There is no sunshine this morning; only clouds and occasional showers so far. The weatherman had said we had a 30% chance of rain today so his box is now checked.

I filled a bunch of bird feeders last evening so my feathered friends have plenty to munch on at the backyard buffet today. The hummingbirds are keeping me amused this morning despite the showers. They just chase one another all over this place. I'm fairly certain there are three now. But they are so quick that it is hard to keep up with them. And sometimes when I see two of them, it is because I'm catching reflections of them in the windows so it becomes an optical illusion.

Ms. Kate and I sat up and watched the Olympics again last light. Our athletes are doing so very well. I think our local girl, Lilly King, is supposed to swim this morning again in the 200 meter breaststroke. Good luck to her and all of our athletes. We watched the women's synchronized diving last night. The Chinese team was phenomenal as always. I don't think they have ever lost. But then, they are a state sponsored team and as long as you do well, your family gets to live a little better. So the incentive is huge and the athletes all look like clones of one another.

You probably think that I am going to be going to the church today and run the bulletins off for Sunday. But --- you would be wrong. I live so far on the edge of life that I'm going to do it tomorrow. Ms, Kate and her sister are going to French Lick Casino and Resort tomorrow and tomorrow night so I'll go run the bulletins tomorrow just because I'm that kind of a wild guy.

I've set here long enough for the cardinals to arrive. I find it interesting that I can almost predict when the different birds will get here. They do it so routinely. This morning's guests are mostly finches and sparrows, cardinals and downy woodpeckers, and of course the hummingbirds. And I have a couple of squirrels that have come back and forth to the feeders. They eat for a few minutes, run off and then come back again. Mr. Fuss-a-lot, the blue jay was here but all he did was fuss and jump around and then left. I guess he didn't like the company.

There may not be much sunshine today but as I look out the windows of the sun porch, it is still a beautiful sight to look at the beauty of the flowers and the intricacies of God's creatures like my little aviary friends. I've said it a million times I guess but I just don't understand how anybody could chalk up the creation of this world and all of the billions and billions of things that keep this planet and all of its inhabitants in perfect sync; how can you say it all started with a gigantic gaseous explosion and eliminate Divine design. So, I thank God every day for the world God created. I hope you will stop sometime today and do the same. Peace.

The month marches on doesn't it? It is the 9th of August and it certainly feels like the ninth of August if you step outside. It's hot, humid and muggy if you try to do too much of anything. I feel for folks that have to be out in this weather whether it is for work or something else. I think back to many years ago when I spent a summer helping a buddy of mine roof a couple of houses in this kind of weather. It wasn't pleasant at all.

The big news around our city of Evansville is that a young nineteen year old girl (Lilly King) from here won a gold medal at the Olympics last night. It's very exciting for the city and the state. She has a chance to medal two more times but this race was her strong event. Who knows??? Ms. Kate and are bleary-eyed this morning because we were up watching the Olympics late last night. I finally went to bed at 0130 this morning and she came to bed at 0200. Then we were up at 0730. We haven't accomplished much so far today beyond playing our silly computer games and having breakfast of coffee and a banana and a bowl of cereal for me.

I got some good work done yesterday in the office. I had been working on a sermon for the 21st of August and it had just set there with nothing coming to me to write. Yesterday it clicked and I got it written and I think it will be a good one. What I didn't get done yesterday was filling up the bird feeders. There is, of course, plenty of food out there but the feeders closes to the house are pretty well empty. So, at some point today I need to do that. I also need to fill up the bird baths again. When the heat index is 108 like it will be today, they splash out a lot of water taking cooling baths and they also drink a lot.

I called my sister-in-law this morning to see if I need to mow her yard this week or not due to her feeling under the weather. But, she said she mowed part of it yesterday, is resting today, and will finish it tomorow. Shoot, I was hoping to get to use her mower again. But, she said it hadn't gotten tall and was easy to mow this time. I guess I'll just have to settle for mowing mine and maybe Dan's. I wouldn't want to do that for a living but I do love riding my mowers. I'm just a kid at heart.

I saw an advertisement yesterday about the annual buffalo roundup in Custer State Park. That is an item on my "bucket list" to go and watch. Every fall they round up approximately1200 buffalo, check them out and vaccinate them and cull out "X" number of them for sale. The advertisement was from a travel company offering a seven day trip for $1500.00 a person based upon double occupancy. I wouldn't want to do the bus trip, but now I know how to find out when the round up occurs. Next year I plan to be there for it. See, I'm not just a kid at heart --- I'm still a cowboy kid at heart.

It's time to finish my cup of coffee and get on with my day. I hope your day is full of blessings. Peace.

It's a brand new week! Welcome to Monday. Aw c'mon, you know you have to face it even though you'd really rather turn back over and cover your head with the blankets. But come on out and enjoy this brand new day God has given us.

It's a bright blue 82 degrees here this morning and the humidity is tolerable. The phlox is providing a bounty of whatever for the butterflies, bumble bees, honey bees, and hummingbirds this morning. Ms. Kate refilled the one hummingbird feeder yesterday afternoon and those two little buzz-wings have been busy eating from it and shooing one another off from it. I'm not sure we don't now have a third hummingbird out there. That would be super excellent. I love the way they go to my hummer-bar feeder; they look like they are eating corn on the cob the way they just go from port to port on that thing. I think there are 24 ports for them.

The critters have emptied several of the sunflower feeders again, especially the ones right up here in the pussy willow tree. So, sometime today, I need too go refill those and the barks butter feeders again. And, it looks like I better put out another three or four suet cakes. It is amazing how much birdfeeders I end up buying with all of the different varieties. But it does make for a peaceful morning sitting out here watching them. Then again we try to be out here around 1600 hrs because that is evening feeding time for them., especially the cardinals.

We had a full church yesterday for the worship service. One of the families had their annual family reunion yesterday and they came forr the service. I love it when the church is full. I love hearing the sound of their voices as they sing the familiar old hymns. We ran 80 bulletins this weekend used almost all of them.

Neighbor Dan finally got home from Washinngton DC area. They've been gone three or four weeks, I'm not sure which. His wife is Vietnamese and she has brothers and sisters on both coasts and down in Texas. So they go and stay for weeks at a time so they can visit everybody. She has that strong cultural tie to her family. I think she would love to move to CA because that is where her mother lives. But his family is here and their kids and grandkids are here, so this is where they stay. I expect him to tell me they are heading out to CA for another five week visit any day. Now that they are both retired, she doesn't ever want to stay home. It works for them but wouldn't work for us. I'm of the school that company and fish go bad after three days and it is time to move on.

The coffee cup is empty and I need to get busy. I've said my thanks to the Lord for yet another day of opportunities with to be of service and I'm grateful for another day of blessings, especially that blessing that I need to go refill a coffee cup for. Have a great day!

Good morning on this cloudy, 81 degree morning. There is little to no breeze out there this morning but the humidity has dropped quite a bit. That should make for a more comfortable day, and no rain is projected. All in all, it is supposed to be a nice day. Miss. Kate and I need to find something to do today that isn't work. It has been one of those weeks where everyday was full of things to be done or people to take care of. Today the schedule is empty. Of course, I guess I could go down and do a little writing since I haven't written a full paragraph this week. But then I'd defeat the purpose of taking a day off wouldn't I?

My aviary friends are satisfied this morning. I filled fifteen feeders yesterday afternoon so everybody has plenty. If we go out today I may pick up another 40 lb bag of sunflower seed. The can is about half empty so it will hold that much anyway. The hummingbirds are busy this morning. They eat, they buzz around, they chase one another, and every once in a while, they will stop and land on a small limb and rest. As much energy as they burn, it is no wonder they eat constantly. It always amazes me that these tiny things fly hundreds and even a thousand miles for their migration pattern. It gives real meaning to the the song title; "His Eye is on the Sparrow".

I''m hearing a lot of noise outside the yard and to the right. So I had to go check of course to see who was doing what. My next door neighbor to the right is pressure washing his side of the fence that divides our property. It is his fence to do so. But --- I doubt he knows just how bad the pickets are on that fence. He's liable too blow several of them off. I've gone out there several times and put new screws in the boards so they will stay in place in the last couple of months because they had rotted off of the screws that were holding them. Ms. Kate and I replaced all of our fencing several years ago with pressure treated lumber and our boards are in pretty good shape yet; although it really needs painting or something. We used an excellent paint on it but that does eventually wear off in the weather. We discussed having a new fence put in but I know that would really run up some money. The biggest problem with our fence is that it was not professionally built in the first place and the spacing isn't even between the fence posts, which are in concrete. So, when we replaced the fencing, we replaced it panel by panel. I'd take a panel down, use it as a template and rebuild the new panels exactly like the old. It worked; but it wasn't great. We'll see what happens now with the fence Jeff is washing.

Time to refill the coffee cups and maybe fix a pan of sweet rolls. I hope you have a most wonderful day and a blessed weekend. God is good; all the time. Stop and give thanks for your blessings.

Hot, hot Friday! Heat index is between 105 & 110 despite the ambient temp being only 88 degrees. While it is overcast somewhat, I wouldn't be surprised to see a big ole' nasty summer storm pop up any time. Although --- my radar app shows the storm going north and east of us.

The heat even has the birds agitated. I must have at least a dozen sparrows and finches out there trying to eat off of the suet feeders and they are spending more time fighting than they are eating. The blue jays is pecking at the cardinals, the doves are fussing at each other, the downy woodpeckers are pecking at the finches --- it's a mess out there today. I have two hummingbirds and of course they are fighting because it's totally in their territorial nature to do so.

My morning started off as scheduled this morning with a hospital visit. I went Assad set with a family this morning while one of the family had to have a kidney biopsy. She made it through the procedure just fine and now they just wait for the results which should be to her doctor's office in a few days. We pray for the best results and trust in God's grace. Beyond that, worrying about it won't change any results. If the mass they tested this morning proves to be benign; we would have worried for nothing. If the mass proves to be cancerous; worrying about it wouldn't have made it better or worse. So, we pray for strength and patience.

The grass looks like it has dried out from rais and dews, so maybe I should jump on the JD and take care of my front yard and Dan's yard. It won't be that hot riding on the mower because there is a slight breeze out there and if the sun stays behind the clouds it won't feel so bad.

From the looks of things, I better be sure and fill the feeders today too. It looks like all of the sunflower seed feeders are empty. That's why they are all crowding around the suet feeders etc. What I'm surprised at though is that there is no birds in the bird baths splashing around. I need to check them too.

I think I'll finish this cup of coffee and get busy. It's Friday so I hope you have time to enjoy your weekend. Call someone you love, go visit a friend, do something with your spouse; --- just get out and enjoy the world and blessings that God has provided. But --- don't forget to take time to be grateful foro those blessings and give thanks to the Lord. Peace.

Happy Thursday morning! This week has flown by and has been an extra busy week. There hasn't been a lot of chair sitting and relaxing opportunities and tomorrow morning will be about the same with another early morning hospital /parishioner visit.

Today however, my calendar is allegedly clear and maybe I'll get some work done in my offfice. I've only gotten about a half a page written on a sermon since Tuesday morning. I know I'm ahead still but I like to stay that way. That is how I handle weeks like this one has been and why I always try to work ahead.

Yesterday I spent the morning until around noon up at my sister-in-law's place mowing her yard. I told you that she was in the hospital in my Tuesday writing. Well, Tuesday evening I went up and started on her yard because it had really gotten tall. But, we've been dodging rain all week. I got a start on it but the mower started really leaving a lot of clumps and the I wasn't sure why. And it was almost dark, so I stopped and went back yesterday morning. Karen has a really nice John Deere, with a bagger system on it. I never use a bigger so I'm not familiar with the things that could go wrong. Well, bottom  line is that due to the wet and heavy grass, the discharge chute had gotten clogged up. Once I fixed that, it worked fine. She has a large yard and it took about three and a half hours to get it done. But, I love her JD. It is one of those that has four wheel steering which I think is better than a ZTR. Heck, if I had time, I'd go mow her yard more often just to ride that mower. But -- I'd have to wrestle her for it cause she likes using it too. (I think I could take her.) ---- The good news is that Karen got to come home from the hospital yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday was Wednesday and of course that meant it was also "bulletin running day". Lord know, I wouldn't want to change routine and maybe do it today. LOL. I also had a parishioner coming in for some counseling so that took care of my afternoon and part of my evening. Today my front yard and Dan's yard could use morning again but I think I'll save that for tomorrow and hope it doesn't rain, although I think the forecast calls for pop-up showers today and tomorrow. I know the heat index is supposed to go to 103 today.  Maybe being inside is a good idea.

My in-attention to my birdfeeders find several of them empty this morning so I reckon I better do something about that today. I only have maybe four cardinals out there this morning and some downy woodpeckers. There is a blackbird and a couple of doves that are walking around the yard cleaning up dropped residual from under the feeders. Ms. Kate told me that the hummingbird has really taken to the "hummerbar" feeder that I put out there. I probably need to change out the feed in that one too and keep it fresh.

The phlox, the Black-eyed Susan's,, the knock-out Rose's and the Magic Lilies are all blooming and the butterflies and the hummer are taking full advantage for thee blooms. The finches are eating the seeds from the phlox. It is a peaceful setting and God speaks in the stillness. Everyday I give God praise for the planet on which we live. It is a wonderful world. Take a few minutes today and just look around you. No matter where you are --- if you just look for it you will see the handiwork of the Creator. Take time to give God praise today. Peace.

Good morning on this 2nd day of August. It is going to be another steamy one with the possibility, (more like a probability) of more rain or pop-up thunderstorms. We wouldn't want to miss out on a chance for that.

I didn't have much opportunity or time for porch setting yesterday. I had a parishioner who had to be at one of our hospitals yesterday morning for a procedure and I wanted to be there for that with the family. We all sat there for about fifteen or twenty minutes and they came and got my parishioner to take her bac and prep her. After a while we went back and they were making last arrangements and signing papers etc. So, I left, we had already said our prayer. I stopped on the way home and picked up Ms. Kate and I a sandwich for lunch and came on home. I checked my messages when I got home and found out that the hospital/doctor had an emergency and they have to reschedule my parishioners appointment to Friday morning. Bless her heart.

Then, -- yesterday afternoon, I got a call from my sister-in-law, Karen, telling me she was on the way to the ER for a blood transfusion. She said she had been feeling really weak and tired and run down and her Digestive Care people had told her to got get blood at the ER. Well, you don't just walk in to an ER and order up a unit or two of blood like it was a hamburger and fries. An hour or more later she asked me to go get her "ever-ready travel bag" because she would be spending the night. We finally left the hospital a little after 2000 hrs and she still had not received her transfusion. My late texting with her confirmed that it was 2215 before she had her first transfusion and they were still going to give her another unit after that. I've just gotten a call from her and she will be staying another day while they run more tests. Karen is a crohns patient so things can go from bad to worse fairly quickly.  We'll go up and see her later today.

So that's my yesterday and why I didn't get around to my blog. It's good to be back in the sunporch today watching my critters, although I see they have emptied the feeders already again. And --- I need to mow the back yard today and pick up a few small limbs. The back yard doesn't grow nearly as fast as the front yard does because it is so very shady back here. The front yard could use it again already. It has become an every four day thing which is unheard of for late July/August. Surely we'll break out of this pattern soon. Most years, by now we would be whining for rain because thee ground would be hard and cracked. Humans are hard to satisfy.

I need to walk out and check on my tomatoes and cucumbers and "bring in the harvest" first thing this morning so I reckon, I'll put my coffee cup down and go do that. I hope you have a blessed day. Take the time to do something nice for someone today. It will make you feel good about yourself. Peace.