Have you ever had a brilliant idea...but...

it was late...after hours...dark...

and the help you need is pooping out?...

and now I have to wait till the morning light...

woe is me...

two years ago, we were dealing with the aftermath...

we had 11 inches of rain...and the storm sewers were clogged...

and when the water went down...we were left with corn stalks...

and mud and dead worms...and the smell was so bad...

you can see on the swing how high the water was...

and we lost most of the plants on the south side of the yard...

fema came in...

the red cross was here...we were so lucky...

it wasn't in  our home...

my neighbor's homes were flooded...

and all of this gook was inside...

our friend's picnic table floated a block away...

some things we were able to find...

some were lost forever...

a year ago today...

the bird bath was clean...

the deck was clean...

we hadn't tried to cut the tree down...

this was just getting started...

the old swing hadn't broke yet...

and the bean greens and corn were weeded...

and we spent almost every waking hour outside...

it was a very good year..

supper's on...

pizza tonight...

ready made from walmart...

they are not that bad...

you bake it yourself...

the guys love it...

late afternoon...

a big improvement...and it can't happen all in one day...

but we're getting there...

tomorrow is weed control in the beds...

it happened!...

it came out...

I hope you can see all the greens and the beautiful blue in the sky...

a couple of proud weed pullers...

check out Jesse's hair...

his mom did that to him...

working hard...

it's pulled good enough now the weed killer will work...

and rust happened!...

and just look at my dry foot...

I love this piece...got it in Arcola...I want a house out of that...

the breeze is just right...

so many people know I collect junque...this was dropped off...

got plans for the wheels...there's 3 all together 

that will be another post...

 

it lives...it was dead...but with all the rain...it came back again...

a rusty wire teapot from Rebecca...

 

plop in a rusty can...

and later ...when the dirt dries out...a begonia...

I so hope the sun is shining on you today, too...

junkin' whites...and a little piece of our world...

bought these off of a friend of mine a few years ago...

I love the faux ceiling tile design...

we used to have our massive rummage sales in here...

in February...

our "Winter Rummage Blast"...

we did quite well...

Rebecca and I went together one year and did fantastic...

I ran the cash register and wrapped and bagged it all...

while she ran around filling holes...

and it was all we could do to keep up...

now, we're both used to retail...

but this was just unreal...

they came through the doors by carloads...

 I found this old postcard of the Columbian Building on eBay...

this is how it looks today...

the last business in there was a pharmacy...

but the loan went into default with the bank...

the bank tried to sell it and couldn't so donated it to the town for a community building...

funds were raised to save the building....the whole back part was taken off and rebuilt...

and the public can rent it to do anything they want in there now...

and they finally got the bathrooms in...

they tore everything out inside down to the brick walls and tin ceilings...

it's awesome...

a group of us used to go together and do all sorts of things in here....

our set up looked cool against the vintage red brick and wood floors...

the first Christmas craft show I did in there was for Landmarks...

and the building wasn't ready...

my boys and I went up and worked every night for 2 weeks helping out...

the 3 of us personally pulled all the nails in the floor...

on our hands and knees with hammers...

and the first 3 years we did the Christmas show...

I was in charge...

you set up and leave and I took care of the sales...

we had no heat and no bathrooms yet...

I wore 3 layers of clothes...

gloves and mittens...

put a heavy quilt over my table and plugged in a little heater...

the first morning we opened, I had to call April to come in to get the lights to work...

she pulled out the tallllllll ladder and rubbed the light bulbs before they would come on...

I even had to go outside to stand in the sun to warm up...

those were the days...