04/24/25

 We have Collard Lizards in our area and there is a specific place on one of my bike routes that I see one fairly regularly.  I almost forgot to look for it while out on a warm day recently so only got one shot of it playing Peek-A-Boo over the rocks it lives under.  This has been about the third year that I have seen it there.  I looked them up and they can live 5 to 8 years in the wild.  This is, most likely, a female due to the color of it's head blending into the rock.  Males are more blue-green in color.

04/23/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  My wildflower to share for today is Western Yarrow which is in the Sunflower family.  This is from a group that I had transplanted off the road where it would be mowed down all the time.  It has fern like leaves and is very hardy during drought.  It usually blooms June through September.

04/22/25

 It's Earth Day officially but in my opinion Earth Day should be everyday.  I try to but and plant flowers that are native and that butterflies and bees will like.  You can do it for cheap with Zinnia seed.  They grow easily and butterflies love them!  I took this image of a male Tiger Swallowtail on an old established Lilac a little over a week ago.  It was perfect so must have been newly hatched.  My first butterfly capture for the year.

04/21/25

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  My Fern Peony bloomed again this year.  It seems to be an every other year thing lately.  It's beautiful to see.  Very dainty compared to other Peonies.

04/20/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today is about my latest Live Steam project, my raised layout.  I picked this layout up from Florida over my Christmas Break on a whirlwind trip.  We have been working on getting it installed since then and after some snow and bitter cold delays, it is finally usable!  It needs some finishing work like trim but I did a test run with one of my battery locomotives and after that went well did my first Live Steam run which is what the layout was really designed for.  The locomotive I am running is an Accucraft Forney that I purchased along with the track.  It had some pretty bad scale buildup that took several vinegar soaks and some other soaks and rinses to get cleaned out but it seems to be running pretty well.  I need to figure out the best settings for it but other than that it sounded good as it ran.  It, like my other locomotives operates on Butane and water.

You can see a short video of the first run HERE.

04/19/25

 While I was out in PA, my brothers and I went on a bit of a nostalgia drive and visited a couple of places including this small waterfall that is fairly close to where my parents lived.  It's a nice little waterfall and this image is actually one half of a stereo image that I shot.  I have recently gotten back into 3D.  I wish there was an easy way to share it for others to view.  This little falls empties into the Conodoguinet Creek which is pronounced sort of close to: Can a dog go in it.  😄

04/18/25

 It's Friday, TGIF!  We have been having some very warm weather already, 80s and 90s even a couple of times.  Too warm already, summer could be bad.  Anyway, due to the warm weather, things are blooming early including this Magnolia.  I love Magnolias but they usually get frozen out in our area, they will start to open and then it will freeze.  This year that didn't happen which was nice.  I asked the owner of this particular bush if I could photograph it and he graciously let me and told me it had looked even better a couple of days before.  😊  I chose this image for today because of the beautiful bokeh in it because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

04/17/25

 With everything in bloom, the Honeybees are out and about.  I captured this one visiting my Crabapple.  This tree was absolutely full of flowers and was just gorgeous.  I am glad the bees were able to make use of it's beautiful blooms.

04/16/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Spring has sprung here in my area of Kansas and all kinds of things like trees, Lilacs and various wildflowers are blooming.  This is one, Blue Mustard that was blooming rather abundantly in one area that I saw while on a walk.  Blue Mustard usually blooms May through July but I photographed this on the 5th of April.  Warm weather and flowers came early to the area.  It's called "Blue" but looks more pink to me.  It can cause milk to taste off if cows consume it and it has an unpleasant odor when it is crushed.

04/15/25

 The Wild Turkeys have been around visiting the bird feeder quite a bit recently.  I was surprised to see these 4 males displaying for a female who, seemingly, cares very little about what they are doing.  I was surprised to see them together and not fighting for dominance.  The one on the right has quite the vivid waddle.  I call them, The Gang.  😁

04/14/25

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  I am trying once again to grow this type of Columbine.  I was able to find one in good shape and cheap enough that if it doesn't come back I won't have lost much.  I love Columbines but they are very finicky it seems.  They die back to the ground during dormancy.  Mine seem to keep at least a few leaves until winter.  They are in the genus Aquilegia which is Latin for Eagle and so named due to their flowers resembling talons.

04/13/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Once again I am focusing on model trains and my N Scale layout to be exact that I got running again this winter after an, at least, 10 year pause.  N scale is pretty small and finicky with how it runs so I got a bit frustrated with it and got interested in the total opposite scale, G.  After seeing some things on YouTube of how others get their trains to run well and seeing that my locomotives still worked after sitting idle for so long I decided to try to get it up and running again and it has been very successful.  I did just have to redo a section of track this past weekend due to some warping of the board but it is running even better now, I just have to landscape that to get it to look better.  The Santa Fe Blue Goose that the hubster got running for me better than when it was new by re-soldering a couple wires on it.  The mountain in the rear is not snow, it is just in progress.  The town that you can just see a bit of on the left is my current project where I am doing the streets and sidewalks.

I have a video of this locomotive and my diesel on YouTube HERE  if you would like to watch. It shows a good share of the layout and has more information in the description about it as well.

04/12/25

 While I was in Pennsylvania, another hike I went on was the Pole Steeple Trail which is in Pine Grove Furnace State Park and in the Michaux State Forest.  It was quite the steep trail at the end due to the choice we made and I had to rest a bit a couple times.  LOL  There was a pretty impressive view after we made it to the top of the entire park including the forest and Laurel Lake. The view is pretty impressive and worth the exertion. The rock is quartzite.

04/11/25

 It's Friday, TGIF!  The Redbuds are in bloom and have made the area quite lovely.  The buds are red but the blooms are more pink.  I captured this image in late afternoon and it had some lovely bubbly bokeh in it.  Sharing it today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

04/10/25

 Today's image is of a neighborhood cat with gorgeous eyes that I saw recently while on a bike ride.  It posed very nicely for me but wouldn't let me get close enough to pet it.  😒  I don't think it was totally wild as it looked well fed.

04/09/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is a favorite and is just in it's last stages of blooming.  This is Wild Plum and usually blooms March to April.  Mine opened in very late March and is about done.  They smell wonderful while blooming.  The fruits will appear in August or September and are about 1 inch in size and are sweet and juicy though I find the skin a bit tart and it's fairly tough.  I rarely get to eat any because the birds get to them first.😒  They can form dense thickets and their roots help protect against erosion.  I am keeping mine a bit tamed and not letting them spread as much as they are trying to.  

04/08/25

 About a couple of weeks ago now, while on a bike ride I spotted a bird in the road.  It ended up flying closer to me in a field off to the side and I was able to capture a few images of it.  This is a bird that I get to see every now and then called a Horned Lark.  It's horns were not visible but it is a male due to the facial masking which females lack.

04/07/25

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  My Amaryllis bloomed very late this year and is still going.  It had several lovely blooms.  These are a couple of them photographed against the window for a high key effect.

04/06/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  I've gotten back into working on my N Scale layout that I have in the basement after a good 10 years or more.  I'm not sure why I stopped for so long, other projects originally I guess, and then the worry that it wouldn't work correctly any longer.  Recently we tested several of my locomotives and found that they still ran and one, after some tweaking by the hubster, runs better than when it was new.  So that got me motivated to start running and working on it again.  Today's image is of my Santa Fe "Blue Goose" set which is the one that runs better than new, by the factory on my layout that is one of the oldest parts on it.

I have a short video Here of the first test run around the layout but it is with my diesel type locomotive and not a steamer.  😅

04/05/25

 While I was in Pennsylvania, I would go on walks with my brother.  He took us to Kings Gap where there is a lovely overlook of the valley below.  It was a lovely day and viewing conditions were lovely.  This is looking towards Walnut Bottom, PA.  You can drive up the mountain and park pretty close to the overlook.

04/04/25

 It's Friday TGIF!  It's also a double digit day today!  😀  My Crocus had just begun to bloom before I went out of town so I missed most of them.  I was able to find this one in a shady spot under the wild Plums.  I chose this image due to the lovely bokeh it had because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

04/03/25

 I was bike riding this past weekend and saw that in a pasture that has some horses I regularly see, this was also there.  It's an Elk.  I was quite surprised and only had my phone with me because the battery for my camera was dead.  It was very interesting to see it in with the horses, not sure why they have an Elk.

04/02/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is one that I rarely see because it is not open very long.  This is Venice Mallow also known as "Flower of an Hour" because of the brief amount of time they are open in the morning.  They usually bloom July through September.  It's seeds can remain viable in soil for several years.

04/01/25

 It's the firs day of April already!  The year is already one quarter over.  Spring is here in Kansas with temps bouncing around from the 80s to the 50s.  The Killdeer are back and I have been able to see and capture them from time to time.  This is a capture of 3 of them that were in a drainage area, probably looking for water, it is pretty dry right now.

03/31/25

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  Spring has sprung like crazy here in my area.  The Jonquils and Daffodils and Hyacinths are up and blooming as are the fruit trees.  It's been quite lovely after a pretty cold and snowy winter.  This image is just a few of the flowers blooming around the yard.  These are mostly Jonquils which are smaller versions of Daffodils.

03/30/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is a little different, I have not been anywhere to see real steam trains.  😏  I was out in Pennsylvania a little over a week ago.  This was taken at a museum I was at that was one of the most detailed HO (oops it is O Gauge, missed the 3rd rail)  layouts I had ever seen.  This was at the Antique Auto Club of America in Hershey PA.  The layout had a gas station and firehouse that actual had working features like moving garage doors and vehicles  It was very cool.  This farm scene was quite detailed as well.  The steam train was moving so is not the sharpest.  😅

03/29/25

 The other day as I was heading to work there was a lovely sky created by some thunderstorms to the south of us.  I had to stop and get a photo and I was pleased that my phone did not blow out the moon for once.  

03/28/25

 It's Friday, TGIF!  I am sharing another summer image today of my Rose of Sharon blooms.  Rose of Sharon is in the Hibiscus family.  I chose this image for today due to the bubbly bokeh in it because it's my favorite and Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

03/27/25

 Today's image is of one of the few large butterflies I was able to see and capture this past summer.  This is a Black Swallowtail that was visiting the Bee Balm.  It is the female of the species.

03/26/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is one that I like a lot, Antelope Horn Milkweed, also known as Spider Milkweed.  It is usually found blooming April through June.  The fruits can resemble the horns of an antelope as they elongate and curve.

03/25/25

 It's a double digit day! 😁  Dark eyed Juncos come to visit our area in the winter.  It is one of the few things I enjoy about winter.  😏  They are quite fun to watch as the look around for food.  They usually can be seen on the ground  looking for it but I captured this one in the River Birch looking a bit puffed out from the cold.

03/24/25

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  Starting off the week with a flower that is already putting up it's leaves for the year.  This is a Surprise Lily after a rain.  The leaves have been coming up for over 2 weeks already.  They started the week after the below zero weather as we were in the 60s then.  It's been yoyoing between normal and cold but nothing crazy like we had.  The leaves die off during the summer and then in late July through August the flowers appear and it is quite the lovely surprise to see them.

03/23/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is one I took of the Porter locomotive as it sat by the Roundhouse right before our safety meeting.  The Porter is a tank engine and carries it's water supply in a tank over the boiler.  This can help provide traction but can also cause issue as water does not want to inject into a boiler when it is too warm.  Since the water is sitting over a hot boiler the water supply needs to be kept fairly full to keep the water cool enough to inject efficiently.

03/22/25

 Since we have warmed up a lot I don't mind sharing some photos from when it was cold out.  😀  It was crazy how we went from such bitter cold and snow to more than spring like temps.  During the snows the birds were really enjoying the bird feeders and gave me lots of opportunities to capture some images of them.  The Blue Jays were even around and gave me a few opportunities at some fun captures like this one.  Not sure what it was looking at but I enjoyed the pose.

03/21/25

 It's Friday, TGIF!  Today's image is a little Sulphur Skipper that was on my Butterfly Bush or Buddleja this past summer.  There were lots of these guys around but not many larger butterflies.  I thought the bokeh in this image was rather interesting so chose this for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

03/20/25

 On a recent bike ride, the weather really warmed up after our -12, we went to the 60s the next week, very weird.  Anyway, on the bike ride I saw a large group of deer in a field and crossing the road.  I got a few photos of some of them before they crossed to another field and this is one of them.  

03/19/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's image is of one that is a bit hard to capture as it's blooms don't seem to last long.  This is a Prairie Wild Rose.  They usually bloom May through July.  the plant is very resistant to drought due to it's roots that can go as deep as 20 feet.  It's hips are a good source of vitamin C and can be eaten raw.

03/18/25

 Today's image is another of the Red Tail Hawk images I was able to get recently.  I really liked this one as it circled around in my direction.

03/17/25

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  This is an image of some of my yellow Gerbera blooms from a few weeks ago.  It's very nice to have flowers in bloom even in the winter.  They lose a lot of leaves but seem to survive OK.

03/16/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is of 353 stopped at the station for the shift change and to load and unload passengers for their ride around the grounds.  Rides are free and you can ride as many times around as you would like.  353 is an ex Soo Line switch engine.

03/15/25

 I have one more frost image I wanted to share where it really looked a lot like ferns.  I captured this on one of our bitterly cold days on my back storm door while it was still dark out.  The frost was illuminated by the porch light.  I really like the abstract look of these.

03/14/25

It's Friday, TGIF!  Today's image is one that is a bit different because of the way I photographed it.  This is a Common Sunflower that I think is fairly photogenic from the rear as well.  I chose this image for today due to the lovely bokeh in it as well because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

03/13/25

 As I mentioned on Tuesday, I have been able to capture a lot of birds this winter.  This is a Nuthatch that I was able to capture out my window on the Mulberry tree.  I love watching them move around the tree, usually upside down.  They are adorable and hard to capture as they don't stay still very long.

03/12/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's image is one that I hope survived our winter.  This is Nipple Cactus.  It's height is only 1 to 4 inches and it usually blooms in May and June.  It likes dry, rocky prairies and limestone soils.  We were quite wet this year so I shall see if it survived, I hope so, I love it's blooms.

03/11/25

 I have had a lot of opportunities for bird images this winter.  On the first weekend in March I was able to capture a Red Tail hawk fairly closely.  It was gliding around on the winds we were having that day and I lucked out that it came towards me a couple of times. They are in our area all year but seem to be more prevalent in the winter.  

03/10/25

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  My Amaryllis is FINALLY blooming.  It took forever to bloom this year even though I potted the bulbs up earlier than last year.  This is the one that has white highlights but they seemed to show up more on the back of flower than on the front.  All my Amaryllis are old bulbs that I save and put outside in the summer and then work to get them to rebloom.  

03/09/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the blog!  Today's image is one of the Porter locomotive arriving at the station to pick up it's load of passengers.  I was waiting to board as well for my turn at firing the locomotive.  I thought this image worked well in B & W which gave it a bit of a moody look.

03/08/25

 Today's image is of a lovely sunrise I was able to capture in the beginning of February as I went in the door to work.  This is straight out of the camera and only cropped.  It was quite vibrant.  Don't forget, the time changes tonight and we lose an hour.  I think that means I have a chance for more sunrises for a bit but I'd rather we pick a time and stay with it.  😒

03/07/25

 It's Friday, TGIF!  It's been a week of crazy weather.  I am so ready for winter to be over.  I am ready to see flowers so I am sharing a flower photo for today.  This is a bloom on one of my Rose of Sharon bushes.  It had some lovely bokeh so sharing today because Friday's are Bokehlicious!

03/06/25

 Today's image is one I hope to see very soon.  T on Goldenrod I was able to capture last fall.  The flower won't be out until later but I hope to be able to see butterflies around in our area very soon.  We had a lot of small butterflies in our area last summer but not very many large ones.  It will be interesting to see what we get this year.