Rainy day today, tomorrow, and Saturday is the prediction. I woke up to heavy rain at around 0500. We are in a lull for a bit and then it will start again. But, I guess we needed it.

This morning I have a funeral to do with Pastor Art out at Zoar. I always hate when it rains on a “funeral day”. But then everyday is a funeral day for thousands of people isn’t it. I just feel like it adds to the sadness of the family. I don’t expect there will be a lot of attendees at this funeral. First of all of course, the Corona Virus will keep some people away, and then the fact that it is being held on a Thursday morning, a work-day, will also pray down the crowd. Art said he thinks the man is being cremated but I have no idea. Anyway, visitation starts at 1000 and the funeral starts at 1100. After the service, we will go to the cemetery and do the committal service and then I’ll head home. I think Ms. Kate may go with me but I’m not sure. We’ve known the family for years.

We went to Schnucks yesterday so I could do a little grocery shopping I only had three or four items to pick up. From there we went to the orchard to get some peaches. When I reached for my billfold, it wasn’t in my pocket. I realized that I had left it laying on the counter at Schnucks. So, we backtracked to the grocery, get my billfold, and then back to the orchard. What a dunce I am. We picked up another twenty pounds of peaches. Ms. Kate will be making peach pies tomorrow, yummmmm!

We are so looking forward to Steph and Chris & Caden dropping by here for lunch on Saturday. Jim and Jules will be here too so it’s a double daughter blessing day. Now if only the other two could be here too. But, we’ll take what we are blessed with. Steph and Chris are on their way to Michigan to watch her son play in a golf tournament. I hate the fact that they wil be driving all the way in rain. Pray for their safe travels please.

Guess I better start getting ready for the funeral. Have a great day. Peace.

Guess what day it is! Whoot, whoot! Hump day is here. LOL All is quiet here in the Backyard Buffet. I don’t see a bird or a squirrel anywhere. Maybe they have already been here ad discovered that I haven’t done my job yet and most everything is empty.

So the continuing saga of the computer and printers. I took my PC in to Staples to have them look at it and they told me first of all that they don’t do “firmware” fixes which surprised me. But the technician did tell me that my computer was under the extended warranty, which I doubted, but that I should call their “warranty” company and check with them. So, I brought it home, and I went through the hassle of dealing with that and found out that they had no record od me having a current policy. Next I called Office Depot and I got the same story that they don’t do firmware repairs. I called “the Geek Squad from Best Buy and repair would have cost me more that the computer did. Next I called PC Quest and asked if they did that kind of work and they said they did but it would be Friday before they could get to it, but I decided to take it to them. I asked if the repair was going to be more than the computer and the fellow said that my computer was worth fixing since it is only three years old. So, that’s where we are now. Friday they should called me and let me know the damage. In the mean time, I have my Surface Pro laptop that I am working from but I can't seem to get it to hook to a printer and that is frustrating the heck out of me. So, I write to the flash drive and then bring the flash drive up to Ms. Kate’s printer and print off my documents. I spent over an hour last night trying to get my laptop to hook to any one of three printers and it would not do it. Someone who knows what they are doing could probably hook it up in two minutes but I don’t understand the language. They kept asking me for an IP address and I had no idea where to find it even when I followed the step by steps.
Another one wanted some other number that I couldn’t find that was supposed to be on the back of the printer.  Grrrrrrrrrr!

Normally today I would be going to the churches and doing the bulletins etc. But the folks I was supposed to meet at church have postponed until Friday, so I’ll wait until then to go to the churches. I suspect that the attendance is going to be down now that wee are requiring masks again.  Some folks just refuse to wear them. I hate them but I wear them just out of compliance and safety. The virus is getting closer to home, I’m beginning to know people that have tested positive for COVID. Heather and John have still not heard back from their COVID tests. this whole COVID thing is so hosed up. No one knows what in the hell they are doing. They are running around “doing” like a bunch of ants. The big pharmaceutical people and their talking heads including the ones giving us all of our advice are disputing the finding and successful results of over 600 doctors that are treating the virus with a basically over the counter medication. And amazingly enough, and I predicted this, Dr. Fauci, the guru that the country is relying on, said yesterday that the cure-all vaccine should be available right before the national political election. (Move along folks, nothing to see here.) This country, the world is getting played so hard by billionaires who control the pharmaceuticals, the media, and most of the politicians and could care less about human beings and are trying to establish a one world power. If that makes me sound like a conspiracy dude, well I just might be. And I pray I’m totally wrong.

With that rant over, I think I will finish my cup of coffee and then go feed the birds. Have a blessed day. Peace.

It’s Tuesday and a tad bit cooler this morning, but not much. It has rained on and off. I watered all of the patio plants yesterday and about an hour later the eaves of showers began and watered them all again.

I’ve been having a problem with my PC downstairs in my office. I kept hearing a “whirring” sound and asked Julie about it. She said that maybe the fan needs to be blown out. Sunday night I turned the computer off when I went to bed and then last night when I finally got back to my office I turned it back on. I got a blue-screen message that said there was a problem with my fan and that I need to have it fixed or it would cause damage to the computer or I would lose data etc. So, I turned it off, and unplugged it. I brought my Surface Pro downstairs so I could work off of it. However, it won’t connect to my printer. I’ve had that issue with it before trying to connect to Ms. Kate’s printer and it won’t. Blue tooth is on, so I don’t know what the problem is. Anyway, I put everything on a flash drive these days so I wrote my document that I was working on and today I will plug the flash drive into Kate’s printer and print it off. Today I will take my PC to Staples and see if they can repair it. I don’t want to go through the hassle of buying a new computer. It is a real time consumer setting it up and it isn’t cheap. I still have the computer at the church to use and I also have another printer here that I need to take up there. Or, —- maybe if they can’t fix the fan on this one, I will just bring that computer back home and use it. It’s a conundrum.

I think I told you that I was asked to assist with a funeral on Thursday. Pastor Art asked me to do the sermon and pastoral prayer and a couple of scriptures. That’s what I worked on last night and got it all done. I’ve said before, that’s why I try to work ahead. You never know when something like this might pop up.

Time for me to get busy. Have a wonderful day. Peace.

Happy Monday! It is a hot one already again today; 0930 and already 85 degrees. But there is a stiff breeze and the humidity is a little lower, so it’s all good.

How’s your week shaping up? Ours is going to be busy around here. We are expecting Stephanie, and Chris, and Caden to come by here for lunch on Saturday on their way to Michigan, and that mean we have a lot of “straightening up” or maybe “hiding all the crap” is a better term. I don’t know about your house, but around here when you only have company once every six years things tend to not get put back where they should be or worse yet, ya’ buy a lot of stuff that had no place to be put when you bought it. So now, it’s find a spot. Yes, Julie and Jim come over every few weeks, but they are as bad as we are, LOL.

Just got a call from Karen saying that she is coming by to drop off some sweet corn. Cousin Robin brought her some and said to share with Kathy. I don’t know how much she is brining, but if it is very much, we’ll have corn to put up again today. I know it won’t take that long but is just another thing on the list.

I also got a call this morning from a friend asking me to take part in her dad’s funeral. Her did grew up at Zoar and was  I think four years older than me. She thought that I’d have a lot of stories to share but I really don’t. I never ran around with him or that age group, nor did they ever pay any attention to my age group. But, I’ve visited him in the nursing home even though he couldn’t speak, he seemed to be pleased that I came by. So, I have contacted Pastor Art and he wants me to do the sermon and he will do the eulogy. . I’m glad I finished this week’s sermon for my churches last night. I still need to write my Pastoral Prayer for Sunday.

Of course I need to go to the churches one day this week and run the bulletins. I guess I will do that on Wednesday because we have a fellow coming to the church Wednesday morning to talk about installing our new television sets in the sanctuary etc. Just one more thing to add to the list.

So I guess I better get offof my duff and get some stuff done. Have a wonderful week. Peace.

Good Saturday morning to you. I’m starting earlier today before we get busy. Although I don’t think we have a lot of things on the list today. That’s probably a good thing since it is going to be another sweltering day. It is already 77 degrees which is a great temperature, but that’s just the ambient reading. The real feel is 88 already and climbing. It’s gaining to be a muggy one.

Ms. Kate and I did get the corn all put up. It did take a while but it really isn’t “hard” word. We only did one bushel so far. I don’t know if we will do another bushel or not. There is only the two of us and we don’t eat it that often. I do think we’ll probably get another twenty pounds of peaches and put those up. I like to eat them as a snack. I take the out of the freezer, microwave them for 45 seconds which is just enough to start the thawing process, and eat them mostly frozen. And of course we need to have another peach pie or three. LOL. We have company coming in a week from today and we need to have some pie on hand.

One of my projects today is to go to Lowes and get a “flapper” to repair  toilet. I just did that for one of the toilets a couple of weeks ago and now a second one has broken. The rubber gets weak and the little ring that pulls it up eventually wears right through it. It is a fairly inexpensive and quick fix. But, I also need to get new seats for two of the toilets so I’ll do that at the same time.

Are you a change saver? Ms. Kate and I are. I have a five gallon plastic water jug that I throw my change in and have done so for quite awhile. My plan was that some day when I pass away, the grand children would spend some time visiting and rolling those coins and then they could split it five ways. Well, believe it or not, one of the effects of the pandemic is that people are not going out to buy stuff and aare using their credit cards instead and now the coins are no longer in circulation and businesses and banks are running out. So, Ms. Kate decided that she was going to wrap and roll the coins in my jug. Bless her heart, she rolled $1,176.00 worth of coins this week and I took them to the bank. My bank tellers were thrilled to get them, and some day, the grandkids will be glad to open an envelope and count hundred dollar bills instead of coins. It is sure going to be loud when I drop coins in the jug for awhile though.

It appears that I need to fill some bird feeders again today, but I also need to refill the birdbaths.

That’s it for this morning. Have a wonderful weekend. Stay cool. Stay safe. Saty in touch with our Lord God who has blessed you this week. Peace.

Can't believe it is Friday but it is and if I don't stop and write this now, I'll miss another day. This won't be long because we are in the middle of putting up corn for the freezer. Yesterday we did peaches, not too many but enough for the time being. I hope to get maybe another 20 pound box of peaches next week and we will also pick up maybe another bushel of corn.

Beyond that, we're also doing several other things like yard work, garden work, and Ms. Kate has been busy rolling coins. We decided to take  the coins that I have been collecting for the past two or three years. I had mostly filled a five gallon water jug. I took a bunch in on Wednesday and collected $450.00. I have at least that today to take in.  The banks and businesses all say that they have no change to give because of the virus and people not shopping with cash. So, I'll help out the Federal Government and turn my coins in. It was all I could do to lift the jug anyway. Had I filled it completely, it would have broken the bottom out.

Ms. Kate made a couple of peach pies a couple of days ago and they are gone! Boy were they good. For the past couple of years, when she made pies she used the Pillsbury Pie Crust and they are pretty good. But, this time she used my Grandma's recipe and made her own. It was marvelous.

Okay, that's it for today. I still have a bunch of stuff to do. Stay safe, use your mask. Peace.

It’s “Hump Day, — whoot, whoot”.  It is quiet here at the Backyard Buffet this morning. I don’t if it is the heat or the fact that I have moved feeders around so drastically. Even the “bark butter bits” feeders are being emptied more slowly. But then I haven’t had the gaggle of blackbirds that I normally have for the past couple of days. I think that is because the corn is beginning to ripen out in the fields and they are “going out” for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It must be nice, we haven’t been out since March.

It is a tad cloudy this morning yet but the sun is starting to break through and then the heat and humidity will soar. Last night one of our channels weather reporter had the humidity report with three categories: “pleasant”, “sticky”, and “gross”. This whole week will be gross. It is just the kind of weather that makes the corn grow and hopefully makes the tomatoes ripen. My plants are full of tomatoes but so far all I have gotten is a few cherry tomatoes. The others are being lazy and not ripening. But the cucumbers are doing well and so is the okra.

We were busy yesterday which is why I never got around to writing. Ms. Kate had an appointment to get a permanent from her beautician, and then we decided to go to the orchard to get some fresh peaches. We picked up twenty pounds of “seconds” and they taste great. Today we will be making peach pies and will freeze some peaches if there are peaches left over. The season is short and we do like our peaches all year long. I also have a message out to our local produce stand to see about getting some sweet corn to freeze. We used to be very blessed that our friend Bob would just give us whatever corn we wanted to put up. It became affectionately known as “Bob corn” and was a favorite of all of us. But Bob is past the age of planting corn, so we needed to find A new source. It is about 30 miles one way to the farm stand, but they are members of the church family so, ya’ do what ya’ gotta do, and their corn is really good.

This Sunday I get to do another infant baptism. I always love it when I can do those. And, I should have another one in about a month. This is good stuff. It gives me hope that the small church will have a future for many years to come.

I guess that is about it for today. Stay cool, stay safe, stay in touch with God. Peace.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to meeeee! Happy birthday to me. And many mooorrrrreeee! Yep, I survived another year of life and it has been a good one. I thank the Good Lord every day for my life and my blessings. My journey has been incredible, at least in my mind. I turned 76 today and I don’t know what I thought being 76 would feel like or be like, but I certainly don’t feel “ancient” like I thought 76 was supposed to be. It’s all in perspective I reckon. Of course, when I was young, I never thought I would be pastor of two churches at 76 either. Life does carry a person in some strange directions.

I got my new bird feeder pole in from Wild Birds Unlimited on Saturday and have it up. My birds were a bit confused at first and so were the squirrels. I moved all of the feeders off of the branches in the Pussy Willow tree. Today I intend to cut the two major dead branches out of that thing. That is just going to confuse and frustrate the squirrels again. It is going to mainly deprive the critters like raccoons and possums a place to sit and try to clean out my feeders. Squirrels are totally adaptable and can twist and contort their body in a thousand different ways to get to a feeders, but the other critters need more stability.

We had good attendance at the churches yesterday for the services and the televised portion went well. I saw we had 82 viewers as of last night. Add those to what we had in actual attendance and I think we are growing some. There has to be some benefit to this danged virus and I’ll count this as a blessing.

Speaking of the virus, it continues to spread or at least that is what is reported by the news people. Indiana is one of the few states that seems to be doing alright, although our numbers are reported to be climbing back up too. Dealing with the propaganda surrounding this thing is so frustrating. I saw a video yesterday evening of a youth choir that is working to do their performance virtually. The lead in to the article said that with the spread of the pandemic, singing in a choir is one of the most dangerous activities that a person can participate in; and yet —- they applaud mass protests where hundreds of people are shoulder to shoulder shouting at the top of their lungs. And why can’t we sing if we are wearing our masks?? There is just so dang much false and erroneous information put out about this thing that we don’t now who or what to believe. It’s very, very frustrating. And, as the leader of two congregation, how do I make any of this make sense??

Okay, I don’t want to get started on a rant, especially on my birthday, so I reckon I will sign off. I’m hearing the rumble of thunder to the west and radar shows a cluster if storms headed this way. I think I’ll just sit here and wait for it. I hope you have a blessed week full of life and good things. Take care of one another and stay safe. Peace.

Good morning! Well it is morning for the next three minutes anyway. The heat index is 97 degrees currently and is going to go up a bit more before this day is done. There is a heat advisory in place for us old farts. I was out checking on my garden for a bit and the heat took my breath away. My Accu Weather app says that “rain may form in the next 39 minutes”; whatever that means. The sky is clear blue with a few white puffy clouds, and it sure doesn’t look like it is threatening rain in any manner.

Ms. Kate is down again with her diverticulitis. Bless her heart, I know how bad that hurts and how much discomfort she is in. She was up for a bit and working, (playing) at her computer this morning around 0730 and I told her to go back to bed and rest even if she doesn’t sleep. When I used to suffer from diverticulitis, I found that the best thing I could do was be prone. Sitting up just crunches the stomach and that makes it worse. These attacks generally last her about three days. I’m not sure what brought this attack on but I suspect it was the brownies with walnuts that she made. She used to be a real nut eater but now they tear her up. It is the same with popcorn. I had the same problem. I don’t know if I just eventually grew out of it or if maybe some of my meds help with it.

I’m waiting on FEDEX to deliver my new bird feeder pole from Wild Birds Unlimited. It will have four hooks on it so when I get it put up, I can move some more of the feeders that are hanging in the pussy willow tree out and then I’ll finish trimming the dead branches out of that. Right now, the squirrel has figured out that if it goes out far enough it can bounce a couple of the feeders off of the hooks and then just eat from them on the ground. But, I’m putting a baffle on the new pole and those work well, especially since I won’t have any low hanging branches over the top of the pole. It is a dang shame that trying to outsmart a squirrel takes so much thought. They are some very smart critters though.

I need to go to the grocery store and pick up a few things but I really don’t want to get out. I’m down to three eggs and my gallon of cooking oil has very little left in it. I suspect Ms. Kate has a list too. She hasn’t done any grocery shopping beyond a run in to Fresh Market since this Corona Virus started. I don’t think we have been in a Walmart since March, have only been to Sam’s once, and only been to Target once, and not to Meijer’s at all. Thank goodness there is a “Neighborhood Walmart” close to us that I can go to and I go to Schnuck’s. Other than that —- it is run in’s to Dollar General and Dewig’s Butcher shop. We still haven’t been to a sit-down restaurant, so “eating out means drive through or curb-side. No wonder we are bonkers!!!!! Church and home are our existence.

Speaking of church, tomorrow is Sunday so take time to give praise to God Almighty. You made it through to another weekend and therefore you were blessed. You owe God praise for that.  Peace.

Happy Friday morning. It is going to warm up rather quickly today, but hopefully there will be no thunderstorms. We have had all of the rain we need for another weeks or so. But the feels like temperature is heading to 100 today although the ambient will lower.

I have a battle going on at the buffet this morning.There are a half dozen blackbirds and starlings out there that are just being feeder bullies. Mostly they are fighting one another which is okay by me, but it isn’t very nice table behavior. The cardinals are trying to get in on the food and the starlings keep pecking at the,. But once in a while a red headed woodpecker flies in and takes charge.

Yesterday we went to Wild Birds Unlimited because I think I told you I need a new pole system. We got there to discover that they are back to curbside only again which means I need to order ahead oof time, and —- I can’t go in and “touch and feel” everything like I usually do. So, —- I came back home and went on line, created an on-line account and ordered what I wanted. I already new exactly what I needed because I already have three of their setups in my yard. But, buying on-line just isn’t the same. I miss the conversation with the ladies that work there. But, it is free delivery  and should be here either tomorrow od on Monday.

This dang COVID crap is really frustrating. Like most of the country, I don’t know what or who to believe and it has become so politically divisive along with so many other things in this nation. I have zero confidence in any of the data and I have no doubt in my mind that all of the data and media coverage is being driven by a political agenda to influence our Presidential election in November. My personal opinion, if anyone cares, is that the radical left Democrat party is attacking on multiple fronts to make our incumbent president look bad. I just pray President Trump gets re-elected, but I’m also fearful that if he does, we may break out in a civil war because the radical left has totally gotten out of control. These are scary times in America and there is a huge push to re-create our government from a Republic to a Communist/Socialist state. And the propaganda machine is well oiled and is using all of the “nice Christian” words like “love, equality, & caring” to wrap the package.

That’s my rant for today. I’ll get off of my soap box now.  I don’t expect you to agree with me but I don’t want to fight with anyone either. I wish you peace.

Thursday morning; it is a rain cooled morning out side. I was just out filling a few bird feeders again, (of course) and it felt very pleasant. I need to fill a couple more with sunflower seed but the yard is a bit muddy yet. If it doesn’t rain any more, I can do that this afternoon. I think my guests at the Backyard Buffet must think so too. It hasn’t slowed them down one bit. Mostly this morning I have of course had blackbirds and finches. But the big red headed woodpecker comes in and moves all of the blackbirds out of the way and gets what it wants. I’ve only seen one cardinal tis morning so far. I’ve started trimming up tis pussy willow tree/bush where several of the feeders are hanging. There are several dead branches in it that need to come out and it would make it more difficult for the squirrels to devastate my feeders if I can get those cut out. But I need to get another feeder pole or two to hang feeders from first and they are not cheap. I also need to get some squirrel baffles for a couple of my poles.  It’s like everything else I get at Wild Birds Unlimited; — gotta rob a bank before I go shopping. LOL. But, maybe we can do that today.

Our Terminex guy came yesterday and did his initial treatment for mice, ants, and other creepy crawly things. He was also supposed to spray for mosquitos but we were looking at last night’s rain getting here and that stuff needs to sit for eighteen hours and not get washed off. So, he’ll be back for that; maybe on Saturday after the rain is done for a while. he put out a few mouse bait things in the basement and a lot of “spider traps”. He also sprayed a “barrier” around the house foundation and all of the windows. He found a couple of  massive micro ant nests and has spray those areas good.

I made the decision last evening that I am not going to do combined worship services this year. I have enough to people that are still fearful of the virus, and rightfully so, that they would not be comfortable adding more bodies to a crowded room. Well, actually it isn’t crowded, but it woulld be more so if we put the two congregations in together. Maybe come fall we can do another outdoor service when it gets cooler and the harvest is done. I would love to do a combined worship service and pot luck lunch out doors. I think that could be so much fun. It sounds like a good way to start fall.

That’s my gossip of the day. I hope your day is filled with joy and other good things. Peace.

It is a pleasant day out there on this Tuesday morning. I’ve been out and filled some bird feeders and it was very comfortable. It could stay like this all day and I would love it. Unfortunately the temp is going to go up to about 90 and we are under an ozone alert day which is not good for dudes like me.

Yesterday I got my tire back from Raben’s for my little John Deere. They had to put a new inner tube in it. Once I got it home, it only took me about five minutes to get it back on the mower and then I mowed my back yard. From there I went and got the “front yard John Deere” and took care of that. After that we loaded up some meat from our freezer and took it up to Karen to share some of it. We have a lot from the hog we bought last fall and I’d like to make some room in the freezer to put some beef in there. So, we shared some of the pig so we can make room for the cow.

We wasted a lot of time yesterday waiting on the Terminex guy to show up. According to the lady I talked to initially, he was supposed to be here between 1300-1600. So we waited and waited and heard nothing. I tried to call them at 1600 and was put on hold for 15 minutes and finally just hung up, and we left the house to go to Karen’s around 1630. Sure enough we got back and there was a voice message on the phone that he was going to be there at 1645 and then had been there at about 1700 and “missed us”. He left his number and a card. I called him around 1900 on his cell phone. According to him, he was supposed to get to us between 1500 and 1700. And — it wasn’t the guy that I was told was going to be here. I called the Terminex number and of course all I get is a recording and automated messaging but they told me that they had a new appointment already set up for me at 0700 Wednesday morning. We’ll see what happens but I am not even close to being impressed so far. My biggest gripe, other than them not being here per their email confirmation, is that you can’t talk to a human. Everything is automated. Press this number, press that number, choose from these options, “Your business is very important to us”; —— give me a human to talk to!

Oh well, —- life is what it is. Ms. Kate and I have laundry going this morning and I need to go swap it over. She can’t reach the bottom of the washer basket. I hope that you have a most wonderful day. Peace.

And a blessed Saturday to you. It is 81 degrees and the “real-feel” is 91. Yuk already. But the sun is shining and the birds are singing and the fat squirrels are getting fatter as they sit there and clean out my feeders.

Last night I was sitting in the kitchen having a snack and a dang mouse ran along my baseboard into the the dining room. I immediately went and got a trap and set it in the path that I figured it would use to on its return trip, and sure enough, this morning I carried his carcass out to the yard. I don’t know why we suddenly have mice. Last weekend I killed one in the sunporch. There are two that I know of in the basement. I saw one of them last night while I was downstairs. Although that is the first time in a week that I have seen the downstairs two and they have avoided my traps down there. I may need to rebait the four traps I have down there. But, I have sent a message to Terminex and am asking for an estimate. We are also seeing what I believe to be carpenter ants. They look like those big ants that you see out around oak trees. They really have a hard shell and are hard to kill. You can’t just what it, we generally grab a Kleenex and squish it between our fingers. So, depending on price, Terminex can deal with them too.

Ms. Kate is boiling some eggs this morning and is going to make some tuna salad today. I love tuna salad or just plain egg salad. I’m a “plain foods” type of person. I love soup, especially if it is some that Ms. Kate has made. But, I can go for days just eating Top Ramen, and have in fact done that. When I was a young Captain I went to Squadron Officers School down at Maxwell Air Force Base. It was an eight week course and I had a dorm room and the dorm had a communal kitchen. I think I made Top Ramen for probably 90% of my meals, and I never got tired of it. Even now, if I’m foraging for something to eat, I’ll just grab a package of Top Ramen. They say it is terrible for you because of the salt, but it works.

I think today is going to be a sermon writing day. My buddy Art is already done with the last Sunday in July. I used to be that way it have gotten behind. Well, not behind, but certainly not ahead yet.

That will do me for today. This Saturday and tomorrow is the Sabbath. Please go and spend time with the Lord God. If you’ve made it this far into the week, then I guarantee you that God has blessed you in a thousand way. Take time to acknowledge that and give God the praise God deserves. Peace.

Good morning and happy Friday. It is a beautiful morning. It is currently 78 degrees with a 6 mph sustained breeze. It is mostly sunny so it looks very pleasant out there. I’m debating mixing up some pancake mix and going out and firing up my Blackstone griddle. That thing really works great. I still need to go to my local kitchen store and pick up the exact spatulas that I need. I bought a set of Blackstone “tools” but the spatula is thicker than I need, or at least think I need.  I want a couple of those kind that they use for Tepanyaki. They slide under the food a lot better and make flipping pancakes or eggs a lot easier. And of course they “clang” better for when I decide to do y Tepanyaki routine. LOL. Maybe I should get a couple of those metal salt and pepper shakers too.

We went to the churches yesterday as planned and ran the bulletins and set the pulpits up for Sunday. I was really glad to see that the air conditioner had been fixed and we can have church at St. Lucas this week instead of having back to back services at St. Paul’s. Not that there would have been a single thing wrong with doing that. But people do like to worship in their “own church”. We are a yoked parish, but we are not one church. There is a big difference. I have promoted the mantra of : “Two churches, but one Faith Family”. Folks seem to accept that, or at least I haven’t had anybody tell me they don’t like it. Sixteen years ago when I first started up there I was told that I should work to uniting those two churches in to one. As I have said before, I don’t think that is the right thing to do and frankly, they love one another’s and they are even related in many cases, but they each have their own traditions and want to maintain them. Now, I’m reading things from theologians that say we need to stop being concerned about parishioners wishes and stop doing things the way they have always been done and focus on the Mission of the church. I think that is the most asinine guidance I have ever heard and one of the quickest ways to empty the pews. W need to focus on how we can use our traditions and practices to further Christ’s church. But see, I think in terms of being a “Lay minister” and not one of the “learned ordained clergy”, so what do I know.

After we finished at the churches we went to our farm stand up in that area and picked up a cantaloupe and a dozen ears of corn. I think today we are going to take maybe four ears of that corn up to Karen. We haven’t seen her for a while, so we need to check on her.

Okay, I’m gonna check with Ms. Kate and see if she wants pancakes and if so, oit is time to fire up the griddle. In the meantime, you go have yourself a wonderful and safe weekend. Peace. Go with God.

Good morning. It is already a hot one again today and is going to increase exponentially. It is currently 82 degrees and today the heat index is going to be around 100-105. That’s not pleasant is it? Yesterday we had a day like that and all of a sudden the storms came in. After three inches of rain, sometime torrential, the temperature dropped at least twenty degrees. I expect that could happen again today. We really got all of the rain that we need for now but these are heat induced storms that just pop up, rain themselves out and then fuel some more storms. But —- I was planning on watering my garden yesterday and especially the new raised bed that I made. However God took care of it for me and did a much better job of it than I would have done. LOL

Today I must go to the churches and run the bulletins for Sunday a set the pulpit up. It won’t take that long. Since we are not currently singing, I don’t have to run the hymns for the large print bulletins Which saves me time. Actually, I wouldn’t have to do that anyway but it is something I chose to do so the older folks wouldn’t have to hold the hymnals and the print would be easier for them to see. It made it easier for me too at the pulpit. I’ll be glad when we can get back to singing. Of course, when we get our new system at St. Lucas, I think we’ll be able to put the Hymns and the scriptures up on the screen and not use the hymnals at all. But, that is a while off. It is what we did at Zoar Church though and it worked very well. The biggest problem is that it takes a dedicated team to do all of that. It can’t just be Jacob, because Jacob and his family may be gone for a Sunday on vacation or something. But — we’ve got to get past all of this Corona Virus stuff and get everybody back in church first. Sheesh, it’s spreading fast again and I hope we don’t get set back to some earlier phase again, but it could certainly happen and we’d have to close church doors again. Many of my fellow pastors still have not gone back to in-person worship. So, I’m very grateful that we can are back although probably at half attendance. But our Sunday morning live-stream is getting around 85 views, so that is good.

I’ve had a lot of visitors at the Backyard Buffet this morning. I got the feeders filled yesterday as I told you. This morning I’ve had a couple of Blue jays out there all morning and they are making a real racket. But, it seems to hold the blackbirds off so they can make all of the noise they want to.

Okay, time to go. I want to get to the churches and back home before it gets really hot and or the thunderstorms start. I pray you will have a blessed day. Peace.

Hmmm, I wonder, are these what are referred to as “the Dog Days of Summer”? I never knew exactly what that phrase meant. I think it means long, hot and humid, but I don’t know. But, if it is, that is what we have going on. We are in our sixth or maybe seventh day of officially being in a heat wave. Our forecaster said last night that yesterday was our hottest day of the year so far and I think today is to be a twin to it. I think he also said that we have to have maybe six days in a row above ninety for it to be considered a heat wave and that we didn’t have one at all last year until September or October. Whatever, —- all I know is that it is miserable out there. I just came in from filling the bird feeders and I am drenched with sweat. But, all of my guests should be happy now. I filled 15 feeders. And of course the first guy that shows up is a dang blackbird who will share the news and then the whole flock will show up.

I bought a new kind of finch food yesterday. Normally I jus buy Nyger thistle seed but they seem to have gotten of of that for now. I talked to the ladies at Wild Birds Unlimited yesterday and they said they have been hearing that a lot. So she recommended Nyger seed blend that her customers have said is working. I was surprised when she told me she seldom has any finches. I have them year around. My big Red Headed Woodpecker just arrived. He is so very beautiful and he doesn’t take crap from the blackbirds. And the Cardinals have discovered that thhe feeders re full and here they come. This is exactly why I lose two hours of my day every day.

Today, I’m heading to the basement and am going to finish my sermon for the week and possibly get started on next weeks. We’ll see how it goes. I should have worked on it last night and then I could have gone to the churches and run the bulletins today and had that out of the way. But, I was lazy and sat and watched television. That is unusual for me to do. Generally I’ll get started on a show and then I’ll think of something that I could add to my sermon or something else I need to research and I’ll leave my program and do some work. My brain doesn’t shut down very well. It really doesn’t matter though because everything on TV is re-runs now anyway and I’ve already seen them.

My coffee cup is about empty so I guess I better quit sitting here watching birds etc and head on down to my office. Have aa most wonderful day. Your work week should be half over today. Peace.

Good morning! Welcome to an already hot Tuesday morning. I got up at 0630 today because I wanted to finish filling up my raised bed before the sun popped up and made it hot. Unfortunately it was already 83 degrees, but I got it done. I stopped at Lowes yesterday and bought ten 2 cu ft bags of Miracle Gro garden soil. I had planned to maybe get some of the dirt from the church like I told you before, but this way I don’t have to worry about weeds roots and seed in the soil. Besides, I still had gift cards I could use, (and still have a couple) so it was like shopping for free. So far, my raised bed hasn’t cost me anything because I bought everything I needed with gift cards. Thank you very much to my darling daughters.

As you know, I got my truck fixed yesterday. It ended up costing me $890.00 to escape, LOL. I had to have new calipers, rotors and brake pads put on the front. The Calipers were the high dollar item, they always are. But, at least I can have confidence in my braking power now and that annoying rubbing sound is gone. Last fall I had the new water pump put in so now I think I’m good to go for a long time with the truck. I wouldn’t hesitate to start out across the country with it.

Today, I need to finish my sermon for this week. I still have one more point I want to make and that will take me another page and a half maybe. Plus I have the Pastoral prayer to write yet. Either tomorrow or Thursday I’ll go run the bulletins. It depends on what else is going on. I need to check the calendar because it seems I and forgetting something. i know I need to go to Wild Birds for some stuff. I have several things I need from there and it is not going to be a cheap trip. As I look around at the Buffet, I see that I still have some feeders to refill too. There is always something that needs doing isn’t there? The problem is that I seem to wear out quicker than I used to. So, it takes me longer these days to get stuff done. It’s the price of age and I’m fortunate to be in relatively good health.

I have sufficiently cooled off now and my coffee is about gone so I guess I will get myself cleaned up and re-start my day. I hope your day is a pleasant one. Stay safe, stay cool, saty in touch with God. Peace.

Monday, 6th of July. I’m not in the sun porch for sure. I’m at my local auto-mechanic shop have front brake pads and rotors on my Dakota. It had been rubbing a lot when I put the brakes on and I knew I had to get it fixed. So, I have a local mechanic that I use and he is really good and he is reasonable. The family goes to Zoar Church and that is where I met them. He runs his business very much like my son-in-law Gary does his place in North Carolina. His shop is clean and they treat their customers very well, and don’t try to sell you on repairs that aren’t needed. I love my red truck. I don’t drive it near enough to really justify having a truck but it is always there when I need it. For example, today, after I get it fixed I need to go to Lowes and see if I can get some bags of garden dirt to put in my raised bed. Hopefully they will have it on sale. And even though I bought it almost new in 2009, I only have about 50K miles on it.

Julie came over and we celebrated her birthday in style. Yesterday I put steaks on the grill and Ms. Kate fixed corn on the cob, buttered spaghetti, fresh cucumbers, and fresh tomatoes. Then we had her birthday cake. It was a delicious lunch.

I only had one worship service to do yesterday. The air condition ain’t went out in my St. Lucas church so I did the 0900 at St. Paul’s and we live-streamed that service. I had 84 viewers of the service, so that was good. If we can’t get the A/C fixed this week, we’ll do back to back services at St. Paul’s next week. What ever it takes to get the job done.

While I’m out running around, Ms. Kate is home doing laundry and washing the bed linens today. It is already a hot one today so we won’t be doing too much outside work. 91 with high humidity does not make for a good work day for us old dudes. It is supposed to be this way all week.

That is about it. I hope you are staying safe with this Corona Virus stuff. I hate wearing masks but I’m doing it when I’m around people. I for sure don’t want to catch the virus or take it home to Ms. Kate or anyone else. So, I wear my mask. We did do a bit of “elbow bumping” as greetings yesterday.

That’s about it for today. Have a wonderful week. Peace.

Good morning and Happy 4th of July. What are your plans for today to celebrate this 244th anniversary of this nation becoming independent from English rule? Last night I sat and watched a You Tube video of something that is about as “American” s it gets these days. I was watch the video of protesters, about 300-400 of them that had blocked the road that leads up to Mt. Rushmore. I’m not sure what they were protesting other than that the President of the United States was scheduled to appear there and speak and the annual fireworks were scheduled to happen. Thousands  of tickets for the event had been sold and of course the protestors were only interested in making sure that people couldn’t get in to hear the President because they disagree with him. Obviously their right to protest was more important than anyone else’s rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I don’t know how it ended. It was, from what I saw, “basically peaceful” if you call vile screaming of age old rhetoric peaceful. But —- protesting has become the sport of the year 2020.

Yesterday, I filled the feeders (part of them) for the Backyard Buffet, mowed some yards, got my asparagus planted, put my peat moss and compost on the raised bed an Julies come over to spend the holiday and her birthday with us. Tomorrow is Julie’s birthday although we actually celebrated last night. Ms. Kate fried up some chicken, I shucked a half dozen ears of corn and we had fresh squash. Then we had some of her birthday cake. I bought a “Strawberry Pretzel Salad Cake” from R’z restaurant for her. It is a cake that was created from an idea that Julie had and we passed on to Candace, the owner of the restaurant. It was yummy.

We have mice in our house. I have seen two in my basement and set traps but so far haven’t caught them. The last evening, I turned on the light out here in the sunporch and there was a mouse climbing on the brick wall, almost to the ceiling. It quickly ran down the wall and disappeared somewhere. I had never seen a mouse on a wall before. So, the old addage I’ve always heard is that if you see two you have a t least a dozen. I may call Swat Pest because what I’m doing isn’t working and I don’t want to have mice in this house. I had that problem in our house in Collinsville, IL. And it took a long time to get rid of them.

Time for a coffee refill. I also have to finish filling the bird feeders today. I had a good start but then I injured my hand pretty good working to straighten out the pole that they hang from. The injury is nothing major, but I peeled back a quarter sized layer of skin. The hand is pretty stiff this morning.

Have yourself a blessed day. Give thanks to God that you live in a free country. Peace.

Good Thursday Morning! I think this will be short today as I have things to do and places to go. I have a tree full of birds that are not happy because the blackbirds and the squirrels have emptied the feeders. Of course the squirrels are sitting there looking in my windows like it’s all my fault they don’t have food. But, I’m glad to report that the brown thrush is still here. I’m not sure what it eats because they are mostly ground feeders like the robins. But, I need to fill the feeders at some point today. I also need to mow my yard before the weekend gets here. It is 4th of July weekend.

I’m hoping that the ground has dried out enough for me to plant my asparagus. I went out there yesterday and it was really muddy. And I don’t want to “mud them in”. So, I may wait another day.

Also on the agenda is going to C&I Electronics and finally getting rid of the two flat screen televisions that have been in the bed of my truck for two plus months. Then I need to go to the Vineyard Bible Store and pick up some communion sets for the churches and while I’m there, I may run across the street to Wild Birds and pick up some stuff. Finally, this afternoon I need to go to the churches and run the bulletins and the to R’z Restaurant and pick up a birthday cake for Julie. Whew!!! It is definitely a run-around day. Oh, in in between all of that Ms. Kate and I are doing the laundry.

So, I’m gonna go get busy. You stay there in your chair and finish your coffee. Have a blessed day.

Good morning and happy Wednesday to you. It is wonderful to see sunshine this morning. We have had days of rain and may have some today, but right now, the sun is shining and my Backyard Buffet has some nice guests visiting. I’m very thrilled that the Bluebird has been here several times this morning. It is such a brilliant blue that when the sun hits it it almost looks fluorescent. Like most of my birds, its favorite food seems to be the Bark Butter bits. There are still some of those left out there  in the feeders but I will need to fill them before the day is over. I have a new guest at the feeders this morning and I haven’t gotten a good enough look at it to be able to identify it. I think it is a thrush but you don’t normally see them sitting around in trees and this one was. So, the mystery is out there. I’ve only got its long tail and white and brown under-belly for clues so far, and it doesn’t stay around long enough to identify it.

I don’t know how much rain we got officially. The airport is two miles from here and that is where they take the “official” gauge and I think all-in-all they have reported around six and a half to seven inches over a five day period. I know I have poured nine inches out of my rain gauge.

Yesterday I had a refrigerator repairman come out and take a look at my little mini-fridge that I have out here in the sunporch. Unfortunately, it is a lost cause. The compressor is frozen up and to order new parts and fix it would be close to $500.00. It cost me $75.00 to learn that much. So, I went to Wayne’s Appliance to look for a new one. Well, that was a waste of time. The guy there was less than zero help.We have bought appliances from there before and have always been satisfied but this guy just seemed like we were a real bother to him. I told him what we were looking for and that we had seen it and priced it on their website. His answer was that they didn’t have any, that what I was looking for was nearly impossible to get, and even if he ordered one there was no guarantee of when it might ever come in. So —- we went to Best Buy and I saw what I wanted setting there on the shelf and it was $50.00 cheaper. A young friendly salesgirl came up and helped me, took me over to order mine and I got a text last night that it was already being shipped to me and will be in my sunporch on Friday. So, Wayne’s Appliance dude —— I’m sorry you were having a bad day; but mine turned out just fine.

I have a couple of mice in my basement. In the 19 years we have lived here we’ve only had a couple of mice. So, I went to Dollar General last evening and bought some traps and baited them with peanut butter. I haven’t checked them yet this morning, but I hope I got them.

That’s about all or today. That’s my tail of “Mice and Men” for today. I hope your Wednesday is going to be a good one. Peace.