Welcome to the weekend; welcome to a beautiful Saturday. It's 80 degrees and going up another nine degrees possibly. But all of the shade I have back here in the backyard and the bit of breeze that is blowing makes it rather pleasant.

The spa and buffet have been busy all morning. I've had birds of all varieties in and out of the bird baths; black birds, cardinals, sparrows, finches, and robins have all been here to take a dip and do their Saturday bath. Yesterday I put out the last of the barkl butter bit and it only filled about thre fourths of that feeder. But between the black birds and the starlings, they have ravished at least half of what I put out there and they have also eaten most of four suet cakes  that I have in one feeder. It seeem that everytime I look out there, there is either a red-winged black bird or a starling on them. Stiubby has been busy this morning but has mostly been frustrated. It has been in and out of this tree so many times going from one feeder to the next and not being able to reach them. It's only recourse is to either do the horizontal stretch to the one feeder and try to grab a sunflower seed or he can get on the ground and eat leftovers and spillage. It's fun to watch though.

I've spent most of my morning on my IPad talking by messenger to the girls and doing planning etc for our vacation. We are now two weeks away so it is time to get some more serious planning done. One of the "planning" things that Ms. Kate and I are going to do today is to make a couple of batches of home made ice cream. Yes, I know that sounds like an excuse --- but we have some recipes we want to try before we go because I intend to take my ice cream freezer with me. So today we might try some strawberry/banana and then maybe a batch of butter pecan. We'll just make small batches today and put some in the freezer if we have leftovers. It does make for great evening treats.

So, that is about it for today. I'm just sitting here being grateful to God for the blessed life I lead. I have a family that I love and I have peace in my soul with my relationship to Christ. What else can a fellow wat or need. I hope that is what you are experiencing today too. If you are having a rough day --- remember that I have said a prayer for you today. Maybe it will help. Peace.