mrj wrote:Sweet Basil, I'm so sorry your heart is hurting! Life is such a mixture of pain and glory and too often the pain seems more frequent than the glory moments. Patience can seem so hard to achieve when we desperately want something that just isn't possible at the time, or maybe in the way we want it. Of course your prayers are being heard, and maybe you can find some comfort in that fact while you wait for His timeline, or in an unexpected way. I almost wrote 'surprising', then recalled how much I do NOT like surprises, even good ones, so changed to 'unexpected'. Doesn't make much sense, except to the often strange (according to others in my life, that is) ways my mind works sometimes.
Re. the fishing question, I will try to find some answers for you, since, if I understand correctly, the place you want to fish is in MN, and you are now a SD citizen. There are different rules in different states. I wonder if the facility you plan to attend can answer your questions, as they may have exceptions to rules for their property. They might also have fishing equipment to loan or rent, which makes sense for first time 'fisherwoman'. If you don't want to eat the fish, maybe you could use a lure with no hooks! Once, while staging fishing with my two grandsons who were then about ages 9 and 14, we 'caught' several very small pan fish. They simply grabbed and hung onto the little bobber tied to the line on old bamboo poles. It was a 'photo op' preparing for the Environmental Stewardship contest of NCBA when our ranch won the four state regional award about 15 years ago.
I spent most of Wednesday playing with Jordyn, and feel like I'm still recuperating! She hadn't been to "great grandma's' house in more than two weeks, and had to check out all the 'treasures' she could find here. She will be four years old the first week of May, and is growing up and easy to care for, but still takes lots of energy to answer the questions, especially the "great grandma Maxine, should we......." and those take some effort, especially when it is warm enough to blow bubbles, play with sidewalk chalk, pick dandelions and other wild blossoms widely scattered across the very large 'back yard'. We did pick up lots of pine cones, but the grass was already too tall to find most of them, I'm sure. A grand nephew (high school age) has a mowing business and I hope he can work on ours this week-end. Probably everyone else will want him then, too. Jordyn kept me busy finding 'snacks', too. She loves dry cereal and drinks flavored carbonated water, giggling at how the bubbles tickle her nose. We have a large toy horse, like the one in some of those great Soapweed photo's, and she just got the idea that maybe we could take 'Comanche' to her house for a few days. We just may do that so she doesn't outgrow the thing before she has put any wear on it. Her little sister Jaycie is almost 18 months old, so she will get her turn, soon. It does take some strength and length of legs to make it move, though. Currently, Jaycie mostly uses her little rocking horse as a step to climb onto her play table to better what is going on outside her window! She is a climber, loving to get on top of the dining table, and even that makes a great grandma's heart beat awfully fast when that feat is accomplished behind my back! And in a very short moment, too. She is learning that is not allowed. But you sure can't those tiny people. Wonder why they are so determined to get to the highest point they possibly can climb. And why, as adults, some of are so terrified of high places????
Better get something done to show for the early rising time today. Making some English Muffin Toasting Bread is next on my list! Dinner will probably be at about supper time today, as the crew is going to Indian Creek to sort off some pairs into a different pasture. I think it is 26 road miles over there, so will be a long day and they rode on calving cows here first, but the pickup and trailer just went by my window, so the big event of the day is getting on the road, maybe even a bit ahead of schedule.
mrj
Hello SD Grandma,
Thank you for the words of wisdom, you are right about God answering the prayers in his time. It sounds like you are busy and having a good Spring. The English Muffin Toast Bread sounds yummy. Do you have a recipe for bread pudding? I

bread pudding---- except that Marcello does not need any! Kids can always find a way to challenge us in a physical way

I will check one the Goodwill store for the fishing equipment and see where I can go from there.
Have a blessed week,
Sweetbasil