Valerie – Valerie's Voice

“Frosty outside, toasty inside.”

Those were the words I wrote in a cabin journal, inviting guests to leave comments about their experience at a camping cabin where we recently stayed for a couple of nights. These camping cabins have heat and electricity. They have large bunkbeds, built-in shelves, table with benches, but no indoor plumbing. There was water available close to the cabin.

The newly built cabins were well-made with pine siding, and the wonderful smell of pine permeated them. They have a screen porch (not useful in winter) and great views. It wasn’t really “glamping”, but coming in from the freezing temperatures outside, into the warm, cozy temperatures inside the cabin felt luxurious.

We scheduled a few days away at the cabin long before we knew there would be below zero temperatures. We brought along hand warmers and toe warmers and all our outdoor, winter gear we needed to be comfortable outside. We were hoping to cross-country ski and snowshoe, but there was little snow on the ground so that didn’t happen. We managed to get in a couple hikes and have a camp fire to grill hotdogs.

The sun glistening on the snow-covered lake and the golden prairie grass along the trails showed off the beauty of a Minnesota winter.

The full moon in January is called the wolf moon.

There was an added bonus of the full January wolf moon. Getting up in the middle of the night to walk outside to the restroom was made tolerable because of the moon shining down, casting a charming spell on the landscape. We didn’t even need a flashlight to light our way to the heated, shower house. It made walking in the below zero temperatures a little less painful. 😉

It was a fun get away, and most definitely…frosty outside and toasty inside.

The Secret Recipe

I was honored to have an out-of-state friend stop by to visit over the holidays. When people come back to town there is always many places to go and people to see, so I felt special that she carved out time to come visit. She is the daughter of a cherished friend who passed away a few years ago. I was excited to see her and her family, and for her to see our new house.

I decided to make cookies…a recipe that used to be her favorite cookie whenever she came over to our house back when she was in high school. When my guys were younger and living at home, I made a special chocolate chip cookie recipe all the time (now I tend to make my mother’s ginger cookies), but for this notable visit I decided to make my “secret chocolate chip” recipe. I never gave out the recipe back then… Now the cookies are long forgotten by many.

However, on this day my secret chocolate chip cookies brought delight. My guest was excited that I made these cookies for her and her young family. It made me happy. As her kids gobbed up the cookies, she asked me if my recipe was still secret and I said no. I made her a copy of the old, tattered recipe clipping from a magazine and handed it off to her.

She said she will take it home and let it be her own secret recipe now.

Clowns

My mom was a collector and had two prominent collections. One was angels. When she passed away in 2009 I set up a table in the fellowship hall of the church where we had her funeral, and set out all her angels with a sign saying “take an angel to remember Ruby”. It was a hit…the angels were all gone by the end of the luncheon.

This is an angel I saved from my mother’s collection. It has a favorite scripture etched into it:
Isaiah 40:11
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

Her other significant collection was clowns. She had a pretty sophisticated clown collection, with many clowns by specific artists. We eventually sold most of them…but didn’t get their true value.

The clown I kept from my mother’s collection.

One favorite clown that I saved was a tall clown on a stand, with different masks hanging from its neck to interchange. When our sons were little, they‘d go to grandma and ask if they could change the masks…when she said yes, they very carefully took off one mask and replaced it with another. That clown sits on top of our bookshelf in our sunroom now. I saved a few smaller, whimsical clowns that are tucked in different places throughout the house.

A glass clown figure tucked into the corner of a curio cabinet.

For many years a clown picture, that my mom cross-stitched, hung in my laundry room. It had been in the guest room where the grandkids slept when they came to visit, but the picture scared them, so we moved it out. I agree, clowns can be kind of scary.

The cross-stitch picture my mother made.

The cross-stitch is large with bright colors. It is professionally framed in a blue frame with glass. Unfortunately, we have no place to display it in our new home, so I decided to sell it (after checking with other family members.) The gal who bought it is thrilled to have it, and that makes it easier to part with…it will be on display for others to enjoy, instead of in a box in the garage.

There was a variety of clowns in my mom’s collection.

Of course, to this day, whenever I see a clown I think of my mom. She had a fun and unique collection.

Puppies

No, we didn’t get a puppy when we moved into our new house.

But my sister-in-law’s dog gave birth to seven puppies and they are too cute! I couldn’t resist sharing her cute puppy photos.

They are a mix of Golden Lab and Golden Doodle. They were born on November 16, 2024.

Maybe it’s a good thing she and her husband and their puppies live on a farm in Pennsylvania (although I just found out the puppies can be shipped anywhere!)

Happy New Year 2025

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Happy New Year!

HOPE

As the fog of the past few days slowly lifts, I think of it as a symbol of the old year fading away into a bright new year.

Looking at my glass star hanging in our bedroom window.

In looking back at 2024, I marvel at how fast it went. And so much happened. We had a fun, month-long road trip traveling many miles and visiting several friends in the southeastern part of the states. A precious, baby grand-daughter was born in the spring. We went camping with two of the grandkids, agonized over a family member’s health diagnosis, and had visitors from Norway in the summer.

And then…we started the process of building a house in the fall. It was very stressful and fun, exhausting and exciting, all at the same time, and it changed the tempo of our lives the second half of 2024.

Fog hangs over the field outside the back of our new home.

Now that we’ve settled some (and really are happy in our new home) I hope we can start up some of our old routines, yet create new ones too. I hope to get back to walking daily, reading and writing, going out for coffee/lunch/dinner, traveling, feeding the animals at the farm, blogging more…things I enjoy doing, along with continuing to decorate and “de-box” (new word???) our new space.

The word hope has been so much of this past year’s prayers and dreams that I am bringing it along into the new year as my word for the year. I will continue to hope and pray for healing for others and for continued good health and new growth for myself.

My new year’s resolution is to try a new style of journaling. Tomorrow, January 1, 2025 I plan to print the word HOPE in large letters in my new journal, as we begin another year, in all its uncertainties and wonder.

Merry Christmas

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! (Luke 2:8-12)

December Light

We woke up to six inches of snow Thursday morning. It’s been a while since that has happened. Last winter Minnesota was practically snowless. The fresh, white snow was pretty lying over the harvested cornfield outside the windows of our new sunroom.

Photo taken 12/20/24. The sun has come out!

It was cloudy when the full moon rose on December 15^th, but I can imagine the scene; moonlight on the field of freshly fallen snow. It reminded me of a poem I read recently:

December Moon

Before going to bed,
after a fall of snow,
I look out on the field shining
there in the moonlight.
So calm,
untouched and white.
Snow silence
fills my head after I leave 
the window.

Hours later, near dawn, when I look down again,
the whole landscape has changed.
The perfect surface gone, criss-crossed and written on
where the wild creatures ranged
while the moon rose and shone.

How much can come,
how much can go when
the December moon is bright.
What worlds of play
we’ll never know
sleeping away
the cold, white night
after a fall of snow.

~Author unknown

(This poems seems to be a rework of May Sarton’s December Moon poem: here is a link to May’s original poem. I cannot find any information on who wrote the words above.)

I like the image of animals leaving their tracks in the snow, as evidence of their nightly esapades. And, I’ve always be attracted to the moon and its tales and lores.

Light breaking through the clouds. 12/20/24

A lot is happening during this season of change…the full moon, the fresh snow, the winter solstice (December 21), which marks the longest night of the year. After Christmas with its many variations of light, after the New Year’s celebrations, after we settle into the new year, the days start getting longer in our corner of the world, and we will be gifted with more light, and that is very good.

Christmas Preparations

I love sitting and looking at a 180-degree view of the field outside our sun room windows.

And then it snowed 6 inches…Photo taken 12/19/24. Canadian Geese like to hang out in the field. We have seen deer a couple of times.

We have been working hard to fit in all the furniture and house accessories from our other house where we lived in for 30 years, to a new, one-level modern twin-home. It’s challenging and exhausting, but exhilarating at the same time. We’re excited for this change and already enjoy living in this new space.

The last month has been a blurr and it’s hard to believe Christmas is next week. In my mind it’s still October. We put up a small artificial tree with lights we’ve used in a small space in the other house, put out Christmas placemats, made a Christmas porch pot, and set an olive-wood sculpture of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus on the mantle,

The stacked-stone mantle over our fireplace.

and set a German wooden pyramid (mini) on our dining room table.

A mini-German wooden pyramid. As the candles create heat, the fan turns the platform with wooden figures of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, three wisemen and a shepherd.

Christmas cards will not be mailed this year, and there will be no home-made cookies or gingerbread houses, but Christmas will come no matter what, and we will celebrate the birth of Jesus. It will be joyful, even without more preparations and decorations.

New Digs

My “Van”-na White pose with the moving van.

Last Friday morning the moving van arrived in the driveway of our old house. The four movers packed up all our heavy furniture and moved it a mile south to our new house. It took about six hours. We set up the beds and slept in our new place for the first time Friday night, and slept well. It was an exhausting day.

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise Saturday morning, over the field and bluff out our back windows.

And saw the beautiful sunset that evening.

We’ve been unpacking for almost a week and we’re making progress.

We’re celebrating the next chapter in our lives.