Is the third time the charm? (Or the third date?)

 Moira, who is in her late 50's (I know, she doesn't look that old, but she is!) also lives in the north woods of Minnesota. Just like Kate and me! :) She loved the idea of going on a date with Jolly. She referred to him as the mail-order groom. (Don't tell Jolly!) Moira is a widow, and her little grandsons like to visit. You may see them in a picture.

Jolly met Moira at the edge of a lake where she waited in her canoe. She said it was the best way to get to her cabin across the lake. I waved goodbye and promised to return for Jolly in a few hours.

Jolly had never been in a canoe before. It was kind of tippy and made him nervous, but Moira was so relaxed and reassuring that he soon calmed down. She pointed out a loon's  nest on the edge of the lake. They're the state bird, she explained, and they swim under water to catch fish. He told her he has seen loons in the UK in the winter. They usually swim in the ocean or in bays, and they call them Great Northern Divers. Moira was surprised to learn this!

Several eagles flew overhead. One skimmed the surface of the lake and grabbed a fish in his talons. They startled numerous ducks and she told him about the different types. She knew them all by name. They dragged the canoe up on the shore near her cabin and stood and watched the beaver's busy building a dam.

Jolly liked her little blue house. This picture was taken last winter.

Check out that thermometer. 0 degrees! It gets colder than that!

They were soon enjoying a lunch of chicken wild rice soup, thick slices of Prairie Brown Bread with butter and sun tea. There were generous slices of blueberry pie ala mode for dessert. Jolly decided he likes the way north woods ladies make lunch!

Jolly asked her about her interests. She thought on the question for a bit and said she loved to do lots of outdoor things. In winter she cross-country skis and snowshoes. She also enters sled dog races. Jolly said he hadn't noticed the dogs. He knew from watching documentaries that sled dogs bark a lot. She explained that the dogs belong to a friend. They work with the dogs together, then race together.

In the evenings she enjoys quilting, writing in her nature journal and sitting in front of the woodstove looking at seed catalogs and planning her garden. She also invites neighbors over for Bible study once a week and she plays guitar while they sing.

In the summer she canoes, hikes, watches birds, fishes and gardens. In the fall she hunts and cans her garden produce and other foods for her winter supply. He asked if she has a favorite book. She said she loves to read. Especially books about people living in the Alaska wilderness. She added that she also likes to watch YouTube videos about people from other countries to see how they live. She said it's so interesting to see how people learn to make do when they have very little. She likes to learn new homesteading skills. Jolly shares her interest in YouTube videos!

They had such a good time talking and roaming around her property. She even let him try his hand at chopping firewood! Then it was time to canoe back across the lake to meet me.

Jolly liked Moira a lot, but he wasn't sure he was up to living her rustic lifestyle. It seemed like a lot of work! But he was glad to get to know her and wanted to keep in touch. By snail mail, of course. He thought it must be difficult for her postman to deliver mail in the winter. "Yes, it is," I agreed. (This conjured up personal memories of snowplows and broken mailboxes.)

And so ends Jolly's third date here in the north woods of Minnesota. Time to think about tying up loose ends and preparing him for the next leg of his journey. As we sit in my little living room and brainstorm all we need to do before he leaves we enjoy yet another cup of tea. (He never seems to get enough!) I've borrowed a tip from Mr. V. Bigg, the giant in his book, and serve his tea in a thimble. He drinks several. We went all out with the teapot and everything!

I'll keep you posted on what we do next, but for now it's late. Time to rest up.

By the way, we didn't see any of these. But they're out there...

You can learn more about Moira by reading Antler, Bear, Canoe by Betsy Bowen. I may have changed the story up just a little. :)

So, cheerio and shalom!

All thrifting, all the time!

 Well, my piece about Jolly's third date isn't yet ready to go to press, so I thought I'd catch you up on my thrift store finds. I'm thinking it really isn't that thrifty if a person is buying stuff they don't really need, but then, this is one of my few vices, so I'll forgive myself!

A couple of days ago (or was it yesterday?) I went to a thrift store in Park Rapids (12 miles west of me) and I forgot to share what I got. 

(So much for Swedish death cleaning. I guess my kids can redonate all of this stuff when I'm gone. Not planning to exit any time soon, just saying...)

Okay, let's see what's on my camera.

I'm adding to my woodsy stuff collection. The one on the bottom is small. I think it's for toothpicks or something like that. I'll have to invent a use for it, lol. Hey, it's got a pinecone on it! 

Just a little rug to put by the back door for the grandkids' muddy boots.

One of my favorite things was this 1950's (maybe ?) glass. Would it have had jelly in it originally? It's my new official juice glass. 

I also got a pink twin-size blanket with roses. It looked fairly old, but it was so cute I couldn't pass it up. 

I thought this loon print was cute.

I donated a box full of stuff the day I got the above items and I have most of a box full of stuff ready to donate again. That should make us feel better about my habit, ha ha.

Today I went to a different thrift store in Akeley (5 miles to the east). This is what I found there.

Some new old games and game pieces for the games cabinet. I had recently donated my old chinese checkers board; the kind in a round red tin, because you couldn't get the lid off to get the marbles out. This one is more user friendly and kind of cool. The bag of marbles was separate and may not have all we need, but those are easy enough to find. The old backgammon/checker board was pretty vintage and colorful. The little thing at the top is a magnetic game of Snakes and Ladders. The grands will have fun trying them out. I'll have to refresh my memory on the rules for backgammon!

I'm getting a little addicted to packs of cards. I do use them for making altered playing cards (APCs), but I've got a LOT of them. Anytime I find a deck that is a little unique or old I can't resist.

More books!

I've seen the movie (TGLAPPPS), but thought the book might be good? The two old map books are for collage materials. I think I might start making up some happy mail for my fellow ATC makers. I need to share some of my collage material stash and other folks seem to enjoy getting an unexpected envelope full of stuff that's new to them. That could be fun!

This Scottish Country book is a beautiful big coffee table book that will be fun to peruse. The little Scandinavian book is for collage material. I'm going to Google a translation of the title. It seems to be some kind of liturgical book. I don't think anyone will get any use out of it, so I'll probably use it anyway. (Scandinavian Ballads of the Middle Ages.)

Well, that's all for now. I'll be getting back to you with more on Jolly's 2021 Wife Tour!

Thanks for stopping by and shalom to everyone!

Jolly meets Kate!

 Jolly and I have been puttering about at home and running to town now and then. I've learned a few new things about him. It seems his favorite hobby is---wait for it---stamp collecting! I had to show him my "collection". If you can call it that...

He was very diplomatic about my pile of stamps, but did find several he admired. I gave them to him, of course. :)

One of his big dreams is the swim the English Channel! But for the time being he does laps at the local high school pool.

When asked if he had a favorite book he said he just adored The Wind in the Willows, but was also very fond of James Herriot's books.

The conversation soon turned to my next choice for a date. He was quite looking forward to meeting another nice lady. As it happens, my second pick lives right here in Minnesota! And her name is Kate. Now I've been told by my grandkids that Kate looks a lot like me! 

Kate was looking forward to meeting Jolly and making a new friend. I think she's more sociable than me, even though she lives remotely. So, I drove him to her cabin in the woods. She had planned a nice walk in the woods with a picnic lunch.

Kate is in her early 60's. (That's as specific as she'll get.) She keeps very busy with all of her interests. She loves picking blueberries in the fall to add to her oatmeal. She also hunts for mushrooms which she eats and draws pictures of in her sketchbook. (She knows which ones are edible, don't worry!)

She likes to hike in the woods and watch for wildlife and birds.

Her favorite books are nature guides. She likes to enter local 5ks, but she prefers walking them.

A neighbor picks her up to go to her tiny Lutheran church in a small town nearby. She enjoys teaching Sunday School and playing the bass in the worship band.

Jolly asked her if she ever felt lonely way out in the woods. She said, "Everyone feels lonely now and then. But I have lots of nice neighbors who visit and help me. And my granddaughter visits, too! That's lots of fun. Then, I also have a lot of church friends. So I'm just fine."

They enjoyed watching ducks on the pond while they ate a lunch of hoagies, strawberries and chocolate cake, with lemonade to drink. (Here's the pond they went to. I didn't have a photo with Jolly.)

As they walked back Jolly asked about bobcats, but  Kate assured him that bobcats would stay clear of them as long as they made some noise to let them know people were around.

And so, they sang loudly and told jokes and laughed all the way back to the cabin. 

You can learn more about Kate by reading a book called North Woods Girl by Aimee Bissonette. One of my favorites. By the way, the mushroom drawings are by Katie Daisy from her book How to Be a Wildflower. Another great favorite!

As you can imagine, Jolly was very impressed with Kate. He wasn't sure if he would be here long enough, but he'd sure like to see her play the bass at church!

Next time we'll meet another outdoorsy type girl, so don't forget to watch for that!

Jolly and I are going to have a cup of tea. He's not too sure about my tea-making ability. It is kind of nerve wracking making tea for an Englishman. I've heard you need to warm the pot and brew the leaves for about 5 minutes in water that's been boiled and then cooled for 1 minute. No sugar! Well, I finally found an Englishman who makes tea MY way. He's on a YouTube channel called Cruising the Cut, which is all about his life living full-time on a narrowboat. Anyway, he pours his boiling water into a cup, drops in a teabag, swishes it around for 30 seconds, removes it and then adds sugar! Yes. Just right. Jolly drank it like a good soldier. Maybe next time we'll break out the teapot...

Shalom for now! :)

Toggling weather and Jolly's first date!

 What does that mean? Yesterday I was wearing a flannel shirt and today it's a tank top and capris. 84! I did get in a good walk after 5:30 because the road was shaded by the woods. The Jolly Postman can't believe the heat. Luckily he had packed some summer duds!

The first couple of days we stuck close to home because of rain. However, we did manage to visit the wee baby chicks out in the barn. They were a little skittish, but they finally ventured near enough to get a picture. There are fifteen chickens and five guineas. (Micah added 5 silkies to the bunch after we took this picture.) Jolly seemed a little unsure.

Later, I took Jolly next door to meet Bandit the border collie. I know that he has a phobia of dogs, (cynophobia) but figured we might work on overcoming that. Bandit is very excitable and energetic. It was hard to get him to stand still long enough to snap a photo. But he is a kind dog. He even likes cats! Jolly did pretty well, though he sort of froze up when he got really close. Now we just have to work on his fear of bobcats and wolves! Just kidding!

When we were walking around the farm we saw some of the neighbor's guineas. They like to visit and eat our bugs. We are much obliged! Micah's guineas will eventually take over that duty. I hope they don't wander off like the neighbor's do!

Then Jolly tried to get a look at a pileated woodpecker, but they were being shy.

Well, the point of Jolly's tour is for us matchmakers to find some eligible bachelorettes for him to go out with, perchance to find a wife. I hear by the grapevine that he had asked Pom Pom if any of the hostesses might be interested in dating. Ha ha! Well, I'm one of the few singles on the list, and I believe I have one dimension too many to fit into a storybook! This is a shame, because I am quite the Anglophile and would love to live in a snug little storybook cottage! (Who wouldn't?) So, I've concentrated my "potential wife" hunting efforts on finding some nice two dimensional candi-dates. (Get it?)

The three ladies I've chosen are from three favorite books. I mainly chose these books for their beautiful artwork, and all three ladies are artistic in their own ways. They all love nature and beauty, and I think Jolly shares those interests. (As do I!)

Today we will meet his first date, Muriel. She is fifty-seven.

Quite outdoorsy, don't you think?

Muriel is an artist from Scotland. She loves painting with watercolors, and fly fishing. She also loves to knit thick, warm sweaters for the sometimes cool, damp weather. Because she lives in a remote area, she watches church online. However, she does get together with a small fellowship group on Friday evenings for tea and prayer. When she's not fishing or painting she loves to read cozy mysteries and Inspirational Regency Romances.

Through the magic of books she was able to step right into my house from her cottage in Scotland. After introductions and a quick cup of tea, she and Jolly decided to step back into her book (Muriel Foster's Fishing Diary) and go fly fishing! (Kind of mind-bending, isn't it?) Muriel loves the outdoors. She loves to draw and paint the fish she catches, the landscapes, her dogs and other creatures.

After fishing they returned to a warm fire in her fishing hut. Muriel has several dogs, which gave Jolly pause at first, but they were soon on friendly terms.

Some of Muriel's fishing buddies joined them later for a nice meal of venison stew, which had been bubbling on the back of the stove while they fished. There was also homemade bread with butter and jam, and more cups of tea, of course! Just before he returned to my house, she gave him a warm, brown sweater she had knitted herself. 

When we visited later, Jolly seemed quite pleased with his new friend. Her calm and pleasant manner seemed a good match for his own and they both loved fishing, a good fire, and good food.

Besides all of that excitement, the grandkids popped in to see if I might have any popsicles. Yes! (Remember, it's HOT out there!)

You might just be able to make out the sling on Audrey's left arm. Yes, she has broken her arm again! Apparently, she went sailing off of the trampoline, but didn't realize her arm was broken for a couple of hours. It was just kind of sore, and she could move her hand and wrist around. She broke her ulna and she'll go in on Monday to get a cast. That's her third broken arm. They know her by name in the E.R. (Well, maybe.) She fell out of her crib when she was two, and then fell off of the monkey bars at school when she was maybe eight. But she's a daredevil. I guess it comes with the territory.

I got a few photos of bird visitors. The gold finches just returned a few days ago. They used to be our state bird. Now it's the loon.

Then the crow had to squawk for a while before dive bombing down to grab some bread I had left for him.

It will soon be time to retire for the night. I hope you all had a good day. Blessings on your Sunday tomorrow!

Shalom!