It’s August! Many schools here have started or will next week. But to me, August still seems like summer. We seem to be in a pattern of high heat during the day and thunderstorms at night.I’m thankful we didn’t lose power one night during a torrential rain storm, though it blinked off for a few seconds several times. I wish I could send some of our rain to friends in TX.
We pause on Fridays with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to think over the blessings of the week lest they slip by without notice or thanksgiving.
1. A government phone call went well. Odd how you have to go to an agency, then have a phone appointment, then they send you a form, instead of doing it all at once. But it all went well and didn’t take very long.
2. Hummingbirds. We got our feeder up late this year, and it usually takes them several days to find us. But right away we had a little family of them (at least I think it’s a family) visiting several times a day. I see two flying around together frequently. Another one looks like a youngster since he’s smaller than the others, and he’s not as skittish as they are. Most of the time, the adults are flapping their wings and darting in and out as they drink. But the little guy lands and sips and looks around and sips some more. It’s fun to watch them.
3. A virtual conference. The Kauffmans of Lighthouse Bible Studies and Refresh Bible Study Magazine are hosting an Enrich Conference Thursday-Saturday this week for both in-person and online attendees. Katy Kauffman is one of my favorite writers at The Write Conversation and Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference Blog, and I’ve taken one of her classes at the Carolina Christian Writer’s Conference. For all the negatives of the pandemic, one of the positives is being able to attend conferences online.
4. Feedly is working again. Feedly is the blog aggregator I use, and it was leaving out several blog posts over a few days. Then one day all the backlog came flooding in.
5. Our Ring camera. Jim was away one night when the Ring app alerted him that someone was at our door at 3 a.m. He called me and had me call 911 to have the police check around. As we looked at the Ring camera video, we saw a woman leaving something on our porch. When it became clear she wasn’t still around, while still on the phone with Jim, I opened the front door to find…a Door Dash delivery for someone named Elizabeth. Either Door Dash was given the wrong address or the driver didn’t find it. But while it was scary to wake up to news of someone on the porch in the wee hours, it was a relief to find out the situation was not threatening.
And I did turn my own Ring notifications back on!
Have a great weekend!
Stray Thoughts 
I would be scared to pieces to know someone was at my door at 3 am! I’m glad you were okay, and that Jim got the alert. Was it food? Did you eat it? (Ha Ha) I love to watch hummingbirds. I’ve thought about getting a feeder but wonder if all the traffic in my complex would scare them off. I glad your phone call went well. It sure does sound like a lot of effort for a short call! I think I remember reading about that upcoming conference. I had forgotten about it.
Glad that things worked out as far as someone being on your porch at 3:00AM. Sorry to hear that Feedly took a break, but glad that it is working again. Does it bother you when things don’t work like they should? I’d have to raise my hand on that one. I’m happy to hear that you are able to attend this conference…technology can be such a blessing! We enjoy watching our hummingbirds at the feeder also. They’ve gotten so used to us that we can sit on the porch where the feeder is and carry on a conversation with one another and the hummingbirds pay us no mind.
Oh Praise the Lord it was just a door dash delivery and not someone wielding a gun!! I have NO idea what a Ring App is but it sounds like it is something that works for you.
Yay for your posts working and for watching the birds…I love bird watching and am hoping to do more once my summer school ends next Friday. SO weird how the south and west go back to school when it is still summer…thank the Lord we don’t do that here in NYS or New England. It’s still SUMMER and my three weeks of vacation are about to begin!! Summer is the BEST time for children and teens to be off!! And it must be so hot for them to go back so early. It’s sad I think. So weird how the USA doesn’t just all sync up.
We need rain desperately here in NY. We had a good thunderstorm last evening but with the high humidity the water didn’t even accumulate…it evaporated so quickly. Our waterfalls are just trickles and our mountain streams are basically dried up. But at least with all this heat we can enjoy the lakes for swimming!
HAPPY WEEKEND!
I’m totally with you on August-seems-too-early-for-school. In my neighborhood, school starts Aug 15.
My parents have a Ring-like device and it’s a bit much with the notifications. Glad your 3am call was only a mistaken address!
Yes, those hummers are a lot of fun to watch. My neighbor put up eight feeders along her patio area and it’s like an air show when half a dozen birds are flitting about with their chatter and acrobatics.
A door dash delivery at 3am? Those delivery people do work late! I can imagine those hummingbirds must be fun to watch. I tried feedly for awhile, but I did have trouble with it. Is it something you recommend? What do you like about it?
I just changed my hummingbird feeder, so I hope the little bird who has been stopping by will continue. I love watching them drink their sugar water.
That was a scary 3am alert. (recently, we had a police officer ring our door bell at 12:30am–no we weren’t in trouble, but it was disconcerting) I’m glad there was no problem.
I can’t believe that my friend’s grandchildren are already in school. My grands start in about two weeks.
Enjoy your weekend–with no thunderstorms.
Oh my goodness that must have been scary – someone at your door at 3am! But a delivery at that time? Did you ever find out who it was for? Goodness school starts early over where you are. In England they don’t start until 1st September although in Scotland I think they start back sooner but they finished earlier for the summer break. August is still summer! lol
In Belgium and France they close the schools for 2 month July and August and the whole country is sleeping ! Even the TV changed to summer holiday programs. Lot’s of shops are closed ! And all administration things are taking even more longer than usual. It’s so hot here and so dry ! In many European countries they save water. Normally I always complain about the rain, but now I am fed up of the heat and sunshine !
Wow, scary waking up to that. Did you have to call the restaurant that you got a delivery you didn’t order? I’d be wide awake for the night after all that. It’s been really hot around here for what we are used to. We are in another heat wave right now. I have never seen a real live hummingbird. I wonder if they are even around here as I don’t see too many feeders hanging around homes.