My guests at the buffet are all looking “puffed up” this morning as they try to stay warm on this thirty two degree morning. Thankfully the sun is bright today without any cloud cover and the winds that we have been having over the weekend have subsided. There is a glaze of ice on the unseated bird bath so the heated one is having plenty of visitation. I’ll need to put some fresh water in both of them  today. They have had a lot of leaves and seeds in them making the water look yucky although the birds and the squirrels don’t seem to mind. After all —- they do drink out of mud puddles alongside the road.

The storms this weekend ceertainly stripped the last of the leaves from the neighbor’s maple trees. I need to take my leaf blower out and blow off my sidewalk and patio again. The wind also filled my yard with little cypress twigs and needles from Ms. Margaret’s tree. I hate that tree. It is huge and it is never a pretty tree. Every year I end up cleaning up all of the stuff that blows off of it. If I don’t clean it up then it clings to Julie’s dog’s fur when they come and run in the yard. Then they carry it in the house. So, I guess I’ll get the JD back out of the shed, or maybe I’ll throw on my coat and go rake the stuff up. It will take a little longer but it will be good exercise. But I need to do it today because they are coming over tomorrow.

The worship service and sermon went well yesterday and appears to have been well received. Pastor Art and his wife got home from Alabama last evening, but I was glad to have a chance to preach again.

This is Thanksgiving week. I took the bird out of the freezer yesterday and put it in the refrigerator to start the thawing process for a Thursday cooking. Ms. Kate bought a turkey roaster about fourteen years ago and we have never used it. It was one of those deals when it was “the thing” to buy at the time. We’re going to get it out of the basement and use it this year and see how well it works. The thing takes up a lot of counter space though and counter space is a premium item in our kitchen.

I have a yard full of cardinals again today. What a great way to start off a Thanksgiving week. Most of them have dulled their colors but there are a couple of them that still have really bright red feathers. As I have said before, when the sun hits them, it just brightens up the entire yard. So, I give thanks to God this morning for that beautiful vision. I hope your week is full of good things. If you are traveling, travel safely And —- take time to be truly grateful for the blessings that God is sending you every day. Peace.