A bright and sunny morning to you. It’s 8:30 in the morning, it’s a cloudless morning so far and is 75 degrees going up to 93 today. Of course with the rain yesterday and the drying out today the humidity is going to be miserable. We have an excessive heat advisory for today and tomorrow already going. 

I have a back yard full of downed branches from my poplar trees so I need to get out there early and start on those. The heat of the day would not be a good time to be out there. I have all the equipment I need to do it so it is just a matter of getting out there. I hope the ground is not too sloppy. I need to pull my trash can around back and if it is sloppy, I can’t do that. I want to get the stuff all done before the next round of storms comes in; —— which may be this afternoon yet. Hopefully they won’t have the wind that yesterday’s storms did. There was a lot of damage in the Tri-state area from the storms yesterday. But as I said last night, I give praise to God for the beneficial rain we received. 

This morning though, first thing, we have to try to put in our order to Sam’s Club. Ms. Kate is just sitting down beside me to do that so I’m out of here. Have a great Friday. Peace. 

 What a day this has been. We have had storms and rain all day long. The entire Tri-state area got hit pretty hard. But praise the Lord no tornadoes and so far I have only heard of one injury. A mobile home was blown apart and a man was trapped inside of the debris. Up in Gibson County where my churches are, I was told by one parishioner that they had 3.5 inches of rain today. I don’t know how much we got here because when our power went out my weather gauge quit. Bummer. I’m watching the news right now and I reckon the weather dude will tell us how much we got at the airport which is just a mile from here. 

We haven't done much else today other than sit around and watch the storms. But, we did have a highlight of our day. Our neighbor, Minh, came over in the middle of a heavy rain carrying a bunch of egg rolls that she had made and a dish full of pineapple and cantaloupe, Minh (she's Vietnamese) makes the best egg rolls of any one that I know and we always feel so blessed when she shares. But, -- to bring them over in the middle of a rainstorm ---- like ,who does that??? And she wasn't even using an umbrella. She just puts on her little straw hat and here she comes, -- still in her pajamas of all things. I offered her an umbrella but she said "no". We had them for supper and they were delicious. 

It is now a quarter to nine at night and the storms are still rolling through on and off. BUt -- I give all praise to God for the rain. We really needed it. 

Have a blessed night. Peace. 

 Here we are on “Hump Day” again. (I miss the camel commercial. Hump Daaaaay!) It is bright and sunny and 76 degrees  out there but I’m not going out except to take the mail out to the box and later go retrieve the new mail. The air looks hazy today because of smoke coming down from another round of fires all the way up in Canada. So, there is an air quality alert for all of us but those of us that are asthmatic really need to pay attention to it. By tomorrow the air should be a little cleaner but then we have an excessive heat alert for the next two days with scattered thunderstorms. It is not a fun week weather-wise. 

I finished up my lesson plan for the Job Bible study yesterday afternoon. It will be interesting to see how this study goes. I know that people were interested in the subject a few weeks ago when they were discussing Job in Sunday school. But by now they may have cooled off and or moved on to other matters and interests. I reckon we’ll see. Regardless, it isn’t waisted time because I learned some things in the process of creating the lesson plan. I will say though, the object of the study was to determine if we believed Job was real person or if we thought the story was an allegory. I contend it is an allegory and my study did not convince me otherwise and might have even convinced me further that I’m right. Nor as it a waste of time because we should all study our Bible and question the reasoning for our beliefs. It provides a much stronger footing for our faith. 

Ms. Kate is still in the healing process. Her radiated area continues to heal but the peeling itch’s her and then the freshly peeled skin areas are painful. She still isn’t to the point of wearing a bra and that also means she still isn’t at the point of leaving the house. I keep telling her no one would notice or care if they did notice. But —— she feels how she feels. I just hope she heals quickly. She is doing all the right things to help the process. I will say that she must be doing better though because she no longer needs me to put her cremes on her. We’ll take any bit of progress we can get. 

That’s it for today. I haven’t decided if I am going to take today off or go ahead one work on some ore services. As long as it is indoors, who cares. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Good morning on this beautiful Tuesday morning. I hope you had a successful night with good rest and dreams. 

My day is going to be simple. I am going to finish up the lesson plan for my Bible study on Job today. I have a great book by David Pratte that I am building (I should say stealing from) it on. He certainly says a lot more about the scriptures than I could. I could just use his book but it is so in-depth that I went through and have developed the study on what I think are his most important points. The lessons behind the book of Job are pretty straight forward  and I hope we get some really good discussion. My biggest problem with the Book of Job is that it is really repetitive to the point of sometimes being monotonous. I think a lot of people get “worn out” reading it before they finish, and then they miss the point of the book. I have yet to get together with Julie, who is co-teaching this course with me. Or I should say, I am co-teaching it with her. I really want her to take lead because she is so good. 

Other than that, I’m not planning on doing much of anything because we have another air quality alert in effect. I would love to go up to one of the farm stands and get a cantelope or a watermelon. I have been hungry for watermelon. Ms. Kate is going to fix some vegetable soup today. Sounds silly for a summer day but I love soup all year long. And I know she will make enough for several more meals. She does not like “leftovers” but vegetable soup only gets better with time.. 

That’s it. Have a wonderful day. Stay cool and out of the air. Peace. 

 Happy new week! It’s been a few days, but they have been full days. Can you believe it is the 26th of June already. Another month almost caulked off and a half of a year almost caulked off too. 

It’s another sunny morning and as people do —- we’re all griping because it is another sunny day. We need rain. Yesterday at church people were chiding me about not doing my job and “taking to the big guy” because they need rain on their crops. I told them like I always tell them, I’m in sales, not production. Actually several places did get some rain yesterday but it came with storms and hail. That’s not what they were looking for. We were under a severe thunderstorm threat and a tornadoes watch most of the afternoon. But nothing happened here at our place. However, not so far away in eastern Indiana they did have tornadoes. It’s Somme crazy weather this summer. 

We had a good crowd at Church yesterday. Summer does tend to take people way. I suspect that this coming Sunday will be poorly attended because it will be 4th of July weekend and people will be out on the road. But, we take what we get and be thankful for it. I can’t say I blame people for trying to get away and see places and visit friends. 

My daughter Heather and hubby John bought me the coolest Father’s Day/Birthday present. It is a solar powered, bird feeder with a wireless camera in it so I can watch the birds from inside the house or catalytic from anywhere. My Apple Watch goes off every time the camera senses motion and will take a video of what ever bid is eat in from the feeder. Yesterday morning I had not yet put the camera on its pole upside and it was sitting in the sunporch. It was turned on to record motion. So —- while I was giving my sermon yesterday I kept getting notifications and was watching every time one of the kids went through my sunporch. Today I’ve been getting several alerts but it is only the wind blowing the hydrangeas in the background. It is a awesome gift. Julie got the technical portion all set up for me and linked it to my phone for which I am grateful. She and Jim came over Saturday to celebrate Father’s Day with me a week late. She gave me a new IU shirt which received many good comments yesterday at church. 

Today, I will be getting back to Job and working on the Bible study. I’ll be glad when I get my prep done and we can actually get started on the course. 

That’s it for today. Have a wonderful week. Finish up the month of June with smiles on your faces and love in your heart. Peace. 

 Hello Thursday, my old friend. Seems like we get together every week. I’m glad you brought sunshine and a little cooler temperature with you. It’s only going to about 81 degrees today but now it is only 73. So, I think I will grab my weed eater and get some trimming done and then I guess I will jump on the JD and mow some grass. Mine is a bit shaggy and looking over at Dan’s yard, his needs cutting too. It has been hot enough that the grass hasn’t grown much, but that doesn’t stop the weeds. 

All of my bird feeders are empty so it is time for me to refill them. So after I get my other stuff done, I reckon that will be my job to do. I also have to water the tomatoes and a couple of new flowers. Truthfully, I could spend all day out side today getting stuff done. It would do me good. I’ve been so busy with working on church stuff that I have hardly been out of my chair.

We went to the church yesterday and ran the bulletins and did the stuff we needed to do. It’s dawning on us that tis year is passing quickly. This Sunday is the last weekend of June which means that the year will be half over. That means I only have a half of a year of employment left before I actually retire. That means only twenty six worship services to prepare, twenty six more sermons to write. Lord willing, I’ll have no more funerals to do and I don’t have any weddings or baptisms on the calendar. So, my job is really winding down. The question looms large tough —- what am I going to do post-retirement. I don’t know. 

Them weeds aren’t going to trim themselves so I better give the a hand. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Aaannnddd — it’s Wednesday already. So, Happy Wednesday, ‘Hump Day”, Mid-week, what ever you want to call it. For me, — it’s go run bulletins day. It’s also “cleaning lady day”. Kari came today and is busy doing what she does to make our place looked clean and tidy. I am so very glad that we hired her. She comes every other week, which is often enough, and does the vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, and clans the bathrooms. She is well worth every penny. Ms. Kate and I just can’t get down and do all of the cleaning like she does. I know it seems like an extravagance and may seems like we’re just being lazy but there comes a point when sometimes you just go ahead and do stuff. With Kate’s health it was necessary that she have some help and I’m always working it seems. 

The plumbers came yesterday and they looked and looked and figured and figured on what could be the problem causing all of that noise. Finally, they found a valve that was turned half off, (I have no idea how or why) and once they turned it fully on, the vibration problem went away. So “Moaning Myrtle” has been banished back to the halls of Hogsworth. 

I’ve been working hard on my Job Bible study trying to get all of my notes in order. I still have a month before we start but there is so much to do to try to make sure I know what I will be talking about. It will be a six week Bible study and I have only finished the first two weeks. Lot’s to read and make notes on yet. 

Okay, I’m now in Kari’s way so I’m dropping off. Have a wonderful “Hump Daaaaay”. Peace. 

 Good Tuesday morning to you. I hope you had a restful night and are bright and chippy to meet the last day of Spring. It’s 74 degrees and we’re expecting periods of rain on and off today. We can still use it. At the moment it is cloudy but I wouldn’t call it “looking like rain”. 

“Well, it’s always something” as people say. We have a plumbing mystery. We have a loud, and I mean LOUD moan and groan in our water pipes. We have been noticing it for some time and even had the plumbers out to take a look and listen to it. Of course the sound didn’t replicate while they were here and they check water pressure etc but couldn’t find anything wrong. Well, that gremlin is a full time guest now. It used to be that we would hear it once in a while. Now we hear it every time. Last night it was so loud that it was literally vibrating the floor. I’m worried that a water pipe is going to blow up. So, I have called Bud’s plumbing once again and they are going to send a technician out in a few minutes. Even if the sound doesn’t duplicate, I have two recording of it. 

Ms. kate is still having pain with her radiated area. The sulfadeen Creme helps some. It area “looks better”  but what do I know. Looks don’t hurt, skin does. Hopefully she can get past this in the next few days. Unfortunately, it is following the pattern that her doctor said would happen. When they tell you things like that though, we always hope that maybe we will be spared. But was not to be. It just means we’ll more appreciate feeling better when it does quit. 

I got a lot of work done on my Bible study lesson plan last night and will get a bunch more done today. We have ordered a dozen study books and they should be here on Saturday. Job is an interesting study and addresses the question of why would God let good people suffer. Note I didn’t say that it answers the question —- but it certainly addresses it and gives a person something to consider. We start the Bible study on the 16th of July so I need to get it done. 

Okay,, the plumber is scheduled to arrive soon so I’m out of here. Enjoy your Tuesday. Peace. 

 Let's start a new week off , shall we? This is the week that Summer officially begins. That means the year is moving by rather quickly doesn't? Some one said to me yesterday, it will be Christmas before you know it; and they are right. I was taken aback for a second yesterday at church when an announcement was made about one of our mission projects and they were talking about January and February needs, --- and I suddenly thought --- "I won't be here when that happens." My timeline is counting down. But, it's all good and there is a lot for me to do before New Years Eve when I give my last sermon. That's assuming that they have not found my replacement before that. 

We had rain last night. I don't know exactly how much but my weather gauge says just about a quarter of an inch. We needed it and I bet my tomatoes are happy once again. I got them all weeded and now they have water so those green maters on the vine need to turn red. I'm ready for one. 

We had a good service yesterday. The attendance was pretty good for a Father's Day. There were some families out of course taking dad out for trips and camping and all of that kind of stuff. That's what happens on Father's Day. On Mother's Day the church is crowded because everyone that can wants to have church service with their mom. 

It was sure a blessing to get up this morning and know that Ms. Kate did not have to go to a radiation treatment. She is feeling a tad bit better and we expect that will improve throughout the week. We are both ready to get her back on her feet totally. There are things that she wants to do that she simply doesn't feel well enough to do and she is longing to get back in the saddle, as they say. 

That's it for today. I hope you have a wonderful week. Peace

 Just dropping by for a Saturday “Hi!” 

It’s been a busy day around here even though it is a weekend. First thing this morning we had a fellow come by to wash all of our windows inside and out. We try to get him at least once a year. He’s hard to get because he is busy from kids Spring through Fall. He does a wonderful job, is quick and not all that expensive. We have 22 windows in our house and he only charged $180.00. It beats me getting on and off of ladders aand working my way in and around bushes. And the windows look sooooo goooood!

Yesterday I finally did get out there and took care of the weeds in my tomato garden and my asparagus patch. Then yesterday evening I watered everything very good. It looks great out there again and if tomatoes smile —- I reckon mine are. LOL

We have the earnest thing going on with out Tulip Poplar trees. My trees are a minimum of 50 feet tall and they truly shade the entire back yard. But this year it seem that the aphids are especially bad and they are drawn to Tulip Poplar trees. As they eat the sap of the trees, they excrete a sticky stuff that is called “Honey Dew”. It drips off of the leaves onto everything below it and makes a sticky mess. There isn’t anything to do about it except wait until the aphids move on, which they will in a couple of weeks. BUt is is a pain in the butt. In the mean time, we walk in “bug-poop”. Yuk. 

I did the grocery shopping this morning while the window guy was here. We we are re-stocked up on the essentials. The rest of the day I am spending working on the Book of Job Bible study we are going to do in July. Job is a tough book to break down. 

So, you go enjoy some sunshine and don’t forget to attend your house of worship this weekend. Peace. 

 It is a wonderful thing to know that I don’t have to take Kate to the radiation treatment today or hopefully ever again. She has a follow-up appointment in a month so her radiologist can check her healing progress. We waited around the house yesterday until late afternoon for Walgreens to call that her medicine was ready for pick-up. It is a cream that has antibiotics in it called Silvadeen. I think I told you yesterday that as predicted, the skin in the treatment area was starting to “split”, kind of like a burst blister. By the time we got her medication she was really hurting. But once I applied it she was getting much relief within about 30 minutes. We need to apply it twice a day as long as she needs it which I suspect will be a couple of weeks. The jar of cream is supposed to be a 30 day supply. But —- she had a really good night’s sleep last night, the first one in many days. It has been nice sitting around the house this morning knowing we don’t have to rush to a doctor’s appointment or anything else this morning. It has been five weeks since we could do that. 

BUt I do have to get dressed and go up to St. Lucas this morning. I think I left my “flash-drive” up there. It only has everything I do church-wise on it. I didn’t even realize it until last night which just tells me that I’m starting to get a little behind if I haven’t written anything since Monday. So, I guess I will get dressed and run up to the church. I need to go buy Goodwill and drop off some stuff for donation today too so I will make it all in one run. I hope that flash drive is there, I would hate to have misplaced it somewhere. I hve made a back-up of it but have not undated it in a few weeks. I have been through total loss of files once and I never want to do that again. I had a computer crash on me and lost everything and had to start over. It was not pleasant to say the least. 

I reckon that’s it for today. Have a pleasant weekend. It is Father’s Day weekend. If you are lucky enough to still have your father alive —- give him some love. Peace. 

 Thursday June 15th!! We have been counting down the calendar days for five weeks to get to their day. Today was Kathy’s last radiation appointment. She got her certificate and rang the bell!. Now, to let the treatment area start healing. Last night it finally started “splitting” just like they predicted. We are waiting on Walgreens to call and let me know that they have filled her prescription for Silvadeen ointment to put on that. I’m just glad that the area won’t be assaulted anymore. Dr Ishihara says that she will go through a week of it getting worse before it gets better but once it starts healing, it should heal quickly. 

After her treatment we went to the Donut Bank to pick up some goodies. I ordered three Bavarian Creme donuts and four “Tiger Tail” donuts. When opened the box on the ay home and they had shorted me one of the Tiger Tails. I went in and told them and they gave me three more for my inconvenience. 

So now, I’m just waiting for a text. I have a meeting that I am invited to but I think I will just not go to the meeting because I want to be here when the pharmacy calls and go get her medicine. 

Sometime today I promised myself that I will get out there and attack some garden weeds. Just too many things going on to get the things I need to do; you know what I mean. So with that, I’ll drop off. Peace. 

 Happy Wednesday. It is a happy Wednesday because Ms. Kate has only one more treatment to go. Today she had her weekly radiation doctor visit and he said everything is on track. She will see him again in a month so he can check her skin and healing from the treatments. Unfortunately he also said that she is going to feel worse for the first week after her treatment ends. I don’t know why that is. But all of this is coming to a close and we will both be very glad. 

We of course went for breakfast after she finished up today. We went back to the Friendship Diner. We really like that place. I told Kate that they are going to miss us. She said well maybe we will have to go back once a week or so. I’m good with that. 

The technician did get our keyboard fixed yesterday at the church. That keyboard is almost 30 years old so a person can expect thing to go wrong with it. I’m just glad it could be repaired. As I told you, there are no spare parts anymore so thankfully Dave had bought up a lot of parts when he heard that the company was not going to be making that model any more. It was good thinking on his part. 

I need to get out in the garden today and do some weed control around my tomatoes. The ground should be loose enough to work and the temperature today is going t be fairly pleasant. After I’m done, I’ll water the garden again and maybe mix in some Miracle Gro fertilizer. 

That’s it for today. I pray your day is blessed. Peace. 

 Good morning, time flies when you are having fun I reckon. Although I don’t remember having all that much fun. 

It’s a beautiful morning albeit a bit cool at 58 degrees. The sun is shining and we are going up to 81 before the day is over. It’s going to be another busy day for me. This morning of course we start our day by taking Ms. Kate for her radiation treatment. Praise the Lord, she only has three treatments left so Thursday will be her last one. I am so glad and I hope the discomfort that she is going through now will dissipate when her body is no longer being assaulted with a “ray gun”. By now her affected area looks like brown shoe leather. I don’t know if that will ever change and if it doesn’t ——- who cares as long as there is no pain involved. It’s isn’t like she wears a lot of cute little halter tops or things like that. 

After treatment we will go for breakfast some where. We went to Friendship Diner yesterday morning. It’s a great place. Today maybe we’ll go to Nellies again or maybe we will simply go by Donut Bank and pick up some sinful goodies and come home. It all depends on how she feels. 

I started to write yesterday but when I pulled up Blogger.com I saw that I had not actually posted my blog on Saturday. I had written it, but had not posted it. So, I just let that suffice for the day and hit “post”. I have no idea why I didn’t post it on Saturday. I probably got distracted by something. Old people do that you know. 

I have to go to the churches today. I told you there was a problem with the keyboard at St. Paul’s. We were able to use it on Sunday but today Dave Lundy, the technician, is coming up to try to fix it. Hopefully he has the parts to do it. Dave and I go way, way back. We went to high school together and I had a five piece  band in those days. He played the base fiddle in it. We had him on base fiddle, Dave Elfrich on drums, Russ Howard on guitar, Dennis Cullman on piano, and me in the trumpet. We called ourselves “The Personalities”. We were actually pretty good and got booked for a lot of wedding receptions and high school reunions etc. Those were good times. Of the five, Russ still plays regularly as a solo artist and I still play once in a while for church. It’s harder all the time though as I get older and the lungs and the lip are pretty much shot. Anyway —— while Dave is working on the keyboard, I’ll run the bulletins for Sunday’s service. I usually do that on Wednesday as you know but no need to be wasting time and making double trips. 

Ms. Kate is dressed and ready to go so I’m out of here. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Good morning on a nice Saturday morning. I call it a nice Saturday morning because we don’t have to take Ms. Kate to an appointment today. She gets two days off before she has to go back. And then —- she only has four more treatments to go. I really glad because the impacted area is really giving her trouble now. We expected it to happen but that doesn’t make it feel any better. I was looking at it last evening and it really looks like it might be sore. So, hopefully this will take care of the cancer and we’ll never have to deal with anything like this again. 

 It is a nice bright and sunny morning and the temperature is 66 degrees. I just checked with Accuweather and it says that the air quality is “fair” so maybe it will be okay to go outside and do a few things. We thought that Julie was coming over today but they changed their mind and will come in a couple of weeks. So today I need to fill the bird feeders and depending on my breathing —- I have a couple of limbs that I need to take off of the Pussy Willow tree just outside of the sunporch door. That is really going to confuse and honk off the squirrels because they set on those two limbs to eat my sunflower seeds from the bird feeders. They will figure it out pops course but they ain’t going to be happy and will probably sit in the fork of that tree and stare at me. They do that when I let “their feeder” get empty. 

If I don’t go outside, then I guess I will head to the basement and work on doing some writing. Whatever e do today — it is just good to have a change in the routine. 

So I think that is all I have this morning. It is the weekend and that means that tomorrow is Sunday and it is “church day”. I hope you will take the opportunity to attend your particular house of worship. I always say that as much as God does for us every minute of very day, the least we can do is spend an hour a week in worship of Him. Peace. 

 Thursday, — another week coming to a close. We of course started our day off with our morning trip to the Oncology clinic. This adventure has not been without challenges for Kate but we are down to five more treatments. Praise the Lord. The after affects have caused her some discomfort but nothing that wasn’t manageable with the creams and Tylenol as required. We just give thanks every day that she will not require chemo. I feel for those folks that have to go through that. We have a young mother from church that has to go through so very much more; Chemo, radiation,, and a double mastectomy. So, Kate feels guilty even complaining about anything. And, we have lost several friends to cancer. So again, all praise to God. 

The air sucks again today. Half of the country is sucking in bad air because of the jet stream flowing down from Canada where they have massive wild fires burning. We seldom have anything like this in our part of the country. My daughter Heather goes through this frequently because she lives in Southern California. Kate and i have lived there and experienced the smoke particulates floating in the air. We are supposed to be getting rain this weekend and that will wash the sky and air. I need to mow my grass today, but if I do, I’m certainly going to put on a mask to be outside. The weather other than that is perfect so it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. But then, would I just be adding to the bad air??? I need to think on that. 

That’s it for this beautiful day. I pray your day will be fully blessed. Peace. 

 Hello to you on a warm, ozone warning Tuesday afternoon. I've been down here working in my office most of the afternoon. I've been putting together worship services and working on sermons in order to get ahead just a little. I hope to get two or three services ahead so I can work on the Bible Study on Job. Old Job just kind of sits there on the corner of my desk, looking at me as if to say -- "Ya' got a lot of work to do here, Bud!"

I may have told you that I'm working on a sermon series. I am anxious to work on the last  sermon of the series because I have a lot of things that I want to include in it, but --- I got to do them in order, although I do have the actual worship services all done for them. 

We of course started our day off by going to the radiology clinic. Kate now has only seven more treatments to do. I'm so proud of her. The effects of the radiation are starting to be more visible now as was predicted by the doctor. " Her radiation "suntan" has become quite visible and the treatment area grow a bit more sore now with each treatment. But -- she is a trooper and doesn't complain too much. She has creams that she is supposed to use to help with all of that and they do help some. We just thank God that this will not be followed up by chemotherapy. This all could have been so very much worse. 

After treatment today we stopped at Sam's Club and filled the tank up with gas. Gas was $3.09 a gallon today and I as getting a little low. From there we went to the Friendship Diner for breakfast. We really like that place. The food is really good, the portions are huge, and the service is described by it name: Friendship. It id definitely a "locals" place as the waitresses know many of the customers by their first name. I like a place like that. And Ms. Kate and I are the right age to fit in with the clientele. Once Ms. Kate finishes up with her treatments, I doubt we will be going out to breakfast like we do now. It will be back to the occasional bagel or something else like that. But --- breakfast out has been a nice reward for both of us. I'm a sucker for a Veggie Skillet with extra white gravy on it. 

I spent a bunch of time on the computer with the VRBO site looking for a family reunion site for June of 2024. I added the family up and we will have 23 people if everyone makes it. We'll round up to 24 and invite Kate's sister Karen along. I found a place in Kentucky, just south of Lexington that will really work for us and the price is too good to be true. I sent the link to all of the family and asked for a quick turnaround as to approval of place and dates. I don't want to lose this place and if I wait too long, it will be gone for sure. 

That's it --- Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. Peace. 

 Good afternoon. I’m just dropping through today to say “hi”. It has been a busy morning so far. Ms. Kate and I got up early this morning and went out to work on trimming the azealias. We managed to get the two in front of the kitchen and dining room done. I can see out of the kitchen window for the first time in months. I didn’t get the ones in front to the living room done. It got too warm and I got tired. And —- my hedge trimmer started giving out on me. I have no idea why. It acted as if the battery was dying but since it is an electric —- that can’t be it. I may end up getting a new one. That’s what Amazon is for isn’t it. If I get a new one, I’ll probably buy a WORX product. I really like those products. 

I got my garden watered and watered a couple of peonies that were looking sad. Kate received a new geranium at the oncology facility yesterday and I need to get that put in a pot because it is a nice looking plant. She says I have a half bag of potting soil out in the garage so I’ll look for that and get the plant put in. I need to go to Lowes and get a couple of tomato cages , I never did get around to that and all of a sudden they tomatoes are really growing. One of my plants has four tomatoes on it and the others are blooming well. Also my potatoes are blooming. We have decided to let the asparagus go to seed. We had a lot of eating from it this year. But I think we are “asparagused out”. I think I’m going to pull up the rest of the radishes too. They produced well but they were hot to the taste.

Time to stand in front of an open refrigerator and decide what I want to eat. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Happy Friday on a scorching 92 degree afternoon. The air is wonky again today so I don’t want to be going outside. I have the news on right now and the weather guy said to expect the same thing again tomorrow. Not a good thing. 

We took Ms. Kate for her radiation treatment first thing again today. Instead of waiting for her like I always do, I dropped her off and went to Donut Bank and picked up a dozen pastries. It is “National Donut” Day and I had to do my part. LOL As of today she only has nine more treatments. She is handling it well. Despite certain amounts of discomfort we just continue to be thankful. 

We came home from treatment for a couple of hours and then went to St. Joe Inn for lunch with friends. It’s been a long time since we were able to coordinate a lunch. They are crop farmers and raise hogs too. So, getting them to slow down is a trick. But it was a nice lunch and lots of good conversation. 

We still haven’t gotten the azealias trimmed back but Kate and I are determined to get up tomorrow morning before it gets too hot and at least get some of it done. I’ll want to do my watering then too. I need to water before the sun gets too high. It just parboils the plants if you water during the heat of the day. 

That’s it for today. Have a great night. Peace. 

 Good morning. Yes, I’m back. It’s been a busy couple of days and today will be no different. I’m up early today because I had to get out and water the garden and a couple of plants that were looking very sad and dry. We haven’t had rain in a week and things have really dried out. And —- it appears we don’t have any rain in the forecast either. There was a weak weather front that went through and some folks did get some scattered showers, but none here. Now the forecast is calling for temperatures up to 90 degrees. So, an early morning rising to water is on the menu. 

Actually I’m not up much earlier tan normal anyway because Ms. Kate still has her 0900 radiation treatments for another couple of weeks. She has 15 treatments done and ten more to go. Bless her little heart, She and I will both be glad when this protocol is done. It continues to increasingly bother her. Although she hasn’t developed the “sunburn effect” yet that the doctor said might happen. But the breast itches and it sporadically gives her pain. I pray it doesn’t get any worse and yet we are both thankful that it isn’t any worse than it is. God is good and God has this. We have several friends that have cancer or have recently had treatments for cancer and their cancer was far worse than Kathy’s. Thank God that we caught hers extremely early and her surgery while certainly not fun; —- could have been so very much worse. She will be the first to tell you that no woman likes to get their mammogram done; —— hers saved her life. So ladies, —- get your mammograms!!!!!

I sat down last evening to work on my sermon for the 11th of June. The lectionary gave me scriptures that talk about the call of Abram by God. I had no idea what I was doing to write about but got to reading Genesis 12:1-9 and it suddenly clicked and now I think I’ve come up with a plan for a four part sermon series. Who’d a thunk it? But, sometimes it happens like that. I just pray I don’t lose the momentum because it has the prospects of being a good series. And while I was reading and researching that — I found some information to go with the Bible study on Job. I love it when God drops seeds to plant. 

I went to the Good Samaritan Home yesterday and conducted a worship service for them. I do that a few times a year. The chaplain there relies on volunteers from the local churches, especially the UCC churches since the home is a UCC facility. But, —- that is changing as of the 31st of June. It has been bought and will be managed by a private health care organization. I don’t know what lies in store for them from a religious services perspective. 

Time to get my lady put the door and on the way to hr appointment. Have a blessed day. Peace.