Susan: The Wobbly Wheels of Life
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 … Read more>>>
Category Archives: By Susan Shanklin
Susan: A Happy 4th of July
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 … Read more>>>
Susan: 51 Years of Marital Bliss
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 … Read more>>>
Susan Says: Hooray for Good Words!
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 … Read more>>>
Cozy Country Cottage Chaos
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 … Read more>>>
Susan Says Life Isn’t Always Purrfect!
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 … Read more>>>
Susan: Looking for a Better Year!
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 … Read more>>>
Susan: A Trip to the Burrito Factory
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. … Read more>>>
I’m Ready for a New Season
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 … Read more>>>
Susan Shanklin: Pitcher Perfect
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 … Read more>>>
Susan’s Garden: People are Like Potatoes [Video]
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>>>Finding a Needle in a 3-acre Haystack
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 … Read more>>>
Susan asks, “How are You Doing?”
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 … Read more>>>
Susan’s Report: Taking Europe by Storm … Literally!
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 … Read more>>>
Decisions, Decisions
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 … Read more>>>
We Care and He Cares!
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 … Read more>>>
Praying for a Cat: Everything is Purrfect!
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, … Read more>>>
Susan & Jesus Painting Company
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 … Read more>>>
Home Home on the Range
By Susan Shanklin You complain about winter and, bam, summer comes, and you start looking forward to fall and harvest. I tell you, we humans are never satisfied with whatever state (or season) we are in! It’s strawberry season here … Read more>>>
Susan’s UK Report: Licking Hedges and Stone Walls
By Susan Shanklin Have you ever felt like you were caught up in a whirlwind and your feet landed somewhere else? Well, that’s how the trip to the United Kingdom was! I went from catching my breath after returning from … Read more>>>