Well, God did it again! I opened my eyes, (earlier than I wanted to) and there was a whole new bright week right there in front of me. There were birds announcing it and beautiful flowers singing God’s praises. I need to check out front where I have my tomato plants waiting on the porch to see if the frost did them any harm. I doubt it though.  

We had a good turnout for the services yesterday. That’s always a positive note and frankly makes me feel better. It’s always disappointing when we have a Sunday when very few people show up for worship services. While I realize it isn’t about me at all, I do put a lot of work into trying to do good services. I do a lot of research for my sermons and try to match the scriptures and hymns all together. Then when only a hand full of folks show up, —- well it’s disappointing. So, — I remind myself that Jesus said; “Where two or three are gathered; I am there too.” Sure, — he did the Sermon on the Mount where 5000 people showed up; — but 99% of His ministry was being a “street preacher”. I got zero to complain about, and I do love my two little churches. I’m going to miss them, but it is time to stop. 

Today we take Kate to see the Oncologist for her follow-up appointment and plan for any future treatment.  The best scenario would be for him to say that she doesn’t need any further treatment at all. But, as I have said, if they want her to take the twenty visit radiation thing to prevent any possible further cancer we will go for it. Heck, we’re retired people, what else have we got to do?? LOL At our age, we call it “going out”. And if the visits are at the right time of day, I get to go out for breakfast, assuming she feels like it after her treatment. The way it was explained to us initially, the daily treatment takes about five to ten minutes and then you’re done. There are four weeks of treatments for a total of twenty. And, I don’t think it is supposed to wear you out like I’m told chemo does. But, we’ll know more by this evening. 

I have a couple of jobs I need to get done this morning before we go for her appointment. Tomorrow the John Deere Dealer is coming to pick up my small JD mower. Right now it has a flat tire on the rear and I have to air that up so they can push it out front. For the moment, we have the laundry going, and I need something for breakfast. So, I’m out of here. 

Have a blessed day — have a blessed week.!! Peace. 

 Good morning on a beautiful but very chilly morning. The few days of seventy and eighty degree temperatures are off visiting someone else I reckon. They were replaced by upper thirty degree nights and fifty degree days. But, we will survive it all. And I think my plants will too. 

It has been a very busy couple of days since I last wrote but I have such wonderful news. We went to Kate’s final appointment with her surgeon on Thursday and I am thrilled to report that he declared her cancer free. He said he got all of the cancer out and her lymph node that he took was totally clear. God be praised. We are thrilled with the diagnosis. Monday we see the oncologist to determine if there are “next steps”. We suspect he will recommend radiation just as a prevention and that is okay with us. It is a four week, twenty treatment regimen but if it insures anything —- we’re all for it. Just because you beat the devil — doesn’t mean you should poke him in the eye. 

That’s my newsworthy printing. The rest of the week has just been routine stuff including parishioners visits at the hospital, sermon writing, A birthday party for my 80 year old life long friend; —- that kind of stuff. 

We had rain yesterday but while it lasted most of the day, it didn’t amount to a lot. I’m hoping it will dry out this morning so I can mow this afternoon. I also have another peony to plant that my sister-in-law gave us. I would really like to plant my tomatoes but I just know that if I do, sure enough we will have a frost. In fact we are predicted to have frost in the next couple of night. So, I must be patient. 

Tomorrow of course is Sunday and that means church services. I hope you will attend your house of worship. We have a lot to be thankful for this week. Peace. 

Good morning on what is yet another beautiful day. It’s sunny and 58 degrees already and is supposed to go up to maybe 82 today. That does not suck! I’m heading up to the churches this morning and do my weekly stuff up there. Then I think I will go up to Princeton and visit a couple of my parishioners that are in nursing homes. I haven’t been to see them in a few weeks. They do get to church once in a while and I see them but I like to stop by occasionally.

Well, yesterday I finally got my raised beds cleaned out. As you know I’ve been talking about doing that for maybe two weeks, I don’t know. But, I finally got to that point on my “to-do” list that I couldn’t put it off any longer. I didn’t plant the tomatoes yet. The frost threat still lingers out there. We can’t trust Mother Nature not to suddenly blow some freezing air down from Canada. I just read a list of seven different states that got snow yesterday and at least two of them had temperatures in the 80’s last week. I have friends in both of those states. They are frustrated with the constant back and forth but what can you do? Wouldn’t want to be in Ft. Lauderdale, FL right now either with their historic flooding. There is no where with perfect weather and after all it is the seasons that make the stuff grow. 

Ms. Kate and I have aa birthday party to attend this evening. I don’t know when I last attended a birthday party. And, —- it’s for my childhood friend who is a year older than me and is turning 80. I’m sure it’s going to be a wild event. LOL.

Tomorrow morning, we take Ms. Kate for her post-surgery appointment with her surgeon. I think he will be pleased with what he sees. The one incision has really gotten “hard” and she hopes he will allow her to start putting Vitamin E oil on it to soften it up. But I have looked at both of her incisions several times and they look good to me. 

I just got a text asking for another person to be put on the prayer list which means I need to go make a change to my bulletins. Thank goodness I got it before I printed them today. 

With that, I’ll sign off. Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 April 18th, 1775 — Paul Revere set of on his famous ride through Lexington and Concord to warn the citizens that the British were coming. If my math is correct, that’s 148 years ago. I think that many people forget that Paul Revere didn’t actually finish that ride because he got stopped along the way by the British. However, William Dawes who was his fellow rider, escaped the British and finish the ride on into Concord. I know these things not because I’m a historian but because Ms. Kate and I lived on Hanscom Air Force Base and infect our house was maybe a half mile from where Paul Revere got stopped and the ride went through what is now part of the base. At one point we attended a Congregational (UCC) church that sat on the corner of the “Lexington Green” Commons where the “Shot heard around the world” was fired. One of the excellent benefits of a military career is that often we got stationed at some pretty historical and awesome places. It was wonderful for the kid’s education. Of course, we got stationed at a couple of places that were not so great too. But I wouldn't trade our way of life for anything. I can easily see how God worked his will all through our thirty two years of service. 

It is another beautiful morning. It is currently 64 degrees and going up to 75 today. It is going to be a great day to be outside and get some more work done. We got several of the “to do” items scratched off of the list yesterday but still haven’t gotten to the raised beds. I will get that done today come hell or high water. It’s bugging me. I may even go ahead and plant the tomatoes today. I think our probability of frost at this point is very low. I got the tree peony moved yesterday. I don’t think I hurt it any by moving it. It wasn’t out of the ground but maybe 15 minutes and was only moved about three feet. And, I took the contents of our kitchen compost bucket and put it in the bottom of the hole. That should give it a shot in the arm. I did the same thing for the new rose. LOL, I remember many years ago I was helping my dad plant a young tree and we had been fishing and had cleaned up a whole mess of fish to eat. So, we took all of the fish guts and stuff and put that in the hole that we were going to put the new tree in. It grew like crazy. 

Time for me to get busy. First I have to see if Ms. Kate want Belgian waffles for breakfast or not. I make good waffles and pancakes. I use Krusteze mix and have for years. Her other option is to get a box of Toaster Strudels out of the freezer and heat those up. Too bad the donut places aren’t across the street! LOL. 

Have a blessed day. Peace. 

 Happy Monday! Let’s get a brand new week started by praying; “Lord guide my every footstep this week and thank you for another chance to be of service to someone.” 

Today is a copy of Saturday. The wind is blowing harder than comfortable. It’s in the upper forties and not going to go much above 60 today. But the sun is bright so that will help out a lot. I turned the heat back on in the house though this morning. It was 67 in the house and that wasn’t very comfortable at all. I think it is supposed to get warmer this week at some point but then of course we have rain predicted when it gets warm. Hello Spring!!! 

Saturday night we had a few limbs blow down again so I need to get those picked up and put away today. There’s only a couple so that won’t take long. I did get the trellis moved to the front yard but I didn’t get the planting done that I wanted to do. I had already mowed the yard, done all of the trimming, cut the asparagus and took some of the weeds out of the asparagus bed. By the time I got the trellis put up, I was pooped. So today, I have to first move a peony bush and then I will have room for the new rose to go in front of the trellis. It’s not a climber rose but it will look nice in front of that trellis. Then I have another small plant to put in the front flowerbed; (I don’t know what it is but Kate wanted it.) Then I really have to get that raised bed cleaned out so I can get the tomatoes in the ground. I see a lot of my FB friends are planting their gardens now. By the time the plants start coming up, it should be past “frost worries”. Most people are getting their root vegetables in the ground now. 

When I get done with all of that, I have to finish putting together video slides for this Sunday’s service and I have a small part of the service to finish writing. I guess I’ll go run the bulletins on Wednesday. Wednesday evening we have a dinner party to attend for one of my few life-long friends. He’s turning 80 this year. I’ve known him for 75 of those years. Thursday we have Kate’s follow-up appointment with her surgeon. I think he will be pleased with what he will see. 

So, I have a busy week. I can’t imagine what it is going to be like when I don’t have a weekly sermon to write or a worship service to put together. It is going to be different, that’s for sure. 

I pray you will have a blessed week. Peace. 

 It’s a sunny, brilliant blue, and windy day. I’m sitting here in the Sunporch watching Kate’s “whirligig” go at top speed. Unfortunately, — I’m also watching the “helicopter” things start to fall off of the maple tree and the tulip poplar trees, as well as some of the blooms from the flowering trees like Dogwood and Redbud. It is a spring ritual. 

Ms. Kate and I are having a lazy morning. We worked pretty good in the yard yesterday. I got all of the mowing and trimming done. I filled a couple of the planter pots and Kate planted lettuce and radishes in them. I also got the bird feeders all filled and my aviary clientele are satisfied with the results of that endeavor. Ms. Kate made a whole bunch of bookmarks for the hymnals at St. Paul’s church. They are really nice. She cut them out and hand-wrote scripture passages on all of them. I think people will appreciate them. At St. Lucas we put the hymns on the big screens so no one really uses the hymnals except for me and the liturgist. We can’t see the screens because they are lateral to us. 

I have some of my leftover jobs from yesterday to get done today. I’m moving one of my trellis’ to the front of the house and get the new rose bush in the ground. In front of it. And I still need to clean up the garden. Somehow that job keeps getting pushed back and it needs to be done. I have tomatoes ready to be put in the ground probably next week sometime. And I have an area that I want to plant zinnia seeds. 

Every thing is set for services tomorrow so that’s all good. I will be glad to get to the church tomorrow. I left my main pair of glasses up there Wednesday when I was working up there and have been using my store-bought cheaters to get by. It works but not well. However, it wasn’t worth the 50 mile round trip to get them. We all make our choices. 

That’s it for this beautiful day. I hope you are able to get out and enjoy yourself. Don’t neglect to go to your hoarse of worship tomorrow, or today if that’s your style. Just remember that God hasn’t forgotten you for one moment this week. Peace. 

 It’s another beautiful morning! Thank you very much Lord, for allowing me another. I’m feeling energetic this morning and that’s a good thing because I have a hoop of stuff to get done. Of course, I’ll wear out before I get it all done but at least I plan to give it all a go. 

Yesterday was a throw away day I guess. I have a group of Evangelical pastors that has started to meet once a month. We are all conservative pastors and it is nice to find that there are people that think like I do and don’t follow all of what is called “woke” thinking these days. It’s really great to talk with pastors who are more interested in Christology than social agendas. Our denomination used to be that way although we have always been leaders in promoting som what were radical ideas in the then current times. Things like allowing women in the pulpit, racial equality. But in the last forty years, our denomination has jumped on every social agenda bandwagon whether it agrees with the scripture or not. If it doesn’t, rather than sticking to the Bible, let’s reinterpret the Bible to make it fit our agenda. I shake my head at how we have changed. —— Okay, I’m off of my soap box for today. 

My first peony has bloomed and it is beautiful. Today, I need to put up more cages around them and I really need to get my summer yard treatment spread. I bought a couple bags of good potting soil to put in the big planters. Kate wants to put her early veggies in them; lettuce and stuff like that. I also need to plant my new rose bush and get the trellis in place behind that. And the birds want fed again and I need to get my garden ready for planting. I’ve been saying all of this for a week now and still haven’t gotten to it. Today is the day because we have rain coming tomorrow. 

My oatmeal is ready so I’m heading to breakfast. Have a blessed day. Peace.