There’s not much new on the home front this morning. It’s still cool outside and the rain continues on and off and will for the rest of the day and part of tomorrow. The Backyard Buffet continues to be busy and the level of food in the feeders continues to drop. I’ll probably have to refill stuff again tomorrow once the rain stops and the sun comes out. 

The big event and news is out on the north side of the house though. Once again the robins are swarming through to the Holly tree in my neighbor’s yard. I have told you of this annual event before. There are literally hundreds of robins swooping in and out plucking the red berries off of the holly tree. I suspected they would be along soon because I was seeing a lot of berries on the ground when I was working in the flowerbed. There is this big holly tree on the northeast side of my house. It actually belongs to the neighbor Then there is another one in my yard on the southwest corner of my yard and then Dan has one at the back of the yard of his property, so these guys get their fill when they swarm or flock through the area. They are a lot of fun to watch\ except that they poop a lot too. So the sidewalks will have a lot of Robin poop on them. Maybe I’m blessed that the rain will help with that. The Lord giveth and the Lord washes away. 

Our two new recliners arrived late yesterday afternoon. They are very comfortable. The only problem is that We are limited on “reclining space” and I can’t go back as far as I would like. But I can go back far enough to get a good nap or watch TV comfortably. We still have two pieces of furniture to have taken out of here, an arm chair and a couch.  St. Vincent DePaul will pick those up on the 16th of November. W have so much furniture around this house due to relatives  passing away and having a sweet wife who never wants to give away anything. I could easily supply some young couple with all the furniture they would need to get started in life and still have more than we need here. I don’t know what will happen to it all and I’m glad that I won’t be the one to decide about it cause I’ll be dead. 

That’s it for today folks. Have a blessed weekend. Take time to attend your house of worship and express your gratitude for a week of blessings. Peace. 

 Rain, rain, go away, we’ve had enough of you today. I woke at 0530 and it was pouring and it kept that up for at least another hour and a half. My super duper weather gauge says we have gotten 1.25 inches so far today. I think that is more than they were expecting and it is supposed to rain on and off through Saturday morning. I really hope it is done for today anyway because we are supposed to have furniture delivered this afternoon and I’d prefer that it wasn’t delivered in the rain. 

I’m sitting here having my coffee and some Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls. I do like those things although my preference is the orange danish. For whatever reason those are hard to find these days. Maybe they are more popular and sell out faster ot —- maybe they don’t sell as well so the stores don’t order them as much. What ever, they are hard to find. But frankly everything is getting harder to find with the supply chain backup. It’s not just the stuff sitting out there off shore, it’s everything. The trucking industry is overwhelmed. People don’t seem to want a job. There is hardly a business that you can name that isn’t looking for workers. Unemployment should be at zero because if you want a job —- there are many waiting out there. All of those people thinking they want socialism are getting their way. It’s very scary. 

I actually heard on the news last night that the CDC is promoting the American public to get a fourth COVID vaccine shot. They say it will be for the “extremely vulnerable”. There is no way you can convince me that the CDC and other gov’t agencies all the way to the top are not in cahoots with the pharmacy companies. The rhetoric last year was all about “saving grandma’s life by getting the shot.” Is there any wonder that people are pushing back and saying “enough”. Just yesterday they approved the vaccine for 5-11 year olds and already only about a third of America is supporting it. And the President’s response is to weaponize it and threaten your very livelihood and monetary welfare if you don’t take them. I think that some night I went to sleep and woke up in a communist dictatorship. Thousands of health care providers are now being fired because they have stood up and said, hold on —- all of this isn’t necessary and are refusing to take the shots. Again, tell me how all of this isn’t about money. Enough ranting about that. 

I guess I’ll head downstairs today and work on my stuff for November 7th. I have the service planned but only about 1/3 of the message written. I might as well take full advantage of a rainy day and do some writing and some study. I want to be done with the message by the time the furniture gets here today and take my nap in my new recliner. 

I hope your day is blessed. Peace. 

 Wednesday already again. I guess it is because I generally take Monday and Tuesday off to do work around the house and yard and maybe do some writing in the evening. But, we used yesterday to accomplish other things like laundry and shopping. And I got very little writing done last night because I was watching the idiot box. It’s Halloween week and all of my “ghostly shows” are on. Yes, yes, I’m a real fan and have several that I liked to watch. Especially the ones where people are actually hunting for ghosts. These people get real excited about bumps in the night. Two of my girls are in to this stuff too. 

Today being Wednesday means it is bulletin day at the churches. I’ll go up after lunch and get that done. Ms. Kate is still not up to going with me, so that means it will take a extra time. I hope we have gotten the new toner cartridge by now at St. Lucas. That machine prints so much faster than the one at St. Paul’s because it prints double sided. I generally kill extra trees trying to get it right. 

Ms. Kate is making a dish of jello. We go through stages where we will make mellow for a month and have it all the time to periods like now where we haven’t had any in a long time. She wanted to make black cherry but all we found was black raspberry. I reckon we’ll see how that turned out. 

So, this it for today, I have to get away from the IPad and get my day going. Have a great day. Peace. 

 The sunshine is certainly a welcome sight this morning. The leaves are fairly still so that tells me there isn’t a lot of wind. Yesterday was a really windy one and it was blustery type of cold. But today and tomorrow are supposed to be good weather days before the rain moves back in for a couple of more days. 

Good morning to you. I hope your day is starting off very well. I hope you have lots of things to smile about in your life today. Life goes so much better when we can honestly smile at the world. My ugliest at the Backyard Buffet are having reasons to smile today because I filled the feeders, or at least part of them yesterday afternoon. Silly old “Stretch” came running down the tree as soon as I walked away from the one feeder. I think he must have been parked up in the at tree just waiting to see if I was ever going to come out and feed him. I often will have that happen; I start filling feeders and right away some bird or two will fly in and check out the feeder, then off it goes and starts telling the neighborhood. It’s pretty neat actually. It isn’t as neat when the feeders are empty and they set on the branches out side of my sunporch and stare in at me. It almost disturbs my nap. LOL

Today is “get some chores done” day. Ms.. Kate has a grocery list ready for me. Sop, as soon as I finish my blog I guess I’ll get cleaned up and go do the shopping. I don’t mind it at all, in fact I could almost say I enjoy it. Since I’ve gotten to know my way around the “Neighborhood Walmart” store I can fairly well find what I want. And if I don’t know, I just ask one of the folks that are filling carts for the “on-line” shoppers. They have to know where everything is. So, I just take my time, check my list and get what I need. I don’t go to the big Walmarts, but the ones that are primarily groceries are fine. If I don’t find it at Walmart I’ll go to Schnucks but their selections generally aren’t as good and they are higher priced, although I usually don’t pay a lot of attention to price unless it seems ridiculous. But, everything has gone up. 

While I’m shopping, Ms. Kate will get the laundry started. Ill carry it out to the washing machine, she can load it and start it. By the time I get home, I can transfer it over to the dryer for her. I do that because she’s too short to reach the bottom of the washing machine basket without getting a set of tongs to pull the stuff out. We do make a pair that’s for sure. 

Ms. Kate’s health status today is classified as “not feeling too bad — yet”. I’ll take that as almost good. She generally is this way until afternoon when the stomach and intestines start to hurt again. She has found that if she doesn’t go stretch out then, she will really suffer for it. I just pray we can get some treatment for her soon. We’re almost at a month of this. 

Time for my shower and then head out to Walmart and look for “Walmart People”. Fortunately we don’t see a lot of those here. Have a blessed day my friends. Raise your head and listen for the voice of God. Peace. 

 Happy new week. Welcome to the last week of October. Do you have your Halloween costume ready to go. Are you going out or are you going to stay home and pass out the goodies. So far the weather projection for Halloween is quite tolerable. I’m not sure what we are going to do. It depends on how Ms. Kate feels. We didn’t go to the Halloween party at our St. Paul’s church last night because she wasn’t feeling up to going out. That’s really too bad too because she had planned on either making and talking an apple pie or a freezer of homemade ice cream. Next Sunday is the party at St Lucas and it will be at about the same time as all of the trick or treaters come out. I don’t know what we will do. Again, it depends on Ms. Kate’s health. 

Speaking of Ms. Kate’s health; she finally did talk to the nurse practitioner at our doctor’s office. The nurse set her up with Deaconess Hospital to get a CT scan done but the first appointment she can get is the 9th of November. That’s 16 days away. That just isn’t acceptable that she has to deal with this pain for another 16 days before she can even be seen. She does have a doctor’s appointment a week from today but I’m letting her call the shots on this. In the meantime, I’ll just do whatever I need to to help her out. 

We had low attendance yesterday at both churches. Probably only 53 between the two services. I never know what makes people decide to skip church or attend church. And, with us having our service taped and presented on Facebook, and on You Tube, I never know who watches later because they had something else going on at church time. I pray that if they aren’t there in person, they are at least watching it at some point later. Good news for St. Paul’s is that we finally, after two years plus, got the new copper anchor cross installed on the steeple of St. Paul’s. A storm ruined the original a couple of years ago. It was hard to find anybody to makes a new one and it was harder to keep that person interested in finishing the job. But, it is up and it looks beautiful. I’m very proud of it. I especially appreciate a couple of the guys staying on top of the guy to get it done. 

That wraps up today. I hope your week is fully blessed. Peace. 

 Happy Friday the 22nd of Oct. Cool, cloudy and a breeze today. Sounds like a fall day doesn’t it? And —- it looks like one. 

I know I’m a fairly predictable person, kind of “in a rut” of my daily activities, I didn’t know it was so much so that even my IPad knows my schedule and prompts me with it. LOL I sat down in my recliner earlier, (yes, like I do every morning) and I had two messages posted on the front as suggestions. The first said; “Check Accuweather, based upon time and location.”  The second one said “Google Chrome; based upon time and location.” So, my IPad knows where it is setting and knows that at a specific time I check the weather report and I set and write my blog. I think maybe that spooks me out a little. What else is Artificial Intelligence keeping track on about me?? But, here I am; —- it is 52 degrees and I’m working on my blog. (“I will obey, I will obey, I will obey)

This morning I’m taking Ms. Kate etc the doctor to see if she can get a handle on what has been causing her all of this stomach trouble. We both believe it to be diverticulitis but if that is it, maybe they will start her on some antibiotics and start the healing process. She been sick long enough to really be worrisome. Wish her luck with a prayer. 

I fished up another big portion of the front flowerbed yesterday by cutting back the last of the four-o’clocks like I had hoped to do. I have one more section of the front to do hopefully today, if it doesn’t rain. That will probably take a couple of hours to clean that part up. Then I can move around to the north east side and finish that up. From there I’ll move to the south side and I think I’m going to try to just pull up everything everything in the garden and get that all cleaned up. The tomatoes are still green, but the fruit hanging on them does not seem to be turning. And the okra keeps putting on but we aren’t doing anything with it. I might as well get it winterized. There is a spot that I want to transplant a peony to that currently has the okra in it. That peony really needs to be moved from the north west side of the house to the southwest side. I had moved all of the others that were out there but I missed this one. It and several others were plants that I moved from my mother’s field many years ago, so it is an heirloom plant for us. 

Time for me to get myself ready to take Ms. Kate for her appointment. Enjoy your Friday, Enjoy your weekend. Shalom. 

 

 It’s another beautiful morning and warmer than it has been for the past few. 66 degree this morning and I think it isn’t supposed to go up or down much from that all day. But it is a breezy morning so that will make a difference, and there is a cloud layer overhead keeping the sun out. 

We are waiting this morning for Habitat of Humanity Restore folks to come pick up a couple of the chairs that we have in our family room. We bought them a few years ago from a really nice second-hand store and they have served us very well. They are still good chairs but they sit a little low for us now\ and we have a hard time getting in and out of them. So, I called the Restore and offered them up to them. We also have a couch that we got when Kate’s mom passed and we have a chair that we got when my mother passed that we wanted to also donate. When I called the Restore folks they had me send pictures of the furniture so they could decide if they wanted it or not. I did  and they said they would take the to family room chairs but not the others. I said “okay” even though I think it is a bit “snooty since all of the pieces are in good shape. Anyway, they will be here this morning to pick up the two chairs. I also called St. Vincent DePaul and asked if they would want the couch and the other chair. They said “yes” right away and set a pick up date for November 16th, no questions asked, no pictures required. It kind of makes me wonder about the difference in the mission of the two stores. Is Restore in it for the money or to help folks out. It’s obvious where St. Vincents sits on that scale. 

I had a good afternoon working in my front flowerbed yesterday afternoon. I got he peonies cut back as well as some other stuff too. I still need to Get the Four-oClocks trimmed back on that side and that’s gonna take some work. I really wish we didn’t have those plants but there is no getting rid of them. They drop hundreds of seeds every year so it is an on-going battle. Beside, the Papa John’s pizza delivery dudes know our house as “the house with the good smelling front porch”. LOL I wouldn’t want to deprive them of that pleasure during the summer. Our trash collector hauled off six of those large Lowe’s yard waste paper bags this morning that were stuffed as full as I could get them. So much to do!!!

Can you believe it is Thursday already?  Where has the week gone. As a matter of fact where has October gone? Three weeks of October have passed already and November is only ten days away. Halloween is coming next week, Thanksgiving 27 days after that, Advent starts, then we go on vacation, then Christmas arrives ——— Time flies when you are having fun. 

Now it is time for me to go have some fun and carry the mail out to the mail box. That’s my exciting life. Peace. 

 It is nice to see sunshine once again this morning and it is a tad warmer at 49 degrees, I have a bevy of the “little birds” here this morning; finches, sparrows wrens, titmouse and a nuthatch. There are several cardinals in and around too and one noisy blue jay. The “Rooster Beagles” have been out, exercised their lungs and I guess are back in the house because I don’t hear them barking any longer. The silence from that yard is nice. 

I didn’t do any yard work yesterday after all. I was still stiff and sore from Monday’s adventures out there. And I broke the handle off of my pruning loppers. But Amazon has the quick answer and I’ll have a new set arriving today.  This morning Ms. Kate and I will be going to the churches and will run the bulletins etc, and then this afternoon she says she will come out with me to give me a hand. That would be great. I love it when we can work on this stuff together. It isn’t that she can do a lot but I like having her out there with me. I’m just happy that she is feeling well enough to to actually get out and do stuff.  

So, I’m out of news for today and I’m holding three on-line conversations at the moment with my daughters so I think I’ll just wrap this up by saying I hope you have a blessed day. Peace. 

 A crisp Tuesday morning has dawned. It is currently 46 degrees but the temps should rise to around 74 today. That’s a good thing because I have more work to do out there in my front flower bed. I spent three hours out there yesterday and only got one corner looking decent. But that corner hadn’t been touched all summer and had gotten so over grown. It was one of those, “I need to do that” things. I admit that I really neglect the north side of my house. The only time I see it is when I mow. There is a fence that cuts it in half so it really gets neglected. Then I have to spend days like I’m doing now and work my tail off to get it back under control. I filed three large yard waste bags yesterday with stuff that I cut out. This afternoon I’ll get back to it. Unfortunately, I also broke my “limb loppers” in the process. The handle snapped off. So I have to go get a new set or jump on Amazon and order a new set. 

This morning I need to get ready and go get my hair cut. It’s rubbing on my ears and that not only looks shaggy, it kind of drives me nuts. I can’t believe that in the early 70’s I actually wore my hair down over my ears. But it was the style and I wanted to look cool. Instead, I think I just looked like a nerd with long hair. I’ve never really fit in style wise. Man, —- back in the late 50’s, early 60’s I want to look like a greaser with the slicked back hair and all. Two major things prevented that though; first of all my parents would allow it, and secondly I’m a blonde and that just didn’t work. So, instead of looking like Elvis —- I looked like Pat Boone. Instead of singing “Nothing But a Hound dog”, I was singing “April Love”. Sigh Instead of having a cool ‘57 Chevy, —- I had a ‘54 Studebaker. LOLOL. But — I did love that car, and back in those days, I was one of the few kids that actually owned a car. I paid $125.00 for that car. Back then Studebaker were the only kind of cars we had in our family. Dad was a mechanic and shop foreman for the local Studebaker dealership, so that’s what we drove. They were excellent cars. Very solid, ran well, but certainly not stylish and that kind of is what became their demise. 

I guess I better sign off now and get on with my day. I hope you get a chance to get out and enjoy some sunshine today. While you are out there look around at what God has created just for you today and then \\give thanks for your blessings. Peace. 

 Good Monday morning to you. It’s all of 44 degrees this morning but the sun is shining brightly so it will warm up before long. I went out and tended a couple of feeders this morning and it didn’t feel bad out there. I’m going to have to fill a couple more feeders today. The Woodpeckers would appreciate it if I put out some bark-butter I’m sure and a couple of the other feeders are getting low. Mostly this morning, my guests consist of Cardinals, titmouse, finches and a dove or two. So, it’s a pleasant morning at the Backyard Buffet. And so far I haven’t had to listen to the Rooster Beagles. 

How was your weekend? Ours was uneventful which was good because we had enough things going on during the week with the funeral and visitations etc. Saturday afternoon I took time to get out in a couple of flowerbeds and do some work. They look so much better. When it warms up a bit later today, I’ll be back out there. One thing at a time and it will get done and I guess if it doesn’t all get done we’ll live with it. Yesterday afternoon I asked. Ms. Kate to come outside and help hold my ladder while I got up on my roof to blow of the leaves and stuff. The pussy willow tree that is immediately outside the sun porch has lost all of its leaves by now and they all gathered up on my sun porch roof and stayed there. That was causing a problem for the water flow off of the roof when it rained. So, I made a very closely supervised roof excursion yesterday and got it and all of the gutters blown off. I have a good gutter guard system tat keeps the gutters from clogging but it doesn’t guarantee that the leaves will all blow off. So, I walk the roof line with my blower and clean it off. Once I had it all cleaned off then I raked all of the leaves out into the yard, jumped on little JD and made short work of all of it. I’ll have to probably do it a again before  winter but the first mess is gone and cleaned up. 

Right now, I’m waiting on the furnace folks to come and do my fall service. I do an annual contract with them and they come in the spring to do the a/c and in the fall to do the furnace. I knew it is working alright because we have it going right now to take the chill off of the house. 

I need to call St. Vincent’s DePaul today and see if they still  pick up used furniture. We have a couch and three chairs that we want to donate. It is all good furniture but we have got to downsize some of this stuff. The hard part of going to be getting the couch out of the bedroom. She and I got it in there but we were a few years younger when we did that. But I’m not moving anything until I know they will come and get it. 

Well, the HVAC dude is here so I gotta go. O hope you have a blessed week. Peace. 

 Hello Saturday. It’s nice to see all 46 degrees of you. What’s up with that??? We had a cold front move on in and bring some fall weather with it. Our forecaster says that the “warm days” are probably mostly gone. Of course by that he means the days up in the 80’s that we have been having. Now we are back down where we should be in mid-October, the 70’s. I can handle 70’s weather quite well. But, I did turn the heat on for Ms. Kate and close the door to the sunroom since it isn’t heated. I will be very comfortable out there when I go back out with my cup of coffee again. I bring my IPad in to the kitchen to write my blog because it is a lot easier to use it on the table rather than my lap. 

We got plenty of rain yesterday evening and last night; not that we needed any at all. I’m hoping the grass will dry out fairly soon because I want to mow the front yard and do some other work outside but it is too wet at the moment. Maybe this afternoon. It is only going up to 64 today so it should be comfortable to work outside. I just don’t want to get wet and muddy. I know, I’ve gotten to be a wuss in my old age. 

Ms. Kate is feeling only slightly better today. This darn Diverticulitis is just wearing her out. She really needs to get in and see her doctor and see if she can get some antibiotics. It has basically incapacitated her from doing anything. I’ve had this problem many years ago and I can attest to the fact that the pain will literally take you to your knees. Or at least it did me. Hopefully we can get her taken care of soon. 

I’ve had a lot of visitors at the Backyard Buffet this morning. I think they like the cooler weather or maybe they need to refuel more. Mostly it has been cardinals, which is always good. I have changed up the diet out there a little and they are eating everything in sight. It is obvious that the harvest is going on and the blackbirds and starlings are all out in the fields gleaning them of dropped corn etc. I’ve not had but one or two here this week and they didn’t stay around much. That works fine for me. It really bugs me when they come in in flocks and just take over the feeders. They throw so much on the ground. What can I say, they are rude guests. 

I spent most of yesterday in my basement office working on my sermon for the 24th. I finished it up last night along with the service. I still have one more thing to write and will do that in a few minutes after I finish up this blog. 

My neighbor across the street has his yard full of blow-up Halloween stuff. He does this every year. He also has a bunch of Thanksgiving stuff that will go up when this comes down. It’s not my thing. I personally think that stuff looks gaudy, but to each his own I reckon. But then, neighbor Dan’s wife has put up their Christmas tree already and all of the Christmas decorations. Why???? Who knows. Dan says he thinks she got bored. Go figure. 

That’s enough gossip. I better quit. This is the weekend and tomorrow is Sunday. I hope that at some point this weekend you find yourself in church taking time to worship \God and giving thanks for a week of blessings. Peace. 

 And, it’s Thursday already and I only have a few moments this morning to joy something down before I start my day. This morning we have a funeral at the church that starts at 1000 hrs. That mean that visitation will start at 0900 and we’ll need the church to be open by 0830 for the mortuary to bring the casket in. That’s how time backs you into a corner. And —- it’s a 30 minute drive to the church. After the service ends which will be around 1130 there will be a bereavement meal. I won’t stay for that probably. I need to get busy running the bulletins and setting the two churches up for Sunday. So, I expect to get home around 1430. 

It is a gloomy day,. The temperature is warm, especially for October and there is no rain predicted for today but clouds are expected all day. I guess it is fitting for a funeral day mood wise, but I prefer bright sunny funeral days because they lift attitudes and a sense of hope. But, we’ll take what we get. 

I went to the visitation last evening. I got there around 1600 and the place was full. She has a very large family and was a lovely lady so a lot of folks came to pay their respects. I expect may 75 at the funeral which is a large attendance especially for a 90 year old. So often funerals for seniors are barely attended by more than a couple of dozen. 

I spent yesterday morning out in my flowerbeds cutting back plants and putting in a new piece of “yard-art”. It is a very large owl that is weighted and balanced so that it moves in the wind and the wings will go up and down as though it were come in for a landing. I got it at Wild Birds Unlimited of course and at the same time we picked up another set of smaller Corinthian Chimes. I love to listen to the wind gently blow through them. The sound is so melodic. 

Out if time. I hope your day is blessed. Peace. 

 

 It’s cloudy and cool (62) tis morning as Tuesday opens up to the world and becomes a brand new day. The rooster beagles are up and that means the world has to get up or pull the covers over your head. Sigh! But, I have enough stuff on the list to get done today that I need to be up with the beagles so they get a pass this morning.  (I SAID YOU GET A PASS! NOW SHUT UP!!!)

It has been and continues to be a busy few days. Sunday afternoon I talked to a parishioner about her mom. She and her sister left church before the service because they had gotten a call that their mom had taken a turn for the worse. I had just visited with her on Saturday and it was evidenced that her passing was going to happen soon. I made plans to go back to the nursing home on Monday. Well, yesterday afternoon the lady passed. She was 90 years old and a sweet lady. Her husband of 69 years was right there holding her hand. So, I went up and sat and visited with him yesterday afternoon for awhile. Last night I started working on her funeral service. It will be Thursday, I think. Thankfully, I had finished up this next Sunday’s service on Sunday night. 

So, yesterday morning, Ms. Kate and I “did a thing”. We sold her Cadillac back to the dealership. Actually we did that on Friday but we took the car to them and picked up our check first thing yesterday morning. We got a very fair price for it so we’re satisfied. We had gotten to the point that we just didn’t need a third car and it hasn’t had 2000 miles put on it in the last two years. It was becoming harder and harder for us to get in and out of it because of our age and health and the height of the car. And the Caddy got 23 mpg while the Prius gets 54 mpg. Old short people don’t do well climbing up in a buckboard wagon or an SUV. But it did look weird this morning walking out into the garage and seeing that little Prius sitting there instead of the Caddy. Maybe someday, if I ever retire, we’ll get us another Caddy. But then again, by that time, it could be that the only Cadillac I’ll ride in then is a hearse. Who knows what the future holds. Certainly not me. 

We also “did another thing” yesterday. We went to the appliance store and bought a new set of double ovens for the kitchen and a new refrigerator. The double ovens we have were put in when the house was built in 1977. The self-cleaning part has never worked since we owned the house and the thermostat was off so you had to kind of guess about your baking temperatures. Our refrigerator is maybe 15 years old and is a “side-by-side” which gives no actual space in the freezer portion. So, —— Merry Christmas to us.  And that is about when we will get the appliances. Everything is on back-order of course so we don’t know when we will actually get the new stuff. But we are told to expect the refrigerator in mid November and the ovens could actually be in December. 

Okay, we have more running around to do today, I have a funeral to finish putting together, and I haven’t started on the service for the 24th yet. I’m so far behind I think I’m ahead because i can’t see anyone in front of me. 

Go have yourself a blessed day. Give someone a hug today. You will feel better for it.  Peace. 

 I hope you will pardon me this morning but, I have a bit of a rant this morning. I know there is nothing you van do about the situation and frankly, neither can or should I, but I will feel better writing it and getting it off of my chest. 

I used to live in a quiet neighborhood. For twenty years we have lived in this house (hard tp believe) and it was peaceful. My yard is fenced in so there are no stray dogs running through my yard, although as you know I do have the occasional wandering neighbors cat that I have to pop in the butt to keep them from catching one of my Backyard Buffet guests. 

I told you that the house immediately behind me sold, and the first thing the new owners did was put up a six-foot privacy fence all the way around their back yard so that no one can look in. That’s okay, it is their property and they have a right to their privacy, regardless of how rude it might seem. I have introduced myself to the Lady that lives there one day as I was driving by the front of their house and she was out by her mailbox. I welcomed her to the neighborhood by explaining that I lived on the other side of her fence. She said they put the fence up because they have dogs. There-in lies the problem. 

 I don’t know how many dogs they have but I suspect there are two and they are Beagles, and Beagles, by their nature, bark —— a lot! Beagles bark at everything; other animals, sounds, smells, cars going by, hearing me walk in my yard —— they bark. They can’t see what they are barking at because of the privacy fence, so they just bark. And I doubt the owners even realize it because they both work. 

My neighbor to the north has a dog, Lilly. Lilly will bark when I go outside, if she happens to be out. But Lilly is just waiting for me to talk to her and pet her. My neighbor to the south has a dog, a huge one named Max who will occasionally bark and again I talk to it and he will come romping up to me for petting. The neighbor to my southwest also has a dog. But if it starts yapping, they will quickly make it stop. So it isn’t as if we have a dog free zone around here. And in all fairness, the beagles don’t constantly bark  —— just enough and long enough to be aggravating every day, multiple times a day. Neighbor Dan and I call them the “Beagle-roosters”, because they like to greet the morning.  

So, I guess my rant is that the new neighbors have shattered the peace and quiet of my neighborhood. It just seems very rude of people to move into a neighborhood, throw up a privacy fence so no one can see them, with a couple of dogs that bark all the time and the people have no regard for their neighbors. And. The real problem is that I don’t like them, —- and I don’t like not liking them because that makes me seem petty. So how did their irritating, barking dogs become my guilt??? I mean , what the heck???? Oh well, I feel better now that I have said it. Rant over ——- Have a wonderful PEACEFUL day. 

 Is it going to rain or is it going to just look gloomy? My weather app shows rain on and off again today and there isn’t a hint of sunshine so far today. The Backyard Buffet is certainly busy this morning with all variety of guests except for Stretch and Fat Bob the squirrels. One came through but didn’t stay which is fine by me. But I must have at least a dozen and a half cardinals out there. They are flitting from feeder to feeder and are also gleaning the ground too for spilled sunflower seed. I’m always glad to see them clean up after themselves but they become easy prey for the wandering cats. The cardinals don’t seems to be as aware of predators and they aren’t as quick to get away as some of the birds. That’s one reason I appreciate the squirrels being up in my trees. They are really good at sounding the alarm when a cat comes in the yard. They will sit up there and bark and chitter at them. I’ve seen that black cat go straight up a tree chasing a squirrel many times. I think were a battle to ensue, —- the cat would be the one to get whipped. Squirrels are just fuzzy tailed rats and they are aggressive and mean. 

Today is a better day than yesterday. Ms. Kate was sick all day, I assume from a residual effect from her COVID. Booster  that we took on Tuesday. I don’t think she ate more than a couple of bites yesterday. No matter what I offered to fix for her, she didn’t want it. She slept almost all day and then she slept through the night too. I was concerned enough that I brought my work upstairs to the kitchen table so I could keep an eye on her. I am so glad she is feeling better today. Hopefully that’s the last of the dang COVID crap that we have to deal with. I have heard that one of the pharmacy companies is coming out with a pill alternative to the shot. Anybody want to argue that the Pharms aren’t making a killing off of this whole thing????  Yesterday I heard a news report that some company has developed an Anti Malaria. Malaria is a major killer in Africa, especially of young children. Tis would be a major breakthrough if it actually works. But the catch is that they reported that the vaccine was only about 30% effective and requires four shots. Next though for Ms. kate and me is the flu shot but I think maybe we’ll try to do that one early in the week next week to give her time to get over any after effects from it. Although, we usually don’t have a problem with flu shots. 

Since I didn’t get out of the house yesterday, I need to go to the churches today and run the bulletins etc. I also want to go to Gibson General Hospital and see a parishioner  that is there for physical therapy from his hip replacement. So, I guess I better get myself busy. 

Have a great day. Stay in touch with the Lord. When you do, you are never alone. Peace. 

 Rainy, windy, 64 degrees this morning. Not the kind of morning that makes you want to run outside. It has been raining on and off, nothing strong, just enough to be uncomfortable. And with that —- Happy Wednesday. 

No, I didn’t write yesterday. Instead Ms. kate and I went to St. Vincent’s hospital and we got our COVID booster shot. We are well over the age of eligibility (65) and Dr. Jackson had advised us to get it when it became available. I guess it isn’t a big deal although I hate all of the hype that goes along with this whole situation. Hopefully this will be the last one although I’d bet a dollar to a donut that COVID shots are going to become an annual thing just like the flu shot. Which by the way,  I still have to schedule our flu shots. We have ben taking the flu shots for as long as they have been offered and I can’t think of a year that we actually got the flu since we started taking them. Yes, we’ve had a few colds over the years and the occasional virus but all -in-all we’ve been pretty healthy in that department. I don’t seem to have any after effects from the vaccine yesterday with the exception of a sore muscle where I had the injection. Ms. Kate, on the other hand says she’s feeling bad, says she is cold and having trouble breathing. But. In reality, she feels that way most of the time. So I don’t know if it is normal of shot after effects. 

Monday afternoon we went for a ride down in Union Township here in the county. That is the area where Kate was raised. It is “the bottoms” and goes along the Ohio River. It is all farm land and she loves going down there and reminiscing about who lived where and looking at the “old homestead.” Her sister like to do that too. Karen says that driving around down there is like being on another planet. I think the drive around the area is about 25 to maybe thirty miles and we only saw a couple of cars and only one farmer working the fields. We were able to just “mosey” along at 20 mph with the windows down and enjoy the warm day. I take her down there generally in the spring when the planting is going on and then again in the fall while the harvest is in progress. I can’t imagine why there were no farmers out working the fields. I guess that the fields are maybe 2/3’s harvested. That’s about the same as the guys up in Ft. Branch. They are about 2/3’s done too. The great news is that the crops have been really good this year and the prices have held up so far. 

The rain is back again. I don’t know if I’ll go run the bulletins today or not. We are supposed to have this kind of weather through tomorrow so maybe I’ll just wait until Friday to run them. Part of it will depend on how Ms. Kate gets to feeling. She’s my bulletin folder/stuffer in chief. 

I’m working on my sermon for the 17th and it is on Job. I worked quite awhile last evening and got very little done. That’s because I got wrapped up in my research and reading. The Book and story of Job is interesting, so much so that I ended up ordering  Biblical Commentary and Bible study on the Book of Job. I really needed something else to distract me didn’t I? But, if I find it interesting enough, I may do a Bible Study with the church on Job. We can never learn too much or delve too deep into our scriptures. 

Time to pack it up for today. Have a wonderful day. Peace. 

 Hello Monday. It’s great to see you back again. You are a nice looking morning. It’s sunny and 65 degrees this morning. My weather app says it is going to rain around eleven this morning but I don’t see a sign of that at the moment. All I see is a blue and cloudless sky. I can deal with that. 

How was your weekend? Our’s was good. We had our normal excitement stuff, you know like mowing the lawn, doing the laundry and of course going to church. I am agitated about one thing though. My “backyard JD” won’t start. I just spent $300.00 having it taken to the dealership and a servicing done on it. I had told them that it didn’t want to run when they picked it. Well, they had it a couple of weeks and returned it and I used it. It started right up. But, then I didn’t mow for a couple of weeks back here in the back yard and when I try to start it, it turns over, but it just won’t start. I don’t know what the problem is of course because I know nothing about combustion engines or mechanics in general. I have a parishioner who works at a different John Deere dealership. I talked to his mom yesterday and asked if he could maybe stop by my house sometime and take a look at it. I won’t take it back to my original dealership. I’ve said before that I don’t trust them and their customer service totally sucks. But they are local. In the meantime, I can slide one of my fence panels to the side and drive my other JD into the backyard and do the mowing and mulching. It’s a total pain in the wazoo but it works. i think I may just leave that fence panel open for the meantime. I will have to close it if Julie brings the pups over but other than that, it is no big deal. 

Church services went well yesterday, We are back to our separate worship services again. I really appreciated the churches allowing me to go the extra month with combined services. With the anniversary celebration at St. Lucas, it worked out well. Yesterday was World-Wide- Communion Sunday and of course we celebrated communion. We are still doing altar communion and I really like that. I think some do and some don’t. I know it is harder for some of our more elderly congregation member  to walk down the aisle but so far no one has complained. And it keeps us in a COVID-free mindset. My home church is still just using the refilled cups and it is so hard to get those things open. But, they served a purpose and still do if people want to use them. 

Time to wrap this up. I’ve been back and forth to it too many times. Now, I need to move on to something else. Have a a wonderful week. God has opened up a new chapter in the history of the world yet again today. Do your part to make the best of it. Peace. 

 A wet street with fallen leaves on it, a grey dull sky that is driveling a few rain drop, the neighbor’s deflated plastic Halloween yard decorations —- yeah, it looks like a fall day out there. But it is 70 degrees and will still climb a bit today, not that I’ll be out in it today. I have other things I need to get done, and one of those things is to reach over and grab that bagel and pop it in the toaster, and grab the Creme cheese. I do love my bagel and Creme cheese, I love them for breakfast or just for a snack. 

So yes, today is going to be a rainy day, although if it is going to9 actually rain it needs to do a bit more than it has done so far today. I was having coffee in the sunporch and I could almost count the rain drops as they fell. It certainly wasn’t bothering the guests at the Backyard Buffet. The place was full of cardinals this morning as well as several varieties of woodpeckers, goldfinches a few starlings, doves, hummingbirds, and of course a fat squirrel or two. It’s been a blessed morning out there. 

What’s on your agenda today? I need to go downstairs and finish next weeks sermon that I am working on. I have at least another page of text and a pastoral prayer to add to it. But my subject is good and I think it will flow pretty well if I just get down to it. If I get this one done, maybe I will start on the one for the 17th. I’m trying to think a few weeks ahead and come up with something to write for Advent and a Christmas presentation. So far I have been stumped. It does me no good to try to write a play because I have no players. But, I did have a a wonderful lady tell me that she would love it if I would come up with another something and that she would even take part in it. Of course, I can’t let that opportunity go by so I’ obligating myself to the task. But it is not easy. I’ve written several plays over the years that we have used at my current parish and at Zoar. I wrote a produced an Easter Play one year that they still talk about and that has been a couple of decades ago. But I think they talk about it because of the impact it made on the kids who participated in it. I still have \\\\\people tell me how much that play meant to them. But — I hope to come up with at least a dialogue for a couple of them to do. I just have to pray harder and let it flow and not force it. 

IT’s time for a fresh cup. Ms. Kate has headed to the sunporch to listen to the rain drops and I think I’ll join her. I wonder which of us will doze off first!!!!  Have a blessed weekend. Peace. 

Well, the morning is almost shot  It is 1130 already, and I just got down to my office downstairs. I was up early enough this morning to do a little more than I have but I tend to get distracted. I got my coffee and ent to the Sunporch and sat down. There were several cardinals a out there and I sat and watched them for awhile. The hummingbird is still jousting with the sweet bees for a position  or territory at the hummingbird feeders. The wrens showed up and they are always extremely cute to sit and watch and before you know, it, an hour or maybe two has gone by. 

Next, I decided to call my fellow pastor Al Schmitz. I caught him before he actually got too busy. He's a farmer and of course is in the middle of harvest; a harvest that is going extremely well for all of our local farmers by the way. But, Al was in the process of moving the combine from one field to another and has Blue Tooth connection on the machine so he can hands free talk. So we talked about our churches and how things are going in general. Al and his church have left the denomination over the liberal policies and practices of our denomination. Their explanation is that they did not leave the UCC, the UCC left them. I fully understand what he is saying. I feel it too but so far my parish is hanging in there, but if the denomination gets much more radical, well, ---- I just pray it doesn't. Unfortunately, I can see a path where the two churches decide they have had enough. But, Al and I had a great talk. Ms. Kate says I am worse than an old woman when I get to jabbering with a couple of my friends on the phone. LOL

Next it was time to shower and get cleaned up for the day and finally, I had to stop in the kitchen and divide that last piece of pie with Ms. Kate for breakfast. We had two bananas left too and I peeled one for each of us. They were perfectly ripe and ready to eat. So, I'm set until a mid or late afternoon lunch.

Yesterday we went to the churches and ran the bulletins and set the pulpits up for this Sunday. On the way up, we stopped at the local orchard and picked up a couple of bags of Golden Delicious apples so we can make a few more pies. Then on the way home we stopped at Dewig's Meat market and picked up a pork roast and some porkchops. I suspect I may be grilling some pork chops for supper this evening. I've been hungry for them. We have some sour-kraut left from the other night that would go good with the chops. I would say mashed potatoes but I want to wait and savor them with the pork-roast. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Sounds like we have Sunday dinner all planned. 

I also got my leaves raked in the back yard and got the front and back yard mowed. So now, I'm backed into the corner and I must make myself sit down and write a sermon. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Take time to stop, breathe deep, and give God thanks for another week of life and blessings. Peace.