What a beautiful morning. The sun is bright, the sky is clear and blue. It’s 70 degrees with only a slight breeze. Not only that, but the Backyard Buffet has a lot of beautiful guests this morning; several cardinals, several goldfinches, two bluebirds, and best of all, the Red Breasted Grosbeaks are arriving. They will stick around for a couple of weeks before they continue on with their migration. Several of my friends have reported seeing them in their yards too. 

Today, I think we are going to go purchase another lilac bush, like we need any more plants. We have a huge lilac on the northwest corner of the house but it has gotten so big and tall that we can’t really see the blooms and there aren’t many blooms on it anyway. There is just too much shade where it is and lilacs like sun. That’s why the blooms are only at the top of the bush, about twenty feet up. From there I think we will check out another couple of places to see if we can find some okra plants. For what ever reason, they are hard to find this year. The local CO-OP has always had good plants but they don’t have any plants at all anymore. I want to plant four plants. That always give us plenty. Ms. Kate puts it in her vegetable soup and sometimes she fries up some. Some folks like okra and tomatoes but I could never acquire a taste for that. The okra is too slimy. 

I went out and bought a new television yesterday morning at Best Buy. The Geek Squad will deliver it, set it all up, and haul off the old one tomorrow morning. I’m replacing the last of the three that got killed by lightening last summer. This one was only a year old when the lightening got it. The lightening field the HDMI capability I’ve been able to watch it by using the Spectrum App but that finally went too. 

Time to head to the nursery and maybe grab some lunch while we are out. Have a very blessed day. 

 It’s already mid-week, wow. Time does slip by quickly sometimes. It is already 74 degrees this morning but it didn’t feel that warm when I was outside. And I sitting here in the sunporch with the glass doors open and am using the screen doors. I think the fact that it is overcast and no sun is getting through sure makes a big difference. And there is a slight breeze that carries a hint of the moisture that is coming with the predicted rain and storms for tonight and tomorrow. 

Yesterday was busy. We did our grocery shopping. We went to our favorite jewelry store to have Ms. Kate’s diamonds on her wedding rings checked for tightness. That store is closing shortly because the owner is retiring. I hate to see that, they are nice people and run a good business that has been good for the community. It hasn’t been very healthy for my wallet though. I like buying Ms. Kate jewelry. 

After we did those things we headed up to the churches to run the bulletins for the week. Unfortunately, when we got there I realized I had forgotten to bring the keys to get into St. Paul’s. St. Lucas has a \combo-lock and doesn’t require a key. But, not being able to get into the church meant that I could not run the large print bulletins. The copier at St. Lucas doesn’t have that capability. So, I ran the small bulletins and we went home and. Did a turn-around and went back up and finished the job. It was a 50 mile wasted trip because I wasn’t thinking. The problem is that I don’t need to put my key in the ignition of the car. It starts and runs if you simply have the key in your pocket. The church keys are on my car key ring. But, Ms. Kate had her set of car keys in her purse, so the car started up. The other problem is that sometimes I just do dumb things!! LOL

Today I have a class to attend via Zoom. It should last an hour and  a half. So, I’ll sit here in the sunporch with my coffee, watch the birds, and attend class. I picked this class out because it does sound interesting. It is on the dynamics of small rural churches. I hope it is being taught by someone that experienced working in a small rural church and not just some person with a theory. 

I have a couple of feeders that need filling so I reckon I should do that before the rain. The first thing I did this morning was empty the bird bath and scrub it out. The bird had really made a mess of it and all of the helicopter seeds landing in it didn’t help anything either. Have yourself a blessed day\. Peace. 

 Welcome to a brand new week. What a great way to begin it; it’s 60 degrees, a breeze is keeping the chimes ringing, the sky is clear and blue and it is going up to 75 or so today. Just a slice of heaven for which I am thankful to God. 

How was your weekend? We had a good one mostly. I had to spend most of my Saturday morning in a Zoom meeting; three and a half hours of “ya da, ya da” and stuff I wasn’t remotely interested in. But, as I said before, I play the political games when absolutely necessary. It is even worse when most of what is being said is stuff that I disagree with. This three and a half hour session is making me even more dread the six hour session I have coming up on the 15th of May because I know it is going to just turn my crank. Don’t you just hate when you know you have an obligation to fill and you go into it with a totally negative  prejudiced expectation of the event?  That will be a “Boundary Awareness”training class. Thank goodness we only have to take it once every three years. 

Yesterday’s worship services went well. I am loving the new camera and sound system that we use for broadcasting our services. The picture and sound is so clear. The down side is that I think folks are enjoying it at home and I would love to have them in person. We’ve had 122 hits on yesterday’s service already. That’s wonderful but the selfish, and yes, prideful part of me would really love to see these folks come back to church and worship with us in person. But, I had a great remark made yesterday from someone who said it is so wonderful to be able to worship from five states away. So, I’;; make my apologies to God for being selfish. 

Today I’m going to work on my Mother’s Day sermon. However, at the moment I have a cake in the oven. I got hungry for cake so I mixed one up and it is baking. In another hour it will be done and cool enough to eat. It’s a chocolate cake. Hopefully it turns out well. 

The rain this weekend did a world of good for all of the plants and seeds we put in the ground on Friday. I think maybe this week I will go looking for tomato plants and some okra plants. I think the danger of frost has passed. I also need to get a few five-gallon buckets and cut the bottoms out of them. I always put them around my tomato plants to keep the critters from eating them. And, it keep the plants warm and helps them grow. That’s something I learned from my buddy Bob. 

Okay, I gotta find a recipe for making icing. You go have a blessed day. Peace, 

 It is a gray Friday morning, one of those might or might not rain kind of days. Forecaster says rain tonight and lots more tomorrow. I have outside work to get done today so I hope the rain holds off. I still have plants to put in the ground and I need to move my potatoes that I have growing in the garden. They are really looking good but I need to move them to get them away from where I’m planting the tomatoes. Garden experts say that potatoes and tomatoes are not good garden companions. I didn’t know that until my potatoes were already coming up. There is an opportunity too learn something new everyday it would seem. 

I’m “taking the day off” today. That just means that I’m not doing any church work, it doesn’t mean I’m not doing anything at all. It just means I can get some of my “home work” done like planting these plants, mowing the yard, changing the lightbulbs in the south hallway that burned out. Basically it is a honey-do list that Ms. Kate and I have to work on together. The good part is that she will be out there doing it with me; until she gets cold that is. It is a damp 53 degrees out there so she won’t want to be out there very long. Frankly, as long as she tells me where she wants stuff, that is all I really need. 

I had a special blessing this morning out in the Backyard Buffet. I had my first Pileated Woodpecker come though in at least nine months. I think I saw the last one in July of last year. I always get thrilled when the big guys come through. They are so big and their call is so very distinctive. I hear them in the area every once in a while but they haven’t been in my yard. Last year I had one here and it spent all morning pecking on an old and mostly dead Redbud tree in the southwest corner of my yard. He ate quite a large hole in it too. There must have been a lot of bugs in there. He didn’t stay long today; ate a little from one of my feeders, then flew over to one of the Tulip Poplar trees and pecked round and left. 

Tomorrow morning I will be spending the entire morning in a Zoom meeting with the Evansville Tri-State Association of our church denomination. It is their spring meeting and I think they are having a tough time getting a quorum to sign up for the meeting. It is mentally about the same pain level as having your fingernails pulled out but I’ll play the political game and sign in. At least since it is a Zoom meeting I can be comfortably dressed and have my coffee pot available. I have a Zoom class coming up on the 15th of May that will go 6 hours. Ugh!!!!!! Just shoot me now. More political gaming. It is a “Boundary Awareness” class to remind all of us pastors not to sexually harass people. The denomination hold these classes because they fill an insurance requirement. If some pastor is stupid enough to not keep his pants on or make sexual remarks to anybody, the church is covered in case that person want to sue the church. As I said — political posturing. But, if you refuse to attend or just don’t attend, the hierarchy of the church can make life very miserableness for you. For me, being a lay minister instead of an ordained minister, it means they can refuse me authorization to be a pastor and take my churches away from me. So, I play the political game. It’s just six hours of my life that I will attend in my sweats  and with my coffee pot. 

That’s about all I have for today. Have a blessed weekend. Peace. 

 What can be more pleasant than being woken up in the morning by the sound of rattling garbage cans being emptied and the sound of the garbage truck driving and stopping, driving and stopping. It’s how I know it is Thursday morning, and that people have already been up a couple of hours. Friday morning will be much the same as another company comes through the neighborhood. 

And a happy Thursday morning to you too. It is another beautiful morning but still cold, — 40 degrees. But the sun shining brightly will help warm things up or at least “feel” like it has. I need to put my shoes on and go out and pull the coverings off of my plants again. I think I can put them away as the temperatures isn’t forecasted to drop down below freezing any time soon. I won’t put them too far away because one never knows what God will bring in the spring. Although, we are predicted for 80 degree plus weather just past the weekend. It’s part of the spring roller-coaster temperature ride that we go through every year. 

We didn’t go to the church yesterday. We did “around here” stuff instead including the laundry. Ms. Kate spent a good deal of time looking for a specific paper that she uses to make her greeting cards\. I don’t think she ever found what she was looking for. But when she gets an idea for a card, she spends a great deal of time finding exactly what she wants. She has been asked by two different people now if she would make a card for a specific event for them and of course she said she will. She has such a talent for doing this and I told her whether she recognizes it or not, her card making and send them to people is her ministry. She certainly doesn’t want to acknowledge that because I think she feels it gives her more credit than she is due. All I know is that she constantly send her cards out and people really love them and she brightens people’s day. She’s doing something nice for someone else out of love. Wouldn’t you call that a ministry?

I finished my message for May 2nd yesterday. Next message will be for May 9th and that is Mother’s Day. So, I’ll find a good topic for that. I sometime struggle with what to say about these specific holidays that we celebrate. It’s sometimes hard to justify and celebrate a “man-created” holiday Biblically. I need to check and see what the Liturgical Calendar has for that day. 

Today we’ll go to the church and run our bulletins. Tomorrow maybe I’ll take as a “day off” because on Saturday, I have to spend hours in a Zoom meeting with the association’s spring meeting. Sooo — I’m off for now. Have a wonderful day. Peace. 

 We had our “snowmagedden” snow storm last night. I went out around midnight and looked at the results and I’m glad I did. Last night it looked pretty cool under glow of the neighborhood yard lights. This morning it looks more like a heavy frost. But it was the third largest April snow storm we have had, so there is that. I went out and I covered the plants this morning that I had covered up last evening. The huge peony bloom that we had was broken off from the weight of the rain and snow so I cut it at the break and brought it in and put it in a vase. We’ll enjoy it for a few more days before it falls apart. The rest of the peonies looked sad this morning but I suspect they will bounce back. I may have to cover things up again this evening. The temperature is supposed to get down to 34 tonight. The crazy thing is that we are predicted to have temperatures in the low 80’s within the week. Aaaah Spring, you do keep me entertained. 

I know it is Wednesday but I think that we will not go run the bulletins today. It will be a warmer day tomorrow and nicer weather. Today I’m going to try to finish up the May 2nd sermon that I started on last night. There is no real hurry to run those bulletins; no one will need them before Sunday except maybe Brenda, our organist; and I sent her a copy already via email. We did go to the church yesterday to take care of an administration issue for one of my parishioners. On nice days, if we are going to the church we like to pick up something to eat for a picnic. We sit in the car out under the maple tree and just watch the farmers as they do their work in the fields or watch the traffic and listen to the birds. It is very relaxing and gives us wonderful “us time”. Ms. Kate and I have always been “picnickers”. While I was in the Air Force we would sometimes go out to the base park or lake at lunch time and have our lunch together. Marriages are much better when you like one another and like spending time together. These days even though we are both at home most of the time, we still go our separate ways. I’m usually down stairs in my office and she’s usually in her office/craft room. So we are in the same house but not together. We don’t like the same TV shows so we watch TV separately too. Always together —- yet apart. So a picnic or a day trip is a real joy. Last week, we even spent a day geocaching, but I think I told y’all that. 

I have three “Zoom” events coming up. This Saturday our local church association is holding their spring meeting via Zoom. Then I have class through zoom next week, and then another 6 hr class on the 15th of May. |It looks like Zoom is the wave of the present and future. It is convenient I guess. But not everyone haas the Zoom capability or understanding of it. I’m certainly one of those who doesn’t understand it but I do it. 

I guess I better get a couple of thing done here for Ms. Kate and then get downstairs and start writing. Have yourself a most blessed day. Peace. 

 Sunshine, birds singing, beautiful flowers and 50 degrees are my morning setting and it is going up to 65 today. Not a bad way to start off the day. And to think, — in 24 hours, we will most likely have snow on the ground and be under a freeze warning. Mother Nature is one fickle old gal. We have a relative a couple of states over that showed pictures or the four inches of snow on his deck and yard, and it’s headed this way. Although, we may only get a slight dusting if we get anything at all. But, I am going to cover up the new peonies and butterfly bush that I just planted and my couple of squash and cucumber plants. I still have more stuff to put in the ground, but that is still in their little containers. I’ll set those in the garage for the next couple of days to keep them from freezing. I sure didn’t expect to have to be worrying about frost and freeze and snow on the last half of April. 

We made it to Sam’s club yesterday. And of course we found and bought stuff that we absolutely did not need. One of the first things we found was a couple of new patio pots and these things are huge. Unfortunately, one of us seemed to think it they would be “perfect” out on our back patio but she didn’t realize just how big these things are until we got them home. They take up a lot of room too. Ms. Kate thought they would be perfect to transplant our geraniums into that we take out to the patio every summer and bring into the house every winter. Well, it is going to take 2 cubic feet of dirt to fill each one of those and they are going to be heavy as the dickens to move around, if I can move them at all. Her concept was right though. Those geraniums would look beautiful in them. So, I guess we will see how all of this flushes out. 

I notice that a couple of the feeders are empty again out there in the Buffet. I need to fill those today so the birds will have them in the morning. And, I guess I will plug the bird bath back in so it isn’t iced over in the morning. I don’t think I need to unhook the hoses that I just hooked up two days ago but the birdbath will glaze over with ice and since I have the capability to keep them from doing that, why not??

Time to refill the coffee cup and sit here and be grateful for another day. Go fill your cup and sit here with me as we watch the cardinals  dance their spring mating dance chasing one another all of the yard. Have a blessed day and take time to be grateful to the Lord God for our Savior, namely His Son, Jesus the Christ. Peace. 

 A new week greets me this morning as I crawl out of bed had head to the coffee pot. It’s a cool 49 degrees outside but at least the sun is shining brightly so that will help with the warmth. The good news is that it is supposed to climb to maybe 70 today. 

I don’t have a lot to share with you this morning. Our Sunday was just a typical Sunday; two church services followed by a 100 year anniversary committee meeting for St. Lucas. Our 100 year anniversary is September 19th, or at least that is the day the church has set aside to celebrate it. I am really proud of the church though. They decided that to mark the occasion we would do a mission project and support the Isaiah 117 project. They decided to collect enough money to buy 100 bicycles for foster children in the southern Indiana area. The goal was to raise $8,000.00 to purchase these bikes and helmets to go with them. I thought this was a lot of money to raise but we decided to set a time limit of doing it by July. Well, yesterday we surpassed our goal. I am so very proud of them. God is certainly in the works to have made this happen. We are going to continue to collect. There are several other churches and even companies that have decided to do this too. But, the director of Isaiah says that they 1500 kids that they are trying to help. So, I’m very glad that we could do something to help. That is the second major project that we have done to help out that organization. We packed 100 backpacks with school supplies and winter clothing items at Christmas. 

Can you believe that the weather dude used the “snow” word for us for Tuesday night? Granted, it won’t amount to much but nobody want snow in the last half of April. I’ve got new plants in the ground and they do not need snow on them. Ms. Kate has a cousin out in Kansas that said they are predicted between one and three inches today. The weather pattern will of course carry that right on over to us. That’s not funny!!

I think Ms. Kate and I are going to Sam’s Club today. WE’ve only been talking about for three weeks. BUt then we just kind of let it go and decide that we don’t need to go or — we order whatever we were thinking about on line. e have become real “old fogey stay at homebodies.” A lot of people have done that and it all is the fault of the COVID pandemic. At first people were,’t allowed to go anywhere and then they were afraid to go anywhere, and now they are used to not going anywhere. Who says we aren’t easily conditioned animals??? But, don’t get me started on that subject. 

If you have a chance, get out and enjoy the sunshine today. It is beautiful out there. In the meantime, may God give you peace of mind and peace of heart. 

 Happy lazy Saturday morning. I’m sitting here wondering if it is going to rain or not. It certainly looks like it could and we are predicted to have some light showers on and off today. Frankly, I would like to see it rain maybe an inch. I put plants in the ground yesterday and I would like to see them get some water. I watered them after I planted them but some more today would not be a bad idea. But —- we are only predicted to get maybe a tenth of an inch. On the other and, I need to go get some garden dirt and potting soil today and try to find some tomato plants, although it might be a little early to br putting tomatoes in the ground. I need to Google that. 

I’m sore today from doing my yard and garden work yesterday. I used my post hole digger to make the holes for my new peonies and that made me have to stop and rest for awhile. It ain’t as easy as it all used to be. I’was planting the peonies and had to get down on the ground and I thought I was going to have call Ms. Kate from my cell phone and have her come help me get back up. This getting old ain’t easy and it ain’t for wimps. LOL. But it beats the alternative. 

We had another mass shooting in this country yesterday. Some 19 year old kid took a rifle to the FEDEX facility in Indianapolis, where he used to work and just started killing people, and then took his own life. I just don’t understand the concept or thought process. If you want to take your own life, that’s one thing, but why take the lives of nine innocent people first. His mother says that he had mental problems and in fact had even reported him to the police last July because she thought he might take his own life. The police had taken his shotgun from him at the time but apparently he got a rifle somewhere. I ‘m only speculating but I reckon he thought the people at FEDEX didn’t treat him right. It is so sad\\. This is the third mass shooting like this in the last month. Of course it just gives fodder to the politicians and left wing groups who want to ban all guns in this country. That would be the same politicians that have surrounded themselves with military people and private armed security. They speak with forked tongues. 

That’s about it for today. I pray your day will be blessed. I sit here and look at all of my Backyard Buffet guests and my beautiful flowers and I give God thanks for letting me wake to another day. Don’t forget church tomorrow, Peace. 

 There is the cutest little wren sitting on a feeder out there and it is singing its little heart out. Maybe it is celebrating the fact that the sun is finally trying to peek through the clouds. So far it has been a cloudy and cool 49 degree morning. y guests this morning have been mostly blackbirds of one variety or another, Redwings or Starlings. The Redwings are at least pretty. The Starlings are just nasty. 

Yesterday was a take care of business day. First of all I ordered the license plates for the cars and I could do that on line. Here in Indiana we will just get a new sticker to put on the plate showing expiration next year. Then we decided to go to the BMV and get our new driver’s licenses and “Real ID.”. I put together what I thought I needed and we made the trip to the BMV, got our number and sat down and waited. Because of COVID they have very limited seating and even though we were together, we had to be waited on one at a time. So, my turn came and I went up. I told the lady that we were together. She asked for my current DL and my birth certificate which I gave her. She asked if Kate had her birth certificate and I said yes. Then she asked if I had our Marriage license. I said no, but why. She said because my wife would have had a name change and the name on her birth certificate would be different. I said that’s true but she’s had 55 years of DL since then and we never had to show a marriage license. But this was because of the “Real ID”. Also, I had to show my SSN and I showed her my military ID which has my SSN on it but she told me that wasn’t sufficient. So, we went back home for more documentation. Well, I couldn’t find my actual SSN card so I had to take my Social Security tax paperwork to sho proof. But, we finally got our new driver’s license/Real ID card ordered. They should be here within two weeks. Bureaucracy!!!!! 

Next, I went on line to order a new Social Security Card. That’s another “process”. But, I downloaded the form put my “documentation” and the form in an envelope and will be mailing it today. More Bureaucracy!!!!

So, while we got a lot of stuff taken care of yesterday —- maybe today we can get something done! With that said I guess I better get at it. Thanks for letting me rant! Have a great Friday. Peace. 

 Happy bright and sunny and very chilly Thursday morning. I went outside to bring up my trash can and I’m glad I’m wearing my sweatshirt today. It look beautiful out there and it is but, yeah, it’s a chilly 50 degrees and is only going up another 10 degrees today. 

My day began with renewing my plates for all three vehicles. Our tags run out next month but I wanted to get it done before I forget about it and end up with expired vehicles tags. And, it is so easy to do since I can do it on line. It’s not cheap to do though, $650.00 for the three vehicles. Ms. Kate and I need to go get our new drivers license soon too. This new policy of having to have something special put on your license to board an airplane is ridiculous in my opinion. I’ve only had a drivers license for 60 years and my DL has always been good enough to show for identification purposes but now you have to have a special something, a start or plane or something stamped on your license if you want to board a plane. Of course  if a person has no intention of flying you don’t need it. I’m probably making a big deal over nothing. But think about this;  you have to take two forms of ID for proof of residence to get an ID. One form they suggest is a passport and Ms. Kate and I have a passport, —- but I got the out last night and they have expired a week ago. So, that is something else we have to do; get new passports. And just think, if I was an illegal alien, I wouldn’t need any of that. And, I could get free housing and college and health care. Bureaucracy!!!!! We may go get that taken care of today though. 

I need to get my new plants in the ground today. I think Ms. Kate has pointed out the spots she wants stuff so maybe I can get that all taken care of today too. I ought to keep a check list of so on my plate and maybe I wouldn’t be jumping from one thing to another. I worked for a Colonel once who always told us that work is like a Pac Man game. One bite at a time and move on to the next. I’ve found over the years that his advice is sound. 

Okay, I need to finish my cup of coffee and then try to round up documents for my new DL. I also have to take a vision test this time. I’m getting old ya’know. Have a great day. Peace. 

 Good morning, It’s 58 degrees with a clouded over sky and moisture in the air. It was sprinkling when I first came out to the sun porch but has stopped now. But the good news is I have several cardinals out here this morning at the Backyard Buffet. I’ve counted five or six. Some times it’s hard to keep track because they flit around so much. And of course there are some starlings coming in and out, but several other birds too. So, it is a pleasant morning to sit and watch what is going on. Watching the little wrens is entertainment all by itself. 

It is Wednesday and that usually means that we will be going to the churches to run the bulletins. I suspect we will again but maybe later in the day. I’d like to get the plants we bought yesterday in the ground this morning. Just got to wait for “directions and guidance” from the boss. I’m sure she has some very specific locations in mind for where she wants stuff. And —- before I plant, I need to go to the grocery store and get some cans of sardines, and I need to pick up some fresh potting soil. “Sardines”, you may say; —- yep, she wants sardines put in the bottom of the hole that I’m going to plant the peonies in. It adds  nutrients to the soil. It sounds silly but believe it or not, it does work. Of course I rather go fishing and catch some small “throw away fish” but I don’t have time for that and  sardines are less than a buck a can I think. You buy the ones in water, not in oil. And, if you’re worried about neighbor hood cats or other critters smelling  them and digging them up, you put some coffee grounds in the hole on top of the sardines. That sounds a bit silly but I have to admit that I had an experience like that once. When we have milk that is expired, I always pour it out on the ground around the rose bushes. One day I went out there and there was a big dug out place under  one of my roses. I found out that raccoons will dig in there for the certain nutrients it can get from that spoiled milk.  I never cease to be amazed at the things I learn. 

So, that catches you up pan all of my exciting facts for today. Now I got to get cleaned up and start my day. I hope your day is full of blessings and good things. Don’t forget to thank the source. Peace. 

 It’s late at night and I’m just now sitting down to dinner. We have been busy all day; nothing major but just busy. We decided to go to a nursery today and look at some new plants for the yard, like we need more plants. But, we wanted to get a couple more tree peonies and another standard peony. Also bought some squash plants, some cucumbers, wave petunias and other plants. From there we went to Karen’s house for a short visit and she sent home some morels that her son Kevin had found.

I got home and did some work on a program that I will be using in September and got most of that done. Then this evening Ms, Kate fixed the morels for our dinner. Now, we are both winding down and trying to relax before we go to bed. 

That’s it for today. Have a good night. I’ll try to write tomorrow morning before we get started with our day again. Peace. 

 Hello beautiful Monday! You’re very pleasant this morning! The sun is shining, the sky is clear, there is very little breeze and the temperature about 65 degrees. One could not ask for much better. I went out and filled a couple of feeders and had to rearrange the squirrel baffle on one of my poles. Squirrels always find a way to get to the food. The darn critters. I doubt I did much good but it is worth a try. It isi using a fence that I have around my hydrangeas to jump over on the squirrel baffle. It’s a new trick it has learned. So, I raised the baffle. That might slow it down for a day. The feeder it is going after contains a seed cylinder inside a cage. What I need to do is put one of my hot pepper seed cylinders in that feeder. That will discourage it. 

Well we certainly didn’t have the Easter crowd back at the churches yesterday nor did I expect them. But attendance was really good at St. Paul’s, probably 90% of our regular attendees were there. My St. Lucas crowd was down percentage wise. I would give them a pass because they are in the middle of planting season, but it was a rainy nasty day. So, —- no pass this time. LOL. I will tell myself that they were all at home waiting to watch it on the television. (Sure they were, uh huh,)

Speaking of watching it on television,Yesterday was our inaugural run with the new camera and sound system. The picture was so clear and the sound was fantastic. I am thrilled with it. Jacob says there are a “lot of moving parts” to making it work but he did a fantastic job. That was pretty much the final piece of the puzzle. Those guys have done such a fantastic job putting this all together. And to think, none of this would have happened had we not been plagued with the COVID pandemic. There is no way we would have even conceived of doing this and now it is a blessed reality. God points us to some great solutions to keep His word moving against the roadblocks. 

I have a lot of guests this morning at the Backyard Buffet. The Bluebirds and Cardinals and Goldfinches all really brighten up the place. The starlings —— well, not so much. 

Y’all have a blessed day.

 A rainy Saturday morning; well kind of. It has quit for now and what we had was very light and pleasant. It’s warm outside and the air is still, making it very pleasant. The rain was light enough that I went out and dumped out the birdbath and cleaned it and refilled it. Between the tree flower petals blowing in the breeze and the silly birds pooping in their bird bath/water dish, it gets yucky pretty quick. But now they have some fresh water again. I have to admit though that they don’t seem to care one way or another. It can be filthy and they still get in there and take a bath and drink out of it. Gross. 

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting here trying to take a quick nap when suddenly there was a loud crash against my glass door. It startled the heck out of me. A huge hawk flew in and snatched a mockingbird off of a feeder and in the process the two of them hit my glass. It didn’t phase the hawk. It flew about ten yards out in the yard and ate the mockingbird. There was nothing left but some feathers. But, that happens around here once in a while. I’m used to finding a bunch of feathers of one variety or another laying out there. I used to blame the stray cats that sometime come through the yard, but when they catch one of my birds they quickly carry it off and hide to eat it. The hawk I had yesterday was one of the biggest I have seen here. 

I finished my service and sermon including the slides for April 25th yesterday. It’s hard to imagine that I’m going to start working on May services next. We’re almost at the middle of April. The great thing is that every day that goes by gets us one day closer to our Family reunion in Branson , Missouri. We all only get together every couple of years and it gets harder to do every time what with the grandkids all being grown now and having lives and jobs of their own. It means so much to Ms. Kate and I that they all look forward to our reunions and they do their best to schedule their vacations and work and school schedules around our vacation dates. Families that all live within a single area probably don’t really appreciate the blessing they have. But I hope they do. 

Ms. Kate and I are going up to the church today. Jacob and Trent got the cable run for the new camera system for our service filming. I am very excited about it, We’ve been a year getting to this point, In the meantime we have been using our phones or IPads to do our taping. It works well sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. This new camera was part of the purchase from the technology grant that we got from the Lilly Corporation. We got almost $5K from them and have put another almost $5k with it for a matching grant. The congregation seems to really like the big screens etc that we have been putting in. This should be the final stage. Any way, today the guys are going to be trying out location to mount the camera. We’ll be no help of course but we will get our “nosey button” pushed. LOL

I reckon that is enough for today. I made a pan of cinnamon rolls and I need to refill my coffee cup and eat one or two. Have yourself a blessed day. Tomorrow is a day of worship and I hope that you will take the opportunity to do so. Peace my friends. 

 Happy morning to you! Here we are at the end of the work week, unless of course your work week includes a Saturday in it. As I look out my sunporch windows, the sky to the west and north is full of blue skies and fluffy clouds. However, the sky to the south appears to have much darker clouds that are almost grey. The wind is out of the southwest so perhaps it will “blow-over”. 

I did get some writing done yesterday but I’m not all that pleased with it. Some times I get these ideas in my mind and they sound good at the time but then I have a hard time actually putting them down on paper. It’s like my brain doesn’t connect to my fingers and when I go to write my thoughts, they get all caught up in a log jam. It gets frustrating and when I get frustrated, I might as well get up from the computer because  I will just be wasting my time putting words on paper. Then I go sit and read or do some other activity and maybe everything will start fresh and I can go back. I think I am about at that point today, but not quite yet. It’s a good thing I’m writing a sermon for a coupe of Sundays from now. I might have it done by then. LOL

The starlings and the mockingbirds are here this morning to fuss and g’night with one another. In between rounds, the finches and other smaller birds come ib for a bite or two. The squirrels are warming up for their morning Squirrel Olympics. They will start their morning running and chasing and  jumping shortly. The trees surrounding my yard are tall and expansive and the squirrels jump from one to another and cover three yards without ever touching the ground. It is amazing to watch them as they land on branches so thin that I don’t see how they don’t break. I may not particularly like the squirrels but they are entertaining and God created some amazing creatures when God made them. I’m just not sure what their purpose in creation is. I’m sure they must fill some role in the ecological system or God would not have created them. 

Well, I just had an interesting thing happen. My neighbor came and asked if she could “borrow” my “wifi”. Their’s went down and she was in the middle of teaching a class. So, I have let her in on the sunporch and set her up with a little table to put her stuff on and she is teaching her class via computer from my sunporch. Ya’ see how God gives us little opportunities to do something for somebody? Our opportunities to help one another in this life do not have to be grandiose.  Sometimes all it takes is saying “sure, come on over!”

I think that today I will mow the yards if I have time. It depends on what Ms. Kate has on her agenda, and of course if I can get my writing done. 

So, I better get on with my day. I need to start by cleaning myself up and getting presentable. Have a great Friday and get ready for a great weekend. Don’t get so busy that you forget to express your gratitude to God. God love sharing from us. 

Peace. 

 Wow, — no sunshine this morning. But I think there is hope for some yet today. My cousin Debbie, over in southern Illinois posts a picture of her sunrise most days and posted one today. We generally get the same weather as she does, just a couple of hours later. But, it is comfortable outside, 60 degrees and very little wind. I went out to the street and pulled my garbage can back up to the house in case it does rain. The lid was open and I didn’t want it to collect water. It has rained at some point during the night and the sidewalks are still slightly wet.  Accuweather forecasts another round coming in around 1300. 

The Backyard Buffet is fairly empty this morning. I’ve only had a few guests but I can hear birdsong in the trees around the yard and neighborhood. Every once in a while one or two will dash in and grab a bite and then take off. I have a pair of cardinals that are frequent visitors. It is neat to watch them. They are obviously a mated pair. He watches over her and even feeds her. 

Ms. Kate and I got the bulletins run yesterday after I took her for her bloodwork. Then we went out for lunch at a place called “Big Bang”. It is a Mongolian BBQ place and we go there several time a year usually, but have not been there since the start of COVID. The meal is always good. 

I went down to work on some writing and discovered that I wasn’t near as far along with my work as I thought I was. I thought I already had everything ready for the 18th of April but found out that I had not finished the sermon I had started no had I completed the bulletin. So —- I finish up all of that and then started on the 25th. I have the worship service done now for the 25th and I have a plan for my sermon for that day. I guess that with the extra two services last week, I lost track of where I was. But, I’m back on track now, or at least I think I am. 

I’m very disappointed with my garden so far. My lettuce came up, barely, and then hasn’t done anything. My radishes are way too thick but I knew they would be and I’ll have to thin them out. My potatoes are doing good though. They came up, and I pulled more dirt over them and they have now pushed through that layer and are looking really healthy. I had some okra seeds left from last year and I put maybe four or six seeds in a large flower pot to see if they would come up. If they do, I’ll let them get a few inches tall and them transplant them in my regular “okra spot”. It’s not time for tomatoes yet. I heard a tip yesterday concerning tomatoes. Ms. Kate said she had heard a gardener say to put sardines in the hole before you put the plant in. It adds nutrients to the soil. It’s worth a try. I’ve put fish that I have caught at the base of a plant before and it works well. I just had never considered buying a few cans of sardines to do that. 

That’s all I have today. I hope your day is filled with the joy of Jesus Christ. Peace. 

 Another beautiful morning greets me today. It is already 70 degrees, the sun is shining and there are very few clouds in the sky, — so far. We are supposed to have some rain come through sometime today or maybe tonight and I think into tomorrow. It will be what it will be I reckon. 

Yesterday I took my truck to the local car wash to have it hand washed and waxed. I run it through car washes frequently but they only get the dust off basically. My truck is a 2008 Dodge Dakota and I bought it in 2009. At the time it only had about 12,000 miles on it. Well, it still has only 48.000 miles on it. It looks great but had begun to have a layer of dirt on it that the car washes didn’t touch and I knew it would ruin the paint. So I took it to have it hand washed and waxed and now it looks as good as the day I bought it. I love my truck, I just don’t drive it often because the gas mileage is only around 20 mpg. But, a guy needs a truck and it is handy for things like hauling mulch and stuff. The neighbors across the street and the neighbors next door have both benefitted from me owning a truck several times over the years too. Any way, I’m glad to have “Big Red” looking shiny and new once again. 

Today is “bulletin day” at the churches. But first Ms. Kate needs to go have her blood work done. It will be a “fasting required” session. Which means that she can’t have her coffee yet this morning because she puts cream in her coffee. So, she better go pretty soon. LOL

I’m sitting here looking at the maple trees in the yard to the west of me and to the south of me and there are about a bi-zillion “Whirly-copter” seeds ready to fall from them. Pretty soon the air will be full of them. I reckon we’ll see how good my new “Leaf Filter” gutter guards really work. 

I finished another book last night. I have one more new one from this same author. I may wait to start on it. I need to get busy writing again instead of reading. But these two books I just read are good sermon source material so it isn’t like it was time wasted. I’ve already loaned out the first book to a parishioner and I’ll be interested to see if it made the impact on her that it did me. 

I think I’ll go throw a bagel in the toaster and pour another cup of coffee. Have yourself aa most wonderful day. Stay in touch with God and receive His peace. 

 Good morning and Happy Easter! Yes, I know “Easter” was yesterday but Jesus is still alive and that makes every day Easter. And it is an absolutely beautiful morning. It’s already almost 60 degrees outside and is going up to 79 today. How perfect is that. If I still had my convertible this would be a top-down day for sure and we’d do a road trip for sure even if it was just around the county. 

Our weekend was great. Julie and the pups came over Friday evening and stayed through lunch yesterday. Jim had to work all dat Saturday and decided to stay home and get some of his work done at the house. But it was a wonderful visit with Julie. 

Worship services went perfect this weekend. We had three services yesterday and all-told the attendance was about 130 people total. It was wonderful to see full pews again. We had lots of visitors and and also some members that I had not seen in a long time. Of course we all know that it was an anomaly and part of the Christmas and Easter attendance tradition but all the same, I was just happy to see folks there\. Starting this coming Sunday, we will be doing “COVID masks optional”. I know that our attendance will be back to “normal” and that still gives us ample room for social distancing. I expect that some may not come because we aren’t requiring masks and others that haven’t been coming will now come because we aren’t requiring masks. It’s the society in which we live these days. I will still carry my mask with me because even though the state will no longer require masks, many businesses still will. 

I finished the book that I was reading and have loaned it to one of my parishioners who loves to read. I’m betting she will be using it in some of her Sunday school lessons. It is a good source for that. I have started on another one of Simmons’ books, this one is called “The Power of a Humble Life”. It isn’t as thick of a book as the first one but is too is an excellent read. 

The sun is shining on the cardinals this morning and they are beautiful. Unfortunately my feeders are mostly empty si I need to get out there and fill everything. In the meantime, they can clean up some of their ground mess that they drop. As I sit here overlooking the backyard, the daffodils are just about done. The blooms are starting to die off and droop down. The tulips though are going strong and the lilacs are blooming. The azealias have  buds on them  and maybe will be open in a week. And all of the peonies are starting th get bigger and some even have bids on them. We are very blessed to have a continuation of beauty from the flowers all through spring and early summer. It does take a lot of work though. 

Time to refill the coffee cup. You have a wonderful week. Peace. 

 April 2nd, Good Friday. By Biblical chronology tradition, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, would have been hanging, nailed to a wooden cross for a full hour by now. The Gospel of Mark 15:25 tells us that “it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.” It would be six hours before he would breathe his last breath. I suspect that by the time he passed, most of the jeering crowd had gone on their way and only his closest family and a couple of disciples may have remained with him until the end, as well as the squad of soldiers ordered to carry out the crucifixion. None of us can even begin to imagine the pain and agony that Jesus must have suffered during those six hours. God’s mercy allowed him to die in that amount of time because it was not unusual for the crucified to hang there for days before death. But those victims weren’t actually nailed to the cross, but were tied. But the death of Jesus was especially cruel. 

I didn’t intend to write a sermon this morning with this but I think that we need to remind ourselves of the passion and pain of this day. Each of the Gospels condense the crucifixion into approximately 22 verses, —- and maybe that is really enough because I think it is impossible to portray the agony and pain that Jesus was going through. But we do need to not just “gloss over” those passages either. The pain was real. The sacrifice was real and we are part of the narrative, even now 2000 years later, every time we deny Christ by disobeying his word. Think about that today. 

Our Maundy Thursday service went very well although I was disappointed by the lack of attendance. We only had about 20-25 folks there. I’m hoping many more attended via their computer screen. It was a blustery evening and very chilly and being late evening time might have kept some from attending. Add to that — the farmers are starting to get out in the fields and we saw a few of them out in the fields either spraying or discing as we made our way to the church. It was still daylight when it started and the sun had not quite finished setting when we finished so they we’re still turning dirt when we left for home. But, the service went well. The music was nice and the two that did the Tenebrae reading did an excellent job. 

Julie is coming over this evening with the pups. Jim has to work a full eight hours tomorrow and will come over after that. They will go home after lunch on Sunday. 

I guess that is it for today. It’s cold again this morning, 31 degrees, but it should start warming up and and will be a beautiful Easter weekend. Have a blessed day. 

 April 1st and it was 31 degrees this morning and that was not an April Fool’s day joke. It’s a goof thing that all of my plants and flowers are cold tolerant. I would love hate to see them all wilt over now. 

This is Maundy Thursday in the Christian tradition. Maundy comes from a Latin phrase to do with the washing of the disciple’s feet by Jesus. The Latin word is “mandatum” meaning “Command”. At the last supper Jesus gave his disciples a “command”; “That you love one another as I have loved you.” See, we learned something today and that makes today a total success. And no, I’m not smart, — I Googled that. Anyway, —- So tonight we will have our Maundy Thursday service and it will include a Tenebrae Reading and Holy Communion. Many churches will do a washing of the feet ceremony in honor of Jesus’ actions. I’ve never done that nor had a church that practiced it that I know of. 

Yesterday was a busy day around our house. We scrubbed floors, did laundry, went and did grocery shopping; brought that home and put it away and then went to lunch at Dennny’s. Came home and took a short snooze and then I started working on my April 18th service and sermon. Got the service created and the sermon about a 4th written. So, all is good. Today will be busy too. I think I need to go to the store again and then we need to go to the church early so we can run the bulletins for the Easter late service , and then we have the evening service at 1900 hours. 

Right now I need to go over my service for tonight one more time, read my Sunday sermon one more time and then do some writing. With that I will bid you adeu’  Have a blessed day.