Hi 👋 We're Val & Holland Redmill … living our Life Story as silver-haired Road Gypsies in our 5th wheel RV Home~40 months married & 60,000 miles traveled across America; covered in grace every Day & trying mightily not to lose our sanctification during the bad & ugly times. I post everywhere - about everything: and if what I post can help someone else, I'm glad for the experience. But from sunrise to sunset, we live our Life for US. Trusting Elohim every step of the way.
WOW 😳
Last Friday afternoon I jetted off a query text to a friend in WA State; I read online that there was a huge king tide rolling in & I needed mental assurance that her region would be safe. I love her:
Today I scrolled through FB Friend's Pages and saw these pic's …
I am so glad 🙏 we are here in Coalinga-CA, instead of on the Long Beach Peninsula, this year.
I've been laid low (pretty much since we arrived here, in WA) with an allergy-induced hibernation.
All I do is 🛌💤 most of the day away.
Holland was out and about Sunday … and shot me a text about a beached whale:
My Sunday Post~RAINY MORNING & DIRTY RICE EVENING; Ocean Park-WA: https://roadgypsiesvalandholland.blogspot.com/2025/04/rainy-morning-dirty-rice-evening-ocean.html
Monday he cajoled me out of Independence - and we drove the same Seaview beach … and saw the same beached whale; this time with scientific scavengers on site. They had fenced the whale's immediate area off - but the putrid scent of decay permeated a wide area of the beachfront 🤮
That did not help the situation with my queasy stomach 😟
I was glad when we left the beach for home.
But before we left, my eye caught sight of something in the rocks poking up out of the sand - a face etched in one of the large basalt protrusions. I said, "Holland! Stop - I want to get a picture of that face in the rock, there." He stopped - and at first couldn't see what I was seeing. But, after snapping the picture and defining the features as I pointed each portion out - he did see it, too; teeth on the lower end of the rock, a concave where a nose would normally be, and two little eye sockets at the upper end of the rock: I finished my description with, "Bigfoot's face."
Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) is a PNW myth, but we are both Sci-fi junkies that like to rib each other about this prehistoric ape that supposedly lives in WA State's rainforest regions 😉
Today, we are both feeling punk - with Holland's stomach as sour as mine is, as well as a runny nose 😔
It's no mystery.
This is typical WA State fallout.
We both just want this yucky funk over with; so we get back to enjoying life.
I was up early this morning, enjoying early morning coffee and silence as I cruised the Internet; and I smiled when I saw that my MOD Angel Baby Blankets Post had been featured on one of the Blog Hop sites I frequent - and I finished 2 more over the last couple days ;-)
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I'm also reflecting on my go silent undertaking; I won't engage in verbal battles anymore. I want to live a peaceful life.
Holland is sorry for his angry and frustrated outburst - and I have forgiven him; but I am still going to be silent a while longer, and try to cultivate a quieter demeanor. I know that I am a whole lot of woman; and a lot to handle at times. Sometimes I'm even too much for myself … and I have lived with Holland long enough now to know that the {spiciness} he found charming in the beginning of our relationship doesn't tickle his funny bone anymore. What he thought was cute when we were just best friends, has him grinding his teeth now that we are married.
So, during this quiet time we are both going to be working on ourselves; he's gonna work on being less macho-man, and I'm going to work on a quieter demeanor.
We are first and foremost each other's best friend - that sounds strange I know considering the steady bickering; but it's true. We developed a strong friendship immediately when our paths crossed in the Fall of 2021, and over the months we became Best Friends.
Our marriage may have it's sketchy moments, but we will always be best friends. Holland can't stand it when I go silent - but he doesn't like it when I talk too much (I did warn him before we married, that I can be a 'Chatty Cathy'). He gets a bang out my spicy feistiness, but he doesn't want a steady sampling of it - and my saucy sarcastic humor can irritate him (he wants a quieter demeanor once in a while).
Because we spend considerably more time with our spouse than we do with anyone else … more arguments, more irritation, and more joint challenges will pop up than in any other relationship we have in our life.
The flip side of that, is that even with all the angst he has to sort through during this time of in-house-separation, he has stated that he wants this marriage to work because he misses his best friend (me); and he is still wanting to continue traveling to places neither one of us have ever been before - the most important place he's never been is happily married, and he's genuinely wanting to make a deeper connection to living together on every level, than just sharing living space together.
That's a major shift for him - and a welcome goal to me :-)
So, he's been going out of his way to apologize and {make things right} - without verbalizing he's sorry: that's his way. And, I have forgiven him.
We do have some good & happy times together, we are companiable more times than we are in opposition; we agree that we will "absolutely" spend the rest of our life together - and he is actively cultivating the same tenderness in our marriage that he tended to in our friendship over the past two and a half years.
We are first and foremost each other's best friend; and we miss that connectivity when chaos creeps in and diverts our thoughts and attentions into a different direction than US.
We are taking one day at a time; change doesn't happen instantly.
In the meantime, I am doing what makes me happy: visiting gal pals when I can, working on new designs, and cuddling up with Clive Cussler on cold, wet, and windy nights ;-)
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TRUTH
I am flashy … and I am on the go all the time. I basically {flash} for myself (I like color in my world); and I get bored easily, so I need to move and be busy.
I can spend hours chit-chatting over coffee at a kitchen table with lifetime friends, when the call comes to "come on over!"
And I do have (and have had for decades) Blogs where I share bits and pieces of myself (selectively). I may say I share 'anything and everything' … but there are pieces of my life NO ONE GETS TO PEEK INTO except Elohim. Even my husband and children don't get a peek at those bits.
People who don't know {me}, tend to think I am an extrovert.
BUT
In reality I'm an introvert.
I only go places alone; or spend time with people I've known all my life. People who understand my silence, and respect my space.
I've made friends with loneliness - even surrounded by family (aka husband and dog) and friends. I never truly {open up} to anyone; and that can be hard on people wanting all of me.
I mostly visit with new friends in their spaces, because it's easier to get up and come home after 30 minutes … than it is to be rude and watch the clock, making it obvious it is time for them to "go home, now". It's not that they bore me, irritate me, or annoy me - I just start feeling antsy: my social energy is being depleted and I need alone time to recharge. It burns a lot of energy to let so much out, while keeping so much in.
I'm complicated.
Only truly special people will understand ME.
December 15th: I started my day early; a 'duty call wakeup' with Bleu … and a lovely sunrise unfolding :-)
I set my mind on quelling the angry thoughts (post about that follows) racing through my gray matter, and determinedly set about bringing peace and harmony into my Island of Rest: the world around me may be spinning out of control … but I do not have to join in, on the downward spiral.
Angry thoughts Post:(https://roadgypsiesvalandholland.blogspot.com/2023/12/what-if-israel-islamshabbat-yuma-az.html)
Today is Shabbat, a Day when the pressing needs, concerning, actions, and spiritual deprivation of the world, is deliberately set aside: and the Spirit of Peace (peace that passes all understanding) is welcomed and encouraged.
I spent some early morning time enjoying uninterrupted time, with my handsome furry son.
I put finishing touches on the ABB I had finished the previous evening:
I touched base with Friends on the internet - replied to FB texts, and was pleasantly surprised to see that my Christmas Cactus pattern post, and Blog had been highlighted on a few Blog sites :-)
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When Holland woke up, I enjoyed time and convo with him.
And we both enjoyed the lunch he drove into town to get, "so you can just rest and enjoy your day Baby, and not cook" ;-)
He is still struggling with my Messianic Faith … but today, at least, he is trying to understand it: and the importance of Shabbat, in my Life. I am not a stickler about strict observances, and I don't mind cooking on the Sabbath - but it's nice not to have to :-)
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I am grateful for my husband's thoughtfulness.
I am thankful for Elohim's gifting of this man in my Life: his loving presence in my life blesses me in so many ways.
My WA friend sent me a text, and I saw that there is no snow there yet, though the temperature where she lives is a freezing 32-degrees.
It gets cold here, too, in the morning. People think the desert is hot all the time, but when the sun goes down in the winter months … so does the temperature:
As the Day ebbed and our texting contacts with friends slowed (we both had active phones all day long); Holland relaxed with a couple TV movies, a few FB interactions, and a couple YouTube videos … I relaxed by stitching up another Angel Baby Blanket.
Bleu relaxed by spending time with both of us throughout the day ;-)
Once it was underway, it was a relaxing Shabbat today :-)
The day dawned beautifully - and warmly, so we ditched the Plans we had made for today, and played hooky :-)
I made contact with a dear friend around 8:30 A.M., while Holland shook the cobwebs from his sleepy thoughts:
Holland's shoulder was on fire, so we decided to spend some time at the beach - I drove.
The ocean breeze was pleasantly warm, and blew gently over our skin; the day was a perfect day on the beach :-)
Tomorrow, we can get back to chores and tasks that need doing - but tonight, we are just going to enjoy being ;-)
