our house guest...

first off, this isn't the guest...

this is Riley, my cousin's granddaughter...

here she is with my cousin, Danny...

Danny and I grew up together in Ohio...

and I got the cutest thing in the mail yesterday...

I got a letter from her teacher...

it said to take "Chilly" and have fun with him for a few days...

take photos and write in a letter what we did...

and how far he came...

and mail it all back to the school, so the kids can share where their little "Chillys" went...

so, meet Chilly...

he is a paper snowman from Ohio...

so Craig put on his penguin hat and posed for a photo to send back to the kids...

and then he chilled with Bebe for a bit...

he's sitting here watching me blog right now...

you know me...

they aren't getting a letter from here...

making a little book to send back with him...

Craig and I have been working on a story line and will get more photos of him around town here...

gonna make him a scarf and some mittens...

and I think he needs a smile, too...

his flight home leaves on Monday, so I might be a little busy between now and then making the deadline...

but I will be around...

chillin' with Chilly...

;)

another drive...

boy, do things sure change quick around here...

there's such a big difference in 24 hours...

back to winter time...

and all the fun it brings...

going to try to look at winter a little bit differently from now on...

which is a huge challenge for me...

for I love being outside...

spent sunflower heads...

isn't there still a beauty in them?

I see it...

maybe through the lens, I can find a peace in the cold...

a warming of the soul...

see, there's green coming on...

I think the earth is ready to come alive again...

and its just as anxious as I am...

winter is a good time for baking...

so maybe its not so bad after all...

butter pecan cake with cream cheese icing...

its really good...

and a special thought for the day...

it really is ok, you know...

for you have been imperfect from the beginning...

you just didn't know it...

this was one of my hardest things, years ago...

and there is a difference for striving for perfection...

and realizing you're not perfect...

setting high goals helps you push further than you normally would...

be realizing where you land...

is an ok place to be...

most of us are not leapers...

we have to bunny hop to the finish line...

enjoy your life, its a gift...

a gift with an expiration date...

a mid-winter's day...

yesterday was a day in the 50s...

and these are all local area photos...

that I got yesterday while DH and I went riding around...

in the sunshine...

the air was still biting with high winds cooling off the 50s...

and even though our winters are not the most ideal around...

maybe you can see why we stay here...

tile digger...

for putting this in the fields for drainage...

and then there are places not plowed...

"let go" as they say here...

forgotten...

and taken over...

taken back...

a shed that collapsed under its own weight...

left behind...

neglected...

reflections of another time...

just like the streams that run through it...

and the house left in disrepair...

at a place that once held dreams...

at a place called King's Crossing...

once a stop on the rail road...

this tarp once covered the ground pile...

corn...

at harvest, there is not enough room in the grain elevator to hold it all anymore...

yields are more than they can handle...

and there is not enough train cars and semis to haul it all away...

so they pile it on the ground and cover it with a tarp...

a huge tarp...

this last week they worked on clearing the ground pile...

just now getting caught up...

so they cut the tarp...

and let it spill out...

and when its over, it flaps in the breeze like it was tissue...

but things are always changing, just like the path water takes in a stream...

for as much as they add on and make bigger...

the elevator is still lacking...

its still pretty huge...

and a sight of combining the old with the new...

that hole is for semis...

pretty small compared the size of the whole complex...

and we saw our local firemen and women training today...

they are all volunteer...

and they answer their calls day in and day out...

we just got a hook and ladder truck...

a very big thing around here...

and this is our local 9-11 memorial...

planted at the school right after it happened...

the yews represent the twin towers...

and the weeping willow in the center, our nation's tears and sadness...

and there's a plaque so no one forgets...

it was a good sun day...

even if the old wind blew...

we got out and enjoyed the land...

our home...

if you don't do it, take some time soon to just joy ride...

and remember what it is about the place you live that you love so much...

and couldn't find anywhere else on earth...

blessings to you...

birdies and Elmer...

see who came to the feeder today...

isn't she pretty?

busy stuffing their beaks, they are...

they are still a little spooked by me...

but they will get used to the hands that feed them in time...

and Elmer...

he was trying to take a nap when we got back from our drive...

I took photos along the way, so hurry back for the next posting...

some one needs a nap...

there's a few of us around here that's getting dropsy...

the sunny skies are fading...

and the cold is coming back...

but this month is moving right along...

and soon, it will be Feb...

and that, too, will fly by...

promise...