we knew it on the forenoon of the 4th, Frank and Craig were directing cars to park east and south of the circle drive in such a manner that no one was blocked in.  Everyone who came unloaded chairs from their trunks and food that had been transported carefully.  Empty 50 gallon drum barrels supported any and every plank that could be found, ready to have a table covering put onto it for a picnic food line.  Everyone pitched in except Kevin.  His job was to stay content on a blanket in the center of it all.  It was a great day and it was decided to repeat it the next year . . . and oh ya . . . the little guy would be two.

  The gathering did continue for quite a few years on.  Frank and Craig stayed with us often during the summer months and were always a help.  It didn’t hurt that Orlin had fixed up a wagon that I believe Kevin got for his second birthday from Orlin’s sister Mickie to pull behind the lawnmower for rides of the smaller kids.  Kevin’s second birthday had him sporting the remains of the Chicken Pox.  Uncle Norman would play the concertina and Grandma Schafer would chime right in with her harmonica.  They both could play by ear and how they could bring about the old time music.  Great Grandpa Christ kept time with the toe of his shoe on the soft grass.  Friends, Otto and Evelyn, couldn’t believe there could be that much commotion spread over the entire yard.  In Kevin’s baby book, I am quite sure there are memos of those picnics.

  We had great family gatherings on the 4th with each one winding down with birthday cake, the birthday song and the thrill of birthday gifts for Kevin being opened.  Soon people got busier, lived farther apart, their children married and had families and in-laws that also wanted to share time.  That’s okay.  I remember the feelings of those picnics after the day was done, being so weary it just felt great, it felt right.  Without Kevin having been born on the 4th of July, each family may have indeed gone their own way to take in a picnic or some fireworks perhaps with no extended family participation.  But . . . for those years of this huge family sharing space and time on a given 4th of July, I choose to believe it did make a difference. Not just for Orlin, me, Carrie and Kevin but for those who also may have a moment when they go back in their memories and reminisce of a quieter, softer time in life.  Of course each of Kevin’s birthdays would have taken center stage when the special day in the special month had occurred, but we had an opportunity to open our home to welcome families that may not have had a chance to share time with so many in one afternoon.

  It does give pause when I think of how many of those who spent time with us on those birthday celebrations are no longer with us. 

  I have always enjoyed my children’s birthdays even into their adulthood.  The ability to spend that special day with them is many times not to be.  It matters not.  I hold them in my heart just as fiercely as when I held them for the very first time.  Priceless.

   
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  Noreen 2:42 am on July 3, 2017 Permalink  

  8:00 a.m., and I have slept in. We had many pit stops in Mankato yesterday and this morning when I lay in bed and moved a bit, I thought I deserved a day off from walking. Taking my time with my usual breakfast, I was still in my robe at 9:30 contemplating what to do with my free morning. Umph! 9:36 a.m. and I am out on the county road with my cell phone in one of my pockets and the second pocket was full of my bite sized tomatoes. Talk about ingrained safety nets in the brain. Yes . . . I should have been out earlier as it was rather humid. Thank God I didn’t have to pee right when I got back home as I would never have gotten off my sweat soaked shorts and underwear. I sweat like Dad . . . profusely.

  Aunt Lorraine came from Arizona with software designs to share for the embroidery aspect of my sewing machine. I am accustomed to purchasing images online and downloading them directly onto a flash drive. All of Lorraine’s were on CDs. Umph! My laptop in the sewing studio is my go-to for tracking the sewing software and that no longer has a working CD unit. Best Buy was happy to sell me an external CD unit yesterday for $29.00. What better way to cool down for the afternoon than working with the images and moving them from the CD to a flash drive. It took a bit of puzzling and eventually I connected with the correct file formats and the slow process began.

  I had my Bernina powered up to check my transfers. Never leave anything to chance. As my ole cowboy stated: “You may use one of the designs or all of them, you now have them at hand.” I did note one difference in her choice of software: in order to have the ability to change the size of an image either smaller or larger, one needs to purchase “Grade A” images or groups of such. All of Lorraine’s were “Grade C.” The collections that she was sharing had a choice of two sizes for each design on each each of the CDs. Very cumbersome and very limiting. I have taken a photo of each of the jacket covers and have done a printout of them per CD for a quick reference as to what the flash drive holds.

  It’s a fact of life that if you don’t continue to grow in day-to-day experiences . . . as Nicholas would say “I guess I miss out.”