Thursday already! The weeks just seem to be going by too quickly some times, and then other days it seems like time drags along. For what ever reason, it seems like I’m always a step behind and am trying to catch up. I know part of it has to do with the fact that our week’s job haas been skewed. We went yesterday to tape the service for this coming Sunday. So that technically puts my Sunday i the middle of the week. It’s weird and it isn’t going to change anytime soon, or at least thru May.

The daily report on the Corona Virus has been released this morning. (I get so tired of those.) So far, 1,024,000 people in the United States have contracted this virus. Of those, 60,000 people have died. That is 0.05%. The US population in 2019 was 328.2 million. That means that 0.0001 % of the population has died from this thing and yet, we have closed the country, restricted travel, closed businesses and virtually ruined the economy. Politicians and their co-horts are becoming “mini-gods”  and are trying to now change the way we  hold our national elections so that they become more vulnerable to fraud, and just yesterday, four democratic freshmen congresswomen wrote a bill that proposes eliminating personal property ownership rights; all in the name of “taking care of the homeless people” of course. These four have been pushing for the country to become a a socialist nation from their first day. They want big government with the government having control of everything. Sigh!!!!

 I filled the bark butter feeders this morning and the guests are all over them. Bluebirds, cardinals, finches, woodpeckers, robins and of course the danged starlings and blackbirds. They act like it is aviary “crack”.

That’s enough for today. Y’all have a wonderful day. Peace.

I know it is Tuesday because that is the slot I opened on my pill container this morning. Unless, of course, I forgot to take yesterday’s pills. LOL

The Backyard Buffet is a busy place this morning. I filled feeders yesterday so the hungry guests have arrived. Cardinals, woodpeckers, goldfinches, doves, robins, black birds, and one fat squirrel are all vying for the munchie morsels. It is a pleasant morning so far; 62 degrees, a slight breeze, cloudy and promising o rain on and off for the next couple of days again. I hope the rain holds off until this evening. I’d like to put my tomatoes in the ground today. It was still to wet yesterday fro Saturday’s rain, but we had good sunshine yesterday and maybe it dried out the ground just enough that I can work it enough to not be “muddling-in” plants. I need to go out and check that out in a little bit.

I got a lot done yesterday. I got the yard mowed, front and back. The backyard  really needed it. I did the laundry for us. Ms. Kate was busy doing other stuff and there was only two loads. I got the final coat of poly put on my park bench!! I can’t believe I actually have that project finished. It looks so good that I almost hate to set it outside in the weather. But, that's what I built it for and I need to get it out of my garage. I know where I want to set it but I better clear it with Ms. Kate first. She might have a better idea. My idea is to put it where I don’t have to mow around it or move it every time I mow. It’s a heavy thing.

I need to get started on my May 10th sermon today. I was just talking to Art and he saiid he is having a hard time getting started on his May 10th sermon too. That is Mother’s Day and I don’t want to do another “Yay Mom” sermon. So, I need to really scratch my head and get to work.

Between the Maple trees and the Tulip Poplar trees, the air is full of those little Whirly seeds dropping to the ground and covering up everything. And according to my runny nose, and watery, itchy eyes, the allergies are prevalent too.

Time to get myself cleaned up and start getting something done. Have a blessed day. Peace.  

A new day and a new week, the last one of April 2020. How crazy is that? Time sure flies when you are looking through the window. But at least today is a sunny day and promises to be that way through most of tomorrow, or so the forecasters say.

How was your weekend? Ours was like every other weekend for the past six weeks. We stayed home. Yesterday of course we did “Jammie Church”. The broadcast went fairly well. It tended to cut out and in through the Facebook broadcast which is very disturbing and makes it hard to follow. So, most role just switch over to YouTube and watch it. For what ever reason, it plays perfectly well there. So I guess it is a Facebook problem. Jacob is researching it. Next week we will be doing our service from St. Paul’s UCC. We’ve been taping them at St. Lucas but I don’t want my other congregation to feel slighted in any way. The two churches are only a mile apart so it is no big deal as to where we tape. The sound system at St. Paul’s isn’t all that great but I hope the IPad will pick up the sound well enough that it won’t matter.

Over the weekend, we as a family decided to cancel our reservations for the vacation home in Branson, MO. We weren’t planning to be there until mid-June but with all of the restrictions concerning business closings etc we just couldn’t take the chance that things would be fully open yet. So, I cancelled them while i could still get a full refund. last night I went on line and started looking for a place in Gatlingburg, TN. We have been there twice already and love it. I found a property that is available the first week of August and am proposing that we still try to do that this summer. It is so hard to try to plan around school schedules and work schedules and there seems to never be a time when everyone can make it. But, we knew it would be this way once the kids all started college and there are still youngin’s in grade school. I think we are all excited that maybe we can salvage a vacation out of the summer after all.

Today is laundry day and I have several chores that I need to get done so I think I will drop off and get busy. Enjoy the sunshine if you have that blessing wherever you are. If not, enjoy the rain. GGod provided that too. Peace.

Happy rainy Saturday morning. So far it has just been waves of showers that come in for maybe 10 0r 15 minutes and then stop for maybe the same about of time. It is predicted to do this all day. After all it is the month of “April showers” isn’t it? The temperature is 55 degrees so that isn’t too bad. But it is going to be an “inside” day for sure.

I finally got the first coat of poly on my park bench yesterday. It isn’t going to be warm enough to put a second coat on today and besides I don’t want to do it with high humidity. Maybe tomorrow afternoon I can get the second coat on. I know I’m self-bragging but, it really looks good. I’ll be really glad to get it out of my garage and and under the tree where it belongs.

We did another grocery run yesterday. We went to Schnucks and Ms. Kate stayed in the car while I did the shopping. She had a long list of things that we needed and it took me awhile. But, people were  spread out and there wasn’t too big of a line anywhere. Folks just practiced patience and it went well. What was amazing to both of us was the number  of men that were doing the grocery shopping. I’d say that 60% of the shoppers I saw were men and all of us doing like me; —-standing and looking and wondering where the heck this or that product would be kept. But, I got everything on my list except the kind of chips Ms. Kate wanted. She likes her Lays Lightly salted chips and I haven’t been able to find them. They have every other kind of Lays chips but not those. And, when I do the shopping, I always stop by the bakery and pick up some turnovers and maybe even a donut or two.

Our videographer, Jacob, posted the link to the service for tomorrow this morning and I reviewed it. He does such a great job and he gets better every week with his capabilities. We are going to be doing these things probably all the way through May and maybe even into June. We’ll just have to see what the federal guidelines and health officials tell us. I know some states are opening up things but I just don’t trust it yet.

That’s enough for today. I really need to get downstairs to my office and get serious about next weeks sermon. I hope your day is pleasant and full of blessings. Tune in to your favorite orship service tomorrow, Peace.

Another Friday has rolled around hasn’t it? The weeks continue to pass and we continue to be self distancing from one another and are holed up in our houses. It does make it a bit hard to keep track of the days and even the time of day some times. But starting next week, allegedly thee country is going to open back up some. Our biggest manufacturer locally is Toyota and they are calling their people back to work starting next week. I assume they have made some changes in their process to keep people the proper distance apart etc. It won’t do much good to open if all of a sudden folks bring the virus right back in the plant and it spreads. I can see both sides of the argument for re-opening the country and also for keeping it closed for a while longer. We simply have to get the country working again and being productive so people can make a living. But we don’t want to spread the virus either and you never know who has it, even the carriers usually don’t know they have it until it is too late. And if stores do open, are people going to be too afraid to go to them for shopping?

I read an article this morning that talked about all of the things that we call “the new normal” and the author said that we will eventually return back to the way things were simply because we are a social creature. People will go back to hugging and sitting next to one another n church talking face to face without a mask on. The world has been through these kinds of things before and we went back to being social beings. I think the thing that bothers me most, and this is strictly my opinion, is that we have a lot of so-called experts in several fields of study who are suddenly in the limelight and are thrilled to be doomsday prophets. They dwell in worst case scenario and that’s all they know. Yesterday I heard some say that the virus will subside a little in the summer because it doesn’t do well in heat. However, they tell us, it will be back in full force come fall and winter and will be even worse because it will also be flu season. Next I heard some financial “experts” say that the world economy and the US economy will be going into a full depression and we will be decades in recovery and most businesses will fail. They don’t tell us that three quarters of a million people have had this virus and have fully recovered. They don’t tell you that 97% of the population will never get it.  They delight in promoting the “boogeyman”; and the Boogeyman is in charge of population control.

But, you know what? None of it is bigger than God and that is where I put my trust. I hope you do too. End of rant — go have yourself a blessed day, and if you run out oof things to do — well, my bird feeders need filling. You’re welcome to help. LOL. Peace.

Good morning and welcome to a rainy, cool Thursday morning. This is going to be a day of rest I think. We had a really busy day yesterday and worked our tillies off. I started fairly early (post coffee of course) and started carrying bags of mulch and spreading that. I was out there for. Bout twenty minutes and here came Dan from across the street ready to help me. We had 30 or so bags ya to carry and spread and one large flowerbed to do. But, it only took us to about noon and we had it all done. We knew that we were expecting rain at some point yesterday and wanted to get it all done and off of my driveway before it rained and those bags get even heavier. They are a bugger when they get wet. I love the beauty of our yard as it sits on this little rise  but not having a flat yard is tough to work on especially trying to work with my brace on and on a hill I absolutely have to use my brace.

Ms. Kate and I had gone on Tuesday to the other side of Mt. Vernon, IN to a nursery and picked up some plants. We bought two tree peonies, a couple of okra plants, and a half dozen tomatoes. So, yesterday while Dan and I spread mulch, she planted the two tree peonies. We’ll wait until the rain is done and tthe ground is softer and we will plant the rest of the plants then.

Yesterday afternoon we had to go to the church and recorded our Sunday service. This still seems really weird having Sunday on Thursday or Wednesday. But it is going to be this way for a few more weeks. I know people want to get back to work and get back to “normal” and get back to actually gong to church. But, until I feel it is really safe, I don’t want to open the doors up. We are a “hugging” church and that is exactly what we don’t need to be doing at the moment.  Bless their heart. Ya’ gotta’ love a hugging congregation. But sometimes a person can get too close for safety.

So today, I think I will do some writing and work on my sermon for the 3rd of May. And I’ll probably play my keyboard for a while and try to get another song ready for the internet maybe tomorrow. So today is going to also be a lazy day. I’m still sore and plan to just do the minimum. I think I’m authorized a day off a week. As Ms. Kate always tells me — I’m my own worst enemy because I think I have to be busy. So, what say we just be relatively unproductive.

That’s it for today. I hope it is bright and sunny where ever you may be unless if course you need the rain like we do. We’re expecting up to 2 plus inches by Sunday morning. Thee great thing is that most of the farmers that I know are pretty much  done with their planting so God was veery generous with His blessings. Speaking of —- take the time to reach out to God today and give thanks for the blessing you have received today and this week. Until next posting — may God bring you peace.

It’s an early morning for me today. I don’t know, but I guess my body said I had enough sleep and it was time to get up. Oh well, it gives me a chance to see some of my early visitors at the backyard Buffet. Mrs. Robin is already busy this morning running and hopping round the yard. I suspect she may be feeding young ones somewhere. I haven’t seen a nest anywhere but it is that time of the year and season.

My weather app says it is 55 degrees out there this morning but there is a stiff breeze that is going to knockdown any comfortable feeling. I want to get back out to the front of the house and start spreading some more of my mulch around. I finished up one flowerbed yesterday. Used I think, teen bags of mulch on that one. Ms. Kate came out and helped me and I’m glad she did. The bags are 2 cu.ft. Bags and when they are dry, they are fairly light. But these we’re wet and that really makes them heavy. I had a heck of a time getting started on that project yesterday. I had carried a couple of bags down to the first flowerbed and ws spreading it around when Derek from next door came out to walk his dog. He offered to carry some of it for me and did carry a couple of bags down. Then he offered to loan me his trailer that he uses to pull along behind his John Deere. I took him up on that. The problem was, it had a flat tire. It was so flat that the seal around the rim was broken. Well, my compressor is over at Dan’s house so I pulled the trailer over there but couldn’t get the tire to take air.  So, —- we loaded the trailer up into my truck and I took it down to Raben’s Tire and they agreed it up for me. Then I came back and got started. Nothing’s ever easy.

I didn’t get my the poly put on my park bench yesterday It never really got warm enough to let it dry right. And it isn’t going to get to be warm enough any time soon. It should be at least 68 degrees and stay that way or warmer for aa few hours. We are at tthe point where we might see 68 - 70 but it only hits it for maybe an hour in the afternoon and then starts to drop back down. Our night time temperature are often still in the upper 30’s and lower forties. That just won’t cut it. But as I said before, as many years as I have been procrastinating on this project, a few more days won’t make a difference. But, it will be great to get it finished and out of my garage. That’s 10 square feet that I need for something else.

The cardinals are here for breakfast so I think I’ll sign off and just enjoy the blessing. Have a great day.