![\"\"](\"https://i0.wp.com/www.marshmallowranch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/173186c98ae7c44640afa5f024e4d9dc.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\")
”Learn to Dance in the Rain” - AI by Ginny McKinney with Meta AI
\n\n\nDarlings…what a weekend! It has rained about 4.5” since Friday. The ground is so wet that when you walk across the yard, it’s like a bog. Squish…Squish…Squish. There is so much water in the pool, it’s pouring out the overflow. The creeks are roaring. But there’s no water coming into the basement. Ever since we started putting the root killer down the storm drain, it hasn’t overflowed. It came close Saturday night, but we put the crystals in and within twenty-four hours the water level was down two inches. We just have to be vigilant and use it regularly.
\n\n\nThe water in the drain is not the only thing going down. I made the awful mistake of looking at my retirement fund last night. Here’s a helpful tip…DO NOT DO THAT! At first my heart sank. Knowing it is likely to fall more today is disconcerting. As hard as that is to take, I know God has always taken care of us and we are more precious than the birds in the fields. I know it’s hard not to worry, it really is. But last night, I just sat with God and told Him I put my life in His hands twenty-one years ago. I’m not backing out when the going gets tough.
\n\n\nLike most people, we are looking at more ways to cut our expenses. I think satellite is out. We’ll soon have fiber optic internet here. Once that is installed, we can drop the DSL line and stream what we can get online. I’ve cut out extra spending. We only buy what is necessary these days. I know we are taking this trip to the beach, but it’s already paid for as is my flight to Colorado this summer.
\n\n\nIt is a good thing we don’t eat much meat anymore. We are going to make some raised beds for greens to add to our diet. I bake all of our bread. We don’t eat much dairy but I do keep powdered milk and canned evaporated milk in the pantry. I grew up making do with what we had. Yes…I have been terribly “advantaged” in my adult life. But, I’ve been studying and practicing homesteading and survival skills for a very long time.
\n\n\nWe are heading into lean times, I’m afraid. And I’m not telling you all of this to worry you or scare you. I look at paring down to the bare essentials as more like a game to see how little we need to get by.
\n\n\nHappiness is most often mind over matter.
\n\n\nIf you don’t mind…it don’t matter.
\n\n\nDo what you can with what you have.
\n\n\nUse it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.
\n\n\nStart small.
\n\n\nSlow and steady wins the race.
\n\n\nPray about it. Pray over it. Pray through it.
\n\n\nAnd remember…the pendulum always swings back.
\n\n\n🩵🌷🙏🏼🌷🩵
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
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Gratitude Journal\n\n", "date_published": "2025-04-07T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2025/04/07/learn-to-dance-in-the.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Prayer","Hope","Growth","Gratitude","Comfort","God","Downsizing","Choices","Farm Life","Anxiety","Frustration"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2025/02/18/uhoh.html", "title": "Uh-Oh!", "content_html": "\n
Today I am grateful for my humble upbringing with a grandma who taught me how to make do. I am grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who wants us to prosper and who will take care of us.
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/e1690f638b.jpg\")
Somehow, my iPad went into restore mode. I’ve been deleting things off it to make more room, then this popped up last evening. Yikes! I’ve been running this thing on spit and bandaids. It may very well have kicked the bucket! I’ve relied on this iPad for ALL of my writing for the last eight years. Let’s hope I can give it CPR in the morning!
\n\n\nEverything else is good. I took the Christmas decorations down yesterday. I’ll write more tomorrow when I get this thing figured out.
\n\n\n![\"🩵\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/c3a832f18a.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/6ae65f5654.jpg\")
I didn’t feel terrific when I went to bed Wednesday night. I woke up feeling worse, but thought I’d better make something soothing for breakfast for Gail and me. I ended up making grits and eggs and, while it tasted pretty good going down, within an hour I was sick as a dog. I shooed Gail out and spend the next two hours worshiping porcelain. I also had chills and couldn’t get warm. I have a kind of “cocktail” my doctor has prescribed me for just such occasions. I took it and went to sleep for three hours and woke up feeling much better. I had felt so bad earlier, I considered asking Mr. FixIt to come up and be with me, but if I had a virus, a little camper is pretty tight quarters and I surely didn’t want him to catch something. It turns out it was probably a combination of something I ate and the fact I’m burning the candle at both ends. Although I didn’t eat much the rest of the day, I did stay hydrated and basically just took it easy…sitting with Gail and knitting under the pavilion here at the campground.
\n\n\nYesterday was beautiful. The temperature was in the low seventies and the sky was clear. The birds were trying to out sing each other. When I woke up from my nap, I sat in my recliner with a mug of hot tea. I kept hearing something. Honestly, it sounded like a bird or a small critter on the roof of the slide out. Every time I got up to listen, it would stop for a few moments then I’d hear it somewhere else. All of a sudden it dawned on me. We have a MOUSE in the camper! Ugh!!!
\n\n\nI’ve been meaning to put some traps around but never got to it. We keep the camper out in the field at home and we’ve never had a mouse. Not till we got to the campground here. The camper that sat in this site before me was really, really old. It had split seams and duct tape. The gentleman and his dog were living in the camper and moving from state park to state park every two weeks. That’s as long as you are allowed to stay in on park. This is done to keep people from just living there. I felt for him. I’ve lived in my camper before by choice. It’s an entirely different thing to live in one because you have no other choices.
\n\n\nThis campground is surrounded by woods so picking up little tiny livestock is pretty easy…especially if you have a very old camper with lots of openings that let the critters in. I’m going to have to look around the undercarriage of the camper to see if there are any holes in it that would allow mice in. Gail gave me a DCon trap and we went to Dollar General later to pick up a couple more. I did see the mouse eating the little DCon brick and by evening I hadn’t heard it. I’d much rather seal up any holes than to set traps, but beggars can’t be choosers when you’re in the woods in a camper. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
\n\n\nGail and I sat out and talked in the pavilion till about dark. We had to reschedule our visit with Jan at her farm which was really disappointing. I didn’t know if I was contagious and I surely didn’t want to get her sick. She has a busy upcoming schedule…as we all do. I’m just really grateful that it seems to have been a brief upset and I will feel much better today.
\n\n\n🌸🩵🌸
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2024-05-17T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2024/05/17/making-the-best-of-disappointment.html", "tags": ["Camping","Comfort","Frustration"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2023/08/18/the-three-amigas-and-the.html", "title": "The Three Amigas and the Banged Up Lincoln", "content_html": "\n“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
\nRomans 5:3-4 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/45f321d116.jpg\")
We’re lucky to get the three of us together once a year. And it’s usually sometime in August when JP does a drive-by on her way to a big meeting somewhere. We had such a wonderful visit, shared a couple of meals, and before we knew it, she was gone again on her travels west.
\n\n\nAfter our buddy left, Gail and I went to Main Street to check out a couple of antique shops. I found an old oil lamp for $5 to leave out at the farm for when the electricity goes off. I also found the cutest shower curtain for when we redo the main bathroom at Marshmallow Ranch. Gail found a couple of pictures, a garden flag, and ten Fiesta Ware plates in Cobalt for $9.99! They were definitely well used, but perfectly fine to use. I was happy I could contribute to the economy of East Palestine. Everyone was so welcoming and kind. Good people.
\n\n\nMr. FixIt called in the middle of the afternoon and sounded distraught. Turns out he was pulling into the driveway and when he put his foot on the brake, it slipped off and he hit the gas instead. He demolished the garage door and banged up the Lincoln pretty good. He wasn’t hurt, thank goodness! He felt so bad, but it wasn’t his fault. Accidents happen. That’s why they don’t call them purposes.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/6b252b758e.jpg\")
Gail heated up the salmon and made another wonderful salad. I love summer meals. So simple and fresh. We went outside and sat on the porch knitting till it started raining then we came over here to the cottage and visited for another hour or so. I’ll leave here this morning but we’ll be back the middle of August to camp nearby. This is such a beautiful place to be with such great friends.
\n\n\nWe’ll need to take the car in later today and pick up a rental car while they fix the Lincoln. I suppose there is a chance they would total it if they can’t find the parts. It’s a 2002, after all. We’ll see.
\n\n\nWow…summer is nearly gone!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
\nRomans 8:18 NLT\n
#Accident, #Damage, #Insurance, #Friends
\n\n", "date_published": "2023-08-18T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2023/08/18/the-three-amigas-and-the.html", "tags": ["Gratitude","Friends","Frustration"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2023/04/04/its-tax-time-again.html", "title": "It’s Tax Time Again!", "content_html": "\n![\"Tax](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b7c3ce1336.jpg\")
“It’s tax time!”
\n\n\nHey, remember how I’m always tearing my hair out when it’s time to do the taxes? I get on the laptop and find out its been so long since I’ve been on it that I need to do eight hours of work just updating everything. Then, I realize that I didn’t download anything but the first quarter of the year into my financial software so I spend another two or three days downloading and categorizing everything. It’s crazy making!
\n\n\nWell, this year you’re going to be so proud of me! I had all the financial information downloaded and categorized by the first week in January! And, since I’ve been working on the shop he lat three months, everything is in good working order for the laptop. I gathered all the papers together yesterday afternoon and this morning I’ll sit down and knock those taxes out in record time!
\n\n\nI was thinking back to when I was a little girl and watching my grandma and mom doing their taxes. They went to the post office and picked up the booklet for Federal and one for state then went home and ciphered a little with a piece of paper and a pencil nub. Then they checked their math a second time and carefully filled in the numbers on the forms. They folded them up, stuffed them in an envelope, licked the seal then licked the stamp, and walked to the mailbox to send them off…the little red flag raised. What a simple time it was back then. Taxes seem so complicated now. Business taxes, a rental house, plus the usual stuff gets overwhelming after a while.
\n\n\nSpeaking of a pencil nub, that reminded me of my Pop-Pop. He always carried a little tiny pocket notebook where he kept track of the odd jobs he did for people and how much he charged them. My grandparents didn’t have much money so extras were few and far between. I don't ever remember them having a pencil sharpener. Pop-Pop would take out his penknife and go out on the front porch to shave down and sharpen his pencil. And he would use that thing till it wasn’t more than an inch long. He was good at math and could figure out most anything in his head. I’ve been thinking about him a lot this week. He was born 124 years ago on April Fools Day! I was only seventeen when he died.
\n\n\nI have a picture of him that I treasure. I stumbled on it when I was writing the book about the farm after it sold. Grandma was what my family called “picture poor.” She may not have had money for much, but she’d starve before she went without film and flashbulbs. I used to buy her postage stamps, film, and flashbulbs for Christmas. But her pictures left a lot to be desired. She always stood about 30’ away from people so she could “get everyone in the picture.” Which was nice, but unless you were there, you would never know who was in it. We always teased her about that. She cut people’s heads off a lot. My mom would cut people in half so you’d only get half the person or persons.
\n\n\nYou know…I can’t even remember which eye I used to look through the viewfinder. Kids today wouldn’t have a clue, would they?
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah”
\nPsalm 89:37 ESV\n
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
\n\n\n*Faith over Fear…a daily reminder.*
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/9187888622.jpg\")
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Oh, it’s so hard to have cold weather on the heels of such pretty days, but here it is. I did something really stupid yesterday morning. A totally rookie mistake. I got everything put together to leave except for bring the slide in. I wanted to see if there were any leaves on top of it. I walked out to the road in front of the campsite and stood on my tippy toes and could see there were just a few leaves up there. I was trying to figure out how I could get up there and blow those things off with the leaf blower when I notice there was room along the side. I could back the truck up, stand on the tailgate, and those leaves would be off there in a jiffy.
\n\n\nI jumped in the truck, started it up, and drove about a foot forward when I realized I’d made a TERRIBLE mistake. That’s when I realized…I hadn’t unhooked the truck the night before like I always do. The back end of the camper was on the jacks and my moving it forward bent them up terribly. Oh, I was so mad at myself! I managed to get them up far enough that I could drive home. And I thought about it all the way back.
\n\n\nI decided to stop at the local RV place and get them replaced. I know we have one new scissor jack in that hardware store we call a building, but they didn’t have one to match it at the RV place and I didn’t want our pretty camper to look all hinky. This particular camper didn’t come with jacks on the front so we’ve been jerry rigging old stand jacks under the tongue. I figured it would look better to have matching jacks in the back, then we can order one jack to match the one in the building and we can put those on the front in the spring. Problem solved. Still…I felt pretty bad making such a rookie mistake.
\n\n\nI stopped to dump the water tanks on the way home. When I got there, I opened the hot water tank to drain it as well as the low water points and the freshwater tank. After the water was all gone, I turned the bypass valves and ran RV antifreeze through all the lines. So that’s the end of the water usage for the winter. We can still use the camper, of course. It just won’t be quite as convenient.
\n\n\nThis has been such a fun month packed full of camping. It’s hard to let it go.
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-10-18T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/10/18/here-comes-winter.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Camping","Frustration"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2022/10/12/paul-bunyans-got-nuthin-on.html", "title": "Paul Bunyan’s Got Nuthin’ on Me!", "content_html": "\n“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
\nGalatians 6:9 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/01dca4602e.jpg\")
We’re knocking out the chores here at Marshmallow Ranch. When I moved to Mr. FixIt’s place in November of 2017, there was a maple sapling in the flower bed in front of the kitchen window. It wasn’t very big…maybe an inch or a little more diameter. I kinda liked it because the birds would swoop in and then on the feeder. And in the fall, the leaves turned yellow…like aspen trees in Colorado.
\n\n\nFast forward five years and that sucker had grown higher than the house with a trunk at least six inches across. There are also three cedar trees out there. All of them are beginning to hang over and make contact with the roof over the family room and that’s creating a problem. They’re just way too close to the house so they have to go.
\n\n\nWe don’t do a huge amount of arboreal work, but from time to time, we need to take something out. When we ran across a deal on a small 14” electric chainsaw, we figured that would be good enough for the kinds of projects we have around here. A large tree limb fell at our rental house this spring so we had to cut that up. Later in the summer, another one came down and we used it again.
\n\n\nThis was the first time we’ve really used this chainsaw here at home and we faced a couple of issues. First, maple is fairly hard wood. It took a LOT of cutting to get it to the point of coming down. And second, the chain had gotten dull and it made the job a lot harder than it should have been.
\n\n\nWhen I was a young wife and mother and lived in the mountains of Colorado, our log home was on two acres a few miles out of town. We cut and split our own firewood because we were poor. I used a huge Stihl saw that made quick work of the soft woods we were cutting. As I worked away on that maple with that teeny tiny little toy chainsaw yesterday, I was getting frustrated because I know what a BIG rig can do.
\n\n\nI suggested we go rent a real chainsaw. My sweet Mr. FixIt reminded me we have a chainsaw…it’s right here…and all we need is a new chain. He’s right of course. I was just hot and tired and frustrated and wanted the job done as fast as possible. Instead, we ran to town, bought TWO replacement chains, then got dinner and sat by the river watching the sunset.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/79b040cb04.jpg\")
I may not have won the Great Chainsaw Debate…but I won a nice evening and a nice meal with a nice view and my BEST GUY. That trumps any ol’ chainsaw, any ol’ time!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-10-12T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/10/12/paul-bunyans-got-nuthin-on.html", "tags": ["Gratitude","Farm Life","Marriage","Frustration"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2022/08/26/two-steps-forward-three-steps.html", "title": "Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back…Cha Cha Cha!", "content_html": "\n““For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.”
\nJob 14:7 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/9ff93eddde.jpg\")
Good Morning from The Farm!
\n\n\nI woke up yesterday morning in my grandma’s room, in my grandma’s bed, and looked out my grandma’s window. The sun had just lit up the ridge atop the far hill with a sudden golden glow. I smiled and stretched and just enjoyed the peace of the moment…listening to the birds and bees and bugs zooming around out there.
\n\n\nI got up for my morning ablutions, dressed, and picked up my phone. I was preparing to make my morning coffee when I pressed the button on the coffee maker and…nothing. I looked down at my phone and there was no internet connection. I flipped on the ceiling light in the kitchen. Nope, no power.
\n\n\nI made my coffee by hand. Since the filter and grounds were already in the pot, I just heated up the water on the stove and made a “pour over”. Works like a charm. I took my coffee and my knitting out on the porch and sat there for a couple of hours enjoying my surroundings. Around 11:30, I heard the beep on the microwave and I knew the power had come back on.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/eca537dd8d.jpg\")
Grandma’s MASSIVE Hydrangea!
\n\n\nI called Mr. FixIt and found out the predicted high was near 90°…pretty hot without air conditioning. I was thinking I might tough it out till I went back in the bathroom again and heard this strange groaning sound. I thought there was some sort of animal stuck in the dryer vent but when I tipped my head this way and that, I finally figured out it was the pipes behind the toilet. I flushed it and it worked fine but I didn’t hear the familiar sound of water going back in the tank. That’s when I knew we had a pump problem.
\n\n\nApparently, when I flushed earlier, and the power was off, the built up pressure from the bladder in the pump housing was enough to refill the tank on the commode, but it also let the water level and pressure down enough to hit that magic point where the pump needs to be primed. Well, I had six large jugs of water, but I lacked the strength to unscrew the plug and prime the pump. I called Mr. FixIt and he offered to come out to fix it, but I elected to just go on home and we’ll go out together in the next few days to get it working again. It’s not a big deal…just an inconvenience.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/2e9136e12d.jpg\")
Pretty colors for the next wedding quilt!
\n\n\nI stopped at the darling quilt shop in our little town on the way home and picked out the material to make a quilt for one of my bonus granddaughters for their wedding gift. I haven’t chosen a pattern yet but the fabrics are stunning. I’ll have to put my knitting on hold for a little bit and get the top made so I can send it to the machine quilter so it will be done in time for the wedding next June.
\n\n\nMy next stop was our local market. They sell what they refer to as “tavern ham”. I just love it! It’s moist and juicy, a little sweet, and not overly salty. We had sandwiches for our early supper and watched the news. Mr. FixIt needed to finish mowing the back yard. At some point, he came in and said he’d run over a hose for the pool pump and we needed to fix it. I went out to see what he was talking about. He said we’d have to run to town today to get a replacement hose. My brain started going over the vast inventory in the big building out back and I was quite sure we already had a section of hose that would work. I went in, walked straight to it, and within ten minutes, we had the hose replace and the pump running efficiently with no leaks!
\n\n\nGrandma’s hydrangea bush was all abuzz on Wednesday afternoon…volume up!
\n\n\nSome days you go two steps forward, and three steps back. And then other times…you just do the Cha-Cha and call it a day!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-08-26T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/08/26/two-steps-forward-three-steps.html", "tags": ["The Farm","Farm Life","Frustration"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2022/06/28/thou-shalt-not-bully.html", "title": "Thou Shalt Not Bully", "content_html": "\n“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
\nProverbs 16:3 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/f8e3998cc5.jpg\")
I was angry last week. Now I’m more angry. I shared a post on my personal Facebook page regarding the decision from SCOTUS that will affect all women. I have my own beliefs about it, and I shared them. A dear friend countered with another perspective as is her right. I didn’t engage…I listened respectfully. Honestly, I didn’t really think any more about it because we were camping and I was trying to stay away from all the angry discourse on social media.
\n\n\nYesterday, I discovered the comments on my post took a turn and people were attacking my friend for her beliefs. Not only that, some started sending her viscous texts. They attacked her work. They encouraged others to do so, as well. It was unrelenting. I never take down posts, but I did this one out of respect for my friend. I never unfriend someone over politics or differing opinions. But I WILL unfriend and block someone for bullying…so fast it’ll make your head spin.
\n\n\nI know it seems like civil discourse is dead these days. It makes me sad to see such vitriol…especially from women to other women. We all have opinions. We may not agree with others, but there is never a point where bullying is ok. Respect each other. Show a little self control. I certainly have not been perfect at this. If you don’t like what you read, scroll on. Unhook. Snooze. Unfriend. Block. But never, ever bully my peeps. That is NOT cool. Jesus wouldn’t do that, so neither should we!
\n\n\nI spent the afternoon riding around the property on the tractor…mowing and contemplating. Should I say anything? Or just let it go? I decided every moment is a teaching moment, so here I am. Teaching Respect 101.
\n\n\nIt made the afternoon fly by!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-06-28T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/06/28/thou-shalt-not-bully.html", "tags": ["Anger","Change","Friends","Frustration"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2022/06/19/somebody-bring-me-a-bottle.html", "title": "Somebody Bring Me a Bottle!", "content_html": "\n““You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
\nLeviticus 19:17-18 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/12e2e7ee0c.jpg\")
Be still, my heart…this green!
\n\n\nNo…I’m not looking for a drink. I gave that up twenty-one plus years ago. What I want is a bottle that I can preserve this day in. Some way to put it on a shelf and save it up for January. Honestly, it could not have been a more beautiful day. With a high of 74° and a clear bluebird sky with a lovely breeze and brilliant sunshine, the green was so intense it almost hurt your eyes!
\n\n\nMr. FixIt ran to town first thing to tie up the tomatoes and do a little weeding. I ran to town to see if my package I’ve been waiting for was at the post office, but it was already out for delivery. I’ve been waiting for the new mounting bolts for the carburetor that I replaced on the push mower. I thought six were in the package, even though it only takes two. Well, when the mail was delivered later, there was only one bolt. I held my breath as I installed it because it doesn’t take much to strip the threads.
\n\n\nI got the bolts in…one old, one new. I turned the gas flow on and waited. No leaks!!! Whew! Now, to start it. It turned over on the second pull, but the throttle still surges. Doggone it. We fiddled with it and got to where it will mow, but something still isn’t right. We’ll have to take it in and see if they can adjust that throttle or perhaps it’s a fuel line issue. In the meantime, it is workable…enough to do what we need it to do, anyway.
\n\n\nI went ahead and finished with the riding mower and Mr. FixIt ran the weed eater. He mowed half the back yard with the push mower and I finished the other half. Somehow when we were working on the carburetor, I injured my wrist pushing myself up off the ground. I’ve had a little trouble with the joint at the base of my left thumb, but now it’s bigger trouble. I’ve got a thumb stabilizing wrist splint on it to keep from banging it and to remind me not to try to put my weight on it to get up.
\n\n\nI can still knit, though. So…there’s that!
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/f2159c4e40.jpg\")
Dodged a bullet on that one!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-06-19T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/06/19/somebody-bring-me-a-bottle.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Farm Life","Frustration"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2022/06/11/gramma-roseannadanna-is-at-it.html", "title": "Gramma Roseannadanna Is At It Again", "content_html": "\n“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
\n2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/dfc9a90588.jpg\")
Remember when Gilda Radner played Rosanne Roseannadanna on Saturday Night Live back in the day? She would make a point by saying, “It’s like my Gramma Roseannadanna always used to say, “It’s always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.”” Well, we picked up the camper from the service department at the dealership on Thursday and decided to stay overnight at a local state park to give the camper a once over. We just wanted to make sure everything worked as it should.
\n\n\nI went over that thing with a fine tooth comb. I got the water heater going which took a little doing. I couldn’t get it to light, but then I found out I wasn’t giving it long enough to start. Patience, patience. Once that was going, I made sure the water pump worked. It’s supposed to turn on, pump up to pressure, then kick off. Instead, it just ran and ran. That’s when I figured out you have to let the water run for a little bit to build up the pressure in the lines. THEN it quits. Again…patience.
\n\n\nI couldn’t figure out how to turn the ceiling fan on. I checked every fuse, every circuit breaker. I even checked the power at the pole. There was no reason why it shouldn’t work. Another call to my trusty service guys and they told me there is a main switch in the camper that turns off the overhead lights. If that switch is turned off, the fan will not come on. Yeah…patience.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/78d6158127.jpg\")
We camped at Lake Hope State Park near Nelsonville, OH. I’m telling you…that is a gorgeous campground. Really big, nestled in the trees, asphalt pads for parking your camper although there aren’t many that are real level. Nice clean shower houses and plenty of restrooms. Water is not available at your site, but it’s spread out all over the park so it’s easy to get to. And the birds? I captured the song of several birds I didn’t have on my list. I heard my first whippoorwill of the year there. I didn’t hear any owls which would have been icing on the cake. We sat out in our chairs all morning, ate breakfast and I knitted while Mr. FixIt read. A bunch of brown headed cowbirds came and walked all around us. We got everything packed up and headed home around 1:00 yesterday afternoon.
\n\n\nWe were getting close to home when we pulled into a rest area. As I walked around the back of the camper, I noticed one of the rear running lights was sticking way out at the bottom. Like it had been pried off or something. When we got home, we set up the camper and looked inside and the back wall is bowed in as though something is pulling it from inside the wall itself. I am not sure, but I think the spring that helps lift the top of the camper up has broken away from its mounting and pushed out on that light. I contacted the service center and spoke with the service manager. I sent him the pictures and he is sending them on to the manufacturer. I should hear something Monday. The camper will likely need to go to the factory for this repair. In the meantime, I taped a quart sized zipper lock storage bag over the light fixture to keep any rain or bugs out.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/30da24e316.jpg\")
I know this company. And I know they will do right by me and fix this. However, it’s still just a big pain in the rear to have something that’s brand new break so many things so early on. Thank goodness it is still under warranty. But as soon as this thing gets fixed, I’m selling it and getting something with fewer moving parts. I need something that’s already set up and I don’t have to mess with it in order to get inside.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/3daa92c0d5.jpg\")
Even with all that, we felt refreshed after just one night camping. It was such a treat. I got to camp all of May, but this was the first time my sweetheart got to go and he was so happy!
\n\n\nSo…the saga continues!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-06-11T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/06/11/gramma-roseannadanna-is-at-it.html", "tags": ["Camping","Big Birdhouse","Frustration"] } ] }“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,”
\nLuke 14:28-29 ESV\n