By Susan Shanklin Daniel Boone and Lewis and Clark come to mind. Adventurers and explorers. Maybe Moses and Caleb. Tom and Susan spied the northern Minnesota landscape and staked a claim in Scandia, Minnesota! We loaded up our wagons and headed north. Everything is intact, and we have settled into our project-laden 1910 Craftsman bungalow. Everything begins with prayer if … Read more>>>
We have a friend who was in critical condition with Covid-19. He had one leg in heaven. He needed more high tech care and had to be airlifted to a larger hospital and was put on a ventilator. He was close to death. The body of Christ rose up with fervent prayers and lifted him up before the throne for … Read more>>>
I don’t know if you are like me, but I have a hard time with wobbly wheels on store carts. I am trying to be nice, but to tell the truth, I dislike with a passion carts with wobbly wheels! It is so annoying. So distracting. It’s usually just one wheel, right? It wobbles and vibrates the cart, or … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin It was July 4th, and I was in a funk. Why? It’s Independence Day! Fireworks, parades, and more, but I just wasn’t too happy and Tom knew that. We discussed going to the fireworks in town. “What time do they start, and where do we go?” I say. Tom responds, “At 10 p.m. on the bridge.” I … Read more>>>
Yesterday, Tom and I celebrated (or lived through) our 51st wedding anniversary. We went fishing off a dock at a nearby lake. We caught two bullheads, one sunny, and one “sushi” perch. Basically, we drowned worms to celebrate. Oh, we could have dined somewhere fancy, I guess, but that’s really not my style. Tom says, “Anything the Queen wants.” Now, isn’t … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin I was mopping my floor a couple of days ago in the kitchen. Swish swish in and out of the table legs, and this thought came to mind about words. Words are so powerful! Words create mood, attitudes, pain, joy. You name it. Words are a force for good and bad. Words come out of our … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin Tom and I just finished a home improvement project that only took us 112 years and some 8-day weeks! What? Well, that’s how it felt. Years of thought and weeks of work and still some details need to be finished … but you get my drift. We bought this charming 1880s brick farmhouse 16 years ago, and … Read more>>>
I’m reading a wonderful book about a country vet in England in the early 1900s. The book has such descriptive details of the land and animals written in the first person. It relaxes my mind and calms the storms around me. It all right to read something lighthearted and dreamy, you know. We get our bowels in such an uproar … Read more>>>
As I write this, it’s only December 16, 2020, just a spit over two weeks to the new year. Yahoooooo. I always ask my little grandkids how they feel the day or week after their birthdays. For example, Athena, who just turned 6: “So Athena, do you feel any different than when you were 5?” I ask. She looks a … Read more>>>
Hello: With great anticipation, I was excited for October 9th to come! No, it wasn’t just that my oldest grandson was turning 17, but it was the day I was to have surgery on two hammertoes on my right foot. What! Who would look forward to such a thing? Me! For years, I have had this problem that became more … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin Where did the summer go??? Our maples are turning the most beautiful reds, yellows, and oranges. The sumac leaves are dancing the most tribal sway and twirl to the playful wind. The many apple trees are swollen with fruit feasted on by birds and bugs. The wood guy lovingly dumped a massive pile of wonderful oak to … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin It’s already 9:32 in the morning, and I haven’t been out in the garden yet! I’m biding my time, seeing that the rain gauge was totally full yesterday after torrential rains. I did a walk by later in the afternoon yesterday to make sure the corn was still standing and the tomatoes upright. Everything looks good, and … Read more>>>
Join Susan Shanklin as she shares treasures from her garden. Sometimes there are treasures, both in the garden and in people, which require a little digging. Enjoy!
Read more>>>By Susan Shanklin I would like to tell you a story. A true story. A story so amazing and almost unbelievable … BUT true. I’m a sentimental person. I’m emotional and nostalgic. I’m a romantic at heart. I enjoy simple things, and usually inexpensive things. On special occasions like anniversaries, Tom and I will go on a little outing to … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin How are you doing? That’s usually the first thing people seem to say to you via a text, email, or phone call, right? No handshakes, hugs, or kisses. Standing six feet away. Sometimes wearing a facemask. Shopping online or sending packages to grandchildren. So I ask you, How are you doing? Oh, you are asking me, how … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin Just days and hours before departing for the spiritually hungry and scenic hills and plains of Central Europe, snowstorms hit Minnesota, and wind storms blew into Europe. This mission trip suddenly became daring and more challenging. Our flights were questionable. At first, they said we could be diverted to Rome. What?! All my expectations for this trip … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin You know life is not rocket science, so it boggles my mind why we (and I) make it so difficult? I haven’t read Tom’s article for this newsletter yet, which is a good thing. I don’t want it to throw me off my game, so to speak. I have a thought going through my brain, and I’m … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin I’m writing this before Thanksgiving, but as you are reading it, you are looking ahead to Christmas. I have it all planned, and the menu all printed out and MOST of the fixings in-house. I’ll have to remember to buy a turkey, though. Main thing, right? I’ll buy it Monday to start to brine. But since Thanksgiving … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin I received instructions before Tom left for a trip to the upper great north country. “I would like you to do something while I’m gone,” he says. I wasn’t quite sure what he was going to say, but I replied, “Yes?” “Could you get your article done for the newsletter?” “I’m working on it in my head,” … Read more>>>
By Susan Shanklin We have lived in this old 1880s brick farmhouse now for 15 years. Pretty remarkable seeing we usually do not stay in one place very long. It’s usually fix up, sell, and move on, but here we have stayed—even though it seems overwhelming at times with repairs, grounds, and maintenance. Tom does the repairs and maintenance, and … Read more>>>
