Hang on to your hat or it will be in the next county before you can catch it. It’s a beautiful looking day out there and in fact it doesn’t feel too bad. But it is 46 degrees and the wind is 24 mph. I have a couple of substantial limbs down that I will have to clean up when all of this dies down. My shed door was blown open and the cover has blown off of my John Deere. This wind advisory is supposed to go until around 1500 hours today. Julie and the pups are coming down later this afternoon. Hopefully the wind will die down before she gets on the road. She has a small car and it is a bit “boxy” and I wouldn’t want her to get blown off the road.

One thing the wind has accomplished is that the trees around my yard and perimeter are all totally nude now. If we could get a couple of nice days in a row, I could get all of the lean=vets cleaned up and mulched up for the winter. But —- that is not likely to happen any time soon. Tomorrow is supposed to be okay but then rain on Friday and Saturday and into Sunday. BTW, I listened to the winter forecast last night and it is predicted to be snowier than last year, especially in February. So, at some point I better get the snow blade on the John Deere. Basically he said colder and wetter than last year. It was not what I was hoping for. Of course, if I would retire like guys my age are supposed to do, it wouldn’t bother me; I’d just stay home. But not me —- I gotta go to work which means I gotta get the snow off of the drive way. I do make my own trouble.

The Blue Jay is out there fussing at the squirrel because it is on the feeder it wants to eat from. The squirrels are doing acrobatics this morning through the trees. They are jumping from one tree to the next and they land on such small limbs that I don’t know how the limbs don’t break. It is both fascinating and fun to watch.  I have a lot of guests braving the wind this morning to come in and eat. I did get to Wild Birds and pick up some more products. I still haven’t picked up sun flower seed . The car was full of groceries so I didn’t have room for any forty pound bags of birdseed. I could go today and get a couple of bags. All of the feeders are full now but the can is empty. I should probably take advantage of a sunny day, wind or no wind.

That’s it for today. Have a wonderful week. I hope you have the chance to be with loved ones and if you don’t, think about maybe going and helping at a shelter to serve food. It will warm your heart and make you thankful for what God has blessed you with. Peace.

It’s not a matter of “if” it rains today but rather “when” it rains today. We are totally cloud covered and the day looks very gloomy out there. We have a wind advisory for later today and in to tomorrow.  And, — we are expecting rain on and off through the weekend although Thanksgiving day looks to be fairly good, but cold. Ms. Kate and I have some running around to do today and we should probably do it sooner rather than later. Although we are supposed to meet my sister and a friend for dinner at 1700 and it will most likely be raining then. Tis what it is. I’m looking forward to hearing my preferred weather guy give his “winter forecast” this evening. He is fairly accurate or at least as accurate as weather folks can get. Last night he mentioned that he would be giving it tonight and his only hint was that this year is going to be different than last year. Now —— if I could just remember what last year was like. LOL. I don’t think we had a lot of snow last year and the weather guy from another channel has already predicted that we will have maybe as much as 17 inches this year. So, I reckon we’ll just wait and see what Wayne has to tell us. It’s all just an educated guess anyway. And —— I still haven’t seen any wooly worms.

Last night we had the annual “Hanging of the Greens” at church and our folks got the class rooms and sanctuary all decorated for Christmas. It looks beautiful of course but it always does.  As I said yesterday, they put the same decorations up every year. I love my church. It is a beautiful church. It isn’t ornate but it is very classy. The lines are clean, the stained glass windows are beautiful and when you walk in, it gives you, or at least me, a feeling that it is a place where you really want to worship. Not all churches give off that aura. I’ve been to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican and it is simply overwhelming with the art and history and magnificence. But, personally, I found it so overwhelming that it didn’t allow you to find peace. A person is so busy looking at the art and decor that they can’t find God. Does that make sense to you?? My home church and the two churches I’m soon going to allow you to find the peace of God in the simplicity. It is kind of like like the difference between staring at the Grand Canyon and staring at a rose. —— Wow, that got deep in a hurry, didn’t it?

Time for me to get cleaned up and get ready to go shopping. The list is short but the locations are all over town.  This could take awhile. You have yourself a most blessed day. Don’t forget; God loves you and is waiting to hear from you. Peace.

Thanksgiving week and this morning we have a lot to be thankful for. The sun is shining, the temperature might be a tad cool but we are going up to sixty-three degrees today This Tuesday we will be having an afternoon dinner with my sister and her friend. Then on Wednesday Julie will be down with the pups and Thursday Jim will arrive and sister-in-law Karen will be joining us for the Thanksgiving meal. Sunday I think we will be going up to Karen's house for Thanksgiving lunch. So, lots of fellowship this week. And --- the church office will be closed this week so no office hours on Wednesday or Thursday. That makes it feel like a vacation week.

Tonight we will be doing our Hanging of the Greens to decorate the church. There will be pizza first and then the flurry begins. I'll go but I'm zero help, so I'll "walk around and be seen" and drink coffee. It will take them a couple of hours and that is about all. Our Sunday school class decorated their tree yesterday so all of us "old people" don't have to get out at night tonight. Zoar is like every other church that I know if; they put up the same decorations every year in the same spots. The only thing that changes is the people that do it. The task drops down to a younger crew each year as it get harder and harder for folks to get up on ladders. I guess you could call it "the passing of the ornament".

We finished up two of our charity drives at church yesterday. For Operation Christmas Child we filled thirty-three shoe boxes. Then for the local food bank we collected 337 can of corn. I'm really proud of our church because they really do a lot for missions around the world and here at home. That is after-all where the church truly is; outside the door of the church building. I'm really pleased with our youth teachers and leders because they constantly have something going for the kids to help with or some drive going. Last month they were collecting socks for needy children through some program They were trying to collect 200 pair of childrens socks. I'm not sure how many pair they ended up with but I do know that the box was overflowing. Teaching a child to give at an early point in their life will develop them into tithing member for later life.

I had lots of cardinals at the Backyard Buffet this morning. I still have not made it to the two stores to get more bird feeding products. That is on my list for today after I leave the office. Ms. Kate has decided that she wants to also get a turkey for either Thanksgiving or for after Thanksgiving. Right now her plan is to bake a fresh ham. But, dressing, and oyster dressing does not go with ham.

Well, I'm at work so I should probably dedicate at least some of my time to doing some work. I'm working on my January 19th sermon so there is plenty of time; but --- I might as well get it done.
I hope you have a wonderful day.

Again Bullwinkle??? Do we have to have rain every morning?? Mother Nature is sure being a downer. It is raining and forty-one and not a bit of sunshine anywhere. If I didn’t have so darned much to be thankful for, —- I might be in a grumpy mood. But, instead I’ll just sit here and watch this silly squirrel be frustrated because it can’t get into the feeder it is trying to rob from.

Speaking of feeders, I need to fill them all again and I really need to go to Wild Birds and Things. They have a good sale going on and I’m in need of several items. I still haven’t made it to Pet Foods either to get more sunflower seed. I may have enough to do another filling but that would be all. The can will be empty. Just maybe it will quit raining today and we can go this afternoon. Of course it is going to be sloppy to walk around out in the yard.

Finches, sparrows, a pair of nuthatches, a couple of cardinals, and a large red-headed woodpecker are all my guests this morning. And of course old “swishy-tail”. Squirrel finally gave up and went off to the neighbor’s yard. It won’t get much there, Their feeders are empty too. They only put out a couple.  Using my house as the center, there are eight houses surrounding me and only one other house has feeders out all the time. So there is little wonder that my Backyard Buffet is successful. And I have more foliage like azaleas  and plants for them to hide in. It does make a good habitat for them.

I spent a few hours addressing Christmas cards yesterday. I addressed 70 so far and those were just to church families. Ms. Kate had to put some more together last evening because I used up most of what she had made. This morning I’ll finish up our list and that job will be done. As soon as Thanksgiving is over they will all go in the mailbox and that chore, (I mean joy) will be done for another year. At least we don’t send out “brag letters” anymore. As a matter of fact, we don’t get many of those any more either. Maybe it is because like us, all of the folks we used to send them to have gotten old along with us and their kids are all grown and gone too. And, many of the relatives that we used to send them too have passed away.

That’s about enough for today. It is Saturday and that means you have an appointment with God at some point this weekend for worship. Don’t put it off because of bad weather or something. After all —- God doesn’t put you off. Peace.

It’s Friday morning and a forty one degree chilly one. It isn’t raining —- at the moment. It has been and will some more before the day is over. Yuk. Why do I think this going to be a very “winter blahs” year? Perhaps it is because it isn’t even winter or even Thanksgiving yet and we are already tired of crappy rain and cold weather. Our November’s are usually  sunnier and brighter than this.

Ms. Kate was up early today. I woke up when she got up but I lay there and dozed on and off for another hour. I was having a really weird dream, one of those that you go in and out of. Ms. Kate and I were on a large helicopter with a bunch of Air Force General Officers and high ranking civilians and we were flying over a flooded Manhattan Island and we landed on a tarmac somewhere that was obviously a military base. She and I stayed on the chopper while everyone else went to tour the damage. We could see the ocean lapping waves up on to the tarmac and getting higher. That was when I woke up. So, —- one of you “dream interpreters” please tell me what that was all about. I haven’t a clue.

A week from today —- Thanksgiving will be all done and we’ll be looking December straight in the face. We are only thirty three days away from Christmas as of today. Ms, Kate and I will be losing eight days of time to get things done because we will be leaving on vacation. Lots todo, lots to do. Ms. kate has I think completed making all of the Christmas cards. I started addressing them last night and my plan today is to finish that. She does such a beautiful job of making her cards. People do seem to enjoy receiving them and I can certainly understand why.

The squirrels re fussing about something this morning. There is probably a cat in the yard or the neighbors yard. Although I saw the hawk flying around the area his morning too. So maybe the squirrel are giving the early warning.

My first cup of coffee is about gone so I think I’ll grab my portable Bose speaker and IPad and go to the kitchen table, put on some Christmas music and address Christmas cards. Sounds like a perfect thing to do on a gloomy weather day.  I hope your day though is “merry and bright”. Think only good thought. Peace.

Another yuk weather day. But, it isn’t freezing cold and or snowing, so I guess a rainy, cloudy, windy, 51 degree day beats the alternatives.

It isn’t quite noon yet but getting close. I’ve spent my morning here in the sun porch. I’ve played my two daily computer games; Criminal Case and Bingo Bash. I’ve spent more than enough time reading  Facebook comments and articles that people post. I’ve had a couple of Facebook Messenger chats with folks, and I’ve spent an hour on “the bike” and rode a little over seven miles. And —- I’m only on my second cup of coffee.

It has rained on and off all morning. It hasn’t been a down pour, but waves of showers that come in and last maybe fifteen minutes and then fade away. Between the water on the dry leaves making them heavy,  and the breeze, the leaves are really falling from the trees all around the neighborhood. The trees in my yard and the maples in the neighbors trees to the south and west are mostly bare. But looking through the yards to the west over to the next street, it look like an orange colored snow fall. I have a row of red flame bushes that line the south fence here in the backyard. They have yet to lose their leaves.

My Backyard. Buffet guests this morning have been mostly finches. I’ve only seen a couple of cardinals, a starling or two, a mockingbird and a dove. The squirrels have been having trouble this morning trying to climb the metal shepherd’s crook poles. There was one squirrel that I know tried two dozen time to make it up the five foot of pole and just kept sliding back down. It was amusing to watch while I was riding the bike.

Yesterday being Wednesday, of course I had office hours in the morning. After I left the office, I picked up Ms. Kate and we went to to Bob’s house and “made a turnip run”. I got maybe a dozen from him and they are really good and sweet. I think he probably has another thousand still in the ground and we are surprised they haven’t frozen yet. But, I pulled one and trimmed it. Ms. Kate washed it and peeled it and said it was really good. She does like her raw turnips. Neither of us would give you a penny for a gallon of cooked turnips, but peel, slice, salt and eat is the way to go. My mother used to cook them and I don’t even like the smell of cooked turnips.

If and when it quits raining today, Ms. Kate and I have to go do some grocery shopping and I unfortunately have to go to Wild Birds and Things. I’m out of a couple of things. And I should go to Pet Foods too and get some sunflower seed for my cardinals and all of their friends including the fat bushy tailed ones. Unfortunately that also means I have to get out of my very comfortable sweats and put my brace on. I try to do without my brace as much as possible when I’m just around the house and not going downstairs. It gets easier to get around without the brace all he time. I just know that Achilles’ tendon is growing back. I have to be careful though because turning wrong tends to trip me up and I wouldn’t want to damage what has healed and ot maybe even break an ankle. That would totally suck. So, when I go out of the house or down the stairs, I put my brace on.

That about does it for the day. Have a blessed day. Do something nice for someone and be thankful to God for the opportunity. Peace.

A gloomy Tuesday afternoon. It seems our pattern is “one nice day, followed but several gloomy days”. We keep hearing about a coming warm up to where the temps will actually get up to around sixty but that hasn’t happened. Now the forecasters are saying sixty or above for Thursday —— but —- let’s add a couple inches of rain to that. That’s no bueno.

It is 1330 hours and Ms. Kate just fixed a wonderful Brunch for us of eggs, fresh sausage patties, and sausage/milk gravy. It made my tummy happy. We needed something a little bland. Last night we had split pea soup that she had made. We don’t think the peas were quite cooked enough because they were only slightly hard. But, the results have been “dis-gas-trous”. We need to put the test of it back on the stove and cook it some more.

Our only item of “gotta do” today was a visit from our furnace guy. It was time for the winter check up and servicing. Other than putting in a new “Heppa-filter” everything looked good. It is hard to believe that our “new furnace” is almost fifteen years old. Time sure does fly. That means that most of our appliances are starting to see some years. We bought our washer and dryer and one freezer when we moved in here in 2001. In 2003 we bought a new A/C unit. Stuff will be twenty years old before we know it and I’ll be buying replacement this and replacement that. It’s a good thing I don’t quit working.

I’ve been putting together Advent Worship services this morning. I had two of the done but Art asked me if I would do the other two so while the furnace guy was here, I did that. That takes care of all of the services for December now.

I think that is all I have for today. Try to stay warm and dry. Peace.