Sunday
Welcome, family and friends to our daily journal,
from Liberty Hill, Texas.
The sky was pretty and odd at the same time this morning.
This morning the worship service participants gathered “together” while maintaining distancing. We were there to do the first LIVE broadcast from our chapel. Previously, it had been pre recorded as segments and then stitched together for broadcast.
I had two parts in the service. I didn’t realize that the podium mike want live or I would have used my “preacher voice” to make myself heard.
Video “Life in the Spirit”
This was our Zoom Sunday school class today. Next week we are going to attempt a mask to mask gathering on the worship center’s foyer.After Sunday school, Ella and I went to Sonic for lunch and then back to the church church to await people driving by to deliver food for the Kids’ Summer Snack Program. A program to feed children who, through the school year, rely on the school lunch for what may be their only meal of the day.We also received more aluminum cans which we will sell at the metal reclamation center. The money is used to support the Grandies various ministries. We also save the pull tabs for donation to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.Since not all of the donated cans have the tabs removed nor are they all crushed to save space, Ella and I have been and will continue to both collect the tabs and crush the cans prior to taking them for recycling.We finished at four for collecting food and cans. We them drove to Cedar Park to purchase Ella’s medications. She decided to go into the store for a few others items as well. She came back to the car with her purchases and we drove away. That was when she said, “I forgot the prescriptions.” Sooooo, I turned around and went back. This time we parked and had them bring them to the truck.It was differently nap time when we returned home ten hours after we left.
Thanks again for stopping by. Share this with your friends. See y’all again tomorrow. Stay safe. Remember, we love you.
- God bless and g’day.
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- ©2020 Thomas E. Williams
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- 7 months 31 days since we returned to Texas.
- 2 months and 17 days being self isolated.
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I‘ve been awake since four this morning. Not that I needed to be awake at four A.M. Not that I wanted to be awake. However, my mind turned on and wouldn’t go back into sleep-mode.Since I was awake, I got dressed and sat outside on the porch for awhile. I took pre-sunrise and sunrise photographs, listen to the crows, cardinals, mocking bird, dogs, goats, and traffic.I came in, started coffee, and washed yesterday’s dishes. I also did some online banking. More roofing compound was also ordered from Amazon.Once Ella started to show signs of getting up, I started a breakfast of pancakes and eggs.
BBQed pulled pork, baked potato, and corn for lunch today. All done separately, and at the same time, in the Instapot. Pressure cooked for sixteen minutes, then let it naturally release pressure while on the “keep warm” function. A couple minutes heating to build steam, sixteen minutes pressure cooking, three to five minutes releasing steam, and then slow cooking on the warm cycle for about twenty minutes … really we could have eaten earlier … we just weren’t hungry yet.The mowers and trimmers came around this afternoon. It makes me chuckle when they do. There is very little of what could be called grass. If there were a law against mowing grass, they could never gather enough evidence to convict them. However, they do keep the weeds down to the same height.Our daily walk, to the mailbox, netted us some super exciting, fantastic deal from Dish Network. Or at least I assume it did. I don’t know for sure, ’cause I tossed it in the trash without looking at it.Our niece, Kara, called this afternoon. She said she received a voice clip from “Tom” that said. “Help.” It wasn’t me. However we did spend a fair piece of time flapping our jaws.I worry about her, the a nurse in a nursing home. With the news that keeps reporting the number of people infected in nursing homes, it concerns me.The same is true for the daughter-in-law who works in the emergency room. My son who operates his restaurant. And the son-in-law, fireman, who, along with his whole crew, have tested positive for Covid-19. He is doing fine, thanks for asking.But the point here is, I personally know people who have died of this terrible virus. I know people who are living with it right now. And I have loved ones who are at risk.Yet when Ella and I do have to venture back into the world, we see people crowding together and people not wearing masks.Despite all the news and warnings, there are far too many people who believe, “It can’t happen to me.” So they go out risking their health and their lives. And worse yet, the health and lives of their family and friends.
Thanks again for stopping by. Share this with your friends. See y’all again tomorrow. Stay safe. Remember, we love you.
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It was a wonderful start to the day. But it turned ugly later on.
Once Grandies was over, we drove to Harbor Freight in Cedar Park to pick up a can crusher. Having used it only one time, I doubt it will be used with any frequency.It it’s nearly impossible to be used without being fastened to a wall. We live in an RV. RVs are not known for having sturdy walls. It will most likely be mounted to a post on the deck. I can’t imagine that either of us will go outside to use it. I will continue as I have always done. I set the can on the floor and stomp it flat.
I did mount the can crushed on the deck. It is firmly attached to a four by four post. I seldom drink anything from an aluminium can. It’s unlikely that I’ll use it, unless many bags of uncrushed cans are donated this coming Sunday.
In addition to mounting the can crusher, I also worked briefly on the pickup topper.
Then the weather turned ugly. That’s why there is no sunset photo tonight.
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That it’s going to be a large front for a “slight risk” storm, covering about 1500 miles.
Along about eight o’clock, the sun made a feeble attempt to shine. However the clouds, once more, overpowered Ol’ Sol and forced him into submission again.
Today, being Sunday, means worship and Sunday school. Even though both worship and Sunday school are now online only, Ella and I still go to the church campus on Sunday mornings. We sit under the awning (bottom left in the photo) where we can get a good strong cellular service and/or WiFi.I tried to record the service but failed and I have been unable to find a recording online.I also didn’t think to do a screen shot of our Sunday school class as we gathered via Zoom.
These are most of the people helping out today. People would drive under the awning (yes we had to move) and volunteers would take the donations (practicing safe distancing and masks) and place them inside the church vestibule.
Later, those items were loaded into a van belonging to one of our members. She then took them to Operation Liberty Hill for distribution. We will repeat this next Sunday as well.
This was posted on Facebook:
Now that you have some background about the cans; today, along with the food for the kids, we asked people to bring their cans. My pickup topper is crammed as full as I could get it with trash bags full of cans. Plus the back seat of the truck is also piled high. It may be Tuesday when Ella and I take the First Load to the redemption center.
It was a long day (6 1/2 hours) for these two senior citizens so we ordered a pizza for pick up on our way home.
The first drops of rain have fallen.Thanks again for stopping by. Share this with your friends. See y’all again tomorrow. Stay safe. Remember, we love you.
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The sun exploded over the treetops today like the atomic fireball that it is. After too many days of looking like the moon’s week sister, it came up with a vengeance today.
It started out nice and cool at sixty one degrees, but suddenly began that climb into the nineties. Old Sol will not even reached its zenith until close to two o’clock this afternoon, and it has reached the mid eighties by ten o’clock. I fear the predicted high of ninety two may be optimistically low.
At ninety three degrees, I believe we’ve past the hottest part of the dayWell, I’ll be jiggered if it didn’t go ahead and climb to ninety four before five o’clock. Just as I thought the tide had turned and it was gonna slowly cool down. Well I’m as right as the weather forecasters are. I know, that ain’t saying much.
Early this morning, I noticed this spider web. This spider (or one of its kin) had built a web in this spot earlier. However, I had rolled the awning away while working on the RV roof last week. That destroyed the web. Today, I was glad to see the web rebuilt. Much to the chagrin of my bride, I do not sweep away spiderwebs. They are God’s fly traps. I’d rather have spiders than flies.
We had a Grandies meeting via Zoom at nine o’clock this morning. There were only nine (including Ella and me) out of around two dozen members. Some have neither computer nor smart phone with which to connect. Some are in a hospital or a care facility. By the way, not pictured above but present were the other Donna and Cephus.We will reconvene, again via Zoom, on Wednesday morning for a business meeting. One topic for discussion will be the proposal for Ella and me to gather up all of the empty aluminum cans, that members and others have been saving, and taking them to the recycling place in Marble Falls.
Today has been a stay-inside out-of-the-heat kind of day. I can report that my 
That old atomic fireball continues to throw the heat at us from around the curve of the earth.Thanks again for stopping by. See y’all again tomorrow. Stay safe. We love you.God bless and g’day.
Yesterday we visited Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Liberty Hill.
All branches of the service are represented here. I’m curious if all of these people died in service of their country or are they just people from Liberty Hill who served? I shouldn’t have used the term “just people who served.” Certainly serving is important enough. You shouldn’t have to die to earn your name on a wall.
I think I was I the army with this guy, but can’t seem to remember his name.’ll have my name on a wall someday. I already have a spot at a veterans cemetery. It’s one of my benifits. Ya gotta use ’em all, ya know.
Today we once again sat in the parking lot of Cross Tracks Church. Youth Pastor Josh did the entire service live via Facebook. We could see him through the windows as he broadcast his sermon “
After worship and Sunday school we drive to Wal-Mart in Cedar Park to pick up my prescription. You just pull into a special parking spot, call the number on the sign, tell them what spot you are in, give them your name and birthday. A gloved and masked person brings your meds to you, asks some identifying questions (which you mumble through your mask(, you give them a credit card which they run as credit so that you don’t need to tough the key pad. You get your card back, (sanitize it) your pills, and they email the receipt. I like it. I hope that this is the new normal from now on.
Thanks again for stopping by. See y’all again tomorrow. Stay safe. We love you.God bless and g’day.
The temperature claims it is seventy two and feels like seventy two. However, as I’m sitting on the porch, the breeze feels much cooler to me. It is very pleasant.
I baked another dozen cookies before even starting breakfast. The rest of the dough is back in the refrigerator (for now). I wanted to do the baking before the thermometer started climbing. In spite of what I did yesterday (having the oven on when it’s approaching ninety degrees outside), I’d rather do baking without forcing the air conditioning to do double duty.Breakfast was our usual, one each of egg, toast, and bacon.
Around eleven o’clock I started some pork ribs in the Instapot. I will pressure cook them for about fifteen minutes then change over to slow-cook mode for an hour or so (whenever we become hungry). Oh yes, there was also seasoned rice, baby carrots, and buttered corn. Followed by a cookie.
Eighty eight that fields line ninety one. I knew there was a reason I didn’t spend much time outside this afternoon.
That’s a large storm! New York into Texas?
Almost. Almost you can see the sun. Almost, as it nears the horizon at day’s end, if you strain a bit, the sun can be seen, a brighter gray amidst the gray.
Thanks again for stopping by. See y’all again tomorrow. Stay safe. We love you.God bless and g’day.
Days being self isolated
Look at the early morning sky. It’s both pink and blue. Will the new born sun be boy or girl? It took a while for the sun to show his/her face this morning and even then it was quite androginess.Ahh, now I remember the song,
In Texas this is known as Extra Thin. In the rest of the nation it is known as bread. Thank God for Texas toast.Grandies is a group of seniors who normally (pre-pandemic) meet every Wednesday for some missions work, fellowship, and games. It has been two months since we’ve been able to gather together.
Photo & Quote from Facebook
We participated in the Front Porch Photos this evening. Jim and Pam came by with their professional type camera and took our photos. I’m not sure just how they will use them to introduce us to the new pastor, who will be arriving in June (?). However they use them, it was time for an updated photo “book” of our congregation anyway.
Since it was so cool out (88°), I decided to make and bake some cookies this evening. You did hear the sarcasm in my voice there, right? I limited the baking to ten, and those in the convection oven. That is the only thing I prepared for supper. Now, if I can just keep Ella from eating the dough by the spoonful. Don’t tell her I said that.
Still plenty warm at sundown.
Days being self isolated
Tom and Ella Journal 