It is another excellent morning. Warm breezes are blowing already this morning and the sun is shining brightly. The clouds, however, are beginning to move in. We are supposed to have rain on and off for the next few days. But --- its all good because God is good.

We got out yesterday and bought seven tomato plants as well as cucumbrr and I think squash plants. I planted the tomatos last evening but need to work up the ground to put the rest of the plants in. I also need to get the yard mowed today and I will go across the street and mow Dan's yard. He has torn up his knee so, I'll help him out. I had to buy a battery for the John Deere yesterday. That wasn't cheap.

The flower patterns are changing again around here. The azelias are in full bloom and probably at about half way through their cycle. The iris are starting to bloom really nicely as are the poppies. The peonies are full of buds and I cut my first rose for Ms. Kate yesterday. My raspberries are really full too, but the asparagus is about done I think. The spirea and the snowball bushes are blooming well too. I love spring because we just go from beautiful thing to another. It won't be too many weeks and the knockout roses will be blooming and their blooms last all summer.

I have two squirrels out there this morning. I think we must have a new young squirrel who hasn't learned to be afraid of us yet.  It is smaller than most of the others and just sits there even if I'm in the yard. I thought yesterday I was going to have to literally grab him to get him off of the birdfeeder. I was that close to him. My sister-in-law, Karen, had the same experience with it earlier in the day. It is time to teach it some BB lessons.

I add to my prayers this morning the mother of one of my parishioners. Her daughter told us last nightthatbher mother has been diagnosed with ALS. What a shame. It is a horrible dibilitating disease and so often the patients go through many months of their condition killing them a little bit at a time. The family will need many prayers for strength before the end comes.

I refuse to end a blog on a downer note, so I'll once again offer up my prayers of gratitude for all of my blessings. It would do me no good to try to count them, there is no number for all of them and my math sucks anyway. Have a wonderful day. Smile at a stranger today and make their life better too.

It must be an excellent morning for baths. The Robin and the Blackbirds have been taking turns in the birdbaths this morning. In between their baths, the Cardinals and the squirrels have come for a drink from the same birdbaths and I think "ewww!"

It is 65° this morning, and I'm up earlier than I want to be, although most people who have regular jobs are already at work. I just have the luxury of not having to do that any more. I set my own hours and always get my work done. Usually I work through the evening and afternoon. I guess maybe I'm a "second shift worker" at heart because that is when my writing juices seem to flow best. I'm not getting ahead any though like I need to. We have vacation coming up in about three weeks and there are things I need to do so as to not get behind. So, --- I need to pump up the pressure a bit.

The Mockingbird is singing its heart out this morning. He must be trying to attract a mate. Except for the occasional trip through the feeders for a bite, it hasn't stopped singing for at least a half an hour. Of course it could be that there is more than one and they are competing. There is so much wonderful birdsong out there this morning it is hard to tell. I have several Cardinals out here this morning chasing one another around. They flit here and there quickly, flying at one another like a game of tag. I don't know if it is courtship or a territory dispute. I just sit back and enjoy it all.

Julie, Jim, and the pupperonis are coming this afternoon. I think this morning we need to go get some tomato plants and get them in the ground. We were hoping to get some plants from a friend but he called last evening and said he was having bad luck with them. So, I need to find another source. It isn't a matter not not finding any, --- we just had a certain variety in mind that we like and we had hoped to buy a few plants from him. I reckon we'll re-think the situation. Flexibility is the key to aerospace power!  The yard needs to be mowed but I'll wait until tomorrow. That way the pups won't track in fresh cut grass.

My coffee cup is empty and since I have to get up to get more I might as well sign off for this morning. I hope you have a day full of blessings, and I hope you will take time to give thanks to God for them.

May God's peace rule your heart today.

I'm back on my porch once again, cup of coffee at my side, enjoying the beauty of my back yard and the singing of the birds. Life is as it should be, peaceful and tranquil.

We did enjoy our little overnight excursion to French Lick. After we checked out around 11:00 a.m.. we decided to head on over to Louisville, KY. Ms. Kate wanted to eat at PF Chang for lunch. In fact, she has been hungry for it and talking about it for two weeks. So --- what's better than a 110 mile side trip for lunch!  Lunch was excellent and we got home around 3:00 in the afternoon. Then, I had this week's sermon to rewrite. I finished up around midnight. I had written one already but I asked Kate to read it because I wasn't sure I was saying what I wanted to say. She read it and said it was very confusing to her, so I tore it up and started all over. It happens that way sometimes. My thoughts get tangled up in my fingers and lost before they reach the computer screen. Thank God for allowing men to invent the computer. I can'imagine doing all the writing I do with a typewriter or worse, a pencil.

It is to be another beautiful day today with temperatures in the upper eighties. Unfortunately, I will spend the majority of it down in my office working on next week's services. I cold bring my laptop computer out here on the porch and work but I know myself well enough to realize I would spend my looking outside and not working. Besides, all my reference and research material is down there. So --- off to the dungeon I'll go; after another cup of coffee, or maybe two.

There aren't a lot of birds out here this morning. Some days it is that way. The good news it that we had a Hummingbird back again this morning. It didn't stay long, but once they know the feeders are available they usually come back on a regular basis.

Julie, Jim and the pupperonis are coming over tomorrow. St. Lucas is holding the annual Mother / Daughter banquet tomorrow evening. Ms. Kate and Julie will attend that while Jim and I watch the dogs chase squirrels here at the house.

I give God thanks again this morning for my life and all of my totally undeserved blessings. I have so very much for which to be grateful. I hope you feel as blessed today as I do. If you do, share your happiness with some one else. I'm sharing mine with you!

Well this morning I'm not on the sun porch but rather about 70 miles east of the porch at the West Baden Springs Hotel and Spa Resort. This historic old hotel has been totally renovated and back to its glory days state. It is a sister property to the French Lick Hotel and Casino Resort which is a mile down the road. The price to stay here is a tad dicey but it was my Mother's Day gift to Ms. Kate.

Last evening we went the casino for awhile and gave to the "slot gods". Then we took the hotel shuttle up to the on-property golf course and resturant for supper. The food was good but way over priced. Weeach ordered the sea scallops and the plate came out with only three scallops on it. We thought that eight dollars per scallop was not worth he price.

The hotel and resort grounds are beautiful. However, I thought the drive over was just as beautiful. The dogwoods along the highway were all in full bloom, the temperature was 80° and the sun was shining brightly. We put the top down and just enjoyed a perfect spring day. I'm lookng forward to the trip back hme in a couple of hours.

I give God thanks today for this beautiful world and for this wonderful lady sitting across the room from me playing her computer games. Everyday I am very aware that I could easily have lost her years ago when she had either one of her two heart attacks or when she had her stroke. God literally gave her back to me and I am so very grateful. There is nothing I would not do for her if it were in my power.

So, it is time to pour a second cup of coffee, get my shower, and jump in the convertible and head home to reality. I got a lot of work to do yet today.

Have a blessed day.

It is an overcast, breezy 53 deree morning as I sit out here with my coffee this morning. I actually like it like this because the filtered sun shows off the blooms on the redbud and dogwood trees across the yard much bettter. The blooms are light enough that they get lost on a bright sunny day. This kind of light also shows off the plumage on my birds much better too. The Godfinches and Cardinals are looking especially bright this morning.

Someone across the yard on the next street over woke up to an unhappy picture this morning. I can see the toilet paper hanging from the branches from here. They are out there right now trying to get it all down. I think it might be a badge of honor to know you have friends who like you well enough to do that to you. Of course, it could be just the opposite too, although I never TP'd anyone I didn't like.

The Song Sparrow, Wrens, and Mockingbirds are a singing trio this morning. They have filled air with their song for about the last half an hour. It is neat to hear. They sing in between trips to the feeder.

I hear but don'see, what sounds like a few showers coming in and out. I hear it on the roof but have yet to see any drops on the sidewalk. Perhaps it isn't rain at all but rather the little maple "helicopter" seeds blowing around up there.

It is Saturday, which means it is a day off. I worked late yesterday evening trying to get things done for next Sunday and also my end of the month stuff. Ms. Kate and I are going to take off after church tomorrow and go to the town of French Lick. There is an historic hotel over there that has been renovated that we want to stay at. Of course we will also go to the casino that is there too. It is my Mother's Day gift to Ms. Kate. We will come home on Monday afternoon and then maybe get in some yardwork and planting. That might not sound like a very romantic end to a romantic get away, but romance at our age can be nothing more than helping one another and doing things together.

My prayers this morning are of course prayers of gratitude for family, friends and a thousand blessings. I sit here in a caccoon of peace and solitude, surrounded by a world of blessings. There is joy in my heart and love in my soul, and the love of of my life sleeps soundly in the next room. God is so good. I wish this kind of day for you too.

If you have ever wondered what the Teradactyl looked like, one need look no further than the Pilated Woodpecker. I was fortunate enough to have one fly in again to the feeders this morning.They always announce their arrival with their strange song that sounds like something out of the Amazon. Then they fly in and cling to the branch closest to the bark butter feeder and chow down. I try to sit really still because they pick up on the slightest movement and fly off.

I filled the feeders first thing this morning, even before I had my first cup of coffee. Several of them were totally empty and some needed topped off. Now I can sit and enjoy and so can they. It doesn't take them long to discover the feeders are full again, including the fuzzy tails. I maybe need to pick up a 50 lb bag of black-oil seed. The can is half gone already.

It is a beautiful but cool day across the region. I'm glad it is because today and tomorrow are two big horse races over in Louisville, The Oaks and The Kentucky Derby. The tracks should be plenty dry and the temperature perfect to prevent injury to those wonderful horses. All the "southern ladies" can now show up in their finest and gaudiest hats per tradition, and the mint juleps will flow freely. Lawd have mercy, ain't we genteel!

My prayers this morning go out for Byron. He had his first new chemo infusion treatment yesterday and it wore him out. They gave him five units where normal dose is one. Sheila said they both wore out last evening, --- the stress of it all is enough to drain you mentally and physically. I pray this aggressive treatment plan will help. My prayers also go out for Bob and Georgia Ann. Bob had his knee replaced this week and I pray his rehabilitation goes well.

I need to get on the computer and do some sermon work today. I'm currently in the middle of my sermon for next week which will be Mother'Day. I have a vacation coming up in June so I need to try to get ahead with my work. But --- the words only fall out of my brain and on to my computer screen when they are ready. If I try to force a sermon writing session, they come out disjointed and I always end up starting over. The Lord giveth when the Lord giveth.

So, it is time to count my blessing for today and I think I will begin by being thankful for the blessing of a piece of fresh strawberry pie for breakfast! I hope you have a most wonderful and most blessed day. I know I will.

I think I can count eleven Cardinals out there this morning. What a beautiful sight that is. It is a bit hard to keep track of them because they flitter and flutter and fly from branch to branch and feeder to feeder.

We also have lots of Sparrows and Finches flitting back and forth. The Mockingbird comes in for a bite or two and heads out into the trees or the top of the roof to sing about it. I wonder if what we've always called a Mockingbird is the same thing they call a Mocking Jay in recent movie. I suspect it might be, although the movie indicates the Mocking Jay has a certain distinctive call.

Ms. Kate and I have dental cleanings this morning, --- yuk! But, I guess it something ee need to keep up so we stay healthy. It just isn't on my favorite thing to do list. After that, we nned to head up to the churches and print the bulletins and prep the church for Sunday.

It is May 1st annd it is World Day of Prayer. Wouldn't it be great if everybody in the world would actually stop today and be grateful to whatever their version of God is for the blessing they have. Wouldn't it be great if all our prayers today were said for the benefit of others and not ourselves! That could actually end up being a day of world peace. I"ll do my part, I hope you will too.