I am sitting here drinking coffee and enjoying a piece of zucchini coffee cake a lady from our church district dropped off for us. It is delicious, and I would like to ask her for the recipe. I do hope it doesn’t have many calories. Isn’t it always comforting when you try to say it has a vegetable (zucchini), so it can’t be too unhealthy? The added zucchini does really make it a moist cake.

It is a dreary, rainy day, but we sure welcome the rain we received. It was so dry around here, and the grass was turning brown. The leaves are starting to fall, and the calendar shows autumn officially is here. We still have peppers and tomatoes in the garden beds, otherwise the rest of it is history for 2024.

Our solar power is low because of no sun for several days. Our water pump probably uses the most power. I went out to see if I could start the generator so I can wash dishes. For some reason, the generator doesn’t want to start. And yes, I did check to see whether it has gas. It might be the oil, but it’s not our generator, so I don’t want to mess with it too much. We are using Dustin’s and Loretta’s generator while ours is getting repaired. I’ll wait until the daylight hours charge it up more to wash dishes. When my husband, Joe, comes home at about 3 p.m., he can look at the generator and see what is wrong. I can just see him giving it one pull and it starting right up. I’m spoiled with ours, as it has a key to turn on, so you don’t have to pull the rope to start it.

It is now about 11:30 a.m. Daughter Lovina came, and she is making lunch for Kevin and me. We had skipped breakfast (except I had coffee and that coffee cake), so she is making poached eggs and toast for her and me. Kevin is heating up the leftover omelet from last night’s supper for his lunch.

Last night, I made everyone their own omelet with whatever they wanted in it. I made white peppered gravy for whoever wanted it on top of their omelet. With only five people to cook for, it’s harder to make a meal. Especially if Verena and I aren’t hungry and aren’t sure what we should make. Benjamin had worked 11 hours at the factory, so his friend took him out to eat in town before bringing him home.

Our sympathy goes out to the families that have lost loved ones recently. Such tragic accidents. They need our prayers.

Dustin and daughter Loretta and sons and son Joseph and Grace went along with others to Fairland, Okla. It was 11 hours each way. Dustin’s, Grace’s and Daniel’s (our sons-in-law and daughter-in-law) 24-year-old cousin was killed in an accident. What a shock to the family.

This was a lot of traveling for grandsons Denzel, 2, and Byron, 1. They did pretty well in their car seats for that many hours. Needless to say, when they arrived back home, they were ready to run around and be free from their car seats.

On Sunday, daughter Lovina and Daniel made lunch for daughter Elizabeth, Tim and children; daughter Susan, Ervin and children; Joe and me; sons Benjamin and Kevin; and daughter Verena and her special friend, Daniel Ray. On the menu was chili soup made in the kettle over the open fire, grilled hamburgers and all the trimmings, corn, macaroni salad, chips, cherry delight, mocha pudding and cake. They also made coffee over the open fire in a camping percolator. The children thought this was so neat that they were making cowboy coffee. I asked them who told them it was cowboy coffee, and they said, “Aunt Lovina.” Of course, I should’ve known it was her.

It started raining, so instead of playing croquet as we originally had planned, we moved inside to play games, including Cover Your Assets and Password. Some of us put together a puzzle.

Sept. 22 was also grandson Curtis’s 5th birthday, so he was an excited little boy. Sept. 26 was son-in-law Daniel’s 23rd birthday, so a happy birthday to him as well.

The Sunday gathering was an enjoyable day. It was more precious than usual to spend a Sunday lunch together, as we won’t be able to do that as a family too often anymore. Our church district divided, and daughters Elizabeth, Susan and Lovina and families will be in another church district from Dustin and Loretta and us. Sister Emma and her family also will be in the other church district. Sister Verena still will be in our district. My sisters Verena and Emma and I have been in the same church district all our lives, so it’s hard to accept this change. Our whole family was in the same district until son Joseph moved to Grace’s church district, and now our church is dividing. We still can go visit each other’s church districts, so I shouldn’t complain.

God’s blessings to all.

Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies

<strong>2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour</strong>

<strong>1 teaspoon baking soda</strong>

<strong>1/2 teaspoon baking powder</strong>

<strong>1/2 teaspoon salt</strong>

<strong>1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice</strong>

<strong>1 cup butter, softened</strong>

<strong>1 1/2 cups granulated sugar</strong>

<strong>1 large egg</strong>

<strong>1 teaspoon vanilla extract</strong>

<strong>1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree</strong>

<strong>1/4 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)</strong>

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, mixing until just combined. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl and roll each ball in the sugar to coat. Place the dough balls about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten each ball slightly with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. Makes 2 dozen cookies.