9/30/21

 It's the last day of September and I am finishing off the month with a butterfly.  I captured this beautiful Monarch posing quite nicely for me on my Butterfly Milkweed plant.  

9/29/21

 It's another Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  I have another new one to share.  The Blog's Blue & Purple Wildflowers of Kansas page has been updated with this as well.

This is a Bull Thistle.  It's a bit difficult to tell what type of thistle, you have to look at the leaves which remind me of Dandelions but very thorny.  Tall thistles have longated smoother leaves.  It is considered aggressive and a noxious weed in Kansas.  Fortunately, it was a hrad one to find.  It blooms July to September.

9/28/21

 I haven't been able to spend much time over by my Gazebo pond this summer.  I have been working on my deck, prepping it to switch from a wood surface to a composite.  I was able to run the waterfall one afternoon recently which is always a nice relaxing time.  I captured one of my Leopard frog buddies hanging out and enjoying it as well.

9/27/21

 I have shared this flower before, it is one of my favorite new ones for this year.  It is related to a Gerbera Daisy but it blooms all the time.  I have not been without at least one flower blooming on it all summer.  Here I captured it recently with 3 lovely blooms.

9/26/21

 This is the third train I was able to work on during the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion this past Labor Day weekend.  It's the Wagner 14 inch gauge locomotive of the Ortner Railroad there, also known as the "Mighty Ortner".  Quite the fun large scale locomotive to run.  I took this image one evening after putting it to bed in it's roundhouse with new lighting that really finishes it off I think.

9/25/21

 I have been riding my bike in the evenings lately which allows for viewing some lovely sunsets.  I took this one last Wednesday when the clouds were creating some lovely rays.  I loved the wildflowers and grasses in the foreground of this as well.  The Goldenrod is in bloom.

9/24/21

 It's Friday, TGIF and Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog.  I chose this image with some great bubbly bokeh for the day.  This is how I see my Morning Glories.  I have yet to see them flowering this year as I can't get over to them early enough.  These grow over at my Gazebo Pond.  I loved the spiral look of the buds.

9/23/21

 I have seen Bumblebees around fairly often this year and I am now just starting to see Honeybees again on the Sedum.  I captured this Bumble on one of my flowers that I am not sure exactly what it is.  It looks to be in the Mum family to me but not really sure.  It has a yellowish center that the bee is covering up.  I liked the bits of pollen on it's back.

9/22/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is a new one and I have updated the Wildflower By Color page here on the Blog with a photo of the plant which is a bit further away so more detail can be seen.  It grows best in moist disturbed places like ditches and by ponds and small streams which makes sense as I found it around the disturbed area of our new high school's road.  It blooms from July through October.  Birds enjoy the seeds from this plant.  It is called Pink Smartweed.

9/21/21

 I was working in one of my gardens last week and this guy jumped onto my finger.  I placed him on a Milkweed leaf and it stayed there while I ran and got my camera.  I really liked how this shot turned out and it makes me wonder what frogs think about.  I think this is the same guy that has been driving my cat nuts in the evening by sitting on my office window and waiting for bugs.  😄  I believe this is a Cope's Gray Treefrog.

9/20/21

 My Obedient Plant is blooming and while it is not very "obedient" it is a bee magnet and also a lovely plant to photograph.  This image is without bees but I got my hovering bee shot right by these.  It is also known as False Dragonhead, possibly because of it's resemblence to Snapdragons.  It get's it's Obedient name because the flowers can bend in any direction.  Hummingbirds are also attracted to this plant but I have not seen one at it yet.  It is in the mint family.

9/19/21

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  This is the other full size steam locomotive I get to work on in Minnesota, former Soo Line Switcher 353.  This locomotive just turned 100 last year and unfortunately we didn't get to be there for that as everything was shut down so it's 101 was celebrated this year (353 was wearing a banner on each side of the cab).  Every Labor Day weekend the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion is held and this year 353 and the Porter locomotives were both hauling trains around the grounds on about 2 miles of track.

9/18/21

 I have seen some Monarch butterflies around off and on all summer.  I am hoping to see more now that the Goldenrod is blooming and they seem to enjoy that.  This is one I captured on one of the Coneflowers earlier this summer.

9/17/21

 Happy Friday!  TGIF!  I got lucky this past weekend and I saw this Bumblebee hovering around one of my plants.  It stayed long enough for me to run and get my camera and take some shots.  This is one with it's back to me showing off it's bee butt.  😁  I liked the creamy bokeh in this image produced by the rocks behind it.  Sharing it for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

9/16/21

 I have seen my Leopard frog buddies around in my backyard pond lately.  There were at least 4 of them around, 2 that immediately jumped in the water and 2 that stayed out on the Lilypads.  I captured this one being Hanging out on a pad.

9/15/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday once again here on the Blog!  The Snow on the Mountain is currently in bloom the last couple of weeks or so.  It is in the Poinsettia family and you can probably see why when you look at the blooms.

9/14/21

 I love Praying Mantis.  They are such interesting creatures.  This is another view of the one that was trying to help me refurb my deck.  Maybe I can get him back, progress has slowed quite a bit.  😉

9/13/21

 This is one of my favorite Spring flowers.  An image of my Bleeding Heart plant from early this year that I never posted.

9/12/21

 The Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion was held once again this past Labor Day Weekend.  I was able to work on all 3 steam trains there this year, fun times.  The Porter Tank engine was running passengers around along with 353.  I took this shot of it pulling in to the depot while waiting to get on for my shift at firing.  It's a fun locomotive to work on with some great people as well.  Happy Steamy Sunday!

9/11/21

 A day of remembrance for our country.  I was in Minnesota over Labor Day weekend and activities had me up earlier than usual.  This is a lovely sunrise I was able to witness while on my way to work on one of the trains.

9/10/21

 We made it to another Friday!  TGIF  It was a short work week but sometimes those seem longer than regular ones.  😊  Daisies always make me happy and this is an image I got of a new one for me this year.  I had ordered some Oxeye Daisy seeds and when they flowered they look a bit smaller and different than ones that had already been growing in the yard.  It was drawing these really small insects to it, not sure what they were.  Because Friday's Are Bokehlicious I chose this image for the lovely bubbly bokeh behind the flower.

9/9/21

 It's a double digit day.  😃 I captured this Clouded Sulphur butterfly in flight the other day.  It was a completely lucky occurance that it was in focus as I was trying to capture it sitting and it worked out as it took off.  I thought it was eat to see there was a little bug of some kind in the shot as well off to the right.  It was enjoying an Ironweed plant which is a good butterfly magnet.

9/8/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog.  Today's flower is one of my favorites, Coneflower or Echinacea.  I have it growing in several gardens around my land and it bloomed really well.  Some kind of small caterpillar ate all the leaves off of several groups but they seem to be OK and are putting out new leaves at the base of the plants.  They really draw in the butterflies and bees.

9/7/21

 I had been going through my folders of pictures and realized there were some Heron images I captured earlier this year that I was pretty happy with.  This is one of them that I was able to get as it flew past me.  I have always loved how their legs hang out behind as they fly.  I loved that this capture I got showed that well.

9/6/21

 Sunflowers make me happy so I thought this was a good way to start off the week.  This is one that was blooming in my yard recently.  Hope you have a good week!

9/5/21

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  We are once again at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.  Today's locomotive is once again Pennsylvania 4-4-0 1223, this time seen from the other side.  I provided some additional details on this locomotive lat week if you missed it. I really like how things were displayed in this museum.

9/4/21

 I have been riding my bike to work lately, at least 4 times per week.  It has been nice in the morning because it is somewhat cool, the afternoon trip home isn't as refreshing.  😅 One morning last week I was treated to a gorgeous sky as I rode along.  When I reached work I took this shot of it.  The way the clouds were catching the light was very lovely.

9/3/21

 We made it to Friday!  TGIF!  I have been lucky to have Monarchs visit my yard lately.  They are really enjoying the various Zinnias in the gardens.  I captured this one with some lovely creamy bokeh so I am sharing it todays because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

9/2/21

 This is a bit different shot I got of a Jewelwing Damsel one day.  They usually have their lovely wings closed when I have photographed them but I captured this one with them slightly spread.

9/1/21

 Happy first day of September!  Time is flying.  It's also another Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog.  Today's flower is one from late this spring and a favorite to photograph.  This is Eldeberry.  I love the lacy texture to the flowers.  I never get to do anything with them because the birds get them all but that's OK.  I remember my mom making some pretty good jelly with them back in the day though.