prayers, please...

my sister in law, Susan, passed away this morning...

the last of the drive...

got a storm coming in the last part of the weekend and first of the week...

last I heard, they were saying 4-6 inches here...

I know that's not much compared to what the east coast and others have gotten...

but still...

I am ready for spring weather and no more ice and snow...

guess I will just have to clean more closets...

dig through more totes and start making pretties...

we will make another run the Walmart on Saturday...

we did a small run last night, but DH was too tired to do anything but what we needed until this weekend...

Courtney continues to amaze the doctors and staff...

with half of her liver gone, her numbers show all very normal, just like they hadn't touched it at all...

she is walking more and more...

and I can tell you that after my surgery, it was the walking that made the pain go away...

after they pulled the morphine pump the first night, I took 2 tylenol the rest of the time...

that's it...

no pain meds coming home...

they cut me from hip to hip...

she still needs prayers...

there are so many things she must heal from on this...

and getting back home won't be easy with little ones...

our Hermie, who had a major ouchie yesterday...

is healing fast, too...

hot packing and put honey in the hole...

completely sealed and half the size before bed last night...

most of your comments were to save the barn and redo it...

its just not possible to save them...

the materials alone would probably cost 5 times the amount of a brand new pole barn twice the size...

then to find someone to do it...

most people cannot do this themselves anymore like they used to...

and then you have to have permits and inspections...

the only ones I know of around here that fix old barns and buildings are the Amish...

so, slowly they are disappearing from the landscape...

and these are taking their place...

even most of the silos of old are gone...

replaced by shiny grain bins...

sometimes the only thing familiar to the old farms are the fences and the livestock...

they still make them the same way...

even the old hay bales are round now...

and they use tongs on the front of a tractor to move them from place to place...

I guess the most important part is that someone is still farming...

however they do it...

because the farmer feeds the world...

one acre at a time...

well, have a fun weekend...

be careful if you are out and about in the path of the storms...

stay upright...

no butt busters allowed!

some of us are too old for such fun...

;0)

prairie barn and Courtney update...

we ran across this small, old barn on our drive last Saturday...

time has taken its toll on it...

 but it must have been so useful in its time...

you can see the front has given way...

preventable...

just bulging at the seams...

they left hay in the loft...

for too many years...

and the roof leaked and saturated the hay...

the weight becomes too much and it becomes dangerous...

this will have to be taken down...

sadly...

but these old structures have been disappearing from our landscape rapidly...

and there aren't very many of them left...

we lose more with every passing year...

replaced by pole barns...

Courtney update:

she got up and walked last night...

and the pain is down...

she did 5 laps down the hall...

;0)

keep praying for a speedy recovery!

this happened outside...

we got snow and then freezing rain Monday night...

with slick roads and school closings...

Craig had the day off...

we won't even talk about the pants...

this is his before pic...

Buttercup...

asleep...

Missy...

soon to be asleep...

Annie...

out like a light...

keeping up with me was hard work...

I hit it like no tomorrow around 7am...

and kept going and going and going...

so while they napped...

because you never do anything alone with 3 little ones around...

I got this out...

and began the Valentine tree...

and they kept sleeping...

and I got it done while they napped...

yeah for me!

someone also got his hair cut...

I buzzed him good!

UPDATE ON COURTNEY:

"THEY GOT IT ALL!"

she went through surgery and finally got to her room late last night...

in so much pain...

so had prayer for the pain...

when morphine won't touch it, you got to get some better help...

she has a long recovery...

that's a lot to heal up from and try to keep up with 3 small kids...

she has a great support system with her family...

but the best thing is there is no more cancer...

her brother came on facebook mid surgery and said the first surgeon is done and the next one is starting...

I have no idea how many worked on her today...

but they were amazing!

;0)

it finally happened!

I finally did something...

I was sorting my little tubs and found this...

notice, I have had this since 2007...

and I found this print I did an eon ago...

knew right where the paint was...

if you were paying attention, you know I sorted that mess out the other day...

grabbed a brush and started playing...

Americana Warm White is the color...

add another coat and wait...

I ran out on the deck and saw this happening...

we got a good dusting out of it...

I even found this guy...

one of my April Fool's vintage postcards...

and now its dry...

I found the sand paper...

it was in the kitchen...

don't even ask...

I lightly sanded the entire thing...

you know me and my black polky dotted tape...

(I use it on everything!)

I taped the bottom and top...

then I taped the side edges...

folded it all under on the ends...

and put it together again...

(I did wash the glass)

I love it...

and I was under constant supervision...

by the way...

she has a name...

Buttercup...

and that concluded my playtime today...

its sad leaving this room...

but wait!

for all of you that held out this long...

I am having a give away...

I found these, too...

collages that I made and sent the images in to be printed on photo paper...

there are 5 of these photos...

ready to frame...

or throw darts at...

all you have to do is leave a comment...

and I will throw your name in the drawing...

dead line is midnight Friday night...

and the winner will be notified right away...

so that's all you need to do...

Keep Courtney in your prayers...

today is her big day...

I will post with news when I get it...

happy Monday...

just wanted to thank you this morning for all your prayers for Courtney...

its going to be a tough healing up and taking care of 3 little ones...

but with God's help and healing...

it will all be over soon...

these images are from our Saturday drive...

it was so sunny and I soaked up as much as I could hold...

yesterday the clouds were back and we didn't know what we would end up with...

but the snow didn't happen, came as rain...

I hope its over and passed us by...

but it is colder and could be slick out this morning...

the weekend was a good one...

kept up with the cleaning and the laundry...

nothing exciting and no crafting yet...

but I will take being able to keep up...

threw some pork chops in the roaster with carrots, potatoes, a box of stuffing and 2 packs of brown gravy mix and let it slow cook all day long...

it smelled so good in here and it was a really great supper with lots of left overs...

yes- that is an old caboose...

in the middle of no where, not even close to an old set of tracks...

many years ago a house stood out front, but gone now...

and the yard was so awesome and in the back was this caboose...

all nice and pretty...

no decaying and the property turned into storage...

getting a gallon of black paint to start the kitchen this coming weekend...

that's going on the island...

small enough project...

and then I will paint the walls a lavender...

a deep, rich lavender to the pink...

after all of that, I will start on the rest of the cabinets in here...

they are going off white...

I am so ready for a change...

its been like this for 20 years...

oak cabinets, which I hate with a passion...

but DH loves them with just as much passion...

so, I let it go...

but now, its my turn...

;0)

and if he says anything close to...

"we should have done this years ago"...

I'm boxing his ears...

pinky promise...

;0)