Rain, rain, and more rain to come. But I am not complaining one bit. As I look at all of the destruction the  that Hurricane Helene has caused, and over 40 deaths so far —- our rain is merely an inconvenience. I haven’t talked to any of the local farmers so I don’t know how they feel about it. I know a lot of the crops have been brought in but there are a lot still out in the fields too. Nobody will be driving a tractor out there for a few days. I hope none of them had destructive winds that flatten the corn and make it impossible to pick up. We have seen that happen. But our rain this morning isn’t a hard rain, just slow and steady. 

Yesterday I made a pot of veggie soup and Ms. Kate made a pineapple upside down cake. Between us made some darn good fixins. I had cake for breakfast. Not a bad way to start a rainy Saturday morning. I may decide to do some reading today. I have a Stephen King that I have only started on and I have another book that I picked up from the free book table at church. I really could take some of my books and put them on the table. Maybe someone else could use them. That’s one of the problems of retiring from a profession; one collects so many books and then what do you do with them? 

It’s very quiet around the house today. Kate is snoozing in her recliner, the rain is falling gently on the roof and I think I will follow Kate’s example. I hope you have a wonderful day. I would ask that you offer prayers up for all of the millions of people that are trying to recover from this latest storm damage. It isn’t over yet and there are several major dams in danger of breaking that will cause even ore destruction. Lift them up in prayer. Peace. 

 Happy Wednesday. We are back from our weekend trip to see cousins. We had really good visiting time and got to catch up with them and their lives. We drove over on Sunday morning to Giant City State park in southern Illinois. I highly recommend you visit the park  if you are close enough and have the time. There is so much to see. It is all park of the Shawnee National Forest and there are so many trail to walk and horse-back riding, picnicking, camping, and other nature things to do. My one nephew goes over there  every year to hunt morels but won’t say exactly where he hunts them. 

We got to the lodge at 1:00 pm, and had a wonderful family style chicken dinner. I was hoping for maybe 25 folks to show up but we only had 16 folks there. But we had a good visit and hope to make this an annual event. Most everyone left around 3:30 pm and Kate and I checked into our cabin that we had rented for the night. However, when we got over to where the cabin was located, I quickly realized there as no way Kate would ever be physically able to get down to the cabin. Well, actually, she might get down to it, but she would never be able to walk back up to the parking area the next morning. So I went back to the desk, explained the situation and they were very accommodating and gave us another cabin just across the parking lot. It was simple but it fit the bill. 

Monday we met with another cousin for lunch and a nice visit and then headed to Sainte Genevieve Missouri where we were supposed to stay for two nights. Unfortunately, Kate was already feeling bad so we stayed just one night and then headed back home yesterday morning. It seems to get harder and harder to plan trips anymore because of Kate’s health. But it is, what it is. I’m just glad when we can do what we can manage. 

I guess I better quit and grab my gloves and weed eater and go take care of some yard work. I hope you have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Happy Saturday morning. I pray your weekend has started off well. We’re doing a bit of busy-body work this morning. Two loads of laundry, empty dishwasher, fix a little something to eat, put stuff away that we should have already put away; —- you know —— just stuff. 

Tomorrow we are heading to southern Illinois and possibly Missouri for a long weekend. We are going to the Heumann family get together. I’m excited to see the cousins and become a bit more acquainted with them. I really don’t know so many of them and there aren’t that many. My parents moved to Indiana when they got married. All the rest of their family remained in southern Illinois. WhenI was a kid we would go over to see the grandparents maybe once every couple of month. We’d go on a Saturday afternoon after Dad got off work and then come home Sunday afternoon after lunch. Most of the time there we spent at my maternal grandmothers house and then drop by for a couple of hours at my paternal grandparents house. So, I never really got to know my cousins at all. I am so glad that we have connected through social media and are getting to know one another. Unfortunately I already lost a couple of them. It was my intent that we have a chance to get together somewhere beside a funeral home. 

Ms. Kate and I will be staying Sunday night in one of the Bluff Cabins in Giant City State Park. Then we plan to meet with another cousin from my maternal side for lunch and have a visit. From there, we plan to go to St. Genevieve, MO and spend a couples of days. I had made reservations at a bed and breakfast for Monday and Tuesday night but we cancelled those reservations because Kate has had a rough week health wise and we didn’t want to pay for something and not use it. So, if we do decide to stay, we will just find a place. I expect it won’t be hard to do. BUt, we need to play it by ear. 

That’s it for today. Have a most blessed weekend. Take time to go to your house of worship and give thanks for a week of blessings. Take time to pray for our nation too. We need all the help we can get. Peace. 

 Happy Wednesday afternoon. It’s 2:15 pm and I’m being lazy and not going out in the 91 degree heat and 47% humidity. I certainly have enough work to do out there but it can wait. Maybe I’ll go out after the sun gets a bit lower and do a couple of things. I have to go out to take the trash out and get the garbage cans down to the street. 

This morning Ms. Kate and I went to out to our church. I needed to fill the new flag holder stands with sand. Kate and I bought some new ones because the old ones looked so bad. The new ones are made of plastic, (what isn’t these days) and you have to fill them for stability. The old one were a solid brass and were heavy as heck. But they were so old and so dull that Kate and I thought they dishonored the flags. So, with permission from the council, we bought new ones. They really look great. 

Tomorrow morning at 0830 I have a dental appointment to build a new molar on my left lower jaw. I broke a large piece of it off last week and this was as early as I could get in to my dentist. Fortunately there has been zero pain involved with the the tooth and I have been able to eat most anything. Although my right jaw is tired of doing all the work. It will be nice to have a full mouth of teeth again. 

This weekend, we are heading to Giant City State park in southern Illinois. I have put together a cousin’s reunion at lunch time at the lodge. There are so many of the extended generation that I don’t know and I only have five “first cousins” left on the Heumann side of the family. It’s important that we stay in contact.  On my mother’s side of the family, I only have three “first cousins left. The older you get, the more you lose. I’m the senior member on the Heumann side and I have a cousin , Jeanne, that is the oldest on my Mother’s side. 

That’s enough for today. Have a great day my friends. Peace

 Thursday, September 12th. It’s 2130 hours and I’m just dropping a note or two before I go to bed. We’ve had a pretty last couple of days. Yesterday our cleaning lady came so Ms. Kate and I decided to go to Nellies for breakfast. After that we decided to just go for a ride and check out the countryside and the status of the local crops. There is a Fish and Wildlife area not too far from us so we headed out that direction. We have traveled throughout that area many times when we were doing a lot of geocaching. Unfortunately we have gotten out of the habit of doing that anymore. It became more than we could do in so many ares. But, it was nice to just drive in what ever direction we wanted to. And we saw that some of the crops are already being brought in. 

Today I spent some time outside working on my azalea bushes. They had gotten so overgrown. It isn’t the right time of the year to trim them because the blooms for next year have already set. But, I went ahead and trimmed off all of the new growth. That shouldn’t hurt the plants at all. The bushes had grown enough to block a good amount of my dining room and kitchen windows. So now, I can see out the front again. There is so much to do out there still. It’s getting to be time to cut off the summer flowers and put down some mulch. The seasons are beginning to change. 

Ms. Kate is doing very well since her doctor changed a little of her medicine this week. Her heart rate has dropped to within a good rate and has stayed that way. We are both thrilled and hope we are on the right path. 

It is supposed to rain tonight and we really need it. That’s it for tonight. Have a blessed weekend if I don’t get back to you. Peace. 

 Happy Tuesday. It’s a cool morning and I love those kind. The sun is shining so the day is gonna be an okay day. 

The second pot of coffee is brewing. For some reason Ms. Kate has suddenly taken to drinking more than one cup of coffee, I think it is the new flavored creamer I bought her. But, once or twice a week we might go through two or maybe even three pots a day. I can drink coffee all day long and it doesn’t bother me in the least. Most folks I talk to say they cut off their coffee at noon or it keeps them awake. I’ve never had that problem. (I tell Kate it’s because I keep a clean conscience.) 

I worked outside yesterday for about three and a half hours. Spent all of it in the back yard working. There is so much to do. I need to get back out there today and work in another area. I also need to fill the bird baths. They are dry. And we aren’t looking for rain until at least Friday. I see the squirrels have knocked over the electric bird bath again. At least I’m assuming it was them. They get easier to tip when they are almost empty. I bought a new electrified bird bath but it didn’t come with a tall stand. So, I called Brenda and asked her if they would bring me a log from their woods that they are cleaning up. I wanted one two feet high by 18 inches in diameter to sit the new bird bath in. They brought it over Sunday afternoon and it is one heavy piece of wood. One side of it os level and the other side is not so I need to excavate around it a bit to make it level. I also have mounted the frame to the log in a semi permanent manner so the critters can’t drag it off. The stuff I go through to keep the Backyard Buffet up and running. I only plug in the bird baths after the weather gets to a point of freezing. I’m not running a year around spa for them. 

I broke off the back half of a molar last night. Luckily there is no pain involved because I can’t get in to my dentist until the 19th of the month. I don’t know if it is going to cost me a new crown or what. 

Today, I have to take Ms. Kate in for an ECG again. Her hearty rhythm has been running over 118 for a couple of weeks again. She says she feels okay but it is troubling just the same. So, the doctor wants to make sure she isn’t in AFIB again. Hopefully not because the next plan of attack was to be an ablation. We don’t want to start through all of that stuff again.

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

 Happy Thursday , September 5th.. It has been a lovely week so far. We started off with some really nice weather and no today we are back to heat and humidity. Tomorrow we are predicted to maybe have some rain and we certainly could use it. Although, as far as I’m concerned, the growing season is over. Yesterday I pulled up six of my nine tomato plants. The other three are hanging on by a thread. They have a couple of small green tomatoes on them and I want to give them a chance to mature and ripen. There are no blooms on the plants anymore so what I see is what I’ll get. 

Yesterday I filled bird feeders once again and cleaned up the bird baths. They were pretty rank. One was completely dry and the eater had some water in it but it was filthy with leaves and bird crap in it. The birds don’t seem to care how dirty the water may be. They drink it, bathe in it, poop in it and play in it. Obviously it doesn’t affect them nor can they taste it. 

Ms. kate and I went to get haircuts today. I go to her hairdresser. She does a good job and costs the same as if I went to a barber. And it keeps me from driving across town. She always books us back to back to it works out well. Unlike my garden, my hair seems to have entered the “growing season”. I had my hair cut three weeks ago and by the next week it was already touching my ears and I hate that.  

Ms. Kate is doing very, very well. Her medicine changes etc have really helped her. We’re actually getting to go places now. No doubt in my mind that God has made it all possible and all of the prayers for her during the last two years have worked. I getting ready to run to the pharmacy to pick up some medicine for her in a few moments. Maybe I’ll reward myself with a Dairy Queen on the way back home. 

I fixed breakfast this morning fr a champagne. Kate has gotten back to cooking most of the meals but I decided I wanted to make a couple of sausage patties and some scrambled eggs so I offered to do the cooking. Kate didn’t want sausage, (she’s not really a fan) but she like my scrambled eggs so she went with that. 

Time to get in traffic and head to the pharmacy before the close. Have a blessed day. Peace.