Mid week already and it is getting on into evening already. Ms. Kate and I are sitting until the sunporch watching the action in the Backyard Buffet. I went out and filled the feeders and hung up a bunch again. I’m having to pit it back together after the destruction of the raccoon. BUT!!!!! That raccoon won’t be in my yard again.

We went out yesterday afternoon and bought a couple of traps. I put a can of cat. Food on one of them and set it right on the sidewalk where they have been doing their latest damage. That was about 1700 hours, I got ready to goto bed around 2230 after the news and I turned on the back yard light and I had already captured the thing. This morning, after Bible study, I called Animal control and they said they would come and pick it up. Around 1300, they came by and took it away. The lady said that ours was the fourth one on her truck. They take them and relocate them out in a city park. That was what I had considered doing but I didn’t think it was legal for me to do it. I had called DNR and they told me that I could release it on private property if I had the owners permission. Otherwise I could exterminate it. Somehow, it just didn’t sit well with me to stand over it trapped in a cage and shooting it. So now it will have to get off of the “easy food train”, and fight the other raccoons for its meal.  

I went to work this morning and I also conducted the Bible study for Pastor Art. He is still on vacation and will get home on Saturday.

I should get on my bike and ride for twenty minutes or so or maybe three miles, which ever comes first. But, —- by evening, my leg starts to get pretty tired and starts to give me some pain. So, with the other walking and work I have done today, I think I’ll take a day off from it.

With that, I think I’ll drop off of here and see what Ms. Kate and I are going to do about having some dinner. Have a blessed evening. Peace.

Well, Tuesday morning is an opposite of yesterday. It is cloudy, it is steamy and muggy and looks like it could rain at any moment.

My dang raccoon is back and tore down two more feeders last night. Actually he didn’t tear them up but he bent the pole they were hanging on over and the feeders were on the ground this morning empty. The fact that the ground was wet from the inch of rain we got yesterday certainly was an aid to it’s escapades. I  have to do something about this dang thing. It is ruining my Backyard Buffet and my ability to enjoy my birds. I may go to Rural-King today and buy a trap and set it out. . The problem is, what do I do with it if I catch it? I need to call my buddy Bob. He’ll know what to do about this dang thing.

Ms. Kate and I both did our bike rides yesterday again. We are enjoying it so far and I can tell it is doing some good. We went Saturday to the Apple store and bought her a set of Bose Wireless headphones so she can ride and listen to her music or watch her You Tube videos while she rides. I do the same thing with my set of Bose. I rode 3.4 miles yesterday and she rode 2,5. I may ride again today.

I finished writing a wedding ceremony last night. We have a couple from the church getting married on the seventeenth of August out in our Woodland chapel. Pastor Art and I will do the wedding together. It is a second marriage for both of them. I did the funeral for the groom’s first wife several years ago. They are both good people and I’m glad they found each other.

I think I’ll go fix something for breakfast now and get my day started. Have a great day.

Good morning on this bright and beautiful Monday morning. What say we start a whole new week together? I mean, what else do you have to do?

I'm at the office at the church with nothing on my schedule so I thought I would start my morning with a few notes on my blog before I start working on anything else. When I got here, I found two zuchini squash on my desk and I reckon they are going to be part of our supper tonight. Our secretary, Karen had told Ms. Kate yesterday that she was going to bring us a couple. We really like zuchini and yellow summer squash. I generally don't raise them simply because people who do raise them are always willing to share because they get so many. It takes a bigger plot of garden than I have to raise squash too. Those plants really spread out.

Our weekend was busy. I am able to get around to most anywhere I want to go now that I have my AFO. My only real challenge is walking up and down slopes like my driveway and being up on my feet too long. This morning even that was easier. But, we had to go shoe shopping for me. Since I have the orthotic, I have to have all new shoes because they have to fit over my orthotic. That has forced me to move up from a size 9D to an 11 wide or even double wide depending on the shoe. Then I have the problem of the shoes fitting one one foot and being too big for the other foot. But that is life as I know it from now on. We went out to a shoe store and got fitted for two different pair, one black and one brown pair. That set me back $300. Then yesterday we went out again and bought a pair of house slippers so I can get out of bed, slip[ on my orthotic and slide my foot into a house slipper to get around the house. That works at night when I have to get up in the middle of the night. Although, I must say that I am developing the ability to get around the house fairly well without my brace. I take it slow of course but so far I have had no problems. Some times I do well even without the cane. Who kniws what will happen down the road. I might just develope the strength to do withour the orthotic all together. If that ever happens though, then I'll have to start a new shoe buying trip all over again to get back into my size 9D. I'm currently getting ready to find a place to donate all of my old shoes to. I have a lot of really nice ones and someone might as well get some use out of them.

We had a fairly good attendance at church yesterday, sixty-seven. We had the service outdoors in the Woodland Chapel. Some of our friends from St. Lucas in Ft. Branch were there. It's always nice to see them.

Today will be laundry day and I think this afternoon Ms. Kate is going to make another peach pie or maybe two. We picked up some yesterday while we were out and they are really good. I had one last evening while I was watching television.

That's it for this morning. I pray you will have a wonderful week with all kinds of good things happening in your life. Peace.

Friday morning; last day of the traditional work-week. I once heard it said that when you buy something like an appliance or a car, ya’ want to make sure it was made on a Friday because people don’t have their minds on their job on Friday. I don’t think that is a true thing. I worked in manufacturing production at Whirlpool Corporation for almost seven years while I was going through college. I never saw a difference in production, although there were certainly higher employee absences on both Friday and Monday. So, perhaps there is something to it because somebody has to “shoot those screws” and the fill-in person might not be as familiar with the routine or be happy about having to fill-in. Just a thought.

It is another beautiful day outside. The temperature is stating to creep up higher than yesterday though and with that so will the humidity. I haven’t accomplished a thing this morning with the exception of playing my computer Bingo and Criminal Case game. I put a post on Facebook that I was gong to dedicate the first hour to politicians today by sitting in my chair, staring out the window, doing nothing while I collect my government pension.

I guess I need to refill a couple of the feeders again this morning. The one Bark-Butter -Bits feeder is almost empty. The birds all seem to like that and the dang blackbirds and starlings are the worst. They fly in and fuss and fight and will sit there for long periods of time gobbling the food down. They run other birds away and they constantly peck at each other.

I should spray myself with mosquito spray this morning and go out and do some yard work. The garden needs the weeds hoed out of it and I have a patch of poison ivy that I need to get out of the Azalea bushes. Our landscape folks won’t touch it because they are both highly allergic to it. He sprayed it earlier this week so maybe I can get in there and pull it out. It usually doesn’t bother me.

Last evening I made the arrangement for our 2020 vacation reunion. We are gong back to Gatlinburg, TN. The family all seem to like it. Usually we have rented a large mountain top place, but this time I have rented a large place down in the valley that is creek-side. It looks to be a beautiful home and I think everyone will enjoy the place. We went back to the company that we have rented from twice before and they have always treated us great. I’m excited about it.

I hope your weekend is relaxing and i hope you have some good family time. Increase the joy of family time by attending church together and worshipping the Lord God who made you a family and provides all of your blessings. Peace , my friends.

Thursday: What a perfect morning. It is sixty-nine degrees, the sun is shining, and the is a six mile per hour breeze blowing. I’m in the sun porch with my cup of coffee watching my friends come to the Backyard Buffet. This is the most “normal” I have felt in five and a half month. If I hadn’t had to start the morning by “putting my leg on”, it would be like my old life. But, at least putting my leg on only means that I’m putting a leg assistant on and not a prosthetic.

The new brace seems to be working out fairly well. I’m getting around in it very well. I’ve been up and down my basement steps several times going back and forth to my office. Last night around 2300 hours I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed and I could hear a television somewhere. I knew I had just left the kitchen and family room areas and the televisions were off in those rooms. I had also just turned off the television in our bedroom and yet I could faintly hear a TV still playing. So, I grabbed my cane and made my way through the house without my brace (not a good thing to do) and went to the top of the basement stairs and looked through the dark. Sure enough, I could see the flicker of the light from the television down there because it was on. What that means is that it had been going all day and all night from the night before. So, —- I made my way back to the bedroom, put my leg on, and then went downstairs and turned the television off. I’m positive we don’t have a poltergeist in the house so that means I’m the one who left it on. What a dork I can be. I guess it also means that my hearing is still pretty good.

Yesterday afternoon I filled a bunch of the feeders in the backyard. The really good news is that they are all still hanging this morning and some raccoon didn’t come along and pull the down. I repositioned some of them too. I bought a new feeder the other day at Wild Birds. It holds a cylinder of food for the Woodpeckers. They haven’t tried it yet but they will. I also bought some other cylinders of food that contains all of the stiff that the birds like. Unfortunately the squirrels like it too so I bought the variety that contains hot pepper. The birds will love it and thee squirrels will leave it alone once they try it.

The new recumbent bike is working well. Ms. Kate and I are both using it. I’m going to jump on it as soon as I finish my blog this morning. I have my music out here and can just sit back, pump my legs and listen to my music. We’re only doing about ten minutes at a time to start out. That is what my therapist had me doing. Right now we are doing a “ride” every other day. But, I think that is going to increase to maybe a couple of time a day on the days we ride.

Having said all of that, it is time to wrap this up and get started on my ride to nowhere. I hope you have a blessed day and I hope you have time to stop and take stock once again of your blessings. Peace.

July 23rd, Tuesday. I started my day out by going to physical therapy and the great news is that I have completed therapy. I have one more 30 minute session to go to for my final evaluation and discharge. That will be on the 6th of August just before I go to my surgeon’s checkup. I am go blessed. This has all healed as it should. I went yesterday and got my new AFO (ankle/foot/orthotic) and it works extremely well. It is light weight, easy to put on, and fairly comfortable. I have to wear a shoe with it because it is a very slick plastic and it only attaches to my leg just below the knee. That means nothing holds it to my foot. At night I just use my cane to steady myself getting to the bathroom with a bare foot. This has been a very long five months but I have zero complaints. I’ve said it a hundred times: I could have been dead at least twice during this process. Instead, I’m walking around, a bit worse for the wear, but I’m doing fine. So, if you have offered prayers for me and my recovery, thank you very much.

I’ve also been cleared to go downstairs to my office. Of course I will have to do it carefully and use the “two-step” method of going down. But, I have aa handrail and will always use it. Now I can get my “work-stuff” off of the kitchen table and we can turn the table back around like it it supposed to be and get all of my office stuff back down to where it belongs. Then I need to clean out what I call “Crip’s Corner” in our bedroom. That is the stack of stuff that I have been wearing since February. It is in and on top of the suitcase I was going to take on our vacation. I haven’t been able to easily get in and out of the closet so that is how we’ve lived around here. We can now also put the family room coffee table back where it belongs and put the dining room back together. We may actually get this place looking like a house where healthy people live again.

Ms. Kate spent yesterday morning putting peaches in the freezer and then yesterday evening she made a peach pie. We haven’t tried the pie just yet but I’m sure it will be a big part of our dinner tonight.

God has blessed us with an absolutely beautiful day and we are both out here in the sun porch with the glass doors open and a beautiful breeze blowing through the screen doors. I think it has now reached nap time. I hope your day is blessed as fully as mine has been. Peace.

Happy Birthday to me!! I turned seventy five today. Seventy five — three quarters of a century; — how great is that? I don’t know what I thought I would feel like being 75 but frankly — I feel pretty dang good. And as my dad used to say, “I’m not bad for the shape I’m in.” My health is good, my injury is almost healed up. Monday I get my new Orthotic brace and get out of my boot. I’m done with my infusions, I’m walking fairly well. So, all in all, I’m doing well for my age.

Julie and Jim came over and Jim put my new recumbent exercise bike together for me. Now the trick will be for me to use it. At least since it sits out here in the sun porch it won’t get used as a clothes hanger. That’s basically what happened to the treadmill. After years of it sitting in the basement and having to walk around it, I gave it to Lisa. I don’t know if they ever made use of it or not. But, I’m determined to use this thing. I guess we will see how long my determination lasts. It just has to become a part of a routine and then there is nothing to it. Ms. Kate says she wants to use it too, so we’ll see what happens to her determination too.

The hummingbird was knocking at the back door because the feeder was empty. I don’t know what has been getting into my feeders. I found another one on the ground opened and empty. What ever it is is is larger than a squirrel It almost has to be a raccoon or two. This feeder was pulled off into the bushes and the raccoons will do that. In years past I have found my feeders drug around the side of the house because they will steal them. Every year I have a a problem with raccoons for a couple of weeks and then they go away. I just filled that hummingbird feeder a couple of days ago and it was emptied in one night. It was hanging low enough that what ever animal emptied it sat in a flower pot and had a party. It can be glad I live in a subdivision and can’t shoot it.

It is about time to decide where we are going to eat our dinner. So, y’all have a great evening and a peaceful Sunday that includes worship of the Lord God. Peace.