Days like this are rare. The weather is absolutely perfect. It is 69 degrees outside with only a slight breeze. The sky is perfectly blue and cloud free. I’m sitting here in the Sunporch watching the black birds decimate my feeder, (who invited them?) and this is the only day this week that I have nothing on my calendar for the next seven days. And guess who gets to sit ion his basement and write. I’m very tempted to take my lap top and go sit under a tree to do my writing. But that would not only be a hassle to set up but would also be too much of a distraction because I’d be sitting there looking around and not get a thing done. So, “Yes, master, I’ll return to the dungeon.” LOL

We had a good services yesterday at each church. There were a lot of folks missing I think due to the planting season. Or, maybe they were just out and about and taking advantage of a beautiful day. I don’t know. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m not much different than a restaurant owner; don’t worry about the customers that aren’t there, — just feed the ones that do show the best meal you know how to prepare. 

After my late service yesterday the ladies of the church had their annual Mother/Daughter gathering. \\They used to be called Mother/ Daughter Banquets and would be held at night with a program and games and speaker. But, the younger generation has assumed responsibility for the program and yesterday was a “luncheon”. At least they haven’t let the program die out. I remember when churches had one or more different groups of ladies and men’s groups. But today’s society are no longer “joiners” and programs like that have died out across the spectrum. —- Anyway, I decided that I was going to go have lunch at one of our favorite places there in Ft. Branch. But — I got there and it was absolutely packed; no place to park and a line out the door. My suspicion is that since it is high school and college graduation time that there were probably large groups have it celebration parties. So, I went around the corner to the next place and viola’ it was the same way. So, I went to Dairy Queen and had a hamburger basket with a small sundae. I probably saved myself $10. After I picked up Ms. Kate we went home and it was Sunday nap time, (always a favorite around here). 

Yesterday evening I actually took time to watch a movie on my television. I don’t know the last time I have done that. I sometimes turn the TV on when I’m down there working and will maybe stop and watch a certain show for a half hour or an hour, but to purposely sit and watch a movie is rare. BUt — that of course meant that I wasn’t getting the work done that I needed to do so after the movie I got busy. I finished up about 0130 but completed my service for this coming Sunday as well as creating the slides for the screen. Today, I start on my service and message for the 29th of May. It will be a Memorial Day themed service and message. That sounds like it should be fairly easy to prepare but I’m sure I’ll find someway to make it difficult. 

Having said that — it is time to get on to my task of the day. This is Monday and God has given you and me a brand new week. Make the best of it. Peace. 

 I’m stiff and sore this morning from doing a lot more outside work yesterday than I intended to. But, you know how it is. One thing always seems to led to another and suddenly you are at a point where it is a struggle to go back in the house. That was mu yesterday. But, the yard looks good, the trimming looks good. The garden looks good and i have to new very large flower pots established and Wave Petunias planted in them. I tried something different with the new pots. I saw a post that someone had put on Facebook about adding nutrients into the soil. So I filled the pots half way and then I put a half dozen raw expired eggs in each one and cracked the shells, The video that I had seen showed a guy planting his tomatoes and he put a raw egg in the bottom of the hole. The y show the difference between the tomato with the egg and the tomato without out the egg and there was a remarked difference. So —- I reckon we will see what happens. I told Ms. Kate that I was planting chicken seeds so we could raise baby chicks. She said something about me being a “dork”. I wonder what she meant. 

So today, I’m planning to remove the two azaleas in one of my back flower beds. It really aggravates me that I need to do that. Here’s a long story, — kept long. About three years ago we got a notice from the water / sewer department that they were going to be replacing the sewer lines that run between the houses at the rear of our property. They said that we (everyone) had to make sure that the easement was clear of fencing and bushes etc. They said that if we didn’t do it ourselves they would do it but would not replace anything that was on the actual easement. Former owners of our place had put up a white picket fence at the edge of the property which was inside of the easement. I had since rebuilt it because it was rotting and I built it in the same place. Ms. kate and I decided that if the city had to removed the fence, —- okay. But we knew they would not replace or replant shrubs. So I hired a guy @ $500.00 to move those two large azalea bushes. They have since died. So, today, I’m going to cut them back and dig them up. Lots of wasted money and  wasted energy but it needs to be done. Fortunately, they aren’t planted all that deep and once I get them cut back they will be much easier to dig up —- I hope. 

The writing is going slow on my sermon for next week. The theme for the church is Rural Life Sunday which one would thing would be fairly simple to write; — but, not so much. I keep getting off on rabbit trails and having to reign myself back in to a central thought. 

So, that’s it for this beautiful; Saturday morning. It is 10:00 am and the temp is already at 84. Gonna be a hot one today. Have a blessed weekend. Peace. 

 Friday the 13th! Do you feel “unlucky” today? Are you superstitious? I didn’t actually think about it until I saw the calendar on my screen so I reckon it’s too late to crawl back in bed and hide. Bring it on!!

You know, —- I’m supposed to be at least “semi-retired” but I don’t seem to have time to get stuff done that I need to do. It has been one of those weeks and next week doesn’t promise to be any better. I’ve been busy trying to get a funeral planned, get a young couple ready for their wedding, write my sermon, develop the worship service, plant some garden, weed a flowerbed, attend a funeral of a friend, keep my yard mowed and trimmed, help Ms. Kate with laundry and make some phone calls to parishioners and do some visitation. I’m my own worst boss and time manager sometimes. So, when I forget to write my blog like I have several times recently, just know my brain is probably in a different room than my body. 

I wish you could all see our flowers we have here at the house. The iris are blooming and we have so many varieties. The peonies are really coming into their own and the azaleas are blooming beautifully as are the poppies, blue bells, clematis, and roses. The place really looks beautiful. It won’t last too much longer though. Pretty soon all of the daffodils will start falling over and will dry out and look ugly for awhile. You don’t cut them off until they are dried out. Then the iris are going to be past it and will have to be pinched back and then cut back. Raising flowerbeds is an awful lot of work but the reward is a few weeks of joy as I walk around my yard. It’s worth every bit of the effort. 

Can you believe the price of gas? I went out a couple of days ago to get gas for my lawnmowers and decided to take my truck because it was getting down to a quarter of a tank. I filled up my can and then filled up the truck —- $80.00. I couldn’t believe it. I have never had to pay that kind of money to fill up my truck. I don’t drive it often so a tank full will last me a long time; but —— just wow!!! Then I went to fill up my Prius and it cost me another $40.00. Thank goodness it get 53 mpg, but I make a lot of trips and thee tank is only I think a ten gallon tank. And I just read this morning that there is going to be a diesel fuel shortage on the east coast for the next few weeks. If you think the supply chain is bad now — just wait. How in the world did this country get into this bad of shape??? I know lots of people blame the president but there is far more going on than just him being an idiot. I have no idea where to even start placing blame and thee fact of the matter is that placing blame doesn’t make things any better. It just makes us angry and gives us someone to “hate”. What I do know is that prayer is a solution\. It won’t bring the price of gas down, but it will give us the patience to deal on a daily basis with the chaos the world is experience in right now. 

Oh well, I have bird feeders to fill and other stuff to do.  Have yourself a great Friday the 13th. Stay away from ladders and black cats!!! Peace. 

 Hello Tuesday, how ya’ been? Yes, I know it’s afternoon but I have been just a bit busy these days.  We’ve been busy trying to find out what is causing Ms. Kate to feel so bad. We had doctor’s appointment on Thursday, I think I may had told you that. Well, the doctor made some changes to her medication and ordered a new prescription for her. For Tri-Care purposes for new prescriptions that may be a one time thing, we have to go through Walgreens. Well, we waited allof Friday, — no meds but I got a text from Walgreens saying the prescription was delayed, waiting the doctor for information. We hear this Friday afternoon and of course the doctor’s office by now has closed for the weekend which means that there is no way they are going to hear from him for the weekend, which means that Kate can’t start with the new medication until at least Monday. Well, yesterday morning I called Walgreens and was told again that they were waiting on the doctor. So, Kate called our doctor’s office and they knew nothing about it and they called Walgreens. Believe it or not —- the issue Walgreens was waiting on was that the prescription was for 30 days and they wanted to know if it was supposed to be for 90 days!!! The doctor told them to fill it for 30 now and then they will order one for 90\. It wasn’t five minutes after that call that I got a new text from Walgreens saying her meds were ready for pick up. Grrrrrrrr! The good news is that now she is doing better. 

The bad news is that because she was feeling \so bad, we didn’t dare take her over to Louisville for our daughter Julie’s graduation from IU. I took Kate to her sister’s house to stay and I went over to \the graduation. It was a lovely event. We are so very proud of her. That girl has always had a job, often two or sometimes three, has raised a wonderful so and been a great homemaker. She started out as a young teenager, like many military kids bagging groceries for tips at the base commissary and has worked ever since. For the last “X” number of years she has been managing College Bookstores.  I think the only time she has not held a job was when she was in Turkey with her husband who was in the Air Force. But as she posted last night on Facebook —“it’s been 37 years since she graduated from high school, but she finally has graduated from college.”  She is the perfect example of what you can do if you are determined enough and have the drive to succeed no matter how long the journey. Last night she said she is going to check to the tuition reimbursement of her company and possibly start on her graduate degree. She makes me tired!

I spent the night in Louisville and then came on home this morning, picked up Ms.Kate and we went out to BJ’s for lunch. And then —- it was nap time. Now, I’m up and have stuff to get busy doing. So, have yourself a wonderful  afternoon and evening. Peace. 

 Friday, May 6th. I guess I had "failed this week of puns. I didn't say "May the 4th Be with you " on Wednesday in honor of Star Wars, and I didn't have a margarita yesterday or dance the Mexican Hat Dance or even have tacos in honor of Cinco de Mayo. I'm just no fun at all.  

We are still waiting on the doctors and pharmacy and hospitals to press on with getting Ms. Kate some help. She did get her test results back from the doctor's office and they point out a possible thyroid problem, a possible blood clotting problem, and a possible congestive heart failure problem; --- none of which are purely definitive yet until we can get her in for her echocardiogram which will not be until June the 8th. The doctor has ordered a change in her thyroid medicine but because it is a change --- it has to go through the insurance justification process first so we're waiting on an insurance company to decide her health condition. It is all very frustrating. In the mean time she basically can do very little. The real hard part for Kate is that she is going to miss Julie's college graduation because she simply can't do the walking. So, I'm going to go by myself and will leave Kate with her sister Karen for the day and over night. Not that we really think there will be an emergency but she could fall or something and would have no one to help her. ( I wonder if I could rent a wheelchair for a couple of days and I could take her along.)

Julie is coming over this evening and I have asked her if she would bring along her gown and cap so we could get some pictures of her with Kate and Kate could at least see her in it. Julie has worked so hard for so very many years to make this happen, it breaks Kate's heart that she will miss it. 

I did my hospital visitation yesterday with my parishioner that was to have surgery, She came through the surgery successfully and noo the rehabilitation will begin. I don't envy her that at all. I've been through that three times and hope to never have to do it again. 

It's still raining on and off and we are maybe going to have storms this afternoon. I hope not, I  don't want Jules to have to drive over here in a storm. 

That's it for Friday. Have a great weekend. Peace. 

 Cinco deMayo; a day when people decide they have a little bit of Mexican blood in them and celebrate that by drinking Margaritas. I remember a a grade-school kid we would  have to participate in some sort of Pan-American Day program and do the Mexican Hat Dance. I don’t know id they still do things like that or not. Probably someone finds it offensive so maybe they don’t do that anymore. But, it was fun at the time. 

Yesterday was a busy day. Ms. Kate had a doctor’s appointment to try to find out what is causing her to feel bad all the time. The took chest xrays and did blood work. She got her results back through the Deaconess My Chart system, but that’s like handing a symphony to someone that doesn’t read music. The chart reads several things that are really out of whack but we don’t know what that means. Hopefully the Nurse Practitioner will call her today and tell her something. 

After we finished at the doctor’s office we went to Denny’s for some breakfast or brunch. Then I got ready to go do some parishioner visitation then go to the churches and run my bulletins and that was followed by doing a pre-marital counseling session. I have a young couple getting married on May 21st. They are a really nice couple; both are 22 years old and have been dating for seven years. They both have steady jobs and are so “down to earth” with their hopes and dreams. I think they will do just fine. 

Today I have a parishioner that is having surgery on her shoulder and arm. She took a bad fall several weeks ago and is just now to the point where they can do something about the broken arm. \It was broken in three places. She’s going to be in for some tough rehab. I don’t envy her at all. So, I’ll go and sit with her  for a bit before the surgery and do prayer with her.  Then I have to get home and get busy on finishing up the sermon I’m working on for the 15th. I have it half done, or at least I think I do. I never know what the end product will look like until I type “Amen”. 

It is supposed to rain and maybe storm today, tonight and tomorrow. That’s not good news for us with a roof leak. I still haven’t heard from my contractor. I called them again yesterday but they are really busy. Hello springtime. 

That’s it. I have things to do. Have a wonderful day. Peace. 

   

 May 3rd — Primary Election Day. One of the first things that we will do today is go vote. So many people don’t vote in the primary elections because they don’t really think it makes any difference. Primaries are strictly a “party election” where you are choosing the candidate you want to run in your party for an office. I think all opportunities to vote are important. I gave up 32 years of my life serving our country to guarantee we would always have that right to vote. 

I have been busy ever since we got home from our vacation. Mowing, gardening, weed eating, working at my job, writing sermons and helping Ms. Kate around the house has kept me busy. But, I’ve gotten in my nap time too, but I’m also taking Tylenol because I’m stiff and sore from the yard work. 

It rained last night and is supposed to rain again this week. That’s not a good thing because we came home from vacation and Ms. Kate discovered a discolored spot on the ceiling that says we have a roof leak. Just what we needed. We had one a couple of years ago that was dripping in the shower through the light fixture. It took them four attempts before they finally found the source, just a tiny hole. The new spot is against the wall on the lowest point of the roof, —- and is going to be a real bear to find because where it shows up is no indication of where it is really leaking. I’ve notified our usual contractor but have not heard from him. 

Ms. Kate is sick, —- again. She has a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. She has zero energy, is lethargic, has real problems breathing. It is very concerning to me because this is a pattern that repeats itself every couple of weeks and this time it has gone on for two weeks. I don’t know what to do to “fix” her and that frustrates me. Her only description is “I just don’t feel good”. And I watch her run out of breath with just the least little thing. So, keep her in your prayers please. 

Okay, time for me to get ready and go vote. You have yourself a wonderful day. Stay in touch with God. Peace.