Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. And now, here we are, looking at the last day of August 2015; and it is going to be a hot one. The weather folks said we would have scattered showers yesterday and they were right. They were so scattered that we didn't see but a couple of drops here at our place. That means I better water the plants again today. I don't want them drooping and telling sad stories when Ms. Kate gets home on Wednesday.

The new baffels on the feeder poles appear to be working. I came out to the sunporch last night around 2330 and the raccoon was climbing around in the pussy willow tree. The feeders are spaced in that tree so that it is hard for him to reach a feeder and maintain any kind of balance. He hasn't been back on the caged feeder nor have the squirrels. Saturday I bought a squirrel baffle for another pole and put it on. So far, --- no squirrels have beaten it. I have a third pole feeder that I could use one on but I can't seem to get it apart to put a baffle on it. From the looks of things this morning, I better fill some feeders again today though. The blue jay is out there right now eating the last of the peanuts from the mesh feeder and the ladderback woodpecker is flitting around looking for bark butter.

Yesterday was the last Sunday of our combined parish summer worship services. I have really enjoyed them again this year. I actually had a parishioner tell me yesterday that he wishes we could extend it because he really enjoys it when we all worship together. I can't explain how much that made my day. But, that idea will have to grow from the grass roots, not from the top down and I know there are many that would resist it because it comes too close to "combining the churches" and the churches would lose their individual identity. That would tread on a lot of history and memories are long, if not completely accurate.

I haven't heard from my sister for a couple of weeks so I have no idea how Byron is doing. Maybe no news is "OK" news. I hope so. They were planning to move him to their daughter Lori's house so she could take care of him but I don't know if that has happened or not. I reckon I need to shoot an email up north for a status report.

So, my prayers this morning  once again include my sister and her family for strength and patience and understanding. I also lift up a parishioner's daughter who is having hip replacement tomorow, and a parishioner who was admitted to the local hospital on Friday. I went to see him and he was feeling better but they are still going to do some testing on him yet today or tomorrow. There is great comfort in knowing that God watches over all of us at all times and that whatever happens in our lives, we are never alone. Have a blessed day and a wonderful week.