Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 2:40 pm on September 12, 2024 Permalink  

  Thursday the 12th 

  Bummer.  Not much to report today.  I spun my wheels in the studio for a bit of time today.

  I had curiosity and that warranted some reading on the world wide web.  It also burns up a whole lot of time.

  Last night as it was getting dark, wonder of wonders.  Harriet wanted in to the patio porch.  Harriet had been gone since a week ago on Tuesday night.  Where was that kitty for 8 nights!  She looked thin and she headed straight for the water dish.  First Snuggles coming home after a missing stretch looking as if something had tried to have scratched the fur across his hips off.  Snuggles is healing but still taking the right hip easy.  Dennis looked Harriet over and she had not been hurt.  The mysteries of the wild life on Stauffer Avenue.  Dennis had kept the light on for them, always hopeful. 

  Hopefully those two will stick close to home.  We had given up that either of them would ever be seen again.  Honey Bunny used to have the wander lust.  She has gotten old enough that home seems quite sweet to her. 

  I remember in the 70s our pet Snoopy liked to wander about in the fields around us.  Snoopy came home one day or it could have been night . . . hurting really badly.  Someone had taken a shot at him.  Fur babies.  The love and attachment to them is fierce, no less than their devotion to us.  When they are hurt, the feeling of helplessness is deep. 

  Dennis admitted today he felt grumpy.  I did hear the Tylenol bottle rattle this afternoon.  It could be a variety of things for him to ponder through.

  Dennis set a can of bean and ham soup out.  That in itself tells me a lot.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:31 pm on September 11, 2024 Permalink  

  Been Awhile 

  It’s been a while since I spent a day in the studio.

  It was on my agenda when I went to bed last night as well as when I got up.

  I was pleased when I came down to the studio and saw Ester’s box waiting for me, showing the colors I had chosen to work with for time to come.  Today I worked on getting the inside of the bottom of the box ready for a fitting.  Circles, circles, got to love them when it comes to sewing. 

  There are plenty of places on this ole time box for splinters.  The inside of the cover is quite rough.  I had some thin foam to face with the fabric.  I did try it out to make sure the cover would close easily before setting everything in place.  Unfortunately I thought I had a large roll of fusible . . . not.  The interior bottom of the box I wanted to have a double layer of foam.  I did luck out for the bottom of the interior.  I had just enough of the double sided fusible foam to cover the top layer that would have fabric.  The fusible top piece I covered with fabric larger than I needed and turned under the raw edge using a lot of straight pins.  I then laid the fabric-covered fusible onto the non-fusible, lining them up.  Using a pressing cloth with the steam iron I put a lot of pressure onto that circle, but not sliding the iron.  Press down, lift up, press down.  I was really nervous when I thought I had applied enough pressure to have the two circles fussed together.  I left it on the ironing board until it was totally cooled off before I began pulling out all the straight pins.  So far so good.

  Tomorrow will be the test.  The interior will need to be fitted for the sidewalls.  I still have 9 inches to complete with cross stitch for the band that goes around the belly of the box.

  I was flying right through this blog posting when someone was at the back door.

  My little ditty in the studio took most of my creative juices for today.

  By the way, Dennis loved the brussel sprout oven dish.  It’s a good thing, as we are having a repeat this evening. 

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:50 pm on September 10, 2024 Permalink  

  Clouds 

  We may well have clouds that have a sprinkle or two in them.

  Dennis did go to the Eagles last night for the liver and onions.  He got home late as there were some good ole boys that got to visiting.  It was a very good thing for Dennis . . . to get out and connect with old friends.  Besides, he said, the liver was good.

  I have taken my blue speckled roaster out of the refrigerator with the brussel sprout oven meal I had prepared for last night’s supper to enjoy this evening.  The flavors have been co-mingling.

  Today I have spent quite a bit of time stitching using the magnifier lamp with my prescription glasses on, listening to YouTube.  It has been the quietist day for me in a long time.  I didn’t look for dust on the floors or look at the laundry basket.  The only local effort I did this morning was set the kitchen garbage bag out for Dennis to put in the Tuesday garbage pick-up bin.

  I have mentioned this before about the local effort thing, but it bares repeating.

  When I worked as the county assessor setting values that real estate taxes were based on, the Minnesota Department of Revenue had performance reviews.  It was my job to follow the real estate sales of each classification of property and set the values at 90% of the market for the next year’s taxes.  My work was called the “local effort” meaning me as the local determinator.  If I didn’t achieve that 90% in each classification, the Minnesota Department of Revenue could mandate a state increase across the board to each parcel whether it warranted it or not.  My performance review could then be passed to the county commissioners, aka: my salary consideration.

  In all my years I never received a state increase in the agricultural, residential or commercial classifications.  Whew! 

  Fast forward . . .  I am remaining the local effort in determining how well I maintain our home.  Hey . . . whatever it takes . . . I am it!

  It is sprinkling here on Stauffer Avenue at 3:45 p.m.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:27 pm on September 9, 2024 Permalink  

  Not Unusual 

  It’s not unusual for me to be busy enough during a day to wear myself out.

  Yesterday, totally doing my bedding did it for me.  I think the next home I have, I would like to be able to walk around the bed, hence dressing the bed would be easier.  Hmm.  I think I will continue with the gymnastics here on Stauffer as that home may well be in a health care facility.  A good challenge has never hurt me in the least.

  Dennis made supper for us last night.  He pan fried potato patties from the left-over instant potatoes of the night before last.  The left-over roast beef was heated in the microwave.  Apple sauce was a side dish.  Dennis also did the dishes so I could get my second wind and be able to hand stitch before bedtime.  It was all very much appreciated.

  I did sleep until 8:30 this morning.

  My agenda today was to put together an oven dish using the left-over rotisserie chicken meat.  There was a box of frozen brussel sprouts in butter sauce.  I microwaved them until they were fully cooked, then chopped them up and put them with the butter sauce over the chopped chicken meat that was in the round blue-speckled roaster awaiting the cooked pasta to be finished.  One jar of Alfredo sauce plus a bit of heavy cream added to the roaster to fold over and over coating all the ingredients.

  There is a possibility that this oven meal may be put in the refrigerator until tomorrow’s supper.  The Eagles Club is serving liver and onions complete with mashed potatoes, gravy and corn as a side.  Dennis loves liver and onions.  I encouraged him to go solo.  The Eagles is always packed on a night like this.  I know myself well enough that all the commotion and noise can throw me off of my game with a crutch in one hand and managing a plate in the other to go through a food line.  The tables and chairs are very close together making my stability to sit down and then get up without help difficult.  Cutting the liver may also be my challenge.  Here at home if I am far enough back from the table top I can manage the motion of cutting my meat.  Knowing myself as well as I do, I will pass on this evening.  I told Dennis to let me know what he has decided by four this afternoon.

  The UPS fellow just delivered my catheters.  All is well.

  With that I will take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:37 pm on September 8, 2024 Permalink  

  Labor Day Extended 

  This is Sunday, Labor Day was Monday.  Officially, today is still in the Labor Day week.

  I knew I had been putting something off and it niggled in the back of the gray matter.  I can really get caught up into my hand stitching, sewing machine stitching and reading.

  Today was the day to take the duvet cover off of my feather comforter.  It is cotton flannel polka dot with a white background.  For the same reason I rotate Dennis’ cotton white t-shirt the duvet covering needed washing.  White cotton will yellow if not used enough to launder often.  While I believe I wash my hands every time I turn around, right in the middle of the covering, where my head would be, the flannel had yellowed, not from non-use but from the oil of my hands.  I had realized this was happening and I had even turned it end to end.

  Well, I had gone down the rabbit hole.  I decided to do it up right and wash the mattress pad along with the bottom sheet.  In addition to using two laundry pods per load, I even used a bit of bleach.  The house would have smelt wonderful if I had been able to use the clotheslines, but . . . the house really smells fresh.

  Thus far, I have the mattress pad back on the bed.  Slow is the key doing gymnastics when my bed has three sides against walls.

  In between keeping tabs on the laundry, I played with the magnifying lamp.  There are quite a few adjustment to be made to using it effectively.  My posture in the cherry red chair and the distance of the chair to the lamp lens and then the distance from my work surface was the starting point.  I tend to hold the stitching project at a slight angle to the right holding it in my left hand.  The center of the light of the lamp needs to be in the center of my stitching to avoid a distortion of what I am looking through.  The brightness of the light as well as the color of the light can be adjusted from time to time.  To keep my prescription lenses on or not is still to be determined which is best and how my eyes feel after stitching a bit.

  I was on a roll until I realized I had been using the wrong size of needles.  YouTube suggested size 26 ball point needles.  The needles with too sharp of a tip tend to get caught on threads that are not warranted.  Hmm.  Down to the studio to do a hunt in the stashes for a ball point needle.  It took a while and of course I got side-tracked.  Lo and behold for the price of $.76 I found a package of four, size 26 ball point needles.  The package had a bit of yellowing to vouch for its age.  I went back up to my bedroom porch and did indeed stitch up several thread.  Tomorrow . . . just think of all the items that have been taken care of and I can sit and stitch with everything having been adjusted.  

  I am going to keep my little lamp from neighbor Jan for reading.  Reading at magnification of five is not doable.  So I have a lot of toys . . . it takes a lot of tools to work smarter, not harder.  

  Supper is going to be light.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:31 pm on September 7, 2024 Permalink  

  Oh What a Day 

  This Saturday has been busting at the seams.

  Once a month we have a spa day just a few blocks to the west of our home.  We so appreciate Maria.  Pedicures bring with them healthy feet.  Maria pays just as much attention to Dennis’ left foot as the right foot that has its five toes.  Decades back I dropped a heavy item on my left foot and the toenails will not let me forget that.  Those nails grow differently then the nails on the right foot.  Gnarly little devils.  The haircuts that follow do not disappoint either. 

  The two hours with Maria are full of wonderful chit chat.  I remembered that they settled in Glencoe when they came from the west coast.  Their last crop that they harvested were Vidalia onions before coming to Minnesota.  I reminisced with her about the Green Giant plant.  They had never worked in a cannery before.  She remembered about the huskers when I told her several of us farm wives car pooled for extra money during the corn pack and the huskers is what I worked at.  She said that it was the hardest thing to work, with all the noise and the conveyer belts when they were used to being outside.  The Tony Downs plant is what brought them to St. James.

  Well, well.  Snuggles came home this morning.  It looks like a large animal bit him right over the hips.  The blood has dried and he went to the water dish and then to his basket.  If Harriet followed Snuggles into the thicket I wondered how Harriet fared as she is not home as yet.  Life on the wild side on Stauffer.

  After the spa date we went on to the grocer’s.  As we drove into the drive, Dennis commented about a package on the front deck that my three month supply of catheters didn’t take long to come.

  Lorde, Lorde.  There were some text messages that ensued to unravel the delivery of what will be an assist with my stitching.  I wasn’t going to open it right away, but . . . I did.  Dennis sat back and took all of the commotion in.  All parts are together.  It could either be floor model or table clamped.  The floor aspect was the choice after a bit of grunt work.  Tomorrow will be the testing day.  I already have a covering for the lamp . . .  the cat is out of the bag.  It is a lighted magnifying lamp.  I have heard of fires starting due to sunlight shining on magnifiers and it is and will be used by the south windows of my bedroom porch.

  Grammie is always appreciative with the unexpected.  The issue was that Kevin, after reading my blog, ordered this lamp at 6:45 Friday night and it was on our deck this Saturday noon.  Amazing that eBay and Amazon are joined at the hip.  There are a lot of amazing thoughts about this lamp.  Sweet.

  At the grocer’s I bought a bag of onions and several packages of real cheese.  Nichols, I got the message.  I also bought a rotisserie chicken.  Supper this evening will be chicken and potatoes with frozen corn.  Sometime in the next days, I will make a pasta oven meal using some or all of the chicken that is left.  There was a lot of meat as I was boning out the chicken.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:56 pm on September 6, 2024 Permalink  

  What a Day 

  What a glorious day it is.  Definitely feels like fall.

  I have the screen down on the front door, bringing in the freshness. 

  There is not a lot of activity from the two older ones on Stauffer Avenue.  Dennis caught a forenoon nap.  I had a load of laundry going, while I sipped breakfast coffee, reading a few chapters.

  I did make some progress on the round wooden box today.  I ruminated about fabric to use inside of the box.  I was determined I would find the correct match no matter how many times I went through the stashes.  I finally hit on a fabric that kept pace with and spoke to the age of the box.  I also decided to put a band of the same fabric on the rim of the cover and also on the rim of the bottom of the box.  I cut short lengths of the fabric, pressed them and temporarily added each.  The fabric trim on the rim of the bottom will need to be narrower that the trim on the cover.  It will be a timely endeavor to cut, fold and press and then decided how to permanently attach said bands.  No do-overs will be allowed.  I temporarily attached the counted cross stitch band on the belly of the box to get a feel for the fabric choice . . . sweet!

  I like where it is all headed.  The lights were turned off.  The next time I come down to the studio and turn the lights on, I want to see the full impact of what will be.  Silly ole Grammie.  There may be snowflakes before mission completion.  Tee Hee!

  I brought up from the pantry a can of roast beef.  I will thicken it with corn starch.  There were plenty of potatoes left over from last night to make fried potatoes this evening.  I’ll let Dennis decided on the veggies.

  It is pretty different in the patio porch.  Snuggles was taken a back during the extreme hot days.  A very heavy cat with a super thick coat just couldn’t cool down.  Dennis brushed and brushed to help him out.  Earlier this week, Tuesday, Dennis said Snuggles walked slowly into the far back yard and kept on going into the thicket.  Not thinking anything of it, that night neither Snuggles or Harriet came home and not since.  It is not unusual for cats to wander off if they are ill.  Maybe Harriet followed her best bud to keep him company.  The oldest cat, Honey Bunny, has been bawling when Dennis goes out to the patio porch.  As I said, its pretty different in the patio porch.  All of the kittens were feral.  We took them in, got their shots, fixed them and gave them a great home.  Time will tell.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 3:33 pm on September 5, 2024 Permalink  

  Hi Thursday 

  A great sunny day with temps just as nice.

  As I watch YouTubes, I do learn a bit.  I have picked up that there are table lamps that also have an option of a magnifier that can be pulled over.  I do not like the price tag.  I really like my light that neighbor Jan gave me after Randy’s mom passed away.  I can pull it to where I need it and it takes up no table space at all.  What I was ready to pay for from Amazon was a purchase of $16.98.  I have used this purchase repeatedly and like it just as much as I did the first time.  It came with a case of five different magnifier lenses that I can pop on.  It does have a light with two different settings.  I can recharge the light.  These glasses are very comfortable and the nose pieces are adjustable.  My prescription lenses are not worn in conjunction with the magnifier glasses. I don’t need the magnifier for all my stitching.  It just comes in so darn handy when I want to stitch with Ester’s silk threads on the bell pull I am working on.  Sweet.

  Sometimes the best purchase is the one, that in this case, was used successfully by a stitcher that is also resourceful with prices.

  We are having chicken tenderloins with boiled potatoes and green beans.  Both Dennis and I like green beans. 

  Hard to believe that September is in full swing as school buses from various schools are bringing kids for sports after the school hours.

  Dennis checked our car today in regard to the oil and cleaned the battery posts.  I still have 2,0oo out of the 3,000 miles that the sticker shows.  But . . . there is an idiot prompt that we should change the oil.  I think the idiot prompt went by the fact that it was August of 2023 that I had the oil changed.  Can the car keep track via the calendar?  Inquiring minds need to know.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:14 pm on September 4, 2024 Permalink  

  Peace 

  Peace and comfort today for us.  Dang those trips to the big town can really wear us out.

  After Menards and Sam’s yesterday, I had some items on my list for Hy-Vee but I was tuckered.  Those items I know I can get in our local grocer’s paying a bit more, but so be it.

  I could not believe when I looked at my phone this morning it was 9:15 . . . for sure time to get out of bed to start this Wednesday.  Truth to be told, I often don’t act like a retiree.  Around our home it is I spy and I do and look for a bit more.  The more need not be much but it keeps the home tidy.

  Dennis’ agenda was at the courthouse this afternoon.  Our car was due for new tabs and his driver’s license needed to be renewed.  When he came home he mentioned he felt sorry for the gals behind the counter.  Those that don’t speak English or not well can really make it frustrating.

  Dennis then went on to Radio Shack to have multiple sets of keys made for his son, Jeff’s, apartment.  When Sandy comes back from Mankato, one set will be hers.  God willing our set will remain on the hook here in the house.

  Slowly but surely I am charting on graph paper something I want to put down in counted cross stitch.  It may be a counting to the right and then counting down and then time to scratch that and start over.  I am making headway.  After all, where do I have to be going in a hurry.

  This evening we are having tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  We have not had that combo in a long time.  There will be ketchup on the table, but none for me.  I have no idea where that ritual started.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥

   
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  Noreen 2:55 pm on September 3, 2024 Permalink  

  Hello 

  Hello from someone that is grateful and thankful to be home from the big town.

  Dennis was very insistent that before fall he would have a carpet back down in his patio porch.  AJ kind of talked him into it, telling grandpa it would feel warmer over the wood floor and the cold air from all the holes that were drilled into the plywood would be on his feet during the winter.  Plus, AJ is going to help grandpa put it down.  So be it.  Putting a 12′ x 16′ foot of indoor/outdoor carpet in the car seemed to not be a problem.  A young heavyset tall person at Menard’s kinked the roll in three places and that made a nice horseshoe shape for the fit into the car.

  I am not in charge of the patio porch and if grandpa is happy, so are the porch kitties.

  This is short today.

  With that I take my leave.  ♥