Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you on this last weekend of March 2025. The weather continues to amaze us. We are getting rain and temps in the 40s today and they are talking about snow showers tomorrow.... and yesterday? It was 83° here and very windy. Speaking of wind  I do enjoy the sounds of it. Right now the trees are without leaves, but when our favorite maple tree is dressed for summer it has its own conversation to share with us on windy days. I will miss that maple tree when we move. 

Speaking of moving, that journey continues to be up and down and backwards and forwards.This  past week we accepted an offer on our house after negotiations.   This week we also discovered our radon mitigation system was not working correctly. The county came to check it out for the buyers and there was twice as much radon is as is safe. That stinks and I have put that question about exposure to the radon to the side. It is what it is. So now we need to have people come next week and put in a new system. And then move forward again. Our inspection on the other house went well and we are gathering a few notes on what needs to be done.  It is always costly to move.

Joel spent his spare time this week working on those TV trays. He is making them from scratch so it takes a while to get 12 done! Once again he repeated himself by hurting a finger. A month ago or so it was a saw that caught the end of his finger and nail. Yesterday it was a drill that went into the tip of his finger. So far he's hanging on to every digit, thank goodness

Besides church activities we have found ourselves mostly dealing with the in's and out's of buying and selling a home. My energy was low this week so I did just a little baking and cooking and cleaning saving it for my 25 minutes of walking. As usual Joel has enough energy for two of us!

So today I'm grateful for the amazing energy my husband has. Grateful for the offer on our home . Grateful for a solution to the radon mitigation, grateful that the inspection on our new home went well. Grateful for fellowship, for laughter, and even for tears. God created them all. Grateful for a warm day with wind and the familiar sounds it brings. Grateful for phone calls, for texts, for photos, for emails and in person hugs. Grateful for all this and so much more. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of Iowa where once again we went through a blizzard this week before the warm temperatures returned and melted most of the 4 in of snow that we received. It seems to be a pattern for March! The other night Joel looked out and there were seven or eight deer that were resting in the neighbor's yard....an unusual occurrence. Just like when we looked out the kitchen window with 4 inches of snow on the ground and blizzard conditions and watched our resident duck couple waddling across the yard. This past week Joel rode his bike 10 miles on one day and then was using the snow blower two days later! Again,  as I said before it's an unpredictable weather climate this year! Not unlike life.       

Speaking of life, I celebrated my 77th birthday on Thursday and I'm so grateful to be here to celebrate it. There was a time in my life where I was so ill that Joel wasn't sure that I would make it to 60. And that was before cancer came visiting. Lyme disease was destroying my body. But I'm 77, still here, still able to enjoy life. I will say 77 seems awfully close to 80! On Tuesday we went birthday shopping.  I celebrated my birthday Thursday with a few phone calls, Culver's chicken cashew salad, and a beautiful flower arrangement. Yesterday my sister Kay and her husband Danny came for a visit. It was nice to catch up with them since they returned from snowbirding. I managed to walk 25 minutes most days this week . And I managed to clean a couple bathrooms, and dusted again. Keeping the house ready for potential buyers can be tiring but right now we aren't having many potential buyers! And you know right now that's okay! God has this!

Joel did some woodworking., and also road his bike 10 miles one day when it was so nice. He is off to Gabby Grandpa's this morning. He has also been working on office stuff. Looking back at birthdays I remember when I was trying to lose some weight when I turned 30 so that day he gave me a cake made up of cut up fruit shaped in the number 30. It was such a nice idea but some of my family stopped over and they brought a nice big chocolate cake! He is always trying to find me new treats that are gluten free and not much sugar if any! He's such a good guy I think I'll keep him! By the way, for my 30th birthday, just to be funny, he bought me a cane! I confess there's been one or two times when my back went out over the years where I have used that cane!

So today I am thankful for memories that bring up that 3-0 fruit "cake"and a cane! I'm grateful that I'm celebrating 77 now and that the cane has come in handy once in awhile! Grateful for Culver's salad, phone calls, so many birthday wishes on Facebook,  flowers, a gift card, and birthday shopping, and more. Grateful for the 4 in. of snow that already melted and it nourising the ground. Grateful for a family visit. Grateful for Joel and all he does to encourage and support me. Grateful for texts, phone calls, emails, cards and the love of family and friends. Grateful for all this and so much more. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you on this Sunday morning here in North Iowa. The sun is shining, all the snow is gone and the storms have passed. The high today is 44 and tomorrow close to 70 again! Every day is different. Joel and our son Matt observed that there were a lot of birds in the backyard yesterday. A male and female cardinal were joined by joncos and Joel said he saw that the robins were back too. Not too long ago there were six deer resting in the neighbor's yard. All laying down which is unusual. Spring is here or at least it is attempting to make its way in to stay. 

Speaking of our son Matt,  he and one of his daughters were here yesterday. We had a nice visit, ate pizza, played Scrabble, and watched Lutheran Church of Hope together before they each headed to their perspective homes. Our visiting granddog Charlie went back home with Matt. We certainly miss her but know that she was happy to see them! 

Speaking of Scrabble I had not played since 2023 after I lost my eye. I don't see like I used to so it was a bit more challenging and my brain seemed to need to clear the cobwebs out or at least that's my excuse for coming in last! Our granddaughter took the game in the last seconds from her dad! I think we need to pull that Scrabble game out again more often. I have been avoiding games and puzzles where I need help and seeing things but maybe that's okay.... to need help I mean. Don't we all need help at times? Don't we all need support and encouragement? 

The showings on the house are going slow which is really to be expected with the turmoil that our country is in and the unpredictability of the future. We really do feel at peace regarding whether the house sells or not. Joel has surrendered the outcome to God and I'm right behind him. If it sells it sells and if it doesn't that wasn't our door to walk through! Not at this time!

Besides his usual activities,  Joel spent a few days with woodworking tools in his hands sanding and smoothing and gluing the wooden TV trays he's making for all the grandchildren. I did more baking.... cookies and bread. Still walking although sometimes hobbling,  i get my 20 minutes to 25 minutes in.... we have cleaned a few closets and sorted some clothes. It's good to do that periodically whether you're thinking of moving or not! I just finished another Father Tim book and we finished the first season of Ted Danson show, A Man on the Inside. We also watch a show called, The Repair Shop that we get through Prime video and a show called Still Standing which takes place in Canada. Another show is called Handcrafted in America,  and that's a good one too! It's hard to find good TV shows to decompress with. 

I best get on with Sunday's business..... Listening to church, putting a pork roast in the oven, and getting my walking in .....so today I am more than grateful that we had our son and a granddaughter come visit for a day. Grateful  they wanted to stay and worship with us. Grateful for a game of Scrabble. Grateful for homemade bread and cookies that make your house smell good. Grateful for the Irish soda bread that Matt brought . Grateful for an appointment for my laser surgery even if it is months away. Grateful for the home we have. Grateful for the 3 weeks we had with our granddog Charlie. Grateful for all the snow and rain we had and that they're both gone now! Grateful for the birds coming back letting us know that spring is on its way to stay. Grateful for in person hugs and visits, for all the text messages, the pictures that come across our phone, and the emails and phone calls. Grateful for all this and so much more on this beautiful Sunday morning! Enjoy the day!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you on this windy March day in Northern Iowa where the weather continues to act like a roller coaster. Last Wednesday we woke up to a blizzard and yesterday a lot of that snow was already gone because temperatures were rising.. We are supposed to get a high of 65 on Monday?! The only animal we've seen out and about has been Charlie when Joel takes her outside to do her business. The Blizzard didn't seem to bother her at all.

 Speaking of blizzards it has been a lot like our life the last couple weeks. I shared on Facebook earlier than our neighbor moved from her two bedroom ranch style home.  Joel went over and talked to her family and ended up looking at the house. Then he brought me over to look at the house and we went back and looked at it a third time. Joel has been over a couple more times checking it out. Long story short we contacted a realtor and our house is on the market! We have an accepted offer on the ranch with a contingency if this one sells. Basically this is a very nice house but it has a lot of stairs and they have become a bit more challenging. This option seems the best for us, being able to stay in the neighborhood with Joe's bike trail right out the door. But only God knows what's best and we are praying that if this is not the door for us to walk through it will not open!

 Speaking of houses, it's a lot of work to move it's a lot of work to show your house and it's a lot of work to purge and organize. One of our daughters says we're already so organized that it doesn't need much to be open to people looking at it. That's good to know. Speaking of what's good to know, most of the time I feel at peace  with whatever the outcome of this adventure is. If the house sells okay. If it doesn't sell okay. Getting the house ready and hearing other people's comments about it has made me appreciate it more! One showing was done through FaceTime. It's a whole different world now! 

Thinking about moving has me going back to remember a few of our 23 moves over the years.  As an officer, the military packed us up and moved us.  As a pastor we often used U-Hauls to drive across  country.  One move to Montana in 1980 had someone from one of the three churhes Joel served coming with a cattle semi.....there was actually still some straw in the truck where we put our furniture.  That was a fun move!  When we moved from Illinois to New Mexico in the Air Force as an Airman, we took what fit in our 1960 Ford....with me pregnant and throwing up in a garbage bag all the way there.  This move would be across the street.  Moving was always a new adventure that we mostly enjoyed but having lived in this house 20 years and both of us creeping up on 80? Adventure is not quite the word I would use.  

Our oldest celebrated a birthday this week! Happy birthday B...... and and a dear friend celebrated her birthday too! Every year we get to celebrate is definitely a gift! Happy birthday Lana.

 Joel has not been working in the workshop because he'd have to get everything out and put it all away if someone wanted to see the house. He's been in his office taking care of taxes. I have been walking as much as I can with a complaining hip. The house has smelled like homemade bread homemade soup and cookies this week . My 6 months of check up at the dermatologist was all good. Love that! The chiropractor is helping my hip. Love that! We've been watching a new show with Ted Danson on Netflix. A Man on the Inside . It makes us laugh! Love that!

And speaking of love it's time to say what we're grateful for this week. We're grateful for the snow we had because we needed the moisture. Grateful for a warm house during the blizzard. Grateful for the sunshine that his melted almost all the snow already. Grateful for Charlie who has been a great distraction for the grandparents. Grateful for a good report at Dermatology. Grateful for homemade soup homemade cookies and homemade bread. Grateful for the memories of all the moves we've made over the years. Grateful for our future here or across the street! Grateful for all the phone calls, the texts, the emails, and the photos that are sent our way to stay in touch. Grateful for all this and so much more. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Scribbles

 

Another good Saturday morning to you from our corner of the world in the Upper Midwest where snow is plentiful. This last week we had some bitterly cold temperatures with wind chills close to 40 below but now we are heading to 40 above in the coming days! Definitely a roller coaster ride. We haven't seen much wildlife but I expect that the deer are sticking close to the woods or coming out at night when we don't see them. 

Speaking of wildlife, a couple days ago I heard a story about how cows and bison respond in a storm. Of course it's an analogy for how we deal with life. When there's a storm coming cows turn their back to it and they also try to outrun it.   Bison, on the other hand, run towards the storm.... they face it head on and move through it faster. It's a little like life I think..... no, it's a lot like life! There are times we run like heck to try to out distance the storms in our lives and then there are times where we stand firm turn around and face the storm where we are or by moving forward to get through it quicker. Sometimes I'm a cow sometimes I'm a bison.  The vision challenges for my future can have me trying to outrun the storm even though I know it will need to be faced eventually.  With this challenge I need to turn around and face the storm but...I don't like what I'm seeing. Figuratively and literally ! It's a good time to remember that no matter what lies ahead we are not alone. Jesus gives us examples in the BIble on how to deal with storms! And we certainly all are faced with them.

Moving on, Joel worked on the wooden TV trays that he's building this week and he got the whole house vacuumed. He had the snow blower going and took care of the several inches of snow that we got. I did some baking, cleaning and walked every day.  We just finished the Northern Exposure series and are watching quite a few episodes of a show called The Repair Shop on Prime and I believe Acorn but it could be Britbox.  Joel has been reading a book on faith by Jimmy Carter and I'm listening to the 5th Father Tim book in that series by Jan Karon. It's February in Iowa and there's not a whole lot going on for these retired over the hill people. Well that's really not true... behind the scenes there is plenty going on but not much to talk about. 

For today I'm grateful for the slow pace of February. Grateful for the snow that is much needed for the moisture. Grateful for the story of the Cows versus the Bisons. Grateful for friends and family and phone calls and texts and emails that feel our days. Grateful our kids are doing so well in their own lives in their own corners of the world. Even though we miss them greatly they're doing what they're called to do. Yeah grateful for the wisdom of friends, and mentors, plus the little phrases that God sends our way that resonate and you just know they're from him! Grateful for all this and so much more. 

Enjoy your weekend

Saturday's Scribbles

 

Good Saturday to you from our corner of North Iowa where winter snow has arrived! We've got several inches on the ground and we're getting more this afternoon. Joel has been outside bblowing snow off the driveway and the sidewalks. I forgotten how much the white is bright!

 Last Sunday Joel preached at two churches south of Mason City. He said goodbye to St Peter Lutheran and will do two more Sundays at St Paul's. And then we'll see what life brings our way! On Monday we headed to the post office to take care of getting our passports. Oir original passports were from 1974 when we were in the military heading to the Philippine Islands . We used them when we went to Taiwan while living in the P.I.,too.  We actually have not traveled out of country since we left the Philippines in 1976 , so we decided maybe we should get our passports just in case. You can always hope and dream right,?! After going to the post office for our official passport appointments,  we headed to the local library for the Second Adventure of our monthly  scavenger hunt that our oldest and her family gave us for Christmas. This time we were to go to the author autograph section and find our favorite one and take a picture of it to send them. We decided on George Elliott who's actual name was Mary Evans. The story goes that her dad thought she was too unattractive to ever get a husband so he had her educated instead and her education helped her become an author.... she wrote seven novels.

Tuesday we headed to the grocery store in the bitterly cold weather I think it was nine below if I'm recalling correctly? Wednesday it was cold and snowing enough that most churches canceled their Wednesday evening activities. Joel went to a conference pastors synod assembly meeting on Thursday and on Friday we celebrated Valentine's Day with Culver's salads and a movie starring Harry Connick Jr titled, "Find Me Falling"  It was a light romance and pretty good. 

Our neighbor June had to move across town into an apartment. She's 96 years old and we will certainly miss her. Until 2 or 3 years ago she was mowing her own yard twice a week and doing all the yard work outside, even carrying gravel in a wheelbarrow.  She absolutely loves to be outside. I used to watch her from the porch and think if I could have just half the energy she has! She was strong she was agile and she lived alone for a very long time. An example for us all. Hope and pray she enjoys her new home.

 Tomorrow our son Mark will turn 50! Hard to believe the years have gone by so quickly. He was 5 months old when we welcomed him into the family and he's been a blessing over the years. Happy birthday Mark!

Giving thanks today for a week of moderate activity, moderate snow, and moderate surprises! It seems like there's always a few surprises to deal with! Grateful for the moisture for the land and for the people who love outdoor activities in the winter. Grateful we took care of the passports appointments and information and had a fun time on our second scavenger hunt to the library. Grateful for the homemade bread and homemade soup that made our house smell so good this week. Grateful for our son Mark. Grateful for all the phone calls emails and texts that we receive that keep us connected to friends and family. Grateful for all this and so much more. 

Enjoy your weekend!