I love old barns and I love the countryside and I love snow, so when the three come together it makes for postcard-worthy images for me.  Since it's been so brutally cold, I really haven't felt the desire to risk traveling on the still-icy backroads just to take photos.  But this week when it warmed up into the 20s and even 30s, I had a hankerin' to do a little meandering not far from my house and photograph a few more snow scenes.

January 19, 1930.

"Even on this frosty North Carolina morning, butterflies were flittering inside Hazel.  She had hardly slept last night, filled with excitement and anticipation of today.  Nudging Alma awake beside her in the bed the sisters shared, the two whispered giddy giggles about their secret.

Thirteen years ago, when I bought my first tennis racket and began taking tennis lessons, I had no idea how much I would come to love the game. 

And more importantly, love the people I've met who play the game!

What is it about COLD winter days when you're snowbound and cabin fever is beginning to set it that makes us want to bake and eat things that are sweet and we certainly don't need but we crave them anyway?

It must be an inborn survival technique to pack on an extra layer of fat (like I NEED THAT?!)...or maybe we're just trying to eat our way through the boredom...or perhaps a little of both!

I've always wondered what it would be like to live in Alaska.

Wait...as I'm typing this, the temperature in Anchorage is 32 with the forecast calling for 30s all week long.

So much to be THANKFUL for this morning!!!

How do the poor little birdies stay warm enough to survive when the temperatures are well on the minus zero side, as they've been this week here in Indiana?  I see many of our mourning doves huddling together on our porch and my heart goes out to my shivering feathered friends.

The final post of the saga of my dear cousin Winnie, Part 16 of 16 (to catch up on Parts 1-15, type "Winnie" in the upper left search box and click "search") from an interview series posted on my old website 4 years ago...what an amazing story and I'm so glad I have the opportunity to preserve and share it!

Now a business owner in New Castle, a car in serious need of repairs leads to Winnie meeting and eventually dating his future wife Judy.

Judy is my dad's first cousin, and Winnie came into our lives when the two of them began seeing each other.  In this final video of the series, Winnie tells about his chance meeting with Judy and their first date.

Continuing the saga of my dear cousin Winnie, Part 15 of 16 (to catch up on Parts 1-14, type "Winnie" in the upper left search box and click "search") from an interview series posted on my old website 4 years ago...what an amazing story and I'm so glad I have the opportunity to preserve and share it!

Fresh out of the Army, with just a few dollars jingling in his pocket, Winnie starts looking for a job in New Castle, Indiana and soon finds himself owning his very own business.

If there's anything more fun than getting a bunch of girls together to eat yummies and "ooo and ahhh" over baby stuff, I don't know what it is!

And you gotta love it when Mommy-to-be Kara shows up fashionably-but-quite-by-chance perfectly coordinated with the shower color scheme!