Tag: travel

The Salt Shaker ~ May 2025

Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Prescription discount for eyedrops; seeing God everywhere; remodel progress, slow but steady

Prayers – Weight loss, getting back in shape; roofer still needed; RV a/c, awning, leak(s), toilet seal

“The end of the matter; all has been heard.  Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”  Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV

Hello to our followers, family, and friends:

Devotion Thought: Living by faith is uncomfortable when the answer to many of your questions involves a “just trust me on this” component. God asks His followers to rest in His plan, relinquishing control over seemingly critical parts of their lives, including the big things like jobs and health.

May was a month of travel including some out-of-state music, sight-seeing, and visiting family!  Before our adventures began John worked on repairing the center cross in front of Journey Church by fitting a new green-treated cross beam and torching it to match the other weathered crosses, and he also made some great potatoes for breakfast.  Connie did a bit of yard work with some monster ant hills, grass thistles, adding a rose trellis, turning/loosening the clay berm dirt, and planting a bag of wildflower seeds/mulch.  Connie started and John finished up reburying the front drain pipe, and we added a section so the back drain pipe ended in the culvert under the driveway.  While mowing John got something in his eye, it cleared up a bit the following day, but a visit to the eye doctors the next day found something still there along with a swollen oil gland; all was taken care of plus a week of steroid eye drops ($84 at Walmart but pharmacist found a discount price of $35).  Connie had another larger dizzy spell, possibly related to some heat stroke?  In general, she has learned to take it easy, not turn her neck in certain positions, get up slowly from bed, and others usually do not notice when little spells happen (including John).  

Musically, we were busy the first part of the month joining the Booneville Dulcimer Club for a practice, the Natchez Trace Visitor Center, and one nursing home.  As we left home for the nursing home program, we had a small lizard peeking his head up from the driver’s headlight area – he stayed with us at least 20 minutes until we met a semi-truck coming the opposite way at 55 mph!  We were involved with Sunday morning music at Journey Church and Cross Point Church before leaving the state, the monthly SALT seniors meeting at Journey Church, and one of the jam sessions in Iuka.  Connie rewrote a song, sorted and organized some of our old song files, and started working on making sound samples from our recordings for our web site.  Salty Strings received an invite from some Campers On Missions friends to entertain at their South Carolina gathering – that is what started our May adventures.    

We ordered slam latches from the RV parts department but when we stopped to get them, they wouldn’t work so we ordered the correct ones ($120 each) online to arrive the 9th.  Turns out on the 9th they arrived in Chicago (from Wentzville, Missouri), then went to Texas, and were in Memphis on the 12th so John taped up the hatches and latch areas for travel.  Travel preparation started a week early; the trailer hitch was put back in the truck, John avoided the rainy days getting just a few tools and things packed up, our mail was on hold, and mowing arrangements were made with one of our renters.

Our small-town post office is a blessing!  Connie called first thing Wednesday morning to find our slam latch order had arrived; we were able to pull off the road on our way by, pick up the package, and be on our way at 8:30 am May 13.  Traffic through Atlanta wasn’t bad and we arrived at a SOWER project for our overnight stay around 4 pm EST; a long, overcast day with a few rainy spots.  John got us parked, put on the new slam latches, and we had too many TV channels to choose from.  Travel day 2 is always harder, even though a much shorter day and no pressure, we arrived at the Western South Carolina Fairground (Aiken, SC), to a warm welcome, got parked and mostly set up, were treated to a Chinese Buffet dinner in town, and went to bed early.  John worked two mornings with the other volunteers putting up 1x12x12’ wood boards on the interior of a huge insulated metal building to be used for meeting areas at the fairground. 

Friday we tuned and practiced for our concert following a great lasagna meal, and Saturday we relaxed a bit before a potluck meal, followed by us leading a jam session.  We had to refresh our rusty memories for setting up our sound system for Friday night!  Saturday brought quite a few participants, Connie accompanied a singer and flute with our keyboard, and we had time to share 3 songs.  We met a few of these wonderful volunteers a year ago in Florida and it was so good to see them again and play along with a few of their songs.  The Campers on Missions gathering ended after church Sunday morning and we started planning for the rest of our travels, did some mending, passed our trailer key to a friend ‘just in case’ something happened while we were away, and enjoyed some evening fellowship.  When we returned May 29 to pick up our RV, we had a lazy day to get packed for the trip home, there were no leaks, we enjoyed another Chinese Buffet meal with our friends, and got our ‘tree’ passenger wrapped up for the trip in the shower this time. 

It seemed we had plenty of hot days throughout the month, wherever we were.  Thunderstorms and heavy rains a few times before our travels, with more severe Mississippi storms after we left.  The fairground in South Carolina was in the 80’s by 8-9 am and plenty of humidity!  South Carolina continued to have storms while we were away with lots of wind and rain.  Early mornings were nice for porch sitting in Virginia, in general not quite as humid but still hot, and only a bit of rain towards the end of our visit. 

It was a tough month for exercise with all the different schedules.  Connie determined to walk every other day while at the fairground and at our sons in Virginia, starting with 20 minutes then 30 minutes.  The fairgrounds were part field roads and part houses with a large white barking dog tied outside, a cat standing guard inside a fenced yard with a “beware of dogs” sign, and lots of plants including cactus, rabbit’s foot clover, wisteria with pods, and the pine cone graveyard.  Walking was harder in Virginia with all the hills.  We did some swimming earlier in the month and will have to do a lot more to lose the 5# we each gained during our travels. 

We had one date night in May and were able to attend both our churches before leaving, what a blessing to have friends and congregations praying for us.  In other news:  John researched a ‘free replacement window’ ad that led to a meeting with a huge price tag that we declined.  Connie tried one more time to print our mailed April newsletters in color, the printer is officially dead now, black and white photos are pretty ugly.  After some heavy rain we found a bedroom ceiling light was full of water (over Connie’s side of the bed) so we are keeping watch and trying to find this leak.  And, like everyone, there is always something else to fret about.  Our dining room awning went out and didn’t want to come back in (it did later in the day but we haven’t tried it since).  

May 20 found us back on the road headed to Fredericksburg, Virginia to be with family.  It was a great travel day, almost all on the interstate, 480 miles, 9.5 hours, with stops to add DEF and change drivers.  Along the way was a large thick group of blooming mimosa trees, a Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, and the muddy brown Pee Dee River which we joked about.  Our almost 5-year-old granddaughter was with her mom at a birthday party so we had a bit of time with our 6-month-old granddaughter (first time in person) and son.  They have a wonderful place for us to stay!  There were lots of movies, teething baby rocking, puzzles with older granddaughter and grandpa, morning quiet reading or rocking time on the front porch, blowing bubbles, Sunday morning church, a very interesting bug on the porch, and walks through the now full subdivision.  We had a great Memorial Day breakfast brought in by our daughter-in-law’s family, along with some great fellowship and catching up since our last visit a year ago. 

The first morning in Virginia was cold and rainy, and Connie forgot to pack a jacket, her toothpaste, and hair brush!  So, a trip to Goodwill and Walmart was in order.  They live in a newer subdivision and it was time for the second coat of asphalt on the long, uphill driveway; the last four days of our trip we hiked up and down their front lawn to our vehicles.  We took their family out to Chick-fil-a for a belated anniversary lunch after stopping at the library (picked up lots of books for the older granddaughter, and a couple of free Christian books for us).  They took us along for a double birthday party with Mexican tacos, all the sides, Horta (Connie loves this pink milky drink), and a live band.  There were some pretty special meals for us as well – waffles, lots of bacon, brisket, grilled shrimp and salmon, Brussel sprouts, Korean BBQ with fried rice, and of course ice cream.  They made sure we had some things to do as well.  Connie’s task was to cut some glass for a broken double-sided picture frame; the first glass was too thick for the frame so there was a last-minute trip to Walmart purchasing two very cheap frames and cutting them to fit, it worked great.  John had several things including a trip to Lowe’s for ideas for wood for a wall frame in our son’s guitar room, helping put together yard maintenance items, and the must do trip to the coffee shop. 

Our next adventure was a mini-vacation staying with our church friend’s sister and husband near the coast in Newport, North Carolina.  We had a leisurely travel day about half each interstate and highways.  It was quite a surprise to find beautiful black dirt, gold fields (wheat or barley?), tobacco fields, 2’ high corn fields, a cabbage field, and a row of large pine trees with about 4’ deep pine needle mulch at the base.  After some rain we arrived around 5, unloaded our things, and they treated us to a wonderful seafood dinner at a restaurant along the ‘sound.’  Our prayers were answered for dry weather the next day for sight-seeing.  We were driven on a tour of Morehead City, Beaufort (the Maritime Museum was closed, but a boat building shop was open and we toured a few shops, saw some beautiful flowers, received a free piece of fudge, and some great boats), Harker’s Island (some Canada geese with two goslings, the ferry to Cape Lookout lighthouse and Shackleford Banks where there are some wild horses was closed), and a local thrift shop where we purchased a book, frying pan, and wardrobe bag (they work great for our pillows) all for less than $5.  We attended a potluck and study at their church (Acts 16:20-25, shackles are not what we thought) meeting some more of God’s wonderful family!  We gained a back seat passenger for our trip home; they dug up a 5’ popcorn tree, bare roots wrapped up, for us to get back to our friends in MS.  After getting rained on at the fairground (SC) we black bagged and tied it to keep in as much moisture as possible until planted, now it’s up to God. 

We left mid-morning May 29 for our last travel day without the fifth-wheel.  (We hit 22 mpg average once!)  We took the long way heading east to catch the bridge to the Emerald Isle for glimpses of the water and beaches, the highway was 35-45 mph and it didn’t look that long on the map, then followed back highways to Interstate 20.  There were fields being prepped for planting, a few tobacco fields, and a peacock wandering about in someone’s yard.  John took over driving with a rainy start on the interstate near Florence, SC, then hit three windy drenching downpours along with rush-hour traffic around Columbia, SC.  We arrived, the rain quit for us to unload at 5:45pm, slightly frazzled to enjoy being back in our RV.  We had excellent accommodations while away, but there’s still no place like home.

May 31 we were back on the road headed to Mississippi.  We split the drive, going 244 miles to our overnight about 10 miles into Alabama (Heflin).  There were several slowdowns going through Atlanta, the roads seemed especially bumpy, we gained an hour getting back to CST, and it seemed we stopped every hour for fuel or bathroom breaks!  John chose this spot because they had a restaurant on site, thinking breakfast; wrong, it was called Damn Yankees, had an interesting owner (also manager of RV park), a bar, but some good pizza (to go) for our supper.  The next morning, Sunday, we met our neighbor overnight travelers, found they were Christian and we had prayer before leaving and encouraging each other.  Another 234 miles and we were home, June 1st.   All total May 13-June 1:  7 travel days, 2174 miles, 4 locations, and we’ll see how many days to get back to normal life!

Devotion Thought:  Most American adults believe that culture plays a role in establishing moral norms.  However, a majority also agrees that “the Bible provides us with absolute moral truths which are the same for all people in all situations, without exception.”  Absolute truth has its source in the Lord.  No human can think up or discover a new truth.  As you study and assimilate His Word into your life, you can count on the Holy Spirit to guide you in the truth.

Did you know:  Mother’s Day was held in Boston in 1872 at the suggestion of Julia Ward Howe, writer of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” But it was Anna Jarvis, daughter of a Methodist minister who made it a national event. During the Civil War, Anna’s mother organized Mother’s Day Work Clubs to care for wounded soldiers. She raised money for medicine, inspected bottled milk, improved sanitation, and hired women to care for families where mothers suffered from tuberculosis. In her mother’s honor, Anna persuaded her church to set aside the second Sunday in May, which was the anniversary of her mother’s death, as a day to appreciate all mothers. Anna organized a letter-writing campaign to establish a national Mother’s Day. President Woodrow Wilson then proclaimed the first national Mother’s Day as a “public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”

“And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as we are this day.  And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.”  Deuteronomy 6:24-25 ESV

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
30A Hwy 367, Burnsville, 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
** June-July – Mississippi, remodel work, music
** August 1-21 – SOWER Project, Union Grove, WI; friends and family
** August ?-September – Clinton, Illinois area, family, volunteer work, friends, music
** September – Hopeful visits Litchfield, Carlinville, Macomb, IL and Kirksville, MO

The Salt Shaker ~ April 2025

Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – God is good all the time!  Progress with our addition, visiting friends, new music friends, physical strength to keep working

Prayers – New color printer for CD’s and newsletter, motivation, roofer, RV repairs and air conditioning, safe travels

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

Hello to our family, friends, and followers:

April brought some interesting weather; thunder storms, gusty winds, heavy rain, dark skies, tornado watches, and one tornado warning.  Our rental family and us spent a couple of hours on the addition porch waiting and watching; the entry to the shelter was flooded and slick with mud.  Getting that to drain properly is now on our list of repairs needed!  Most of our nights were in the 60’s and days upper 70’s and some 80’s.  We found attic heat was coming into the multi-purpose room (where the beam was added and closet supports removed) and spread a tarp over the attic floor to seal it up a bit.  It will be a while before we get to rebuilding that area.

Salty Strings had a full month again with a few additions.  April started with the SALT senior meeting.  We were with the Booneville Dulcimer Club for two practice evenings and four programs; one of the care facilities added their Memory Ward this month where part of the group played for about 14 residents.  Connie had several hours of practice with the organ for Easter songs, and there were many more hours together for all the church worship.  We also participated in a twice-a-month jam session with lots of other musicians and music genres.  We had fun, even though it was a ‘live’ event (everyone was on video) and they were set up for standing performers.

As we prepare for travel in May our focus shifted to some postponed RV needs.  John checked the bedroom a/c unit and sealed around the bath fan early in the month.  With a few heavy rains we found the leak continues; we’re still puzzled where the leak really is!  Mid-month there were a series of problems – a vent cover on the roof is missing (patched up with a cool whip container), the slam latch to the water compartment broke, 2 days later a latch on the other side broke, the a/c won’t work at all on low, and the living room a/c started doing the same thing (not an emergency since they are working on high).  Parts were ordered, the latches won’t work, and more latches were ordered, hopefully arriving in time to install before we leave.    

Early in the month Connie had lots of work on our taxes, our first year to have to file in Mississippi as well as a full year as landlords.  Once they were mailed off (on the 14th!) there was paperwork to file away and notes to be made for next year.  She also finished up our newsletter, just a bit late, with a sickly printer and lots of help from John.  There were four songs Connie arranged and worked out, three for the Booneville Dulcimer Club (Ashokan Farewell, Wild Mountain Thyme, and the chorus for Down In My Heart) and the theme song for the Campers On Mission gathering in May; she enjoyed the challenges and time spent on something ‘fun.’  She also did some ‘not so professional’ phone recordings with the keyboard in multiple speeds to help John with a mandolin song.  There were a few cooking experiments, including chiclet noodles thinking it might be faster rather than rolling and cutting.  The harp, long neglected, even came out of its corner for a few hours!

Most of our April ‘work’ was in the addition.  Connie washed most of the old exterior siding wall and did a lot of painting – primer and finish paint (ceiling boards, trim boards, and walls), and put all the wall electric covers back on.  John found two adjoining windows were a bit uneven and fixed the sill plates.  He also did lots of cutting, fitting, and putting up various trim.  Connie was brave, once, getting on top of the spa to help put up a long ceiling board.  Our roof person has not been by to fix the roof leak yet, so we still have ceiling to install, but it is good to see real progress and that our planning is looking good!

There were several meals out early in the month with our visiting camper as he prepared to move on in his music ministry.  We had an evening farewell so he could leave early the next morning.  We continued Friday date nights, once with our Journey Church friends before attending a Passion Play in Corinth, MS.  One date night we enjoyed pizza at one of the homes where we were able to sit on their deck as we ate and watched the cat and crows stand off for the pizza crusts tossed into the yard.  We were treated to a great Sunday buffet in New Albany, MS after church with friends, just one of many blessings God continues to provide.  We enjoyed eating at Jack’s for our Anniversary and tax completion celebration (on the 14th).  The last day of the month we enjoyed a quiet evening out where we discussed our May travel plans and semi-planned for the rest of the year.

In addition to our swimming, we occasionally walked around the driveway or up the road a bit, once with a neighbor dog following; all dependent on how stiff we were by evening.  We haven’t received our replacement floor mat but we are getting a bit better at staying in the center as we swim.  We noticed that there was a leak when using the swim spa, the end with the heater and pumps, and John was able to tighten the connection a bit by hand.  A week later it started leaking again, this time he used the screw driver to get the connection clamp tighter, and so far, no leaks. Swimming was not as consistent this month because of plywood sheets on top to work on the ceiling.   

For more relaxing activities:  walks in the woods, guitar playing (almost has his regrown thumb nail trained out of its curve), and picking up sticks around the yard so he can start mowing again.  There were several trips to the woods making more paths and going along the boundary markers while keeping an eye on the tree cutters on our neighbor’s land.  It has been quite the experience to hear trees sawed (a huge machine can catch 3-5 trees and saw them near the ground) and stacked for transport as well as looking through the trees to cleared land.  They have remained off our property so far, but we will only have a few trees left to our south once they finish.  John has been making the arrangements for our trip east for some music and a visit to see our newest granddaughter and family.  We had one smokey fire in our fire pit and are waiting for a good time to have a hot dog roast with friends and our renters.

We discovered all eggs are not equal – we helped put candy in 5,000 plastic eggs for an Easter Egg Hunt.  It was a great time of fellowship, goofing around, and we even figured out how to get Dum-Dums into the eggs!  All four Sundays in April we were leading worship at Journey Community Church. We chose to use the church organ for all the songs Easter Sunday, meaning John stretched his voice limits many times! Palm Sunday evening was the feet washing, Wednesday evenings found us back in Revelation most nights, and there was an evening hymn sing with the church pianist and Connie.

We’ve had a few calls and fixes this month from our mobile home renters – mice and microwaves.  John spent some time inside, outside, and under plugging holes (expanding foam with steel wool) and spraying rodent deterrent.  We worked together getting the old microwave down, finding the wall studs and a hidden GFCI plug, stabilizing the electric range plug, and getting the new shelf unit fastened to the wall.  In the meantime, the renters used our little blue microwave on their counter.  John spent several days designing, finding wood, cutting, fitting, glueing, and adding several coats of spray finish.  Holes were pre-drilled for easy assembly and a light was added after mounting – a beautiful job and a larger microwave!  

John was sick (stuffy head, sinus, headaches, very tired) April 2-6.  Then Connie caught whatever bug he had for a week.  That slowed us both down and the after effects included another two weeks of feeling worn out.  It seems when we finally get in a groove or schedule, something always comes around to knock us off course; we just don’t bounce back as quickly as when we were younger!

Devotional quotes for April: 

  • The best route to higher ground only comes by climbing up through the valleys.
  • Corrie ten Boom once said, “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed.  If you look within, you’ll be depressed.  If you look at God, you’ll be at rest.”
  • Don’t tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big God is.
  • What is over your head is still under Jesus’ feet.

Jesus speaking: “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one.  I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”  (Revelation 1:17b-18 ESV)  “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV)

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
30A Hwy 367
Burnsville, 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
** May 13-early June – Aiken, SC and Fredericksburg, VA for music and family
** August-September – Illinois/Wisconsin, volunteer work, music, family, and friends

The Salt Shaker ~ March 2025

Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Glory to God for safe travel, protection from area storms, provision, seeing renters enjoying the property, the beauty and rebirth in springtime

Prayers – Safety on scaffolding, roof leaks (spa room and our trailer), music ministry, recording and getting songs online

Question:  Why would God limit the roads to heaven to just one?  Because He doesn’t want us to guess the way there; Jesus is the only right direction.  Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life.  No one gets to the Father apart from me.  John 14:6 The Message 

Hello to our followers, family, and friends:

March – in like a lamb, out like a lion?  Our final days at our Florida project included a few camp meals, a great Mountain Man breakfast cooked over charcoal in a Dutch oven, planning routes (including how to get out of our parking area), a final evening camp fire, and packing up.  Another volunteer removed a low tree branch and great spotters made our exit uneventful.  We were all watching the weather with high wind and storm forecasts; since we were headed west into the wind we left early on the 5th and only struggled a bit the last hour as winds increased and we turned north.

At the invitation of some Campers on Mission volunteers, we stayed a few days in the panhandle of Florida.  John joined them for morning devotions and did some work sanding bunk bed rails and helping with porch construction while Connie remained in the RV enjoying the down time.  We had 3 days of fellowship including supper when we arrived, and visiting SOWER friends in the area.

Our final recreation rest was an afternoon along the Gulf coast with a few stops at some Panama City beaches.  Although it was breezy and cool, we started at access 54 (west) at a pier and watched people and waves.  We ended at access 2 and found it quite different with clearer water, the surf seemed warmer, but the tide pools forming were still cold.  Connie kept her jacket on and walked up and down with her kite picking up a few small shells (John found some as well) as the tide came in.  There were red helicopters, trucks patrolling the beach, John recognized F35 stealth and F80 star fighters (Tyndall AFB to the east and Pensacola Naval Air Station to the west), and a patrol boat bouncing from the waves as it towed another boat.  We found a Culver’s, yes in Florida, for supper and returned to the RV to prepare the cooler for traveling.  We left early on the 8th knowing we had a very long day to get home to Mississippi.  We gained an hour (CST in the Florida panhandle) and gained another hour with daylight savings time when we arrived home, a bit of ‘jet lag’ perhaps?   

We were welcomed back to Journey Community Church, although we were a bit weary from our long travel day, and Connie joined right in with the keyboard for worship.  It was good to be back, especially rejoining their Wednesday night study in Revelation.  The 5th Sunday, the 30th, we traveled to our other ‘home’ church in Iuka for their Worship and Testimony service where we shared a few songs and what we did in Florida before enjoying the potluck lunch.  That evening we celebrated the 18th birthday of the Pastor’s son with another meal at Journey Church.  March also included a dessert celebration for Pastor’s Wives’ month, plenty of delicious food!

Our first week home was a lot of figuring, organizing, and shopping!  First thing Monday was to retrieve our mail, stop for final adjustments for John’s hearing aids, purchase scaffolding at Harbor Freight, and our usual grocery stops.  The scaffolding was assembled and stabilized using ladders, and John started removing the old ceiling panels, stapling the insulation, filling some gaps where birds were coming in, and figuring out how to properly mount the boxes for the pancake LED lights.  We played the ‘scaffold vs hot tub location’ game for a few days, purchased plywood and tongue and groove boards for the ceiling (110 delivered thankfully), moved the boards inside, and started priming the ceiling boards.  Some days Connie helped by cutting boards to length so John could stay on the scaffold.  Not bad for our first week back!  

God’s timing is good, even when it means more things to do!  As we started our travels home, we received a call from a renter that their showerhead needed to be replaced; we were able to fix it ourselves.  We now have a renter in the house and were able to meet her and ‘Hank’ her great Dane who love the walks in the woods.  John was able to attend a “God’s Man Conference” along with the men of Journey Church; the timing was great even though the conference was cut short due to storms in the area.  Before leaving Florida, we were greatly blessed in receiving cordless nail guns from a fellow SOWER and they are being used!  We were spoiled while in Florida with great internet and lots of TV stations; that ended when we returned.  Again, God’s Hand was in the timing and decisions as we visited the phone store, switched and added a line for unlimited hotspot, and came out money ahead every month.  It has proved very useful, and being portable our visiting camper was able to have internet for his stay.  

With all our travel and work this month there have been several days we’re just too tired to do much for exercise.  We stayed pretty diligent with evening walks … for about a week, Connie started her morning exercises again … for about a week, and there were a few swims when the plywood wasn’t over the spa, but nothing consistent.  One morning we were both looking forward to a swim but found, to our surprise, our floor mat in the spa was curling up on one end; by evening both ends were curling; and the next evening the whole mat was floating.  Calls were made and a new mat is coming but we’ll have to drain the spa before we can position and stick it down – swimming and water exercise are much harder with no center line and a slippery surface.  Other than several slivers, a few hammer slips, and some sore muscles we’ve enjoyed good health this month.

We had some special fellowship at the end of the month with a visit from a friend who travels full-time for nursing home music ministry and church visits.  We connect every few years when our paths cross and finally he arrived, the first to use our full hookup RV site.  Although a bit under the weather and not able to do any singing or speaking ministry, we were able to provide some meals, eat out a few times, deliver carry-out containers from the potluck, and had shower and laundry facilities.  Date nights resumed on Friday evenings; we had missed this fellowship while away.  Journey Church had a 2-day garage sale where we found a small blue microwave and deviled egg trays (no more recycled Chinese candy tray and John had commented 2 days earlier that he wanted a microwave to heat his coffee while working).

Connie spent some time almost every day priming the ceiling boards, usually 10 at a time, and gets more efficient each batch.  John got the first 2 ceiling rows up and leveled (the hardest part), finding rafters a bit off and creating more waste than we figured because each end has a few inches added to accommodate the overhang.  By the 22nd we had the ‘short’ side of the ceiling done, all using the scaffold, and the hot tub ready to fill and heat; that’s real motivation!  The next thing was getting the 12’ 4×4 support post fastened to support one end of the ceiling beam – after a few sketches, some materials, and a few prayers we were able to get it fit and in place.  John cut boards for the inside window trim and ripped some 2×4’s for 3” ceiling/wall molding trim.  Connie sanded some furring strips, all of which were primed along with the trim boards.  The longer side of the ceiling was started, again having to get it leveled first, working from ladders for the first 3’ then moving to the ‘easy’ stuff with plywood on top of the spa.  More motivation, no swimming until another 8’ of ceiling is finished!

We seemed to bring storms and weather with us.  It was cool, rainy, with wind gusts above 30 mph leaving Gainesville, FL.  It was in the upper 40’s when we left Bonifay, FL with some sprinkles along the way home.  Once back we had some really nice spring days, our plum and apple trees blossomed, the tree leaves started opening, and we needed the air conditioner a few times.  There were many more days however that were cloudy, thunder storms, tornado watches and warnings, overcast, damp and chilly, lots of rain and flash flood watches, pollen turning everything yellow-green, and the plum blossoms blew off the same day they opened.  Definitely good to have the inside work.  A few days started in the mid-30’s with mid-70’s for a high.  We did enjoy the night sky on the 1st with a silhouette moon sliver and Venus shining bright, and John was up for the eclipse on the 14th. 

Before leaving our Florida volunteer project we made an afternoon trip to the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo (Gainesville, FL) and had a beautiful relaxing day.  We wandered around for over 2 hours enjoying animals, birds, otter training, a wandering peacock display, gibbons creating a noisy ruckus, trying to see the new ‘joey’ tree kangaroo, and meeting a wandering injured turkey vulture that has claimed this spot as home.  Although a small zoo, the grounds and winding paths are beautiful.  The zoology students had just started a new semester and were willing to answer questions, even though they weren’t that familiar with their new subjects.  

On one of our last days in Florida, Connie spotted an air plant on the ground, picked it up, and it ‘bloomed’ releasing lots of tiny seeds with fuzzies (like miniature dandelions).  Although none of the seeds have grown, she separated the main plant, tied pieces to drift wood, and amazingly they are still alive!  Connie started daily posts for 40 days of prayer, finished a sample flower shaped dish rag scrubber (with a few modifications it will work perfect), and procrastinated on the taxes finally getting serious the last week of the month. 

It was good to be back with the Booneville Dulcimer Club and the programs at the care facilities.  We are now official members with our new T-shirts!  There was a music celebration one Wednesday evening at church with us using the hammer dulcimer (by request).  Our church friends had special friends visiting so there was lots of music, including great 4-part harmony hymns which Connie was able to play (without practice) on the piano.  We have recently been encouraged by others and believe we are entering a new season of music ministry; we need to pray, search for open doors, and allow God to use us through our music.

(Jesus speaking) “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  Matthew 7:7 New International Version 

Thought for the month:  From a devotion ~ Despair will cast you down, keeping you from standing.  Fear will tell you to retreat.  Impatience will tell you to do something now.  Presumption will tell you jump before your landing is ready.  God often tells us to simply stand still as He reveals His plan.

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
30A Hwy 367
Burnsville, 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
** May 14-early June – Aiken, SC and Fredericksburg, VA for music and family
** August-Sept – Music, Volunteer work, Family Camp, Clinton, IL area
** September – Illinois and Wisconsin family visits

The Salt Shaker ~ February 2025

Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Time to rest and renew, thanks for your prayers-March 6 renters moving in, God’s timing in all things!

Prayers – Getting scaffolding (on sale?), music ministry, recording and getting songs online

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty.  Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom.  We adore you as the one who is over all things.  Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything.  Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.  O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!”  New Living Translation, 1 Chronicles 29:11-13

Hello to our family, friends, and followers:

We continued at Friendship Bible Church the first Sunday in February then moved to Keystone Heights Christian Church for the rest of the month, finding a smaller congregation with great interactive Sunday School, Bible-based messages, and communion every Sunday.  They have a Wednesday night fellowship meal (the pastor is a retired Army chef) and message which we attended on roast beef night with a study of the 4th commandment, remember the Sabbath.  We invited our fellow volunteers to attend with us for a special guest gospel music service and had three couples come along.  Our Sunday church drive always included a stop for a few grocery needs at Winn Dixie as we drive by, then a restful afternoon with a nap for John.  We will miss our new friends! 

There were a few excursions during our week between volunteer ‘projects’ and more planned for the end of the month before traveling to our home base.  The first was to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville on a beautiful partly sunny Wednesday morning.  They have a 1 mile and ½ mile trail that loops through various types of vegetation.  We spent over 2 hours enjoying a lazy morning, seeing our first cardinals of the year, turtles, squirrels, koi (which John had to feed), our first butterfly of the year, and a fingernail plant.  We had hoped to see some hummingbirds, but not much was blooming and January’s cold weather killed the tops of some plants; it was still a great place and not busy.  We had a Chinese lunch, visited a Guitar Center, and (of course) did our shopping. 

The next day we travelled to St. Augustine to find parking first then the restrooms at Lightner Museum.  This is a huge collection of ‘gilded age’ museum pieces (cut glass, big wheeled bicycles, furniture, and lots more) in the former Hotel Alcazar resort, finished in 1888 complete with saunas, massage parlor, and huge pool that is now a restaurant.  After several hours of meandering, we stopped at the Metro Diner finding great food at reasonable prices for our late lunch.  We continued down the Atlantic coast stopping at Jungle Hut Park, a public beach where we relaxed in the partly sunny 77-degree afternoon breeze and spotted dolphins, gulls, cormorants, and a pelican flying.  John walked and found a few shells to bring home and Connie was able to get her kite flying and had to walk in the salty surf before leaving.

Connie saw the hawk again on the electric lines and finally saw a pair of sandhill cranes flying over our RV – they were squawking at each other in flight, sounding almost like honking geese.  We were able to be an encouragement to the camp Director and office Registrar over breakfast one morning.  Our laundry facilities here were great, except for the night after our project ended when all 4 washers/dryers were in use along with a window air conditioner.  The breaker kept tripping, our 2 loads of laundry were started 3 times before the cycles finally completed and clothes were moved to the dryers (third time is a charm?)!  We retrieved them, nice and warm, at 9:30pm far too tired to get them all folded.  Warning alert – we learned when something is too good to be true online to pass it by.  We tried both of our credit cards to make an order; thankfully our companies flagged the charge and denied them, but it led to one account being closed and waiting for a new account/card to be delivered.  On work days we were up at 6am, weekends (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) we managed a few times to sleep-in till after 8, and once John said ‘no thinking until noon’ when we needed to start making plans for our travel back to Mississippi!

February near Gainesville, Florida was unpredictable, just like everywhere else this year!  We had highs of 52 and 82, lows of 30 and 65.  There were sunny days allowing a bit of sun bathing, foggy mornings, dark clouds with wind and heavy rain, misty foggy nights, and heavy dew mornings.  We found our occasional leak drips around our bathroom ceiling fan moved and are now collecting in the nearby light fixture, meaning John will have to get up on the roof with a caulk gun soon.

In February there were many volunteers and a lot was accomplished.  John and others were able to complete the plumbing connections for bathrooms and kitchen (inside and under) at the old chapel addition, dig to locate the cause flooding in the hotel, repair barn door rollers, help with a cement landing pad for stairs, scrap and caulk more ceiling from the scaffold, repair picnic tables, rejuvenate three kitchen marker boards, and add solar light caps to posts.  Connie and other ladies did a lot of painting – crawl space and ramp trim rails, ceiling and window trim, repainted and added an arrow to an office sign, dorm room interior doors, an assortment of outside chairs including a few rockers and gliders, and finished the girls bath house window trim.  The camp was very appreciative and treated their staff and all of us volunteers to a lunch of grilled steak our last week! 

February was another busy month with our music ministry.  We coordinated two more music jam nights (had two flutes playing duets) with finger food once and a potluck the last time.  John’s birthday included the potluck jam!  We signed up for a 25-minute slot at the local music store open mic night; it was different and a lot of fun listening to other musicians as well.  We led one devotion this month and had a lot of practice time.  We were able to work with another couple allowing them to try guitar, auto harp, and dulcimer; he is blind and wants to learn an instrument.  They had fun and will likely own a dulcimer in the future.  We were very encouraged and, after some printer and ink delays, were able to make up 14 of our ‘Tis a Gift CDs to give to staff and volunteers that wanted to “take us home” with them. 

We are getting older, and that includes being more accident prone along with just plain stupid stuff!  We were both tired and stiff a few times this month.  Two of our SOWER couples backed their trucks into a tree (no, not us and they chose different trees) causing John to get a tree bark sliver under his nail.  John has used his hearing aids all month and they have really helped!  He will see the audiologist with a few questions once we’re back.  Connie slacked off on her morning exercises and finally got started again, it helps but it is so easy to get out of the habit.  She had a few slightly dizzy spells toward the end of the month and didn’t work one day after some tunnel vision turned into a migraine headache – she needs to remember to drink lots of water!  Connie woke one Sunday morning with some pain across the back of her right hand like the tendons were sore.  It got worse overnight, was slightly swollen the next morning, and there was no strength.  How is it that we know what to tell others what to do when they get aches and pains, then neglect to apply it to ourselves?  That evening John asked if she had used ice; that worked and by the end of the next day her hand was working fine.

After almost ten years Connie now considers herself a southern girl.  Although still not comfortable above mid-70’s, sadly she has to put on socks and shoes when it’s in the low-50’s!  She didn’t get much done on our taxes but did finish the 33×33 baby blanket and started a modified pattern dish cloth scrubby.  We had lots of February fellowship including a few camp fires, men’s and ladies Bible studies on Tuesday morning, a Valentine’s Day breakfast, a game night where Connie came in 2nd place twice, star gazing, and attending another Thursday music bingo night to use up our free appetizer coupons before we leave in March.  There were three nearby SOWER couples that brought over ice cream, toured our camp, provided lots of fellowship, and Connie got 4 ant bites.  John was able to practice outside quite a bit, watched the Super Bowl Game with others here at camp, washed the truck (lots of pollen here), and accompanied Connie to our camp beach for some sun rather than driving back to the coast.

It was a great two months in Florida – reuniting with some old friends and making lots of new friends; encouraging others and being encouraged.  The camp has used some great materials and color palates that gave us new ideas to finish up our addition.  We look forward to a visit to a teaching zoo and our drive back home in March to get our own project finished up! 

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”  Hebrews 4:13 New International Version

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
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

  • March 5-8 Traveling, Mississippi home base for a few months
  • May 14-early June – Aiken, SC and Fredericksburg, VA for music and family
  • Future plans include Illinois and Wisconsin; volunteer work, visits to friends and family

The Salt Shaker ~ January 2025

Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Illinois friends doing much better, safety and protection during travels and getting stuck, John’s hearing aids arrived and working much better

Prayers – Renters still needed, continued health and strength for February volunteer work, contractor cancelled due to health problems (prayers for him and us to finish the work), Mississippi friends continued healing and physical therapy,

“Lord, there is no one like you.  You are great, and your name is great and powerful.  Jeremiah 10:6 New Century Version NCV

Hello to our friends, followers, and family:

Before leaving for our volunteer work in Florida there were some chilly mornings!  On January 6 we lost power for about an hour in the morning with a temperature of 24 (feels like 18).  There was snow on the truck and ice on our steps, and it remained cloudy and didn’t get above freezing all day.  We turned up the heater in the addition for an evening swim, came back for a shower finding the gray tank was full and it was still too cold to try to open the valve.  We decided Tuesday evening (7th) that we would leave on Thursday before the snow and ice came, a really good decision because Friday morning brought 6” of snow to our Mississippi home.

We were able to get a few fixes done, photos and instructions for the contractor laid out, and water shut off instructions to our renter/manager (just in case) before leaving.  There were the goodbyes to our church families, prayers for our travels and our volunteer work, and a ‘men only’ farewell breakfast.  We had a couple of shopping trips to pick up John’s new glasses, fill propane tanks, pay property taxes, put our mail on hold, and pay-off our short-term construction loan (good to be debt-free again).  Of course, we had to say goodbye to our swimming (temperature turned down) and hot tub (drained).

On Thursday we were up, packed up, and ready to go at 9am . . . then the electric tonneau cover over the truck wouldn’t open!  Eventually a friend came over and helped John get it partially disassembled and fastened for travel.  Then surprise!  The hitch lock bar wouldn’t go in, finally on the road at 11:30!!  We stopped overnight north of Dothan, AL after dark, missed our spot, circled around and squeezed past a power pole into a pull-through site.  We hooked up the electric, got somewhat leveled, and stayed warm with only our electric heaters.  Travel day 2 brought a few sprinkles before we got the jacks to go in (too much slope error) with no rain the rest of the trip.  We arrived around 3:15 (EST) and got stuck in the sand driveway between two trees!  Not fun, but the camp had a backhoe and operator along with several spotters to get us pulled back, straightened up, then pulled forward until we reached solid ground.  We treated ourselves to a great Italian supper, and Connie was able to wear sandals! 

Salty Strings was busy this month.  There was music for SALT, the dulcimer group practice, and dulcimers at the Natchez Trace visitor center before our travels.  John was able to practice inside and outside once we arrived in Florida, and we found lots of other musicians at the camp as well.  We had a potluck jam one evening with great food and 9 musicians sharing their talents.  Country, folk, 60’s, hymn sing, a new mandolin player, a few original compositions, and most enjoyable, a flute and tuba playing along with many songs.  So much talent and encouragement to each other.

Our volunteer work was with 4 other SOWER couples, 4 RVIC couples, and a COM couple who had our materials ready and coordinated the daily work.  We met the camp director on our first tour and found there was lots of work to be done.  He is a visionary and shared camp history as well as future visions.  The camp hosts a community lunch the third Sunday of the month, to which we were invited, free of charge.  It was great seeing many church people head to camp for their Sunday lunch, and how they appreciate and support this ministry.  There were a few days we lacked direction, mostly weather related, and we were glad we didn’t have to coordinate all the volunteers.

Connie helped arrange siding and bead boards for painting, caulked nail holes, moved and stacked painted boards, walked around the camp picking up branches, prepped and painted the front of the office, painting in the men’s bathroom including cleaning the screens and trim, cleaning the staff dining area, and ended with a few hours in the kitchen.  The ladies were invited to join a weekly Bible study “12 Extraordinary Women” which was uplifting and wonderful to be a part of.  Connie also had our keyboard and played a song or two for most of our morning devotions. 

Most of the work requested by the camp was outside, and the weather did not cooperate!  Our first week was chilly, mostly overcast, a few damp drizzly mornings, but usually reached mid 60’s.  The second week brought the cold wave, nothing like the north had, but COLD for Florida with a few nights below freezing and a high of 34 one day, others in the low 40’s – not good for outside cleaning or painting and Connie had to wear shoes and knee socks!!  Our last week brought more sunshine, still in the 40’s overnight, but usually 60’s by afternoon.

It was a great group of guys that worked in various combinations to get a lot of camp projects completed.  John was involved in running water and sewer pipe for a RV site, tearing off and rebuilding the old chapel front porch, cutting siding for the south peak, clearing the bath house for the ladies, painting trim and bead board, putting up insulation and bead board in the old chapel, and turning into marshmallow man in his Tyvek suit for some tight crawl space plumbing!  His nail gun was used by many, and it was great to see the addition end of the old chapel being transformed before our eyes. 

January was a great month of fellowship; having morning devotions, working alongside others, and several meals together.  We got to go out to eat twice before leaving; once with a church couple, and once with fellow volunteers traveling through from Wisconsin.  A local restaurant has Music Bingo on Thursday nights.  We went the first time they introduced the ‘90’s Rock’ theme – definitely not fun; too loud and didn’t have a clue what they were playing but, the second theme was ‘All Together Now’ which we really enjoyed even though it was getting a bit chilly outside (imagineentertainment.biz).  Only 6 winners per night and of the eight in our group, three came back with winner coupons.  We had fresh baked cookies, delivered warm to our door one afternoon, what a treat.  One of our pot luck meals centered on a wonderfully cooked brisket with great sides, we brought pudding cake with whip cream for the dessert. 

There was lots of walking around the camp, up and down ladders, crawling around with plumbing fixes, and the ½ mile loop around the camp for exercise.  Connie posted January 1-11 on the Journey Church group chat some self-examination questions, that was great sharing with each other and it kept us connected part of the month.  We prepared three devotions and used our folk instruments most of those mornings.  John visited the local music store with a thrift store next door, finally finding a good jacket.  Connie started on our taxes and a new baby blanket (the 11th), stand by for the finish dates on these projects.  We went to Friendship Bible Church our first Sunday and have continued to go there and joined Bible Study the following weeks.  We have great internet here and several TV stations which allowed John to finally catch some football games.  After an afternoon of looking at various displays and models, we ordered a new cover for the truck bed with a two-week delivery.  We spent part of an afternoon getting the old electric cover off and the new cover came within a week of ordering.  January 31 found us cleaning the rail and installing the new cover, easier than expected and we think our gas mileage has improved.

We drove to Gainesville one Friday morning to the La Chua Trailhead where we had an easy walk on board walks and trails through the Alachua Sink (prairie marsh and wetlands).  Lots of herons, cormorants, other birds, and mostly big alligators sunning themselves on the opposite shore.  It was great to be in the sunshine enjoying the fresh air and huge mossy trees.  Another Friday we went thrift store shopping in Keystone Heights, then on to Waldo to a huge flea market where we found some clothes and stained-glass ideas followed by a great lunch at the Classic Café (a lonely date ‘night’).  At our camp site we’ve enjoyed the squirrels right outside our window, one enjoying TV with his evening meal, burying acorns (and digging them up a few days later), we hear sandhill cranes, spotted an eagle soaring overhead, and a huge reddish gold hawk (Red-shouldered hawk?) has landed a few times on a nearby water spigot post.  We had a visit from a big pileated woodpecker before leaving Mississippi. 

Thoughts for the Month: 
Irish theologian Frederick Whitfield said, “God’s way of answering His people’s prayers is not by removing the pressure, but by increasing their strength to bear it.”
Pastor and missions director Bruce Howell reminds us:  that you are not what you used to be, you are not what you ought to be, and you are not what you hope to be, but who you are is according to your reliance upon the grace of God in your life.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

Contact Information:
Mail:  John & Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry
30A Hwy 367
Burnsville, 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

  • January 12-March 6, 2025 – SOWER Project, Melrose, Florida
  • March 7-8 Traveling, Mississippi home base likely for a few months

The Salt Shaker – February 2024

Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Fellowship with fellow workers, music we’ve been able to share

Prayers – Renters – house still not rented and mobile home behind with rent; recording problems and setbacks; John’s knee to hold up for March

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.  Abstain from every form of evil.  1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 English Standard Version

Hello to our followers, friends, and family:

We had a great month of fellowship with 4 SOWER couples on site.  We gathered around the neighbors’ fire pit twice (the last time with a late-rising full moon), and had a real fire complete with brats, beans, chips, and salsa; the chilly evening air usually disbanded the group.  Tuesday night was potluck and games; great food after which John would retreat to the RV while Connie enjoyed games and won the 1.5-hour card game one evening.  There were two prayer circles as two of our couples headed out to other places for March. 

We continued to attend Sunday School and church in Bonifay the first two weeks.  The HVAC person at camp had passed our name out to several area pastors and we received a call from one so we visited Restoration UMC in Cottondale, FL where we enjoyed a great message and wonderful piano playing at this very small new/old church.  This old church was vacant for several years and it reopened in January 2023 with a beautiful restored sanctuary, ongoing upgrades planned, and a recovery ministry.  We were invited back the following week for the offertory and special music, and stayed for the potluck following.  It was nice to be a part of a more traditional service with an emphasis on Lent and congregation readings. 

We are thankful to have had only one tornado watch this month and it was in daylight.  We’ve had the gas furnace on for some chilly nights and the air conditioners for some upper 70’s sunny days, definitely spring.  Each night brings the official weather check to know how to set the thermostats and auxiliary heaters!  Many beautiful sunny and breezy days, a few cloudy and rainy days, and a couple of really windy days.  We continue to enjoy the pets of others, having 3 dogs in campers this month along with the manager’s cat and SOWER Maine coon cat. 

John made time on several occasions to practice with his new amp, looping and recording a track to play along with.  His rhythm has improved a lot and he is able to add some really great sounding runs and embellishments.  His birthday brought a Walmart online order and he chilled that night with 2 hours of The Three Stooges followed by Svengoolie (typically an old black and white monster movie) while Connie retreated to the bedroom. He received a gift a bit early in the mail and enjoyed wearing his new hat and the mug, full of coffee. Superbowl Sunday is also in February and John drove to church for their party, enjoying the chili supper and game with snacks.  He came home early though, there was no interaction with others from the church and the chairs were too hard, but he did see the end of the game here at home. 

February has been pretty good with our health; no major issues although changing weather made us aware of some achy joints.  By mid-month John had to use his knee brace more and that is causing some rash where it rubs against his skin.  While working on the phones Connie had some vision problems (she calls it swirly eye sparkles).  It doesn’t hurt at first, she just can’t see, but within a few hours a migraine-type headache sets in that is very painful.  Bright light seems to be the trigger and computer/phone screens can be obnoxious that way at times.  We did manage to take a 25-minute bike ride including a few hills one day; it felt really good until the stiff muscles came the next day!

Connie went a bit extra in our kitchen this month making homemade noodles, split pea soup with jalapeno cornbread, another batch of sausage balls, and some Spanish rice (a bit too spicy for her).  We had a request for some CD’s to be sent to Wisconsin requiring us to get a new CD burner – she got that connected and made more ‘Tis A Gift recordings so we have a few on hand.  We now have to figure out how to get the track names to show up rather than the track numbers; guess all our CD’s have had this quirk.  There was more tax preparation with lots more to do in March, our goal for filing rather than the last minute which is typical for us.  Our new phones are now both updated and some quirks worked out; however, all the effort only slightly improved our weak reception.  John’s new phone does allow WiFi calling, that is a big help

Connie had another month of lots of painting, which she enjoys.  The dining room touch-up was finished along with an annex room.  Our other SOWER ladies focused on 17 doors (3 coats each side) while Connie did the added supports in the dorm stalls.  In addition, there were several doors to be sanded and some cleaning for groups coming in. 

John was in charge of the group this month, answering questions, giving direction, and assigning the volunteer work.  The push was to complete doors for toilet and shower stalls in 2 dorm bathrooms – 18 doors were custom made (very few were the same size), sanded, painted (with the ladies’ help) and put up complete with hinges and latches.  Another 12 were made to continue the process in March. There were 2 window replacements and John observed and helped with mini-split HVAC unit installs, doing some others after learning the process.  In addition, there were thermostat covers to install, 3 mattresses were replaced, and the exterior mini-split units were secured to the concrete with tap cons (including a trip to town to get more cement bits). The final day, as usual, is putting your personal tools away along with camp equipment and cleaning up. 

We found a parking spot right next door for our musician friend Larry Stevens to stay a couple of nights.  He arrived in time to enjoy one of our potluck nights, visited nursing homes the next day, enjoyed Connie’s homemade pancakes for supper, and left the following morning (with leftover ‘toaster’ pancakes) after sharing his ministry with our group for morning devotion.  He did a little interview with us before leaving, to be edited and published with his ministry updates.

We enjoyed our “first Saturday” every Friday (our work week ends on Thursday) by doing a bit of shopping, always at least 20 minutes away.  This seems to be an opportunity for us to have some good conversations for our future hopes and dreams as we drive and sometimes have lunch out. We stopped at “Amazing Grace Thrift Store” on one of our trips and John found a nice pale pink top for Connie. Weekends usually include a couple of movie times and we enjoyed “His Only Son” one afternoon, a great production centered on Abraham and Isaac.  There were several days where we heard and eventually saw Blackhawk and other helicopters overhead (and a few nights as well).  There is a small tuft of some sort of broom grass that has become our weather vane – we can tell the wind speed and direction from watching it out our dining table window.  We have our binoculars on the table to bird watch the numerous cardinals and an oriole one day.  There was an interesting buzzard walking around one afternoon, acting a bit slow or drunk; we concluded it was likely an adolescent getting a feel for flying, it took opening our door and starting towards it before it finally flew off.  Spring and rain are here, evidenced by our first amphibious friend found outside in a folded up chair. 

Thank you for your prayers – Salty Strings has been very active this month!!  The first Saturday we were asked in the morning to share a few songs after lunch for the camp board of directors work day.  Then came a concert for a small Assembly of God Church in Westville, FL after their Community Spaghetti Dinner and our fellow SOWERs came along.  We shared some songs and a bit of our lives with those attending (children had game time outside) and we had a great time.  Valentine’s Day, after a great steak and shrimp meal, we shared songs again with 7 couples, one celebrating their 53’rd wedding anniversary.  We skipped a week and ended the month with a special song and offertory music at Restoration UMC, about 30 minutes away.  We finally got out our “sound proofing” material and set up our music room for recording, starting with refreshing our editing skills for some good tracks – more on that next month. 

Looking back, we had a lot of meals “out.”  There was a chili lunch with another couple at the local Christian coffee shop (Fresh Grounds), Mexican lunch with 8 after church and 12 at the end of this project (Cancun’s), Valentine’s Dinner for 14 at the camp fixed by the guys for their sweethearts, finally a Chinese lunch with leftovers after church, all the potlucks, plus a few lunches on our own. Life is certainly good and blessed!

“A Texas pastor once said that worry is like sitting in a rocking chair – you can get it moving but it isn’t going anywhere!” And, our second thought for the month: “A detour is someplace where discoveries are made that you would not have seen any other way.”

Commit your works to the Lord {submit and trust them to Him}, and your plans will succeed {if you respond to His will and guidance}.  Proverbs 16:3 Amplified Bible

Thanks for traveling with us!
We so appreciate your prayers and notes of encouragement!!

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

  • March 5-27 – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL
  • March 28-July 31 – Travel to property, Jacinto, Mississippi; travels IL, WI, SD
  • August 1-26 – SOWER Project, East Troy, WI and family visits
  • August 27-September ?? – Clinton, IL – Little Galilee

The Salt Shaker – January 2024

Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Finishing the rental house; safe travel; volunteer work at a Christian camp with SOWERs again; property good through the cold and ice; John’s knee and back are better and holding up well.

Prayers – Good renters for the house; continued exercise and health; sharing music; recording and getting songs on web site.

Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Put My yoke upon your shoulders – it might appear heavy at first, but it is perfectly fitted to your curves.  Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.  When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest.  For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30  The Voice

Hello to our followers, friends, and family:

January started with a whirlwind of activity to finish up the rental house.  Lots of trips to the shed and our lower-level multi-purpose room to clear out the house, porches, and car port.  We had our mission student back for vacuuming, more Old English, and a few window cleanings.  Finishing touches included hanging the master bedroom door with a new lock, trimming the shower curtain, electric outlet repairs, cover plates, some shelf paper, a bit more paint touch up, and scrubbing the dining room floor paint specs from spraying the ceiling.  

January 4 we were getting back into travel mode – pack truck, check trailer/truck tires, disconnect water/sewer and signal booster, and winterize the outside RV water lines.  Connie had lots of laundry to do as well as getting things ready to travel inside.  We left at 9 am Friday, a bit later than planned, and had an uneventful trip.  We didn’t plan our travel stops very well and we do need to get a check list (we forgot to “lock” our refrigerator).  We arrived about 5pm to a dinging “refrigerator door open” sound and found a few small things on the floor, 2.5 smushed tomatoes, and the milk was still good!  Setup went smooth and we beat the rain as we headed into town for a perfectly cooked T-bone steak and pork chop celebration meal.  We missed our turn on the way back in the dark and rain, ending up on a packed sand road for about half a mile back to the highway to the camp, very thankful to be on a volunteer project again. 

We have lots of ladybugs or Asian beetles driving us crazy trying to keep them vacuumed up, flushed, or flicked outside.  There were at least 4 pair of cardinals hopping around the truck and some glimpses of yellow and blue our first Sunday.  John has been able to sit outside with different instruments (and coffee, of course) as well as spending several hours ‘learning’ how his new amp works and making his fingers sore.  Connie was told of two great movies over the summer and we finally watched them – Nefarious and The Sound of Freedom.  John replaced our CO2/Propane alarm in the RV, making several trips to the dining hall where his tools were.  We’re still running out of energy quickly, but that is getting better as we relax and rest a bit this month. 

Before starting our volunteer work, we toured this 100-year-old camp and its many buildings; there are plenty of things to do!  Painting was at the top of the list, finishing the dining room walls, the whole kitchen, three wood serving line carts (two coats), trim, and crown molding.  All these painted items needed to be cleared, cleaned, scraped, and sanded in some areas before painting.  The kitchen was challenging with the cabinets and drawers and getting around the vent hood and various pipes but we made it in our 4-day time window.  The guys built a new frame and replaced a window as we started, and finished priming our next paint area before the end of our January work.  We love being back on a volunteer project, each morning starts with a devotion giving us a chance to share what God is doing in our lives and ministry, and we are encouraged by others as they share their life stories. 

Before leaving Mississippi we had a meal with our realtor and her husband; our first Sunday in Florida we ate at Pizza Hut getting to know the couple we would be working with this month.  The camp has invited us for meals when guests were here – 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, and several supper meals – some with a high school volunteer group and a few with members of the board on work days.  A favorite spot is a Mexican grill where we had our celebration meal and our end of project meal with our fellow volunteer couple and the camp director and his wife.  We also really enjoyed our neighbor’s propane campfire a couple of evenings, staying until it got too cold to be outside. 

It seems our bad weather streak is back; we were again heading to the shelter (dining hall) for tornado warnings a few days after our arrival.  The first front went through, then we were at the shelter at 5:30 am for several hours as multiple storms passed through the area with no damage here, praise the Lord!  There were several power outages and radar checks throughout that night and we learned that rising temperatures especially during the night with rain usually means severe weather is coming.  Winds here can come from any direction and change throughout the day, a bit different from the Midwest.  Being January in the Florida panhandle the weather was on the cool side.  There were a few nights below freezing when we turned our water off and we did run out of propane around 2 am one morning.  There were a few damp days with highs in the low 40’s, many nights in the mid 30’s, we used our gas furnace lots of nights, and then those perfect upper 40’s nights and sunny high mid 60’s days.  One morning we needed a window scraper for the frost on the truck, and one day we needed the air conditioner in the trailer – welcome to January in the Florida panhandle!

When not painting, John helped with setting up the dining area for weekend guests, putting lots of chairs and tables into a storage area, cleaning the stainless-steel counter edging in the kitchen, creating a paint brush extension pole to get around the pipes and vent hood, taking down some very high shelves (and putting them back up again), caulking around new window replacements, rebuilding a window sill, and spent an afternoon walking around the camp opening faucets to drip for a couple of freezing nights. 

We have been able to get some internet reception in our RV, a bit from the camp signal and from our generous neighbors, but decided to check into a permanent solution since we spend much of our time in rural areas.  After days and hours researching options, we decided to switch one phone carrier, never as easy as they make it sound!  We made the switch on January 27, John keeping his old phone; the signal didn’t improve and we found he can’t call out with WiFi calling (not compatible with the old phone).  About the same time Connie upgraded to a new phone and is still in the process of making sure nothing has been lost in the transfer.  Her phone does get a bit better reception so we’re waiting to upgrade John’s phone until her transition is complete.  Through it all (like 3 years ago) we have been reminded to not believe all of what the sales people tell you, it certainly isn’t a seamless switch and their ‘hidden’ fees get you as well.

Salty Strings had the pleasure of sharing some music for a great Anniversary steak and shrimp supper (with baked potatoes, mushrooms and onions, salad, stir fry veggies, and pudding cake).  It was our fellow SOWER’s anniversary, and the camp tries to get everyone together once a month; perfect timing and we gained another guitarist.

We attended First Baptist Bonifay our first Sunday, really enjoying their great choir and instruments, and an excellent sermon (if you say ‘yes’ to God you are saying ‘no’ to the world).  Our second Sunday we stayed at the camp enjoying worship and a message with a high school group.  The last two Sundays we plugged into an adult interactive Sunday School class before the second service at First Baptist. 

There were back-to-back shopping trips at the end of the month.  The first trip was slightly over an hour to Panama City where we hoped to go to the beach but the weather didn’t cooperate.  John found his guitar amp at a pawn shop, then we proceeded with a very relaxed day of thrift stores (clothes and shoes), McDonald’s lunch, a shared branch credit union for some cash, and groceries at the Aldi’s closest to us.  The next morning we headed to Defuniak Springs, about 45 minutes away, and hoped to walk a bit downtown around the lake.  About halfway through our stops it started pouring rain.  We did get new phone service after a visit to our current carrier, stopped in a Tractor Supply for the restroom and saw the rescue dogs mingling about (with their sponsors of course), a stop at a music store for a guitar cord, and Walmart before heading back.  We made a couple trips to Chipley, our nearest Walmart, and found a little Christian coffee house in Bonifay, going back for a great chili lunch special the next week.

Connie had only 2 days of cleaning:  a large 2-story dorm (showers, sweep rooms and halls, and vacuum rugs in the common areas), the Welcome Center (move furniture, sweep floors, and clean rest rooms), and two motel-like room (tub/showers) – not bad for not liking to clean!  She did learn there are many ways to arrange a bunk bed and a full-size bed in a small dorm room.  The kitchen painting included removing hardware, trimming and painting two coats on cabinet doors and drawers, and getting the hardware back on. 

Aside from the usual bills and laundry, Connie finally backed up our laptop (over 2 hours), put up some of our knick-knacks we haven’t seen in a while, and got some paperwork organized and filed.  She has added to her food specialties:  an excellent homemade alfredo sauce (using up leftovers), improving her chocolate pudding cake recipe, and the usual homemade mayonnaise, Wassel, yogurt, and cornmeal sausage balls (although she forgot the cheese this time).  There have been many hours downloading tax forms and instructions with the rental property and expenses; some of it is coming back from 2007 when we had a previous house rented.  She actually took some time to sit outside in the sun and start reading a book for enjoyment!

We didn’t realize how tired and worn out we were from our Mississippi remodeling, but after a week or two we’ve started taking a few walks around the camp and to the trash.  John got our bikes ready and we made our first bike ride in several months – 10 whole minutes and we were both winded and chilly riding into the wind.  It is hard getting back into the exercise routines but we feel better when we do.

Thoughts from the month:
**Jesus – a different kind of king with a different kind of kingdom.  Instead of taking from people, He gave great blessings to people.  Instead of gathering a following to control, He gathered a following to set them free.  He didn’t rule to take the lives of others, He came to give up His life to rescue people.  (Devotion)
**“Humility is not thinking less about yourself but thinking about yourself less.”  C. S. Lewis

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. . . “Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”  The Lord of hosts is with us . .  Psalm 46:1-3, 10-11a  English Standard Version

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

Our Mississippi greenery when we left.

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

  • February-March 27 – SOWER Project, Bonifay, FL
  • March 28-July 31 – Travel to property, Jacinto, Mississippi; travels IL, WI, SD
  • August 1-26 – SOWER Project, East Troy, WI and family
  • August 27-September ?? – Clinton, IL – Little Galilee