Salty Strings Music Ministry

The Salt Shaker ~ March 2023

March 31, 2023April 10, 2023 Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – Springtime, safety from storms, church family, driveway and RV sites progress

Prayers – Renters; HVAC a/c repairs; tornado damages in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Mississippi; cheap appliances

[Then] you will call to the Lord, and he will answer you. You will cry out to him, and he will say, “Here I am.” . . . The Lord will always lead you and satisfy your needs in dry lands. He will give strength to your bones. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring that never goes dry. Isaiah 58:9, 11 Easy-to-Read Version (ESR)

Hello to our family, friends, and followers:

With lots of hours (275) of property work this month, the majority were spent with paint brushes and rollers. We finally reached the point of buying paint – Kilz and Bulls Eye for priming lots of paneling, spackling, and ceiling spots; ceiling and trim paint; and finally ending with wall paint! Lots of exercise as well from crawling on the floor to climbing the ladder – artist brush for corner blocks and skinny door frames to trim brushes and rollers and extended roller handles to reach the ceiling. Many trips back and forth and lots of lunches packed, including some creative sandwich containers.

Our house tenants (former owners) were officially moved out by mid-month. We arrived one morning to find their water meter locked off (surprise!) and a few days later we had confirmation that whatever they left was ours to dispose of. Now, when we need a break, we can stroll over there and start sorting Goodwill from junk, pulling nails from the walls, and remodel planning. Exciting and depressing at the same time!

Connie tried to stay one step ahead researching paint products, water heaters, appliances (needed soon) along with getting the ceiling lights hanging down (and finding some broken bulbs to remove) and the walls and trim prepped for painting. The window blinds are back up as well as the ceiling fan blades. She also found a local locksmith for master keying our locks and found out what to do with various large junk items.

We work well together as a team and were finally able to figure out how to get the old furniture out of the trailer to the curb where it disappeared over the weekend; there is so much space now! We were able to move the chop saw into the dining room of the house, the broken water heater off the porch and the old window air conditioners to the carport along with miscellaneous deck boards and stacked wood from the yard. The lattice is back up on one side of the porch, outlets are being cleaned up, the bathroom linoleum is cut and fit, and a few boxes of things from the house have made it to Goodwill. It felt good to be outdoors one afternoon moving leaves and debris (raking and digging) to open up a culvert.

John still had other jobs as well including: caulking trim and gaps, removing the toilet to repair the floor, patching the sewer line under the trailer, repairing the entry threshold (sill is nice and firm now), patching trailer skirting behind the air conditioner unit, adding a hasp and padlock to the storage shed, adding brackets to the kitchen counter, removing yard junk, rebuilding the tub wall for access to plumbing, and repairing leaks to the shower. He also crawled under the house (a much smaller space with old pipes, cables, and hanging wires) to locate the water line for our RV site.

It was another crazy month for weather – dripping faucets and cabinet doors open two nights for freezing temperatures to the opposite extreme finding out our new air conditioning doesn’t work in the trailer (up to 88 degrees a few afternoons with humidity)! There were several beautiful days sitting on the house back porch looking beyond the trash to see the beauty of woodland trails someday, playing with kittens, and John able to practice guitar and mandolin under our RV awning. We also had days of gusty winds, thunderstorms with long ground-shaking thunder, a few short power outages, and getting through three tornado watches (one with sirens, another that kept getting extended until morning). We are so thankful for no damage directly around us.

Spring has arrived to northeast Mississippi! Our first tree (pear?) blossomed out in the front followed by an old plum tree in the back slated for removal for driveway space – it was so beautiful that we changed the layout a bit to allow it to remain. There were a few flowers blooming and rose bushes starting to leaf out. Other trees are getting leaves in various stages, an unknown tree in the front circle had white flowers, and the really old apple tree in the back blossomed out in pink and white the end of the month. How wonderful to see God’s beauty unfold revealing things we didn’t even know we have (physically and in our spiritual lives).

The left-behind animal situations are resolved after lots of prayers from many people. We found a collar and leash for the little dog, moved his pen under the carport for shelter, and located a rescue group in Georgia that could pick him up about an hour away in Alabama. John was able to fix up a door to a left behind pet carrier to use for his transport. We love animals so it was a hard day but a relief to not worry about him. Our local animal shelter has been full, but Connie found they had room for the mama cat and kittens at the end of the month. The kittens have been a fun part of the days as we watched them grow, climb through the lattice gate, follow their mama to the trailer porch, and get bolder and more playful. We rigged up a cat box with some old litter, fashioned a litter scoop (plastic commode pan with drilled holes), and mixed special treats (left behind cheese and sardines) with their food. They had their last sardine enhanced meal Friday the 31^st and went to the shelter Saturday; we miss their playfulness. (The shelter is no-kill, so it wasn’t really their “last meal”.)

With complete access now we have started cleaning things up. John cleared out the leaves and empty milk cartons from the still in good shape trampoline; a few screws stabilized the old wheel barrow (until the tire went flat again); a metal frame swing gained a screw and is now waiting research to get the chains hanging right; a skate board scooter was repurposed for a 4×8 panel board catcher; and larger pieces were removed and several bags were hauled to the street from the burn pile (the remains were buried by the heavy equipment).

All work and no down time leads to a very frustrating life so we managed to eat out a few times, including two Friday night triple dates. We joined two other couples from Cross Point Church for great evenings of food and fellowship, one was at Kokomo’s across the border in Tennessee, a small café full of 50’s memorabilia and juke box music. There is always laundry to do so we travel into Iuka to the laundromat with good internet for research (but no workspace). There are some interesting people (we’re included) and this “Mississippi Redneck” was probably a nice man but a bit scary. Connie was also able to get away one evening for a Ladies Group meeting at church.

Good news – our RV driveway contractor finally arrived and had dry weather the last three days of the month. Several times a day John walked around ‘overseeing’ their progress – we have an almost finished driveway, defined RV pads, driveway culverts in place, and double wide entrances/exits to the highway. It was fun watching ‘experts’ maneuver heavy equipment shaping and compacting dirt and gravel. Two trees came down quickly and were very precisely laid out for us to cut up. Low overhanging branches were ground off and chipped up with a hydraulic carbide loggers’ cutter. With a few weeks of dry weather, we should be ‘moving’ to our RV site by mid-April.

John was blessed one Sunday morning at Sunday School – the topic was being generous in our giving, especially to God’s family. The leader was sharing about a malfunctioning chain saw that he replaced and John said he could use a chain saw, intending to possibly purchase it. Next thing we know we are the owners of an 18” easy start Stihl chain saw, tuned up and free of charge! John fired it up and started cutting up tree branches; the second time was to cut up the trunk so the roots could be taken into the woods clearing the way for access to the RV water line.

We had more music opportunities this month including a Sunday night concert. We continued playing with Cross Point Church worship on Sunday mornings, sharing twice with special music songs, and provided music for two SALT (Journey Church senior ministry) meetings. The Journey Church invited us to do a concert for their evening 4^th Sunday singing service. Two couples from Cross Point came as well as our RV park owner and his wife to join with the church family. We had a wonderful time of praise and sharing some of our songs and testimony. The fellowship meal after (various soups, fixings, and desserts) was wonderful; we left full, encouraged, and very blessed.

For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies; for the love which from our birth over and around us lies. For the beauty of each hour, of the day and of the night; hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light. For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child; friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild. Lord of all to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise. For the Beauty of the Earth, Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917

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
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

April to Mid-June – Our property Hwy 367 east of Jacinto, MS property work
May 19 – 3-day travels to Bushnell IL Memorial/Celebration of Life Service
June – north central Illinois (Carlinville, Clinton) family and volunteer work
July – Illinois/Wisconsin (Clinton, IL – Portage, WI) family, volunteer, music
August – unknown
September to November – likely back to property

The Salt Shaker ~ February 2023

February 28, 2023March 11, 2023 Salty Strings Music Ministry

Praises – All we have accomplished with help from new friends, warmer weather (Connie without socks), music opportunities

Prayers – Completion of trailer repairs and the right renter, dry weather for the driveway/RV site contractor to get started and finished, John’s family as they grieve

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. You are the God who works wonders; you have made known Your might among the peoples. Psalm 77:11-12, 14 English Standard Version

Hello to our followers, friends, and family:

We are adapting to the ever-changing weather in northeast Mississippi. February has been from freezing to balmy upper 60’s, cloudy, windy, rainy, and many flood advisories and tornado watches. We drained the water lines, added a bit more insulation to the main line coming into the trailer, and had no trouble with a couple of below freezing nights. High winds rocked the RV a bit, but we are backed with a large hill that has helped. One evening there were tornado sirens with monsoon rain so we prayed and stayed in the trailer; we had no damage at the RV park.

We traveled to Bushnell, IL and back to be with John’s brother as he passed away. It was a great comfort to be able to talk with him a bit and help our niece care for him in his final days. There were lots of church provided meals and family visits, dishes to be cleaned, and long nights, but we know that he is no longer in pain and with his heavenly family.

Connie kept busy this month cleaning and shortening the wide-slat plastic window blinds, boiling water on the stove to use for hot soapy water. She removed a broken light bulb from the microwave, replaced it, and we now have light over the stove. The sanding and spackling of the walls is finished as well. Other cleaning included lots of vacuuming; washing the ceiling, walls, baseboard and cornice molding; outlet covers; microwave, stove, and refrigerator; and inside windows.

We had around 130 hours in three weeks this month making forward progress. John had lots of crawling in and out with rebuilding – window sill and wall under window, floor bracing under bath tub, patch and trim around new furnace, kitchen sink cabinet frame, and patch around the old dryer vent and stove fan. He also cut some new baseboard trim and fixed the bathroom heat duct. He really likes his new saw!

Together we moved the chain link dog cage a few times, got the old water heater to the porch, and helped the electrician (who is also a new friend and pastor of the Crosspoint Church in Iuka) get a light pole ready for new electric service for our RV sites.

February is a month of celebrations for us. Valentine’s Day we labeled as DQ day this year, finding ourselves enjoying blizzards after some shopping stops. Shortly after is John’s birthday and Connie took him out for breakfast at a local Christian restaurant, Cream and Sugar, downtown Iuka. There were other meals out with church friends as well as take out Chinese lunch that lasts for 2-3 meals. We still collapse in front of the TV after those long-days and have watched many YouTube wood turning projects, cat/dog videos, and a documentary style online video about Galilee wedding traditions relating to the rapture and second coming. Also, we have our regular ‘hour’ shows – In the Heat of the Night, Perry Mason, Rizzoli and Isles, Hawaii Five-0, and Law and Order.

An elder of the Journey Church (south of our property) started a new seniors ministry this month and we are providing the music (entertainment?) portion. SALT (Senior Adults Living Triumphantly) had their first meeting on the 15^th and we were there. We joined the worship group at Cross Point Church in Iuka near our RV site and enjoy the practice times and adding the sounds of autoharp and bouzouki to their guitars, mandolin, keyboard, and violin to make a joyful noise to the Lord.

Throughout the month of February our critter family at the property have changed. The black stray cat had 5 kittens (black as well, perhaps with a few tiger stripes). The mean dog broke his lead and is gone, and they did find a home for the always barking back deck dog while we were gone. They finally took their outside cat. Although our county has a no-kill animal shelter, it services 5 counties and they are full; so, we now buy dog and cat food for the dog still left and the mama cat, and worry about the days we are not there to feed them.

We enjoy having our booster and phone/wifi coverage at the trailer as we work. It is so handy to ‘google’ our wants and needs – mobile home window glaze, water heaters, and paint (very expensive) were the top three this month, with some decisions and purchases still pending. It was also a blessing to be able to ‘publish’ our newsletter update from the trailer. That takes a few hours to get the formatting and photos to the right spots in the technology world and it was much faster than our spotty wifi and phone service at the RV park. Of course, as you research you also buy, leading to many shopping trips. We splurged and purchased a small ham which made excellent stock for split pea soup and a cabbage, carrot, potato concoction plus extra ham in the freezer. Our 40-mile round trip commute to ‘work’ also means diesel purchases and our local fuel pumps have been very slow (1 gallon/minute, no kidding!) so many partial fills.

Other encouragement and progress: there are orange and blue lines by the road (still waiting for the RV driveway contractor to start) and the owners started moving out. In our minds we have made several plans for the house renovations and repairs. We are consulting with a church member/former construction company manager who thinks several of our changes are possible, but now comes reality. What we have envisioned in our minds is not compatible with the wall construction – the electric panel is in the middle of our planned ‘community laundry area’ stairs and opening. Oops! On our first visit inside after the moving truck left, the washer lines had been leaking for a week; they were plugged the next day, leaving a soggy floor and wall studs. More planning and thinking, but based on measurements and reality this time, and of course lots of prayer.

But this is precisely what is written: “God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 Common English Bible

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

March/April/Mid-May – Work at our property Hwy 367 east of Jacinto, MS
May 19 – Bushnell IL Memorial/Celebration of Life Service
June – north central Illinois (Carlinville, Clinton) family and volunteer work
July – Illinois/Wisconsin (Clinton, IL – Portage, WI) family, volunteer, music

The Salt Shaker ~ January 2023

January 31, 2023February 10, 2023 Salty Strings Music Ministry

Everyone will live in peace among their own vineyards and fig trees, and no one will make them afraid. The Lord Almighty has promised this. Micah 4:4 Good News Translation

Praises – The work that is completed, new church friends, driveway and RV sites coming soon

Prayers – Bodies to hold up for contortion work still needed, being a blessing to those we hire and work with

Hello to our friends, family, and followers:

To finish off December, we had to have back steps in place and ‘railing’ around the front deck for insurance coverage. The old fiberglass steps were pulled to the back with the tread strengthened and new, wider steps were built for the front entry. All the old deck boards were removed, a joist and several stabilizer boards were added, and a combination of new and old boards were screwed back on. We took a few days off with some sore backs but the finished deck doesn’t wobble, sway, or bounce when walking across it. During this process the front door quit shutting, the screen door handle broke, and Connie didn’t like the roof drips during/after the rain so we also added a 10’ gutter over the door (twice, needed repositioning to catch more water). One of the dogs here is an escape artist so we had Bailey’s help on the days he was free.

January 5 we officially had heat after finding a mobile home HVAC company! John found the furnace wasn’t sealed underneath with lots of heat escaping so they came back for that and to fix the bathroom vent (which still isn’t right). We have been cleaning out the vents and trying to seal them up but most have small holes in several spots.

In general our projects seemed to progress very slowly, just when things were getting accomplished there would be even more to do! New Year’s Day Connie finished clearing the mobile home, enough for two truckloads to Goodwill and many trash bags. After finding the water PVC pipe shattered after our 5-day freeze, John proceeded to remove the remnants of insulation, cutting down the spider web threads, and pulling the old pipes – many days and hours in the red clay under the ‘trailer’ as we refer to this part of the property. We contacted several plumbers with no results then found a plumber lives a few trailers down. After getting a material list and quote it took two weeks to pull together the parts and we had running water the 28^th! We then decided after a few days of water heater unexplained leaking that we will need to replace it.

John spent most of the month rebuilding and bracing floors and walls. Starting with the tilting water heater he replaced the floor section and fastened the drywall to the back wall that had been damaged at the bottom. He moved to the master bedroom adding support around the floor vent, and then rebuilt the wall and floor under the living room window that had the air conditioner unit. Moving on to the bathroom, he added support under the bath tub and rebuilt around the floor vent.

Along with the major rebuilds John cleaned carpet spots to salvage the bedroom carpets, worked on a closet door and front door frame, scraped the old linoleum and sanded the bathroom floor, rebuilt the pantry lower walls, and took down the blades from 3 ceiling fans for cleaning and reversal. We came in one morning and found the shop vac wouldn’t turn on, he brought it home, got to the switch, cleaned the connections, and it works again! He also talked with our neighbor up the road, who happens to own the property to the south of us, and got a good idea of the lot lines. Eventually he walked through the woods finding all the markers.

We’ve attended two churches this month. Journey Church (formerly Jones Chapel) is a small free will Baptist church about 8 minutes from our property with friendly people and good messages. After two weeks we started attending Cross Point Church about 5 minutes from where we are ‘living’ rather than make the commute. Cross Point is another small non-denominational congregation with lots of musicians for morning worship, testimony, and good messages as well. We will change up now and then since we love them both and have found good friends in each.

Our second Sunday at Journey Church we were invited out for lunch by one of the elder couples and learned a lot about the area. Our second Sunday at Cross Point was the ‘5th’ Sunday where they combine Sunday School and Service time for a 2-hour time of worship, testimony, and special music followed by a great potluck with to-go boxes. The family of God is wonderful in all its many forms!

By the middle of the month John realized his music callouses were vanishing and started picking up some instruments to get them toughened up again. He was able to practice outside a few sunny afternoons and it was good to hear music again. We joined Cross Point church worship team sharing our autoharp and bouzouki sounds with their violin, mandolin, keyboard, and guitars and shared two of our songs and stories for special music with Connie playing accordion.

Connie light sanded all the walls and spackled the holes, rebuilding some moldings and ceiling holes in preparation for painting. She also replaced 3 outlets with GFCI, labeled the electric panel, tore out the old bathroom carpet, tried to move the refrigerator outlet (2” short on wire so it had to be put back), and replaced the screen door handle. Her other jobs were keeping track of contractor appointments, shopping lists, and trying to sell some unneeded trailer items.

Early in the month our cell phone booster arrived and about a week later we tested it for our RV reception; after several scenarios it didn’t make enough difference to deal with the hassle of it needing to be mobile. We then tried it at the trailer (where we had no indoor reception) and found it works great! We now are blessed to communicate with the outside world throughout our work days and can research our problems as they happen. Our truck also passed 100,000 miles on our way back home, John got to look over Connie’s shoulder and watch as it rolled over.

We have had many walks around the ‘block’ at the RV site and our property and woods. The weather has been good and bad and horrible and great – regardless there have been blue birds, cardinals, wood peckers, perhaps purple martin, some sparrow and dove types, deer tracks, and one squirrel. On one morning commute there was a bald eagle landing in a tree and another day a young deer in the middle of the highway in a sun spot like he owned the road. Following some warmer days, patches have appeared in many yards of yellow daffodils in bloom (with ice and freezing temperatures the next day). Early January we headed to Corinth (MS) for a 9-stop errand day and were met with heavy rain, wind, and tornado sirens (which no one was concerned with) for our morning stops. As in all parts of this world there have been some spectacular sunrises and sunsets too!

Connie has been quite unmotivated for most of the month but managed a day of creative cooking inspired by using up some sour milk. Her pie pan chocolate cake was a bit over cooked (microwave) but one was frosted for the potluck and the other she ate with some milk. One evening she warmed it up, John took it from the microwave to serve his tired wife, and it ended up looking like lots of coffee grounds on the drawers and floor. Immediately forgiven, Connie sighed and recommended cleaning it up in the morning thinking it would dry like coffee grounds – it dried like glue! Then there were the ‘hand’ waffles. While making pancake/waffle batter she had the brilliant idea to cook them on the George Forman grill (a new acquisition from the property) since it had ridges, cooked from both sides, and should crisp up like a waffle. That didn’t work out very well, turned out like pancakes with ridges or shell fans, interesting for sure. That cooking day ended with a great batch of spaghetti, pretty hard to mess that up!

We also have a contractor for the driveway/RV sites. We walked around putting in some flags where we want things to be resulting in a quote (much higher than anticipated). That led to some meetings with MDOT (Mississippi Dept. of Transportation) and TCEPA (local electric service) for a culvert permit to widen our driveways and electric service procedures for the RV areas. With good weather (quite unlikely) we could be living on site by the end of February!

John found this wonderful potato friend for lonely cold days while preparing fried potatoes for breakfast one day. He is just right to move around our kitchen/living room and keep watch over us (this is all natural, just the way he was found). However, all things must come to an end and Mr. Potato Shark was breakfast a few weeks later.

As part of the remodel/repair work needed we planned on purchasing some woodshop equipment for John. Now that the trailer is empty, his early birthday presents can have homes; the 2nd bedroom is shop 2 with saw horses and room to cut paneling and plywood and the master bedroom is shop 1 with his new chop/miter saw and stand. We made a special trip to Muscle Shoals, Alabama so he could visit a music store and we got 20% off on his new ‘shop’ equipment.

It has been a good month, realizing in looking back that we have accomplished a lot in our many trips and 186 hours (including drive time, lunch, breaks, and walks). It has been some hard work, rewarding and frustrating. We have had many conversations throughout to make some major decisions and to encourage each other when it seems this will never be ready to rent. We realized this month that although we are not working for a ministry through SOWERs we believe God has allowed us to be here and has a purpose for us in this place at this time. Our prayer is that as we continue this work here, we will be a blessing to others.

Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. Galatians 1:10 New Living Translation

Please keep us in your prayers . . . and THANKS for catching up with our adventures!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

February/March – Huckleberry Hill RV, Iuka, MS – property repairs, rental
March/April/May – French Camp SOWER project (another bread mailing perhaps)
April/May – Our property Hwy 367 east of Jacinto, MS more property work
June – north central Illinois (Carlinville, Clinton) family and volunteer work
July – Illinois/Wisconsin (Clinton, IL – Portage, WI) family, volunteer, music

The Salt Shaker – November/December 2022

December 31, 2022January 2, 2023 Salty Strings Music Ministry

The Lord provides everything we need – please remove falsehood and lies, give us neither poverty or riches, feed us with food that is needful for us (physically, mentally, and spiritually) and help us to be satisfied with everything You supply’ Journal God Lesson, December 2022

Praises – New property for time off between projects; safe travels; lots to do but no time clock

Prayers – Reimbursements settled for truck repairs; repairs and fixes needed to rent property; continued health and energy

Hello to our family, followers, and friends:

Something different for this update – it is two months and we are inserting some of Connie’s journal “God Lessons” throughout. With all that has been going on we just haven’t had the inspiration and focus to collect our thoughts. As a friend pointed out “sometimes it is difficult to write about things when you are not emotionally settled yourself” – how true!
Jesus – He embodied truth, He didn’t embellish the truth

Thanksgiving came and went; we were invited along with a few others to dinner and Connie was grumbling about southern cornbread dressing but to her surprise it was bread dressing almost like Great Grandma’s! A Christmas present arrived from our youngest son, our first in years, with great homemade goodies, what a surprise. We put up our Christmas wreath and lights on a timer and enjoyed them in the evening and again as we got up in the dark mornings. The Academy President had a Christmas Open House with a beautifully decorated home and great food; we arrived with our big truck parking close to the carport and were blocked in by a Daihatsu mini-truck maintenance vehicle! Our last Sunday we attended the Presbyterian Church and were surprised with a potluck Christmas lunch and “free” food to bring home as they cleared the cooler for Christmas break.

John continued to work at the new counseling center with electrical and CAT5 wiring, fixtures, wall and ceiling insulation, some small wall builds, and the last window installed. The guys also finished up the cabinet drawers and doors in a dorm (lots of fussing to get drawers to slide and look straight), assembly of new cabinets, a drop ceiling in a High School classroom, and some demolition work in another building – lots of climbing up and down ladders!

Connie continued staining as weather permitted, serving lunch at the Dining Hall, and helped with the French Camp Christmas bread mailing (the main reason she came). A storm right before mail date brought disruption to computer services and several days of delays and IT work, meaning nothing for the ladies to do. Finally, the day came when 1500+ loaves were “taped” and on their way. More waiting then the second wave came and Connie loaded the USPS bins.

With three days left of our December volunteer work, John came home at lunch to stretch on the floor, not an unusual practice. This time, however, he didn’t get up. He slowly improved over the next week, going from ‘ape-like’ movements leaning on anything nearby to standing straight and able to walk more normal. By the weekend he was slowly able to put his tools away and start preparations to move north to a RV Park in Iuka, MS about 20 minutes from our property.

After our October real estate day of adventure, we received a call from our realtor friend in Corinth with some new land parcels for sale. November 9, we travelled again and did lots of hiking around several parcels and through some rented dwellings; lots of money, repairs with everything, as well as fleas in one mobile home. John found one listing online with a “pending inspection” offer accepted. We toured the 6 acres with a house and mobile home mid-afternoon, and made a full price offer. On the way back we prayed that whatever the outcome, God would be in control. The inspection was not favorable (but nothing we couldn’t handle with our SOWER skills over the years), the other party backed out, we countered at a lower price (the figure we originally wanted) and by the 19^th had a verbal acceptance along with 2 free inspection reports! On December 9^th we became property owners again, took care of all the things that come with purchasing property, stayed overnight at a hotel with each enjoying a long hot soaking bath – our first “bath” in many years!
The Sunday prior to closing the worship included “Waymaker” leading Connie into complete assurance and peace (with lots of tears). That evening we had a text with the preliminary closing statement! Plus, the evening devotion had some names of Jesus (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace) to which we added Waymaker, Miracle Worker, Promise Keeper, and Light in the Darkness.

The next afternoon the up-and-down game began. We scheduled a driveway contractor to meet us at noon, he was delayed, we ate our lunch in the truck, the rain started, he arrived and John braved the weather to discuss a possible circle drive around the back with RV pad(s). We found the mobile home had not been emptied. The HVAC people were not responding, finally getting an answer that we had to go with “mobile home” service people. With 5 days of below freezing weather coming (very non-typical of Mississippi) we shut off the water, drained lines, and used space heaters inside to keep it above freezing – which worked except one heater didn’t turn back on after a “rolling blackout.” On the “up” side, only 1 dead mouse, we do have most of the tools in the mobile home now, it is almost empty, the electric panel is labeled (one of the things in the inspection report), it was a beautiful day when we insulated the mobile home water pipes, and we really enjoyed hiking the paths and day-dreaming of the days we can spend here between our travels.
It is hard to let go of our expectations – God is saying slow down, in My time

With lots of unplanned days off Connie was able to make phone calls to contractors and clearing up some ongoing frustrations. After 5 months of lengthy conversations, the fraud charges were cleared on one of our credit cards. After 14 months and involvement of the FCC, our “free phones” when we switched carriers have been refunded! Now, all that is left is working with the Chevy dealer for a refund of parts and labor. Connie also had some time to do a few crochet items – another hot pad (now being used as a doily), a back wash cloth (it works very well), a hat for the chilly morning walks (not used, weather warmed up), and preparing to finish up a granny square blanket with squares done by her Mom and Grandma many years ago. So far that’s been research, layout planning, tying in yarn ends, and correcting mistakes.
Don’t be led astray, trust God to give you wisdom, be faithful, be alert and pray – focus on the overall plan: salvation in Christ and His return.

The weather these last two months has been another up-and-down stressor. November brought some nights where Connie was awake waiting for storms to pass through and wind rattling the trailer, including one suppertime trip to the basement level of the high school for a tornado warning. She has found that putting her head at the foot of the bed helps because the slide cover rattling isn’t as loud, this is not very easy to do in the middle of the night so there was another night she slept the whole night that way. December 1 was the first day Connie went without socks again for a while. There were many just below freezing nights and a few days with the A/C on in the afternoon. On those ‘chilled-to-the-bone’ days we always looked forward to a nice hot shower to end the day.

In November we had another truck DEF issue. The ‘Low DEF’ light came on (on our way to a music event), we added about 2 gallons of fluid, surprised that it was full already. Two days later the warning appeared again and it went back to the shop; a “no charge” unknown glitch, ok now fix. In December we managed to lock ourselves out of the truck at our property with no cell service! Thankfully our house tenants were home and graciously let us use their phone and stay warm inside while we waited. We now double check before the last one leaves the truck for keys – it was supposed to be a 15-minute stop to start a second heater in the mobile home.
Never stop waiting on God—no matter our age—with great expectations.

We were able to share some music during November, both were jam sessions with 10-20 people, after a luncheon with fellow SOWERs and after a very special Birthday Party. December brought an opportunity to share after a church ladies’ luncheon (with husbands for Christmas), another small group due to a funeral that day. It was harder this time since we weren’t practiced up and our ‘playing together’ skills haven’t been used for a while. We will definitely have to make this a priority!
God’s Way – a time of waiting is also an opportunity to prepare.

We can thankfully call ourselves seasoned travelers now after making it through the Christmas cold, what they are calling ‘once in a generation’ Mississippi weather. We disconnected our water hose and put the RV pump and tank heaters on; ran the fireplace, gas furnace, and two space heaters; and prayed a lot for the start of 5 days of below freezing weather. The water pump quit early morning of night 1 (4 degrees outside) so we started using our backup plan with water jugs and rationing water use (we could refill them outside after the 2^nd day). Our second night was chilly and we found our outside door was open slightly letting in very cold air in the middle of the night. We also experienced our first ‘rolling power outage’ about 10 minutes after John read about it. With most of our comfort coming from electric sources it was a blessing it only happened once for about 15 minutes; we lost 3 degrees inside temperature during that short time. Christmas Day was spent inside with a high of 32 degrees and a wonderful dinner. We missed a white Christmas by one day – it started snowing the 26^th about 9am and continued until 4pm, perhaps an inch total, reminding us why we started traveling south in the winter.
Would you not open a Christmas gift! God has an unearned, undeserved gift for everyone.

Our water pump resumed working the last day of the deep freeze, we unloaded the RV “basement” and checked for leaks, PRAISE GOD, we had hot running water again and it was great using the sink and hot soapy water for dishes. We waited another day before hooking up the hose and it was wonderful to take nice hot showers! Our property mobile home didn’t freeze inside, even though one of the heaters remained off after a rolling blackout. We are waiting for a warmer, dryer, sunny day to turn the water back on and check for leaks there.

Traveling for so many years now we realize how important community is: our long-distance friends and family for advice and prayer; our real estate friend for many of the unknowns of Mississippi, providing contacts, and dinner conversation; our SOWER neighbor in packing up our microwave when neither of us could lift it along with a free heater turning out to be so much needed; our new property neighbor providing a fair trade for a free survey line (we lost 0.34 acre to accommodate his driveway), and many more. Be thankful for those people you can turn to when life gets hard, and be aware and gracious to those needing our help.
“. . . lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one . . .” – maturity means moving from our independence to our dependence on Him.

May each of you and your families have a blessed and wonderful New Year!

A fool multiplies words. Man doesn’t know what will be; and that which will be after him, who can tell him? Ecclesiastes 10:14 NIV ~ Trusting our future to God

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 website

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS – Very Tentative
January/February/March – Huckleberry Hill RV, Iuka, MS – property repairs, rental
March/April/May – French Camp SOWER project (another bread mailing perhaps)
April/May – Our property Hwy 367 east of Jacinto, MS hopeful house renovation/rental
June – north central Illinois (Carlinville, Clinton) family and volunteer work
July – Illinois/Wisconsin (Clinton, IL – Portage, WI) family, volunteer, music

The Salt Shaker – October 2022

October 31, 2022November 12, 2022 Salty Strings Music Ministry

God said, “let there be light,” and there was light. God saw the light, and saw that it was good . . . God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good . . . [Genesis 1:3-4, 31 Basic English Bible] By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the army of heaven by the breath of his mouth . . . For he gave the word, and it was done; by his order it was fixed for ever. [Psalm 33:6, 9 World English Bible]

Praises – Returning strength and energy; beautiful fall days

Prayers – Reimbursements settled for truck repairs, free phones, credit card fraud; exercise, self-control, good sleep so our energy levels continue to improve

Hello to our followers, friends, and family:

The October views in west central Mississippi reminded us of Wisconsin with pine and hardwood variety trees and changing colors. Later in the month there were beautiful swirls of golden leaves falling. The temperatures varied, one day it was 45 in the morning and 85 in the afternoon! We had three nights below 32 where we used our gas furnace and disconnected our water. There was a water puddle one cold morning and we thought the worst; however, we could not find where it came from and it hasn’t happened since. There were some sad days too – Connie had to wear shoes and socks a couple of days in mid-October!

The guy’s ongoing main project was renovation of an older campus brick “house” that has been used for many purposes over the years. It is now being repurposed as a counseling center. There is the Council House, which is the restaurant downtown, and the counsel house where the guys are – a bit confusing at first. John’s skills included sledge hammering cast iron bathtubs so the pieces could be lifted into the dumpster, tearing out wall and ceiling drywall, remove and replacing all the windows, installing ceiling electric boxes, and what he enjoyed most, repairing and making new window trim. One of the dormers of this building settled at one point making the window crooked, so the trim had to be custom made (3/4” at one end and 1.5” at the other). The hope is, once painted, it won’t look as crooked! He also helped with putting custom skirting around the lake area shower building (used for summer camps), and took a bunch of heavy wood shutters (18) down at a dorm building, reinstalling them after they were painted.

Connie stayed busy this month with brush related work. The heavy wood shutters received two coats front and back of a gray-black exterior paint before being put back on the dorm by the guys. In a different dorm there were four bathrooms that received two coats of polyurethane on the frames and eventually the bottom boards of sink cabinets. The cabinet doors will be new and the drawers will receive new fronts. The next step was painting all the walls, including the remodeled lighting areas above the sinks. Connie was just the right height to be able to kneel on the countertop and move around the sinks, still reaching comfortably to get all the trim and surface area. She cleaned all the cover plates, reinstalled them, and did a quick cleaning of the toilets, mirrors, and surfaces for paint and plaster splatters. There were a few days where she served the lunch meal to the students and staff, this is one of her favorite things to do at the volunteer projects we visit.

We attended both churches in town as well as two evening services with missionary speakers. There were many baptisms and decisions, almost like a revival! One speaker started Cross Mountain Mission in Nicaragua where they provide structure, meals, and education to whatever children come to “school” that day, averaging around 75 students each day. The second was a missionary from Ukraine sharing current conditions as well as political history and instability this country has had for many years. There is so much need all around us, local and global, that we should all feel very blessed and thankful.

Connie spent quite a bit of time this month being creative as well as problem solving. She kept crocheting “waffle” patterns, even designing a granny square waffle pattern. There were many calls and follow ups with the truck – the engine light came on 140 miles after DEF modules were replaced. The diagnostic code was the same, and after a week in the shop they found a pinched harness which was replaced as well as the DEF reservoir. We (she) then embarked on a mission to recover some of the cost from the previous dealer, with not much cooperation (as well as a heavy southern accent to decipher). There were also a few calls to get our “free” phones and credit card fraud balance cleared, both ongoing irritants to her.

With such beautiful weather John has been able to sit outside many times and play instruments, sometimes Connie would join and work on some crafty thing. We enjoyed the Harvest Festival, another beautiful fall-like day, and Connie “dressed up” in period clothing. She volunteered for the last shift of the day at the Welcome Center and took a dulcimer to play on the front porch as the thinning crowds were headed to their cars. We could hear the football games and maneuvered around the homecoming floats lining up for the parade as we went to dinner (5 couples) after our final volunteer work day. The “Panthers” lost their homecoming game but won their final game of the season.

Connie volunteered to take her keyboard to our morning devotion gatherings and enjoyed the early morning walks to practice, she is definitely rusty. There were a few mornings we accompanied with autoharp. We joined the jam session towards the end of the month. We took mandolin, autoharp, and mountain dulcimer and enjoyed playing along with others.

Food was the highlight of the month! We enjoyed daily lunches with the kids and an evening church meal prior to evening service, usually with missionary speakers. There were potlucks galore; our SOWER group, an appreciation gathering for us volunteers at the home of a French Camp supporter, the Harvest Festival joint church service, the music jam session, and the last Wednesday evening fellowship in Corinth (where we were in September). Add in the occasional bakery treats for break time and, with the right planning, we didn’t have to cook much in between. All this in 30 days along with around 120 volunteer hours, a busy month.

For several months John has been keeping an eye out for cheap real estate possibilities for our times off the road in between projects. We took a day trip where we looked at several properties, enjoying a beautiful day and church potluck. The drive north, mostly on the Natchez Trace, was beautiful and relaxing, followed by hikes through some woods and hilly terrain. The drive home after dark was not so pleasant, the last 10 miles being most challenging: there were many deer along the roadside with 2 crossing the road in front of us; a possum, fox, racoon, armadillo, swooping huge owl, and one orange tabby cat! Some close calls, but all critters remained safe to cross the road again.

Our health and strength are still improving. John had two days in a row of waking with energy, what a blessing. Connie still has scattered days of no energy and slightly aching body (of course she is another year older this month). We are finding that cold and damp weather is affecting both of us more.

We could have had plenty of exercise, but motivation is needed for that to happen. John biked up and down the smaller hill to the highway and back, first bike ride in over a month. Connie has more chances to walk, heading out early for our morning devotions. If we make a right turn from our RV area the road goes up a very steep hill that we tried to walk several times a week. It is getting a bit easier, although we are both out of breath as we reach the top.

God is speaking to us this month, helping us work through future scenarios as well as encouraging us to live where our feet are and see the needs around us. It is God’s part to “show” us – and our part is to “go”. We know (but don’t always remember) that God will give us what we need, when we need it, in His perfect timing.

Thanks for traveling with us and supporting us with your thoughts and prayers!

Be glad in the Lord, O doers of righteousness; for praise is beautiful for the upright. Give praise to the Lord on the corded instrument; make melody to him with instruments of music. Make a new song to him; playing expertly with a loud noise. Psalm 33:1-3 Basic English Bible

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

September 30 – December – SOWER Project, French Camp, Mississippi
January/February – unknown winter stay, possibly Texas, Florida, Louisiana ???

The Salt Shaker – September 2022

September 30, 2022October 12, 2022 Salty Strings Music Ministry

With every sun’s rising, surprise us with Your love, satisfy us with Your kindness. Then we will sing with joy and celebrate every day we are alive. Psalm 90:14 The Voice Bible

Praises – The wonderful friendly people in Corinth; Even with all our struggles this month we remain faithful, God still uses us, and we are truly thankful for the blessings we have

Prayers – More truck repairs needed for related or the same problem; lingering illness symptoms to improve (cough, energy, stamina)

Hello to our family, friends, and followers:

Our first week in Corinth we had a guided tour including the Coca Cola Museum (headquarters are still in Corinth) and the downtown buildings that have been restored/remodeled and repurposed. It is a beautiful, friendly community with lots of history. We took a trip with our bicycles to find a place to do some riding and ended up riding on the walking trail (a winding 1 mile path) and around the Sports Complex, probably 3 miles total. John rode once on the county road but found that was too busy, bumpy, and hilly for safe riding. Later in the month we made a date to meet our Tennessee friends for dinner in Grand Junction, TN. Grand Junction was once a nice little crossroads community; now there is one restaurant with some good food and a beautiful small memorial park. It is always interesting to notice the buildings and signage from days past, figuring out family connections and in this case the history of one notable woman of the community.

Our “goals” for the month didn’t happen as we hoped. John was not feeling well on Friday the 2^nd and was really sick on Monday the 5^th. Connie joined him on the 6^th and we both stayed home at least 2 weeks and still had no energy and lingering sinus-type cold symptoms (fondly referred to as “Mississippi crud” around here). We had to cancel a luncheon music program on the 6^th which made us feel even worse. During this time our newsletter update was finally completed (hard to do between naps, staying focused, and a few internet problems). Connie recovered sooner and started updating and cleaning up computer files including transferring some older music files to touch up for our website – quite time consuming but necessary.

Our service technician for the trailer came, replaced our converter, and briefly solved the inverter issue. We tested it again and still had error codes, even after following the manual “test” procedures. He didn’t come back for the other repairs we requested – we will eventually try to find someone in this area to finish up our fixes. We were able to stabilize our pantry shelves however. Connie got in a shopping mood (once we got out and about again) and bought clips and strips to be installed in place of the broken plastic ones (with a bit of help from John) and the shelves remained level as we travelled!

Being inside a lot, Connie got creative and tried some new things with baking. Along with biscuits (baked in the air frier, still working on easy separation for the toaster) she has made a few chocolate cakes (her grandma’s recipe) baked in the microwave. The recipe makes a very moist cake, unless you overcook it in the microwave – the second time she added some peanut butter and chocolate chips, covered with plastic wrap and less cooking time – yummy! There was also a failed instant pot yogurt batch; the electricity was off (while we worked on the inverter) and it didn’t recover like she hoped making it more like yogurt cream.

While John was still recovering Connie was invited to a Ladies Day. She enjoyed the fellowship and getting to know some church ladies better on the trip to and from Memphis as well as the lunch and speaker. They had a craft fair at the end and she spied some crochet hot pads with a unique “waffle” texture – after some research she found patterns for crochet and knit “waffle stitch” as well as a slight crochet variation. Back to the yarn scraps to make 5 hot pads. It felt good to do something during TV time and they were all easy and fun patterns.

The RV Park was on the southern edge of Corinth, a great location for church and shopping trips. They have a laundry area with one washer and a coin dryer ($1) that was very handy. The first use Connie was surprised by a very large salamander possibly (it didn’t look like a lizard) when she opened the door to retrieve our clothes from the dryer. She didn’t scream, it quickly disappeared under the dryer, and she remained very cautious removing the clothes from the dryer. The second time held no surprises but the heavier items didn’t dry completely leading to innovative clothes lines in the trailer. The last time the dryer didn’t even get hot and we had hangers and our “new” $1.99 drying rack everywhere – bedroom, shower, cabinet doors, etc.

We became quite familiar with the figure 8 gravel road and hill to the county road as we walked almost every day. The first 3 weeks were very hot so the walks were shorter, earlier in the morning, and again just before sunset on the days when we had a bit of energy. During our last week John looked out the window, kept watching, and eventually had Connie look as well. There was what appeared to be a mourning dove very still in the loop drive. We prepared for our morning walk and it was still there! It still didn’t move as we headed that way, and we found out why – it was an upright rock with the shape and shadows making it look realistic through our trailer window.

Our last week had cooler temperatures as well as a bit more energy, making the full circuit twice (almost 2 miles) some days. We woke up one morning to a very chilly trailer, not realizing the overnight temperature was in the 50’s and we had failed to turn on the heaters before bed. We had to get out our heat pump instruction manual and refresh our memory to keep the gas furnace from turning on – it smells from not being used much as well making the bedroom too hot for comfortable sleeping. After a few nights we found the right mix of heater settings.

John made contact with Waldron Street Christian Church prior to our arrival and we were scheduled for an evening concert (with homemade ice cream) on the 4^th. Our practice that afternoon was without singing from tickling-throat coughing fits, but the concert went well and the ice cream was great. We even had a container to bring some home with us!

We were feeling well enough by the end of the month to attend Sunday School, Worship, and the evening Bible Study on our last Sunday in Corinth, MS. The evening study was from a video series by Ray Vander Laan that covered the locations and connections with Jewish tradition for what we celebrate as our Palm Sunday and Last Supper. We tagged along afterwards for the Mexican restaurant supper and fellowship.

The last Wednesday of the month is a church potluck fellowship supper. We were blessed to attend in August and took 24 pepperoncini deviled eggs this time (only 6 came home for John). Wonderful fabulous food and fellowship, and a chance for our final good-byes before we leaving this area.

The end of the month found us packing up to head 128 miles southwest to our volunteer project in French Camp, MS. We were running a bit behind but wanted to walk the “city tour” before leaving as well as our final fuel fill and Aldi’s grocery stock up. The check engine light came on Wednesday night after the church potluck so we stopped at the Chevy dealer first, just to be sure it wouldn’t be a problem for travel. It was a major problem needing two DEF modules; thankfully they were able to squeeze us into their full schedule.

Connie was ready for lunch so she emptied a bag of peanuts from the vending machine while John drank coffee and our inquiries eventually produced a ride into town so we could do our walking tour. It started at the visitor center but there was a train on the tracks blocking our way; we waited then walked around a few blocks on the “wrong side of the tracks” before the train left. By this time hunger was controlling our direction so we did the reverse tour for 6-8 blocks to get to the oldest drug store still in the same family in Mississippi, Borroum’s Drug Store, where we had slug-burgers for the second time and split a wonderful chocolate malt in this historic building. The dealer called, sending someone for their road test along with picking us up, but the truck was packed with only 2 seats! Connie stayed behind, enjoying the sunshine and breeze in front of the court house, until John returned to pick her up after 3 pm. We made our stops and headed home to continue packing.

Friday morning Connie was up early to finish the inside packing, we pulled in the slides and hooked up, then she realized the trailer back-up camera that she got to work earlier in the month was still tucked away in a cabinet under the TV. She decided to wriggle through the opening at the end of the counter, past the sink island, to the cabinet, and back to the counter realizing when you slither in on your belly you can’t get out on your back or side! John missed a great video opportunity and Connie’s rib cage was sore for a few days.

As we were ready to leave, we noticed an unusual noise from the engine, nothing we could find, but no engine light, so we headed out. Our travel went well, cool enough to wear a sweatshirt, and we took the shorter mileage route with our last 80 miles on the Natchez Trace. A beautiful drive, perhaps a bit too relaxing with a 50-mph speed limit, mostly wooded, with historic turn-offs barely big enough for us to use our trailer facilities. We arrived and were mostly set up by 1 pm giving us a very leisurely afternoon before meeting our fellow SOWER volunteers (a total of 6 couples this month) after supper.

“For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out . . . so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered . . . I will feed them . . . with good pasture . . . they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed . . . I myself will make them lie down . . . I will seek the lost and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak . . .” Ezekiel 34:11-16 paraphrased, English Standard Version

Please keep us in your prayers and THANKS for traveling with us!

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

September 30 – December – SOWER Project, French Camp, Mississippi
December/January/February – unknown winter stay, possibly Texas

The Salt Shaker – August 2022

August 31, 2022September 12, 2022 Salty Strings Music Ministry

“I will still be the same when you are old and gray, and I will take care of you. I created you. I will carry you and always keep you safe.” Isaiah 46:4 Contemporary English Version

Praises – Memories with old and new friends in the Carlinville, IL area; truck starting trouble fixed, good experience; mobile RV service found; safe traveling; prayers of so many

Prayers – Mobile RV service follow through; recording and getting songs to web page; consistency in exercise and losing weight, self-control

Hello to our followers, friends, and family:

On our arrival in Carlinville, IL we were rested and ready to volunteer, however the camp was finishing up their last ‘over 1200’ week of camp ready for a break! There was still lots to do in maintenance and John had his list within a few days. Connie stayed with the kitchen staff and other volunteers and found things to keep busy, mostly in sorting out the stock shelves. Things like alphabetizing spices (in stock and in the kitchen), getting all like products in the same area, and bringing older items to the front. With smaller groups most of the preparation was handled by other volunteers, but she was able to slice and pan up dinner meats several mornings, giving her shelf-stocking sore arms a break from lifting heavy boxes.

John’s list was much longer and varied. He worked with others sometimes and alone on other tasks, calling someone to help as needed, and made a few “parts” runs into town. He started with helping “change out” the 600 floor rooms (from bunk bed dorms to hotel style) mostly putting the TV’s back up and the lamps back in the rooms. There were a few days at the “duplex” with some outside gutter work, attic rewiring and running new wiring for garage lights. There was frustration (spacing, studs and screw sizes) putting up 3 new key boxes in the maintenance office. He assembled some “permanent” park benches (which were very heavy), helped straighten a hoop canopy building frame, cleaned vents, switched out a washing machine, and repaired lots of vacuum cleaners which are supposed to have notes telling the problem. Many of the notes were simply “doesn’t work” typically socks, plastic bags, scrunchies, etc. causing a plugged-up suction tube. He could always count on a vacuum cleaner repair to fill in a few extra minutes here and there.

John was introduced to their new platform lift truck while working with the hoop frame and actually got to drive and use it for a few days. He removed the old damaged metal trim (about 20’ up), painted several 4×8 sheets of plywood, cut the plywood for length (64.5”), and with another helper put the new sheets back up. The biggest challenge was parking the lift in a very tight area around electrical panels; he succeeded, prepared the area, but couldn’t get it close enough to put up the new sheets safely – the only unfinished item on his list.

We provided 112 hours of volunteer labor this month along with lots of interaction with old and new friends. There were many meals out at restaurants, in homes, and at the Dining Room at the camp, all of which we could be “salt and light” as well as being encouraged ourselves. Our attempts at consistent exercise didn’t succeed, we certainly need more self-discipline, and the hot and humid weather didn’t help. There were a few rain showers and thunder storms, nothing threatening, a few bike rides and walks, and we even tried swimming but the indoor pool heater was not working (we did have a great shower though).

Shortly after our arrival John’s new bicycle arrived and he had it put together fairly quickly (he’s had lots of practice now). He was discouraged at first, the tires wouldn’t fill, but found the next day it was operator error. Both bikes were adjusted, tweaking the seat and handlebar heights and brakes, and Connie even made it all the way around the “circle” once.

Connie’s goal for the month was stained glass. She was able to do the cutting outside (shade and weather allowed her to be outside until 1 pm), and the rest could be done inside in the air conditioning. Eventually her goal of 8 suncatchers was complete, just a few too many to do at one time. She tried a new “mosaic” cross pattern that used up a lot of scrap glass and turned out quite nice. She also got serious and tied in all those yarn ends on the scrap yarn shawl – guess it will have to be some new projects now.

Our humming bird feeder was found less than 24 hours after putting it out and we had entertainment from them the whole month. John removed the inside screen and we have lots of photos of them dive-bombing each other and swirl dancing (both of which are likely mating moves showing off their strength and agility to each other). A friend from Wisconsin visited for a few days with all this activity behind his head, every time he was ready to take some pictures they would disappear! We captured them in a 3-minute video which we hope to get edited and posted to our web site and/or Facebook. By the end of the month there were two gaggles of Canada geese migrating through the area and John brought in two dark red maple leaves right before we left (one was soaked and flattened for our memory book).

Our “home church” when we are in Carlinville is Memorial Christian Church where we attend Sunday School, worship, and evening Bible Study. We are always blessed to be here. Our first Sunday there were goodbyes to a row of new faces to us. After seeing crop dusting helicopters in July, here was a whole row of several employees of a Kentucky/Tennessee based dusting company, many with a Mennonite background. Connie, of course, took the opportunity to ask about plane/helicopter colors for crop dusting; the color is determined by the manufacturer!

We had a Sunday night community concert followed by deserts scheduled at the church. We included a few slides of the volunteer work we did over the last year and shared the SOWER (Servants On Wheels Ever Ready) ministry along with lots of music. It was a great evening and we had desert for the rest of the week! Our last Sunday morning we shared two songs for special music, along with a helper. There is a talented brass player who has secretly, until now, wanted to play with us sometime so we included him in our planning. It was great getting to know them better with a meal and practice at his house, and he came to church Sunday morning with his “stringed” trumpet and great improvisation making this really Special Music for all!

Months ago, when the gas/diesel prices raised, we decided to not travel so frequently; however, we already had our summer months planned out which included a 2-day trip south at the end of August. We were able to stay an extra day in Illinois realizing it was only one long day’s drive so we had everything ready to go before bedtime. We woke early to finish the last few things and were on the road at 8 am Saturday morning. The drive around the south loop of St. Louis went very smoothly, Connie managed to snap a few photos of the arch along with navigating, and we switched drivers twice before reaching Hyati, MO for a fuel stop while still on Interstate highways.

The partly cloudy skies were great for driving and the roads were quite smooth until the last 100 miles or so. It was strange seeing dead armadillos on the shoulders just a bit south of St. Louis; passing by the Missouri Safari Park where Connie noticed wildebeest and ostrich (or emu), along with the giraffe on their sign; realized we were traveling the “Rockabilly Highway” in Chester County, TN; and as we skirted around Selmer, TN there was a flowing music staff and notes making Connie wonder if this was the home of Selmer Band instruments. Although the final stretch of highway had some rough spots, it remained divided 4-lane making our arrival a bit sooner than we thought – we were unhooked and mostly settled at 3:30, finishing our partially melted ice cream, and both in bed by 8 pm!

(Trivia – inquiring minds want to know, and Google makes it so easy! Alas, Selmer TN has nothing to do with band instruments. Conn-Selmer is a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, manufactured in Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina in the U.S. However, Selmer is the home of the Rockabilly Highway Revival next summer (selmerrockabilly.com). Highway 45 south, midway between Memphis and Nashville, Tupelo MS and Jackson TN (McNairy County) was ground zero for the cultural explosion that formed rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll music.)

We attended Waldron Street Christian Church in Corinth, MS the next morning, joining the Sunday School class then worship. We were invited to and attended the evening Bible Study followed by a late meal with a group from church at a local Mexican restaurant. John had made previous contact with this church and we will be having a concert there next week. The issues with starting the truck were worse after traveling and many reached out with numbers and contacts if we got stranded; thankfully we made it home (holding our breath a few times) after our many stops on Sunday.

John was up bright and early Monday morning making calls for the truck and mobile RV service providers. An appointment was made at a local Chevy dealer where we received great service and the price was much less than we anticipated, the prayers of God’s people are effective! We did settle on a mobile RV service person, the results of that will be for next month. Again, another month has begun, we await God’s leading and will give thanks and praise knowing He will use us to be a blessing to this area we are calling “home” this month!

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit” . . . For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “in returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:1, 15 ESV

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

John and Connie Nicholas
Salty Strings Music Ministry

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS
*August 27 – September 30 – Cross City RV, Corinth, Mississippi
*September 30 – December – SOWER Project, French Camp, Mississippi

The Salt Shaker – July 2022

July 31, 2022August 11, 2022 Salty Strings Music Ministry

“For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.” Deuteronomy 2:7 ESV

Praises – Kitchen ceiling fan working, protection and great weather for travel days, memories with friends and family

Prayers – Truck starting trouble, mobile RV service people, recording and getting songs to web page, consistency in exercise and losing weight

Hello to our friends, family and followers:

July 2022 could be summed up as full of food, family, friends, and funerals along with two travel days. We continued our June stay, adding another 102 hours this month on the sound booth expansion. John finished up bracing the steps, plywood, drywall (including fixing Connie’s poor seams), braces for countertop and shelves, countertop design/installation, combining old and new oak trim (matched router design pretty well), and designing/modifying shelves. There was a lot of time sanding wood and drywall, matching existing wood stains, and several coats of polyurethane for the wood parts as well as painting the drywall and a bit of touch-up on some old walls.

Connie helped repurpose some old materials, made stain mixes, finished wiring the new plugs, and dealt with all the media cords and wires. The “sound” stuff was dismantled on a Monday morning, moved out of the way, and put back on the new countertop the following Saturday. Thanks to prayers and lots of photos the sound check in the afternoon went very well (once we remembered to turn on the power strip) and after a glitch with the computer keyboard the projection worked as well. This was a collective effort including many church participants with donations of materials, loaning of equipment, multiple minds for the “how-to-do’s” and labor! Our thanks to all who helped us finish this expansion.

We enjoyed our Sundays at Lane Church as well as all our visits with so many friends in this area. There were 2 invites for cookouts where we enjoyed grilled steak, chicken, bratwurst, and veggies along with chocolate and peach pie; many meals out with church friends; a visit with Connie’s puzzle friend in Weldon (the last city we lived in), and with a shut-in. After sharing the saying on a plaque John saw somewhere we received a trailer-size travel-friendly version for our home.

This month also included helping at the funeral dinner for an older member of the church as well as attending two funerals. Another church member, about our age, planned his funeral in December when he went into hospice care. He wanted his funeral to clearly present the message of eternal life for those who accept Jesus as their savior; it did and even included an altar call at the end. The day before we left, we attended the funeral of our friend from the care facility. This funeral was a celebration of life with fantastic piano and organ music, and we heard him sing “The King is Coming” at his own funeral. All the funerals were exceptional as we learned more about these men of faith. We added another thing-to-do to our list – plan our funerals since we never know when our last days and end of this life will be. Who knows, perhaps we will sing at our own funerals or have an altar call.

These are some other notable events, in no particular order, from the month. John’s coffee maker “died” causing much grief until a new one was found a week later. The end of June and early July is strawberry time in the north, prompting a text from our oldest son in Phoenix (as well as a family chat) for Connie’s grandma’s shortcake recipe – we prefer a sweeter biscuit type shortcake covered with mashed strawberries and whip cream. Our truck airbag recall was finally taken care of and John’s “new” bicycle was packed up and returned, in this case two strikes and you’re out. The Illinois country roads for our commute to church are narrow, two lane, no center stripe, with lots of 45 degree turns – it was quite a surprise to see a helicopter at the end of a straight stretch. It landed in the grassy outside corner of the turn and took off just as we rounded the bend, back to crop dusting!

We had two opportunities for music this month. The first was at Lane Church where we did a special piece along with the worship music for the service. Our second program was at a new facility in Lincoln, IL. Our former host and joke teller from the “Jolly Seniors” group was in this facility due to a stroke and his wife made the contact, knowing he would appreciate hearing us again. However, we received a message from her that morning letting us know he had died. Our choice of songs and ministry was very well received; we had forgotten how much residents of care facilities enjoy the older songs and chatter we bring!

Connie had some time alone to finish up the curtains only to find new rods were needed as well as an end cap repair before they could be hung; new rods were ordered and the curtains laid aside for now. She finished the shawl and researched weaving in the ends, but hasn’t tackled that yet (will make future yarn joins a bit different so this daunting task will not be needed!). There was a deep cleaning day, cleaning both air conditioners and the kitchen ceiling fan (a bit greasy from previous owners). The fan had quit opening up but to her surprise it worked fine after manually opening it to clean. Right before packing, she pulled out all the stained glass pieces, printed off the patterns, and set aside pieces to use next month.

On Thursday, July 21 we had an enjoyable large breakfast before leaving at 11 am to go north to see more friends and family. After an accident-prone morning (John ramming his big toe, scraping his arm, bumping his head, and breaking a finger nail as a water spigot broke) we had good travel weather and traffic. We arrived and found we could pull through into our spot with great ease, got settled with the a/c on, then met friends for supper, great blessings to end our day.

We were in the Beloit, WI area for only a week so the eating out began as we visited with 10 people: Connie’s old school friends, John’s first barber in the area, and owners of the bagel shop where we played on Saturday mornings getting a good foundation for our music ministry. Our oldest son was in the area (from Phoenix) and he chauffeured us in his Tesla rental to see our grand-daughter’s day camp program (what a treat!). Tesla’s are pretty neat, all kinds of gadgets and a “frunk!” (Front trunk).

We had a Sunday afternoon family gathering at Beckman Mill with 14 total for a potluck picnic followed by some photos. We walked around the beautiful grounds and remembered many other events here that involved us. Our “missing” son from Virginia was with us through a gift John received while at the picnic – a new job T-shirt advertising Paul Reed Smith guitars. Our last evening, we were able to see Connie’s sister and husband and eat out one final time. Our first choice had a car show but the food line was too long so we moved into town and enjoyed our time with them. John enjoyed the car show, seeing a 1957 Studebaker Hawk, but preferred his ride in one (1960) while we were at one of our cookout invites.

The weather in Beloit was quite warm and a bit muggy, we had two thunder storms, one leaving us with no power for a few hours but no damage. We took a few walks in the evening, enjoyed 2 laps around the Lagoon in Beloit, and Connie had her first laundromat visit in a long time (3 loads and only lost $1 to faulty driers). We accomplished our Wisconsin “must do” things – stock up on bagels from Bagels and More and get Prime Time calzone, leaving with over a dozen bagels in the freezer and calzone we ate for our travel lunch (the rest never made it to the freezer)!

Thursday, July 28 we were up early to finish packing, leaving at 10 am and enjoying calzone as we traveled south to our August SOWER project. We arrived at 3:30, parked under a street lamp, and had just a few sprinkles as we finished. Not as good a location as we hoped with a wifi/phone signal that comes and goes, and we (Connie) misjudged where the daytime sun would travel (north was not quite where she thought it was). We are glad to be back to another of our “home” churches and were invited to lunch after Sunday’s service, with a total of 10 gathered – how wonderful to be a part of God’s HUGE family.

Here in Carlinville, IL, our humming birds have returned to our feeder (very aggressive), we picked up an insect that traveled 3 miles into town from the camp, replaced our old falling apart lawn chairs, and attended an ice cream social/community band concert with a bassoon but no bass clarinet (there is a 41-year-old story here) all in the first 3 days of our arrival. The town square was full and there was a beautiful fiery orange-red brilliant sunset to finish the evening.

This has been a very precious time in our travels; our visits with family and friends old and new, creating wonderful new memories, and sharing remembrances of the past, both good and bad. This is what makes up the fabric of life for all of us. May we truly enjoy our time with each other when we can, there may not be another opportunity.

“ . . . your punishment is over. The Lord has forced your enemies to turn and retreat. Your Lord . . . stands at your side; you don’t have to worry about any more troubles. Your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.” Zephaniah 3:15, 17 paraphrased CEV

Until next month – thanks for traveling with us!

TRAVEL PLANS AND UPCOMING LOCATIONS

July 28 – August 26 – SOWER Project, Carlinville, IL
August 26 – September 28 – Month off, Cross City RV Park, Corinth, MS
September 28 – December – SOWER Project, French Camp, Mississippi

The Salt Shaker – June 2022

June 30, 2022July 10, 2022 Salty Strings Music Ministry

“In all the work you are given, do the best you can. Work as though you are working for the Lord, not any earthly master. Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, who will give you what he promised his people. Yes, you are serving Christ. He is your real Master.” Colossians 3:23-24 Easy-to-Read Version

Praises – Arm healing-no bandage, showers and sleeping great (finally); precious time with family; safe travels; our church work helpers and gifts of cookies and food!

Prayers – Continued recording; time and wisdom for web page songs; on-site diagnosis/troubleshooting for RV repairs convertor/invertor/battery and heat pump/fan; September location/plans

Hello to our friends, followers, and family:

Our extra week of rest at our previous volunteer project went very quickly! We treated ourselves to lunch out in Lewisburg as we topped off our gas and supplies, passing by the dragon mailbox and dinosaur sculpture along the way (never did stop and get pictures). It was a very hot and humid packing up day, Connie never left the trailer, and we were on our way north on June 2nd. Our first day was overcast with lots of construction delays and we went a few hours further than planned to find a Walmart that allowed overnight parking. We purchased our usual supper snacks and settled in bed only to have a noisy refer semi park next to us. We didn’t get much sleep between temperature and noise.

Travel day 2 brought the good news-we could walk to McDonald’s for a nice breakfast before leaving. The bad news-their lobby was closed, so we headed out, stopping about an hour later for gas and breakfast eaten in the truck. We arrived in Macomb, IL about 12:30 pm and were unhitched a bit before 2 pm, after numerous attempts to keep all trailer wheels on the narrow mobile home wheel tracks on this lot. We found that our invertor had not worked during our travels and our refrigerated items were bad. The freezer had not yet thawed thankfully. We proceeded to order Chinese carry-out, get some groceries, eat dinner, enjoy a wonderful shower (always refreshing after 2 travel days) and crashed for the night.

Our setup was the essentials only since this was a short, 1 week stay to visit with family and friends in the area. John was able to see his brother a couple of times, had a great afternoon visit with an aunt, and time with his sister and niece. We took a few bike rides, a bit tough since it’s been a while, and ate out quite a bit. On one of our many lunches with family John’s parking was just a bit over zealous, we try to keep our long truck backend in as far as possible.

We packed up (in a slight misty rain) and were back on the road on June 10 traveling to our home church camp outside Clinton, IL. The travels went well, we were parked before the rain started up and headed into town for an early supper. Again, our invertor didn’t work. The “light” was on but not the refrigerator. This was a short trip and nothing spoiled. We have checked all the manuals and racked our brains (more than once), determining it is time to find an expert to check each component and find the problem(s).

We will be here for 3 more weeks, about as permanent as it gets lately, so our trailer décor is up again making things feel more like home. Within an hour after hanging our hummingbird feeder our humming friends found it. We have seen deer, rabbits, and a golden hawk soaring above, typical of our stays here. The weather has been extremely hot and humid and, as usual it is windy, but so nice to be back in our home area.

John started right in with 25 volunteer hours by the end of the month for the camp. He painted some gutters and an exterior door, adjusted the door closer, and cleaned dried-on tile grout from 4 showers. Lots of scrubbing! Along with this, he measured and provided a material list for our home church’s sound booth expansion and volunteered another 40 hours with Connie by the end of the month. The old end wall was removed, new 2×6 side walls, stringers, floor joists, and plywood with trap doors added. Connie found mineral spirits and lots of scraping worked best to get most of the sticky glue from the floor –it was still a bit sticky but you could walk across the floor and your shoes stayed on your feet!

Salty Strings had one program in June in Lincoln, IL. We realized we haven’t used our new sound system much at all and really had to reach way back trying to remember how we hooked it all up! Everything must have been correct once we boosted the volume because we had many positive comments about our instruments and song choices, as well as a great meal. This program allowed us to visit a friend in town before we headed back home, she is such a blessing to us and we were able to reminisce about her family as well. We have two events coming up in July and one concert for sure in August. We are busy and blessed to be able to share our music ministry with so many in the coming months.

We decided to order two folding bicycles after trying one at a local bicycle shop (too expensive for us there). They arrived very quickly and John assembled his the next day. He had a problem with a broken valve stem and couldn’t even ride it for a few days. Connie’s old bicycle hasn’t worked well for quite some time and the new assembly went smoothly followed by a short ride around the camp. It is a bit different, much shorter pedaling radius, and her knees were a bit sore (remedied by some seat/handlebar adjustments later). John fixed the valve stem, we had another longer ride around camp, and then he “folded” them up and found they are quite easy to fit into the back seat for travel (what we were hoping to accomplish). When he took them out of the truck and “un-folded” them, his handlebar tightening thingy stripped out, and after much thought and prayer we decided to return his and order a different brand.

With all the heat and humidity Connie has stayed in the trailer quite a bit, but has not been idle. She started with several days of hemming pants for John, 4 pair total. Then she worked on the living room curtains, undoing several fabric tape edges and shortening them. It has been a slow process but only two windows are not done at the end of the month. She used what she had, hand washing the panels in the sink and turning our counter top into an ironing board for her lightweight travel-size iron. There were a few pins, however, that were left on the floor, inadvertently (oops).

Connie completed a better plarn floppy hat and has started a knit shawl from yarn scraps. The shawl is very random colors and patterns and is fun to work on at night when nothing much is functioning (brain or body). She enjoys watching her new heart wind ornament (hanging inside where the air vent blows) as well as the hummingbirds while she is crafting and sewing.

We had a hot but wonderful day of travel back to the Macomb area (without the trailer which is nice) and even topped 20 miles-per-gallon! With diesel prices so high we don’t make many trips but wanted to see family again while we are fairly close. We were able to help our niece and husband look at a travel trailer for them to live in until permanent housing is found, took John’s sister her early birthday present, and have supper with his brother and wife before heading back home. We had early fireworks with double and triple lightning strikes with heavy rain on the way there, good weather after arriving, and more lightning and rain on the way back, getting only slightly wet from the truck to the trailer. This rain was much needed and the corn grew over a foot higher in just a few days. We now have to watch all corners for oncoming traffic, even in our tall truck!

“Before mountains were born, before You fashioned the earth and filled it with life, from ages past to distant futures, You are truly God. . . . Teach us to number our days so that we may truly live and achieve wisdom. . . . Let Your work of love be on display for all Your servants; let Your children see Your majesty. And then let the beauty and grace of the Lord, our God, rest upon us and bring success to all we do; yes, bring success to all we do!
Psalm 90:2, 12, 16-17 The Voice

Tune in again next month for our volunteer and ministry update!

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
June 10-July 21 – Little Galilee Christian Camp, Clinton, IL volunteer and church help
July 21-28 – Pearl Lake, South Beloit, IL with family and friends
July 28-August 26 – SOWER Project, Carlinville, IL
August 26 – September 28 – Month off, undetermined at this time
September 28-December – SOWER Project, French Camp, Mississippi

The Salt Shaker – May 2022

May 31, 2022June 9, 2022 Salty Strings Music Ministry

“I [the Lord] will strengthen you . . . so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other” and “From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised” Isaiah 45:5b-6 and Psalm 113:3 NIV

Praises – Arm healing going well; getting back to recording studio; protection during travel.

Prayers – Continued healing of Connie’s arm, sore skin from bandages and patience for another month; John’s back almost normal; peaceful times to continue recording, knowledge to get old and new songs to web page; safe travel and places to park overnight.

Hello to our family, followers, and friends:

We were ready to hook up and hit the road on Friday morning April 29, feeling good and ready to see some Wisconsin praise band friends for our overnight at their under-construction home near Memphis, TN. As typical in our travels, we always learn something: this time was deciphering the Natchez Trace intersections with the highways! We headed south to catch the highway to the interstate however after a few missed opportunities (because Connie, the navigator, thought they were going on small roads through town) we ended up a long way south with minor roads (hilly, narrow, and low tree branches in several places) to get to the interstate – over an hour for our “quick, easy” interstate access. The drive went well after that, passing by muddy shallows, geese, ducks, and a small alligator, arriving to good food and conversation and sleeping. Day 2 of travel started with a wonderful bacon and egg breakfast, skirting around north Memphis, no traffic problems, and lots of bumpy bridges before arriving outside Chapel Hill, Tennessee on Saturday. We had a beautiful place to park with a view out our main window of the woods, reminiscent of our early new home years in Wisconsin.

The weather was a bit hotter and more humid than we expected with two weeks of above normal temperatures. When our host asked what kind of work the ladies liked, Connie spoke up with demolition. Another SOWER lady agreed, and the gals started with taking down the landing and steps from a second-floor exit – pulling nails, hauling material, and cutting with the saws-all! With a bit of help the task was completed, ending the second day raking wood chips into a tractor bucket for relocation. After that Connie realized she was being a bit too physical for her arm condition and went to painting – double chapel steel door frames and inside, then covering the new construction deck remodel. There were a few days of weeding (not fun), blowing up newer and moving old mattresses, and some sign touch-up painting.

There were several walks, about 0.25 miles to the maintenance building from our trailer, a shortcut from the camp area to maintenance, about a mile around the camp, and almost 0.5-mile round trip to the dumpsters with our trash – all of this with lots of critters to see. There were huge turkeys (two walked past the windows during devotions one morning) in very large groups; the pasture with donkeys, cattle, horses, and sheep; deer, sometimes in front of the truck in the road; and some peacocks fenced in on our drive into town. John found some armadillo friends at the lady’s shower facility, and Connie had a beautiful iridescent blue tailed with green and yellow body stripes lizard outside the chapel.

John was the primary lead (along with the host) for the lady’s shower doors that needed to be completed in 2 weeks for campers to use. He had lots of tools for cutting, sanding, glue and clamping, installation, metal roof pieces, special hinge building, and the finished doors (10) looked wonderful! The final week was little things, tuning up mowers, sharpening blades, raking wood chips, putting away the mattresses the ladies blew up, leaf blowing, and organizing a storage area. Lots of sweat, dirt, and sawdust included in our 117 volunteer hours this month. There were a few back problems on arrival, but he worked through them and felt much better with some extra rest after our volunteer work was done.

Our church experiences were unusual, attending three very different churches during our stay. We visited the United Methodist Church and Grove Hill Fellowship in Chapel Hill along with Fellowship Community Church outside of Laws Hill. We went once on a Wednesday night to see the Case for Christ’s Resurrection, very scientific-based proof that verifies Biblical writings. We were invited to Glenn’s Chapel UMC for a Friday night jam session where there were some great solo singers, a praise team, and we shared a few songs as well. It was a very warm evening and the air conditioning in this small church had quit, but it was an evening of good pizza, fellowship, and spontaneous prayer as needs arose.

Connie spent a lot of time finishing up some craft projects and using some of the yarn acquired last month. She made a crocheted back for a reversible hot pad with a very old sample knit pattern for the other side, cut netting to make a dish scrubby-cloth, finished another baby blanket trying to match what was started using up the yarn and adding a ruffled edge, and a baby blanket for a new addition to our niece’s family. Something to keep her hands busy in the evenings as well as reducing material we’ve been carrying around for years. This was also a time to let her surgery area be uncovered, hopefully speeding up the healing. She can now sleep comfortably on her right side (wonderful) and it is very slowly getting smaller, but bandages are still needed.

We are getting used to limited “world” access with another month of poor TV reception, little to no phone reception (unless you find the right spot above the window) and limited use of hotspot that depends on phone signal. Internet was available at the camp, and worked well when doing laundry, but the phone signal just didn’t exist, even in the nearby town. We researched getting a signal booster eventually finding that was not an option with our phones – frustrating and discouraging, but a reminder of how easy it is to get into the “we deserve it” instead of remembering our true needs are always provided. We made arrangements with the camp to stay an extra week, getting a bit more rest, a chance to go through more tutorial videos for recording, complete one song (after discussion and agreement of tracks), work on recording some more, and taking more leisurely walks including finally getting to the Duck River bank where we could see why this is a well-known canoeing area. The water looked great but there was evidence of very high water in the tree limbs above us (this camp didn’t offer much canoeing last year because the water was so high).

We are looking forward to more traveling next month as well as getting back to our “home” areas of this fabulous land we live in. Spring always brings the new crops, waving grasses, and even rain and thunderstorms: but all these are more familiar once we reach Illinois. Along with visiting family and friends we will be helping enlarge a sound booth at our home church and doing some volunteer work at the camp where we will be staying.

Make a glad sound to the Lord, all the earth. Give worship to the Lord with joy; come before Him with a song. Be certain that the Lord is God; it is He who has made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep to whom He gives food. Psalm 100:1-3 (Basic English Bible)

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,
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
June 3-10 – Kiljordan Meadows, Macomb, Illinois near family
June 10-July 21 – Little Galilee Christian Camp, Clinton, IL volunteer and church help
July 21-28 – Pearl Lake, South Beloit, IL with family and friends
July 28-August 26 – SOWER Project, Carlinville, IL
August 26 – September 28 – Month off, undetermined RV park at this time
September 28-December – SOWER Project, French Camp, Mississippi

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