The Salt Shaker

Praises – For finishing the rental house; the much-needed rest to come.

Prayers – Full recovery of our strength for the Florida Sower projects; protection from any further injuries; good renters for the house.

But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights.  Galatians 4:4-5 New English Translation

Hello to our followers, friends, and family:

Guess what?  We’re still in Mississippi!  We started the month with a hopeful departure date of 12/22 – it got moved to 12/30.  The hitch went back in the truck on 12/31, Connie wanted to leave 1/4, and we really did leave on 1/5 (more next month).  There were several times in the last weeks that we were totally discouraged and a few times we looked at each other at the end of the day with smiles knowing we were getting closer to being done.

 We are now “healthy” again but not back to where we were a year ago.  Our November sickness took a toll on strength, stamina, and sanity.  December 1 we still had heavy chests, a bit out of breath, croupy coughs, and gunk in our lungs.  By the 4^th we had a fairly good work day and survived a 4-stop shopping/restock grocery trip to town.  John did punch a small hole in his palm and the ‘miracle tool’ grazed a finger, and Connie had some stiffness from painting and carpet burns to her hands/knuckle.

You’ve likely heard enough about our remodeling ups and downs by now, so we’ll try to keep this brief.  There were many days we had to fight to maintain forward progress, but lots of really productive days as well.  At the end of December there were very few things on the list and it was rewarding to be “done” with many steps.  John handled all the baseboard (mostly reclaimed door trim), caulking, custom stained door sills, built two custom closets from old closet pieces after we agreed on the design, and the final fitting of doors with locks and vent grates.

Connie was busy cleaning old window blinds, installing five new cordless mini-blinds, laying carpet after John stapled down the old underlayment, and gluing vinyl in the small master bathroom.  She hung the curtains (cleaned/modified by a church friend) for closets and doorways with tie-backs.  As she reviewed the switches and outlets for cover plates there were many needing to be replaced, tightened to the wall, needing brown outlet screws (improvised, none to be found in the stores), and found a solution to the ordered outlet spacers that never arrived.

There were hours spent in researching “how to do” things with lots of helpful tips and tricks.  We learned about heating with a heat pump and emergency heat, a hook blade works great for vinyl and carpet installation, and found our “reversible” refrigerator doors don’t reverse without special order parts.  Slightly frazzled by the end of the month we purchased the wrong size LED tube to replace the bathroom light that was left on and burned out.  Finally getting the right bulb the light did work and the switch was clearly marked “off/on” to avoid future mishaps.  

Salty Strings music was limited this month due to our recovery – the SALT group was cancelled from cold weather and illness going around.  We were able to play with the worship team and shared two special music Christmas songs at Cross Point Church in Iuka, and John joined the Journey Church Men’s Group skit and led two songs for their Sunday School Christmas Party and breakfast with lots of food.

We were invited to Christmas Dinner with the Pastor’s family where we enjoyed deep fried potatoes and chicken wings in multiple flavors, ham, freezer coleslaw, ramen and macaroni salad, and lots of goodies.  It was really good being with multiple generations of family, kids opening presents, and lots of conversation.  New Year’s Eve included communion at church in the morning and going to a sister church in the evening for a great message followed by fellowship and a pot luck dinner.  We were home and in bed by 10 but Connie stayed up, heard our neighbors fire crackers at 11:45 and saw the new year start – first time in many years either of us has been awake at midnight!

Other fellowship and reprieve from work included a Sunday lunch with friends, and date night (moved to Saturday early afternoon) at Cracker Barrel.  We were whisked off for a new late lunch adventure to the Outpost (Pickwick/Savannah TN) with great views of the outdoors, shops to explore, and good food followed by a stop at the drug store in Burnsville on the way back for ice cream (pharmacies and ice cream go together around here).  We treated our friends to a Mexican lunch in Burnsville for their help with the curtains and unloading the stove, giving us a long break that day.

Shopping seemed to be problematic this month.  We made a trip to a scratch-and-dent appliance store only to find they didn’t have a no-frills electric stove, ordered it from Lowes (last day of sale), picked it up and they forgot the cord.  We ordered a replacement for our dying CO2/propane sensor in our RV along with some electric outlet spacers; tracking said it arrived 12/19 but didn’t and the replacement order was to arrive 12/29 and didn’t.  Eventually we had to disconnect the beeping sensor in the trailer and Connie devised PEX spacers for some of the outlets.  We planned a 7-stop shopping trip to Corinth, including the court house for titles and taxes, only to find 2 places closed and we (Connie) forgot the paperwork for the court house.  John’s order for Pleasoning actually went right!  Lots of lost time in ordering, traveling, and phone calls. 

Our December weather averaged mid-40’s most of the month, with quite a few cold and damp days.  Freezing overnight temperatures ranged from 2 hours long earlier in the month to 12 hours, meaning our water was off.  We did run out of propane overnight, but not until ~6am so the rise and shine RV temperature wasn’t too bad.  There was one thunder storm with some big boomers, and some spitting rain with a few snowflakes one morning.  We also had a mid-morning visit from a pileated woodpecker, right outside our RV window.  We had to do some research to identify this crow-size red headed woodpecker!

With all the shopping trips there were several meals out including Chinese take-out, sampling the slug burgers in Iuka (Connie still prefers White Trolley in Corinth), and home-made beef stew with macaroni.  We’ll wait a year and see if we have a new Christmas snacking tradition – Connie made tuna salad and Wassel which is typical this time of year, and added cornmeal sausage balls which turned out good but a bit dry (she’s already tweaked the recipe for our second batch).  John was cutting some old hardboard (for the shower access panel) and commented it smelled like maple syrup, which led to a wonderful pancake supper!

After cleaning and sanding painted surfaces there are now two coats of paint everywhere, there is sticky vinyl base trim by the bath tub and shower, and all the cabinet drawers and doors are in place (using toothpicks several times to tighten them up) along with their hardware.  The front looks better with a clean light, miscellaneous nails and screws removed, and there are appropriate cover plates on the outside junction box and outlet.  We had a teenager come over and put Old English on all the wood surfaces (a lot) and a few other things to help her go on a mission trip to Brazil this summer.  Our multi-purpose room was finally vacuumed and organized to make room for the supplies and saws as we cleared out the house, and the refrigerator and stove were moved in place after a door frame modification.  (P.S. finish photos to come next month or at Corinth Realty.)

Towards the end of the month John had two days in the crawl space adding pipe insulation to the water lines and making final connections to the toilet.  With the colder temperatures he also shut off the water to our second RV site, wrapped up our long hose, and added a new fitting to our RV water line to restore pressure.

John continued to find peace and stress relief on his walks through the woods.  He found all the boundaries and is planning his (hopeful) spring build of a bridge over our deep gully creek.  He put the old abandoned double chair that needs repair and paint in a little clearing, obviously he’s sat there and pondered with his coffee.  We took a pleasant evening walk around our driveway and a bit of the highway Christmas Day noticing the beautiful full moon rising through the tree tops and cloud streaks as we returned.  Sometimes the work of the day made him/us too tired, or the setting sun brought darkness too soon to enjoy our blessings from God. 

Devotion Thought this month:  As a believer, we have been called by God for specific work for a specific time in His kingdom on Earth.  Be faithful to the opportunities God gives us.

God is the one who gives seed to those who plant, and he gives bread for food.  And God will give you spiritual seed and make that seed grow.  He will produce a great harvest from your goodness.  God will make you rich in every way so that you can always give freely.  And your giving . . . will make people give thanks to God.?2 Corinthians 9:10-11 Easy-to-Read Version

Thanks for traveling with us and being part of our family too!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #3962
Sioux Falls, SD  57104

Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

• TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
• January 5-March 27, 2024 – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL
• March 28-September ? – Travel to property, Jacinto, Mississippi; travels IL, WI, SD
• August 1-26 – SOWER Project, East Troy, WI and family
• August 27-?? – Clinton, IL – Little Galilee

Praises – Beautiful crunching leaves and fall weather, the people God surrounds us with, endurance, each of you for your prayers and support.

Prayers –strength and perseverance to finish the house remodel before Thanksgiving; safety in our work; renters for the house; travel to our Florida volunteer project.

Put your work in order outside, and make it ready in the field; and after that, see to the building of your house.  Make wide the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your house be stretched out without limit:  make your cords long, and your tent-pins strong.  For I will make wide your limits on the right hand and on the left.  Proverbs 24:27, Isaiah 54:2-3a Basic English Bible

Hello to our friends, followers, and family:

We still have lots of stiff and sore muscles.  John’s knee is much better and he is learning not to push too hard for his joints.  Connie’s right upper arm/shoulder has been aching most of the month making everything a bit more difficult, especially holding things outstretched.  She also received a small hack saw nick on her thumb while helping our electrician Pastor change out the panel – not everyone can say their Pastor tried to cut off their thumb!

Amidst the busy-ness there was plenty of fellowship this month.  We made it for two date nights, Omar’s with wonderful BBQ sauce and onion rings, and Pizza Grocery where we splurged and had a chocolate calzone (plenty of pizza and calzone leftover too).  Connie had a last-minute invite to a Senior Ladies Banquet with great food, conversation, music, and a speaker (John got to shop and enjoy Starbucks).  We took deviled eggs, Jalapeno eggs, rice pudding (with and without raisins), spaghetti, and Hawaiian roll mini-sandwiches with honey mustard mayonnaise on the side to three potlucks (two on the same day).  There was lots of conversation and encouragement when we treated one Pastor and spouse to supper, John and another church friend went out for breakfast, and we managed one Chinese takeout lunch after church (yummy left overs).  Guess that’s why we aren’t losing much weight!   

Salty Strings spent a week of planning and practice for Mid-South Christian College Minister’s Appreciation Banquet that went very well.  The speaker commented our songs were perfect for his message (that’s from God), the food was wonderful and, even though it was a late night, the hotel was nearby and we were very blessed by the accommodations they provided.  We joined the worship group at Cross Point Church twice and had some special music for their worship and testimony Sunday.  At Journey Community Church there was music for the SALT group, three songs for their evening Sing Service, and we took our headsets and led the worship one Sunday morning. 

You ever have one of those ‘oops’ moments?  Connie did – the house bathroom sink stopper (no longer connected to the drain rod) was clogged at the bottom so she had the bright idea to clean off all the gunk.  Good so far, however time turned to slow motion as she placed it into the drain, it lowered all the way, and her brain said STOP a bit late.  Now it was stuck, tight, but she eventually fixed it with a drill sideways into the top to fish it out.  Old stopper in the trash, new rubber stopper now by the sink.

What didn’t we do this month?  Electrical – we moved and added switches, traced wires, put up a new light, fixed reverse polarity plugs, corrected attic junction boxes, pulled 18’ of old furnace wire (repurposed for our washer/dryer), added GFCI protection to outlets, fixed extension cords, and watched and learned basic panel wiring (the old panel was unsafe and we added another for our area).  Painting – so much mud, sanding, scraping popcorn ceiling off and repairing other missing areas, removing wallpaper, cleaning greasy cabinet doors, trimming (ceilings, baseboard, doors and windows), learning to use a sprayer (20 cabinet doors, ceilings, and inside cabinets), and we’re not even finished with the primer coats.  Floors – removed damaged areas and patched, laid repurposed kitchen entry and stove areas, and moved stacks of old floor ‘out of the way’ until needed.  HVAC – John cut the hole through the floor into the furnace plenum and ran 10” duct for cold air return from our section of the house (designated the multi-purpose room).  Plumbing – Everything leaked, replaced and secured the master bath shower fixture and bathtub fixture, replaced and repaired drains, and only a few pesky fitting leaks to overcome now. 

Connie did a lot of vacuuming (guys sure are messy), removed nails from old trim, made a few supply runs (electrical parts for the panels and to borrow a hole saw), put on our new door lock, and added pull chains for five fan lights (so she could reach them).  A prolonged task was cleaning the cabinet hardware and sanding/spraying the doors; hard to do when your toes get really hot from the sun when working under the carport.   

John helped our contractor put in the new door, add siding, and hang drywall to permanently separate the rental ‘house’ from our multi-purpose area, a huge step forward for us!  He removed a propane wall heater and pipe (more difficult than it sounds), rebuilt the ramp to the shed, and greatly enjoyed mowing the yard and making some cleared areas in the woods as Connie gathered smaller branches and pine cones for fire starting.

Connie is the writer and publisher of our monthly ‘Salt Shaker’ newsletter update (John is the editor and ‘what do you think’ guy) and in October it came together easily, what a blessing!  Along with that, she planted our Kentucky lilac tree, hand-cast some grass seed that didn’t grow, and sewed the straps back on our new ‘pillow’ bag which broke as it was loaded into the truck.  She also celebrated, in our low-key way, her 69^th birthday; providing music for the senior group, a quiet lunch out, a bit of work, and ice cream by an evening fire.

We had one overnight outing to Memphis, TN where we planned a bit of sightseeing.  After driving over, we rode the ‘trolley’ around the Memphis Botanical Gardens then set off on foot for a closer view of some special areas.  In the morning John enjoyed a long hot bath, we had a fantastic complimentary breakfast, Connie had a great bubble bath, and we packed up.  Next stop was Bass Pro Shops Pyramid (535,000 sq ft, 32 story, 321’ high former basketball arena), Perkins for a late lunch and of course French Silk Pie, Lowes for siding, and back to Corinth for two more stops before arriving home for a late supper of leftovers with pie and ice cream.  Our nearby unincorporated town of Jacinto had a fall festival and we were able to see their museum and court house (Confederate Generals used the main hall for their horses at one time).  This was once a thriving 600+ county seat before the area was split into three counties.   

Routines and conveniences – we all have them, and they do control our lives.  Connie uses her Chromebook each night for evening devotions and puzzles.  She left the charger at the hotel the 14^th, made several calls to no avail, and finally ordered a new one that arrived on the 27^th – sadly the old routine has returned.  Restrooms we expect to find in nearly every store but, after going to three stores in a mall-like complex we were finally told of a water main break forcing a mad dash and hopeful prayer to the McDonald’s down the road that wasn’t affected.  For us, living most of our lives in the country or small towns, a trip to “town” always means long lists and multiple stops – our longest this month was seven stops.  Of course, there are always new routines to be made.  Hopefully, when the remodeling settles down, we can enjoy many evening fires roasting a few hot dogs and bratwurst as well as the beauty and warmth of an evening fire. 

Praise the Lord because he is good!  His faithful love will last forever!  I was in trouble, so I called to the Lord for help.  The Lord answered and made me free.  The Lord is with me, so I will not be afraid.  No one on earth can do anything to harm me.  I will live and not die, and I will tell what the Lord has done.  Psalm 118:1, 5-6, 17  Easy-to-Read Version

Thanks for being a blessing to us; count your many blessings this Thanksgiving Season!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #3962
Sioux Falls, SD  57104
Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
** September 1-November 24 – Our property, Jacinto, MS – house repairs/rental
** November 24-February 2024 possibly – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL

Praises – John’s knee improving, able to be under house by mid-month; wonderful contractor found; safe travels; babysitting granddaughter; beautiful location and weather

Prayers – Health care providers still needed; strength and perseverance to finish house remodel; safety in our work and travels; RV heat pump, a/c, and awning issues developing

The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.  Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.  The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things! . . I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory! . . You are my God, and I will praise you!  You are my God, and I will exalt you!  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever.  Psalm 118:14-15, 21, 28-29 New Living Translation

Hello to our friends, family, and followers:

Our month of September in northeast Mississippi has been great with temperatures of 70-95 early in the month and 55-85 by the end of the month, getting into Connie’s comfort zone.  We’ve had only a handful of rainy days and the rental house remodel keeps us quite busy.  Our theme this month is from Gomer Pyle – “Sur-prize, sur-prize, sur-prize” as we change doorways, find electrical wires in the attic, and try to rebuild to the original house and likely three add-ons; we never know what we will find, including two pennies used as shims.

In the last three weeks we have had a much-needed helper in our labor.  He has removed walls, added headers, built new walls, taken out and reframed the steps to the lower addition (adding a 2^nd bedroom), made some very constructive suggestions, endured our changes and decisions along the way, crawled around the attic fixing electrical junction boxes, and rewired for old and new switches and lights.

John took about a week before tackling crawling under the house to finish up the hot water PEX lines, and by mid-month the plumbing was complete and the bathtub drain line was fixed.  He fixed the trailer deck railing (requested by insurance company), pulled up the vinyl plank flooring in a redesigned room (to be used elsewhere), changed all the light bulbs to LED, pulled nails from old wall lumber, tacked up the drywall ceiling in the utility room, fixed the weakening back deck stairs, loaded a borrowed trailer with construction scrap, reworked the bathtub diverter, rebuilt the tub end wall, and secured the bathtub in place.  The moment of truth came in connecting the hot water heater, turning on the water, finding a leak in the crawl space, fixing the leak, and connecting the washer to hot water! 

Between aching body parts (John) and not much strength (Connie) we were able to unload many lumber purchases, the very heavy exterior door, took down a heavy sliding barn door in the living room, and removed a bathroom cabinet with mirror.  John was able to get into the attic, trace wires buried under insulation, and we had success in moving a kitchen light switch but tried moving a dining room switch with no success.  We found the attic gets very hot in the afternoon as well as being dusty and grimy. 

Connie was able to patch several bare spots in the old popcorn ceilings, tore out multiple track doors, removed door trim/frames to use elsewhere (including removing nails), removed more wallpaper borders, replaced a broken ceiling fan with a new light, added vinyl to the water heater platform, scraped off the popcorn ceiling in one room, and kept things cleaned up after the guys.  She also did a lot of research for cold air returns trying to calculate air flow, and found our exterior door for the ‘multi-purpose’ area of the house.

We were blessed to provide the music for Journey Church one Sunday and John sat in with the worship band once at Cross Point in Iuka.  The end of the month we have been planning for more worship, the senior group, and music for a pastor’s appreciation banquet in October.  Sometimes it seems like ‘one more thing to do’ with all the busy work we have, but it always turns into a blessing as we listen to God and choose songs. 

September turned into a month of travel.  Our first adventure was an overnight trip to Nashville with our youngest son and family.  We took the Nachez Trace scenic route to the Gibson Guitar Shop, hiked downhill about three blocks to the trolley stop and toured the city sights.  After pizza and a Reuben sandwich, John drove the crazy interstate across town to our hotel where we were able to babysit our three-year-old granddaughter for the evening while Mom and Dad went to the Opry.  It was fun taking this very independent gal for a walk through the gardens while ‘grandpa’ rested his knee, then he took over with story books until she fell asleep.  We had a wonderful breakfast buffet in the gardens, packed up for checkout, and toured more instrument shops before heading home.  There was a good thunder-storm around sunset with several rainbows and glorious skies.

Our second trip was a very relaxed overnight stay in Paducah, KY.  Connie has always wanted an oval beveled glass front door but we found that to be above our budget.  She was able to find a rectangular shape within our budget that we both liked better, however, it was only at Menards and the closest store was Paducah, four hours away.  The trip was about half the cost of shipping the door, we had lunch at Mel’s Diner, stopped at three music stores in the historic district (John played a $3900 Breedlove 12-string guitar that stayed at the store), saw an Ohio River boat, had complimentary milk and hot cookies before bed at the hotel with a wonderful breakfast in the morning, and Connie enjoyed her BOGO ice cream birthday treat at Cold Stone Creamery before we headed home.  After two hotel stops this month, we decided we needed something besides huge black garbage bags for our pillows (we always take our own) and we found the perfect ‘luggage’ at Goodwill for $11.

Aside from our many shopping trips and travels this month we went once with friends for Friday date night, followed, of course, by four shopping stops.  John was able to wash the truck a couple of times and played mandolin and guitar outside as well.  Connie enjoyed a couple of work breaks in the swing (still in the shade at lunch time), we had several evening fires with house decisions made as we sat in the swing, and we took one walk together through the woods complete with spider webs across the paths.

One of the first things Connie checked on was her pussy willow tree – it survived the summer heat and the fuzzy fall buds are starting to grow.  She purchased a “Crimson Doll” lilac bush and is waiting to find a magnolia tree to plant to complete her wish list for landscaping trees.  The humming birds are back to the feeder, there are some occasional sightings of squirrels, blue birds passed through for a few days, lots of butterflies, and a bright green katydid bug held onto the truck on one of our many shopping trips, making it back home safely.  There are apples on our tree, a bit tart for our taste, but cooked with some brown sugar they are wonderful.  There was a squirrel perched in the tree behind our RV that really liked an apple; we don’t know how he got it to the tree branch.

Newsletters by nature highlight the positives in life, but we have many oops moments as well; like the day John finished dusting and vacuuming then spilled his milk and cereal on the floor.  He enjoys his time on the mower, although the blades need to be sharpened more to get through the weeds, and he helped organize in a church friends barn and hung two doors with him.  We acquired an aluminum awning that will eventually be used over a pallet deck area, hopefully with a small hot tub someday.  Connie made coleslaw for a church garage sale BBQ plate and, at John’s request, got out her harp for some practice and is figuring out a new song.  She was able to get all the plates moved into our multi-purpose area, sorted out the unboxed plates, and moved four complete collections back to the RV to get listed someday for sale.  Our check list is getting shorter, but there is still much to be done before the house can be rented.

Sing to the Lord, all the earth!  Share the news of his saving work every single day!  Declare God’s glory among the nations; declare his wondrous works among all people. . . Then the trees of the forest will shout out joyfully before the Lord, because he is coming to establish justice on earth!  Give thanks to the Lord because he is good, because his faithful love endures forever.  1 Chronicles 16:23-24, 33-34 Common English Bible 

Thanks for traveling with us and supporting us with your thoughts and prayers!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #3962
Sioux Falls, SD  57104

Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

• September 1-November 24 – Our property, Jacinto, MS – house repairs/rental
• November 24-February 2024 possibly – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL

Praises – Great weather again for outdoor music; safe travels; re-connecting with family and friends; still blessed and content as life happens!

Prayers – Continued healing for John’s knee, medical provider(s) for knee diagnosis; contractors for house renovation and timely completion

“. . turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.”  Deuteronomy 30:10b-11 NIV

Hello to our family, friends, and followers:

John’s knee problem kept us guessing throughout the month.  August 1 was the beginning; we borrowed some very tall crutches from the camp and our much shorter son gave us a pair he had soon after, definitely needed and used for several weeks.  A week later John took his first truck ride, figuring out how to get in and out was a challenge.  By August 10-13 he was moving along well with the crutches, getting up a small hill to the dining room for supper and a longer day out attending church.  He resumed limited hour volunteer service in the shop on the 15^th and overdid just a bit.  By the 24^th he could move about the trailer with a knee brace and without crutches and checked the tire pressure and his usual travel prep duties.  Improvement is there but it is very slow and compensating for the knee affects his back as well.  

Connie has been a bit stressed; uncertainty does that along with change in routines.  Our first Sunday outing she developed swirly tunnel-like vision during breakfast, laid down in the dark for about 10 minutes, then drove to church with only a slight headache.  No more vision problems, but a slight headache again in the evening attributed to the heat and going in and out several times.  She did have quite a struggle with our “Salt Shaker” July newsletter, getting the ambition and words together (and not meeting ‘her’ timetable).

It has been five years since we have been to this project and the camp is in their second transition in ownership/management.  The new camp owners have a large number of employees in various business locations along with full-time chaplains that come weekly to the camp.  The second week Connie invited them for a “house-call” to our RV to pray for John and his healing.  It was a wonderful experience!  The last camp week was the annual “Burn Camp” with a carnival including local fire trucks on parade, helicopter(s), and the huge American Flag over the road.  Although not our usual schedule, we were blessed to have 96 hours of service to this wonderful camp. 

Connie was assigned to the dining room but the kitchen lost some workers so she was very happy to be helping with some staff that she has worked with before.  With John taking the truck she walked:  the trail was 0.33 miles going with a hill at the end that was a bit tough, and another 0.33 miles coming back with a big hill at the end leaving her out of breath.  She used the alternate route, a bit longer and sunnier, for the days she didn’t want to tackle the hills and gravel trail.  The final week was cleaning, starting in the bakery, moving to the basement dry storage, the inside of the left-over cooler, and ending with the tags for the food service lines.

John’s first day of serving was right after the storm that left lots of tree limbs and debris to be cleaned up.  He had a helper the first day, and was on his own prepared with a chain saw the second day.  Lots of up and down hills, cutting up larger limbs and loading into a truck to haul away.  He did a bit of wall sanding and prep for painting the last hour and came home severely limping and in a lot of pain from his right knee.  After a week off he was able to help in the shop sorting nuts, bolts, screws, and arranging a new shop area to consolidate all these little necessities.  The last week Connie helped a little (some sorting, mostly carrying and arranging) to get it all done before leaving.  

John did play some guitar and mandolin outside in the fresh air towards the end of the month.  Once able to drive comfortably he helped as we traveled and attended the men’s group at Hardee’s in Carlinville, IL – a favorite activity when we’re in the area.

We were glad to find our parking site in Wisconsin still had lots of wildlife.  The first to appear were hummingbirds followed by three large male turkeys strangely enough gathered behind the RV near the hummingbird feeder.  The sand hill cranes showed up in pairs within our first week, followed by turkey, and finally the deer-two mamas with babies usually.  John saw the first deer (mama and baby) on his first volunteer day.  There were some days with up to seven deer including a 6–8-point buck and six cranes; and one lunch time a flock of turkeys of all ages crossed the road in front of our RV. 

Connie went to Beloit to spend an afternoon with our son who was able to quickly transfer information from our old computer to our newer one.  He pulled the hard drive from the old laptop and made it into an external hard drive for back up then got it recycle ready – goodbye old laptop.  Along with that trip was a stop in pouring rain to get our favorite bagels and two grocery stops (it had quit raining by then).  With John recovering she picked up the weekly chore of dumping our tanks.  There is new appreciation for spouses that we so often take for granted.  She also pulled out her sewing machine to mend a few items, and took two older t-shirts and fringed the sleeves so she had more cool options in the heat (not fashion cool, just to allow a bit more breeze and she loves fringe).

We missed attending church our first Sunday in Wisconsin, watching two sermons from TV instead; it’s just not the same!  We were able to be with family in Beloit, WI the following Sunday, enjoying an excellent worship band with lights and smoke (a bit different), seeing our granddaughter on stage with VBS kids, and enjoying the sermon as well.  Our final Sunday in the area was with our friend at his church with a last whirlwind of visits before leaving Wisconsin.   

We were out and about more by the end of the month, enjoying some fellowship and food of course.  There was a Friday ‘date night’ with Connie’s high school friend along with a wonderful porch visit to enjoy the great weather.  The camp treated us to ice cream in town at an old drive-in and pizza with our neighbor SOWERs.  Our week stay in Illinois included a Chinese buffet on our own, a visit to Beaver Dam State Park restaurant with church friends, lunch out with the Pastor planning for Sunday service, lunch at the block party, and a farewell potluck-type supper at the church.  Connie certainly didn’t have to cook that week! 

Connie convinced John that we could move, at the request of our son, her mother’s collectible plates to Mississippi.  Still not sure if that was a good or bad idea, but we managed to get them all into our truck on one of the hottest afternoons.  John was using one crutch at the time, so Connie did a lot of lifting and arranging of the ~260-piece cargo.  We had supper that evening with Connie’s sister and enjoyed some time outside playing with their dogs.  Of course, what goes in has to come out before traveling – more arranging with most of them fitting into our loft.  The last few rode in the truck finishing their trip tucked inside for our last travel days. 

Hot would be the word for August weather.  Hot when we set up in Wisconsin.  Hot for our tear down, travel, and set up in Illinois.  Heat index was over 100 a few times in Wisconsin.  We held our weather travel streak – severe thunder storm, midnight shelter visit, and power outage when we arrived in Wisconsin.  We had a hickory tree loaded with nuts at the back of our RV, twice with storms we heard loud thuds as they came down.  A mid-month storm tipped over our bikes with a kick stand going through spokes; no damage but really tough to untangle.  When we arrived for our week visit near Carlinville, IL another a long night of thunder storms, wind, and power outage.  We did have a few cooler nights which we enjoyed and saw the ‘Blue Moon’ not to appear again until 2037. 

Salty Strings had one music engagement this month, in Carlinville, IL at another ‘home’ church.  We prepared some special music for the morning service and were able to share quite a few folk songs in the afternoon for their “Neighborhood Block Party.”  We tuned up all the instruments after church, had a wonderful hot dog and chips lunch, moved everything outside, and enjoyed playing from 1:30-3:15.  We moved our shade canopy further away from the bounce house noise from kids (and adults) bouncing about and the air fan, but were still a bit hoarse after singing so much.  We are definitely out of shape, but it was a great day for outdoor music with a slight breeze and mostly overcast 76 degrees.  Connie even had her face painted!  

We had two moves this month, all about 4-5 hours each day, and John was able to help drive.  The first was near friends in Carlinville, IL for a week-long stay.  It was 83 outside when we left, 99 in the RV on arrival mid-afternoon and still 80 inside at 6 pm.  Driving into the sun with some wind we didn’t get very good diesel mileage, but it was a shorter trip with a pull through site making parking easy.    

As we left for our two-day trip back to Mississippi, for the first time we had no glitches with the slides going in or securing the lock lever when we hitched up!  There were a lot of speed traps along the way to our overnight stay at Lambert’s RV park, Sikeston, MO where we opted to put the jacks down just enough to stabilize the RV so we could put our slides out and have use of the kitchen and TV for a relaxed evening.  After a good night sleep John wanted to walk to a restaurant a couple of blocks away with good information online, however on arrival we found no cars, dark building, and a carry-out only sign on the door.  We hiked back, iced down the knee, ate breakfast in the trailer, packed our sandwiches for travel, and headed out.  We stopped at a beautiful rest area as we entered Tennessee, and arrived at our property around 2 pm.  We stopped in the driveway to survey our renovated RV site, parked and set-up then checked the house (very musty with no a/c for over two months).  Our driveway still needs some finesse and the back yard is a jungle but we are ‘home’ for a few months with lots to do for the house to be ready to rent before winter. 

Devotion Thought:  Contentment isn’t having what you want; it is wanting what you have.

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Psalm 37:3-4 NIV

Until next month – thanks for traveling with us!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #3962
Sioux Falls, SD  57104

Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
** September 1-November 24 – Our property, Jacinto, MS – house repairs/rental
** November 24-February 2024 possibly – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL

Praises – Always blessed – wonderful showers after hot sweaty travel days; fresh garden produce and sweet corn; hotel bath tubs; fresh flowers (forgot to take a picture); April 2022 medical bill finally cleared up; John’s hand/wrist and back injury better; great weather for outdoor concert, thanks to everyone who prays for us!

Prayers – Safe travel to Illinois, then back to northeast Mississippi; John’s knee, continued healing and wisdom to see doctor or not; finding contractors for house work needed to get it rented

The end of all things is near.  Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.  Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms . . .  If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  1 Peter 4:7, 10-11

Hello to our followers, family, and friends:

It has always seemed strange and awkward saying we’re going to work.  Even adding volunteer or retired as a disclaimer is weird.  Another volunteer pointed us to the verse above – we are servants.  We don’t work – we serve, and it doesn’t happen in our strength but with God’s provision.  So, as we write this, we are still trying to leave the old behind and embrace the idea of serving.

Our July volunteer service hours were 83 plus another 7 from last month making a total of 90 hours labor to help Little Galilee, our ‘home’ camp.  Every place we have served is always so grateful for the help they get from volunteers – we don’t seem to do much, but every hour helps them fulfill their ministry purpose.  John has had lots of frustration this year with body aches and injuries.  He was down almost a week with his back (just getting out of his chair after breakfast), and wearing a wrist brace before that.  Connie helped with shoes and socks a lot, John was quite creative with his silverware technique, and he couldn’t eat rice or ramen with chopsticks either.  It is hard to keep going with pain and discomfort, but we all can make a choice to be miserable or be happy – we remain blessed by our loving God. 

It didn’t take long for the humming birds to find our feeder.  The last time we were here John was able to stand right underneath and have them fly all around; the beautiful ruby throated birds this year were not as bold even after John hung his hat on the ladder right next to the feeder.  The RV area has a wild prairie field across the road so we had pheasants, lots of rabbits, red-wing black birds (and lots of other kinds too), and a few deer sightings.  Coming home from church Connie saw a spotted fawn standing on the edge of a road curve intently watching a yellow crop duster plane head towards it, pulling up right before the curve to circle back.  The most interesting was watching our deformed baby humming bird grow up a bit.  He arrived one late-morning and hung onto the feeder all day, barely drinking, still clinging tightly even as night started.  His beak was slightly off center, joined his head at a strange angle, and he appeared to be a bit touched in the head.  We expected to find him dead on the ground the next morning, but when Connie checked in the night he was gone.  He came back the next day, the other birds ignoring him, and eventually flew off as night approached.  As the weeks went along his feathers smoothed out, getting more vibrant in color, more agile (even chasing others away), and was able to get his beak into the feeder easier.  We wonder if we’ll see him again on our next visit. 

July weather has been varied.  The first week Connie took a daily morning walk to avoid the heat; she walked a mile one morning and it was ‘feels like 80’ at 8am.  That previous night there was a beautiful large orange moon and vibrant sunrise just starting at 4:30am.  We had many windy days, typical of our stays here, along with a few good thunder storms; one from 2-4 am that caused enough of a power fluctuation to trip the gfci breakers on our electric box outside.  We had many days with a heat index over 100.  Two interesting coincidences – when we arrived in Illinois the end of June the blessing of rain came a few days later AND when we arrived in Wisconsin the end of July the blessing of rain came as well a few days later (both areas were very dry).  On June 29 (IL) we headed to the camp tornado shelter with a tornado warning after supper AND on July 29 (WI) we headed to a basement in a staff building with a tornado warning from 11:30 pm-12:30 am.  The first trend we don’t mind, hopefully the tornado warning trend will end!

Connie, with all the heat, didn’t do much for serving at the beginning.  One morning it promised to be nice so helping John with the bench painting at the fire pit seemed like a good start, until the epoxy paint was mixed – it sets up fairly quickly and doesn’t flow like regular paint.  It was a very rushed 3 hours, the last half hour almost like painting with tar, but we finished up by lunch time.  After the newsletter was finished, she went to the old office and sorted through photos to make framed collages for “Self-Control,” the dining room hallways.  All together 14 photo frames were filled with 2000-2011, 2012-13, and 1974-79 camp pictures.  Visitors and previous campers enjoy looking at the photos when they stop by and it was fun seeing all the different camps, themes, clothing, and smiling faces.

Salty Strings Ministry provided worship music twice in July.  The first for our home church was the Connie-Connie duo since John couldn’t stand up straight or walk very well from his back going out on Saturday morning.  Connie headed in to church with our backup plan of finding the songs somewhere out there with internet searches; however, another Connie that sings on one of the worship teams happened to walk in and agreed to sing with our folk instruments.  She practiced in the truck as Connie drove back to camp to get the instruments, then practiced during Sunday School, and the service went well.

Our second worship service was in Bushnell and that went well also, except John had some trouble focusing (the last time we were here was for his brother’s memorial service).  We took the scenic route home, driving through the marsh area which was beautiful with no overflow, the first time in many years.  July 30, Salty Strings traveled to Portage, WI for an outside tent concert at the Historic Indian Agency House “Enduring Skills” event (www.agencyhouse.org).  We spent lots of time researching to find old hymns and music typical of 1830’s frontier days – now we have a few ‘new’ hymns after getting words and chords together.  The drive and afternoon were enjoyable (except for the flies), sharing with the attendees, and seeing the exhibits (paper marbling, char cloth, butter making, flintknapping, and more).  We had a private tour of the Agency House to see the piano that was brought from the east and used for hymns and gatherings.  It was a bit warm but we were in the shade with a slight breeze.  Our daughter drove to meet us for an early supper on our way home. 

John was anxious to get started and found his service would be preparing benches, tables, and shelters for paint.  The fire pit was first – they added recycled bench boards to expand the seating to ~220 for the upcoming weekend use.  A volunteer group was to come and paint the tables and shelters so he spent about 2 weeks preparing the very well-built large picnic tables in each of six shelters. Everything was scraped, sanded, flipped, then more scraping and sanding.  The second day when he flipped a table, he discovered a seat board that wasn’t fastened tightly; it came loose and landed on the back of his hand and wrist.  That slowed things down a bit and all the seats were checked before flipping in the future.  All the loose paint of the shelter buildings were also scraped and sanded for touch-up as well.  The painting group cancelled so the last week he painted tables and primed the shelters, running out of time so some tables only had the tops and seats painted.

In our free time we made a trip to Champaign to have the action adjusted on John’s Taylor guitar.  The drive was after a storm so there were a few areas of flattened crops, tree limbs down, and field porta potties overturned.  Our bathroom ceiling fan was still leaking after this storm so John sealed it up then had to wait a few weeks for another rain before putting the trim back, no leaks now!  Connie researched computer options and tackled transferring files and programs to our “recording” computer.  Our office computer has been slowly dying and getting slower and slower; what a blessing to do our June “Salt Shaker” and publish it from the newer computer with only a few glitches with printers!  John took a long bike ride when we arrived, Connie rode her bike getting around the camp on days she was working on photos and eating lunch at the dining hall.  It was still a bit warm and muggy most evenings, so our evening walks were few. 

We were able to attend our home church, Lane Christian Church, three Sundays this month, getting two “missions” updates and reconnecting with our church family here.  The first thing John checked was the sound booth to see if it was finished from our remodel work last summer.  It was – the carpet was down, metal step strips were in place, and the shelves were up and working fine.  Our other Sunday was with family at Bushnell Christian Church where we shared some songs and attended Sunday School, the topic being worship.  Amazing how God orchestrates the lessons so we were able to share various worship formats in churches we’ve attended.  Music was by far the hottest topic, from styles to artists, old and new, and finding the best balance for everyone.

July could be categorized as our month of fellowship!  John was able to attend a once-a-month “Area Men’s Fellowship” meal and meeting – he said the meal was good but the dessert was fantastic!  (He didn’t bring any home to share either.)  We visited with Connie’s Peace Meal helper and chatted with four other friends from Weldon, IL (our previous home).  We enjoyed a pizza supper meal with a couple we know from Clinton and were treated to a great lunch at Boon Dock Grill with a couple from church.  John went to the Coffee Hour at church on Wednesday mornings and we both went our last Wednesday to visit with some friends and say our final good-byes before traveling to Wisconsin the next day.  We did an overnight stay with John’s family, had a great visit over a home-cooked supper with his Aunt, a good hotel breakfast, and had six for Sunday lunch at ‘Joe’s’ even seeing Joe again after many years.  Our friend from Beloit drove to spend some time with us right as John was getting back to the scraping and sanding, they had some good conversations as they worked together, what a blessing friends are.   

We packed up and traveled to East Troy, Wisconsin on July 27 – a short 4-hour trip on familiar roads.  The camp here has fairly narrow sites with posts marking the drives and a narrow driveway as well.  Their water and electric hookups are way in the back so we parked multiple times to avoid the posts, reach the electric hookup, and avoid the tree with our slide out.  It was likely very amusing to watch, but not that funny for us in the sunshine and a high heat index!

A couple of thoughts from devotions this last month:
“When people are crabby, it’s often not about me but about them.  When people are nice to me, it’s a special blessing from a loving Lord who put those nice people into the path of my life.”
“Fear is a primal instinct, it is generally negative, but it will move a person toward self-security.  Love takes you out of yourself and helps you focus on others, on being of service to them.”

Thanks for traveling with us and being part of our family too!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #3962
Sioux Falls, SD  57104

Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
~ July 27-August 24 – SOWER Project, East Troy, WI
~ August 24-31 – Carlinville, IL RV park – visit friends
~ September 1-November 24 – Our property, Jacinto, MS – house repairs/rental
~ November 24-February 2024 possibly – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL

Praises – Contractor work for house joist/floor leveling; protection from storms; inherited items selling; lightening RV weight for travel and invertor working

Prayers – Safe travel to Wisconsin, seeing family and friends; energy and health for SOWER volunteer work; good weather July 30 for outdoor music

Lord, you have knowledge of me, searching out all my secrets . . you see my thoughts from far away . . you keep watch over my steps and my sleep . . . Where may I go from your Spirit?. . I will give you praise, for I am strangely and delicately formed; your works are great wonders . . in your book all my days were recorded . .  Psalm 139:1-3, 7, 14, 16 paraphrased-Basic English Bible

Hello to our family, friends, and followers:

June did not start well for our house renovations.  We had an unexpected main water line break on June 1 followed by the heat pump (a/c) not working on June 2.  Connie had to make a trip to the laundromat to get some work clothes clean, and we used the ceiling fans to keep the inside temperature workable (at least in the mornings for Connie).  John worked with a contractor to get the floors stable and reasonably level, as well as putting in new PEX cold water lines.  By mid-month Connie turned on the main line while John and the contractor checked for leaks above and below the floor – no leaks, cold water to toilet and washer, and clean clothes for travel!

There were about 58 hours we logged as working on our rental house.  John decided (after a very high quote) to put in new PEX water lines on his own and completed the cold water before we left.  Connie slowly tackled the walls in the living room and bedroom (with a little bit of help) getting these rooms ready to paint when we return.  There were many nail/screw holes to patch, a wallpaper border that seemed to be super glued, and light sanding for the old paneling/paint.

Our hostas started blooming along with some gladiolas (yellow and a red one later, Connie’s grandma’s favorite), another yellow rose bush, and the apple tree has apples!  The plum tree must be decorative with no signs of fruit and nothing on the pear trees.  Of concern was finding Japanese beetles shredding the leaves of the pussy willow plant two days before leaving.  The leaves were sprayed and hopefully the beetles will leave before too much is destroyed. 

Knowing we would be making a two-day trip north Connie researched and ordered an invertor for the RV (it keeps the refrigerator running from the battery).  We had made shorter trips and went without for over a year and it was time with summer heat upon us.  John moved things out of the ‘basement’ storage and the old one actually worked at one point (of course) but wouldn’t run the next day so the new one was installed and works great!  There was one evening that the bathroom vent was left open and we found a wet floor during the night from a passing thunderstorm.  There were still some drips two days later so the trim was taken down to investigate.  No apparent problems with the vent or seal, everything was dried out thoroughly and put back together.  Note to selves:  check the vent before going to bed!

Salty Strings had music for the SALT senior group the first June meeting, and a devotion for the second meeting (the instruments were all tucked away for travel).  We provided the instrumentation (guitar and auto harp) for Father’s Day worship music, working with their song leader – that went very well and was a blessing to them and us.  We arrived in Illinois 2 days before our annual program for Jolly Seniors, made our song list, learned 2 new songs, and had a wonderful program there.  Every year it seems to rain for this program, we thought this year would be an exception but it rained 3 times after we had things unloaded and quit as we loaded the truck back up.  We didn’t get wet this year and the crops really needed the rain. 

One of the silly things we do to keep each other on our toes is to ‘hide’ our soft plastic, almost slimy, somewhat iridescent salamander throughout the RV.  Once in a while we even manage to get more than a smile when he’s found.  He was found one morning and rescued before Puff (the instant pot release valve) ate him for breakfast.  Connie keeps using her instant pot for a lot of our meals, and a few times a month she makes her own yogurt which keeps for a few weeks in covered jars in the refrigerator. 

Connie’s big June adventure was going to camp.  She volunteered to help the camp cook (Pastor’s wife) the first two days of high school week, preparing all three meals for about 80 campers and staff each day.  That was great fun for her, however the camp was near Tupelo, MS about an hour away so she opted to stay overnight in the girl’s dorm.  Quite different from sleeping in the RV; plastic mattress cover, bottom bunk, and 2 minute “lights out” warning that lasted forever, followed by the upper bunk search with a flashlight that kept shining in her face.  She had a really good night’s sleep after getting back home!

By mid-June the kitchen and bathroom floors in the house were removed/patched and as level as possible, the bathroom fixtures were out, and John had secured our two RV site water spigots to their posts.  He stayed plenty busy the rest of the time cleaning up the property with two trailers for the dump, filling the truck with scrap metal (old water heater, bed springs, aluminum ducts from mobile home), and moving wood/brush out of sight.  Our trip to town netted $35 for the scrap metal, yeah!  Another praise was getting our inherited eyesore trampoline sold (even though they didn’t come until 9pm) and the dish washer sold as well – all the larger items are gone finally and the property is looking so much better.  We both went through our “RV spaces” and thinned out what we wanted to carry in with us since we now have a place to store things.  We plan to spend more time off-road so many tools, stained glass materials and tools, paperwork, and music was put in the wheel barrow for transport and now lines the walls in our section of the house.  Once we arrived in Illinois, one of the first things was unpacking the bicycles; after the tires were pumped up John took off for a ride.

Mississippi June weather was hot and muggy with lots of thunderstorms and tornado warnings – nothing that affected our property thankfully.  We have three dusk-to-dawn yard lights and one morning the lights didn’t turn off until after 7 am.  Typically, Connie is anxious with storms and winds but there was one day that she found the thunderstorms quite enjoyable – there were no heavy downpours or winds, just lots of lightening and long rolling thunder, off and on all day.  Illinois weather had been very dry with short corn and cracks in the dirt; not as hot or humid as Mississippi and cooling into the upper 60’s at night for great sleeping weather.  Our first two days were hazy with 1.3-mile visibility from the Canada wild fire smoke.

Along with new flowers appearing we had a few new critters as well.  The day Connie turned the water back on was very hot and she moved a cement block into the shade to sit on while controlling the main valve.  There was a faded out, slimy pinkish thing, she thought might have been a snake (which we haven’t seen on the property, yet).  After watching and research, and seeing another one while cleaning up the scrap metal and wood pile, they were three-striped salamanders.  We also had a hawk land on a tree branch outside our RV window and after a huge downpour there was a (box?) turtle making his way across our driveway headed to the woods.  The hummingbird feeder was put up after arriving in Illinois and found less than 5 hours later.  We’ll see if they remember John from last year and allow him to hang around in their feeder space again.

There have been a few health-related issues causing minor discomfort and discouragement this month.  Connie found out, the hard way, that some wonderful vine-type ground cover last month was in fact poison ivy, oak, or sumac and had to deal with the side effects most of the month.  She also woke one morning with a sore throat and couldn’t talk for about 3 days, which perhaps was a good thing?!  John’s ankle was bothering the beginning of the month, his knee was swollen mid-month, and a picnic table seat board whacked his hand/wrist at the end of the month.  Add in a few ticks and lots of crawling around under the house and up and down ladders – it is a good time for a change of scenery! 

The last part of the month was saying our ‘goodbyes’ to our Mississippi friends before heading north.  We had our last date night with Iuka church friends at the Aqua Harbor Yacht Grille.  June 25-26 we were on the road traveling to Little Galilee Christian Camp in Clinton, IL and our home church in Lane, IL.  The trip was slightly longer than we wanted for one day so we attended Sunday School and church service, took some sandwiches with us, and got hooked up.  We had concerns about the slides working and getting the wheels out of the dirt sink holes, but all went smoothly for our 4 hours to Sikeston, Missouri. 

We planned overnight lodging at Lambert’s Café (home of the throwed rolls) and we were thankful for electric hookup overnight.  It was 98 degrees, very windy and muggy so we parked, turned on the air conditioners, found a TV station, and relaxed a bit before supper.  It wasn’t long before there was water coming from the a/c and soaking the end of the bed!  Towels were applied, the vents were removed, water was sopped up from the unit, and it was turned off.  We went to supper, returned to our now 80-degree home where John climbed onto the roof.  Everything looked good and we turned it back on (low this time) with no further issues through the night.  Once it cooled off, we slept fine not leaving until 10am for another 4-5 hours to our destination. 

Once we arrived in Illinois John found his volunteer niche this year would be scraping and sanding pavilions, benches, and picnic tables.  He started on a Thursday in the morning, and continued Friday with 7 hours total.  There was a time-out on day one, waiting for a tornado warning and thunderstorms to pass through and the power to be restored.  A slow start but camp is in session, campers are here, and we are ready for God to use us mightily.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4 NIV

Until next month – thanks for traveling with us and being part of our family ~

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #3962
Sioux Falls, SD  57104

Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

• June 26-July 27 – Little Galilee, Clinton, IL
• July 27-August 24 – SOWER Project, East Troy, WI
• July 31 – Portage, WI Music for Enduring Skills Historic Festival, 1-2 pm
• August 24-31 – Carlinville, IL RV park – visit friends
• September 1-November 24 – Our property, Jacinto, MS – house repairs/rental
• November 24-February 2024 possibly – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL

Finally, brothers and sisters, be joyful! Work to make things right with one another. Help one another and agree with one another. Live in peace. And the God who gives love and peace will be with you.  2 Corinthians 13:11 New International Readers Version

Praises – Renters moving in June 5; trailer a/c unit repaired, duct work redone; refrigerator found and in place; beautiful RV place to “live” when off-road

Prayers – Travel and music June-August; wisdom, patience, prioritizing rental house repairs; relax and enjoy more, worry less; RV a/c to keep working

Hello to our friends, family, and followers:

April 1, we took the cats (Mama and 5 kittens) to the shelter, they are all still there and, unknown to us, Mama was pregnant again when we took her in.  Once settled in we put up the hummingbird feeder – it was found less than 24 hours later with these little guys being not as aggressive with each other and scared of the noises and us in the trailer at first.  Then there was Connie’s first lizard siting – April 13 – two little guys sunning themselves on the trailer back entry stairs.

God is watching over us with travel protection and our health.  With 211 hours in April and another 180 in May, John’s back is holding up well except for one slip on the outside steps requiring some ice breaks and modified work for a few days.  Connie woke with a stomach ache, light headache, and very dizzy one morning – that lasted about 3 days.  She stayed home getting caught up on bills and taxes (still had the last-minute crunch) while John was at the property getting the RV electric trenched and hooked up.

Our RV driveway and site were ready so we drove around the driveway on April 22 and found a big ditch across the drive where some electric cable was buried, enough to almost get stuck with the truck.  We sent some pictures and the contractor was there first thing Monday morning to pack it down, allowing us to “move in” early afternoon (April 24).  Our driveway needs a bit more work: we almost put the trailer wheels into some soft gravel over a culvert, backed up a bit, then inched the truck tires along the outer edge to get to our spot (need to widen the curve!).  Now we can take more breaks and even take an afternoon siesta when needed. 

Salty Strings has remained active for the twice monthly meetings of SALT (Senior Adults Living Triumphantly) as well as some special music at the two churches we attend.  We occasionally attend worship practice at Cross Point Church in Iuka and helped cook after church one Sunday for a motorcycle suicide awareness ride (Savannah TN to Iuka MS).  They had a work day where John enjoyed the fellowship and working with Christian men to remove/replace a section of the front wall.  April brought a foot washing evening service at Journey Church during Lent, Good Friday (Jesus’ death), and Easter Sunday celebration of His resurrection.  We love these two little churches for their wonderful messages, teachings, and people!

We are finding the location for our RV is even better than we imagined; we are sheltered from the wind for our awnings and most window views are of trees.  We fixed the chain for our inherited swing and enjoyed an evening fire.  Our phone booster was moved, then raised higher, and we have a fairly good signal most of the time for phone service and hotspot.  Connie finished a 3-generation granny square small blanket early in April and started another crocheted scrap yarn blanket later in May.  We have neglected, or been too tired, to take walks but did find it is a quarter mile if we do the double loop – that means 4 trips around for a mile, which sounds way too tiring!  We did have a curious pickup truck driver stop by our RV looking for the RV park he heard about, we didn’t volunteer any information.  

There were more storm and tornado watches early in April and lots of rainy days slowing driveway work and causing some washout areas.  The rest of April and May brought sunshine, blue sky, and breezy enjoyable days with an occasional thunder storm.  Summer is coming though, the last several days being 90’s and humidity rising. 

May 18-20, we travelled north to a hotel in Macomb, IL for John’s brother’s memorial/celebration of life service.  Two of our children were there, staying in the same hotel and we enjoyed hotel breakfast with them.  The service was wonderful, we did some walking around the ‘square’ and took a nap in the afternoon before joining more family in the evening.  We ate at a wonderful café, 7 total, with haystack onion rings and huge pork tenderloin sandwiches (would fit on 6 large buns easily).  A hotel bagel with leftover tenderloin and John’s leftover BLT became our lunch as we drove back to Mississippi.  It was a quick trip but we saw lots of family while we were there. 

Work continued on the trailer to be ready for “open house” mid-May.  Painting, entry floor, trim, doors, carpets shampooed, and more surprises!  With warmer weather the repaired air conditioning was not keeping up; after removing several handfuls of insulation from the ducts we hired a contractor to replace all the duct work (we planned on doing this in the fall).  Also, the front door started scraping again; John’s new repairs along with changing the entry to vinyl has fixed the problem permanently (we believe).  All around the outside John picked up limbs, washed the outside walls with bleach, and cleaned the windows – no more green moss.  We met the prospective tenant the last day of May and now have a 1-year lease! 

April marked our 39^th wedding anniversary and we got a new (scratch and dent sale) washer/dryer combo, hooked it up, and have clean laundry as we need it. We have continued joining others for the Friday date nights as our energy and finances permit, even did one alone at the end of a very tired Friday.  Mother’s Day in May we enjoyed a light breakfast at church and Connie received some homemade cards from the kids along with a rose.  John made a dolly and some ramps to get the hitch back in the truck so we could move the RV.  Connie has figured out Marketplace where we have listed and sold a few things, finally getting our inherited 14’ trampoline out of the yard.  We also found a larger refrigerator for the rental trailer, helped fix a moving trailer to haul it from Tupelo, and eventually switched it out, moving the smaller one into the house.  A treat at Baskin Robbins was payment for all involved.  

We started working on the rental house with shampooing the carpets before returning the cleaner.  John proceeded to work on modifying the kitchen cabinets for the refrigerator, planning for new PEX plumbing, and lots of cleanup inside and out.  Connie has the electric panel labeled, door locks changed, and two rooms almost ready to paint.  A contractor has started work on the foundation and floor joists to get the floors more level and replace the rotten plywood.  Lots of sorting junk and Goodwill (with a few trips already) to clear the clutter; and a borrowed trailer has been filled and junk hauled to the dump – the yard looks better already! 

Many improvements have been made to the property as well.  The flowering apple and plum trees were trimmed just a little so the branches don’t scrape vehicles, a pussy willow tree/bush from our Wisconsin daughter was planted, 6 tulips (a door prize from a SALT meeting) found homes, and our curbside trash container was finally re-bagged and a pallet put inside so us short people can reach the bags on the bottom.  We spent a day digging up 30+ pine tree seedlings, grasses, and wild flowers and relocated them throughout the front, most ending up on our berm that covers half of our storm shelter.  That brings us to the soil around here – hard, clay, sand, red dirt – mostly chopping rather than digging and a real mess (wet and dry) on the work clothes.  We have many beautiful surprises growing in the yard; flowers, roses, hostas, and many others hidden during winter.  May we be patient in all things, God knows when and where we will “bloom” next!   

Do not be surprised when you encounter seemingly overwhelming situations . . . God puts you right in the middle of real messes!  But He puts you there with a purpose . . . stand in faith asking God to intervene in the struggles you see . . . you are called and equipped to bring healing on Earth in the name of Jesus Christ.    paraphrased from The Presidential Prayer Team Devotions, “The Purpose” April 11, 2023 (https://www.presidentialprayerteam.org)

Please keep us in your prayers . . . and THANKS for traveling with us!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #3962
Sioux Falls, SD  57104

Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

• June 26-July 27 – Little Galilee, Clinton, IL
• June 28 – Music for Jolly Seniors, Lincoln, IL
• July 27-August 24 – SOWER Project, East Troy, WI
• July 31 – Portage, WI Music for Enduring Skills Historic Festival
• August 24-31 – Carlinville, IL RV park – visit friends
• September 1-November 24 – Our property, Jacinto, MS – house repairs/rental
• November 24-February 2024 possibly – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL

Praises – Springtime, safety from storms, church family, driveway and RV sites progress

Prayers – Renters; HVAC a/c repairs; tornado damages in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Mississippi; cheap appliances

[Then] you will call to the Lord, and he will answer you.  You will cry out to him, and he will say, “Here I am.” . . . The Lord will always lead you and satisfy your needs in dry lands.  He will give strength to your bones.  You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring that never goes dry.  Isaiah 58:9, 11 Easy-to-Read Version (ESR)

Hello to our family, friends, and followers:

With lots of hours (275) of property work this month, the majority were spent with paint brushes and rollers.  We finally reached the point of buying paint – Kilz and Bulls Eye for priming lots of paneling, spackling, and ceiling spots; ceiling and trim paint; and finally ending with wall paint!  Lots of exercise as well from crawling on the floor to climbing the ladder – artist brush for corner blocks and skinny door frames to trim brushes and rollers and extended roller handles to reach the ceiling.  Many trips back and forth and lots of lunches packed, including some creative sandwich containers. 

Our house tenants (former owners) were officially moved out by mid-month.  We arrived one morning to find their water meter locked off (surprise!) and a few days later we had confirmation that whatever they left was ours to dispose of.  Now, when we need a break, we can stroll over there and start sorting Goodwill from junk, pulling nails from the walls, and remodel planning.  Exciting and depressing at the same time!

Connie tried to stay one step ahead researching paint products, water heaters, appliances (needed soon) along with getting the ceiling lights hanging down (and finding some broken bulbs to remove) and the walls and trim prepped for painting.  The window blinds are back up as well as the ceiling fan blades.  She also found a local locksmith for master keying our locks and found out what to do with various large junk items.

We work well together as a team and were finally able to figure out how to get the old furniture out of the trailer to the curb where it disappeared over the weekend; there is so much space now!  We were able to move the chop saw into the dining room of the house, the broken water heater off the porch and the old window air conditioners to the carport along with miscellaneous deck boards and stacked wood from the yard.  The lattice is back up on one side of the porch, outlets are being cleaned up, the bathroom linoleum is cut and fit, and a few boxes of things from the house have made it to Goodwill.  It felt good to be outdoors one afternoon moving leaves and debris (raking and digging) to open up a culvert. 

John still had other jobs as well including:  caulking trim and gaps, removing the toilet to repair the floor, patching the sewer line under the trailer, repairing the entry threshold (sill is nice and firm now), patching trailer skirting behind the air conditioner unit, adding a hasp and padlock to the storage shed, adding brackets to the kitchen counter, removing yard junk, rebuilding the tub wall for access to plumbing, and repairing leaks to the shower.  He also crawled under the house (a much smaller space with old pipes, cables, and hanging wires) to locate the water line for our RV site.

It was another crazy month for weather – dripping faucets and cabinet doors open two nights for freezing temperatures to the opposite extreme finding out our new air conditioning doesn’t work in the trailer (up to 88 degrees a few afternoons with humidity)!  There were several beautiful days sitting on the house back porch looking beyond the trash to see the beauty of woodland trails someday, playing with kittens, and John able to practice guitar and mandolin under our RV awning.  We also had days of gusty winds, thunderstorms with long ground-shaking thunder, a few short power outages, and getting through three tornado watches (one with sirens, another that kept getting extended until morning).  We are so thankful for no damage directly around us.

Spring has arrived to northeast Mississippi!  Our first tree (pear?) blossomed out in the front followed by an old plum tree in the back slated for removal for driveway space – it was so beautiful that we changed the layout a bit to allow it to remain.  There were a few flowers blooming and rose bushes starting to leaf out.  Other trees are getting leaves in various stages, an unknown tree in the front circle had white flowers, and the really old apple tree in the back blossomed out in pink and white the end of the month.  How wonderful to see God’s beauty unfold revealing things we didn’t even know we have (physically and in our spiritual lives). 

The left-behind animal situations are resolved after lots of prayers from many people.  We found a collar and leash for the little dog, moved his pen under the carport for shelter, and located a rescue group in Georgia that could pick him up about an hour away in Alabama.  John was able to fix up a door to a left behind pet carrier to use for his transport.  We love animals so it was a hard day but a relief to not worry about him.  Our local animal shelter has been full, but Connie found they had room for the mama cat and kittens at the end of the month.  The kittens have been a fun part of the days as we watched them grow, climb through the lattice gate, follow their mama to the trailer porch, and get bolder and more playful.  We rigged up a cat box with some old litter, fashioned a litter scoop (plastic commode pan with drilled holes), and mixed special treats (left behind cheese and sardines) with their food.  They had their last sardine enhanced meal Friday the 31^st and went to the shelter Saturday; we miss their playfulness.  (The shelter is no-kill, so it wasn’t really their “last meal”.)

With complete access now we have started cleaning things up.  John cleared out the leaves and empty milk cartons from the still in good shape trampoline; a few screws stabilized the old wheel barrow (until the tire went flat again); a metal frame swing gained a screw and is now waiting research to get the chains hanging right; a skate board scooter was repurposed for a 4×8 panel board catcher; and larger pieces were removed and several bags were hauled to the street from the burn pile (the remains were buried by the heavy equipment).   

All work and no down time leads to a very frustrating life so we managed to eat out a few times, including two Friday night triple dates.  We joined two other couples from Cross Point Church for great evenings of food and fellowship, one was at Kokomo’s across the border in Tennessee, a small café full of 50’s memorabilia and juke box music.  There is always laundry to do so we travel into Iuka to the laundromat with good internet for research (but no workspace).  There are some interesting people (we’re included) and this “Mississippi Redneck” was probably a nice man but a bit scary.  Connie was also able to get away one evening for a Ladies Group meeting at church.

Good news – our RV driveway contractor finally arrived and had dry weather the last three days of the month.  Several times a day John walked around ‘overseeing’ their progress – we have an almost finished driveway, defined RV pads, driveway culverts in place, and double wide entrances/exits to the highway.  It was fun watching ‘experts’ maneuver heavy equipment shaping and compacting dirt and gravel.  Two trees came down quickly and were very precisely laid out for us to cut up.  Low overhanging branches were ground off and chipped up with a hydraulic carbide loggers’ cutter.  With a few weeks of dry weather, we should be ‘moving’ to our RV site by mid-April. 

John was blessed one Sunday morning at Sunday School – the topic was being generous in our giving, especially to God’s family.  The leader was sharing about a malfunctioning chain saw that he replaced and John said he could use a chain saw, intending to possibly purchase it.  Next thing we know we are the owners of an 18” easy start Stihl chain saw, tuned up and free of charge!  John fired it up and started cutting up tree branches; the second time was to cut up the trunk so the roots could be taken into the woods clearing the way for access to the RV water line.

We had more music opportunities this month including a Sunday night concert.  We continued playing with Cross Point Church worship on Sunday mornings, sharing twice with special music songs, and provided music for two SALT (Journey Church senior ministry) meetings.  The Journey Church invited us to do a concert for their evening 4^th Sunday singing service.  Two couples from Cross Point came as well as our RV park owner and his wife to join with the church family.  We had a wonderful time of praise and sharing some of our songs and testimony.  The fellowship meal after (various soups, fixings, and desserts) was wonderful; we left full, encouraged, and very blessed.

For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies; for the love which from our birth over and around us lies.  For the beauty of each hour, of the day and of the night; hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light.  For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child; friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild.  Lord of all to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.  For the Beauty of the Earth, Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917

Tune in again next month for our progress and ministry update!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
3916 N. Potsdam Ave. #3962
Sioux Falls, SD  57104

Phone – John 909-336-8910 or Connie 909-336-8912
Email – SaltyStrings@hotmail.com
Facebook – Salty Strings Music Ministry
Web site – SaltyStrings.com

ONLINE DONATIONS via PayPal through our web site

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

• April to Mid-June – Our property Hwy 367 east of Jacinto, MS property work
• May 19 – 3-day travels to Bushnell IL Memorial/Celebration of Life Service
• June – north central Illinois (Carlinville, Clinton) family and volunteer work
• July – Illinois/Wisconsin (Clinton, IL – Portage, WI) family, volunteer, music
• August – unknown
• September to November – likely back to property