Well now, this is a pleasant change form earlier in the week. Happy Saturday morning. It’s 68 degrees this morning and only going up to the mid 70’s today. It’s going to be a lawn mowing day for sure. And maybe we’ll get some other stuff done too. I need to go get a haircut because it is getting a little long and shaggy. And I think if we have time we will go to the grocery store. I just checked the Accuweather forecast and it said that we will have rain this afternoon, so who knows what will happen. 

Yesterday Ms. Kate and I went for lunch with Brenda and Bob. It was our usual “schrooms and beer” lunch. We were celebrating my birthday a little late. Then we went up to the churches and ran the bulletins  for this Sunday and next Sunday. Kate and I are going out of town next Wednesday and coming home on Thursday so we decided to go ahead and run both weeks bulletins since I had them done. I always try to work ahead “in case something comes up” and lo and behold, something came up late last night. A parishioner from Zoar passed away and I may have to help with or even do the funeral because Pastor Art is having hip replacement on Monday morning. The old military saying is “Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.” Art is meeting with the family today and will let me know. 

After we finished up the bulletins, we went by the orchard and bought some fresh peaches and then headed up to Sister-in-law Karen’s house. A cousin, Robin, had dropped off some sweetcorn for Karen and for us at Karen’s house so we picked that up. I shucked a half dozen ears for supper last night. It was pretty good; not the best we have had this years, but pretty good. 

That took care of my Friday. I did squeeze in a short (20 minute) nap when we got home but that just left me tired. Now, I need to get my shower and head to the barber shop. I hope you have a great weekend. Get out and enjoy this last day of July, 2021. There will never be another one. Peace. 

 It’s already 81 this morning and may be going way on up. Our forecaster said that we may have the hottest day in four years today with a possible heat index of 110. I’ve seen it that hot before many times out in Las Vegas. Here though we have humidity to go with it which makes it sweltering. Out there they talk about their “dry heat” which basically means that you’re sitting in a convection oven. No fun either way. 

So —— today will be another day in the basement with my computer. Maybe I can get some quality writing done today. I did finish the sermon for the 8th of August but still have the power point slides to make. I get so confused when I’m making those and it is all just a mental block. I know how to make the slides but I get confused trying to save them to a file, and the process isn’t all that hard at all. So I don’t know why it confuses me. I’m getting old I guess.

Neighbor Dan was kind enough to bring my garbage can up from the street to the house this morning. I guess he was putting his out and saw mine ready to come in. It saved me a trip down to the street, and with my driveway, “down” is the active verb. Unfortunately, Ms. Kate wrote out the checks for the bills and I have to go down anyway. 

Well, since I have nothing more interesting to talk about than garbage cans, I guess I will close up shop and move on to something else for today. I hope you have a great day and the opportunity to count many blessings.   Peace. 

 Another day, another scorcher. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse and then Friday it is supposed to break and the temps drop back to upper 80’s but the humidity is to drop. Maybe we’ll get a little rain. We could use it again. 

Today is Wednesday and usually we would go to the church and run the bulletins but I think we will stay in again today and maybe tomorrow too. There is an ozone warning out for today and tomorrow and that makes it hard to breathe. I can run the bulletins on Friday afternoon. There is no specific day that I need to have them ready as long as they are done on Sunday morning. 

I just read on Facebook that we have a local Olympic Champion. Ms. Jackie Young is a basketball player that grew up playing at Princeton High school. I never saw her play but many folks in my parish know her and say she is just a great all around kid. She has won many awards and plays for Notre Dame I think on a full ride scholarship. The people of Princeton packed their local theater at 0300 this morning to watch live broadcast of the Olympic basketball game where the USA Team took the gold medal. Her humble motto is; “I’m just a kid from Princeton”. I reckon she has a long career waiting for her. 

I had a young Captain that worked for me several years ago who was on the Olympic Bobsled Team for the ‘88 Olympics. I think they won gold that year. He was a good guy but I’ll tell you one thing, when you have someone like that filling a manpower  slot, be prepared for them to be missing a lot. He was my operations officer and I basically had to do it all by myself because you get no replacements or manpower backfill in cases like that. I also had a tennis player that was the #2 seeded tennis player in the Air Force. He was always gone too because the higher officials always were having him out to play when the visiting generals etc wanted to play tennis. 

I got quite a bit of writing done yesterday. I hope to finish up the sermon for the 8th\ today. I also started another writing but I don’t know what I’m going to do with it just yet. It would probably be a good sermon but also would make a good paper or a pamphlet. It is about church membership and the obligations that go with that. It begs the question; “Are you a member or a number on the roles?” I hope to turn it onto something useful. Lot’s of work to do on it yet though. But, if I work hard enough on it, Maybe I can turn it into a small book that won’t be too boring. My thoughts on making it a sermon are that I would be preaching to the choir and the ones that need to hear it won’t be there anyway. Of course, they wouldn’t be reading it either. So —- who knows what I’ll do. 

I guess I better refill the cup and get busy doing something. Stay indoors if you can I already hear a roofer tap, tap, tapping somewhere in the neighborhood this morning. I feel for them. Peace.; 

 Good morning. As promised by our weather forecaster, it’s already another hot and muggy. I guess the good news is that it is better today than it is supposed to be tomorrow and Thursday. So, — it’s going to be another “inside day” and it’s hoping to be laundry day. I already have it carried out and Ms. kate will separate and start the first load shortly. I think my day will be spent downstairs on the computer working on my sermon. Or maybe, I’ll work on putting worship services together for the rest of the month of August. I have the first two weeks services planned and could go ahead and have that part done. The good part is that I would be ahead of the game as far as that is concerned but the other good part is that I could put of writing my sermon for another few hours. LOL 

I filled the bird-feeders yesterday and the Backyard Buffet is wide open. I’ve had a few visitors but not a lot s far. The word will spread throughout “bird world” though. Of course the squirrel was the first one back. But, he’s not sharing the news. He’ll eat for awhile and then go spread himself over a branch and try to keep cool. I had to hurry up and send in an order for some of my foods that I was out of. I love the fact that Wild Birds Unlimited has online ordering. And if I order $75.00 worth I get free shipping. Believe me, ordering $75.00 worth is no problem at all. My problem is usually trying to keep my order under $100.00. I have an expensive hobby but I think it is worth it. I get enjoyment and God’s creatures get a helping hand. 

I went out and picked tomatoes yesterday. I need to go back out and cut the okra too and check on the cucumbers. We may have to either make some tomato juice or can some tomatoes. The crop is that good. And there is enough okra to put some in the freezer too. Ms. Kate uses it in her vegetable soup. My mother used to make okra and tomatoes and I hated it because the okra was so slimy. But, I like fried okra and I like it in my vegetable soup. 

There is a feeder just outside my kitchen window that I keep there just for the wrens and the finches. They are regular customers there. But as I’m looking at it now, I see that I have to go out and pull the dang morning glory vines off of it again, Those dang morning glories are the Bain of my existence. 

That’s all for today. Stay inside and keep cool if you are able. Peace. 

 Good morning ! It is 0630 and I have no idea why I am up already. I guess Ms. kate and I have shifted our sleeping schedule slightly. Fo years we have gone to bed at midnight or 0100, But for whatever reason, we’ve started going to bed around 2300 just after the news is over. So, I guess it makes sense that w would be up now. And we almost never miss our nap during the day. Good heavens, I think we got old. 

How was your weekend? Did you do anything relaxing or fun? Did you take time to visit your house of worship at some point during the weekend? Our weekend was uneventful. It was just too darn hot to be playing around outside. And that heat continues today and will throughout the week so the forecaster says. It is already 74 degrees with a “feels-like of 85. It’s going up to 91 or so today. 

We had a good worship service yesterday although the attendance was poor. Too many people out on vacation. But, it is the end summer almost and folks have to get their vacation in then they can. School will be starting fairly soon and for the farmers, the corn stalks are full of ears and in another month it will be time to start the harvest. So they all need to take advantage of their down-time while they can. Ms. Kate and I are planning a couple of trips too. We will be heading to Michigan Upper Peninsula  at the end of August for a military reunion and then down to Ohio Amish Country for a couple of days. Next week we are doing an overnight trip to Nashville Indiana.

I’m very sad to report that our church organist at St. Paul’s has had to quit. She has stage four cancer and it has progressed to the point that she can no longer walk or even really set up. She announced the cancer a year ago and has not missed a Sunday until last week. She is currently hospitalized and will be going to a care facility from the hospital. Her name is Karen and I ask you to pray for her. I pray for her comfort because with out an overwhelming miracle, (which of course God can do) she won’t be getting any better. The church is not going to be the same without her. She has been a cornerstone of the church for many years. I think she has been the organist for at least 40 years. 

We had the second of our summer congregational meetings yesterday; St. Paul’s was last week and St. Lucas was yesterday. It was a long meeting but they had a lot of business to discuss. 

Time for me to refill the old coffee cup and move around a bit. Have a pleasant day and a blessed week. Peace. 

 

 Good morning on this hot Friday day. It’s going to be a sticky one again today. When the temperature and the humidity level are about equal, —- it’s a good day to stay inside. Our area is still under a layer of smoke that is coming from up north somewhere making the air quality level not good for us with asthma etc. 

It certainly sad to sit here in my recliner, looking out my window and not seeing any birds at my feeders. The first couple of days after I let them go empty because of some mysterious bird disease I had a lot of birds coming and wanting the usual; food at the Backyard Buffet, especially in the evenings around 1600 hours. But it has declined rapidly and they are going elsewhere to eat which was the alleged desired affect.  Two mornings ago I was sitting here and two huge Pileated Woodpeckers sitting not two feet from my windows looking for their favorite treats and the feeders were empty. I have yet to see a sick bird or a dead bird and all of a sudden there is nothing in the media about this anymore. It’s really aggravating and suspicious when the scientists and media make all of these claims and show you no proof. I’m going to give it through tomorrow and come Sunday I’m filling my feeders back up.  This is ridiculous

I still haven’t finished my August 1st sermon. In fact, I haven’t  touched it since Wednesday. I reckon today is a great day to finish that up since I don’t intend to go outside and do anything except maybe check the garden for more maters, okra, and cucumbers. I have two pots containing Sweet 100”s tomatoes just out the patio door and I can see a hand full of little tomatoes beckoning to me. Their life span is extremely limited at the moment. But — they will have fulfilled their role in God’s universe. LOL

It is second cup time so I guess I will stop for today. I hope you can stay cool today and I hope you have a great weekend. Peace. 

 

 Good morning and Happy Thursday. Sorry I didn’t stop by yesterday but can you believe I frankly just forgot.? Is that what being 77 is going to be like??? LOL

In my defense, I did get some work done outside again yesterday. I had told you tat The John Deere dealer had returned my LT 150 after servicing it. Let me tell you, that thing ran like a brand new one. I’m very happy with it. I mowed both my front and back yard yesterday morning. The front yard wasn’t as bad as the back yard. My neighbor Deb and come over and mowed it last week. I know I told you about working out there in the backyard flower beds  but it still had not been mowed. Well, now it looks great back there. I’m just glad to have my little JD back in the pasture where it belongs. When I finished with the mowing I went to my little raised bed garden and picked my produce. It was a great haul, lots of tomatoes, and okra, and cucumbers were ready for picking. 

I spent a good deal of time on my sermon for the 1st of August. It’s always amazes me that I can spend so much time and seemingly get hardly anything down on paper. I don’t know why it tis me so much time to sift through the scriptures and things other people have said about a particular scripture or topic, but it does. Most of the time I spend trying to make sure that what I write is first of all, biblical, and secondly that it makes sense to somebody besides me. Ms. Kate chides me once in a while because she says I’m using “Preacher-speak”. I know exactly what she means because I get lost listening to or reading other preachers. 

Today is going to be “bulletin day”. I need to go up to the church and take care of that today since I didn’t do it yesterday. Then this afternoon I have to take the Prius in for its 20,000 mile servicing. We’re getting ready to go on a couple of trips and I need the car ready to roll. Having said all of that, I better get ready to head up to the church. I don’t think Ms. Kate is going with me so it will take me a little bit longer.

The weekend is coming up and I hope you get a chance to enjoy it. Don’t neglect to stay in touch with God. After all, you weekend is courtesy of Him. Peace.