Its going to be a muggy day today if the weather app here on myNook is correct. The Cardinals don't seem to mind though. They are eagerly having breakfast at the backyard buffet again this morning. I think they are trying to get their fill before the squirrels come in and take over the place.

I see the birdbaths are getting low so I need to get those filled. I noticed it yesterday but didn't do anything about it. I thought God would take care of it since we were supposed to have some rain and possible thunderstorms.  But that didn't happen, at least not here. While I'm out there I might as well take the bark butter with me and fill those feeders back up.

Okay, I'm back. I did go out and put fresh water in the birdbaths and fill those two barkbutter paste feeders. There are already Woodpeckers at the feeders and the Robin has immediately come for a bath. I love it. While I was out there I watered all of Ms. Kate's flower containers and the garden. That should insure us some rain. We don't have a very big garden, just a half dozen tomato plants and some cucumbers and squash. The asparagus bed is still putting on nicely. In fact, Ms. Kate fixed us some asparagus and scrambled eggs yesterday morning for breakfast. It was delicious.

The yard has yet another transition beginning. The hydrangias are budding out nicely. The plant we miss though is the butterfly bush. The terrible winter killed it this year. I've heard others say the same about their's. We miss it because it has always kept the butterflys here as well as the Hummingbirds. I'm seeing neither. I did have a couple of Hummingbirds for a day or two but obviously they were only passing through. As summer begins though, the phlox will begin to bloom and that will attract both the butterflys and the Hummingbirds, I hope.

I've said it often, but I do love siiting out here in the morning peace and quiet. The yard is full of blooms of different kinds and the trees and feeders are full of birds. All around me is a spread of God's love and bountiful blessings. How very wonderful is the work of the hand of God. I am so very blessed and this morning I give God praise for the gifts he has provided. I pray for each of you today too. I hope you take the time today to just sit and listen to the peace that comes from God. It will make your day so very much better.

What a beautiful Memorial Day morning. It is a sunny sixty-five degrees and the feeders are full of Cardinals.

Ms. Kate seems to be feeling better this morning which is a blessing. She's been feeling sick for three or four days and has hardly been out of our bedroom chair. We guess it has been a stomach virus; but it sure has made her miserable. It was great to see her up and walking around this morning.

Yesterday was a great day at the churches. We celebrated our tenth anniversary of my being the pastor for the parish. And,--- what better way to celebrate than with a baptism of a young child. I baptised Waylon Christopher Kruse yesterday. He is one year old and the grandson of Judy, and the late Jim, Kruse. He did an excellent job during the baptism; he smiled all the way through it. I absolutely love doing infant and young children baptisms. They are a good indication that the church will go for another generation, ---  assuming of course that the parents keep the promises they make at the altar.

Julie and Jim went home yesterday. Jim was waiting for a call as to whether he had to work today or not. His boss had not posted the schedule, so better that they be home just in case.

Ms. Kate and Julie went out and put freshly cut roses on the family graves on Saturday, as well as flags on the graves of veterans in the family. There will be VFW honor ceremonies at cemeteries all over the area today, which is as it should be. I'm not sure when this day became singularly about veterans who have died rather than a day of respect for our past generations and loved ones. It is good that we recognize those who fought and died for our country, but this nation has been kept great by more than military might. We have a Veteran's Day to say thank you to those who have served. .

My prayers go up this morning in grateful appreciation that Kate is feeling better. I also pray for safe travels for the millions of people that are jumping out on the highways today in search of fun or heading back home from a holiday visit. I also ask for guidance of the Holy Spirit concerning my role as pastor at the churches. I pray that my leadership will be what God wants it to be and that I will recognize when it is time to quit. I believe there is nothing worse for a parish than the pastor forgetting that he serves at the pleasure of the Lord, and not for his own benefit. And finally I give thanks for this beautiful day. May God show me how to make the best use of it. I hope you have a blessed day too.

Its a Saturday afternoon post.

The day has been busy and the house has been full of chitter chatter. Julie, Jim ,, and the pups are down for the Memorial Day weekend. But at the moment --- all is quiet because everybody settled down for an afternoon nap.

Ms. Kate and Julie went out earlier and took the flowers and the American flags out to the cemeteries and decorated the graves. In the mean time, Jim and I cut back the azaleas out in front of the house. They were growing out of control. We filled seven or eight large paper lawn bags full of clippings. I have a lot of that kind of stuff to do around here. I called our nephew, Kevin, and got his permission to take a truck load or two of it out to his brush piles. He told me I could bring any and all I want out there. That's a good thing because it gives me a place to go with it and it doesn't cost me anything.

I need to go out and fill some feeders before the afternoon flocks of birds come in. Although, the dogs have done an excellent job of keeping the squirrels at bay. Well, until they get bored with chasing, but never catching, that is. Then its like, yeh, yeh, its a squirrel. Last night they treed a raccoon that had come in for a midnight snack.


It has, by all accounts though, been a peaceful day for which I am grateful. I thank God for my family and my loved ones. I also give thanks for the generations of people before me who carved out this great country, and for the millions of men and women who have served in our armed forces to protect our country and our world. I am very proud to have spent thirty two years of my life among those brave defenders of our nation and our way of life.

Have a blessed weekend.

It is a breezy, sunny sixty three degrees out there this morning. The high today is only to be around eighty and the humidity is back down. We could open the house back up except we get tired of opening and closing it. But, it is supposed to be a beautiful holiday weekend. It will be a great weekend to do a little grilling.

I went out and filled the bark butter feeders again this morning and filled the birdbaths again. I've already had three varieties of Woodpeckers at the bark butter feeders this morning since I filled them. The Starlings will find it momentarily and then the fight will be on.

My bunny is back this morning running here and there. It better find a good place to hide because the Barkingtons are coming this evening and I don't want them dragging a dead bunny back to the house. Their job is to chase, but not catch, squirrels. They don't need to learn multi-tasking.

The roses are looking good this morning. I think Ms. Kate plans to take some to put on family graves for Memorial Day. There was a time in our history that people would go out on Memorial Day and take jugs of water and buckets and brushes and they would spend the time to clean off the grave stones of their loved ones. That was when we called this day "Decoration Day". We would then put fresh flowers, usually peonies and strawflowers on the headstones. If you didn't have flowers of your own, you went to the local open market place or a road side stand and bought several bunches to put on graves. Those were gentler times and a time when life was slower and respect was a word that meant something. I suspect each generation has those times when they miss "the good old days". I wonder what today's kds will consider "the good old days"when they get to a point of looking back.

Today is my "day off". I'm not sure what will be on the schedule. I do know we have to go to the grocery store again today and pick up some stuff we didn't get yesterday. It will be crowded out there though with everyone else getting their last minute weekend supplies too.

My prayers are once again prayers of thanksgiving for the myriad of blessings in my life. I also pray for a larger ration of patience today. I'm running a little short in that department in a specific incident in my life. I could use the calming hand of the Holy Spirit resting on my shoulder to deal with this person. Life is too short and too precious to was it in anger. So Lord, back up the dump truck, I got a load to be hauled away.

• There is a eautiful Cardinal now sitting on a feeder not ten feet from me. My prayer was heard. I hope you have a wonderful day. 

Gosh, what a muggy and overcast morning. There were threats of severe storms and rain etc. last night, but I don't think we got a drop. However, with that thought in mind I did get up on the roof and clean out the gutters. I was surprised at how much stuff was up there. We have a gutter screen system up there that normally allows me to just walk along with my leaf blower and I'm done in less than ten minutes. However, this time they we clogged up with wet maple seeds an petals from the tulip tree, all as a results of the micro-burst storm we had last week. It took a while yesterday and was quite a mess. While I was up there I cut back the pussy willow tree/bush that all of my feeders are in. It has grown to almost twenty feet high and was laying all over the roof of the sunporch. I'm not sure the birds like the trim job because they might not feel as protected, but I think it looks a lot better

There is a bird walking around on the roof. It sounds like it is tap dancing up there. Of course when the squirrels come racing across the roof from out front --- it sounds like the horse track; especially if they are chasing one another. The Doves like to walk around up there for what ever reason, so I suspect that is my tap dancer this morning.

My jobs today might include mowing the back yard. I mowed the front yesterday but not the back. I also need to spend the day writing, and Ms. Kate wants to go to the grocery store. Julie, Jim, and the pupperonis are going to be here for the weekend. It is Memorial Day weekend and the weather is supposed to be perfect.

I can't see it, but, somewhere overhead in the trees there is a major squirrel discussion going on. At least two squirrels are chattering back and forth at one another. It sounds down right vicious. It is most likely another territory dispute. That happens a lot around here.

The clouds are burning off and God has turned on the lights. Maybe we will have a sunny day afterall. I don't think we need rain, but I'm glad I watered the floweres and the garden last evening. I. Love it when the sun filters through the trees and create little spotlights on the ground. Its a cool effect. But then, God is just full of cool effects.

I must close as usual with my prayers for the morning. This will be a weekend where millions of people jump out on the highways and rush off "to have fun". I pray they will do so safely. This morning I also send up prayers of remembrance for loved ones who have passed. That's what this holiday weekend is really all about. I thank God for the impact that each of those people have had on my life. The story of my life from what could have been to what is --- is two drasticly different pictures. God has certainly watched over me and put all the pieces together perfectly. I am --- abundantly blessed.

I hope you feel the same about your life, and give God the credit for all of it. Have a wonderful day.

If God wants to give you a sweet blessing in the morning, is there a better one than having a young bunny rabbit sit there and look at you through the glass door, not five feet away? How sweet is that?

I went out and cleaned out all of the bird baths first thing this morning. They were full of flower petals from the tulip poplar trees, and were turning the water rancid. It took less than five minutes for the first Robin to fly in for a bath and splash a whole bunch of the fresh water back out. We saw it out there last evening wanting to take a bath but there was just too much stuff in the water. So, it just sat there as flipped us the human!

I also topped off the bark butter feeders again this morning. Between the Woodpeckers, Starlings, Mockingbirds and Bluejays, those feeders get emptied rather quickly. At least my nocturnal creatures, the raccoon and opposum, have quit carrying the feeders off for me to find.

The weather prediction for today is windy, warm, muggy and a slight chance of severe storms. So, we've closed up the house and turned on the air conditioner. My asthma thanks me.

The yard continues to transition as summer comes closer. The iris are in full bloom as are the peonies. The trees are done blooming with exception of the honey locust tree. We smell them as we drive along the highway. It is a wonderful smell especially when combined with the honeysuckle, which is also blooming now. Our knockout roses are in full bloom as are all of the roses on the south side of the house. These will now bloom all summer long. God's world just continues to be beautiful.

I have a parishioner having surgery today at a hospital way out of town. My prayers for recovery are with him. This is second go around so I pray it will be successful this time. I also share prayers of concern that should we have storms this afternoon, that they won't cause damage or injury. We have had so much of that happen this spring and people in various parts of the country are still trying to recover from weather disasters from several years back. And --- as always, I give God praise and thanks for my abundance of blessings. My life is good and my soul is is at peace. There is nothing more I could want.

I pray that you too will havea most blessed day. Open your heart and let the Son shine through you.

And a bright sunny morning to you too! It is a wonderful morning out here in the sunporch. I have opened up two of the doors to allow a breeze in, which of course also increases the volume of the sounds from outside. And God has quite a symphony going on today.

All of the bird feeders were pretty much empty this morning. It isn't surprising though. There were two squirrels out there on at least two of the feeders most of the day. I cannot understand how they can continue to eat for that long. Don't they have jobs somewhere? Yes, I realize it is the wole clan of them cycling through. But, while I complain about them --- I enjoy watching them too.

There must be three Mockingbirds out there this morning. I've seen two in the pussy willow tree at the same time and still haerd another one or two at the same time. I'm also hearing several Song Sparrows and briefly heard a Pilated Woodpecker. I hope it decides to stop in. I love to watch them. They are so pre-historic looking.

It sure doesn't take long for my birds to know that the feeders are replenished. The Cardinals were swooping in to freshly filled feeders before I finished. It looks as though I have a dozen out there again this morning. Of course, as soon as I fill the bark butter paste feeders the Starlings come in too. But, while they often intimidate the smaller birds, I have two Bluejays and a couple of Hairy Woodpeckers that will challenge them. God's design and natural selection process works well out there. I have those who feed from the feeders, and then I have the ground feeders such as the Doves and the Robins to clean up all the leftovers that gets tossed out. My Finches, Wrens, and Sparrows just eat where and what ever.

I give God my prayers of gratitude again this morning. As I sit out here I always feel such a sense of peace. I would pray that everyone would allow themselves to feel that too. I realize that I am extremely blessed in that my congregations allow me to do my work from home. The fact that I don't have to get up and dressed every morning to go to work is a freedom that I don't take lightly. But my congregations also realize that I'm as close as the phone.

I also send prayers of gratitude that the weather has turned  in southern California and they are getting those wildfires under control. I pray for the folks who lost their homes to not only these fires but also to the tornados and storms last week. My prayers of concern go out to all of those on our prayer list, especially the one who is due to have a baby within the next couple of weeks. God continues to flood our lives with blessings even through events that are tragic at the moment. We never walk alone in this world. There is an old saying that says: "If God takes you to it, --- God will take you through it." I believe that. Have a wonderful day.