Praises – Beautiful fall colors; safe travel; time with friends and family; church family
Prayers –Contractor to finally finish addition; renters for house apartment; hearing aid adjustments, not working as expected
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom . . . Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:12, 14 NIV
Hello to our friends, followers, and family:
October was beautiful early on while still in Illinois and traveling back to Mississippi. By the middle of the month we had a week-long cold snap, waking up to 35-40 in the mornings and warming to 70’s by mid-day. There were several great nights of watching stars and the moon playing hide-n-seek behind the clouds. We finally had a good rain at the end of the month, starting in the afternoon, quite heavy at times, along with some wind that caused our bathroom fan to leak again. Falling and crunching leaves means campfires! We relocated and leveled our swing after an evening campfire only to have the smoke blowing our direction this time. Connie was tricked into believing Mississippi is great in the fall; almost all month the humidity was lower with temperatures requiring heat or air conditioning; but the humidity increased slightly and temperatures in the 60’s means miserable (for her)!
Early October brought lots of travels. We finished up our volunteer work at the camp in Illinois (another door and stain on a boat dock), loaded essentials in the truck, and headed to Wisconsin for Connie’s birthday on October 4 where we enjoyed supper with our Phoenix, AZ son and her sister (also her birthday) and husband. The following day we had beautiful weather at Beckman Mill Park with family and a few friends – 19 total if we counted correctly! Among the gifts were a carton each of quail eggs and chicken eggs from our daughter. It was great having almost all the family together again this year. We stayed 2 nights in a hotel, John soaked in the tub Friday night and Connie enjoyed it Saturday night, one of the blessings of motel stays. There was a long lunch Sunday with Connie’s high school friend then the drive back to the RV in Illinois.
We took a day of rest, leisurely packing the RV, and left October 8 to meet our retired pastor for a great lunch at Maverick Steak House in Litchfield, IL (his wife was unable to join us). They did have several items left over from their move to pass along to us, and we received a beautiful framed picture from his office of Jesus made from the Gospel of John (75,000 words). Travel continued through the afternoon with an overnight stay at Lambert’s in Sikeston, MO. We had another leisurely drive day, passed cotton fields in Missouri, and arrived home October 9 around 2pm.
We knew in August that we would be needing new renters for the house in October. It was left in good shape, just a fix to a ceiling fan blade and a few minor carpet stains. The big unknown problem was a mold/mildew issue that developed in September. Connie wiped down some walls where furniture had been, cleaned some very dusty ceiling fans, and painted two ceiling stains near HVAC vents. The upper kitchen cabinets took lots of pondering and John spent days cleaning, removing and fixing doors that had warped and separated. Connie did the painting, using Kilz first and a semi-gloss paint inside this time. John also hooked up the dryer vent, added some support for the furnace filter which was quite warped, and resumed yard care duties.
There were some special days this month with our church families. We went for one evening of a week-long revival and received the message comparing ‘knowing’ our spouses and loved ones to ‘knowing’ God. We heard a young missionary couple share their calling to Hilo, Hawaii with a church start ministry – very interesting as he shared demographics, history, culture, and poverty in what we consider a vacation paradise state. After the 4th Sunday hymn sing, we had a surprise Pastor appreciation evening meal. The local Booneville Fall Festival turned a Wednesday night study into labeling water bottles plus making 4 batches of sausage balls with a helper the next morning. Connie made waffles one Sunday morning and played the organ and keyboard during services at Journey Church. As we review our church activities, almost all involved food; soup and sandwiches, restaurants, ice cream, and of course desserts!
After the wonderful birthday gatherings, Connie had two special surprises! A book came in the mail from a friend in Illinois and she set aside time to ‘curl up in the corner’ and read for enjoyment (but also a challenge from the story to take opportunities to share with others). It didn’t take very long but was so relaxing! The second surprise was receiving one of her mother’s spoon rings – her collection of “Mom’s rings” is now complete. She still had a few tunnel vision headache episodes and had to quit reading once because of it. Connie’s appointment with the eye doctor was interesting, probably should have stronger ‘readers’ but (she’s) not ready for glasses – no glaucoma or reason visually for the headaches, likely they are more stress related. Setting aside special time for fun things, stretching core exercises, and a few naps has helped her feel better, more peaceful, and rested.
There were many blessed chances for fellowship this month. We were invited to attend the ‘Senior Saints’ program in Illinois from 8:30-2:30 with great entertainment, food, and an excellent speaker; very relaxing for us. We went to our final coffee hour at Lane Church, had lunch a few days later with our retired Pastor friend, and resumed our Friday Date Nights in Mississippi. Although we’ve had our ‘home base’ here for almost two years, we finally made it to ‘Rattlesnake Saloon’ just over the border in Alabama for lunch with a church couple – a great adventure and the perfect fall day for a colorful drive.
The day after arriving home Salty Strings joined the Booneville Dulcimer Club at the Baldwyn Nursing Home, getting back into their routine (Christmas song practice and two other care facilities) as well as enjoying lunch with these friends. As we put together our September newsletter, we edited our web pages, stopped at a local RV repair shop for possible referrals for our extra RV spot, and started working on a music ad for a local ‘free’ Christian paper. John has been looking to add another instrument to our mix and we made a trip while in Wisconsin to see a 10-string cittern which was great sounding but not comfortable to play; Connie enjoyed the time talking with his wife, a retired university librarian. We detoured slightly on the way back to drive through the town where our kids were raised, stopping by the local cheese factory to get cheese curds for the birthday party. Good news/bad news – John did find a 12-string guitar, in Germany, made an offer that was accepted, paid for it, but is still waiting for delivery (customs, air freight, etc.)
We were disappointed that our contractor had not been back to finish several loose ends with our addition. John did finish up the wiring to the heater and fished a falling piece of insulation out of the spa. He used the house car port area with his saws for a work area to repair the cabinet doors. After mowing once he contacted our local mower repair man who picked it up, replaced a blade shaft, 2 solenoids, a head gasket, and delivered it back to us on the 29th – it has more power, no oil leak, and sharp blades! John’s audiologist appointment was October 11th and he ordered two in-the-ear hearing aids based on his hearing loss. His hearing was not as bad as we expected, but not hearing consonants clearly makes it hard to understand conversation. We had a piece of door trim on our truck that has been getting worse and even hindering the door opening at times – that is now fixed with a bonus; Connie’s pillow board lap computer stand is ‘glued’ back together (same glue for both fixes).
Connie had noticed the water bill for our mobile home rental was a bit high in August. By the time we returned it went from $45 to $112 to $156! Obviously, a water leak!! We looked everywhere, had a friend try to help to find the water line, walked looking for soft spots, contacted two plumbers who couldn’t help, and finally found another plumber who asked if we had checked the toilet – well we did and it was running (but we caught it!). We picked up some parts, John fixed the float, and we returned what we didn’t need. An expensive lesson in the supposedly obvious! We did get a new deck/back porch built within a week, something that was on our fall repair schedule, after some frustration getting the materials.
Connie wasn’t a lot of help this month! (At least not as much in the physical tasks.) There is a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that she deals with along with daily necessities (but John still cleans and empties the tanks!). She handled the water leak communication, changed over the rental electric bill, and keeps an eye on our chemical levels cleaning the filters as needed for the spa and hot tub. Her creative cooking brings some surprises at times; waffles, apple crisp from caramel apples, seasoned French fries in the air fryer, eggs and veggies, cabbage stir fry, and routinely her yogurt. There are many hours spent in research – Amazon orders, Homestead Credit, drawing house dimensions for property insurance coverage, realizing and dealing with address changes that did not happen, changing supplemental insurance to Mississippi, and working with John through his oversea purchase.
While in Illinois we continued our evening walks, one was very hazy from the harvested field dust, and a few bike rides. Once home, after setting up the RV, we checked the water in our swim spa. We were gone 7 weeks with the temperature turned down and the water looked good. We cranked up the heat, shocked (extra chlorine) the water, and we were swimming the next day. We try to swim every other day and are now back to speed. On the 23rd John finally positioned the hot tub, filled it, and we have been really enjoying it; a wonderful way to end the day. Connie resumed her downloaded core stretching exercises; trying for every day but hasn’t got into a routine yet. We found a seat cover and got it on Connie’s bike, much more comfortable but the hills are worse here and we opt for swimming or driveway walks in the evening. We remain very blessed in all we have and do!
Our Thought for the Month: “Peace (Shalom) involves the kind of tranquility that comes from knowing who you are and where you come from.? It involves the kind of prosperity that arises, not from an accumulation of material possessions, but from a thankful spirit.? It involves the kind of security that comes from the faith that God loves you and will provide for your needs.”
“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27 NIV)
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10 NIV)
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
30A Hwy 367Burnsville, MS 38833
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
- November-January 10? – Mississippi home base
- January-February 2025 – SOWER Projects, Louisiana or Florida panhandle?
- March-April – Tentative Mississippi home base
