Friday, December 31, 2021

12/31/21

 It's the last day of 2021.  In some ways it has been a long one and in others it seems like it flew by.  Very odd.  Also, since it is Friday and Friday's Are Bokehlicious, I had to include some nice bubble bokeh in my image for my last post of this year.  Here is a toast to the new year coming in, may 2022 be better than this past year.



Thursday, December 30, 2021

12/30/21

 My last bee image for the year.  Another Honeybee on Autumn Sedum.  Hope to see many more of these this next year.  



Wednesday, December 29, 2021

12/29/21

 It's the last Wildflower Wednesday of 2021 here on the Blog!  I want to end the year with one of my favorite wildflowers.  This is a bokeh filled image as well but bokeh is good any day.  This is an Echinacea or Cone Flower growing in my yard this summer.  This year marked the year I updated and expanded my Wildflowers By Colors Pages and I hope you find them useful.  They are found as links at the top of the main age of the Blog.



Tuesday, December 28, 2021

12/28/21

 This past year I found an area that fairly consistently had Ebony Jewelwing Damselflies.  They are a species of broad winged Damsels that I find quite lovely with their blue/green bodies and lovely black wings.  They seem to be found a lot near water for me but I have seen then in my yard on occasion as well.  There is a creek not far so that may be why.



Monday, December 27, 2021

12/27/21

 2021 is quickly winding down to a close.  This past year I was able to get several decent hawk images.  This is one I was able to get in my own yard one morning.  This Red Shoulder Hawk came and sat on one of the bird feeder poles and then got spooked by my cat at the window and flew into our Sycamore tree.  I was able to capture this shot of it.  It's not one I see around often so I was happy to get such a close shot of one.



Sunday, December 26, 2021

12/26/21

 It's the last Steamy Sunday of 2021 here on the Blog!  The year seemed to go rather quickly in spite of everything.  To end another year of steamy goodness, today's image is another of locomotive 353 at the Baker Depot during this past year's Labor Day show at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion.  I have been able to have a shift for the 4 days of the show throwing coal in to get it around the grounds.  A fun task that many would consider work but I am grateful to be able to get to do it.



Saturday, December 25, 2021

12/25/21

 Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!  Happy Saturday!  Today's image is the last one for my holiday bokeh theme and an appropriate one for me.  Another of my mom's ornaments of Santa with a cat.  A lot of people don't appreciate cats and, no, they are not like dogs, but they do appreciate you and show affection.  Ours is sometimes too affectionate, almost needy in her old age but I am thankful to still have her around.  Hope you all got what you hoped Santa would bring and have a joyous and safe holiday.



Friday, December 24, 2021

12/24/21

 Happy Christmas Eve to those that celebrate!  It's on Friday this year and Friday's Are Bokehlicious even though this has been a bokeh filled week of posts.  Today's image is a whimsical Santa just ready to pop down your chimney with lots of bubbly bokeh.



Thursday, December 23, 2021

12/23/21

 I love Nut Crackers.  I have a few that are larger free standing ones.  These are a trio that were my mom's.  I love the short one with the wild hair.  The tradition of Christmas Nutcrackers started in Europe quite early and came to be more the type we know in the 15th & 16th Century.  In German tradition, they are symbols of good luck and protect the home.  These 3 are on the door side of my tree protecting my house.  😀



Wednesday, December 22, 2021

12/22/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday on the Blog!  Today is a bit of a stretch to fit in with my theme for the week.  Poinsettias are actually shrubs or small trees that are found growing wild from Mexico to southern Guatemala.  This Poinsettia is one that I bought last year and has rebloomed and colored for me this year.  I don't do anything special to it but it must like the amount of light it receives.  The actual flower are the bud looking things in the center.  The reddish/pink are actually the leaves.


Tuesday, December 21, 2021

12/21/21

 It's a double digit day!  😊  Today's ornaments contain one I have had for quite some time and then another that was my mom's with a cat.  I was given the one on the left as a gift from a friend, it's a German one and is somewhat representative of my profession.  The other one I just think is cute.  



Monday, December 20, 2021

12/20/21

 It's Christmas week so I am going to do something a bit different this week.  This week is going to be a week of whimsy and bokeh and Christmas.  I always say Friday's Are Bokehlicious but bokeh is good any day.  To start the week off is a whimsical cat ornament.  I have a lot of ornaments from my mom and this is one.  We both shared a love of cats.  Cats are in quite a number of the ornaments on my tree.



Sunday, December 19, 2021

12/19/21

 It's Steamy Sunday once again on the Blog!  Today starts the Christmas week so I thought this image was appropriate for today.  This image is a variation of one of the photos for my Christmas card this year.  I took it back in late January when we got a bit of snow.  It's my Live Steam Accucraft Mimi locomotive pulling some ore cars through town.  My railroad needs a lot of work in the coming year.  The deck refurb took precedence so need to get back to working on the railroad.  😄



Saturday, December 18, 2021

12/18/21

 Today's image is a lovely sunrise that I was able to capture while at my in-law's house for the Thanksgiving holiday.  If you view large you can see the geese bonus in the pond.  😊



Friday, December 17, 2021

12/17/21

 It's Friday!  Woohoo, TGIF!  Fridays are also Bokehlicious so I chose this image with some lovely bright bokeh.  This is my Praying Mantis deck refurbing guest standing on one of the old posts and watching me work.



Thursday, December 16, 2021

12/16/21

 I was really fascinated by a few of the trees they had at Hershey Gardens when I visited this past summer.  I think this is a Japanese Maple.  I really like the twisty trunks on them.  I have always liked the Junipers out west for the same reason.  I'd love to see this tree in autumn.



Wednesday, December 15, 2021

12/15/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is one of my favorites that I was able to get to grow in one of my gardens.  This is Queen Anne's Lace, also known as Wild Carrot and is a biennial.  The plant is high in sugar, second only to the beet in root vegetables.  They are very hardy and thrive in dry climates so they should do well for me as we have been very dry lately.



Tuesday, December 14, 2021

12/14/21

 My image today is another that I was able to capture of a Bald Eagle that was in our area early this year, in October.  They usually don't show up till mid to late November.  It was cool to be able to see and photograph it.



Monday, December 13, 2021

12/13/21

 Happy Monday.  Today's image is one I captured of one of my surprise Lilies in bloom.  They are also known by other names.  Their leaves come up in early spring and then die off.  In late summer the flower stalk pops up and they bloom.  They have a strong smell and attract butterflies and moths.



Sunday, December 12, 2021

12/12/21

It's a double digit day today.  😀  It's also Steamy Sunday here on the Blog once again.  Today's image is a closer up image of the Porter locomotive I got to help operate during this past Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion over Labor Day weekend.  The Porter was up and running this year and pulling passengers around opposite the 353.  It was a great long weekend for me of working 3 different trains.  I started the morning on 353, then had a break, then went to the Porter and then ended with the Wagner.  In this image the Porter, a tank engine, was coming into the station to drop off and load passengers as I was waiting to start my shift.



Saturday, December 11, 2021

12/11/21

 We had some really lovely sunrises and sunsets in Novemeber and on into December.  I was able to capture this sunset on a walk last week.  I loved the kind of odd cloud pattern near the horizon.



Friday, December 10, 2021

12/10/21

 It's Friday!  TGIF!  I don't usually take or share birds on bird feeder images but I got this one at my in-law and really liked it.  I especially liked it for the warm bokeh and Friday's Are Bokehlicious!  This is a Goldfinch enjoying some seed at one of my in-law's feeders with their Ornamental Pear tree's leaves providing the bokeh.



Thursday, December 9, 2021

12/9/21

 I unfortunately did not see a lot of Honey bees this year but here is one I captured on my Autumn Sedum.



Wednesday, December 8, 2021

12/8/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  I have some Chicory that migrated into my driveway and was even mowed down by the public right of way mowers but recovered enough to bloom.  I was able to capture this in the first week of November.  It is a 2 image stack to get all three flowers in focus.



Tuesday, December 7, 2021

12/7/21

 So this is one of the images I was able to get not that long ago of a Heron that wasn't horribly far away.  It had just taken off, most likely because it didn't want to be that near to me and it wasn't, but the Herons around here are quite skittish.  I liked the waterdrops I was able to capture as well.



Monday, December 6, 2021

12/6/21

 My Golden Rain Tree this autumn was putting on quite a lovely show of color.  I took this image of some of the leaves backlit against a clear sky.



Sunday, December 5, 2021

12/5/21

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is of resored Santa Fe locomotive 3415, a Pacific type, 4-6-2 wheel arrangement.  It was built in 1919 and saw service regularly in Argentine Yard in Kansas City.  It was then donated to the city of Abilene in 1954 and sat in the city park for 40 years.  In 1996 the city donated it to The Abilene & Smoky Hill Railroad.  Restoration began in 2005 and has been in use on the railroad the last several years pulling excursion and dinner trains.  It was not running this year the Trail days because it is up for it's 15 year inspection.  This image is out of my archives as I took it back in 2009.



Saturday, December 4, 2021

12/4/21

 This is my last autumn panorama that I captured while out taking in the colors.  This is at Homer's Pond once again and is the south end of the pond where the other image was at the north end.  I took this from the little viewing area at the edge of the pond.



Friday, December 3, 2021

12/3/21

 It's Friday, TGIF!  Friday's Are Bokehlicious as well!  The image I have chosen for today is one I captured this summer of a Dragonfly on one of my Coneflowers.  The shape of the cone gave it a lovely perch and the woods behind created some lovely bokeh.



Thursday, December 2, 2021

12/2/21

 This summer I was out in Pennsylvania visiting family.  While there we went to Hershey Gardens where they had a cool butterfly house.  I was able to capture one of my favorite butterflies enjoying some lovely purple flowers.  This is a Paper Kite butterfly.  They are usually found in Asia from Thailand to Malaysia, the Phillipines, Southern Taiwan and also northern Australia.  They are fairly large, the average wingspan is 3.75 to 4.5 inches.



Wednesday, December 1, 2021

12/1/21

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog and it is also the first day of December, the year is going very quickly.  Today's flower was one I captured blooming quite late in October, the 28th.  This is Aromatic Aster which blooms September to October normally.  These were very low growing as the plant had been mowed several times due to being on a city sidewalk area.