I'm going to try to be brief BUT if this is going to be your first winter in North Dakota as a home owner you need to start getting prepared NOW!The photo above was taken on 08/29/2029. I can assure you that soon it will be unrecognizable. Everything green will be gone! All foliage will be brown, laying on the ground, shriveled up under a blanket of snow.Such a radical change in nature means you need to make radical preparations to protect your home from what could be sever damage due to freezing.Water is always the enemy of a home. Snow is water. Ice is water.I can see this post could go very long so I will deliberately shorten it HOWEVER I can not gloss over the great damage freezing, thawing, and freezing again does to a home. Areas of concern include a homes roof, plumbing and found... 08/31/2026

WOW! I just looked at the events calendar at VISIT MINOT and I was really surprised at all that is going on around our little city. Click on the picture below to see what's up the rest of the month. Today alone has six events noted just on this site alone.Of those listed for tomorrow I may go to the concert at Citizens Alley. I hope to see you there.Don't forget that a trip downtown has lots to see with several art galleries and unique shops and restuarants.  08/11/2026

Unlike the Southern States where the DOT can work on roads year around the Northern States have to get a years worth of road repair done in a half year or less.That being said I have been pleased that there have been fewer traffic interruptions on the routes I take through town then there has been in past years.For the most part, detours in Minot ND are usually only a few blocks long and can easily be avoided.The City posts road construction on their sight. Click the map to read.  07/31/2026

To keep up with Minot events I highly recommend saving a link to the Visit Minot web page (VisitMinot.org).The only music I have heard outdoors this year was at the State Fair and it has left me wanting more.That being said...It seems that most of the free concerts promoted by "Arts In The Park" feature The Minot City Band which I can stand for about a New York minute. Nothing about a group whos average age is eighty years old, playing 100 year old songs gets me excited.I know there is better musical entertainment out there but you may need to dig a little to find it. I suggest you check out Citizens Alley and the entertainment on Main Street each Thursday night. I would guess that Minot State University also offers decent entertainment but then again I encourage you to dig deep for it.  07/25/2026

Of course the banner picture above is of the prettiest girl at the fair, Carol, my bride. I took well over a hundred pictures but I've narrowed it down to 10% of that.AnimalsThe Timm family favorite is the bunny barn.This bunny makes it abundantly clear where Hugh Heffner got the idea of his girls as bunnies.Goat Wash All the pony's in the photo above are pigmy ponies but I had to photograph this one as it was half the size of the others.RidesMisc.As a State Fair there were thousands of displays/entries into the 4H and FFA contests as well as public art entries.The picture above is the fishing pond (catch & release) by the State of ND Game and Fish department.While there were many large concerts during the fair we only took in one on the "Free Stage". These three men were very entertain... 07/22/2026

It's been a couple of weeks since our last rain and now we sure could use it. I don't think it's in our 10 day forecast so like Joe, we have been watering. In our case we are only watering the garden, it just gets to expensive to water the entire Yard.Saturday was perfect for watching the State Fair parade pass by little encampment just 500' from our home. I intend to post a lot of parade photos later today. I took over a hundred so it will take me a little time and discretion to shake that down to half a dozen photos.We had a wonderful weekend. My daughter, Tina, is pictured on the far right and the girl in blue is my wife's sister. Tina drove from Milwaukee for a friends baby shower and she picked up Pamala in Gilman WI to keep her company on the trip. Carol, my bride, is seated on th... 07/20/2026

The eating competition between the guinea pigs (Titus & Philemon) is over. Philemon wins! I do have a Real Estate message here BUT during this series of cartoons the most famous eaters name has come up, Joey Chestnut, more than once.Joseph Christian Chestnut is an American competitive eater who holds 55 world records across 55 disciplines, and is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating. He has won the Mustard Yellow Belt a world record 17 times. Chestnut is considered to be the greatest competitive eater in history. Wikipedia.Tying eating hot dogs and Real Estate together may be a stretch BUT in some markets purchasing your dream home is harder than beating Joey Chestnut's downing 70+ hot dogs in 10 minutes.Competitive bidding on a home in Minot North Dakota is very rare. Not s... 07/09/2026

I thank God for this Nation. I pray it survives the current assault of communism that we are seeing creeping into our political system. Communism has been tried over and over again and the result has always been a miserable failure with the death and misery of hundreds of thousands of people.  We had a wonderful day with most of our activity spent at our church (Calvary Church, Minot) eating, socializing, and playing corn hole. It was a GREAT time celebrating the freedoms that our country offers. 07/05/2026

It seems like every year I see more and more COOL cars.I love the "tricked out" and restored vintage cars but lately I've been seeing more and more cars totally built for speed. In addition to the Lamborghinis there are Porches and others who's names I can not pronounce. How about the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut? This is the car for you if you need to travel at 330 miles per hour.Of course the American Corvette is always a thing of beauty. Over the years Chevrolet has introduced 8 different body styles of the Corvette. Today's (2026) body style is a mid-engine model as shown below:I think the reason I am seeing so many of the "Go Fast" cars around Minot is the oil money. The oil jobs have been around for 20+ years and now that the boys have bought homes, campers, and expensive bling for th... 07/04/2026

Timmothy's latest painting is in honor of the 250th anniversary of the USA. This acrylic 24 X 36 painting is a tribute that can be used any time, any year (as it is not dated).I don't know how much shipping would be but Timmothy is asking $150. for the painting. I will check on the shipping if anyone is interested in purchasing it. It looks great on the galley wall, I'm sure it would look great on yours as well. 06/17/2026

Yesterday my family and I went to our "Once in a great while" movie adventure. The movie was playing at our "Second Run" theater, The Oak Park Movie Theater. I'd like to tell you a wonderful story about this theater but I'll save it for another post.This movie was NOT a second run but a very small production of local interest. That being said, it is getting GREAT reviews nationally.The movie is the story of Medora. The wife of a brilliant French Investor who had a vision to build a town in Western North Dakota for a meat packaging plant. Medora's father was very wealthy and invested in his son in laws ideas. Her husband was of both French and Spanish nobility and also had great political ambitions.Click on the photo for a preview.The movie was filmed in the North Dakota badlands by an l... 05/26/2026

These photographs were taken on Thursday 05/20/2026 just outside my office at 201 Main Street South, Minot ND 58701.The signs of spring.#1) Not only did our downtown goose show up again but this year he has company that is NOT his mate.#2) The little sidewalk gardens have been planted.#3) The trees are in bloom.And, of course as you can see, there are no more snow piles everywhere.I am looking forward to seeing #4, the hanging flower baskets but that may take another week before the City gets them out.  05/22/2026

The Shrine Circus is/was in town, Minot North Dakota, this week. It comes every year but this year was very unusual. This was the first year that they did not bring any animals, except some performing poodles. This was also the last year that Dizzy the Clown will participate. Dizzy is a local celebrity who is recognize nationally as one of the best clowns in the USA.So no animals? A circus with no animals? How does that work? Well, they still had 3 rings and they had performers. Not the circus performers I remember as a kid, I think this group was pretty much a Vegas show girl exhibition. The kids didn't seem to mind, the Shriner's made sure they had (sold) tons of flashy noisy toys, candy, face painting and such.About those girls. They were entertaining but it just was not a circus to ... 05/10/2026

While our Spring in Minot has been cool we are seeing green grass, some garden plants re-emerging, and of course dandelions. I think most of the migratory birds have returned, although I have yet to see any hummingbirds.Another sure sign of spring to me is seeing "the boys of summer" return across the street at Corbet Field.Reflecting back to the years that we had guinea pigs I remember how happy they were to graze in the back yard. I was always worry that an owl would spot them and take one or both away. Thank God it never happened. 04/27/2026

Last week a representative from "Visit Minot" came to see Timmothy's Art Gallery and Studio. We had been ignored in the past in the printed guide and again the new Spring magazine. They were so gracious to send a representative over who took a lot of pictures and came up with a page for us in the "on line version". She took pictures I never even would have thought of. Check this out and click on the picture to go to the actual site (it will open in another window so you will NOT lose your place here in the Rain).Please tell me what you think. 04/22/2026

This post is my answer to the April Challenge put forth by Carol Williams and Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400 titled Why Do You Love Where You Live?I hate to say this but I almost feel like holding my nose when I say I "LOVE" living in Minot North Dakota. HOWEVER I love many things about Minot.I am going to point out that I think Minot's political landscape is why I hold my nose BUT it is improving as more fiscally responsible people are being elected to the City Council. Still our current Mayor and a few of his yes men/women have not met a dollar they didn't want to spend. Even worse, the Minot Park District want to spend every dollar they think you may have.Now that I have that out there:#1) I love Minot ND because my family (Carol and Timmothy) live here as well as many, many fr... 04/18/2026

A warm welcome is a GREAT first impression. Often, when a soldier graduates from Boot Camp they are sent off to a base far from their home and the environment they are used to.We citizens of base communities like to think they will arrive here and be amazed at what a great place we have here and how wonderful we are as the people of their new home. Ha!In reality these 18 to 20 year old children are scared poop-less. "What new hell is this" may be closer to their actual thoughts. "Mommy" !The Minot community is trying to make that initial shock easier for the soldiers arriving to serve at the Minot Air Force Base with a new Military Welcome Center at the Minot Municipal Air Port.It's a small gesture but hopefully it will help the young men and women be a little more at ease with their ne... 04/04/2026

This post is written due to what I consider a personal breach of trust from a service provider. It is NOT directly Real Estate related yet many principals may apply to Real estate professionals. In addition to my personal story I have included responses from Gemini to my questions to it. The subject of my story is personal finance and investing. I was introduced to the stock market at the tender age of 9 years old. I was fascinated by it and started reading both the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange in our daily newspaper (The Fargo Forum). My father had a close friend who worked for Piper, Jaffray, and Hopwood. Dad always made sure his friend had funds available that “Cliff” could use if he knew of a good trade to go for. Cliff made a lot of money for dad and I’m ... 04/02/2026

When the bakery originally opened about 15 years ago they were called The Candy Bouquet. Over the years they evolved into a luncheon and renamed themselves Cookies For You. They are a wonderful place to sit downtown and enjoy coffee, a cookie, or a simple lunch. There is nothing outstanding about their ambience or service so just stop in and focus on having a good cookie. 03/21/2026

During the infancy of the internet I tried to trace my genealogy only the get frustrated enough to give up. My father had no clue aside of his mom, dad, brother and most likely his grandparents. Our family reunions consisted of 9 people. Our family and my uncle's wife and child. I was hoping to go back to Adam and Eve. It would also be cool to see if I am in the family of Christ (Yes I know I have been grafted in due to my faith in Christ as my Lord and Savior).I do remember as a child people would stop by my parents' home claiming to be related but my father didn't have a clue as to if they were are not. My dad was always polite and listened but I don't remember a single case where dad said "We just might be related".When I moved to Minot North Dakota there was a promenade Timm family ... 03/14/2026