Me, Myself and Memories

Updates from July, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Noreen 12:51 pm on July 23, 2023 Permalink  

  Sweet Sunday 

  An agreement was reached for today.  I would ride along in the little red pickup to the blue barn acre and help refill our gallon pump sprayer with the correct amount of water to the correct amount of Roundup.  

  The areas around some of the trees has a fair amount of volunteer weeds.  There is only so close Dennis can get with a mower for now.   Much needs to be picked up such as pieces of broken off limbs from Brett’s skid loader work.

  Dennis sharpened the lopper yesterday and we were able to take off a lot of spindly new growth from the trees.  Each bit of work does us good and improves the look of the acre from the road.  Anything we cut down is laid in a direction that we can pull it to the larger pile towards the back of the acre easily.

  Now in early afternoon, I can either read or stitch.  The light from the windows aids either one.  I will say, “My Spot” is sweet.  I now have the green project bag completed with the lime green zipper.  The setup allows for my stitching tools to be close at hand near the wooden book holder from decades ago that was sent to the trash when I worked at the courthouse.  It fills my use to the max as I can no longer hold a book to read with my hands.  The cherry red chair has great support for either of my wishes.  The sweet little green metal chair has a coffee cup close at hand.  It came out of Kevin’s shop years ago with the stipulation, that I would enjoy it “as is” with the dents and chips.  Absolutely.  Megan and Nicholas always enjoyed pulling it up to the table when they stayed with us.

  Enjoy this sweet day as the Lord has made.

   
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  Noreen 3:23 pm on July 22, 2023 Permalink  

  Quite the Day 

  The main objective for the day was laundry.  When Dennis works outside, it doesn’t matter if two t-shirts hit the laundry or a dozen.  Clean clothes is desirable.

  By 10:30, I was ready to ride shotgun over to the blue barn acre.  Lopper and weed whip in the pickup and we were off.  There is a lot of the Kudzu vines in the trees.  We did cut a lot of it off, down to the roots.  The next step will be our little pumper gallon sprayer with a strong mixture of RoundUp to go around the trees.  There is one Black Walnut tree with a crop of nuts in the greenery.  Right next to it is a very old Mulberry tree.  The ground around it is full of berries that fell once they were too ripe to hang onto the branches.  Every time Dennis mows it is looking better.  Once tall weeds are cut, it gives the good grass a chance to stool out.

  By twelve noon we were home, giving legs and arms a break.

  I did go down into the studio and check the YouTube video on what the next steps would be for my project bag.  Watching a video over and over breeds familiarity.  What needed to come first was a good cleaning under the hood complete with oiling and a new needle after the embroidery I had done for Kersten.  Using the machine doesn’t hurt as long as I keep it cleaned and oiled.  Just like a valued vehicle.

  Tomorrow may see some actual stitching.

  When Dennis visited the studio, we agreed on soup with a fried egg sandwich on the side.

  Happy Sunday coming around the corner.

   
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  Noreen 2:13 pm on July 20, 2023 Permalink  

  Thursday the 20th 

  Hmm.  They said if we were not included in the rain showers of last night, we would be in for a long spell of warm, hot and dry days.

  Once I had three needles threaded for stitching in my bedroom porch, I headed into the studio.  It does accumulate more than is warranted.  

  My sister-in-law is a registered nurse.  Her mother does not have Blue Cross Blue Shield Senior G0ld insurance as Dennis and I do.  At ninety plus, her mother battles open wounds from bumping into things.  I offered JoAnn whatever medical supplies we had left from the lengthy bout Dennis had had with his left foot.

  Today what was left of supplies I made a first-aid kit for the Fairfax team of usual items that could be used at home or in the shop.  The remainder is in a tote with a cover and handles of what we may put to use.  Got that cleared off the studio floor.  The pair of hard soled shoes and one knee high boot, all with Velcro, is also stored in a basement closet.  Whew, what a good deed done.

  When Dennis went to the eye clinic yesterday, he came home with an appointment card for October 18th of this year.  Yippee!  This morning the VA clinic needed him for an INR blood draw, clotting check.  That was spot on.  The VA is a monthly check.  Being five minutes away and taking another five minutes to completion is no big deal.  Fewer appointments are always favorable.

  Dennis just came in for an afternoon coffee break.  Nephew Brett had been over with a skid loader and pushed as much of the loose brush together on the blue barn acre as possible.  That allowed Dennis to mow a bit more and then he followed up with the weed whip.  The 1.14 acres looks tidy from the Hammond Hwy.  At some time, there are trees that could be cut down as none of them are keepers.

  Tomorrow, the weekend begins.  The month is flying by.

   
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  Noreen 3:08 pm on July 18, 2023 Permalink  

  Tuesday with Sun 

  This has been a busy day, actually my second busy day.  I wouldn’t trade either of them for anything.

  Yesterday was huge for me.  A funny thing happened to me on the way to a car repair.  I have driven through Hanska more times than I can remember.  Yesterday I decided to pull into the Main Street and even managed to pull off parallel parking . . . right in front of Johnson’s Furniture Store.  The stars were aligned.  A bit later, when I went on towards New Ulm, I had purchased two matching occasional chairs and would soon see the end of the 25-year-old chair and a half pull-out sleeper.

  Kersten picked me up at Chuck Speath’s and we motored on to McDonald’s for a well-deserved visit.  It was just sweet.  Next time we will need to meet up in Sleepy Eye.

  It was a long day, but all plans had been achieved.  I stopped at Hy-Vee for a few items as Tuesday was going to see family coming from Hutchinson. 

  By the time six p.m. arrived, the sleeper chair was out of our home going on to be of use in our carpenter’s young family’s home.  Bryan did an excellent job on our front deck and having moved into their own home recently, I gave him the option after a look-see.  The thought of an extra bed for a guest filled the bill.  Dennis and I felt good about helping out.

  By eleven this morning, Tuesday, sister-in-law JoAnn, her daughter Laura and Laura’s William and Heighlie were here at Stauffer Avenue.  What a great visit.  Now, at four, the house seems very quiet.

  Dennis did get the blue barn acre mowed with plenty of time to have coffee, lunch and a visit as well.  Dennis mentioned the bright sun felt warmer than the 78 degrees of actual air temp.  With no rain, it is a matter of keeping the weeds cut as the grass is dormant.

  Two very busy days for this Grammie, but so much appreciated.  The cherry red chair and I have some catching up to do.

   
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  Noreen 2:46 pm on July 16, 2023 Permalink  

  Sunday, Sunday 

  No good deed goes unpunished.  Having had a light supper last night, a dish of vanilla ice cream sounded good at eight last night.

  Wouldn’t you know it!  Four a.m. a bathroom visit was needed.  I went back to bed with eyes wide awake.  The dang birds were tweet tweeting to high heaven.  I got up and sat on the front deck and took in a fair amount of traffic watching.  Dennis got up at his usual time, six, and I greeted him with “Good Morning.”  I was sitting in my rocking chair.  He was surprised that I was up.  Once I could smell the coffee, I knew I was up for the day.  When the coffee was done, we both sat on the front deck with that freshly brewed black stuff.  Dennis, then with his breakfast box under his arm and his thermos type of coffee cup headed to the patio porch.

  I went into the studio and got some items together that I had started yesterday.

  By eight Dennis was in for a nap and I put a jacket on and went out to the gardens.  The weed that had put out such beautiful purple flowers was now done for the year.  Honey Bunny joined me and we pulled them up by their shallow roots.  Another bundle of greenery awaits drying by Dennis’ burning ring.  I even beat the bumble bees that love the Russian Sage by nabbing a hefty growth of nightshade in one of the corners of their purple blooms.

  With energy spent I came in and settled down to watch some YouTube videos.  My day just kept rolling along.  I now have Dennis’ favorite cold salad cooling in the refrig.  It’s the one with the pasta little rings, diced Spam, diced onion, green peas, diced celery and mayo.  Both Carrie and Kevin like it as well.

  Guess who is going to be in bed earlier than usual tonight, and . . . no ice cream.

  Tomorrow Dennis is going to Mankato to pick up his first pair of specialized shoes since the left foot has totally healed from . . . no toes.

  I am heading to New Ulm in the afternoon tomorrow to have a repair on my car.  Yippee!  It is covered under my warranty.  My favorite daughter-in-law will rescue me from the several hour wait as we go for a soft drink.  Sweet.

   
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  Noreen 2:44 pm on July 9, 2023 Permalink  

  Hello Sunday 

  This morning, with a breeze, it felt great.  With three cats following me to the east old Hosta bed, we headed out to see what the Roundup did for us yesterday.  Hmm.  I may be a little impatient.  We will try again tomorrow to take this walk.  I was just thrilled to have the area looking better than it had all of this spring and summer.  The cats found that hiding and playing in the tall plume grass a great game of cat and cat. 

  I can so vividly see Lena in her quest with weed killer.  Lena in her dust cap and a sprayer would check the rows of the new wind break.  She always had on heavy gloves.  If the weeds were too close to the young trees, she carried along a rag that she would spray with the weed killer and then take a hold of the weed and pull it through the rag as she held it.  Take that!

  If Lena, aka: Mom, was outside, more than likely a dust cap was on her head.  She took round circles of print fabric and sewed a hem that she would string elastic through.  Various colors of her dust caps were on the peg by the back door.  It was her perfect solution for helping out in livestock barns or in dusty chicken barns.  Mom’s hair was always fit to be in the company that the situation called for.

  As the east patio was getting a tidy look via the leaf blower, next door Jan came out for a chat.  Her yard reminds me of my yard years ago, waiting for the weed that dares show its face.  Jan is now retired from our school district.  May the birdies fly over her yard and pop out lots of seeds that will become weeds.  Jan has no hobbies to take her into quiet hours if there is no yard work.  She’ll get it figured out.

  The front deck had been my place earlier for coffee before I had gone outside.  When coming in from blowing off the east patio, I had a peanut and jelly piece of toast with the second cup of coffee while reading a few pages in my newest old book from the library while in my cherry red chair.  Washing the hands, the counted cross stitching needed a few pokes with the tapestry needle.  By the way, that cherry red chair is perfect for back support while stitching.  The left hand holds the hoop and the right hand runs the needle doing one “x” at a time.  I enjoy the quiet of my bedroom porch.

  The next event of my day was down in the studio.  A long time ago, I found four nice textured woven black placemates.  I had thought of making my own black mats from scratch for a project that has been discussed in the Pokemon vernacular.  I need three for sure and this will give me a chance to try out the fourth to see how it stitches.  More some time later on that.  I do move from one item to the next in my days as it is kinder on my ole body than overdoing any one thing.

  Tomorrow we see Dr. Renee in Mankato and she will sign off as Dennis’ wound doctor.  Everything done according to insurance and Medicare.  Jump through one hoop at a time.

  Enjoy what is left of the weekend.  It has been great.

   
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  Noreen 1:52 pm on July 8, 2023 Permalink  

  A Saturday 

  Mid afternoon and these two old timers are calling it a day.

  I headed out early for the final weeding on the far east Hosta bed.  Yesterday and today as I had pulled weeds, they had always been piled up facing in one direction.  When I finished today, the wide plastic rake worked great to roll the bale of greenery onto it.  I pulled it to the burning ring and slid the bale off.  It will take some time before it’s dry enough to burn.  Wouldn’t you know it . . . Snuggles followed behind trying to snag some of the greenery off of the rake. 

  A clippers were need to cut off the volunteer trees.  Surprisingly how fast those roots put down . . . as if they could stay forever.  On the last trip, the little sprayer with strong Roundup solution gave the entire ground surface a spray.  I stayed away from the plume grass but there may be a Hosta or two that will suffer.  I have offered these plants to many and if you snooze, you loose.  Dennis said as long as that area can look tidy, he has no problems steering clear of them with the mower.  If worse comes to worse, I assured him there were no rocks to be leery of. 

  During all the time my hinny was stuck up in the air working with unwanted greenery, Dennis was washing off the house with his soap suds in the attachment to the garden hose.  I must say it now looks wonderful.  Over time when we had a piddle of rain, it would be followed by strong winds bringing field dirt into town.  You could dip your finger into water and write your name on the dirty white siding.  Garden hoses on both the north and south sides of the house have been coiled up and Dennis is going to do as I am . . . calling it a day.

  Dennis and I are proud of our little home and take the extra measure to keep it looking that way.

   
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  Noreen 1:11 pm on July 7, 2023 Permalink  

  Another Gift 

  Another welcomed day of cool temps.  A great gift.  Breakfast under my belt, garden shoes on and out the door I went.  The Roundup I applied yesterday had a lot of weeds hanging their heads.  I chose three more Hosta to cover with my pails before the Roundup was sprayed.  Some of the broadleaf weeds looked sicker than some of the clover.  Hmm.

  With Honey Bunny trailing after me, I went to the far east to check on an older Hosta bed.  What my intentions are is for the plume grass to take that entire area over.  The white feathery plumes are beautiful in the late fall.  Each plume also has a seed pod for birds to harvest.  When I got closer to the area, I could not believe the amount of Nightshade plants.  They are easy to pull up and before I knew it, I had a bail of them piled up.  My gardening time was over.  Tomorrow I will take a clipper with me as there are several Elm trees that have gotten a pretty good start.  I intend to pull all the nasty unwanted, staying with my early hours as the temps may decide to climb over the weekend. 

  I visit the library and take home quite a few books from the rack of books put out to pasture.  When I came in from gardening, I enjoyed a cup of breakfast coffee and finished the one in my bedroom porch.  What I do with them when I have finished, I plunk it into the recycling bin just as the library does with those not taken home by anyone.

  My stitching of counted cross stitching took me up to the time Dennis came in for a noon half sandwich.  I had leftover meatloaf on a slice of bread and Dennis had a tuna sandwich.  One length of thread does make headways in the stitching.

  I had been contemplating a project in the studio.  There had been quilt blocks saved on a flash drive.  Rather than the multied colors on each block, I wondered what the design would look like in silhouette for either a placemat, a pillow or the popular mug rugs.  I have one such prototype under the needle right now.  When it is stitched out, I will need to confer with a partner in crime for decision time.

  Take care everyone and keep the balance in life as your main focus.

   
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  Noreen 2:23 pm on July 5, 2023 Permalink  

  Glorious Rain 

  Rain came unexpectedly last night before supper.  No idea how much it totaled but it was appreciated.  This morning after I had some laundry started, the garden shoes came on.  This is the first summer that we have direct sunlight on an area that had always been in deep shade from the old Lilac bushes.  I am not sure if that has called forth unwanted foliage or if it is the luck of the draw.

  With the rain of last night, there was easy pulling of some of the weeds.  I also took a pliers and pulled up some trees that were wanting to make a start.  There was a Cottonwood that might have been around since last year.  No budging with the plier.  I dug down into the dirt several inches and used the clipper on the root.  Time will tell.

  After several hours, I called it a day for my gardening.  The air was so glorious, I hated to quit.  I know better than to overdue the shoulders, arms and hands.

  Before going in to finish up the laundry, I got my plan in place for tomorrow morning.  I have a small sprayer that holds perhaps a quart and a half.  There is a pretty strong mix of Roundup diluted with water in it.  My plan is to cover up the Hosta plant with a pail and spray the clover around the Hosta plant and leaving the Hosta covered for a time.  The back area of Hosta is loaded with clover.  Never had that before.  It looks like a nasty ground cover.  It can’t be pulled up by the root as the root is like a piece of thread ready to break off.  I have several pails to place.  The other weed is much like a hairnet that lies flat on the dirt and branches out from the main root.  Wherever a tendril grows out, it puts down roots of its own.

  So I have my plan in place for these mornings that promise nice air.

  It is the end of my day with local effort.  Dennis just got home from mowing the blue barn acre.  Tomorrow he will mow the remaining acre.  He also has had good local effort for the day.  When we were in Mankato on Monday, I picked up several “minute meals” in Hy-Vee.  I will heat up one for supper.  My plan all along was to get some gardening in when I saw the weather forecast and still put out a hot meal for our supper for several days running.  Nailed it!

  Catch ya tomorrow.

   
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  Noreen 1:35 pm on June 27, 2023 Permalink  

  Let it Be 

  This year the garden spots are on their own.  Whatever can come up and be proud . . . let it be.  If we could have more than a tiny sprinkle of rain, there are some weeds I could pull.  Me and a hoe do not get along.  I think the jewels of purple blooms at the picket fence may very well be a weed.  Each year I marvel at these plants.  I am sure they multiply by the seeds they drop.  We now have some on the east side of the house.  Whatever they are, I enjoy them and I encourage more next year.

  I did work in the studio for a time today.  My shoulders, arms and hand recovered quite well from some free motion quilting yesterday.  What I didn’t count on was my right knee.  Having the pedal to the metal yesterday . . . the knee sent me a message during the night.  Today as I have been stitching, I am using my left knee on what I call, “the foot feed.”  Many sewing machines have a bar on the right side of the sewing machine cabinet that engages the stitching when the knee puts pressure on the bar.  I think I could have sewn an entire wardrobe of clothing without the knee bucking.  Free motion is a whole bunch of stitches.  I have gone through six full bobbins.

  I have started a new book to enjoy whilst in my bedroom porch sitting upon my cherry red chair.  I picked books off of the “free” shelf.  It doesn’t seem to bother with who the author is . . . I can easily get with the program.  With reading, sewing and some YouTube channels, my days have a good balance.  I am contemplating adding one more diversion.  I have not done any counted cross stitch since . . . it seems like forever.  I have checked things out and a design called a sampler can be done in just one color.  I am leaning towards that.  Simplistic and yet satisfying.  I’ll let you know how that will go. 

  In thinking, I believe there is a whole bunch of items in my world with the “let it be.”