It's New Years Eve! It's also Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! I thought I would choose a flower that reminds me of fireworks to end the year with. This is Bee Balm or officially, Wild Bergamot. It usually flowers June to August and can grow to 4 feet tall. It tolerates drought well and entices bees with it's scent hence the name. Butterflies enjoy it as well.
Today's bird is one that I enjoy seeing. They are hard to photograph as they usually don't sit still very long. This is a Bluejay that I was able to capture in our Mulberry tree last winter when we had some snow. People often call them bullies but they don't seem to be that at my feeder.
Happy Monday and happy new week! My Gerbera Daisy is currently blooming in my house. I took it in for the winter and even though it was initially stressed and lost a bunch of leaves, it seems to be doing OK now. It's the oldest of the 3 that I have and it around 5 years old now.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Finishing out the last one of the year with my favorite railroad. This is an image of our train as we were ending our ride in late June. Our train is rounding the parking lot to head into the station area in Antonito Colorado so we could get off and get on the bus to take us back to Chama New Mexico. We had a great trip back on the bus this time as we ended up sitting near the fireman for the trip and he chatted with us. I was not wanting to bother him, thinking he would be tired but he initiated a lot of the conversation so it was very nice and interesting.
Today's image is one that I took at an air show in Wichita Ks in the summer of 2024. I have lots of photos from it that I have not shared so may every now and then. 😉 This image is from the main event of the show, the Blue Angels. Their acrobatic and formation flying was quite amazing. I highly recommend going to see them if you ever get a chance. This is their diamond formation.
It's Friday, TGIF! It's the last Friday of the year so I wanted to share one of my favorite flowers with some great bokeh because Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog! This is an image of my white Coneflowers or Echinacea that grow by the gazebo pond.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! It's also a double digit day today! 😁 This is a version of my Christmas card that I sent out this year. I took this image back in early January when we had 16 inches of snow! I had never incorporated my figures into it but I think it worked fairly well. This is my Live Steam Forney locomotive having the track cleared for it.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog and it is also Christmas Eve if you celebrate. Today's wildflower is not native to Kansas but is very Prevalent in pots during the Christmas Season. The plant grows wild in Central America and Mexico. The red leaves are not the flower, the flower is the small yellow centers that develop. The red leaves are actually Bracts as well and not true leaves. Natural colors for Poinsettias are red, pink and white or mottled colors of these. The other colors you may see, like blue, the petals have been dyed.
A little over a week ago there was a hawk sitting in one of the trees in our backyard. My hubster saw it first and came in and told me that he had been taking photos of it with his phone. I quick went and got my camera and I was able to capture it as well. It seemed very unbothered by us and sat there for quite some time after I got my images. I believe it is a Red Shoulder Hawk but without seeing it in flight it is very difficult to tell. The undersides of the wings with their different bar patterns make it much easier. It's definitely not a Coopers Hawk as the tail is too short. Google Lens agrees with me if that means anything. 😂
Happy Monday and happy new week! I brought in my little Fuchsia plant to over winter and before I had time to prune it and put it in the colder area of the house it developed flower buds. Well, I had to let them bloom so here is an image of the blooms and it looks like there might be another couple of blooms starting though I may pick them off and let the plant go dormant to rest for a while.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is of the 3rd and last incredibly detailed model built by Herbert Votaw at the Colorado Railroad Museum. The 3 models are all 1 inch scale. This one was built between 1955 and 1958 and took 1850 hours to build. It is a Rio Grande Challenger type locomotive and took 6160 handmade pieces to build. it is 123 inches long. Amazing detailed and beautiful work.
This is an image of one of my favorite places near where I live. It's what made me start to like Kansas. This is a sunset image taken out on Konza Prairie. It's a lovely place to walk and view a bit of the remaining tall grass prairie left in the US.
It's Friday, TGIF! Today's image is one I was able to get of the Praying Mantis. I think this is the same female that had been on the Lantana but she had moved over to the Zinnia pot and gave me a great photo op. I chose this photo for today because of the nice bokeh behind because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
I feel for a summery photo today. How about a Bumblebee on the Autumn Sedum. Autumn Sedum is very popular with various insects and butterflies.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is Long Bracted Spiderwort. It usually blooms May through July. It is usually about a foot tall. I have found it transplants well and is very hardy. I dug some up and just set it in another area and it comes back every year. The young stems and leaves can be used in salads.
Today's image is from Minnesota this past June. I was out for an early evening walk and was able to see and capture this pair of Blue Winged Teals as they took off from one of the ponds near the farm that I often photograph. I am fairly sure that the upper one is a male and the lower one is the female.
Happy Monday and happy new week! We have a Christmas Cactus in our office that is blooming profusely and is a lovely one. I usually only see solid color ones so this is a different one for me with the white with pink highlights.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is another of the beautifully detailed models that were at the Colorado Railroad Museum built by Herbert Votaw. This is of a Big Boy, number 4019. The coal in it's tender is from an actual Big Boy as is the sand in it's sand dome. It was built between 1958 and 1962 and took 2050 hours of work! It is 133 inches long and weighs 410 lbs.
Today's image is of a beautiful sunrise that I saw while on my way into work on Thursday morning. Right now is about prime time for me to see those but will be gone soon. I'm either too late or too early.
Happy Friday, TGIF! It's a double digit day today! 😁 Todays image is one that I took in Minnesota. In the area where we camp while up there for the show, in back of the shower house is a garden of lovely Hollyhocks. This is a lovely red one with some lovely bokeh behind because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
We have been a bit warm this week after having some pretty frigid temps. I felt like sharing a butterfly today due to that as I am looking forward to spring. 😀 This is a Giant Swallowtail butterfly that I captured on a Cone Flower or Echinacea this past summer.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is one from this Spring. This is Old Plainsman that usually blooms from April to June and is in the Sunflower family. It can grow to 3 feet tall and is very hardy and drought tolerant. I am not sure where the name came from, probably because it was around for quite awhile. 😊
This is an image of our state bird, the Western Meadowlark. While I was not able to get that close I still like this image a lot because it shows very typical behavior of them sitting in a field and singing out.
Happy Monday and happy new week! My mother-in-law has a very lovely Orchid in bloom that I saw while I was visiting over Thanksgiving. I had to take and share a photo of it.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! While I was in Colorado this summer I was able to see this beautiful model at the Colorado Railroad Museum. This is a model of Union Pacific locomotive 844. It is a very accurate model and was built by Herbert Votaw between 1958 and 1961 and required 1,848 hours of work and was the 3rd locomotive that he had built. The model consists of 6,720 pieces which were all handmade and is 116 inches long and about 17 inches high and about 11 inches wide. He had crawled all over the actual locomotive to collect information needed. It was really amazing to see.
We had a few lovely sunsets in November. Today's image is one that I captured about mid month while I was heading home from a bike ride. It was nice this year that I could ride my bike up until the last week of November. My knees don't like walking as much. 😏
It's Friday, TGIF!!!! It's been a stressful week for me and I am glad it's over. Anyway, my image for today is another of the Praying Mantis that was visiting my Lantana this autumn. She was not happy I got her wet while I was watering it. Sharing this photo today due to the bit of bubbly bokeh in the background because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is Western Ironweed. It usually blooms, July through September and I took this image in mid August. Ironweed is very popular with butterflies and if you look, you can see there was a visitor on this plant. Ironweed is one of the most common pasture weeds in Kansas.
The Red Tail Hawks seem to be more prominent now in my area. They are always around but it seems that when the Turkey Vultures are here, you don't see them as often. Red Tails are fairly easy to identify in flight because of the bar on their wings.
Happy Monday and happy new week and welcome to the last month of the year! Wow, it's gone quick! As I type this, the forecast for today is snow showers. I am sure we won't have a picture taking snow, at least I hope not, I don't want any snow this week for various reasons. Anyway, this is from a snow we had last February where I was able to capture a few good flakes. This is a 10 image stack of at least 3 flakes stuck together.
