![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b1d96c28df.jpg\")
I figured I’d better make Mr. FixIt a nice breakfast after springing the bedroom remodel for the camper on him unexpectedly and at the last minute. I was up super early…for me. It wasn’t quite 5:00 and even though I tried to go back to sleep, it was no go. I had too many things whirling through my mind. I got up and searched Pinterest for remodel ideas till I heard my sweetie up and rummaging around. He didn’t have any special requests for breakfast, so I made us spinach and mushroom omelets. Ohhhhh, they were so good and he was a happy camper!
\n\n\nWe have a lot to do before the trip so I headed out to the camper to do a few things before I invited him out to see what I’ve done. He actually loved the design and he helped me tweak a few things. He told me in general what we needed to buy and I wrote everything down along with the measurements. We gathered up our lists and drawings and started to leave for Lowe’s when he got a phone call from our grandson.
\n\n\nThe trip to Portsmouth to buy a Jeep on Friday was a bust, but he found another one just west of Columbus. He wanted to know if his Grandpa would take him over there. We don’t get to see this young man often enough so of course he said yes…it’s what Grandpas do! I told Mr. FixIt to take my truck and I’d take his to town and buy the stuff. That turned into a five hour ordeal. I had to stop at Walmart first and get gas and a prescription. I wandered around there for a little bit buying some last minute things then headed over to Lowe’s.
\n\n\nThe store was slammed and they were short staffed. I finally found a nice young man who helped me till it was time to check out and go home. Then another nice young man took his place. They helped me select the right wood. They sorted and picked out the best and straightest boards in each size. I chose one kind of plywood then I thought I’d better check in with Mr. FixIt to see if he thought we should go a little thicker. We decided to go with the beefier plywood.
\n\n\nThat’s the way it went the whole time. I wanted white board and bead paneling for the base. Then I thought I’d better get the grey wood. The guys loaded in on my cart, but by the time I got up front, I changed my mind because if I’m going to go to all this trouble, I’d better get what’s going to make me smile every time I see it. I went back and got the white board and bead. Then I had to find the right screws, a multi-tool blade, a couple of piano hinges, and some Phillips head drill bits. We stripped a couple yesterday and I wanted to be sure I had just what I needed. I even found the piston hinges I wanted. The good thing is, I can return anything I don’t use.
\n\n\nBy 5:00 this afternoon, this fatigue I’ve been dealing with this week started coming on. I asked Hubby #2 the other night if my symptoms from the Shingrix shot were normal and he said yes…it’s just all part of it. I will say, yesterday’s symptoms were far less than the day before so it’s getting better. I did stay better hydrated and actually felt like eating something, so I’m sure that helped.
\n\n\nToday I can get back out there and start the build. I received a notification last night that we had a frost warning from 2:00 to 8:00 this morning. Ugh…we just can’t break out of this cycle. It won’t last long, but it won’t be very warm either. Building is the fun part!
\n\n\nOh, and just a note. I remember a few years ago I put something out here on my blog about putting your little scraps of thread and yarn out in the spring for birds to pick up…then you find colorful nests. However, that turned out to be wrong according to Julie Zickefoose, (https://www.juliezickefoose.blogspot.com )my favorite bird expert and friend that I’ve never met. Julie doesn’t live all that far from me but her life is busier than mine and that’s saying something! One of these days we’ll meet in person. Anyway, some of you suggested I put dryer lint out in the yard for the birds to use as nesting material and, you know me…I research the heck out of everything. Turns out, lint is NOT for the birds! Here’s a great article: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/providing-nest-material-for-birds-dos-donts/
\n\n\nSo, until tomorrow, I’ll be in the camper getting this thing done! Enjoy your Sunday, my friends!
\n\n\n🩵
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2024-04-21T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2024/04/21/a-day-of-planning-and.html", "tags": ["Travel","Camping","Fun","New Ideas","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2023/12/11/good-health-was-the-goal.html", "title": "Good Health Was The Goal", "content_html": "\n”The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.“
\nProverbs 21:5 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/9021ad38f3.jpg\")
No change in hair color, no makeup other than lipstick in the right photo. And, no filters. I’m so happy to feel better!
\n\n\nWe went to our high school class Christmas Dinner on Friday night and it was so much fun to see so many of our friends there. We missed those who couldn’t come or who are no longer with us. Ours was a large class so the more you have to begin with, the more you will lose.
\n\n\nPeople kept remarking how long my hair has gotten. This time last year, I had fourteen inches cut from my hair and donated to the Locks of Love program. But, when I had it cut, I couldn’t believe how dull and lifeless my hair had become. My skin was blotchy and I weighed a whopping 196 pounds…nearly as much as Mr. FixIt! I wasn’t sleeping well. I had terrible heartburn, even on the strongest acid reducer. When I woke up in the morning, my first steps were agonizing. I’d hobble into the bathroom feeling far older than my impending 70 years.
\n\n\nI didn’t feel good. My gut was a mess. My mood fluctuated and I was often short tempered and snippy. It was affecting my relationship and I will not have that. I had to make a decision to do something about it because it wasn’t going to get better on it’s own. It’s the first New Year’s Resolution I’ve ever stuck with for the whole year.
\n\n\nI started watching what I ate in January. I cut out sugar, coffee, and processed foods. I stopped eating fast food. I lost about seven or eight pounds by March, but I was afraid I’d do what I’ve done so many times before…lose the weight then gain it all back, plus some more. I saw some commercials for Noom. I loved the idea of approaching weight loss through a psychological lens. About the same time, I saw ads for RYZE Mushroom Coffee. The first part of March, I ordered my first two bags of RYZE and joined Noom.
\n\n\nThat was the kickstart I needed.
\n\n\nThe weight has slowly and steadily dropped off. I added Collagen Peptides and supplemented my diet with an over-50 multivitamin for women. I started taking an immune booster and magnesium gummies at bedtime. And I take a hi-dose probiotic two weeks a month.
\n\n\nI now weigh 164 pounds, I sleep all night every night, I no longer have more than the occasional aches and pains associated with mild arthritis and overuse. I feel better. My mood is stable. My memory has improved. My gut is working right. I’ve stopped taking Protonix because my acid reflux is rarely noticeable.
\n\n\nWhen the gals mentioned my hair on Friday, I went back to see the selfie I took after my haircut and I was amazed at the difference one year of clean and green eating and exercise can make. My hair is smooth and shiny and strong. There are hardly any split ends and I attribute that to the collagen peptides and Hair Repair Shampoo.
\n\n\nThese were all little things that I changed but collectively they have made a huge impact in how I feel. I may not be making Miss Brenda Gantt’s Buttermilk Biscuits, but I can have grits any day of the week if I want them. I may not be baking pies from the Silver Palate Cookbook but I have eaten about 100 pounds of apples this year. And I definitely don’t stop at the bakery every Friday for our “Weekend Cake”!
\n\n\nWhile I am proud of my accomplishments and I am so grateful to feel better, there is always room for improvement. At first, my goal was to lose down to 140. But my body is telling me it would be perfectly happy in the high 150’s to low 160’s. And I am good with that. The twinkle in my husband’s eye is motivation enough for me!
\n\n\nThe new year is coming. If you are interested in trying Noom, you can get a 14-day free trial + 20% off if you use this link https://noom.com/r/JthjXSfaA
\n\n\nAnd, if you want to try Ryze, you can get it here. https://39ryze.refr.cc/ginnymckinney
\n\n\nI also add a teaspoon of Beyond Brew to my mushroom coffee. It also has mushrooms, but it has a distinct cocoa flavor and I like how it enhances my morning brew. I buy two jars at a time but they last me six months or more. Beyond Brew Mushroom Superfood Coffee - Mushroom Coffee Alternative Low Caffeine - Healthy Coffee Substitute Brewed Cacao Drink w/Prebiotics, & Probiotics - By Live Conscious - 30 Servings https://a.co/d/ir8ESqL
\n\n\nHappy Monday, everyone!
\n\n\n🎄
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2023-12-11T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2023/12/11/good-health-was-the-goal.html", "tags": ["Health","New Ideas","Fitness"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2023/03/31/finding-my-way-in-etsyworld.html", "title": "Finding my Way in Etsy-World", "content_html": "\n”Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.“
\n1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/7dae38eb09.jpg\")
Here’s a sneak peek at one of the aprons I designed yesterday. I just LOVE the orangey roses on the black and white striped background, don’t you? We bought two new rose bushes to plant along the fence out back.
\n\n\nWow…Etsy is a whole lot different than it was in 2011 when I started my first shop there. It’s grown exponentially. The competition was fairly steep back then. Now…hokey-smokes! It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But, when I first started working on this project at Christmas, I was totally lost. I was learning not one, not two…but three new-to-me programs. It took me a good five or six years before I felt comfortable with Wordpress, so I guess I’m doing pretty well to have come this far.
\n\n\nMarketing. My job now is marketing and designing new products. On top of writing my daily blog. With mowing season about to start and a quilt to finish and preparing for our annual beach trip next month…my plate is beginning to fill up. I’m going to have to get a desk calendar and start scheduling things. I created sixteen new designs today…eight of which are mugs that are live in the shop. The new designs coming tomorrow are aprons and they are really cute. There are lots of pretty things in the shop for Mother’s Day!
\n\n\nI helped Mr. FixIt a little yesterday. He’s still working on the hallway…getting the quarter-round moulding measured and ready to nail in place. The door repair from Wednesday looks great and even though it took us twice as long to do than expected, we’re pretty happy with it. My cousin is coming to visit at the end of April and we wanted the house freshened up a little for her. When she leaves, we’re going to start on the main bathroom. Then somewhere in there we’re going to Colorado to see the family. Oh, and there’s the wedding in June and we need to get the roof finished! Maybe we’ll put that bathroom off till fall. SO much to do!
\n\n\nThe weather was sunny and gorgeous yesterday and the pear trees are just about in full bloom. I’ve been stuck inside working so much, I haven’t even taken a walkabout to see what is popping up out there. We need to take a ride out to The Farm to take a peek at the wildflowers soon. I knew as soon as the weather warmed up, I’d be hopping! There’s one thing…this winter FLEW by with all the work on the shop. That’s a GOOD thing!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.”
\nHebrews 11:3 MSG\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/5d1a5c5c59.jpg\")
Come see what’s new in the Shop! I’m keeping busy creating new designs just for you and having so much fun doing it. It would be a huge help for me if you shared my shop with a few people. If we all did that and asked everyone to share with a few more, the shop would get off the ground in a hurry and start climbing the ladder in the Etsy ranking. Thank you so much for your support!
\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/fa59d4a8c8.jpg\")
It all started when I decided to leave the rat race of medicine and try to make a living from my own creativity. I dropped down to part time at the neurology office and started making art jewelry from antique silverware and maps. As a matter of fact some of you have been with me since the very beginning and can remember my little Etsy shop. When I lost Mr. Virgo, I tried to keep the shop going, but once I sold the Colorado house and hit the road in my camper I kinda lost my mojo.
\n\n\nTime passed and adventures came and I finally ended up on The Farm…the home of my heart. And I ran into Mr. FixIt…the holder of my heart. And now…its been ten years since Mr. Virgo’s passing and it’s time to turn a corner and do something wonderful and fresh and fun to take me through the NEXT ten years! The joy of my heart!
\n\n\nMarshmallow Ranch is back on Etsy once again!!!!!
\n\n\nIt looks decidedly different than it did in the “old days”. My art is different. My skills are different. Shopping experiences are different. And most importantly…I AM DIFFERENT! What I am presenting to you today is a whole new vision that incorporates my art, my graphic design skills, my quirky sense of humor, and my desire to connect with people in ways I haven’t even thought of yet.
\n\n\nI’ve been working diligently on this project and I’m very happy with the way it turned out. I am offering ways for you to own my art…in the form of my photography, my compositions and graphic design elements, and my words…on clothing, accessories, shoes, tea towels, candles. From kitchen items all the way up to suitcases. I’ve combed over this time and again…and I’m sure there still are things that need to be tweaked a little here and there.
\n\n\nThere is a button pinned on my Facebook page as well as one on the blog that will lead you right to the shop. It’s not quite as easy to head back to the blog, but the quickest way is to use the back arrow key on your browser page. If you find things that need fixing, please don’t hesitate to let me know and I’ll fix it as soon as possible.
\n\n\nI hope you like the new shop. The category of listings is in the sidebar to the left. I will be adding things going forward…more home goods, clothing, and accessories as well as vintage items. And perhaps I’ll get back in the studio and make pretty things again with my hands one of these days. I hope you’ll keep me in mind for your shopping and gift-giving occasions!
\n\n\nAnd, as in all things…to God be the Glory!
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/964a701e5b.jpg\")
Enjoy!!!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2023-03-27T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2023/03/27/marshmallow-ranch-is-back-on.html", "tags": ["Fun","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","God","Courage","Choices","Change","Be Joyful!","The Shop"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2022/08/15/the-past-and-the-future.html", "title": "The Past and The Future", "content_html": "\n“…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
\n1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/1ea82fc499.jpg\")
When my mom retired, she got into genealogy with a vengeance. She didn’t have a computer or internet access, so I did her research for her. When she passed, there were several boxes of genealogy files in her house that I donated to the Hacker’s Creek Pioneers Central West Virginia Genealogy Library in Horner, West Virginia. They were thrilled to have them. Through my own research, I discovered four of my former classmates were related to me in one way or another. This was the first year they’ve all attended and I got a picture of us together. That was such a treat!
\n\n\nI remember the year my aunt and uncle went to their 50th Class Reunion. I thought, “Wow…I’ve always thought they were so YOUNG!” I mean, really…fifty whole years had passed since they graduated? And now…here I am. And we’re…so YOUNG! lol Well…we aren’t THAT young! At 11:00 on Friday, I thought surely the clock on my iPhone was mistaken. It HAD to be later than that! I was truly the social butterfly and ran around chatting with so many friends…some I hadn’t seen since graduation.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/e7bb747d09.jpg\")
Saturday morning, we had twenty-four gals for our coffee gathering that was SO much fun. We all brought a chair and our beverage of choice and sat in a big circle. Some of us didn’t leave till around 1:30. I was really tired at this point so I headed home to a little siesta. Saturday evening was the dressier Dinner/Dance and seein’s how Mr. FixIt clean up pretty good, we were ready to trip the light fantastic.
\n\n\nAttending an event at the historic hotel in our town is always a treat. Everyone was dressed in their finery. We staked claim to our tables and soon were directed to the buffet line where we were served our meals already plated. The food was good. Small portions were the order of the day. I don’t eat that late as a rule, but I made an exception and paid for it by 10:00 when I had to asked my sweetheart to bring me home. The combination of spicy food eaten too late and a really LOUD DJ and two days of chaos and noise and wall-to-wall people just did me in.
\n\n\nWe were home by 10:30 and I was in bed by 10:32, I think. I had a day of dry toast and crackers and DripDrop electrolyte solution and by 1:00, I was well enough to head to the farm to mow. We literally had a 45 minute window to cut the grass before the next rain hit. It has been so wet, we couldn’t mow for the last couple of weeks and that grass was thick and wet. No matter how many times I rode over it and over it, mulching it down to ever smaller pieces, I could not get rid of the clumps of wet grass laying on the top. Hopefully in a few days, those clumps will decompose and provide moisture and nutrients to the lawn.
\n\n\nIt’s unbelievable how the leaves are already starting to turn here. I think it must have something to do with the excessive heat and moisture we’ve been having. Everyone I’ve talked to have said they can’t remember a wetter summer than we’ve had in West Virginia this year. Global warming is indeed real…and our weather is changing drastically. I haven’t seen a single monarch butterfly this summer and that makes me so sad. I am heartened to see some of my friends in other counties have them.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b9405a4587.jpg\")
I am determined to create more pollinator space here on Marshmallow Ranch next season. My table partner at dinner Saturday night was my friend Chris Tanner German. Her sister is Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker, Pamela Tanner Boll. Her most recent film is “To Which We Belong” about farmers, ranchers, and scientists finding ways to mitigate climate change. We had a wonderful conversation and Chris suggests I start small, adding to the pollinator garden every year. This will make the change from mowing all of it a more gradual process, thus appeasing my sweet Mr. FixIt who….let’s just say…shies away from drastic change.
\n\n\nYou can watch Pamela’s film through this link:
\n\n\n\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-08-15T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/08/15/the-past-and-the-future.html", "tags": ["New Ideas","Change","Farm Life"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2022/04/13/certainty-is-a-prison.html", "title": "Certainty is a Prison", "content_html": "\n“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
\nGenesis 2:15 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/9dc6bada00.jpg\")
Knowledge is fluid. Science and medicine and technology is not absolute. While there are some absolute truths, there will always be variables to just about any situation. This was one of the most frustrating aspects of the pandemic. People thought they were being lied to or that the experts didn’t know what they were talking about. That’s because, while there are other coronaviruses out there, Covid 19 was what they call…novel. That means, it’s never been seen before.
\n\n\nIt acted differently than anything the doctors were prepared for. When they treated it the way they’d treated other coronaviruses, it responded just the opposite. Some tried and true remedies actually made things worse. It was like driving a car. You’ve driven every day since you got your license, but for some reason, steering right took you in the opposite direction. The doctors needed to learn how to drive a totally different vehicle.
\n\n\nA good scientist knows new information is always forthcoming. They understand medicine is not an exact science. Knowledge grows and we must grow and change with it. The problem comes when certainty is introduced. Certainty is usually maintained by those who do not know what they do not know. It’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect.
\n\n\nWikipedia defines the Dunning-Kruger effect as the “cognitive bias whereby people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability.” It’s what has often been stated as “a little knowledge can be dangerous.” This is not meant to imply a lack of intelligence…just a lack of knowledge and some level of self-awareness.
\n\n\nThere’s a lot of black and white thinking in the world today. Experts are more cautious because they grasp this concept. I was reading some comments yesterday on Twitter. People were getting impatient with the J6 Committee and what they perceive as dragging their heels, when in all actuality, the nature of a true investigation is not rapid and it’s not black and white. It takes time. If things are done in a slipshod fashion, results are less trustworthy.
\n\n\nWe put ourselves in a self-imposed prison when we become absolutely certain. I belong to an online faith-based discussion group for people who have become disillusioned with organized religions. I enjoy the repartee and find different interpretations force me to dive deeper and read more to satisfy my own thirst for knowledge. The other day, someone posted “Certainty is a prison you don’t know you’re in, till you’re out of it.”
\n\n\nThere is a lot of truth in that. In my second marriage, I was absolutely certain I would be married to my husband till death us do part…because that’s the vow we made. I didn’t take into consideration that we wouldn’t or that we would change or that hanging onto that “certainty” would nearly kill me. It’s best demonstrated by comparing it to a severe illness that comes on gradually. You do not realize how dreadfully sick you were till you felt better.
\n\n\nMore and more people are falling into a black and white mentality these days. And it’s so easy to get angry and call each other stupid for believing differently. That approach is seldom fruitful. There are truths and there are untruths. The problem lies in the telling and who you trust telling it. That is a direct consequence of the Dunning-Kruger effect. I’ll give you an example. Recently, there was a claim that students in Michigan who “identify as cats” were getting litter boxes installed in the bathrooms of grade schools to accommodate them. Seriously. A senator…a seated senator actually brought this up in outrage. And what followed was three weeks of discussion and righteous indignation on the internet, social media, and school boards. It turns out, of course, that this was totally bogus without an ounce of truth to it. But some people read it and, based on who was doing the telling, assumed it must be true without using an ounce of critical thinking skills or investigation.
\n\n\nI grew up in the generation that was taught to question authority. This develops critical thinking skills. We all have our own beliefs and values, but KNOWING that we don’t know everything is vitally important in the ability to expand our knowledge and not become mired in the prison of certainty.
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-04-13T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/04/13/certainty-is-a-prison.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","New Ideas","Insight"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2022/01/16/learning-curves.html", "title": "Learning Curves", "content_html": "\n“An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”
\nProverbs 18:15 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/d3b51503fd.jpg\")
Another new skill for my knitting toolbox! Toe-up sock with an Afterthought Heel!
\n\n\nJust about anything you want to accomplish will present a learning curve. I’ve been kind of happily cruising along, knitting dishcloths. They’re mindless and I can crank them out fast. They are nice to have around as little gifts for your dinner hosts or a housewarming or an office birthday. There are quite a variety of patterns to try, but I usually end up just knitting on the diagonal and calling it good.
\n\n\nI’ve knit several pairs of socks. I’ve worked them up with two 9” circular needles, with four double pointed needles, with one 32” circular…all from the top down. And now, I’m learning how to work from the toe up. I thought it would be great because I wouldn’t have to do a Kitchener Stitch to finish the toe. The Kitchener Stitch is a way of joining live stitches in a way that appears like it’s been knit normally. Seriously…it’s kinda like magic. For some reason, I have stumbled over it for the last three weeks.
\n\n\nI’m finding on most video tutorials, the instructor knits WAY faster than I do. I never learned to knit Continental where you hold the yarn with your left hand and pick it up on your right needle. I knit English style where you “throw” your yarn by holding it in your right hand, throwing it up and over the needle on each stitch. It isn’t fast, but it does give a beautiful even stitch for me. A woman came up to me in the waiting room at OSU a few months ago and told me I could knit much faster if I knit Continental. I smiled sweetly and said, “Thanks, but I can’t chew bubble gum and walk either. This is far lest frustrating for me, even if it isn’t very fast.”
\n\n\nAs I worked on the toe up sock, I discovered two things I was going to have to learn. The Kitchener Stitch was still going to prove to be my nemesis in this project because it is how you close an “Afterthought Heel”. Which brings me to the second learning hurdle. In order to knit an afterthought heel, you actually have to CUT your work! I was horrified. How on earth do you do this?
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/715c5fc90b.jpg\")
This was a first for me…CUTTING into my knitting to insert a heel. Scary!
\n\n\nI followed along in the tutorial, step-by-step and figured it out as I went. It turns out, you pick up a row of stitches on one end of your circular needle, then pick up another row…leaving a row in between. Once you have them on the needles, you take you scissors and cut through the yarn on the middle stitch of that in-between row. Then you use a tapestry needle and unravel that thread back to the beginning of the row in each direction. You tuck the yarn that’s left hanging to the inside of the sock. When you are done with the heel, you weave those ends in and…voila! You have a heel! What sorcery is this?!?!
\n\n\nAfter trying several times to close the heel with that dreaded Kitchener, I finally found a video that is in slow motion. (https://youtu.be/9dYP_GeHLG0 ) You have two setup stitches, then you have a sequence of four steps that you repeat. If you repeat the steps to yourself as you do them, it’s a lot easier. I finished the first sock of this pair last evening. Mr. FixIt was off at the former Mrs. FixIt’s house, putting her new treadmill together and that gave me a few hours of uninterrupted silence to figure these new techniques out.
\n\n\nEvery time you learn something new, it becomes a tool in your toolbox. With enough tools, and self-confidence, you can move on from dishcloths to socks and on to bigger projects…like a sweater. Gail says they are easier to knit than socks, so I’m willing to try. I spent some time last night looking at yarns so I can order some for the sweater pattern Gail sent me. Stretch you mind. Learn new things. Step out of your comfort zone. Whether you are staying home because of the pandemic or because you’re snowed in, take advantage of that time and learn something new. Our brains need exercise, too!
\n\n\nWe are expecting 5-8” of snow by tomorrow afternoon. Let the knitting commence!
\n\n\n?❄️?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-01-16T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2022/01/16/learning-curves.html", "tags": ["New Ideas","Peaceful Moments","Crafts"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2021/05/30/i-have-a-dream.html", "title": "I Have a Dream", "content_html": "\n“Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.”
\nProverbs 18:15 NLT\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/c975dd2e41.jpg\")
My Bubby turns 70 this fall. We’ll be traveling to Colorado to help him celebrate. My dear sister/friend texted me yesterday telling me her husband will soon be 75. Mr. FixIt will be 70 in the early New Year. And I’ll be 68 next month. I told my friend, “How can this be possible? We were just laying out with baby oil and Sun-In in our hair...like, five minutes ago!” And now? Wow!
\n\n\nIt’s not bad, though. I mean...I’ve done an awful lot in this life. I had countless “careers”, four husbands, kids galore if you count all the ones who called me “Mom”. I’ve lived in England and Colorado and now back to my roots in WV. I’ve traveled alone halfway around the world. I’ve pulled a 30’ camper by myself back and forth across the country. I’ve slept under the stars and howled at the moon. I’ve skinny dipped in hot springs in the nooks and crannies of the Rockies. I’ve brought two amazing women into the world...my greatest achievement.
\n\n\nAnd now...I have this amazing life. This almost-68-year-old amazing life with this wonderful guy I’ve known since I was a kid. And we live on five beautiful acres in the country. Honestly...I’m living my dream life. Short of owning Grandma’s farm, this is perfect! And, now that we’ve decided to stay put, my heart is putting down roots even further. I’ve been thinking about ways to carve out spaces on our acreage that are not only beautiful, but functional and fun.
\n\n\nI’ve wanted a “she-shed” for years. I have it in my head what I want it to look like. I save photos that I see and file them away for reference. There is a beautiful shed in a garden in Seattle that inspires me. It’s a Little White House that the owners rent out as a space for photo shoots and teas and such. I’d love to have something like that. To make this into a complex with little sheds and gardens and paths. A place for a couple of campers. A large communal fire pit. We already have the big building. We could start with something like an Autumn Festival and sell antiques. We could have a place for live music. There’s plenty of room for parking. It could be really cool. Or it could just be a dream. Who knows? The important thing is...always having a dream. Something to look forward to. Something that brings you joy.
\n\n\nSixty-eight. Hey...it’s not NINETY-EIGHT! I have a DREAM!
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2021-05-30T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2021/05/30/i-have-a-dream.html", "tags": ["Positive Energy","West Virginia","New Ideas","Gratitude","Comfort","Be Joyful!","Farm Life"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2020/11/14/day-more-foodi-fun.html", "title": "Day 245: More Foodi Fun!", "content_html": "\n“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
\nPsalm 37:4 ESV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/3e8954dc62.jpg\")
OMGosh! The longer I have this new kitchen toy, the more I absolutely love it! I was skeptical when I saw the picture of the golden brown, perfectly roasted, crispy-skinned chicken in the little cookbook that came with my Ninja Foodi. I mean, who hasn’t had trouble getting a product to come out looking like the photo on the box, right? Well, I am here to tell you, I made the BEST roasted chicken last night for supper and it was a “piece of cake”, so to speak.
\n\n\nWhen I saw the time had crept away from me and it was going on 5:00, I thought I’d have to wait another night before I cooked the chicken I bought Thursday. I was planning on trying the recipe for the Foodi and when I saw the times listed, I figured...what the heck, I’d give it a shot. Preparing the chicken itself was simple.
\n\n\nI removed the giblets from the cavity, gave it a good rinse, and tied the legs together with kitchen twine. I added lemon juice, water, honey, fresh thyme, garlic, salt, and whole peppercorns to the bottom of the cook pot of the Ninja Foodi. I place the whole chicken in the air fryer basket and lowered it into the cook pot and placed the pressure cooker lid on. I set the pressure to HI and the time to 22 minutes and set to peeling three Yukon Gold potatoes.
\n\n\nA few weeks ago, I found a small pressure cooker at a thrift store. It’s not much bigger than a large saucepan. I placed the potatoes in the bottom on the steamer rack, added a generous cup of water, and placed the lid on but didn’t light the burner. I opened a jar of the half runner beans I canned this fall and set them on to simmer with a pat of butter and a tiny bit of bacon grease for flavor.
\n\n\nI mixed up some gravy and set it on the back burner to simmer. About that time, the timer went off on the Foodi. I let it cool on it’s own for 5 minutes before I opened the vent and released the pressure. I gently patted the skin with a paper towel and spritzed the skin with a touch of olive oil, then sprinkled with cracked seas salt and ground pepper. I let the air fryer lid down but didn’t turn it on yet. I just wanted the chicken to stay hot. When the pressure cooker got up to temp and the weight started jiggling a little, I set the time for 8 minutes.
\n\n\nI turned the air fryer on, set the temp to 400 degrees and the timer to 10 minutes. The timer for the potatoes went off a few minutes before the air fryer was finished. I let it cool a bit then released the steam. When it was almost finished venting, I ran some water over the lid to finish exhausting the pressure rapidly. I strained out the potatoes, put them in a dish with a little butter, and mashed them by hand.
\n\n\nThe timer went off on the air fryer at the same time the mashed potatoes were ready. The gravy had been turned down to simmer so it was hot, as were the green beans. All that was left was to take the chicken out of the pot and plate everything up. We had a delicious meal in less than 45 minutes! I was stunned! And ohhhhhhh....the chicken was as melt-in-your-mouth tender as a rotisserie chicken from the deli but without all that sodium. And the skin was indeed golden brown and crispy. Seriously, the only way you could tel you hadn’t roasted that chicken was how moist and tender the meat was.
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/4598d2b3d9.jpg\")
My forays in the world of kitchen appliances have not always been wildly successful, but I have to say, this was the best investment I’ve ever made. I can’t wait to try other things like ribs and roast.
\n\n\nOh, and speaking of appliances, Mr. FixIt and I were having our coffee yesterday, watching the news when he asked, “Do you remember if that microwave we ordered yesterday had a recirculating exhaust or external vent?” I remembered talking to the sales person earlier, but to be honest, I couldn’t remember if we discussed that feature when we actually placed the order. He called Lowe’s and, wouldn’t you know...it was the wrong kind of vent. We don’t have a vent that goes outside. So, we had to call and cancel the microwave. Mr. FixIt started researching more microwaves after supper.
\n\n\nIt’s always something, isn’t it?
\n\n\n?
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave some of it to his disciples. He did the same with the fish.”
\nJohn 21:13 CEV\n
#NinjaFoodi, #CovidCooking, #AirFryer
\n\n", "date_published": "2020-11-14T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2020/11/14/day-more-foodi-fun.html", "tags": ["Health","West Virginia","New Ideas","Cooking","In the Kitchen"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2020/06/09/day-time-for-tofu-tuesday.html", "title": "Day 84: Time for Tofu Tuesday!", "content_html": "\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/fb6176f816.jpg\")
We used up last week’s tofu over the weekend so it was time to make a new batch. I actually make a double batch to get a good sized cake of tofu when I’m finished. It last a week and gives us 3-4 meals, depending how we prepare it. I paid $35.00 (including shipping) for 13 pounds of new crop of Laura Soybeans from the Chambers Family Farm in Iowa. They are certified organic and non-GMO. I did a quick estimate and a double batch of tofu costs me approximately $1.17 to make, not including the initial purchase of tools to make it or the coagulant which you only need to purchase once or twice a year for around $10-12.00. Bottom line...this is a really inexpensive and easy way to make a tasty meat alternative that’s really good for you.
\n\n\nI put the beans on to soak the night before and rinsed them well in a colander after they were rehydrated. They start out as little round beans that are smaller than peas and turn into oval, pale yellow beans approximately the size of cooked Great Northerns. I have a Soy Milk Maker that I purchased several years ago because I didn’t drink dairy at the time. In twenty minutes, you can turn three cups of rehydrated raw soybeans into a delicious milk. Double the batch, curdle it, and load up the tofu mold and the whole thing is done in about ninety minutes...not counting the overnight soak or the pressing time.
\n\n\nThe steps are illustrated in the photo above:
\n\n\nMy favorite way to cook with tofu is to cut it in cubes and marinate it in a mixture of a little olive oil, red chili paste, garlic, and a little soy sauce. I put it in a container in the fridge overnight and stir fry it with assorted veggies and serve it over quinoa or rice. I also like to stir fry cubed tofu in a little oil, drain it well, and serve as a protein in a salad.
\n\n\nWe are already seeing some of the health benefits of eating a healthier diet. I don’t know that you can easily take all meat away from a 68 year old West Virginia country boy, but we’re doing a pretty good job of it. We are substituting things like salmon or swordfish once or twice a week to satisfy his meat cravings. The rest of the time it’s salads with tofu, or stir fry, or a dish with quinoa and vegetables. Quinoa is also packed with protein.
\n\n\nSo, there you have it...Tofu Tuesday!
\n\n\nYou can read more and find a recipe for tofu HERE.
\n\n\n❤️
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2020-06-09T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2020/06/09/day-time-for-tofu-tuesday.html", "tags": ["Health","New Ideas","Farm Life"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2020/06/03/day-taking-a-look-in.html", "title": "Day 79: Taking a Look in the Mirror", "content_html": "\n“Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”
\nGenesis 1:29 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/f9521a01f9.jpg\")
When I was growing up in the mid to late ‘50s, the Civil Rights Movement was gaining speed. One of my first friends in grade school was a little black girl named Lisa. Lisa went on to become a pastor and actually performed our marriage ceremony out in our field when Mr. FixIt and I got married.
\n\n\nMy aunt that recently passed away was a Head Start teacher in Washington, DC in the ‘50s. She showed me photographs that had the words “Colored” and “Whites” over the drinking fountains in the school where she taught. I couldn’t understand what they were talking about. My grandma sat me down and told me under no uncertain terms was I to EVER treat anyone differently because of the color of their skin. Therefore...all these many years...I’ve thought I was not racist.
\n\n\nOne of the many things I learned from therapy was how to take a good hard look at myself and own/change my less-than-stellar character traits. Back in the mid to late ‘70s I was a single mom. I went out to a bar one night with some friends and a handsome black man showed interest in me and I demurred. I had a young daughter at home, and I was not nearly as enlightened as I thought I was. And I felt ashamed by that. Would I have had a problem with one of my daughters marrying a person of color? Not at all. But back when this happened, I was a young woman...still wet behind the ears...and frankly afraid.
\n\n\nI’ve said things like “All Lives Matter” and “I’m colorblind”. But now? I will forever hear “I can’t breathe” in my mind...echoing over and over. We watched a lynching on video. How can I not be changed by that? I want to be MORE than “not racist”. I want to be “anti-racist”. And to do that, I have to educate myself to the real everyday existence of people of color. I can’t turn a blind eye and not say anything. I have to wake up and learn and do whatever is in my power to make the changes that need to come to fulfill what the Bible tells us to do.
\n\n\nThe Golden Rule has to be the base upon which all reparations are made to those who have been disenfranchised because of the amount of melanin that is in their skin. It’s only right.
\n\n\nI cannot condone violence and looting and killings. But I will support peaceful protests and I vow to educate myself to their plight.
\n\n\nI found this article to be a good starting point.
\n\n\n❤️
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2020-06-03T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2020/06/03/day-taking-a-look-in.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Prayer","Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Grace","Peace","Wisdom","Forgiveness","Humbled","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2020/04/19/day-we-are-in-the.html", "title": "Day 34: We Are in the Same Storm...NOT the Same Boat", "content_html": "\n“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
\nMatthew 7:12 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/dc4fde4685.jpg\")
Let me preface this by stating this is not an original thought. I mean, really...IS there such a thing anymore? No, I read something yesterday on Facebook that someone forwarded. It was attributed to an “Unknown Author” so, who knows? If you wrote it or know for certain who did, let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.
\n\n\nThe premise of the post was the pandemic and where we factor in it. I’m sure we all have read “We are in the same boat!” That couldn’t be further from the truth. “We’ll get through this together!” Oh, that I truly pray for. But in the same boat? Nope. We’re in the same storm. And even that is somewhat different. The storm in Washington state and Florida and New York and Texas and New Orleans is far different than Montana and Wyoming and North Dakota and even here in West Virginia.
\n\n\nThe only thing that is absolute is, we are facing the same enemy...Covid-19. That’s the storm we are collectively facing. For some, it’s hardly a blip on the radar screen. For others, it’s a Class V Hurricane. To say we are all in the same boat is totally inaccurate. We are all in our own boats...sailing along as best we can with what’s being thrown our way. It’s a crapshoot where the dice will land when they're tossed our way.
\n\n\nSome of us are riding this wave with life vests out the wazoo. Money in the bank, food in the larder, a mortgage free home. It’s pretty much business as usual with a little more time at home than we’re used to. Maybe we don’t get the choicest cut of meat or they were out of our favorite wine. Maybe our biggest challenge is getting oh so bored with the menu at Chez Home Kitchen or we’ve gone through our DVR’s backlog of “must see” shows we always wanted to catch up on.
\n\n\nOthers have always been a paycheck away from hunger or homelessness. We’ve got parents teaching their children through online learning on top of working their own 10-12 hour day online...if we’re lucky enough to have a job, period. Some of us don’t have sweet and tender spouses ready to be there to back us up in our darkest time of need. Some of us have suffered abuse at night but at least had those hours on the job as a way to escape the blows for a while. Some of our children are facing hunger now more than ever...maybe for the first time in their little lives. Maybe the weight of the crises between moms and dad is spilling over and the littles are catching the brunt of it in ways we cannot imagine.
\n\n\nWe are NOT in the same boat. The single mom with three kids that’s trying to figure out how to keep her family together is not the same as the retired couple sipping their martini and watching the evening news together in their neat and tidy mansion on the 9th hole of the local country club.
\n\n\nWe are NOT in the same boat. The dad who works three jobs to put food on the table and finds himself standing in a food bank line for 10 hours to receive a sack of groceries the likes of which others can pick up at the corner market without a second thought.
\n\n\nWe are NOT in the same boat. Blacks and Latinos are dying in far greater numbers simply because their demographic puts them at a higher risk for disease.
\n\n\nWe ARE, however, in the same storm...more or less. We are facing a formidable foe. I pray we get through this together. But some of us won’t. Many of us won’t.
\n\n\nWe are seeing exactly what I told you we would see. I told you, if the numbers didn’t turn out to be the mega-catastrophic death tolls originally predicted, we would have people screaming that we over-reacted. I told you this would happen if the curve flattened but it’s not because we over-reacted. It’s because the safety measures we put in place did their jobs. This debate will rage for months...could more lives have been saved if we started earlier? Did we do enough? Did we do too much? Where and when did the virus actually start? Since we didn’t have enough tests, what is the actually number of patients infected?
\n\n\nNow we are seeing protests of the shutdown and some officials are easing restrictions in what others see as too soon and with reckless abandon. Just the other day I wrote a post about gaslighting and we are seeing more and more of that, too. Changes will come at a dizzying speed and it’s going to be hard to keep up. Throw a presidential election in the mix and...holy cats...what a mess.
\n\n\nIt’s not all gloom and doom, though. Look at how folks are rallying around the people on the front lines. Look at how people are contributing and volunteering and organizing. As Mrs. Rogers told her little boy...”Look for the helpers.” They're out there and they are doing good things. There are positive things coming from this. People are searching out ways to be of service.
\n\n\nIf you’re still having trouble finding a ray of hope, try this. There wasn’t a single school shooting in all of March 2020...the first March since 2002 to not see one.
\n\n\nThat is a sobering thought.
\n\n\nMaybe, just maybe....maybe we don’t WANT to go back to normal.
\n\n\nMaybe this is our chance to change. This is our do-over.
\n\n\nI had to do it after Mr. Virgo died. I had to create a whole new normal. A whole new world. A whole new identity. Heck, if I...in all my messy dysfunction...could work with God and create something as beautiful as the life I’m living, anything is possible.
\n\n\nAnything.
\n\n\n❤️
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n““Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
\nIsaiah 43:18-19 ESV\n
#StartingOver, #Healing, #Coronavirus
\n\n", "date_published": "2020-04-19T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2020/04/19/day-we-are-in-the.html", "tags": ["Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Growth","New Ideas","God","Wisdom","Fear","Courage","Humbled","Choices","Change","Widow"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2020/04/15/day-cognitive-dissonance-and-my.html", "title": "Day 30: Cognitive Dissonance and My World View", "content_html": "\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b019bb0bc3.jpg\")
Since we’ve been on the topic of mental health, we might as well broach one of the biggest crazy-makers there is. Cognitive Dissonance. I am not an expert, but I have a general understanding of this psychological concept. And it’s something that actually hurts my brain.
\n\n\nIt takes all kinds to make the world go ‘round. If we were all alike it would be a pretty boring world. There was a time in the not so distant past that people disagreed with each other...usually in politics or religion...and could still practice civil discourse without going off the rails in a temper tantrum. There was a time when civility and grace was a valued character trait.
\n\n\nFor me, Cognitive Dissonance shows up when I look at the world today versus, say...when Mr. Virgo died seven years ago. My long held world view does not match the view of the world I see today. It’s like I woke up in some George Orwell novel or something. Or a twisted version of Oz where the Wizard is an even bigger monster behind the curtain.
\n\n\nI’m not necessarily referring to party politics here, but the general state of humanity. This warp in my vision is highly disconcerting and makes me feel uncomfortable. But, it doesn’t make me pull a nutty and go off on perfect strangers via social media. It doesn’t make me scream obscenities at others because our views clash.
\n\n\nI can experience this level of discomfort and form a resolve to do what I can to help change the world. At the same time, I have to recognize there are others who are just as uncomfortable with my views as I am of theirs. It’s time to separate the wheat from the chaff. We have an opportunity here in the midst of the pandemic to come together with a little grace and poise and acceptance of our differences. We can...we MUST work together for the common good or we are lost.
\n\n\nI own a square foot of this world. It’s the place where I stand. It is from my square foot plot that I can build my platform. It is from my platform that I can serve others. It is in serving others that I find grace within. It is grace that will be perceived as kindness. It is kindness that demonstrates love. And, it is love that is the very foundation of life.
\n\n\nMay we all stand firmly on our square foot of ground and bring love and peace to the world. May this period spent in time out not be for nuthin’.
\n\n\n❤️
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2020-04-15T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2020/04/15/day-cognitive-dissonance-and-my.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Growth","New Ideas","Comfort","Grace","Wisdom","Courage","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/12/11/its-a-kiss-christmas-keep.html", "title": "It’s a KISS Christmas - Keep it Simple, Santa!", "content_html": "“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
\nEphesians 4:1-3 ESV\n
![\"Shiny](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/357bd5f4ae.jpg\")
“Simple and elegant…vintage Shiny Brite ornaments like these hang on our tree here at the Ponderosa”
Wait! How can it possibly be just two weeks till Christmas Day??? It seems like I was on the RPod Tour yesterday and now we are sliding into the home stretch and the year will be over. I went to the farm Monday midday to write. I fell asleep to the sound of rain on the tin roof. I couldn’t help it. Not only was it soothing, but it’s my happy place and I’ve been running around like crazy this year. I just enjoy it so much.
\nI woke up yesterday morning and looked at the weather reports. When I went to sleep it was 61℉ and raining. By morning they were predicting snow in the afternoon. I had limited groceries with me so I decided to pack up and head back to the Ponderosa. When I walked in, I heard the carpet shampooer running in the basement and that can only mean one thing. The basement flooded again. I went down and helped my sweet Mr. FixIt clean up the mess.
\nOnce we got the worst of it done, I sat down to write. I have deadlines to meet every couple of weeks and I had a lot of work to do. Several hours later, I turned off the computer. I’ll finish this morning. Mr. FixIt baked some peanut butter cookies. We watched the news. We read the mail. We got our first Christmas cards yesterday. I haven’t even thought about doing ours yet. I haven’t gone Christmas shopping. I haven’t baked cookies or made special gifts. Nothing.
\nI used to feel really bad about myself if the holidays weren’t visions straight out of a Hallmark movie. I have SO gotten over that. The house is decorated…enough. Did I get the Christmas Village out on the dining room table? Nope. It’s ok. If my friends and family get a New Year’s letter from us, is it going to be the end of the world? Nope. It’s ok. If the kids get cash cards instead of intricately wrapped gifts, will it make the holidays any less bright? Nope. How about if I buy a store bought cheesecake instead of making fifteen dozen cookies…does it take anything away from our celebrations? No.
\nBecause…all the decorations and the hoopla, the frenzy and the manic late nights aren’t what this holiday season is about anyway. It’s about love. And celebrating Jesus. And gathering the family and holding them close. I started a new Christmas tradition for Mr. FixIt and family when I came into the picture. I make a big pot of chili and homemade cinnamon rolls. It’s low key. We exchange modest gifts. And this year, we’re going to have a White Elephant gift exchange as a fun activity. If you’ve never done that, it’s a lot of fun. Here are the rules:
\nEach participant supplies one wrapped gift, usually of similar value. The gifts are placed in a central location, and participants determine in which order they will take turns selecting them. The first person opens a wrapped gift, and the turn ends. On subsequent turns, each person has the choice to either unwrap a new present or to steal another’s. When a person’s gift is stolen, that person can either choose another wrapped gift to open or can steal from another player. To avoid never-ending circles, each gift can only be stolen once per turn. The game is over when everyone has a present. Generally, it is recommended to have at least six participants for the gift exchange party. With a larger group, game play may be more protracted.
\nIt’s a KISS Christmas…Keep it Simple, Santa!
\n❤️
\n“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-12-11T02:30:37-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/12/11/its-a-kiss-christmas-keep.html", "tags": ["Family","Uplifting Stories","Fun","West Virginia","The Farm","New Ideas","Gratitude","Comfort","Holiday","Wisdom","Peaceful Moments","Choices","Be Joyful!"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/11/30/when-kindness-matters-most.html", "title": "When Kindness Matters Most", "content_html": "Matthew 6:21 NIV
![\"Be](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/915ddf5f24.jpg\")
“Kindness Matters Most…especially when it involves children.”
My dear friend Diane sent me a link to an article in the New York Times yesterday. It was a story about the new mayor of Charleston and how she barked up the wrong tree. It seems, in an effort to be inclusive and considerate of the Muslim and Jewish population in our state’s capital, she decided to rename the Christmas Parade. She announced on a Facebook post that the Winter Parade would be on such and such a date…and thus began a civil uprising. Well, maybe uncivil is a more appropriate description.
\nI understand what she was trying to do. And I appreciate it. Having lived 27 years as a practicing Jew in a small town and watching discrimination at work was an eye opening experience for me. It gave me a much deeper appreciation for what some people go through on a daily basis in this world.
\nThe mayor was attacked from all sides and had very few backers. Part of it was the way she went about it…making a unilateral decision without consulting anyone. But the biggest part was the way the world is now. I could have been a mediator by profession because I can easily see both sides of this issue. People were feeling attacked and that, in the spirit of political correctness, they felt the mayor was trying to steal Christmas. When, in actuality, she was just trying to be kind to everyone in the community.
\nAs I read the comments to the story, several of them were from minorities saying they never felt they were “less than” or “excluded” because of Christmas celebrations. While they didn’t observe the holiday themselves, they never felt threatened by other people celebrating. I remember talking to a Rabbi once and asked him what he would do regarding my children’s participation in these programs. He said “Lip synch the words to the religious songs and belt out the secular ones. There is a lot of beautiful music in the Christian faith. I think it’s very important that we don’t try to dilute anyone’s holiday.” That made a lot of sense to me.
\nThis story brings to mind something that happened to me when I lived in that small mountain town in Colorado. Hubby #2 was a new physician and we had only lived in town a few years. One Christmas, a couple of things came to a head that are very similar to what happened in Charleston this month.
\nFirst, the wife of one of my husband’s colleagues was Jewish and she had two sons in the public grade school. There was no mention in the curriculum of any holidays besides Christian ones. She wanted the children to have a greater world view and asked if she could form an ad hoc committee to explore how to go about broadening the horizons without stepping on anyone’s toes. Even though my younger daughter was only a baby at the time, I knew she would be going to the same school in a few years so I said yes when I was asked to join.
\nWe held meetings with the school board. We offered to provide children’s books for the school library with stories about Chanukah and Passover. We volunteered to come into the classes during story time and share traditional foods of other cultures. And, we asked that the school program in December be renamed the Winter Festival. That’s where we ran into road blocks and it got ugly…fast. Our mayor hung a banner across the Main Street through town claiming that “The heathens are trying to steal Christmas from our children! Don’t let that happen!” Those were the exact words. Heathens.
\nIn the historical context, the word heathen means “an individual or a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible; a person who is neither a Jew, Christian, nor Muslim; a pagan.” We certainly were NOT heathens and it was a blatant slur…not the least of the discriminatory experiences I encountered in my years as a member of the Jewish community.
\nOur little mountain town was formed by a large ranching and mining community. There were two black children, a handful of Hispanic children, and no Asians the year my daughter started 7th grade. We had relocated there from Denver where my daughter was in a tri-lingual classroom…English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Her school was a cross section of humanity and she was dumbfounded by the “white bread” community she found herself living in. Every holiday, a large cross was lit on the top of a mountain within view of the whole town, reminding everyone that that “we celebrate Christmas in this town.”
\nAt the same time the banner went up across the Main Street and the cross was lit on the hill, we found out that the cross was on city property and the electricity was being paid for with tax money. This is where I had a problem. I can educate. I can buy books and bake cookies till the cows come home, but there is a separation of church and state in this country and the founding fathers made it that way on purpose. I believe in honoring that and if I would have been Christian at the time, I still would have believed in that.
\nThen, things shifted in town. It turns out the ACLU got wind of the situation and put the town on notice they would be taken to court if they didn’t make other arrangements for the cross on the hill. A citizen donated a piece of land up higher than the original location, and a new and larger cross was erected. Every year, a collection takes place to pay for the electricity and upkeep of the cross. I was thrilled with that because it was not only even more beautiful than before, it now complied with the law.
\nAs time went on, some things in town got better, but there was still an undercurrent of anti-Semitism. When Daughter #2, who was just a baby when this all went down, was in high school, she was bullied and called a “stupid, effing Jew” among other derogatory comments. I went to the administration but the bullying continued and we finally determined she would be happier at the alternative high school.
\nShe is doing well now. She is 29 and married. But she carries the emotional scars from her experiences. This is why I am sensitive to all people. This is why I don’t want the little Jehovah’s Witness children to have to sit in the cafeteria, ostracized by their peers because of their beliefs. I want the little Jewish children to be included in the holiday extravaganza because they have a holiday to celebrate, too. I don’t want any child to feel left out.
\nI don’t know what the answer is for you. All I know is, I personally know what discrimination feels like. And I know what it feels like to hold your child in your arms when she’s been crushed by bullies. Therefore, I say “Happy Holidays” if I am not sure of the person’s beliefs. I don’t care if someone says Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas to me. I am not insulted. Why would I be? It’s a blessing when someone wishes you well. I’ll take that any day of the week over some of the terrible things people feel free to say to each other these days. Because…kindness matters.
\n❤️
\n#KindnessMatters, #Discrimination, #HappyHolidays
\n“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-11-30T02:30:32-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/11/30/when-kindness-matters-most.html", "tags": ["Family","Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Grace","Peace","Holiday","Wisdom","Fear","Forgiveness","Courage","Warning","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/11/26/tuesday-truth-when-you-canstep.html", "title": "Tuesday Truth: When You CAN...Step Away", "content_html": "2 Peter 1:5-9 NIV
![\"Meme\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/8c837d2539.jpg\")
“It’s OK to step away!”
Do you have trouble stepping away from toxic relationships? Do you find you are people pleasing yourself into a corner? Are you feeling pressed into doing traditional holiday things even though you would rather not? Or maybe you just can’t face your ____________ (insert relative/friend here) this year…or ANY year? Well, I’m going to do something here…pay very close attention.
\nStep away.
\nIf you need “permission” then, here…I’m giving you permission.
\nHolidays can be especially difficult if you’re grieving. Or if you have underlying health issues. Or, you know…if you happen to be human. If you are over the age of consent, holidays can be much more painful than they are pleasurable.
\nFor the last month, I’ve been really looking forward to going over to my cousin’s house for Thanksgiving. I don’t get to see her nearly often enough and this year it was for a very brief visit last month. I love to go and stay over a couple of days, but circumstances change. There are health issues with some of the older generation over there. Last year we left here early Thanksgiving morning, drove over, discovered my aunt had fallen and she and my uncle couldn’t attend dinner, so Mr. FixIt and I packed up a dinner for them and drove it to his house. This added another hour of driving…each way. Then, after our Thanksgiving meal back at my cousin’s house, we got in the tuck and drove home. It made for a very long day and was not relaxing nor fun even though it was great to see everyone.
\nWhen I returned on Halloween from the six week camping excursion with the rpod and discovered we had a new kitten, everything changed. Now there are no more impromptu trips and I am not up for a drive-by. I took the self-care approach and opted out. Now we can work hard to finish the back bathroom this week and get the sink, toilet, and shower stall out of our living room in time for our family gathering on Sunday.
\nSometimes it’s a sibling. Or an aging parent. You may feel guilty for stepping away, but as I tell you so often, you cannot fill someone else with an empty cup. WE are no good to anyone, including ourselves, if we continue putting ourselves in situations that are toxic and abusive.
\nI know, I know…there are times when you may be the only one that person has. There may be situations where you are a caregiver and there IS no other option. If you feel stuck…it’s ok to look for options. It’s ok to step away and take care of yourself. It’s ok to stay home and eat a hotdog for Thanksgiving if that will give you more peace. Surround yourself with the people who love you and lift you up and celebrate you if that’s what you want to do. But…give yourself permission to stay home if you need to. It’s ok.
\n❤️
\n“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-11-26T02:30:07-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/11/26/tuesday-truth-when-you-canstep.html", "tags": ["Health","Family","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Comfort","Grace","Love","Peace","Wisdom","Fear","Forgiveness","Courage","Aging","Choices","Change","Widow"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/11/14/a-new-approach-to-winter.html", "title": "A New Approach to Winter", "content_html": "1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
![\"Winter](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/837537ab94.jpg\")
“Making choices to find more joy…that’s my approach to winter this year.”
I started dreading winter with a vengeance after Mr. Virgo died. I wasn’t crazy about it a long time before that, but after he died the snow shovel only had one name on it and that was mine. Before long, I began to dread fall because winter wasn’t far behind. While I was out on the West Virginia Tour in the RPod, it began to dawn on me how negative this was becoming.
\nI can’t change the weather. I can change my geographic location, which I’ve done. Just moving to West Virginia has added at least two full months of warmer weather with a longer growing season. If I wanted to get away from cold weather entirely, I’d have to move much further south and for now, that isn’t in the cards for Mr. FixIt and me.
\nWe love West Virginia. It’s our home…the home of our hearts. It took me a long time to get back here. I’m not about to go someplace else at this point. So, that leaves the adjustment up to me. I saw this meme the other day and it really hit home. I can choose to hate winter, and now fall because winter is right after it. I’ll be miserable and consequently make everyone around me miserable. Because, we’re still going to have the same amount of snow and cold weather no matter if I’m happy or sad.
\nWhen I was a little girl and would get upset, my grandma would tell me to just “scratch my mad place and get glad”. In other words, get over it kiddo…you’re not in control of everything. This year I’ve decided to scratch my mad place by embracing all the wonderful things I can do in the colder months that I can’t do in the summer.
\nI have a much better winter wardrobe than summer. I can look forward to wearing my really pretty sweaters and boots, hats and coats.
\nI never drink hot beverages other than coffee in the summer. In the fall and winter, I pull out my tea pot and enjoy a cuppa in the middle of the afternoon. Or, I can hug a mug of hot cocoa with yummy, gooey, melty marshmallows in it.
\nIt’s way too hot in the summer to bake so I indulge in trying out new recipes in the cooler months. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at baking sourdough bread. So this winter I’m going to order some sourdough starter and see what I can do.
\nWinter has given us the break we need from outdoor chores so Mr. FixIt is back at work on the master bath. While he’s doing that, I am going to steam off the wallpaper in the dining room, paint the walls, and put up new curtains. Then we can tackle the main bath.
\nI haven’t touched my book since February. This winter, in my down time, I’m going to try to wrap that up once and for all then we can focus on getting it published.
\nWe have a new great grandson coming in January!
\nWe always try to get down to Florida in February and that’s something I always look forward to.
\nHaving goals allows me to set joyful things in front of me…something that has helped me ever since Mr. Vigo died. Just reading this list makes me feel far less frustrated by the cold weather. The meme is right…there will be the same amount of cold, no matter what. I might as well embrace it.
\n❤️
\n“The animals take cover; they remain in their dens. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-11-14T02:30:56-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/11/14/a-new-approach-to-winter.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Hope","Positive Energy","Fun","Growth","New Ideas","Peace","Wisdom","Aging","Choices"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/08/15/the-metamorphosis-of-grief.html", "title": "The Metamorphosis of Grief", "content_html": "Job 37:8-10 NIV
![\"Country](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/324ad776d1.jpg\")
“The Farm. Clockwise from top left: Drying the laundry on the front porch is a country thing, Elderberries, A Rose of Sharon appeared from nowhere, Life is Simple, An Appalachian Pour Over, Blue granite pan used for dipping water out of the rain barrel.
Living in the country, you see many examples of metamorphosis. Where there once was a hairy caterpillar, there becomes a moth. Where there once was a striped green worm with a spiky tail, noshing on a milkweed leaf, there becomes a monarch butterfly. Where there once was a grub with legs, crawling up a tree and developing a hard shell, it soon splits and a locust emerges to call in the autumn season…signaling it’s time for school to start.
\nJust as there is a time for everything in its season, so it is with grief. I was thinking about this yesterday while I was trimming back the wild grape vines threatening to overtake the farm. When this blog began, I was fresh in my grief. I promised you then I would be honest and speak to you from my heart about exactly what it was like…at least for me…to go through the loss of my husband. There were times when it was so painfully ugly that it had to be difficult to read. Yet, so many of you have been here from the very beginning.
\nThis blog goes through a metamorphosis every time something changes in my life. What started out as a method of pouring out my pain, morphed into learning how to navigate that. It changed and grew just as I changed and grew. It’s not just a grief blog, although there are hundreds of posts in the archives about grief. There was a time, when my grief had subsided to a nagging undercurrent, when I thought maybe I should just quit and make it all about grief. Just leave it there. But I couldn’t stop writing.
\nWriting became a part of me…as much a part of me as my hands and feet, my heart and lungs. So I decided to take you with me when I traveled, when I stepped into the dating arena, when I got married. I thought…ok, maybe I’m done now. Maybe I’ll just stop here. But, I kept living…and each new day brought a new experience, a new insight, and new lesson. And it became my devotional.
\nIn a good cake recipe, bland ingredients like flour get mixed with sweet ingredients like sugar and butter. If baked with nothing else added, you wouldn’t have cake…you’d have some hard, flat, dry cardboard. But add eggs and leavening….take your time….and mix it well….and it rises high and beautiful. My life…my stories…my experiences are the flour and sugar. The scripture at the bottom of each post…illustrating my thinking in that particular moment…that’s the leavening. The eggs. The ingredient that makes the finished product perfect.
\nI know it’s not a grief blog so much anymore, even though I touch on the topic from time to time. That’s the nature of metamorphosis. Things are always changing…even grief. The numbing pain of the first year, the sharp pain of the second year, the personal growth of my third year, the stretching of my wings in the fourth, the explorations of the fifth, and finally…being remarried in the sixth…my grief has gone through its own metamorphosis and has settled into an undercurrent. A background noise that I have become accustomed to, yet it’s still very much there.
\n❤️
\n“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-08-15T01:30:57-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/08/15/the-metamorphosis-of-grief.html", "tags": ["Faith","Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Positive Energy","West Virginia","The Farm","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","God","Wisdom","Aging","Change","Widow"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/08/11/a-farm-girl-at-heartsans.html", "title": "A Farm Girl at Heart...sans Shoes", "content_html": "2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
![\"Sitting](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/ef215888e2.jpg\")
‘Sitting on the tailgate of my truck…drinking coffee and soaking up summer!”
I hate wearing shoes. I know it’s so stereotypically West Virginian, but I do not wear shoes unless I absolutely have to. Mr. FixIt emptied the truck yesterday morning so I went out with my mug of coffee and sat on the tailgate, contemplating my bare feet and the beautiful sounds of an August day in the country.
\nIt wasn’t long after I finished my morning brew when I heard Mr. FixIt start up the push mower and I knew it was time to get to work. I ran to town to fill up the gas cans. Once I got back home, I hooked up my headphones and hopped on the riding mower. It could have waited till Monday, growth-wise. But the next two days are supposed to be 95 degrees and rainy. So, you know what they say...you gotta make hay when the sun shines!\nI love watching the seasons changing here in my home state. Some of the trees already have some yellowing leaves on them. And you can tell a difference in the texture of the grass at this time of year. It’s tougher and harder to weed eat. I left home the 27th of June. There was a whole lot of growth between then and now and there are a lot of branches hanging over the edge of the fields. I’m going to have to get out there with the loppers again.
\nAs soon as I got home the other night, I could just feel the stress leave my shoulders and neck. I can sit outside and listen to the night sounds instead of the constant hum of traffic in the background. As I sat basking in the velvet night air, I thought over all the places we saw over the last several weeks. It was such a wonderful vacation. And, as always, it’s both good to be home and sad that it’s over.
\n❤️
\n“The priest answered them, “Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.””\n\n", "date_published": "2019-08-11T01:30:44-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/08/11/a-farm-girl-at-heartsans.html", "tags": ["Travel","Uplifting Stories","Positive Energy","Camping","The Grand Adventure","Fun","West Virginia","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","goRVing","Peace","Girl Camper","Girl Campers","Change","Be Joyful!"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/07/23/conquering-the-impossible.html", "title": "Conquering the Impossible", "content_html": "Judges 18:6 NIV
![\"Impossible](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/d8bcd94764.jpg\")
“The Impossible Burger…the best alternative to meat I have ever tasted!”
Back in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, I was on a real health kick. Like…Mother Earth News health kick. I made my own tofu from scratch. I made our yogurt and granola. I even made homemade Grape-Nuts cereal. While we weren’t vegetarians, we WERE pretty poor because I was working to support our family of three while Hubby #2 was in medical school and residency. Our food budget was trimmed of many luxuries like steak and roasts.
\nI’ve always been a true meat lover but meat was expensive. I found a product called TVP…texturized vegetable protein. It didn’t have much flavor on its own but it was great in chili and spaghetti sauce…two highly affordable dishes we ate a ton of. Along the way, black bean burgers and veggie burgers were born to offer alternatives to red meat. Health wise, this was good since I had developed high cholesterol.
\nThe other night, we ate at Big Daddy’s Burger Bar and I had a black bean burger. Eh…it was ok. But it didn’t taste a darned thing like a burger. It was just on a bun with all the burger fixings. Now that I am older and have GERD (reflux) along with millions of other Boomers, I get sick just about every time I eat a burger for supper. Still, I crave them…desperately.
\nWe stopped into Red Robin for lunch yesterday when we were out and about. I noticed a card on the table saying they had the Impossible Burger available. I’ve been hearing about this burger substitute on the news and people have been raving about it. I had to try it. Let me tell you…this thing was fabulous. It was exactly like a burger, but it was closer than anything I have ever tasted up to this point and I wanted to go back last night to have another one!
\nThe Impossible Burger isn’t available everywhere yet and it’s popularity is rising so you may not find it around for a while. But when you come across it, I’d highly recommend you give it a try. I am not at all interested in this “meat” they are growing in petrie dishes, but Impossible Burger is plant based. If I could have ready access to it, I’d be more than happy to be a lacto-ovo-vegetarian…someone who eats milk products and eggs but no meat.
\nNew things!
\nAs Mr. FixIt says…life is always an adventure with Ginny McKinney.
\nYou can watch this video that explains the research and development of the Impossible Burger here:
\n\n❤️
\n“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-07-23T01:30:42-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/07/23/conquering-the-impossible.html", "tags": ["Health","New Ideas","Gratitude","Wisdom","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/06/26/a-tidy-purchase.html", "title": "A Tidy Purchase", "content_html": "Romans 14:1-5 ESV
![\"Tonneau](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/1bf18bb8d4.jpg\")
“A tonneau cover turned out to be an extraordinary pargain!”
I told you all yesterday about our great find…a tonneau cover for my truck. We installed it yesterday and it was SO easy. It only took about fifteen minutes to do. We had to trim a couple small places in order for the tailgate to close, but that was super easy to do. We didn’t realize exactly how good this deal was till Mr. FixIt looked up this particular model of cover. New, they sell for nearly $800! And the carpeted bed liner sells for almost $500! We got them both for $75!!! Ok, I’m a little excited! Such a good bargain hunter I have for a husband.
\nWe went to the farm yesterday. It appears the young man we had arranged to mow the yard…didn’t. But that’s ok. It is still mow-able without having to bale it. It is awfully wet out there. In the two weeks we were gone, the farm got over four inches of rain. We only got two at the Ponderosa. The ground is soggy when you walk out there. The house at the farm sits back in a holler and doesn’t get much sunlight. It’s nice for keeping cool, but causes a lot of problems with mold and mildew.
\nWe noticed some evidence of termites this time. The first time I’ve seen that so we need to jump on that right away. I did a deep cleaning out there because my uncle is coming for a visit while I’m in Colorado and I wanted fresh bed linens for him. I mopped the floors and dusted. Mr. FixIt cleared off the back porch and scrubbed it down. Everything looked wonderful when we were finished.
\nI had every intention of leaving for Colorado today, but have decided to wait till tomorrow. This way I don’t have to run at breakneck speed getting everything done and I can take my time. The linens have all been washed and put back on the bed. I have some items to take out of the camper…things I took camping at Blackwater Falls and won’t need on this trip. This will cut down on the weight I pull which will improve my fuel consumption.
\nOh, another thing Mr. FixIt did for me. Something was wrong with the water pump in the little camper. A water pump is supposed to turn on, build up pressure, then shut off. It only comes back on when the water pressure drops as you’re using water in the sink or toilet. Mine wouldn’t shut off. It ran on and on and was dreadfully loud. While we were in Florida, we discussed it and I ordered a new pump. It was here when we returned. Mr. FixIt installed it yesterday and it works perfectly! Now the only things I have to do is replace the shower nozzle and test out the hot water heater and we’re in business. Having your own shower when you camp is such a luxury.
\nI’m really getting excited now about the trip. I can’t wait to see my Colorado family…I’ve missed them so much! Today will be fun packing and preparing for a much needed road trip. Many of you asked yesterday. Mr. FixIt will fly out in a few weeks to join me before the wedding. Then, we will camp around Colorado and all the way back across the country. I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a whole year…I can hardly wait to get started and savor every single moment!!!
\n❤️
\n“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.” Deuteronomy 28:6 ESV\n", "date_published": "2019-06-26T01:30:58-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/06/26/a-tidy-purchase.html", "tags": ["Family","Travel","Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Positive Energy","TOW-Wanda!","Camping","Fun","New Ideas","Gratitude","Comfort","Wisdom","Choices","Marriage"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/06/10/van-life.html", "title": "Van Life", "content_html": "
![\"Conversion](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/689320564b.jpg\")
“One of our Girl Campers brought her conversion van to camp in. We were sold!”
My dear friend Gail has a conversion van that is tricked out like a camper. It’s currently in the camper hospital so she camped in a tent this time. But one of the other gals brought her conversion van and was kind enough to give me a peek inside.
\nI can see now why van girls love these so much! There is a lot you can pack into a small space. Christy has hers in soft pastels and cream, making the space seem much larger. She uses her Yeti cooler as extra seating. She has a whole kitchen crammed in this little cabinet.
\nThis really got my creative juices flowing and I was thinking of all the things I can do to the minivan when I get ready to convert it. The only downside I could see is no air conditioner. She does have a 12v fan she can use, but I’m thinking I would be limited to spring and fall excursions.
\nChristy spend five weeks at Quartzite, Arizona in the winter and never felt claustrophobic in this setup. She is thinking she would like to take it on the road full-time. I belong to a few Facebook groups that focus on the van life. It’s intriguing…but a little too confining for two.
\nAnyway, someone asked to see the van…so here she is! Enjoy!
\n❤️
\n“It’s better to live in a hut in the wilderness than with a crabby, scolding spouse!” Proverbs 21:19 TPT\n", "date_published": "2019-06-10T01:30:34-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/06/10/van-life.html", "tags": ["Travel","Uplifting Stories","Strong Women","TOW-Wanda!","Camping","Fun","West Virginia","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Comfort","goRVing","Peace","Wisdom","Presence","Girl Camper","Girl Campers","Choices","Widow"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/04/11/memory-recall.html", "title": "Memory Recall", "content_html": "
![\"Memories\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/d3b170c5cd.jpg\")
“Photos of childhood memories can bridge the miles between you and your children.”
Sometimes it’s hard to reach my kids, both literally and figuratively. They have busy lives. Jobs, families, houses…they don’t have a lot of time to visit with their mom. I get that. I was in their shoes. So, instead of whining about it and pulling more than a nominal guilt trip, I have taken to sending them pictures of things I find on Pinterest. Not just any old thing. Things that will stir a memory of their childhoods and make them smile whether they have time to talk or not.
\nOne such photo was this one. It is identical to the kitchen we lived in when she was little and her daddy was in medical school. She remembered the sink, she said. But I know, if she remembered the sink, she thought of all the times I canned our food and baked our bread. She might have thought of the times we set up the tent in the backyard so she could have a sleepover. I’m sure she thought of the slumber party I let her have in the Vanagon camper with the pop top. We were still finding peanut M&M’s months later. Maybe she thought of the Christmas Eve Blizzard when we spent the day pushing people out of the ditch in front of the house. Or the time she rode her bike on the church parking lot down the street and almost put her eye out on a tree branch.
\nI miss being close to my kids. Maybe by this time, if I hadn’t have found Mr. FixIt, I might have been back there…or at least spend more time in Colorado. But, just as my girls have lives…so do I. I just have to make the most of the time I do have with them when I am there.
\nI spent yesterday at the farm again. I made great progress on the paperwork I’m doing. Tomorrow I can wrap it up and we can do our taxes and be done with it. I promise myself every year that I wont procrastinate next year…and here we are. Down to the wire yet again. Maybe next year!
\n❤️
\n“But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” 1 Corinthians 14:40 NIV\n \n", "date_published": "2019-04-11T01:30:10-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/04/11/memory-recall.html", "tags": ["Colorado","Family","Uplifting Stories","Positive Energy","West Virginia","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","Love","Wisdom","Aging","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/04/09/a-mission-of-mercy.html", "title": "A Mission of Mercy", "content_html": "
![\"Camper\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/06a7c606a7.jpg\")
“On a road trip to pick up an old camper…the flowering trees were stunning!”
Last week, my friend Barb was visiting from Alaska. A bunch of our classmates got together for coffee. Barb had the sniffles and said she thought she was allergic to the cat and the dust from having her house closed up for so many months. But, it turns out, our poor friend had Influenza A. So far, we are all fine. She is a nurse and was quite careful in how she interacted with people.
\nAt the coffee, she reminded me that she still has a big camper in her back yard and if I would just please come get it, I could have it. Well, who turns down a free camper, right? Mr. FixIt and I went on a little road trip yesterday that turned into an all day extravaganza. (The flowering trees were AMAZING!) First, we had to take the title to the State Police barracks to get a single use tow permit. The closest place was the next city over.
\nWhen we got back, we went around to see the camper and start figuring out how to get it out of her back yard. I would love to have been a fly on the wall and watch her husband back that thing in there. The back yard is accessible from the alley. On the other side of the alley is a parking lot for the Head Start on the next street over. It was so obvious we weren’t going anywhere till the employees at the school left for the day.
\nWe decided to go back over to the next town. As we were driving, I realized we were just a couple of streets away from my dad’s house so I asked Mr. FixIt to turn down his street. We drove down the street slowly and at first I was puzzled. I thought maybe I had the street wrong, so I looked at the sign. No…this was Mulberry. I turned around and it hit me….they had torn down his house!
\nI have no idea why, but that hit me in the gut and I almost threw up. It was so unexpected. The only time anything like that has happened to me before was when I had been away from WV for quite some time and walked up on the top of the hill. I had not known my uncle had much of the land timbered up there and the starkness of change gripped me in the same way as my father’s missing house.
\nIt took me quite some time through the afternoon to process that. I brushed it off as my diet, or not having enough protein for breakfast. Later, when we got home, I went off by myself in my little camper and cogitated quietly. Change. Sometimes we sweep it under the rug. I can’t do that anymore. I have to chew on it for a while till I can swallow.
\nBut, back to the task at hand. We browsed an antique store then headed to Walmart. I’ve been wanting to buy Mr. FixIt a portable tire inflator for his truck for quite some time. Pulling a camper with older tires on it seemed like the perfect opportunity to have a little 12v air compressor handy. We also picked up some sandwich fixings and had a picnic in the truck as we watched it rain.
\nWe called the Head Start to find out when the employees would be gone and headed back to Barb’s house by 4:00. The camper was squeezed in between a chain link fence and a building with a foot on each side. Hooking up was easy and it only took three tries to get it out without damaging anything. We drove straight to a service station and pumped up the tires. We walked around and gave it a good safety check. I felt the hubs and they were not hot. The tires didn’t look dry rotted. The rear lights worked as did the flashers and the turn signals. We adjusted the brakes and the weight distribution hitch and headed home.
\nWe drove slowly and got home long before dark. Once we decided where to park the camper, we unhitched and gave the camper a good look inside. It is not in good shape. It has had a leak for quite some time and the ceiling sags in a couple of spots. It’s a 2002 and when it was new, it was a really high end camper. Unfortunately, she isn’t a candidate for really fixing up. We were hoping we could make her road worthy for someone to really use. We have decided to give her a good cleaning, inside and out, and then I’m sure she will make someone an excellent hunting cabin. All they’ll have to do is seal the leaks in the roof.
\nSo, we did our good deed. We helped my friend lighten her load and give her one less thing to worry about during her short visit home. It took nothing more than a little time and half a tank of gas.
\nNow…my dad’s house being gone? I’m still processing that.
\n❤️
\n“Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.” Titus 3:14 NIV\n", "date_published": "2019-04-09T01:30:07-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/04/09/a-mission-of-mercy.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Camping","West Virginia","New Ideas","Gratitude","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/04/04/renovations.html", "title": "Renovations", "content_html": "
![\"Vintage](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/c33e463b03.jpg\")
“There’s something about vintage kitchens that speaks to my heart.”
I came across this picture on Pinterest the other day. I don’t…CAN’T…spend as much time on Pinterest as I would like to. I have too many irons in the fire right now and I know what a black hole Pinterest is. It’s a candy store for creatives and I get SO lost. I pop in there every day because I get notifications. Almost always, there’s something on my landing page that I might pin if it’s an idea I’m working on, thinking maybe there WILL be a time when I can be a bit more leisurely. I look at my notifications, then I’m out of there…1-2 minutes, tops.
\nThe reason this particular picture grabbed my attention was a memory. Hubby #2 and I moved into our first house a couple of blocks from the medical school and this cabinet, and one just like it on the opposite wall, was in our kitchen. It formed a walkway into the breakfast nook where you sat in front of a big picture window.
\nThe view out the window was unremarkable, but that kitchen was one of the coolest in any house I’ve ever lived in. It was big and roomy with tons of storage space. It had a window over the kitchen sink which is always a must have for me. To this day, I cannot remember if the countertops were red or green…but I definitely remember that vintage style. It spoke to me…even as a young woman.
\nYou don’t find vintage kitchens like this much anymore. We are a throw away society with a newer is better attitude. The young wives of the ‘80s wanted new and better and hopefully not avocado green or harvest gold or that hideous brown copper toned color. No offense…if that’s what you have or what you love, but it was an affront to my sensibilities then and it remains so today. There is NOTHING nostalgic about that for me.
\nSpeaking of renovations, we are still in the throes of redoing master bath at the Ponderosa. I have never been married to a man that could fix or build anything. Seriously, if anything got built or renovated or decorated, it was my doing. I’m the one with the power tools. Well, I was. They all were stolen when someone broke into my storage unit and broke my heart. Mr. FixIt knows how to do everything. He didn’t get his name for nuthin’.
\nHere’s the thing. When I fixed up my mom’s house to put it on the market, I did the entire house myself except for installing the kitchen cabinets, connecting the gas for the new range, and updating the electrical service to the house. I tore the kitchen out to the walls and did it all…set the sink, installed a garbage disposal, new GFI outlets, plumbing, laminate flooring, under cabinet lighting, tiled the backsplash and entryway, coped the baseboards and quarter-round molding. I also refinished the hardwood floors, switched out all the ceiling light fixtures, put in a new doorbell and doors and storm doors, painted the entire inside, changed out the bathroom fixtures, tore the entire floor out and installed a subfloor, underpayment and linoleum, new baseboards and quarter round, a new toilet, took out the old medicine cabinet and installed a new mirror and lights and tiled the backsplash.
\nIn other words…I know my way around a renovation project.
\nThe thing is…I probably didn’t know enough to be intimidated. I just did it. And if I didn’t know how to do something or what tool I needed to do it with, I just consulted the knowledgeable staff at Lowes or read one of my helpful how-to books. I wasn’t picky. If it looked good, that was my bottom line. I thought it turned out great. Anyone who saw it thought it turned out great. And…I did the whole thing in about 4 months…by myself, for the most part.
\nThen I married “The Man With The Engineer’s Brain”.
\nHave you ever asked a man with an engineer’s brain to do something? They will do it. Perfectly. Absolutely perfectly. They will spend an inordinate amount of time drawing up plans…perhaps even doing so on a CAD program on the computer than costs more than the budget of small countries. They will print out the plans and study them and make notes. Then they will go back in and edit said plans. Then…once they are satisfied with the design, they will start the shopping process. The frugal engineer will have his/her supplies mapped out and listed by store according to price. This you will buy here. That you will buy there. All in good time.
\nFinally, the work begins. There will be measuring sessions. That will last a totally unpredictable amount of time. More notes will be taken and perhaps the CAD plans will be altered and reprinted. The flooring alone took several weeks. In a bathroom half the size of a good walk-in closet. Then there came the drywall. The patching. The sanding. The next coat of patching material. The second sanding. The third coat of patching material and the necessary sanding. Then came the painting. First the ceiling. Two coats. Then the walls. At least two coats.
\nI came in to see how it was going after the second coat of paint dried and Mr. FixIt was sanding…again.
\n“What on earth are you doing???”
\n“I didn’t like the way that looked. I don’t like satin paint. You can never get it to look good. I’m fixing this spot.”
\n“Cool. I’m going back out to the camper write now. Love you!”
\nNow we are at the point where we are installing the shower. He measured and calculated and remeasured and recalculated many times and finally…finally…we went to buy the fiberglass shower stall on Monday. That thing weighed a ton. We had to take it apart in order to get it in the house. Once inside, we took the protective coverings off and it was not only scratched, but it had several cracks in the fiberglass surface. So, we had to cart it back outside, put it all back together, and take it back to the store to exchange it. Once home, we had to take it apart again to get it in the house. Thank GOD it didn’t have any cracks because I just might have said a few choice words.
\nI could have had this bathroom done in two…three weeks tops. But I can guarantee you, it would not look nearly as perfect as the bathroom Mr. FixIt is building. I’m more of an instant gratification kind of gal so this has been a real learning opportunity for me in patience and appreciation. It’s coming along though. It’s definitely coming along.
\n❤️
\n“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-04-04T01:30:42-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/04/04/renovations.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Hope","Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Comfort","Wisdom","Humbled","Presence","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/04/01/vibrant-women.html", "title": "Vibrant Women", "content_html": "Romans 12:12 NIV
![\"Vibrant](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/8ad16fc44e.jpg\")
“Vibrant Women…a women’s ministry.”
Something phenomenal happened Friday night and it has taken me this long to process it. Actually, I’m sure I’ll be processing it for some time to come. We have a husband-wife team leading our church. It has been wonderful to watch Pastor Heather growing into a strong leader for the women of our region. A little over three years ago, God planted a seed in her to lead a Women’s Ministry. She gathered her friends together, told them her ideas for this movement, and asked them to start feeding her possible names. When she heard “Vibrant Women”, she was moved. Vigorous. Energetic. Lively. Vital. All words that resonated with where she wanted to go with this movement….words that described women of strong faith.
\nThis was the third Vibrant Women event held at our church…the second I have attended. It’s come a long way since the beginning. I think there might have been two-hundred women at the first one. Friday night saw almost SEVEN HUNDRED women packed into our church. There wasn’t a seat in the house. The sound booth said at one point the decibel scale peaked out at the same level as a jet engine. It was crazy fun. The energy level in that room was amazing.
\nWe had a guest pastor…Pastor April Carter of the Together Church in Yakima, Washington. Pastor April spoke about Living Beyond Fear. Oh….she touched every single one of us. At the end of her message, she told a personal story. Someone who works in her church called her…panic stricken. Then he arrived home, his house was surrounded by police, fire, and ambulance crews. They would not let him in the house. The only thing he knew was, something happened that involved his son. Pastor April and Pastor Micahn headed to the hospital to meet them.
\nAs they sat there, waiting for word of what was going on, she absentmindedly fingered a necklace she was wearing that a friend gave her. It is engraved…”I Can Do Hard Things”. The time dragged slowly by. They prayed together. They held each other up. And, finally…the doctor came out. Their friends’ son had gotten his hands on a gun and somehow accidentally shot himself. And they could not save him. Pastor April closed her eyes and repeated to herself…
\n“I can do hard things. I can do hard things. I can do hard things.”
\nSince Mr. Virgo died, I haven’t been so good in medical emergencies. There have been times I haven’t been able to show up for people who need me to do hard things. Pastor April challenged us to put on our boxing gloves and get in the ring of life and fight. Listening to her, I felt empowered. I felt stronger. I felt like trying harder and being the best version of myself I can be. I mean, isn’t that what faith does for us?
\n“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Even the hard things.
\nWe were doubly blessed in that Pastor April delivered our message at church yesterday too so we got to hear her twice this weekend. I googled her name on YouTube last night and there was a message called “Hard Reset”. You should give it a listen if you are interested. She is very good.
\n❤️
\n“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-04-01T01:30:37-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/04/01/vibrant-women.html", "tags": ["Faith","Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Prayer","Strong Women","Hope","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","Love","God","Peace","Wisdom","Fear","Courage","Humbled","Choices","Be Joyful!"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/03/14/friedas-new-shoes.html", "title": "Frieda’s New Shoes", "content_html": "Philippians 4:13 NIV
![\"Tire](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/c9de6965e1.jpg\")
“Frieda got a new pair of shoes!”
West Virginia requires a yearly vehicle inspection. That’s a good thing. Without that, I can just imagine the kind of cars and trucks that would be out on these country roads. It’s a pretty rigorous inspection, too. You can fail if the tint on your windows is just a little too dark. Or if you have a hole in your muffler. Or, as was my case yesterday…Frieda needed a new pair of shoes.
\nFirst off, I wouldn’t have gone to the garage I went to if it wasn’t for Mr. FixIt. He’s lived in this house since 1979. He knows ev-er-y-bo-dy. I have learned to take his word for it. He’s always gone to this place…so that’s where I went. I’m glad I did. The mechanic was great. He hoisted Frieda up on his lift and checked everything out. When he was done, he called me into the garage and showed me the front tires.
\nI have been watching these tires pretty carefully. I knew I was going to need to replace them soon. But, I’m getting ready to trade her in and buy one that’s more powerful to pull TOW-Wanda up the mountains of Colorado. I hate to put money into a truck I’m going to trade. The thing is, the inspection came due before the check came in for the purchase. So I kept hoping I could slip by.
\nMr. Mechanic pointed out something I didn’t even look at. I’ve been paying attention to the outside edges of the tires. With the truck on the lift, I could clearly see when the inside edges were so worn, you could see the wire mesh…the tread was worn away completely. And that is not safe. The cards were on the table. New shoes or no sticker.
\nWhen I was a kid, my parent used to go to this shop down by the river where they could buy good used tires…cheap. We called Walmart first and two suitable tires were around $250 total…mounted and balanced. We went to the shop that sells used tires and I got two perfectly fine tires, plenty of tread, same brand as what was on the truck, mounted and balanced for $83 and change. You bet I went with the used tires….especially since I had Mr. FixIt with me to make sure they were good.
\nSometimes people buy a car or truck and they don’t like the tires that are on it, so they go to a tire store and buy four new tires. I know they do this because I’ve done it myself…you know, back when money wasn’t as big an issue as it is now. I’m not destitute by any stretch of the imagination, but I want to keep what I can and make it work for me as much as possible. Mr. FixIt is teaching me many things. Being frugal is one of them. Now it’s like a game to see how good I can get for the least amount of money.
\nWhen tires have been traded in and they are still perfectly good, they get sold to a shop like the one I went to yesterday. The savings gets passed to the consumer…me! Now, Frieda has a new pair of shoes and a brand new sticker till next year. And I’m not out a gazillion dollars.
\nOh, and I needed to refill the propane tanks for TOW-Wanda. When I lived up by the river, I was charged $58 to refill two 30# tanks. Mr. FixIt took me to his guy. You guessed it…$32 for the same thing. Makes me mad I got ripped off four years ago…but so grateful to have the input now. I guess I just never asked enough questions before. We are all a work in progress and it’s never too late to learn.
\n❤️
\n“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” Proverbs 24:16 NLT\n", "date_published": "2019-03-14T01:30:56-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/03/14/friedas-new-shoes.html", "tags": ["TOW-Wanda!","West Virginia","Growth","New Ideas","Wisdom","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2019/02/02/its-something-in-the-blood.html", "title": "It’s Something in the Blood", "content_html": "
![\"Meme\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/66882bf2b2.jpg\")
“The advent of home DNA tests can open a can of worms for the unsuspecting.”
“Dirty little secrets, dirty little lies…” Don Henley / Danny Kortchmar
\nA few years ago, I bought a DNA kit through Ancestry.com. I picked up my mom’s passion for genealogy research where she left off when she died in 2004. Even though Ancestry was founded in 1983, it would be many years before the company went beyond connecting the dots between people and helping us fill in the blanks in family trees. When the DNA kit became available, it was fairly revolutionary. Here, you could go beyond the little green leaves and find out where you came from…geographically speaking.
\nI dutifully spit in the little test tube. I did what 95% of people do when they set off on such a venture…I basically ignored the small print. Things like saving my little genes in memory banks, selling my genetic information to third parties, and linking me with relatives I have never heard of never crossed my mind. I didn’t feel like I was registering with the government or Big Brother. I just wanted to know if I had any Native American ancestry like I’d always heard I had. It’s minuscule.
\nWhen I received my report, I wasn’t surprised by anything except some distant relative from Norway. Other than that, it was Scots/English/German…exactly as I expected. Then, Ancestry started sending e-mails saying they linked me to others who have done the test. It might be a 3rd cousin, 6th cousin…nothing close. I looked at the first couple. Other things soon captured my interest and in my typical Gemini fashion, I was off chasing butterflies in another field.
\nI recently read stories in the news about do-it-yourself DNA testing turning up surprises. Some that tear families apart. What would you do if you found siblings you’d never heard of? Or, if you found the siblings you were raised with were only half-siblings, indicating one or the other of your parents had an affair? Or, what if you were an anonymous sperm donor and suddenly you have 64 “children” out there?
\nThe idea of anonymity in such things is seriously long gone with the advent of a $50 DNA test kit. Something that once required blood tests and a geneticist now is available on the shelves of any chain pharmacy. People are receiving troubling information with very little counseling to go along with it. There are now tests that can help predict your chances of developing such diseases as cancer and Alzheimer’s. How far of a jump is it for insurance companies to get that information and turn you down for coverage or refuse life insurance benefits if you die of a disease that has been documented as predictable?
\nIt is estimated that by the year 2021, 100,000,000 people will have had their DNA tested by Ancestry alone. There are several other companies doing DNA tests of one sort or another. That’s a lot of data out there. I’d like to think it isn’t going to be used nefariously, but we have no guarantees of that. I know people who refuse to do the tests. I can’t say that I really regret having mine tested. And, I really would like to know if I have a proclivity to succumb to certain diseases so that I can a) prepare myself and my family and b) practice preventative health measures.
\nI think I am beginning to understand what my grandma might have gone through with the space program and computers and cell phones. Things are happening now that we couldn’t have even dreamed up when we were kids. I mean…it’s beyond Dick Tracy and Get Smart. This is really crazy stuff and, I have to admit…it fascinates the dickens out of me. ❤️
\n“The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.”\n\n", "date_published": "2019-02-02T02:30:46-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2019/02/02/its-something-in-the-blood.html", "tags": ["Health","Family","Overcoming Obstacles","New Ideas","Fear","Courage","Warning","Choices"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/12/03/plantarpalmar-psoriasis-a-conundrum.html", "title": "Plantar-Palmar Psoriasis: A Conundrum", "content_html": "Proverbs 12:22 NIV
![\"Healing](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b2e4b2e5b2.jpg\")
“The difference CBD Ointment made after just two weeks of use is absolutely remarkable!”
Refresher:
\nAfter Mr. Virgo died, I developed an autoimmune disorder. It took three years to diagnose what was happening to my skin. As you can see in the photo on the left, my skin thickened, dried, split, and peeled. Then it started all over again. Cycle after cycle. My feet were just as bad. Occasionally it would appear on my elbows or on random spots on my legs. Much mostly just the palms of my hands and soles of my feet. It got so bad that I had to wrap my feet with duct tape to keep them from splitting open. I went through thousands of bandaids as I had to keep my fingers wrapped constantly…for comfort and also out of embarrassment.
\nI went to doctor after doctor. I used every over the counter product there was available. I went through dozens of tubes of expensive medications. Nothing worked. Finally, my doctor found the correct diagnosis…Plantar Palmar Psoriasis. Still, the medications for it didn’t work. The next thing to try was systemic steroids or one of the new, strong drugs for psoriasis. They also talked about doing light therapy. I was not happy with either scenario.
\nI was in Colorado visiting, and a friend saw my hands. She suggested I go to a marijuana dispensary to see if they had something to offer. I did, after much contemplation. I didn’t want the psychoactive effects of marijuana but I would do just about anything for relief. This had become debilitating. I showed them my hands and they recommended an ointment. It cost $50 for a small jar. One jar lasts about 1-2 months, depending how often I have to use it.
\nThe difference between the photo on the left and the photo on the right is two weeks. Two weeks! I had been struggling for three years and cannabis fixed it in two weeks. Now, this is not legal in West Virginia, so I can only use CBD ointment…the kind without THC. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. As it turned out, when I used the ointment with the THC, I only felt very mild effects the very first time I used it. After that, I felt nothing. Using CBD without THC is a no brainer. It couldn’t get you high if you ate it straight out of the jar.
\nLast year, I was in Fruth Pharmacy in Mineral Wells getting something and noticed a case up front with CBD oils and ointments in it. I was thrilled to know that I could replenish my supply of ointment locally and not have to order it over the internet. I went in yesterday as my little jar is almost empty. The case was gone! I asked what happened and the clerk said they had to get rid of it. I asked who told them they had to get rid of it. The answer? The government.
\nYes. These are the same people who say I have to be carded at the age of 65 when I buy non-alcohol beer but a 12 year old can buy Listerine which is 54 Proof. I don’t understand. It’s ridiculous. I am not asking for opioids. I am not seeking a high. I am not looking to used anything that is addictive. All I want is CBD ointment or oil. Cannabidiol. Look at these photos. If this isn’t photographic evidence of the efficacy of cannabis in the treatment of psoriasis, I don’t know what is. God made all the plants of the field. ALL of the plants. Some plants are poisonous…but this plant offers healing when used properly and it should be made available everywhere.
\n❤️
\n“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”\n\nDisclaimer: Remember, I am not a doctor and I cannot give medical advice I’m just telling you what worked for me. I can’t be responsible for what may or may not occur if you choose to follow my example. I showed my doctors and they were stunned.\n3 John 1:2 NIV
\n", "date_published": "2018-12-03T02:30:01-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/12/03/plantarpalmar-psoriasis-a-conundrum.html", "tags": ["Health","Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","New Ideas","Gratitude","Comfort","Wisdom","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/11/24/collaborative-art-and-community.html", "title": "Collaborative Art and Community", "content_html": "
![\"Collaborative](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/ac98cacd4f.jpg\")
A Collaborative Effort…Original Art by Lauren O’Neill with Augmentation by Ginny McKinney”
I came late to the Twitter party. I started a Twitter account ages ago but never used it. I never really “got” it. It seemed like it was just people spouting off on politics or sharing vacation pictures or advertising whatever work-at-home business they were promoting. Then, about two years ago, I started a Twitter account for Marshmallow Ranch.
\nYou know and I know, Marshmallow Ranch has been a blog about grief and life and all it entails…but the name doesn’t really reflect that. I’ve kept the name because it’s catchy and people remember it. But it got totally lost in the shuffle on Twitter. Sometime early this year, I had a brilliant flash of a name. The Grief Maven. Maven is a Yiddish word that means expert. I started another Twitter account and it has taken off like gangbusters.
\nI’ve been “meeting” some really wonderful, supportive people and never dreamed grief counseling in 280 character sound bites could be so helpful. It’s quick, to the point, and easy to read. I’m really enjoying it.
\nThere are some groups on Facebook that I enjoy as well. One is Wild Women Sisters in Creativity. It’s a group of over 31,000 free spirits to share their art. It’s nice to connect with creatives and take my mind off writing and onto creating. Yesterday, a gal posted a painting she was working on, seeking input. She was kind of stuck. She felt it needed something. When I saw the original piece, it was the red and blue background with the two shadowy figures alone on the canvas. It immediately made me think of what it feels like to walk this path without our person. Dark and lonely. And the longer it goes, the more they fade out into distant memory. I thought about what I would do with the painting.
\nImmediately, I thought of the light of the full moon we are experiencing right now. My life has a lot more light in it now. It’s not a harsh, glaring light. It’s the soft, glowing light of peaceful contentment. Then I thought of a bird. To me, it represents the newness of this life, like a songbird in the woods. I have a fun app on my phone called “Over”. I use it every day to add my logo to my photos for the blog. I also use it to create memes when I need one. I took the liberty of saving the picture of the painting and popped a pale, full moon and a stylized bird on it. It immediately spoke to me. It gave the painting balance and a sense of movement.
\nI contacted the artist. Lauren O’Neill. I showed her what I had done and she thanked me so much for taking the time. I told her a little bit about what I do and would she mind me using this collaborative art in my blog. She was happy to let me do so. It was fascinating to read all the suggestions people made regarding what the painting “needed”. I’m the only one with the audacity to post the augmented version back to her. Someone said, “This is too crowded and changes any intended meaning.” I love how art speaks to each person in their own language. To her, I ruined a perfectly good painting, and she had lots of company. Many thought the painting should stand as is. But many others made suggestions as to what the painting “needed”….a giant thumbprint, a moon, a plane, poppies, hearts. One said she lost her son three weeks ago and it reminded her of them together. Another said she senses energy and the figure on the left wasn’t balanced. It was amazing to read all the different interpretations.
\nThis is my first collaborative effort on a piece of art. I think I may have just started something! ❤️
\n“Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?”\n\n", "date_published": "2018-11-24T02:30:20-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/11/24/collaborative-art-and-community.html", "tags": ["Strong Women","New Ideas","Choices","Art"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/09/18/holding-things.html", "title": "Holding Things", "content_html": "Amos 3:3 NIV
![\"Crocks\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/3666907c29.jpg\")
“Crocks waiting for a new home.”
“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 NIV\nI’ve been thinking a lot about my grandma lately. I’ve been so busy the last three weeks that I haven’t had a chance to spend much time at the farm. Mr. FixIt and I were thinking of going camping this weekend, but for a number of reasons...not the least of which is being just plain tired of running around...we’ve decided to head to the farm for a much needed respite.\n
The change of seasons are especially beautiful there. As things come to life in the spring and the dark grays of winter turn to buds of green, my heart soars because I’m heading into my favorite season. I’ve always had a little more difficulty accepting the changes of fall because that mean the dark days of winter are close on its heels. Mr. Virgo always told me, “It’s all in your head. It’s just a matter of what you tell yourself. If you say you hate winter, then guess what? You’re going to hate it!” He was right, of course. So, this fall, I am planning some really special things that will make the season joyful and beautiful. I’m going to do some heavy fall decorating this year. I want to get pumpkins and bittersweet, corn shocks and straw bales, Indian corn and maybe even some clear twinkly lights and dress up the farm. Won’t that be pretty?
\nI’ll take you along with me as I pick and choose. Maybe we’ll go to a pumpkin patch. Maybe we’ll find a cider press. Whatever we do, we’re going to make this season extra special so I won’t dread winter. Just like grandma’s old crocks that used to hold things, I’m going to use my heart as a vessel to hold beautiful things and make new memories! ?
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-09-18T01:30:53-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/09/18/holding-things.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Hope","Positive Energy","West Virginia","The Farm","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Peaceful Moments","Choices"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/08/11/smokin.html", "title": "Smokin’!", "content_html": "
![\"“Cool](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/4a446bbdaf.jpg\")
“Cool Smoke: The Art of Great Barbecue by Tuffy Stone”
“She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.” Proverbs 31:14-15 NIV\nWell, y’all...I’ve decided to start smoking. No...not THAT kind of smoking. The BARBECUE kind of smoking. I keep seeing my cousin Mike’s pictures on Facebook of the wonderful things he makes in his smoker and I just had to try it. Mr. FixIt and I have been pricing smokers since it’s nearing the end of summer. I’ve had my eye on one particular model and I’ve been watching the prices, but just wasn’t ready to bite.\n
My other cousin Tom smokes a lot of meats, fish, poultry…you name it. He uses a pellet smoker and they are really pricey so I nixed that idea. He recommended an electric smoker over propane because you can regulate the temperature easier. Although, there are some models out now that are propane with a thermostat so maybe they’re ok. I just figured, the only place I’ll be using it is at home so I can just plug it in and not worry about it running out of gas mid-smoke.
\nAs I was cogitating, trying to figure out which one to buy, two things happened. Mike returned my text telling me his smoker is a Masterbuilt and he loves it. And, I got an e-mail telling me how many reward points I have on my credit card. I had totally forgotten I even HAD reward points, so I quickly signed in to see if I could get a smoker. They didn’t have one in their list, however they did say you could transfer your points over to Amazon and that’s the next best thing. I ended up getting a Masterbuilt 40” Digital Smoker for $120…a significant savings over the MSRP of $449.99! With Prime, shipping was two-day, and free. Well, not really free. You pay for Prime. But I use it enough it evens out at least.
\nWhen the box arrived yesterday, I was shocked at how big…and HEAVY…it was. It said 73# on the shipping label! (I’ve got to say…the man in brown did an impressive Arnold Schwartzenegger impression when he hoisted that bad boy up onto his shoulder and carried it to the door for me.) And, you know what they mean when it says…”Some assembly required.” It means you don’t actually have to FORGE the metal pieces. It took me a good hour plus to put this thing together. Did I ever tell you Mr. FixIt is a mechanical engineer? He is. He loves to assemble things. And to take care of me. That’s sweet…really. But…I ALSO like to assemble things and take care of myself sometimes. He picked up the instructions and I just sat there and stared at him. I really didn’t want to say “MINE!” Fortunately, the man is astute. He took one look at me and he excused himself to go work on the camper. Smart man!
\nSince I have never used a smoker, I bought a couple of cookbooks. One is by Masterbuilt which shows specifics regarding my model. The other is by Tuffy Stone…5x World Barbecue Champion. I figured I’d start with the best. I seasoned the smoker yesterday…a process that took three hours, not counting cool down time. Now it’s ready to use and I am perusing recipes to determine what I want to try first. Ribs? Pulled pork? Turkey? Yummmmm…I can’t wait to start smokin’! ❤️
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-08-11T01:30:07-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/08/11/smokin.html", "tags": ["Family","Fun","New Ideas"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/07/17/mile-tuneuporhow-emdr-saves-my.html", "title": "50,000 Mile Tune-Up...or...How EMDR Saves My Brain", "content_html": "
![\"EMDR](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/6e179e82e7.jpg\")
“EMDR reprograms your brain.”
“Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.”\nJeremiah 33:6 KJV\nA little over five years ago, I sat on a stool in the corner of an emergency room and watched them do CPR on my husband. It went on FOR-EV-ER. Stop. Start. Shock. X-Ray. Start. Stop. Check. Shock. Over and over and over. I sat with my hand clasped over my mouth to keep from screaming. I wrapped my feet intricately around and through the legs of the stool to keep from jumping up and running away. My shoulders slumped...my free hand dug into my thigh so I could feel something other than horror. And all of that...all of the valiant efforts, all of the shouts for more drugs, all of the hustle and bustle and orchestrated chaos could not save him. He died in spite of the best efforts of the Western Slope’s best and brightest. He died. And I could do nothing to stop it.\n
I ran away in my camper for three months. I busied myself. I “dated” a guy which turned out to be more about putting a tourniquet around my bleeding heart than it did about “love”. It had nothing to do with love. It had everything to do with escape. Then, one sunny afternoon at a fair in the park, a gentleman standing nearby choked. Like, Heimlich Maneuver choked. And I was frozen. Instead of jumping in as I had been trained to do…as I was certified to do…a movie started playing in my head as I stood in the park. Suddenly, I was back in the ER, sitting on the stool, watching them do CPR on my husband. It went on FOR-EV-ER. I mean, I KNEW I was in the park. So why was I “seeing” this rerun?
\nThe rerun scared the crap out of me. And, I immediately associated it with a medical emergency…both my husband’s heart attack and the gentleman choking on chicken. I began to dread what might happen if there was a real emergency and I couldn’t step up to the plate. I avoided being in situations where someone could get hurt or sick or…God forbid…NEED me. I suffered wave after wave…not only of grief, but also anxiety. To the point of vomiting uncontrollably for hours. Simply put, I was a mess.
\nI went to see my doctor and asked her if she could recommend a grief counselor. And when I first talked with her, she said, “Ginny, I think you have PTSD.” She told me she wanted to do something called EMDR on me. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is THE most accepted PTSD treatment. Normally, when we experience a disturbing event, our brains process it and file it away neatly in it’s appropriate folder in our memory bank and life goes on. But, when the event is associated with trauma…like watching prolonged CPR…something happens in the filing process and the memory gets stuck. It is like a video playing on a continuous loop…over and over and over. The thought becomes intrusive…meaning, unbidden. Uncontrollable. It creates fear. And it is terribly distressing.
\nAfter the first EMDR treatment, the improvement was extraordinary. It’s non-invasive and is accomplished so simply. You sit in a comfortable chair, You conjure up the image that is giving you the most trouble…no matter how painful it is. You hang onto that thought while watching the practitioner move her finger back and forth, back and forth, back and forth across your field of vision. You follow her finger with your eyes. The rapid eye movement actually reprograms your brain. It can make the memory fade. It can change it into something else. It can process it and let it go into the file with all the other memories. And it can release you from the pain of seeing it over and over and over.
\nI really did well. My anxiety level was lower. I had few, if any, real panic attacks. I still dealt with grief waves, but not the horrifying repetitious movie starring CPR. Then, about a year and a half ago, I started having episodes of anxiety again. About once a week or so, I would spend the night sick as a dog. I couldn’t keep anything down. I began to dread going places. I began to fear medical situations again. What began slowly, started cranking up more and more and with every insult to my central nervous system, it got worse. Surgery cranked it up. The episode with my aunt with dementia cranked it up. Flying cranked it up. Being away from Mr. FixIt cranked it up. I texted my grief counselor, Karen, and told her I thought I needed an EMDR tuneup so we scheduled it to coincide with my trip this week to visit my brother.
\nAs I caught up with her yesterday, I told her about Mr. FixIt and how happy we are. We talked about all the really good, positive changes that have come into my life. Then she asked what happened a year and a half ago that started the cycle again. I told her about the car accident. She asked what it was about that that triggered me and I surprised myself by bursting into tears. I sobbed and covered my face.
\n“I thought I killed her!” I cried.
\n“Who?”
\n“The young girl in the backseat! Her head was lolled over, her face was bloodied. Her mama cradled her head in her hands and begged her to wake up. The man who was driving ran at me screaming, “You killed her! She was supposed to turn 17 this week!!!””
\nI sobbed and Karen put her hand on my knee.
\n“Oh, Ginny…that had to be terrifying.” She comforted me with her soft, caring voice. “I think that’s it. I think that is what has prodded your PTSD awake.”
\nJust like grief, you don’t get “cured” of PTSD. It can raise it’s ugly head just like unexpected waves of grief can overtake you at any given moment.
\nWe did a session of EMDR. We repeated it eight times or so. With each subsequent series of back and forth movements, it felt as though someone were turning down the volume knob like a radio in my brain. The first series resulted in me feeling immediately calmer. The second made me feel like I had taken a step back and I wasn’t sitting in the driver’s seat of the truck. I was in the back seat. The third set had me standing behind the truck. The fourth set had me even further behind the truck…like zooming out on a long camera lens. I was surprised by the fifth set. I had a flash of the young girl going to prom. The implication being…she was fine and healthy. Each subsequent set of movement took me further and further into this relaxed, soft, safe place. It is remarkable something so simple can have such a huge impact.
\nI had not cried about the accident up to that point. I had not processed, or even acknowledged, the trauma of thinking I had killed someone. Of being verbally and physically challenged by the other driver. And we all know that unprocessed trauma, like unprocessed grief…festers. It does not serve us to grit our teeth and white-knuckle our way through these episodes. From now on I will be proactive and get the help I need instead of trying to handle it on my own. I can’t tell you how much better I feel. When I got home from the mountains yesterday, my son-in-law’s dad made the observation that even my voice was different…relaxed, easy, slower. There is no shame in admitting you need help to work through something. We women think we are supposed to have it all together. I told a friend the other day that I just want to be normal. She smiled and said, “Sweetie, you ARE normal. Everybody has something they have to deal with. What you want is perfection!’ Ahhhh…she knows me well.
\nNone of us are perfect. Ask for help if you need it. Don’t try to just get by with a stiff upper lip. Just “getting though it” is no way to live. ❤
\n", "date_published": "2018-07-17T01:30:47-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/07/17/mile-tuneuporhow-emdr-saves-my.html", "tags": ["Travel","Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Comfort","Wisdom","Fear","Courage","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/07/12/the-pillar-of-truth.html", "title": "The Pillar of Truth", "content_html": "![\"The](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/d46870f9d6.jpg\")
\n“Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 KJV\nOnce upon a time, in a beautiful palace in Heaven, the was a crystal pillar resting on a stand. It was The Pillar of Truth. There were no flaws within this crystal and every angle reflected the perfect truth to its observers. This was a cherished object in Heaven. There were a band of angels whose job it was to polish this stunning pillar til it glistened in the sunlight that filtered into the palace.\n
On occasion, a novice pillar polisher would be needed and some young angel would get the opportunity to become an apprentice. This was a great honor, as all of the truth was held within this stone. The angels took their assignment quite seriously.
\nOne day, a new novice crept into the pillar room to gaze upon the glorious piece. She couldn’t get enough of it during the long hours of polishing so she had to come in alone while the other angels were sleeping. As she stared into the depths of the crystal, she felt she could literally reach inside and learn vast, great things. She reached out and placed her hand on the cold surface and could feel the energy within. She was mesmerized. When she finally pulled her hand away, she could see a distinct smudge on the surface and she was appalled. She whipped out her polishing cloth and rushed forward to wipe away the mess she had made.
\nAs the little angel plunged forward, her toe caught on the hem of her robe and she stumbled into the pillar. It rocked and tipped. She stood there and held her breath, hoping it would right itself, but instead…the great Pillar of Truth tipped over, crashing onto the marble floor into a million gazillion tiny slivers. Oh! What ever was she going to do? Surely the sound of the great crash would bring the other angels running in any minute! She ran to the closet and grabbed a large broom and began to sweep the tiny shards out the door of the palace where they fell onto the surface of a cloud.
\nAs the slivers built up within the cloud, moisture began to gather on them and just as the last dustpan full of shards were dropped onto the cloud, a great strike of lightning and clap of thunder resounded throughout Heaven and a heavy rain began to shower earth.
\nAs the rain came down, everyone on earth came out to look in awe, because every drop of rain held a rainbow…a prism of light reflected off the tiny slivers of The Pillar of Truth. They held their faces up to the warm rain and when they did so, the tiny shards from the pillar pierced their eyes. They felt no pain, but they knew something was different. They knew, without a shadow of a doubt that what they saw, what they knew, what they had learned, and what they believed was THE truth. The ONLY truth
\nAnd this is how it happened that people all over the world, in every walk of life, in every faith, with every dogma came to believe that their way was the ONLY way. That others were wrong if they believed differently. This perceived “truth” fractured the world and caused deep rifts between the many factions of society.
\nI am a Christian. This is how I identify. I love the Lord. I follow Him as best I can. I know I will differ with some. There are many paths in this world. I choose the one with Jesus. I am willing to share mine. I am willing to learn of yours. And, I will not ever tell you you are wrong and only I am right. As far as I know, there has not been a team of investigative journalists go to Heaven, document how it all works, and come back with the evidence. For me, personally…I have faith that there is a Heaven. I believe Hell is the complete absence of God…a place I have been and never wish to return to.
\nEvery branch of Christianity, every walk of faith thinks their way is the only way. They all have a shard from The Pillar of Truth in their eye. What is the exact answer? This is where faith come in. ❤
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-07-12T01:30:02-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/07/12/the-pillar-of-truth.html", "tags": ["Faith","Uplifting Stories","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","God","Wisdom","Courage","Presence","Choices","Change"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/02/27/date-night.html", "title": "Date Night", "content_html": "
![\"Budding](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/7251e2f819.jpg\")
“Budding Branches”
Mr. FixIt and I live a pretty frugal life. We are careful in our spending so that we can afford small indulgences now and then. We both came from mixed backgrounds. We’ve both known what it’s like to have very little and to have much. We have a healthy appreciation of both. Because we came together later in life, money will be something we watch carefully. We have become good stewards of what God has given us.
\nThere was a time when either one of us would have gone to games and concerts without thinking of the cost. And to be honest, now that we give a great deal of consideration toward our outings, we actually enjoy and remember them more. I can’t tell you much about the vacation to Hawaii with Hubby #2, but I can tell you where we sat, where we ate, who we played, and the nature of the basketball game we attended a year ago. Of course, the company you keep makes a difference in how memorable an occasion is, don’t you agree?
\nWe drove up to Morgantown yesterday to see WVU beat Texas Tech…soundly. It was a good game. Not nearly as tight and exciting as the Baylor game last year, but it was Senior Night and the graduating seniors were honored. It was fun to see them go out on a winning note.
\nAs we walked to dinner from our hotel, we remarked at what a gorgeous, sunny afternoon it was. The trees are budding as a result of the recent warming trend which may end up being a bad thing if we get a late frost. The variety of birds is increasing and it is such a lovely thing to hear nature’s orchestra filling out.
\nWe get to take one of the grandchildren out for breakfast this morning as she is a student here. Afterward, we are going to explore around the area where my ancestors lived. We stopped at Prickett’s Fort on our way up to Morgantown yesterday. I have people in my family tree buried there. It’s a fun, overnight trip, not terribly expensive, and filled with love. ❤️
\n“She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”\nProverbs 31:27 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-02-27T02:30:01-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/02/27/date-night.html", "tags": ["Uplifting Stories","Positive Energy","Fun","West Virginia","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","Love","Wisdom","Humbled","Presence","Starting Over"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/02/08/when-things-get-scary.html", "title": "When Things Get Scary", "content_html": "
![\"Stock](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/43214984e4.jpg\")
“Stock Market”
Disclaimer: I do not give financial advice. This essay only expresses my feelings.
\nPersonal wealth is a matter of comparison. If you compare my financial picture to a goat herder in the Sahara Desert, I am a multimillionaire. If you compare me to a member of the Fortune 500, I am poor as a church mouse. It’s all relative. But what I do have, I want to protect and watch over carefully.
\nI have spent my whole life deferring all this nasty talk of money to the man in my life. Not because I am incapable of understanding the intricacies of a budget, but because any marital discord I have ever experienced in my life has had something to do with money. Usually with him making it and me spending too much of it. My parents fought over money constantly. Frankly, money…or the lack thereof…scared the heck out of me. So, I avoided talking about it.
\nThen, Mr. Virgo up and died on me and left me to learn a lifetime of money management skills I simply did not possess. The first thing I did the week after the funeral was to switch to a financial advisor who specializes in women in transition…ie widows or divorcees. Danielle Howard was recommended to me by a fellow widow friend who was kind enough to help me set up and meet with her for the first time.
\nDanielle offers two lanes in her financial planning…secular and Christian. I was intrigued. The Christian approach teaches you to be a good steward of what God has provided for you. That’s the route I went with. I met with Danielle frequently at first because there was so much to learn. I wasn’t confident in my decision making skills at all. Danielle was patient, understanding, and nonjudgmental when I made SO many mistakes in the first two or three years after Mr. Virgo died.
\nI was told, “Watch your money.” “Don’t make any big financial decisions in the first year.” “Resist the urge to be overly generous.” But did I listen? Not very well. I tried to fill that hole in my heart with travel and shopping and generosity. Then I woke up and realized, I had to be MUCH more careful or I was going to run out of money.
\nThe Stock Market is probably the singularly scariest entity in my life. I am convinced it is the Devil’s spawn. This last year has been wonderful because I could breathe and not worry about losing what little bit of money I have invested. It’s been a banner year for stocks. Then…the “Big Bang” hit late last week and early this week. When the market fell 1500 points on Monday, I panicked. I called Danielle and left a voice mail telling her I was totally freaking out and could she kindly call me back as soon as possible.
\nThen I fixed a cup of tea. I mean, what else could I do, right? Tea…and wait. Visions of selling pencils from a cup on the street corner started to float in front of me and my heart raced. Crazy…I know. But that’s what money does to me. Then I remembered all those meetings with Danielle at the Bluebird Cafe where we sat over coffee and she taught me about money.
\n“What would Danielle do?” I thought to myself.
\nI could almost hear her voice. “Knowledge is power.”
\nI went to the internet and started reading some of the reputable financial news sites to get their take on the biggest drop ever. I soothed myself with articles about market corrections and stabilization. How these things are expected and actually good for the market in the long run. The takeaway I got was…breathe. Don’t pull out. Just hold steady and ride the waves.
\nI’m pretty good at riding waves.
\nBy the time Danielle called, I was feeling much more in control. I told her about going online and educating myself as to what was going on and what it meant. And I felt so empowered when she said, “Way to go! That’s really great that you took a proactive stance and learned all you could so you could make informed decisions.” I know it sounds so silly, but that was HUGE for me. I felt so…grown up and more in control.
\nThis last year has been really interesting for me. Since downsizing and living a minimalistic lifestyle, I have found my spending to be under much better control. I’ve become more frugal, careful. I don’t NEED anything, really. If I accumulate, I have to go through downsizing. I really don’t ever want to do that again.
\nWidowhood and divorce can often leave us in dire straights. Knowledge really IS power so learn all you can about money and budgeting. And remember, dealing with corrections in the Stock Market is exactly like skiing in deep powder. You have to kick back and rest on the tails of your skis. If you lean too far forward, you’ll take a tumble.
\nOh…and pray. Pray a LOT! ❤
\n“Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, when they are not able to understand it?”\nProverbs 17:16 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-02-08T02:30:37-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/02/08/when-things-get-scary.html", "tags": ["Faith","Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Hope","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Wisdom","Humbled","Presence"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/01/27/playing-with-art.html", "title": "Playing with Art", "content_html": "
![\"Procreate,](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/1b611f1f0a.jpg\")
\nI have loved art since I could hold those fat crayons in my chubby toddler fingers. I loved school because, not only did I learn the secret to time travel was reading, I also learned the secret to inner peace was making art.
\nI was fortunate to have wonderful art teachers in school though I can’t name one. I loved working in pastels. I struggled the most with watercolor. My favorite thing is drawing. Pencils, pen and ink, charcoal, pastels, colored pencils. I love the feel of the paper and how the medium lays in the fibers.
\nMy dad was a talented artist. He gave it up when he had to raise a family. After he died, I found several of his drawings. I wish I knew then what I know now. My conversations with my dad would have ultimately been much deeper. And now he’s gone. It’s too late to ask him what art meant to him.
\nI remember my mom sent me to a local artist for lessons. Again…if I’d have been more mature and responsible, I might have learned more. I think most of what I’ve done has been self taught…a sort of chemistry lesson on paper.
\nI have a friend from high school that has the same iPad, Pencil and app as me. We are meeting today for coffee. I’ve been studying the Procreate guide and we hope to help walk each other through the learning curve. She is a beautiful artist and I am looking forward to learning more from her. This picture shows my progress on this particular drawing over the last four weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with practice. Grandma Moses was a lot older than me when she started! ❤️
\n“He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.”\nExodus 35:35 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-27T02:30:23-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/01/27/playing-with-art.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Fun","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","Presence"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/01/26/do-you-hear-that.html", "title": "Do You Hear That?", "content_html": "
![\"Earth\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/0c83fe1e67.jpg\")
\nWhen I first moved to West Virginia in October 2014, I was living in my camper out on the farm. Shortly after my arrival, I began to notice a low humming sound every night when I went to bed. At first, I thought perhaps something was wrong with some mechanism in the camper itself. Then I thought perhaps the furnace in the house was so loud I was hearing it. I ruled both theories out when I discovered it was continuous, not cyclical.
\nThe sound was similar to a prop plane running its engines about a half mile away. Or a diesel tractor trailer idling down the road. I asked my aunt and she gave me that “you’re kooky” look I always got when I said something…ok, well, pretty much whenever I spoke to her. She didn’t hear anything, she said. “It’s all in your head.”
\nI may have believed that because I do have tinnitus…that high pitched whine I have from too many rock concerts and running machinery without hearing protection. This wasn’t high pitched though. It was low, droning, monotonous, maddening. When I learned they were doing deep drilling on the hill about two ridges over from the farm, I thought that was my answer. But I heard it other places as well. So that wasn’t it.
\nI didn’t notice it so much when I lived up at the river. There was river and train traffic and highways on both the West Virginia and the Ohio side. And, I didn’t hear it in Colorado. Just here. In the country. I don’t remember ever hearing it growing up. After a while, I became pretty accustomed to it. If I did notice it bothering me, there is an app on my iPad that plays white noise or nature sounds and I just turned it on and drowned it out. I do sleep with earplugs but that’s really only good for higher frequency sound. They only served to dampen the ambient noise and accentuate the low pitched frequencies.
\nA few months ago, Mr. FixIt was reading beside me and I put my iPad down and said, “Do you hear that???” He said, “Yeah…that low pitched humming noise? What IS that???” Finally!!! Corroboration! We searched the house. We went outside. We could not identify a source. It bugged us to no end. It seems to be louder on some nights than on others. Sometimes I don’t notice it. Last night it sounded like a plane getting ready for takeoff on the pool deck out back. Oy!
\nI finally turned to the internet for an answer and came up with this article.
\nhttp://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/have-you-heard-the-hum-mystery-of-earths-low-droning-noise-could-now-be-solved-10182111.html
\nApparently, this is a phenomenon that has plagued certain people who can hear this low droning noise and others can’t. I’m glad to know there is some explanation for it. We are hearing the earth…vibrating. It gives me some comfort to know I am not alone and I’m not crazy, but it’s still pretty maddening. How about you all? Do you hear “the hum” where you are? ❤️
\n“when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;”\nEcclesiastes 12:4 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-26T02:30:24-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/01/26/do-you-hear-that.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","West Virginia","The Farm","Growth","New Ideas","Presence"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/01/22/in-the-beginning.html", "title": "In the Beginning", "content_html": "
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b08802211c.jpg\")
\nMarshmallow Ranch actually started in 2001. I was separated from Hubby #2 the year before. I had worked in medicine before becoming a stay-at-home mom in 1986. Unfortunately, since my soon-to-be ex was a doctor in the community, it was a decidedly uncomfortable environment in which to seek employment. I found myself struggling to find a new career in our small, mountain community. I worked for about a year filling in at the local downtown shops…working one day a week at each of five stores, giving the shop owners a welcome day off. I found I enjoyed the interaction with the customers and I was very good at merchandising. My ex noticed this and proposed I open a shop of my own and he would help me get started.
\nOne of my favorite pastimes in those days was needlework. I belonged to the Embroiderer’s Guild that met once a month. I also belonged to a quilting guild. But my favorite was our weekly “Stitch and B****” held at my friend Judy’s house. We brought whatever project we were working on and sat around with coffee and pastries and got all the support we needed for whatever issue we were facing as young mothers. When I started thinking about what kind of shop I wanted to open, I asked the girls and they unanimously chimed in. “A needlework supply shop!”
\nI really wanted my store on the main street through town for the foot traffic. Unfortunately, the rents there were out of my budget so I went two streets east. I was across the street from the Hotel Denver and catty corner from the Amtrak Station. The building was one of the oldest in town. It had been the St. James Inn at one time with a shady history of being one of the brothels in the early days when most of downtown consisted of tents and mud. When coming up with a name, I thought of Cat House Cross Stitch, but thought better of it. I finally settled on Needles & Pins. The owners of the building did a major remodel with my shop in mind. When it was complete, it was lovely. Old hardwood floors were brought back to life. Salvaged brick lined one wall. A large table was in the back room. Every Wednesday, women gathered at my shop for our own version of “Stitch and B****”. From the moment I opened the doors to closing time, the shop rang with the laughter of women sharing stories and solving the problems of the world. I lost my shirt…twice…but it was wonderful therapy for a lot of women, including myself. It’s when I first found my footing on my own again.
\nIf you are a cross-stitcher, you are familiar with cute publishing houses like “Birds of a Feather”, “Mosey & Me”, “Blackbird Designs” and “The Prairie Schooler”. Being an artist, I thought I would try my hand at designing some cross-stitch patterns. I wanted to come up with a cute name for the division of my business. As I was going through a box of things in my art studio one day, I came across the picture of a field in West Virginia with large, round bales of hay wrapped in white plastic. They looked all the world like huge marshmallows. I had taken the photo on a trip a few years earlier. My youngest had asked what those things were and her big sister teased her telling her this was a marshmallow ranch. This was where they grew big marshmallows then cut them up in little pieces, put them in bags and sent them to the stores. Marshmallow Ranch! The perfect name for my tiny little art division of Needles & Pins.
\nUnfortunately, the shop wasn’t open long enough for my ideas to come to fruition. I did design three or four patterns and had samples stitched, but never got them published. This is the most detailed of my designs. I called it “Three Sheep”. Maybe someday I’ll get around to developing that idea again. Designing cross-stitch patterns isn’t as easy as it looks. Even with my interest in art, I’m not a very good judge of color. I found this picture on my new computer when the photos were delivered from the cloud and thought I’d share it with you. It’s been thirteen years since I closed the second incarnation of my little needlework shop. It was a difficult time in my life, but one that shaped the path of who I have become. It’s something I am proud of in retrospect. ❤️
\n“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”\nJames 1:17 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-22T02:30:44-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/01/22/in-the-beginning.html", "tags": ["Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Hope","Positive Energy","Fun","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","Presence","Starting Over"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2018/01/08/old-friends.html", "title": "Old Friends", "content_html": "
![\"Namaste\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/12d73a44d0.jpg\")
\nOur babies were just wee ones when we met. We were taking a sewing class together which really turned out to be twice a week therapy for busy moms to vent and create something beautiful. Sue took my breath away. Tall and slender with that long, thick, full-bodied hair those of us with baby fine strands drool over, she embodied the earth mother I so desperately wanted to be. We became fast friends. We got together and had tea. We hiked. We stitched and b****ed our way through our children’s youth. We were soccer moms. And, even though we were several years apart in age, we had so much in common.
\nSue is one of those friends you may not speak to more than once or twice a year. But when you do, you feel this incredible soul connection and time disappears. We pass each other on Facebook. We give each other virtual hugs and atta girls. We know we are never more than a message or a text or a phone call away.
\nSue moved away from Glenwood Springs a couple of years before that cataclysmic event…the overdose…and my world changed dramatically. She was so worried about me. She was supportive and listened and offered me unconditional love. There was a long stretch of time when we didn’t get to see each other. She was at our wedding. Then Mr. Virgo died and she couldn’t come to the funeral. When I went on my three month journey into the wilderness and backroads of Colorado, Sue invited me to her little “ranchita” down near the Four Corners area. She had ten acres overlooking Mesa Verde. She had a labyrinth she had designed and built. By this time, she was an accomplished yogi.
\nThe day I arrived at her place near Dolores, Sue came running out of the house and grabbed me. She hugged me tight then pulled back and looked me in the eyes.
\n“You said you were doing ok…but I had to see for myself. I wouldn’t know for sure till I squeezed you!” Then she drew me in for another hug.
\nSue ministers to you with softness, compassion. She settled me in the rocking chair by the big picture window. She brought me tea. She sat with me and we rocked…the comforting quiet hanging between us like a well worn quilt as we watched the birds at the immense feeder just beyond the glass. We drove to Silverton one day to be at the finish line of a mountain bike race. I was terribly anxious the night before. I had a really hard time with anxiety the first year or two after Mr. Virgo died. Sue sat with me for hours into the night as I cried and threw up and was generally a horrible mess. She’s that friend…the one who loves you when you’re really messy. She is the one who kicked me in the butt and made me write my book. She said…”Write it now while there is pain in your heart. We will feel it. If you try to write it after you heal, you will lose that voice.” She is so right. I love her dearly.
\nIt’s a new year…time for us to reconnect. Sue and I talked for two hours and twenty-two minutes last night. We discussed all the changes in our lives…all the changes to come. And we decided to plan a yoga retreat. We’ll have yoga sessions as well as talks…nutrition, self-care, grief, art, music, writing. I have a picture in my mind of what I want it to look like. I’ll let you know as we formulate a plan and I’d love you to come!
\nLife is full of interesting twists and turns, isn’t it? My word this year is “presence”. By being present, I will flow through life more awake, more open, more prepared to embrace challenges. Retreats have been a HUGE dream of mine. Time to start letting that dream out to play! ❤️
\n“gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”\nGalatians 5:23 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2018-01-08T02:30:25-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2018/01/08/old-friends.html", "tags": ["Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Hope","Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","Love","Peace","Wisdom","Humbled","Presence"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/12/27/postholiday-blues-or-just-getting.html", "title": "Post-Holiday Blues or Just Getting Back to Normal?", "content_html": "
![\"Rain](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/c640b6414c.jpg\")
\nIs it the “blues”? Feeling a little depressed after the holidays? Things have you out of sorts? Once the last cookie has been consumed, the last gift unwrapped, the last guest sent off…it can feel like such a let down. Add to that a total disregard for your previously fairly pristine diet and you could be in a sugar crash, gluten-induced, holiday frazzled funk.
\nThat’s where I found myself last night. We had dinner guests. My second cousin and his wife came over to celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary with us. I cooked all day…homemade spaghetti sauce, pasta, and apple dumplings for desert. I have been so super cautious for the last two years and have stayed away from gluten. I find I have more energy, my mood is stable, and my gut is much happier when I keep wheat and sugar out of my diet. Then…Christmas happened. A “just this once” became “that went ok, this won’t hurt” and before I knew it…I was OD-ing on a regular basis with bread, cookies, pie, cake. I knew I was playing with fire, but I couldn’t help myself.
\nI’ve been craving spaghetti all month. The brownies didn’t kill me. The cookies didn’t present too much of an issue. How bad could spaghetti be? Ohhhh, I found out. Spaghetti is about as densely concentrated a source of gluten as you can get and my body finally stood its ground and said , “What the heck do you think you’re doing, lady?! Are you crazy???” My company hadn’t even left before I really began to feel ill…and blue.
\nIt felt like the blues of grief. And, that could be part of it, I’m sure. With the holidays come waves of grief. But I knew I had been pushing the envelope with my wheat and sugar consumption so I did some research. It turns out, according to a study reported in Psychology Today, gluten, wheat, and corn syrup solids can cause anxiety and depression in people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Bingo!
\nWhen the holidays settle down, we actually return to our normal state and that can feel like the blues. We often feel the same sort of thing when we return to real life from a fabulous vacation. Add gluten sensitivity to the mix and it’s a sure recipe for feeling yucky. It’s time to start back on my clean and green diet again. I’ve never felt…or looked…better than I do when I’m eating right, exercising, drinking plenty of water, and getting enough rest. It’s more than a New Year’s Resolution. It’s a prescription for leading my best life and enjoying it. ❤️
\n“For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”\nPsalm 32:4-5 NIV
\n", "date_published": "2017-12-27T02:30:21-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/12/27/postholiday-blues-or-just-getting.html", "tags": ["Faith","Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Prayer","Strong Women","Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Grace","God","Wisdom"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/12/14/lets-take-a-ride-on.html", "title": "Let’s Take a Ride on the Brain Train", "content_html": "![\"The](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/d49456d497.jpg\")
\nIn the early ‘80s, Hubby #2 was just finishing medical school and was about to start his internship and residency. I was working for a four-doctor Internal Medicine clinic as a Diabetes Educator. The wife of one of the doctors I worked for was writing a book about a kind of water exercise called “Flugel Fitness”. She contracted me to illustrate the instruction manual. In the process of working with her, we had lots of conversations about health and wellness. She had a workout studio and I started some weight loss classes for her. I remember having a conversation with her about my situational anxiety surrounding public speaking and she recommended a book by Shakti Gawain called Creative Visualization. I loved that book and read it many times and it did help.
\nCreative visualization and guided imagery are sort of like meditation. One image helped me feel grounded. I sat in the lotus position and imagined a lightning rod going from the top of my head, down my spine, and sinking deep within the earth. I pictured energy drawing up from the earth and showering out the top of my head and raining down over me. It was all very New Agey.
\nAt this same time, Daughter #1 was about nine or ten years old. She loved for me to tell her stories at bedtime. Reading Shakti’s book gave me an idea. I wanted to see if creative visualization would work to help an active child settle down and fall asleep more easily. So, I created the Brain Train. We went on lots of “trips” on the Brain Train as I described intricate scenarios. It worked beautifully! She would relax and fall asleep much quicker with this type of guided imagery.
\nI decided to write a children’s book. I made it like a dry erase book with basic background images. The child uses a marker to draw in what they “see” as they ride the Brain Train through the countryside. It was a fun idea and Daughter #1 loved it. I submitted it to dozens of publishers and received dozens of rejections. Then, about a year later, creative visualization for children took off and there were books similar to mine everywhere. I figure I was just too far ahead of my time, right?
\nWhen Daughter #2 came along, she had many of the same anxiety issues I’ve struggled with. One day we were looking through some things and she saw the prototype book that I sent to publishers. I told her all about the Brain Train and we started using creative visualization to help her cope with stress. She loved it as much as her older sister.
\nI don’t get to talk to the girls as often as I’d like these days. They are busy with their lives. But, yesterday I got to talk with Daughter #2 for a lovely, long conversation. The subject of The Brain Train came up and she told me what an important tool that had been for her and how she still uses creative visualization. She said, “Mom, I still have the painting you did for me. It’s hanging in my bedroom.” She sent me this picture. It brings back so many memories of my girls when they were little. Tucking them into bed…warm from a bath, hair still damp, tummies full of milk and cookies. We would hop onboard the Brain Train and soon found ourselves riding through mountains or along the ocean or through a forest. We saw animals of all sizes and colors. Blue elephants, pink giraffes, polka dot monkeys. We crossed bridges and went through long dark tunnels and soon they relaxed and I heard the familiar deep, even breathing of sleep.
\nWhat a gift that was…to learn something I did for them…something I really haven’t thought of in ages…had such an impact. It made me feel like I felt when I held them on my lap, brushing their hair from their foreheads, kissing the top of their heads. It made me feel like a mom. I mean…once a mom, always a mom, right? I mean like a real, active, momming mom. It gave me the feels. ❤️
\n“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”\nPsalms 19:14 ESV
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-12-14T02:30:54-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/12/14/lets-take-a-ride-on.html", "tags": ["Family","Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Positive Energy","Fun","West Virginia","Growth","New Ideas","Love","Peace","Wisdom"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/12/12/change.html", "title": "Change", "content_html": "
![\"WV](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/8b5c1a7872.jpg\")
\nOne of the hardest things to deal with since losing Mr. Virgo is…change. And of course, that is the one thing you can absolutely count on in this life. Change. Things change. People change. Situations change. And, unfortunately…places change.
\nI have to tell you, sometimes you have no way of knowing what God has up His sleeve when He leads you down a certain path. Why this way and not that? Sometimes we never figure it out. Other times, it becomes crystal clear. I love those times. Even when they break my heart.
\nWhen I first came to West Virginia, it was just a year and a half after losing Mr. Virgo. I lived on the family farm but only for a few weeks. When my aunt decided she really didn’t want help, I went off on my own for a couple years. I never dreamed I’d have the opportunity to come back and be the caretaker of the home of my heart. When my uncle asked me to take care of the place for him, I jumped at the chance.
\nI know God has a reason behind every move. There was a plan before I was born. I hadn’t really thought about why I got to live at the farm again. Until yesterday. Mr. FixIt and I have noticed a lot of heavy dump trucks going up the road lately. We heard this summer that they’re putting in a compressor station back beyond the farm so we surmised the work had begun. When we got there yesterday, I drove past the farm and went up the back road. It wasn’t long till we saw the signs. “Road Work Ahead” and “Flagger: Prepare to Stop”.
\nIt’s funny. You hear change is coming. You see what other places look like when they change. Yet, you’re completely unprepared when the change comes and it affects your world. I’m a go-with-the-flow kinda gal, but when I saw them cutting into MY earth, MY world, my HEART…it crushed me. I motioned for the flagger to come over. I asked for details. “What are they doing there?” “How far back are they going?” “How long will this take?” He was a young man. Respectful. He seemed to understand this was hurtful to me. He explained carefully what steps they were taking. I sat and stared till the tears stung my eyes then I had to go.
\nI remember when they clear cut the back of the farm. I felt like this. But, trees grow back. This is a permanent scar that will never heal. As I sat and watched the big dump trucks back out the ridge to be filled with MY earth, the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart.
\n“This is why you were given this time on the farm. You are here to memorize every inch of the place. You are here to document the passage. You are here to be a witness.”
\nChange is inevitable. I know that. I’m doing better with change. I don’t like it. And I especially don’t like them messing with the home of my heart. But, I’m also a realist. I’m pragmatic. There is now going to be a paved road out to the back of this ridge. There will be easier access to the workable land and that will improve the value of the farm. That’s the upside. There’s going to be a lot of sound pollution, increased traffic, as well as some environmental risks. That’s the downside.
\nI’ve always known my time on the farm is limited. I’ll still be taking care of it for the foreseeable future. And I’ll be saying goodbye to what it once was…one truckload of dirt at a time. ❤️
\n“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:”\nEcclesiastes 3:1 ESV
\n", "date_published": "2017-12-12T02:30:30-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/12/12/change.html", "tags": ["Uplifting Stories","Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Hope","Positive Energy","West Virginia","The Farm","Growth","New Ideas","Grace","God","Wisdom","Humbled","Starting Over"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/11/02/the-information-age.html", "title": "The Information Age", "content_html": "![\"Card](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/74fc870f76.jpg\")
Prehistoric Google
Hubby #2 is a pretty smart guy. Even so, when he was in medical school, he had to study really hard for the grades. Once he graduated, he started getting medical journals delivered to the house. JAMA…the Journal of the American Medical Association…was the biggest one. Lancet…the British equivalent. There were issues dealing with pathology, dermatology, cancer. There are a zillion of these magazines that doctors get and they have a name for them. Except for the top two or three, doctors refer to them as “throw aways”.
\nH2 would clip articles, make files, read, read, and read some more. The making of a doctor is not a pretty thing. Nor is it at all glamorous. Long, long hours with very little sleep. Cram studying in there and a family? Let’s just say, it’s no wonder the divorce rate is high in that field. One particularly rough rotation, I found him curled up on the bed. I sat down beside him and asked what was wrong. He said he couldn’t learn enough to make a difference. It wasn’t long after that when he had an a-ha moment. One of his mentors told him the most important thing he would ever learn in medical school is where to look things up. From then on, things went much more smoothly. And he began throwing away the superfluous stuff. He stopped clipping articles. And he became a knowledgeable and beloved physician.
\nThis was back in the days before the internet. What on earth did we do without smart phones and Google? When I was in the hospital last month, the doctor kept getting texts while we spoke. I can clearly see both sides of this issue. Frustrating as the patient but so incredibly useful as a physician. How much easier life would have been had H2 had a smart phone. I remember when he got his first Palm Pilot. Oy…
\nThe amount of information that comes to us in any given day is mind boggling. It’s easy to become overwhelmed when it’s too much. We shut down. Is the world really worse than it’s ever been? Or are we just bombarded with every story…with every news outlet vying for the ratings by sensationalizing everything? Bad things have always happened. Every single day. We just didn’t have it thrown in our faces 24/7/365. It’s too much. This is why I cut out television. The month after Mr. Virgo died, I got the satellite bill and realized I hadn’t even considered turning the TV on. Not once. I called and cancelled the service. I do have it here at the farm in case of an emergency and I need news. In the fifteen months I’ve lived here, I have watched TV maybe three times. My life is so much more peaceful without the box entertaining me….bombarding me…enticing me…scaring me. I don’t need to see the images in order to feel the horror of an event.
\nWe become what we consume, and that includes information. A chaotic world creates a chaotic life…and, vice versa. ❤️
\n“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.”\nProverbs 18:15 NIV
\n", "date_published": "2017-11-02T01:30:48-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/11/02/the-information-age.html", "tags": ["Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Positive Energy","New Ideas","Peace","Wisdom"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/09/15/ooooompapa.html", "title": "Ooooom-Pa-Pa!", "content_html": "![\"Menu](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/829d6f8436.jpg\")
\nI arrived at the Country Living Fair in the early afternoon yesterday and met my Girl Camper friends. We had to wait our turn to pull the three campers into the grounds so we sat around and nibbled on finger foods and caught up with what’s been going on in each other’s lives. Girl Camper extraordinaire, Janine Pettit, regaled us with stories of her epic month long trip to the National Parks out west this summer. Gail shared that her daughter is going to live overseas for a year. Jill was excited about her new-to-her Airstream she recently redecorated. I shared the article from the Fidelity online magazine. Sisters and Girl Campers always pick up where we left off the last time.
\nI don’t know if you’ve ever gone to a Country Living Fair but the amount of work that goes on in the background to set something up this massive and intricate is astounding. We drove in on cue when it was our turn. The area where we set up is pretty tight and it took a great deal of maneuvering to get all three campers in just right. I’m glad I have some mad backing up skills because they came in handy yesterday!
\nOnce the three campers were set up, they had to be “staged”. You’ve all seen those cute campers in the magazines with all the vintage collectibles or great quilts or baskets of flowers? All those things were placed there with an eye much more skilled than mine. When these girls were finished, it looked just like a photo shoot! I can’t wait to take pictures today!
\nAs I walked through the fair grounds, the displays were eye candy for someone who cannot resist the colorful, glossy pages of Country Living Magazine. It’s like the magazine itself has come alive…its pages exploding on the grounds all around you! Antiques, linens, rusty farm implements, artsy clothing and jewelry…you name it, it’s here. Including the kitchen sink. It’s truly one of the most beautiful fairs of its kind in the country. I’m so looking forward to browsing when I can.
\nI’ve read Country Living Magazine for years. Now that I’m living a country life, it would be so easy to accumulate too much stuff again and, seriously…I really don’t want to go through that kind of downsizing ever again. I carefully curate what comes in my house now. I only have what is useful and I know to be beautiful. The trouble is…there is SO much that I find beautiful. So my third measure is…Would I rather have this “thing” or go someplace with that money. Experience over stuff wins just about every time.
\nWe ended the evening at a German restaurant where the highlight of the evening was a group of dinner guests playing cowbells to the tune “Edelweiss”. You can’t make this stuff up!
\nStay tuned…I may not be able to resist some extra posts today when I see something pretty! ❤️
\n“Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.”\nRomans 15:2 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-09-15T01:55:43-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/09/15/ooooompapa.html", "tags": ["Travel","Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Sisters on the Fly","Positive Energy","The Grand Adventure","Fun","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Wisdom","Girl Camper","Girl Campers","Country Living Fair"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/09/12/the-jersey-girls.html", "title": "The Jersey Girls", "content_html": "
![\"The](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/1e55c8ad0d.jpg\")
\nWe had such a mish-mash of gals at the SOTF event this weekend. I’ve heard so much about Jean Taylor over the years that I felt I already knew her, even though we’d never met. She came with three of her umpteen cousins and they were an absolute hoot and a half. They love to “camp”. As a matter of fact, Jean owns a campground in New Jersey. I am not sure how “campy” the others get, seeing how the sum of their experience thus far seemed to be staying in the motor home at the campground. But I loved them. You know why? Because they didn’t know you could make ice cream by hand. They’d never seen the Milky Way. They hadn’t heard of clogging in any other sense than what cholesterol does to your arteries. They were delightful!
\nOne story they told was how, very early on, their great grandfather lived in WV. He was an Italian immigrant and a miner with a huge family. And, as any good Italian did, he made wine for their consumption. Apparently, the revenuers caught wind of this, raided his home and broke all the bottles of wine. Great-grandma sent one of the kids to the mine to tell papa not to come home and why. He took off for New Jersey and stayed there till grandma could get there with the children. Thus, they put down roots in NJ. If not for the revenuers, how many more West Virginians would we have?
\nI named them “Honorary Hillbillies”…those wonderful Italian women from New Jersey!
\nWe also had a published author of historical romances. A woman who owned a farm, played guitar, and is learning to drive horses. There were a few widows. There was a woman simultaneously going to college and living in her new Airstream as she explores the country over the next eighteen months. There were three moms of autistic children who bonded over that. There were artists and nurses, retired and employed. They slept in everything from cars to tents to vintage campers to modern campers to a brand new Airstream. Yet they all have one thing in common…they are Sisters. A fact that is never taken lightly. I am so proud to be a member of this organization and look forward to more gatherings with them. ❤️
\n“She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”\nProverbs 3:15 ESV
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-09-12T01:55:31-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/09/12/the-jersey-girls.html", "tags": ["Travel","Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Sisters on the Fly","Positive Energy","Camping","Fun","West Virginia","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/09/06/sisters-on-the-fly.html", "title": "Sisters on the Fly", "content_html": "
![\"Sisters](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/e894d8cf7a.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/69677a7cd3.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/f07e8b48bb.jpg\")
What is Sisters on the Fly?
\nIt’s the world’s largest outdoor adventure group for women. We have affected the lives of over 9,000 women from around the world. Our motto is “We have more fun than anyone!” And it’s true! Sister gatherings are jam packed with fun and we turn women into girls.
\nWhat do the Sisters do at their gatherings?
\nWe do a number of things! Some of us fly fish. Some ride horses or mountain bikes. We love to go junkin’ and eat great food. Some hike. Some play and listen to music. Whatever floats your boat. And speaking of floating your boat, we are going to ride the sternwheeler on the Ohio River over to visit the Blennerhassett Mansion this week. We love to eat so we’re going to have an old fashioned weenie roast. My Pop-Pop whittled the end of sharp sticks for roasting weenies and marshmallows. We’ll serve them the WV way with sauce and slaw. We are playing music and listening to music and maybe even clog dance. Sisters will try just about anything!
\nHow can I be a Sister?
\nYou can have more fun that anyone by heading over to www.sistersonthfly.com and signing up. Dues are $70 a year and there are gatherings of every interest all around the globe.
\nWhat kind of women become Sisters on the Fly?
\nBold women. Shy women. Women with campers. Women with tents. Women who prefer the lodge or a fine hotel or a cabin. Single women. Taken women. Married women. Widowed women. Young women. Old women. Key word is Women. No men. (Sorry, guys!) No kids. (Sorry, kids!) and, no pets.
\nThese gals love to eat! I shopped yesterday. Such a wise shopper I have become. This big grocery cart ended up costing $150! I was impressed. We will see how the menu and activities go over. I’ve done the planning, the shopping and the prep. As my friend V says…it’s time for the fun! ❤️
\n“Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”\nProverbs 3:17 ESV
\n(Photos from older Sisters on the Fly gatherings.)
\n", "date_published": "2017-09-06T01:55:09-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/09/06/sisters-on-the-fly.html", "tags": ["Travel","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Hope","Sisters on the Fly","Positive Energy","TOW-Wanda!","The Grand Adventure","Fun","West Virginia","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Love","Peace"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/08/24/ahhhhindiana.html", "title": "Ahhhh...Indiana!", "content_html": "![\"Waze](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/e4bb02ddc6.jpg\")
\nI’m beginning to really like this state. I have been to Bloomington in the south. I’ve been back and forth along the I-70 corridor countless times. I spent a weekend here in Richmond in December 2015 when my daughter graduated from Miami University. And now I’m on my third camping excursion here. We picked TOW-Wanda up yesterday and she’s pretty as can be. They detailed her after putting on the new axle. I checked the hub temperature with my new infrared digital thermometer after driving a few miles and it was right around 97-98°. It may give me a false sense of security since the service guy told me “if it’s too hot, it’s too late.”
\nJust after we turned onto I-70 from I-77, we came to a standstill. As far as we could see, cars and trucks filled the highway like a parking lot in all three lanes. I was just telling Mr. FixIt I wished I had the extension app on my Garmin GPS to tell me about traffic when I remembered Waze. Some of my Sisters on the Fly friends were just discussing the merits of this free GPS app that is populated by user input. I had tried it a couple of years ago and didn’t like it so I took it off. I figured I couldn’t lose anything and I was sitting in a giant parking lot on the interstate so I downloaded the app and turned it on. Sure enough, it showed my location and several people up ahead posted what was going on…a car fire. When we finally started moving, there was not one, but two burned out shells of cars alongside the highway. I’ll have to see if I can find a news story about it because it was pretty impressive. I have unlimited data on my cell phone so I kept Waze running. Whenever there was a hazard, a policeman, or even a pothole in the roadway, the app let me know with an electronic voice. I’ll be using it whenever I drive.
\nThe other thing I wanted to tell you about was this really cool tool I bought at Costco. I’ve been wanting a windshield mount for my cell phone and found a package of two at Costco when we were in Colorado. I gave one to Mr. FixIt for his truck and I put the other in mine. Now I can run Waze AND my GPS as I drive and have an unobstructed view of the road. I can answer calls hands free. I can even ask Siri to read my text messages and answer them by dictating and never take my eyes off the road.
\nIf you find yourself in Richmond, Indiana in need of RV services…see Matt Green at Camping World. If you need a great campsite that’s easily accessible, check out Grandpa’s Farm Campground. And if you want a really great meal, go to O’Charley’s. Excellent! There are my PSA’s of the day. Helpful hints for your traveling pleasure…and, I get to sleep in TOW-Wanda again!!! ❤️
\n“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”\nPsalms 4:8 ESV
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-08-24T01:55:30-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/08/24/ahhhhindiana.html", "tags": ["Travel","Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Positive Energy","TOW-Wanda!","Camping","The Grand Adventure","Fun","New Ideas","Wisdom"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/08/20/umbraphilesthe-shadow-lovers.html", "title": "Umbraphiles...The Shadow Lovers", "content_html": "
![\"Total](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/de028099c9.jpg\")
\nThey’ll chase an eclipse…clear across the ocean if they have to. They are umbraphiles. The Shadow Lovers. In 1972, Marcy Sigler chartered a ship, gathered 830 of her closest friends, and took off across the waters from\nNew York to Nova Scotia to chase the eclipse and make it last as long as possible. There won’t be another total solar eclipse viewable in the continental United States for 180 some odd years so there are, as you well have seen, a gazillion umbraphiles coming out of the closet.
\nThere are a lot of weird warnings out about the solar eclipse and it’s affect on everything from pregnancy to pets. An Indian newspaper recently warned women not to go outside during an eclipse to keep them from giving birth to a blind baby or one with a cleft lip. Eskimo women must place their cooking utensil upside down during an eclipse to ward off diseases. Also, some Indians wash their eyes out with urine during an eclipse to keep your eyes from ever hurting again.
\nI just received an e-mail from some veterinary outfit warning everyone to bring their pets into the house during a solar eclipse to prevent them from “looking up at the sun and being blinded”. Ok…is there a rash of beagles going outside at noon on any given day and staring at the sun? And if that’s the case, how about cats, and rats, and elephants? Actually, animals don’t take much notice of the sun. Pets may take notice of your excitement and react to that. You don’t need to put those cute little glasses on FiFi but if it will make you feel better, you can bring your pets in, draw the shades and let them watch the eclipse on television like respectable animals.
\nThat being said, there may be some behavioral changes in the animal kingdom. Birds that roost may become quiet and prepare for a nap while nocturnal creatures may get the signal to wake up. The darkest moments of the eclipse occurs so quickly though that those night critters will probably just yawn and turn over and go back to sleep.
\nNow, one very real thing that may occur is the decrease in electricity from all the solar arrays in the path of the eclipse. As more and more communities produce more and more solar energy, an eclipse may be more noticeable with decreased output…especially when the eclipse occurs during the summer and during peak energy use times of the summer. I’m not sure what will happen, but there some potential for disruption.
\nI was wondering if anyone has calculated the carbon footprint of the eclipse and how all the increased driving and production of waste would affect the environment. But maybe I’m just being too, you know, scientific here. It’s still a pretty cool event and if you have a chance to watch one, you really should. Just remember to never stare at the sun without the proper protection. Be safe and have fun tomorrow. We’ll talk Tuesday about what you did and what you saw! ❤️
\n“The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.”\nJoel 3:15 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-08-20T01:55:38-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/08/20/umbraphilesthe-shadow-lovers.html", "tags": ["Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Strong Women","Sisters on the Fly","Positive Energy","New Ideas","Peace","Wisdom","Peaceful Moments"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2017/07/21/road-trip-day-fifteen-focus.html", "title": "Road Trip: Day Fifteen \"Focus\"", "content_html": "
![\"Moose\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/2ba5b7f1aa.jpg\")
Moose
I am in my fifth year writing this blog. The original page was intended to showcase art jewelry I was making out of antique silverware and maps. Then Mr. Virgo died and it morphed into a grief blog. I dealt solely with the monumental task of putting one foot in front of the other and surviving that horrid loss. In an effort to cope, I put something joyful in front of me in the form of a small camper and a group of spunky women who liked to travel and have adventures. The focus gradually shifted from the darkness of death to the possibility of living after loss and eventually I started breathing again. With each stage of grief, with each right of passage, with each new thing, the focus of my writing has shifted to accommodate the change du jour.
\nA reader commented yesterday that my site has “lost its focus”. I had to sit down and give myself a good self-examination. For what seemed like an eternity, the only thing I could talk about was pain and death and grief and darkness. Thank God that’s not the focus of all my writing any more. It means I’m healing. So, what IS the “focus of my site”? Trailers, camping, travel, Girl Campers and Sisters on the Fly? Not entirely. My family in Colorado and West Virginia? Somewhat. The farm and the cats? Sometimes. God and how He has touched my life and moved mountains? Much of the time. My writing is all of these things and more. I’m part storyteller, part preacher, part analyst, part therapist. I’m part comedienne, part realist, part widow, part mom. Because that’s what life is…it’s 10,000 things all at once so I write about the 10,000 things and try to make some sense of it all. Because out there…somewhere out there is a widow that’s hurting, a wife who was left, a child who was molested. And somewhere in here is a story that just might help one of them, whether it seems unfocused or not.
\nWhile the subject matter of my blog has indeed varied over the years, my focus has not. My focus is to help people in any way I can. To be of service. To quote John Keats, “Love is my religion…”. I will admit, writer’s block has me occasionally writing diary-like posts a la Bridget Jones. And this new, wild and wonderful love story I’ve got going on here is distracting, to say the least. I take constructive criticism to heart and I will try to write more focused essays in the future. I have no problem hearing constructive criticism. We all have room for improvement. ❤️
\n“Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise.”\nProverbs 15:31 NIV
\n\n", "date_published": "2017-07-21T01:55:09-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2017/07/21/road-trip-day-fifteen-focus.html", "tags": ["Uplifting Stories","Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Hope","Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","Love","God","Wisdom","Humbled"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2016/01/13/joy-the-movie.html", "title": "\"Joy\" - the Movie", "content_html": "\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/e44e0d8dea.jpg\")
We went out to the movies last night to see \"Joy\", the biopic loosely based on the life and career of Joy Mangano, creator of the Magic Mop as well as 100 other patented items sold on QVC and HSN. As I watched the movie unfold, it reminded me of my foray in the invention arena.
\n\n\nI was a single mother in the late '70s, supporting myself and my firstborn working as an X-Ray Tech at Spaulding Rehab Hospital. I was faced with x-raying disabled patients and, as the only person in my department, I had to enlist the aid of an orderly or family member to lift the patient up on the table for filming. This was risky on many levels....injury to the patient, radiation exposure to the person holding the film, and general discomfort. I came up with a device to enable me to x-ray patients while seated in a wheelchair which was safer and more cost effective.
\n\n\nI submitted the design for a statewide competition for advances in radiology and won the Lewis Mechanical Award in 1979. I had prototypes made, found some venture capital, and set out to get a patent. The first patent search came back with two or three designs that were similar in parts but not in application. Still, similar enough to not be able to get approval. We prosecuted the patent, but it was rejected a second time. In the meantime, my investors sent me to Picker X-Ray Corporation in Cleveland to meet with the purchaser to carry the \"Hemi-daptor\" in their accessory catalogue. They loved the idea and wanted to sell it, but I chickened out. I was afraid of being sued if I didn't have a patent. It was really interesting going through that process and I've often wondered how different my live might have been had it been successful.
\n\n\nIt also reminds me of the process I'm going through now....the growth and development of Marshmallow Ranch and writing and publishing my books. This is shaping up to be an exciting year and I'm really looking forward to seeing the fruits of my labor.
\n\n\n❤
\n\n\nPS...don't forget, if you are in the Cincinnati area, I'm co-hosting a Salon this Sunday, 2-4pm. See the event on this page for details.
\n\n\n❤️
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2016-01-13T02:30:11-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2016/01/13/joy-the-movie.html", "tags": ["Colorado","New Ideas","Gratitude","Memories","Crafts"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2016/01/04/intentions-vs-resolutions.html", "title": "Intentions vs Resolutions", "content_html": "\n“and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.”
\nExodus 35:31-33 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/df82194b06.jpg\")
The other day I mentioned that I don't make New Year's Resolutions. I never keep them past a week or two. They are too easily forgotten because I'm a visual learner. So I make a Vision Board. I gather images that portray what I would like to accomplish in the year ahead and they serve as visual reminders to keep my goals in reach.
\n\n\nSome years I actually cut pictures out of a magazine and make a poster including key words I want to focus on. Sometimes I just gather images in a file that I can look at to remind me what I want to be doing more of. I find this to be much more useful than a statement.
\n\n\nI want to do more kayaking on the Ohio River this spring while I still have ready access. After I head back to Colorado, I'll be restricted to lakes and reservoirs. They don't have the still, glasslike surface of the beautiful Ohio River. I also want to ride my bike more. There's an excellent rails to trails system in West Virginia I want to take advantage of. I haven't camped much in WV and there are some of the most beautiful state parks there. So, outdoorsy things are big on my list this year.
\n\n\nWhat are some of your intentions for the year?
\n\n\n❤️
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2016-01-04T02:30:36-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2016/01/04/intentions-vs-resolutions.html", "tags": ["Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Presence"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/12/27/bright-spots.html", "title": "Bright Spots", "content_html": "\n“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
\nProverbs 16:9 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/f5640498f9.jpg\")
In the days following a holiday as festive as Christmas and nights as long, dark, and cold as January, it is difficult to find the bright spots and maintain an upbeat attitude. My heart says hibernate till spring but my head says GET UP, GET UP...GET UP!
\n\n\nWe have a large group family outing scheduled today that I'm really looking forward to. I haven't said anything all week, but I was sick as a dog from Tuesday when I came down with a cold till Friday when I got enough cold medicine in me to get me sitting up and taking nourishment. Couldn't miss Christmas! I'm still pretty darned tired but improving daily.
\n\n\nI have some people who need some prayers so I'm going to start a prayer chain in my Sunday posts.
\n\n\nThere's a little boy named Caysen in Columbus who is really struggling. He was born with a heart defect and had surgery but is much, much sicker than they anticipated. Please pray they find out how to address his medical issues and he is healed.
\n\n\nA friend from high school lost her mom when she passed in her sleep on the 23rd. The funeral is Monday. Please pray for their support and comfort in the coming days and beyond.
\n\n\nAnother friend from high school had a heart attack last week as well as pneumonia. Please pray for healing.
\n\n\nAnother friend from high school is suffering from cancer and COPD. Please pray for comfort and healing.
\n\n\nAnother friend totaled her car yesterday and miraculously was not injured. Pray she remains without injury symptoms and there is a rapid settlement.
\n\n\nPlease feel free to add your own prayer requests below. Together we are stronger.
\n\n\n❤️
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2015-12-27T02:30:39-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/12/27/bright-spots.html", "tags": ["Faith","Prayer","New Ideas","Gratitude"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/12/05/finding-topics.html", "title": "Finding Topics", "content_html": "\n“Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.”
\nPsalm 30:2 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/37127ae277.jpg\")
Quite often, my topic of discussion for my blog posts come from some comment made here the day before. I read your comments during the day as they come in and try to at least acknowledge them with a \"like\" so you know I read them. Some I make comments on. If I replied to every one I wouldn't get anything else done. I love your comments, though. They are insightful, loving, encouraging and often give me much to think about.
\n\n\nEvery once in a while I have to go looking for something that triggers an interesting thought. I always pray for God to bring the right words. Yesterday was a search-for-a-subject day. I Googled \"grief quotes\". Hundreds popped up. Literally....page after page after page. One I kept being drawn to was by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.
\n\n\n\"The reality is you will grieve forever. You will not 'get over' the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same again. Nor should you be the same nor should you want to.\"
\n\n\nI sat for the longest time reading and re-reading that...letting the words soak in. \"...you will grieve forever.\" I don't WANT to grieve forever. Who wants to grieve forever? Sigh. \"You will not 'get over' the loss...\" Another thing I don't want. But then there is some hope. \"...you will learn to live with it.\" Ahhhhh...\"learn to live\"! Yes...that is what we're doing, isn't it? And then...a promise. \"You will be whole.\" Please, please promise me I will be whole again. But this is a cautionary tale. \"...you will never be the same again.\" Truth, Liz. You're preaching to the choir. I will never, ever be the same again. But then she goes on to say something that frees us. \"Nor SHOULD you be the same nor should you WANT to.\" (I placed the emphasis.) In these words, I have permission. I have the freedom to be different now. AND it's ok if I don't WANT to be the same as I was before. That's good because you don't walk through a raging fire and not have scars. You CAN'T ever be the same. It's ok.
\n\n\nI've said this before, but it's been no more true than it is in this context. When you walk through the fire of grief, and the flames begin to die down to ash, you will come upon gems. Precious bits of wisdom...golden nuggets of knowledge....sparkling gems of insight that are strong and true and hold infinite value. Don't forget to stop and gather these gifts from God and carry them with you. These are rewards for your bravery, for your strength, for your unwillingness to give up when you cannot imagine going forward one more step.
\n\n\nThere was one thing abundantly clear to me when I saw page after page after page of grief quotes. There isn't anything you can say about grief that hasn't already been said. The simple truth of the matter is...grief sucks. It just sucks. Period.
\n\n\n❤️
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2015-12-05T02:30:43-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/12/05/finding-topics.html", "tags": ["Grief","New Ideas","Writing"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/11/09/learningalways-learning.html", "title": "Learning...Always Learning", "content_html": "\n“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
\nRevelation 21:4 KJV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/2905daa39c.jpg\")
Someone shared this with me the other day. It is a poem by Veronica Shoffstall called \"After Awhile\". It's a beautiful lesson on love and loss and rebuilding. We have touched on dating here a couple of times. I have been on a few dates and I've been dismayed when I find myself looking at dates as potential partners. As this poem so eloquently states, we should plant our own gardens...decorate our own souls instead of waiting for someone to bring us flowers. Unless you meet a partner on even ground, there will always be unbalance. One will be giving and one receiving. This is a recipe for disaster in a relationship.
\n\n\nI'm finding the topic of relationships and dating far more complex than it was even a year ago. As I heal, I am less needy and less inclined to hurry into a \"relationship\". I do look. I have a profile out there. I'm very selective now because I can be. There's no hurry.
\n\n\n❤
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2015-11-09T02:30:31-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/11/09/learningalways-learning.html", "tags": ["Growth","New Ideas"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/08/09/tiny-house-jamboree.html", "title": "Tiny House Jamboree", "content_html": "\n️“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
\nJohn 15:12 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/d77341d0f4.jpg\")
I've been following the tiny house movement for years. This weekend, I joined 15,000 other enthusiasts (including Susie, one of our fellow Marshmallow Ranchers) in Colorado Springs for the Tiny House Jamboree. I met some pretty neat people...like Scout, who teaches women how to build their own tiny homes. Interestingly, I left with mixed feelings. There weren't many of these little lovelies displayed that I would live in, which really surprised, and dismayed, me. Part of it could have been the fact you had to stand in line for half an hour in the hot sun to get a quick 60 second look inside one so I really couldn't sit and get a feel for the space. The one that I have absolutely coveted all these years made me claustrophobic just walking in the door. The doors were extremely narrow which didn't help with that Alice in Wonderland feeling of being too large for your space. That being said, I wasn't totally put off by having one of these babies of my own. I'd just have to design it myself so that it suits me. I could see having one of these in Colorado so when I come visit, I wouldn't have to lug TOW-Wanda across the country.
\n\n\nIt was really fun meeting Susie. She came on board when the guest blog post came out on the Tiny House Blog. If the people I have met in person through Marshmallow Ranch are any indication, you all are an awesome group! We walked all over the Jamboree, went to lunch at a tea room, and visited her gorgeous home in the hills surrounding Monument. We found we have so many things in common, which I hazard to guess would be the case with most of us Ranchers. I've certainly found my tribe.
\n\n\n❤
\n\n", "date_published": "2015-08-09T01:30:57-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/08/09/tiny-house-jamboree.html", "tags": ["Fun","New Ideas","Downsizing"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/06/21/sweets.html", "title": "Sweets!", "content_html": "\n![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/197e4a23bf.jpg\")
Look at these. Aren't they yummy looking? Now…look closer. They are stitched and beaded faux \"cupcakes\"…complete with little fluted plastic cups. These were created by one of the most amazing women I've ever known.
\n\n\nI met JO shortly after moving to the mountains when Hubby #2 joined a medical practice after residency. I was really new at the doctor's wife thing (something I'm not entirely sure I ever mastered) and that first Christmas, I was invited to an ornament exchange party. We were to make a dozen ornaments and you took a dozen different ornaments home with you. I still have a large box of beautiful, handmade treasures that I will never part with.
\n\n\nMy friend and I sat on her sofa this weekend and reminisced about those days when our kids were little and we gathered together once a week to stitch. There were sometimes 6-8 women gathered around her big kitchen table. We would laugh and cry, nibble on the latest delicacy someone was trying out and drink coffee. We would stitch and b€#% about whatever was on our radar at the moment. Eventually, we moved our gatherings when I opened my needlework shop. Things fell apart when the shop closed. The kids got bigger, life got busier, divorces happened, friendships got put on the back burner. And now, here we are…29 years later. Our kids are grown. We have grandkids. Our lives have become simpler again. We never stopped loving each other, though. We haven't forgotten how important we were to each other. Girlfriends are vital. I always advise young women just starting out their marriages to nurture those friendships because there will come a time when they will need them.
\n\n\nJO is seeking a reprise of the great ornament exchange party this year. I'm probably going to have to participate by mail this time, but I will anxiously look forward to getting that box in the mail with the little treasures in it.
\n\n\nDo you have girlfriends you love but have lost touch with? Pick up the phone and call them. Send a card. Invite them for lunch. Make time for the women in your lives. They help keep you young…and sane!
\n\n\n❤
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2015-06-21T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/06/21/sweets.html", "tags": ["Fun","New Ideas","Holiday","Crafts"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/04/12/a-walmart-wedding.html", "title": "A Walmart Wedding", "content_html": "\n\"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.\"
\nProverbs 17:17\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b37f28aa35.jpg\")
Things don't always happen the way you plan. Just ask my friend, Gwyneth (not her real name, but a great alter-ego!) Gwyn texted me last night with the devastating news that her only child, her beautiful boychik, had just TEXTED her to tell her he and his girlfriend are getting married tomorrow. By a Justice of the Peace. She was devastated. And understandably so. We have a mental image. We have social standards. We have a ritual for marriage…a model. He not only shattered his mama's dreams, but he did it via a text. (That's a whole blog post right there. We'll get back to that down the road.) So, she turned to me for support and commiseration. Poor Gwyn…when will she ever learn I look at these things with a very twisted sense of humor?
\n\n\nAt first, I offered her said commiseration. After all, I'm a mom. I get it. He didn't play by the rules. Then I asked her what she said to him and found out this all transpired via text. (Ok, I'm getting dangerously close to a rant on how NOT to treat the woman who gave you life!) She, of course, told him she was speechless. He couldn't understand why. She explained what it's like to be the mother of an only child. He said he sure wished she could be there but his girl REALLY needs dental insurance because her teeth are nearly falling out of her head. Pause. Ok, I'm sorry. I'm a sensitive person, and God bless this young man for being responsible, and in a few minutes, I'm going to go back to that with Gwyn. But for now…I'm stuck with the teeth image. And maybe a Walmart Wedding. With Festive Balogna Squares…and Tang. I continued to speculate on the details of this wedding until I had Gwyn gasping for air and begging me to stop because she was laughing so hard. Then I swung back in with the tender heart. Yes, this sucks. Yes, this was pretty inconsiderate. But a) this has nothing to do with her, and b) this has everything to do with her son and his dream. Oh, if people would just live their lives the way we want them to…especially our kids! Gwyn was left feeling better about the whole thing. After all, he may have just spared her a sight she can't unsee…a Walmart wedding, somewhere between \"Automotive\" and \"Sporting Goods\".
\n\n\n❤
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2015-04-12T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/04/12/a-walmart-wedding.html", "tags": ["Family","Overcoming Obstacles","New Ideas","Choices"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/02/05/premonition.html", "title": "Premonition", "content_html": "\n\"You have fed them with the bread of tears, And You have made them to drink tears in large measure.\"
\nPsalms 80:5\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b22b0aee63.jpg\")
For years, I have had a recurring nightmare. It's always the same. It's about a seven second movie of a plane taking off over a city. It's flying low, banks hard to the left, hits something with its wing and crashes into water. Over and over…same thing. No info. No location. No date. Just the seven second video. The first time I had the dream it scared the bejeebers out of me. Over the years it's become a matter of course. When I turned on the news on my iPad, the video of yesterday's plane crash played out before me and before I saw more than one second of it, I knew this was the one. This was the one I have seen over and over. It was such an eerie feeling.
\n\n\nLast night I was talking to a friend of mine. She told me she had such an odd dream the night before. She dreamt a plane crashed in the water and she and her daughter tried to get to the survivors in a boat but it wouldn't start. Then she saw the news and it freaked her out. I can understand that. Premonitions are not necessarily acknowledged in the Bible except as delivered by prophets. Modern psychiatry has all kinds of names to label a person who claims to \"see things\". But for those to whom it occurs, there is no doubt as to the validity of the visions. They are real.
\n\n\nI had visions, premonitions if you will, for about a week before Mr. Virgo died. Three times I was awakened from a deep sleep, sat bolt upright in bed…breathing hard, heart pounding. I knew, KNEW I was going to reach to my right and find my husband cold and still. It didn't happen though. He was breathing the even, shallow breath of sleep. The day before he died, I walked by as he napped on the couch. His mouth was gaped open and a voice in my head calmly said…\"This is how he'll look when he's dead.\" I stopped in my tracks. Who WAS that? Where did it come from? The day Mr. Virgo died, we were driving to the RV dealer to pick out our travel trailer. He always wore a watch. He SLEPT in his watch. We were holding hands. He picked up my hand, looked at his bare wrist and said, \"Hmmmm…I forgot to wear my watch today.\" And that same voice in my head calmly said, \"He's going to die today.\" Where on earth did THAT come from? I have no idea, but it was very real…and he was gone three hours later.
\n\n\nPremonitions. Visions. Dreams. I don't know for sure…but I think God speaks to us in a million different ways. If we can just be still and listen, we can learn so much.
\n\n\n❤
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2015-02-05T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/02/05/premonition.html", "tags": ["Faith","New Ideas","God","Wisdom","Warning","Widow"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/01/19/a-message-from-god.html", "title": "A Message From God", "content_html": "\n\"For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride, to preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword.\"
\nJob 33:14-18 NIV\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/dd86a7db71.jpg\")
I was sitting in church yesterday morning, coffee in hand, reading the bulletin. I came across an item asking for people to give a 3-5 minute testimony during the halftimes of an all day basketball tournament at the local Christian school. Now, lately I have been feeling a call to speak, as evidenced by our recent talk about Victorian salons. But there's no way I could EVER talk for just 3-5 minutes about ANYTHING! No, this feeling was coming on strong in just the first few minutes of church and it had a deeper dynamic to it I couldn't quite put my finger on. The sermon was wonderful. The subject was being grateful for the Blessings we are given. Being BOLDLY grateful…out loud. To give credit where credit is due. To thank God openly.
\n\n\nI have always been mindful in my writing that, even though I consider it to be faith based, I don't want to come across as \"preachy\" since that was a major turn-off for me growing up. If I were to influence someone, I would prefer it be through example. More to the point, I just didn't want to offend anyone who does not share my beliefs or make them feel I am in any way judgmental if you don't… because I certainly am not. But that takes me back to the ten lepers…only one of whom came back to properly thank God for curing his leprosy. It was through being grateful, and expressing it, that he was healed.
\n\n\nMany of you have told me, if I attached a scripture to my writings, it would be your daily devotional. The message I kept getting in church yesterday was \"Tell them. Tell them who gives you all your Blessings. Give them a verse…just a verse. You don't have to \"preach\"…just give your readers a verse that you read that offered you comfort or insight. Just tell them!\" This voice was getting pretty insistent, ok? And right then, my phone vibrated. It was sitting face up in my purse and I instinctively glanced down. It was a message from a friend and I knew he was in church at the time. What on earth could he be sending me during church? It was SO unlike him.
\n\n\n\"You cannot run from God's love.\"
\n\n\nWhoa! Six words. Right there on the iPhone screen. A text from God…via a friend in Florida. Now, if I wear my underwear outside my clothes in Walmart and walk around talking to myself and tell you God speaks to me through my television set…THAT'S crazy. But when you're sitting in church contemplating whether you should talk about God more in your blog, and your friend suddenly feels compelled to pick up his phone and text you something that just \"popped in his head\"…THAT'S a message one cannot ignore. So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to start adding a scripture at the bottom of each post. Something that supports or illustrates the subject. I'm not going to be quite so afraid to share with you when God moves me to. I'm not going to tap dance and pretend to be anything I am not. I'm NOT going to preach at you. I'll understand if it's not your cup of tea and you want to bail on me…no hard feelings. I love all of you…no matter what. It's just something I feel I need to do…for me…for God. Because, He has Blessed me way above and beyond anything I deserve. Truly. It is my time to speak.
\n\n\n❤
\n\n\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2015-01-19T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/01/19/a-message-from-god.html", "tags": ["Faith","Uplifting Stories","Positive Energy","New Ideas","God","Wisdom"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2015/01/07/minutiae.html", "title": "Minutiae", "content_html": "\nA time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
\nEcclesiastes 3:7\n
![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/12398ad767.jpg\")
I consider myself to be fairly technologically savvy. I'm a gear head…I love all the latest gadgets and gizmos. Mr. Virgo used to roll his eyes at me with my laptop, iPad, iPhone, landline phone and sometimes all the remotes. Now I also have a FitBit, an external hard drive, and a photo scanner. I sat down two days ago to get things set up to scan photos and it's been one thing after another. I had to download updates and install the external hard drive, iTunes and the Cloud on the new laptop. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get my pictures off my iPhone without them coming back down from the cloud. A friend of mine told me how to get them off the phone so I'll try that today. I need to back up both the iPad and the iPhone then back everything up to the external hard drive. THEN I can install the new scanner and start scanning the photos. I love techie stuff, but I kept getting interrupted and distracted so it has taken me two days and I'm still not done. One of the biggest distractions is musing about what I'm going to do once the two months of house sitting is done. March might be a little early to pack up the camper and head out on a road trip. I have friends in Belize who have been after me for years to come down for a visit so that's a possibility. I also have a sister-friend in Florida that I could go see but I would want to tote TOW-Wanda if I go there. These are things that sit in the back of my mind when I'm working on something else. I can't just turn it off and focus on one thing.
\n\n\nI want to treat every day like it's the last day and do those things that bring me joy. This busy work is the minutiae that drives me batty but it needs to be done and out of the way so the paper pictures can find their way to someone else's home. Next is getting rid of all the extra stuff I came here with. Several months ago, when I was starting the downsize project, I weeded and donated and sold and threw away and I would actually open sealed boxes and get rid of even more stuff. Now that I have paid yet another person to move what I thought I could not live without, it has been sitting in the upstairs of the cellar house and it feels like another weight around my neck. There is stuff up there that was absolutely ridiculous to bring. So, scanning photos and sorting boxes. If I can get that done in the two months I have here while house sitting, I can reward myself with an adventure in March. Now…where shall I go? ?
\n\n\n❤
\n\n", "date_published": "2015-01-07T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2015/01/07/minutiae.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","New Ideas","Wisdom"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/07/04/repurposing.html", "title": "Repurposing", "content_html": "![\"repurposed](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/3d26233f06.jpg\")
“Repurposed coal hod as hanging planter.”
I love taking something old a perhaps discarded or broken and make it into something beautiful. Here is an old coal hod repurposed as a hanging planter. SO cute!
\nI bought an old metal plunger kind of thing yesterday that is used to wash clothes in a tub and the gal checking me out asked if I was going to put rolls of toilet paper on it. Ummmm, no…when I have my tiny home all set up and have a clothes line, I’m going to use it to wash sheets and hang them outside to dry in the sun. There’s nothing like sun dried sheets for a good sound sleep. Sometimes good old things are supposed to be used as intended!
\n", "date_published": "2014-07-04T01:30:33-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/07/04/repurposing.html", "tags": ["Colorado","Travel","Camping","New Ideas"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/05/19/new-shoes.html", "title": "New Shoes", "content_html": "![\"sandals\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/873ae2cc14.jpg\")
“New Shoes!”
I wrote recently that I have been having trouble with plantar fasciitis. It turns out my older daughter has the same problem. We both break out the sandals as soon as the snow melts and wear then till it’s too cold to feel your toes. This can wreak havoc with your feet when you get no support.
\nShe has a pair of these sandals and when I tried them on, I knew I needed a pair as soon as possible! They are made by abeo. They have two arch supports. The traditional one and one under the ball of your foot to support the metatarsal arch. Oh my…they are divine…pricey but well worth it. I walked all day yesterday and wore them all day today and no more pain.
\nWe bought them at The Walking Store. They scanned my feet to determine where my pressure points are and knew my size precisely. I also purchased a pair of exercise shoes with orthotics so I can get back to walking comfortably.
\nOh dear…orthopedic flip-flops. I am old.
\n", "date_published": "2014-05-19T01:30:20-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/05/19/new-shoes.html", "tags": ["Positive Energy","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Aging"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/05/10/live-music.html", "title": "Live Music", "content_html": "![\"microphone\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/73c853f969.jpg\")
“Live Music”
Sitting in my favorite little neighborhood restaurant, listening to a little trio playing, familiar faces around the room. I’ll miss this little town. Seems like I just started building a life here. A life on my own, anyway. I’m doing things I’ve never done before…or at least, not for a long time. It’s all good, though. There are a lot of opportunities where I’m headed and I have no fear. I have friends there. I’ll make more. And I can come back and visit whenever I want. This is a beautiful place, a beautiful evening, a beautiful life!
\n", "date_published": "2014-05-10T01:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/05/10/live-music.html", "tags": ["Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Fun","Growth","New Ideas"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/05/02/dressing-up-towwanda.html", "title": "Dressing Up TOW-Wanda", "content_html": "I’ve been considering putting a wrap on TOW-Wanda. All these cute little vintage campers the Sisters on the Fly have make me want to dress her up to look older. What do you think of these?
\n![\"vintage](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/85f989d054.jpg\")
A
![\"vintage](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b3aaa176d0.jpg\")
B
![\"vintage](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/f9cf0a5f2d.jpg\")
C
![\"vintage](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/35c40fa8cf.jpg\")
D
![\"cozy](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/8c1bbbd911.jpg\")
“Cozy Cottage”
In the five years between my divorce and meeting Mr. Virgo, I decorated my house like an English country cottage. After we were married, he put up with my froufrou decorating for about six months. One day he couldn’t take it anymore and said we had to add some testosterone to the décor. So I bought some beautiful used furniture and we decorated so it would become “our” house. I’ve always missed that touch of froufrou though! Now that I’m thinking of selling my house, all these wonderful decorating ideas are coming to mind.
\nI needed to go to the Apple Store today to have them look at my iPad. Right next door, in the Flatirons Crossing Mall, is my favorite store in the world! Cozy Cottage has everything I could want…and then some. I think when I move, I’ll take just a select few pieces of furniture, and decorate just the way I want…what Mr. Virgo called “English country cottage $#!/”! My girls will roll their eyes. I will sigh and smile!
\n", "date_published": "2014-04-30T01:30:13-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/04/30/cozy-cottage.html", "tags": ["Colorado","New Ideas","Comfort","Grace","Love","Peaceful Moments"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/04/26/a-fork-in-the-road.html", "title": "A Fork in the Road", "content_html": "![\"a](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/ea65864d70.jpg\")
“A Fork in the Road”
We have all found ourselves here many, many times in our lives. We’ve made choices and sometimes they are good, sometimes not so much. I’ve never stood at this spot with such trepidation as I have since losing Mr. Virgo. I have never had to make decisions all by myself. It’s daunting to say the least. What should I do about retirement? Should I keep the big house or downsize? What am I going to do about an income? Where am I heading? Who would take care of me if something unforeseen happens? Should I have another relationship? Do I want to grow old alone?
\nThese questions, and a million others can result in a certain kind of paralysis. Sitting and spinning and feel stuck doesn’t feel good and sometimes it’s the smallest of things that can help get you down off the fence. Other times it takes a veritable earthquake to shake you out of this self-imposed stagnation. For me, it happened this week when I was visiting my family and saw firsthand what they are going through juggling everything. I can be of much more help to them if I don’t live three hours away so I’m investigating selling the big mountain house and downsizing to something much more affordable near the kids. It just makes sense all the way around. And it’s amazing how just making the decision to investigate has freed me from the chains of my indecisiveness and helps me take a deep breath.
\n", "date_published": "2014-04-26T01:30:32-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/04/26/a-fork-in-the-road.html", "tags": ["Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Growth","New Ideas","Grace","Wisdom","Fear","Courage"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/04/16/replacing-the-dishwasher.html", "title": "Replacing the Dishwasher...", "content_html": "![\"old](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/ae74befbaf.jpg\")
“Out with the Old”
When you are a widow, there isn’t a honey to do the honey-dos. Fortunately, I’m pretty handy with tools and things. I installed a dishwasher when I refinished my mom’s kitchen so I decided to do it myself. Other than 10 hours and several trips to the hardware store, the dishwasher went in without a hitch and no leaks! I feel SO empowered!!!
\n![\"installing](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/cacfe5de41.jpg\")
“Cleaned out the old space.”
The new dishwasher was delivered…without a power cord! Did I keep the one off the old dishwasher before they hauled it off? Noooooo!
\n![\"new](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/54af3d92ed.jpg\")
“The shiny new dishwasher is here!”
I installed the new dishwasher without a hitch…besides time and effort. No leaks! Go ME!
\n![\"new](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b9b090ac7b.jpg\")
“The new dishwasher is installed and working perfectly! Pretty good job, if I do say so myself!”
![\"purging](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/cef8db2f04.jpg\")
“Thinking about lightening the load.”
Well, ok….THINKING about purging. It’s sort of the same thing, isn’t it? I mean, you gotta have a plan, right? I have WAY too much stuff! About 14 years ago I was living in an apartment…a tiny little place with practically nothing in it. Only what I needed or considered beautiful. It was so peaceful and cozy. So now, 14 years later, I’ve accumulated stuff that no one in their right mind would want. Why? What changed? Part of the problem is Mr. Virgo liked to shop as much as I do. He was always ordering something. But it wasn’t just him. I am a certified retail therapist. Really. But I am tired of all the stuff. I’m going to start purging and sell off a ton of stuff. Just THINKING about it makes me feel better! lol
\n", "date_published": "2014-03-22T01:30:32-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/03/22/purging.html", "tags": ["Grief","Overcoming Obstacles","Hope","Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace","Courage"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/03/08/the-pile-of-rocks.html", "title": "The Pile of Rocks", "content_html": "![\"pile](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/2d8e998dd5.jpg\")
“The Pile of Rocks”
My younger daughter wears her heart on her sleeve, just like I did when I was growing up. She’s the fixer, the tenderhearted one who wants everyone to be happy. It took me many, many years to finally gain the insight I needed to help her. She thinks in analogies like I do so this is how I taught her to take care of herself in her relationships.
\nGod gives everyone a pile of rocks. There are big rocks for the big things in life like families, jobs, houses, health. There are medium sized rocks for the average things in life like friends and laundry and soccer practice. Then there are small rocks for the mundane trivia of life like grumpy store clerks or the guy that cut you off on the freeway. God gives us extra rocks sometimes for those unexpected crises like a death in the family or the unexpected loss of a job. But, HE never gives us more than we can carry. The problem comes when WE pick up rocks that are not ours.
\nPicture, if you will, sitting in a great big circle with everyone you come into contact with. We’re all sitting here with our pile of rocks in front of us. Just the right amount of rocks. Just the amount that you are capable of carrying because you need to take them back home at the end of the day. Suddenly, the woman sitting across from you says something hurtful to you. If you internalize and take that personally, she has just thrown you one of her rocks and you dutifully stacked it on your pile. Now, a few folks down is your best friend. She’s having a major issue in her life and wants someone, anyone, to carry this burden for her. So you reach over and gladly take one of her rocks because that’s what friends are supposed to do, right? You sit here all day long, every day, in your circle getting rocks thrown at you and picking up others until you can’t even SEE over your pile, let alone pick it up and carry it back home!
\nIt’s one thing to get up, walk over to your friend and help her carry a particularly heavy rock for awhile. It’s quite another to try to carry everyone else’s rocks plus your own. Let others carry their own rocks. Stop trying to own the world’s problems cause honey, you really can’t live long enough to take care of everyone else. That’s THEIR pile of rocks!
\n", "date_published": "2014-03-08T02:30:09-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/03/08/the-pile-of-rocks.html", "tags": ["Uplifting Stories","Overcoming Obstacles","Growth","New Ideas","Wisdom","Courage","Presence"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/02/15/testosterone.html", "title": "Testosterone", "content_html": "![\"testosterone](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/7323caa882.jpg\")
“Testosterone”
I miss having some around. I have guy friends that I don’t get to hang with nearly enough. But, I miss romance. I miss that masculine protective strength. That big bear hug that tells you everything’s going to be ok.
\nThe day we buried Mr. Virgo, I was wandering around the house, speaking to people, hugging friends and family. I realized I needed some testosterone. I went to Mr. Virgo’s humidor and got that really expensive cigar I bought him for Christmas. I have very little alcohol in the house but I had some cognac that I used for cooking. I grabbed that and went around gathering the men and headed for the front porch. We sat out there and dedicated this little soirée to the memory of a good man. It was a lovely ritual. My clearest memory of the funeral, really.
\nTestosterone. That little thing that makes a man a man. I really can’t imagine living the rest of my life alone. I know women who say they wouldn’t have another man if he was delivered to their doorstep. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m not one of them. I will love again. I think the difference this time will be loving on my terms. I want to be careful not to lose myself in the process.
\nWhat about you? Would you do it again if the person were really special?
\n", "date_published": "2014-02-15T02:30:00-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/02/15/testosterone.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Hope","Positive Energy","New Ideas"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2014/01/28/marshmallow-ranch.html", "title": "Marshmallow Ranch", "content_html": "![\"marshmallow](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/564a1240ec.jpg\")
“Marshmallow Harvest”
The other day, someone asked where the name “Marshmallow Ranch” came from. It’s been a year since I started this page so I’ll tell the story again.
\nMy children are close to 16 years apart. No, it’s not a typo…that’s a 1 and a 6! It’s not that we planned to wait so long but this and that came up and finally, when the baby factory was about to close for good, we decided we’d better do this. Her big sister stayed at the local community college so her baby sister would know who she was.
\nWhile big sister was in her first year of college, she met the man she would marry a couple of years later. Being the old fashioned girl at heart, we took the fine young man back to WV to meet the grandmas. It was a good experience all the way around. One afternoon, we took a drive out from the farm and came across this field. Back home, they bale the hay in rounds, but they wrap it in white plastic to protect it from the rain. When we came around the bend, my then 4 year old gasped and pointed at the huge white bales, wondering what they were. Ever prepared to tease her little sister, the older said, “This is a Marshmallow Ranch! They grow them big like this and then when they harvest them, they are cut into little marshmallows, packaged, and shipped to the stores!” Little was awestruck. I made bigger tell the truth. From that day on, whenever we travel that stretch of road, or see the photos, we all yell, “Look! It’s Marshmallow Ranch!”
\nWhen I was looking for a name for my studio and business, I came across this photo and decided folks would be hard pressed to forget a name like that! It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I built my website and started selling my jewelry online. I still promote my jewelry here, and there is a link up there under the cover photo that will take you to my Etsy shop. Since losing Mr. Virgo last March, the page has morphed into a blog chronicling my grief journey and documenting my travels with my little trailer, TOW-Wanda. It has been a healing, harrowing, fun, funny, spiritual, journey of self discovery and I am so honored to have you here with me!
\n<3 Ginny
\n", "date_published": "2014-01-28T02:30:14-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2014/01/28/marshmallow-ranch.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Fun","New Ideas"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2013/11/14/antique-fork-necklace.html", "title": "Antique Fork Necklace", "content_html": "![\"antique](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/90dc2c3407.jpg\")
“Antique Fork Necklace”
Just off the bench. A birthday gift for a friend!
\n\n", "date_published": "2013-11-14T02:30:09-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2013/11/14/antique-fork-necklace.html", "tags": ["Growth","New Ideas","Gratitude","Grace"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2013/11/12/marshmallow-ranch-art-jewelry.html", "title": "Marshmallow Ranch Art Jewelry", "content_html": "
![\"silverware](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/9e5b19a1d3.jpg\")
“Marshmallow Ranch Art Jewelry”
These, plus several peace sign pins came off the bench this morning. Now I’m out of here to mail a couple of necklace orders, give a friend a tutorial on FB and get some lunch! ![\"\"](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/91ad7ae8cd.jpg\")
![\"key](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/48d266c3fa.jpg\")
“Key Lime Pie”
For my friend, Becky. A friend brought me key limes from Florida and we made this recipe. It was awesome! I am trying it today with the bottled key lime juice so I’ll let you know how it compares to fresh squeezed.
\nhttp://m.allrecipes.com/video/1360/key-lime-pie-vii/
\n", "date_published": "2013-09-11T01:30:29-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2013/09/11/key-lime-pie.html", "tags": ["Fun","New Ideas","Comfort"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2013/08/20/black-eyed-susan.html", "title": "Black Eyed Susan", "content_html": "![\"black](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/d3d8ae2d5f.jpg\")
“Black Eyed Susan”
\n
Those of you have known me from the Roaring Fork Valley, you may remember a time when I was known as The Pie Queen. I used to bake competitively and have a box full of ribbons to show for it. A couple two page spreads in the papers and a few pie baking classes to my credit. Those were some fun times but I haven’t done it for years. And today I get to revisit some of the glory days. I’ve been asked to be a judge at the Annual Pie Baking Contest at the Downtown Market in Glenwood Springs today at 4:00! Can’t wait…I’ve starved for two days in preparation!
\n", "date_published": "2013-08-20T01:30:04-06:00", "url": "https://marshmallowranch.com/2013/08/20/black-eyed-susan.html", "tags": ["Overcoming Obstacles","Growth","New Ideas"] }, { "id": "http://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/2013/08/17/sisters-on-the-fly-do.html", "title": "Sisters on the Fly do Estes Park!", "content_html": "![\"camper](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/b5cd176ee3.jpg\")
“TOW-Wanda!”
One of the first things I did when Mr. Virgo died was join the Sisters on the Fly. The largest women’s outdoor adventure club in America, SOTF offers women the opportunity to gather and travel together in the safety of groups.
\n![\"woman](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/932088a417.jpg\")
“A favorite jacket…it came from a Nashville entertainer.”
Women helping women. Learning to be girls again. Offering a hand up to the newbies.
\n![\"woman](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/3ec0161bec.jpg\")
“Ginny getting her cowgirl on!”
You can learn to fly fish or cook in a Dutch oven…start a campfire or ride a horse. You can earn badges for lots of fun categories. It is truly the most fun ever and is helping sooth my painful heart.
\n![\"cute](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/7a971bcfe7.jpg\")
“Cute Camper”
I took off on August 14th and stayed till the 17th in beautiful Estes Park. Camping with a hundred other like-minded women goes a long way toward making you feel empowered. Grief often makes you feel powerless.
\n![\"artist](\"https://mashmallowranch.micro.blog/uploads/2026/cba56e905c.jpg\")
“Artist painting off Old Fall River Road”