Wow! It is the last day of August 2020. A couple of things come to mind; first of all were he alive, my dad dad would have been 106 years old. My mother would have been 103. They were both born in August. Secondly, this year is slipping away and Christmas is only a little over 100 days away and then it will be 2021. Time is flying by isn’t it despite the fact that we are all still hiding from the CORONA Virus. 

This morning I have been calculating the cost of putting in a new raised bed and then I have to decided if it is worth the cost and the work. I’m looking at having to buy; (20) 2 cu.ft. Bags of garden soil, (2) 1 cu.ft. Bags of composted manure, (1) 3 cu.ft. Package of sphagnum peat moss, (12) concrete raised bed blocks, & (5) 2x12x8 pine boards. Current pricing brings the price in at almost $300.00. That’s a chunk of change and I don’t know that it is cost effective. And it may not be cost effective, but —- I’ll be planting some garden anyway so a raised bed will keep me from bending over so much. Right now none of the stores have any fall sales going on for that kind of stuff and I can’t build it yet until my tomatoes are out of the way. But, it is time to start the planning and thinking about it. I’m hoping that by the time I get back from our North Carolina vacation that maybe Lowes or even the local nursery will be having some sales going on. By then the area will be ready to clear off and I can put it together. It’s gonna be a hard days work but hopefully come spring and I can plant my early veggies, it will be worth it. If I time it right, maybe my son-in-law Jim can come over and help me. Those bags of dirt do get heavy. But, it keeps me thinking I’m still young. 

We ar supposed to have more rain again today. If we do, I guess I will maybe start on my September 27th sermon. No use wasting time. That would just put me one more week ahead of the curve. Right now it is really cloudy out there and the air is not stirring any. I Have a few guests at the Backyard Buffet.  Mostly I have wrens this morning and a few finches. I have not had many of my nemeses birds, the blackbirds and starlings. I think they have moved out into the fields for the beginning of the harvest. I hope I haven’t jinxed it by saying so. I’m still thinking about buying a squirrel baffel for the one feeders that they have forever climbed on. Wild Birds has a twenty % off for them. 

We had good attendance at the churches yesterday and I was so glad to hear them announce at St. Lucas that they are going to start Sunday school again for adults and kids. Ms. Kate and I were talking about that on the way to church yesterday, hoping they would start back. I’m also considering starting a Wednesday Bible study. I now we wouldn’t get a lot of people but it might fill a need for some folks. I have a couple of sets of Sunday school books from Zoar that I would like to use. It is time that we started being timid and start Ewing the church again. 

That’s all for today. I hope you have started your brand new week off with a prayer. God will walk with you every step of the way and every minute of the day. Share your love and share your blessings. Peace. 

 Happy Saturday. We all made it to another weekend. The weeks just keep rolling along don’t they? Who would have thought that we would still be running around in masks and social distancing at this point in the year; certainly not me. I was disappointed when they were predicting July, and now were are looking up the skirt of September and apparently are no closer to a cure than before. 

The tropical depression from Hurricane Laura has passed through. Our rain amounts and wind were far less than expected. Today is supposed to be a pretty decent day. I may mow my back yard after while and I also will get out and fill bird feeders. I’m sure the garden will need picking again today too. I picked it on Thursday so by now there will be more to gather. I’m anxious to go see how my surprise watermelons are doing. I really hope they will be ready when we head to North Carolina and we can maybe take a couple along with us to the beach. That would be an extra blessing. I didn’t tell you that we had an avocado that we didn’t eat so I also planted that out there in that bed. Maybe nothing will happen, but I could end up with an avocado plant too. That would be a first.

Speaking of my raised bed. I should maybe start looking at Lowes or one of the big box stores to see if the fall garden sales have started. I need maybe twenty 2 cu ft bags of garden soil as well as some so posed manure, and some peat, and the lumber and blocks to build the new bed. I can’t put it in yet because the tomatoes are in the way, but I could go ahead and get the supplies and be ready. I’m going to put in a 4’ X 16’ bed this time. Come spring I’ll be ready to plant lettuce and stuff. If I get it done before the leaves fall, I can cover it with the leaves for mulch too. That is the plan anyway. Who really knows what the future will bring. My neighbor Dann said he heard that this winter is supposed to be one of the harshest we’ve seen. It makes sense; the rest of the year 2020 has been hosed, why wouldn’t the year end up that way. 

Ms. Kate just called me for breakfast. I’m out if here. Blessings. 

 Good morning on this bright and warm Friday morning. The clouds are coming and going as the tropical depression moves this way. We are expecting rain and wind later on today as the remnants of Hurricane Laura makes it’s way through the mid section of the country and on out to the eastern coast. What started out as a Category four hurricane is now basically a strong thunderstorm now but it isn’t giving up. Wind flow and air patterns are amazing. This thing started out in the south Atlantic Ocean, came up through the Gulf of Mexico, shot up through the US and made a right hand turn and will now proceed on back out to the Atlantic and then turn left and go up the coast to Nova Scotia. I find that fascinating.

Ms. Kate and I attended a funeral at our home church yesterday  and then stayed for the meal. After that we went to our churches and ran three weeks worth of bulletins for each church. Now, I just have to finish one more sermon and then we will go run those and I’ll be good through the 20th of September. If I have time, I may go ahead and work on September 27th too.  That would be great to have all of my September stuff done. 

Did I tell you that my Motocross riding Granddaughter had another accident and has fractured her shoulder —- again. It was last week and she is just going to the Orthopedic doctor today. I talked to her today and teasingly asked her if she finished the race. I wasn’t overly surprised when she said; “Well, I only had two more hours to race so yeh, I finished it.” That girl is going to give me a heart attack yet. 

I think I’m going to stop here and take advantage of the breeze and sun and mow my yard. Have a blessed Friday. 

 A blessed Thursday morning to you. We are having a cloudy start to our day as is much of the country today. Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category four hurricane last evening on the Texas/Louisiana border. Report so far are just a little positive as there have been no reports of lives lost, at least in the United States. I think I heard that there had been lives lost on one of the Caribbean Islands but I’m not sure which one. It is reported that also the expected storm surge wasn’t as bad as it could have been either. Of course the proper authorities are all going to be out in the storm today assessing the damage. So, the first thing we need to do is give thanks to God for al blessings received through this storm, and secondly we need to pray for continued safety for all of the people in the path of this storm. Remnants of it are going to be through our area by Friday evening. 

We went on a shopping spree yesterday for our Backyard Buffet guests. I can’t believe I spent $243.00 on bird feeding products yesterday and that didn’t include any sunflower seed, nor did I buy any feeders, just bird food. But, I got enough to last at least a month. I still need to pick up 80# of sunflower seed though. 

I finished my sermon for September 6th last night and I got started on my sermon for September 20th. That is a sermon that I have been anxious to get started on. I have my notes and may scripture passages lined up I think. I had to redo the bulletin for that Sunday because I changed titles and the message I want to do. I got inspired by a Kim Collingsworth song the other evening and started putting down some thoughts. I pray it will turn out as good as I want it to. 

Okay, gotta go. I have a funeral to attend this morning. Have a blessed day. 

   

 Good morning on a warm and sultry Wednesday. The “feels like” is already 87 degrees going up to 97 and the humidity is officially in the “muggy” range. That’s a yucky way to start a morning. My backyard guests have come and gone and left a couple of the feeders empty. I have one goldfinch and one cardinal out there but that is it. 

So yesterday became interesting rather quickly. I had an appointment at 10:00 to have my Prius serviced and Ms. Kate had a hair appointment at 10:30 as I told you. I got to my dealership and was sitting in the waiting room when Ms. Kate called me. She said her Caddy was doing all kinds of weird things and would not start. So she called her beautician, Ann, and told her that she would have to reschedule. Well, Ann told her that she didn’t have Kate on her schedule at all and also that they had moved their beauty shop because someone had driven a car into their place. Kate told her that she had her appointment card saying that her appointment waS for 10:30. I guess Ann had written out her appointment card but forgot to put it in the book. Anyway, they rescheduled the appointment and Ann told her where the new place is. 

I finished up my appointment, stopped and picked up the groceries on my list, and came home. The battery in the Caddy was dead or on its last breath. I put my charger on it and I called my Cadillac Roadside assistance. They contacted our local dealer and sent a technician right out. He put his portable charger on it and it started right up. In the meantime, I had talked to my normal service manager at the Cadillac dealership and he told me to bring the car in as soon as they get it started and they put a new battery in for us. So, we drove it to the dealership and $248.00 later Ms. Kate was up and running. That was the original battery in the car so we got five good years of use out of it. But, we didn’t get much else accomplished yesterday

Today I need to call in an order to Wild Birds and go pick it up. The pantry is empty again. I made a list of things I need from them and I also still need to go to Pet Foods and get 80# of sunflower seed. I also decided that I won’t go to the church today to run the bulletins. We have a funeral to attend tomorrow and we’ll go after that up to Ft. Branch and do what I need to do. Today, I want to do some writing. So, barring any interruptions, maybe I can stick to a plan today. 

How about you stick to the plan of having a blessed day. I’m sure you didn’t get out of bed today hoping the day would suck, so get on it. Have a blessed day! Peace. 

 Welcome to another warm and sunny morning. The bird feeders are full but I’m not getting a lot of attention right now. A couple of small Downy Woodpeckers have been by but that is about all. From the level of feed I see in the feeders though, I’d say they were here before I got out of bed while it was still cool. 

Ms. Kate and I each have separate places to be this morning. I have an appointment to take my Prius in for service this morning at 1000 hrs and she has a haircut appointment at 1030. Once I’m done with mine, I need to go by the Cadillac dealer and have them put a new battery in Ms. Kate’s car key. Then I need to go to the grocery and pick up a few things. We did the laundry yesterday and used the last of our laundry soap pods and I need to pick up some coffee grounds. Back before COVID I had gotten a good deal on coffee and bought several large cans. Well, I put the last of the grounds in my coffee canister two days ago and that’s like putting the last bullet in your gun and facing a war party. No bueno!!!

We’ve been busy since we returned from vacation. Saturday afternoon I got a Call from a funeral home director asking me if I was available to do a funeral on Sunday morning. A man that I have known most of my life passed away and the family wanted me to do a short prayer service for them before his cremation. I explained that I was preaching at two churches on Sunday morning but that I could do it Sunday afternoon. So, we settles down on 1400 hrs on Sunday. I’m also in the process of putting together worship services and sermons for the first three weeks of September. We are going to be on vacation over the 13th of September which means that I have a service and sermon to prepare for the 6th and 20th, and a service only for the guest pastor for the 13th. I’ve spent the last couple of days working on those and so far, I have the services all planned and I’ve started on the sermon for the 6th. It just all takes time. 

Time to finish my cup of coffee and get ready to head out. I hope you have a blessed day and a blessed week.  Peace 

 Blessings on this warm and sunny morning. I’m sitting here watching a hummingbird as it buzzes in and about from the feeder to the phlox blooms and back again. Unfortunately the hummer is the only thing getting fed this morning. I think every feeder has been emptied. The hummingbird feeder was empty too yesterday when we got home because the squirrel has managed to get it open and all of the liquid was gone. So, today, I need to take stock of what food I have and fill feeders. Then I may need to call in an order from Wild Bird Unlimited and go by and pick it up. I think I also have to go by Pet Foods and get at least one 40# bag of sunflower seed. 

We got home from our vacation a little after noon yesterday. We got the car washed and all of the stuff out of it. It is ready for our next trip assuming we take that car. My little car would give us a lot better gas mileage. It will depend on how much crap we decide we need to take along on our trip. I think we need to talk to Lisa about that. She had said that they would take care of all of the food since we are paying for the beach one rental, but we still need to discuss it. But, we will probably end up taking the Prius. Actually, Ms. kate and I are discussing the possibility of selling the Cadillac. It just sits in the garage and we don’t drive it but every once in a while. I checked the Blue-Book value on it and we should be able to get around $17K for it because it is in pristine condition. We have just under 70K miles on it and it is a 2015. If we sold it, then we could put the Prius in the garage during the winter. The real problem is that she and I never have any luck selling anything. But it would save us insurance and excise tax on a car we seldom use. The same could be said about my truck which I drive even less. But when you need a truck, you need a truck. When I bought that truck I figured it would be my last one. It is a 2008 and I have less than 50K miles on it. I made sure I got one with 4WD when I bought one and yet, I think I have only put it in 4WD one time in the 12 years I have had it.  Just one of the silly things we think we have to have I reckon. I’ve kept it in pristine condition too. 

I have at least three sermons and four services that I need to get prepared in the next week and a half  so I can go on vacation again. Today, I’m heading downstairs to do some writing on next weeks sermon and service. I made a really brief start last night..

So, I guess I better sign off and think about getting busy. Have a wonderful Friday. Pray for your friends, pray for your enemies, and pray for our country and world. God likes hearing from you. Peace. 

 Wednesday evening, almost 2100 hours. Ms. Kate and I are almost at the end of our vacation. We will head home in the morning, but not too early. Will stop at the local place for some biscuits and gravy first. 

We started out in Brown county where we rented a nice cabin. It was really nicely equipped with the exception of a total lack of cell phone or WIFI availability. That took some mental adjustment but on the other hand, the silence was wonderful. The cabin set up on a ridge surrounded by open field and woods. The only noise was the occasional car on the road at the bottom of the hill, and the ravens and crows circling over head. Somewhere across the woods was a home that had at least one rooster because it sang to us on occasion. While we were there we traveled several back roads just looking at the countryside. We were staying just outside Nashville, IN. Nashville is a touristy little berg with a lot of craft and other "chotski" stuff. I call them "rubber tipped spear shops" from our days of traveling when I was a kid and always wanted my parents to buy me one and of course they never did. 

We spent three days in Nashville and then Monday we came over here to Rockeville Indiana in Parke County. There are 39 covered bridges that were built between the late 1870's and 1917. They are on nothing but back roads, and are divided up into five different routes. I think we found at least thirty of them over the last couple of days. The area has an annual "Covered Bridge festival" the first and second week of October which is when the leaves start to turn to their brilliant fall colors. Unfortunately, like so very many other things in 2020, the annual festival has just been cancelled. I hate that for the community. Many people count on the festival for their charity work. We have run into that in Evansville when they cancelled our annual West-side Fall Festival. Hundreds of organizations rely on the income from their booths to support themselves and all kinds of charities. 

The area we are in has been nice to travel in though. Of course much of that is because this is "off season" for the covered bridge "looki-loos" The roads to the bridges are mostly paved but are in serious need of repaving. Today we traveled a lot of miles on gravel roads and I think we spent most of our traveling at a 30 mph speed. It was very relaxing. 

Tomorrow it is back to reality. In all of our traveling these past few days we still have never been more than two and a half hours from our house which seems maybe ridiculous for a vacation; but this is our first "outing" since the COVID pandemic. We have learned that we can eat inside at restaurants and don't have to just have drive-thru. And I think that Karen has enjoyed the trip too. It is her first time out and about too. 

I won't be writing tomorrow but will try to get back to you on Friday. In the meantime, have a wonderful tomorrow. Peace. 

 A blessed Thursday morning to you. I hope your day is sunny and bright and full of good things. If it isn’t, I hope that you can make the best out of whatever might be going on in your life today. There is always help, you know. Close your eyes and old out your hand, Jesus is waiting for an invitation into your life today. 

We have a partly cloudy morning and my Accuweather app says that “rain may form” in X number of minutes. Boy, how’s that for a forecaster’s wiggle? The sidewalks are damp this morning and despite the fact that it is only 77 degrees, the humidity number is at 73 which means the muggies are set in for the day. 

We are going to busy around here today. We’ve already got the laundry going. I just put the “white’s” in. We only have two loads and they are small, but we wanted to get it all done before we go on vacation, and we leave in the morning. You know, I don’t mind doing laundry at all because there is basically nothing to it these days. We don’t iron clothes, in fact I couldn’t tell you where our iron is. I know where the ironing board is though. We don’t have to hang the clothes out on a line and all of that. I started doin laundry at a very young age, helping my mother. We had thee old wringer-washer, and wash tubs in the basement. If it was raining, we had clothes lines hanging from the ceiling joists to hang the laundry on. On sunny days we would carry the laundry out to the back yard where we had four clothes lines strung between two “T” clothesline poles that Dad had made out of iron pipe. There was a couple of long 1X2” poles that had a “V” notched in the end to help hold the laundry up off of the ground. When the clothes were dry and we brought them in, they always smelled so good and fresh. The air was a lot cleaner in those days. So, like I said, doing laundry is nothing these days, especially with just Ms. Kate and I. Wash, dry, fold and hang. Simple.

We’ve got to pack the suitcases and the car today, and we are going to make a pot of vegetable soup to pack along for one of our meals. Ms. Kate also cooked up some hamburger with onions and okra last night for a dish that we like. We put that over rice and it is really good. I picked a lot of garden veggies yesterday. We have a lot of food considering we will only be in the cabin for three days. 

If the grass dries a little more, I guess I will also mow my front yard before we go. This has been a wet summer and we have yet to have that period where the grass dries out and doesn’t grow and you don’t have to mow for a couple of weeks. That could still happen, maybe in September, but, —- everything else about this year has been weird so why not weird weather too. 

I guess that is it for today. I know that my blogs are going to be sporadic for the next couple of days or week. Keep yourself safe and your mask on when you are out and about. Take time to stay in touch with God  Peace

To who ever designs the page for this website, I just want you to know that I hate the changes. I don’t know why people have to mess with things or “fix things” that aren’t broken. There, I got that off of my chest. 

Happy Wednesday. I guess I missed writing yesterday didn’t I. I thought about it a couple of times and then got busy doing other things. Therefore, I guess I didn’t have anything important to say, not that I ever have anything important to say. 

It is a cloudy morning and the sidewalk is damp but not really wet. When I first came out here to the sun porch it was barely sprinkling and has now quit doing that. Our weather guy last night said that we would have showers on and off all day and maybe even tomorrow. I am essentially on vacation. Since we ran our bulletins for the next couple of weeks last week, and I’m not preaching this week nor can I go to nursing homes because of COVID, I on vacation. Ms. Kate and Karen, and I will leave Friday for Nashville, Indiana and go to the cabin we have rented up there for three days. Then we will head on over to the west side of the state to Rockville, Indiana for three days. Weather permitting, we plan to go see a bunch of covered bridges and other sites in that area. There are 81 cemeteries in that county and where there are cemeteries, there are also generally geocaches. So, maybe we can do a little geocaching while we are out and about and just killing time and relaxing. We haven’t done any geocaching in maybe three years except at state rest areas when we are traveling. Our walking ability sure does limit us. 

I picked my garden yesterday. I knew that there would bee some tomatoes and cucumbers and maybe even som okra out there but I was not prepared for the bounty that I found. I brought in maybe ten cucumbers and ten tomatoes and a few okra. They will be good to take along with us to the cabin this weekend. For snacks and sandwiches and salads. 

The rain has started again. I was hoping it would hold pff and I could go do some weed trimming but I guess I won’t. Instead, I think I will go make some breakfast. I hope you have a blessed day again. Don’t forget to give praise to Almighty God for any and every blessing you receive. Peace. 

 Happy New Week. It is bright and sunny this morning although the sidewalks are wet which says it rained at some point during the night. It is currently 80 degrees and going to 90 and as a young weather reporter used to say; “The Muggies: are back. We are looking at a eek of very humid weather; yuk!

How was your weekend? We had church services of course yesterday. I don’t know what all was gong on but we only nine folks at my small church. I know that there were some of them that were sick including our organist. I had no idea that she was going to be out until her daughter arrived at church. Bless her heart, she is having some real problems with her vision and can hardly see. She certainly doesn’t need that problem on top of everything else she has going on. Her stage four breast cancer is slowly spreading throughout her body and taking more and more toll on her. As far as the music os concerned, we aren’t singing now because of the stupid COVID directions and guidance, so we did the entire service without music up until the end. Then Ms. Kate asked if I would at least play something so we could have some music with the service. So, I sat down at the keyboard and the Benediction response that we always end the service with. 

We had a good attendance at the 1030 service at St. Lucas though. Some folks are still avoiding coming to church because they are either nervous about “catching COVID” or they don’t want to wear masks and social distance etc. And —- kids are going back to school this week so maybe some were out because they were away on a last minute family get together. I’ll accept that excuse. LOL

My first job of the day was to clean my new Blackstone griddle. When I “put it up” last time I let it cool, and then I put a double layer plastic bag over it to keep the rain off of it. When I got my cover for it, I put the cover right over the plastic bags. I checked on it today and some rust had formed on the griddle so I had to clean it up. I used wet paper towels and got most of the rust off. hen I went to aa Google site and watched a video of how to clean it. So, after twice putting oil and salt on it and scrubbing it down with that, and then doing aa very light coating of oil on it for a third time, I think it is ready to use.again. But, I thin I’m going to put an ice-chest over the top of it to totally keep any rain water off of it, that way it shouldn’t get any rust at all. Or, I’m going to simply pick the griddle part up off of th rest of iy and set the griddle inside the sunporch with me. That would probably be my best solution. 

Today, I have to get my sermon for the 23rd written so I can get it off of my mind and then enjoy my vacation. I hate it when I have things lingering. Now, having said that out loud —- I better get out of the recliner and get to work. Have a most wonderful week. Shalomn

 Good afternoon. I’m just jotting a quick Saturday afternoon post because it is almost nap time in the Sunporch. We just got home from have our first “in-restaurant” dining experience since all of the COVID stuff started. We met Brenda and Andy and Bob out at St. Joe Inn for lunch and ‘schrooms and beer”. It was so wonderful to do something totally normal for a change. You know we used to do this every five or six weeks an have for several years. So, we have really missed it. 

Yesterday we did the laundry and then we went to the churches and we ran three weeks worth of bulletins. Now I don’t have to worry about rushing home after our vacation to run the bulletins, although I still have the sermon to write and the Pastoral Prayer. But I have a few days to get that done. 

We closed the house back up today. We have had the A/C turned off all week and opened up the house to just screens. But, the temperature is climbing again and the humidity is also climbing back up. So, before it gets miserable in here, I turned the a/c back on and sit the house up again. Boy, I remember the days when we didn’t have air conditioning and had nothing but a box window fan. It was so very miserable. I know there are millions of people today that don’t have a/c and I feel for them. 

That’s enough for today. I hope that your weekend is an enjoyable one. Take time out for the Lord of the Creation and provider of all your blessings. Peace. 

Good morning on this beautiful Thursday morning. God has indeed blessed us with another beautiful morning. It is cool, especially for August, no rain for a change again, a slight breeze blows the leaves and comes through the screen doors, and I have a lot of gusts at the backyard buffet. Oh, an the coffee is marvelous.  What more could I ask for? 

I got my big job done yesterday that I have been putting off. I cleaned up the west fence line flowerbed. It was mostly an all day job and today I’m stiff and sore. Ms. Kate just brought me some Ibuprophen to help ease out the kinks. I filled three of my 40# sunflower seed sacks with as much as I could stuff in them with the weeds and saplings and vines that I took out of that bed. This morning it looks beautiful to see the sun shining on that white picket fence for the first time in months. I also got into what we call the “Dog Bone” (because that is how it is shaped) flowerbed and cut out a lot of saplings from there. While I was doing that, Ms. Kate was out there hoeing out weeds from that bed. So, after mowing the lawn and all of that work, the place looks loved this morning. 

Today is going to be a day of running around. I need to go to the bank first thing and deposit some checks. Then I need to go to PC Quest and pick up my PC now that it has been repaired. Then we go to AAA and pick up a couple of maps and information for our trip next week. Can you believe they still make paper maps? But GPS is once but there are places where it isn’t always reliable, and where we are going next week we are told it isn’t very reliable. We are going just a little north in Indiana to a little town called Nashville, and are staying in a cabin for three night. Then we are going to western Indiana where they have a lot of covered bridges. None of it is more than three hours from home, but it will be good to get away. 

After we go to AAA then we need to go to the church’s and run the bulletins for the next couple of weeks. So this will be a run around day. And, — I guess I better get cleaned up and ready to start the day. I hope your day is filled with good stuff. Peace. 

A Blessed Wednesday morning to you. I’m sitting here with my coffee and have the sunporch opened up with screen doors because it is that pleasant outside. It is a wonderful 63 degrees with just the slightest hint of a breeze. The sun is shining bright bright, not a cloud in the sky, and the Backyard Buffet has several guests. Most notably are the cardinals with their brilliant red glistening in the sunlight. 

This would be a beautiful day to go out and work in my west-most flowerbed. I need to go out and cut out all of the darn trees out of it. I have so many redbud saplings in my flowerbeds and this would be a cool enough day to work on that. If I let them go and grow, I would have a full woods line along the west side of my yard. It’s hard to believe that people actually pay for redbud trees because they grow like weeds in my yard. 

We had a busy day yesterday. A friend of ours brought us a full, five-dozen bushel of corn Sunday evening and we needed to work that up and put it in the freezer, So, first thing after our coffee, we shucked, and cooked, and cut all of that off of the cob and it turned into fourteen quarts of corn for some excellent eating during the year. That makes I think about thirty quarts that we have put in the freezer. Then we still had a few peaches left from making the three peach pies last Saturday, so I peeled those and sliced them and put five more half pints of peaches in the freezer. We talked about just peeling and slicing them and putting them in the refrigerator to have over ice cream, but we still have pie left and there was enough to put up. More good eating for later. We have probably put away thirty of those too. 

I also need to go to the churches and run the bulletins. I have two weeks worth to run since I will be on vacation over the 16th and we will have a guest pastor. I don’t know the person that is filling in for me but I understand that he has done so during the three years I was at Zoar. I have contacted him and I understand that we met many years ago when we were both attending classes at Eden Seminary. . All I care is that he does a good job. He has a Masters of Divinity degree and he also has a Doctorates in Pharmacy. He is the Pharmacist at the Newburgh Walmart. 

That is it for today my friends. Have a most blessed day. Peace. 

 

Let’s start off a new week, what say you? The rain just passed through and the birds have come back out of hiding. There is a bluejay raising a fuss out there or maybe it is just announcing itself. You can never tell with bluejays. The Backyard Buffet has been busy for the last hour that I have been up. It is mostly the smaller birds like finches and sparrows, and a couple of doves. One lone squirrel sits out there on a feeder.

How was your weekend. Ours was great. Stephanie and Chris and Caden came in from Oklahoma and Julie and Jim came over from New Albany, and we had a really good visit. Ms. Kate made a Low country shrimp boil for lunch and three peach pies. We all pigged out. There is maybe two servings of the shrimp boil left for today and one whole peach pie is left. The kids all left Saturday afternoon late and then Ms. Kate and I crashed!!! But it was such a great visit,

Yesterday of course was Sunday and it was Communion Sunday at the churches. We had great attendance at the small church; probably 90% of the normal congregation was there. At the bigger church we had maybe half of the normal attendance. However, we “live stream” that service so many of our parishioners watch at home. We normally have about 80 - 90 hits on our on-line service. I just thank God that we have that technology and someone that knows how to make it all happen. It has provided a way for those who can’t or don’t want to mask up and come to church for fear of the pandemic. It is also wonderful to know that we are attracting people to our service from around the country that are friends of members of the congregation. I have cousins that are “attending” and friends that are “attending” that normally never would be. God does provide.

Ms. kate and I will be putting up corn again today. A friend dropped us off a couple of dozen ears yesterday and we need to put it in the freezer. He shares with us every year and his corn is delicious. Several people have thought of us and brought corn. I really appreciate it.

I’m working ahead on services today. I’m trying to get ready for our vacation in two weeks and that means I have to work at least three weeks ahead. I worked up the next three weeks bulletins last night and got my sermon for next Sunday about half done. That’s the thing about vacations, I work my butt off to get ready for them.

The sun has popped out and I just had a bunch of cardinals fly in to the Buffet. Time to drink some coffee and enjoy them. Peace.