It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image goes back to August at Rollag Minnesota. I was attending the safety meeting for working on the full size locomotives and they were both parked outside the Roundhouse at the time. This image shows off former Soo Line Switcher 353 with the Porter off to the left. There is even a diesel locomotive in the photo as well. 😏😂 It is used to move cars around and also if one of the locomotives has an issue.
Thursday night we had a very small storm cell moving into the area. As usual, we did not get much rain out of it but it did produce a quite lovely sunset sky.
It's Friday, TGIF! I have had a Phoebe couple build a nest and raise their young over the bathroom window next to my office window at home. Once in a while I have seen one or the other go sit in the Walnut tree not far away. I captured this image one day while it was nicely lit by some morning light. I also really liked the bubbly bokeh behind so sharing today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog!
I captured my first frog of the year and it is even a Leopard Frog. They are my favorites to see and are fairly elusive at times but this one was quite cooperative. I captured it in the small backyard pond while I was taking some Lily photos.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is from one of our trees, a Black Locust. I love these flowers, they remind me of Wisteria. It normally blooms in May and June but I took this image in the last week of April. Even though it is a tree, it is part of the Legume family. It's leaflets fold closed at night and it is drought hardy.
I have had several opportunities to photograph Killdeer this Spring while out on bike rides. They are fun to watch and I always love to see their red eyes.
Happy Monday and happy new week! I was over at a friends house last weekend and their Clematis was blooming and looking lovely. I have never had one of my own, may have to change that. 😁
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Thought I would share something different this week. I share a fair amount of my G Scale trains but on the opposite end of the spectrum, I also work in N Scale. I had been developing my city area this past winter. Today I thought I would share an image of it with my Santa Fe steam train running by it. I still have lots of detailing work to do but I am pretty satisfied with how it is coming along so far.
I have been getting a lot of opportunities to see the Cedar Waxwings this year. They have discovered my backyard pond and apparently told their friends. 😂 I have had some pretty large flocks coming to visit and get a drink. It's been fun to watch them. This is an image I got early on where it looked like a couple of them were having some kind of disagreement.
It's Friday, TGIF! Today's image is one I hope to be taking soon. This is a Dragonfly in my Gazebo pond on a reed. I believe the Dragonfly is a Blue Dasher It has a few bokeh bubbles in it which I really like so sharing it for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
My Milkweed has been coming back quite well this year even though it is migrating into areas I would rather it not but that's neither here nor there as they say. I'm just glad it's coming back and I hope the Monarchs make use of it this year. I found this Ladybug that was enjoying it but couldn't get up as close as I would have liked because I had my Zoom lens on at the time. 😂
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is Purple Prairie-clover which usually blooms June through August. This image is from last year. it can grow to 36 inches tall and is a native legume. It's mostly found in dry rocky areas.
It's a double digit day! The wild Turkeys have been around quite a lot this Spring. There has been a group of 5 that has been fairly regular, 1 female and 4 males that follow her around and strut their stuff. It's kind of funny to watch them strut and she just basically ignores them while she looks for food. 😄 This is one of them strutting his stuff and trying to look a bit threatening because he thought I was a bit too close to either him or his woman.
Happy Monday and happy new week! I received a Kalanchoe flower plant as a gift. I love the color and the little flowers make it look like an explosion of color!
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Sharing another image of my steam train by the mini Lilac. I wish Lilacs lasted longer, they smell so great and look nice. The flowers are just about done already. This is the Accucraft Forney Live Steam locomotive and it's train by it.
We have had some storms in the area recently. Most of them missed us but we finally got a decent amount of rain Sunday night into Monday. This was the sky one evening during that week. Fortunately it was just ominous looking and not bad with these Mammatus clouds.
It's Friday, TGIF! The Iris are just starting to bloom this Spring. They are having an issue and not as many as usual are blooming, they got nipped pretty badly by the 18F morning we had in March when they were already starting to emerge. This is one of my yellow ones by the Gazebo pond. The bokeh behind it was fabulously bubbly so had to share this image for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
I have not seen these as of yet, it's still early though. This is an Ebony Jewel-wing Damsel. I love their green body color and the shape of their wings. Lovely little damsels that are fun to watch. They seem to like moving streams quite a lot.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is one of my favorites, Daisy Fleabane. Daisies in general of any type make me happy. It's very hard to tell the exact type of Fleabane, I am thinking Annual based of the leaves but could be one of the others. Fleabanes generally bloom May through August. They are in the Sunflower family in actuality and those make me happy as well. 😂
I have had an opportunity to see the Cedar Waxwings in my yard even though I missed them cleaning up the Crabapple trees. One day I was working at my computer in the afternoon for a moment and happened to catch a bunch of activity out the window. I went to check and it was a large flock of Waxwings that were getting drinks at the pond and then flying up into the Walnut tree. It was quite fun to watch them. I was able to get 14 of them in one shot a few times like this one.
Happy Monday and happy new week! I am looking forward to these flowers blooming again. They are a type of Penstemon which I love, Penstemon Digitalis. They spread quite a lot which is fine with me because, as I mentioned, I love these flowers so the more the better. They are in the garden by my Gazebo Pond. It's partly shady there which must make for the perfect growing condition.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! It's also a double digit day. 😁 Spring has come to my Garden Railway as my mini Lilac is blooming rather profusely. I took a few images of my Accucraft Live Steam Forney and a train with it the other day. I have been doing a bunch of spring cleanup on the railroad and hope to be running again soon.
I thought I would share another of the bird images that I have been able to capture this past late winter into spring. The Heron's have been slightly more cooperative so I have been able to get a few pictures where they are not flying away from me. I captured this one standing in a pond south of where I live on a bike ride about a month ago now.
It's Friday, TGIF! The Clematis seem to be blooming around the area right now. I do not have any, this is a friend's and the photo is from last year. I chose it for today because of the beautiful bubbly bokeh because Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog!
We have a mutant Skunk that visits our yard. This is the second year it has been around I think. I have named it "Half and Half" for fairly obvious reasons. 😉 It is, fortunately, pretty easy going and doesn't seem to spray very often and doesn't get excited at all when I am trying to get a photo of it. 😁
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog. It's a special one today as it is also Earth Day today! My flower for today is a great one as it is fairly easy to grow. This is Rigid Goldenrod which blooms August through October. It is very drought hardy because it has deep roots. Goldenrod gets a bad rap in general as people associate it with allergies but it is Ragweed that is causing it. As you can see Goldenrod is a magnate for Monarchs, it's one of the last flowers blooming at this time of the year and provides them some sustenance on their way south. I will also make my usual pitch for Zinnias, they are very easy to grow in the ground and pots, are quite cheap and butterflies LOVE them as well. Think about flowers to plant to help nature as you are planning your garden this year.
Today's image is more birds that I was able to observe this Spring. These are Northern Shovelers that were in a small pond that I spotted while on a bike ride once again. I believe they were just passing through because I don't see them regularly but could be wrong.
Happy Monday and happy new week! I have been enjoying my Tulips that survived the very cold temps we had where it was only about 20F as Spring Flowers were already out. Most of the Daffodils got damaged but fortunately the Tulips weren't up very far yet. I like the one on the right with it's frills and the color reminds me of a peppermint candy.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is of locomotive 683 at the Colorado Railroad Museum. It is a Consolidation type 2-8-0 wheel arrangement and was built in 1890. It is a special locomotive as it is the only remaining standard gauge locomotive from the Denver and Rio Grande Western. They were converting their mainline over to standard gauge so this locomotive was one of the first to be purchased. It operated there until 1955 and then was acquired by the museum in 1963. All the other standard gauge locomotives from the D&RGW were scrapped.
As I have mentioned, I have had a lot of opportunities for bird images this year, especially recently. While out on a bike ride the other day I had a chance to see a large group of Pelicans flying. It was neat to watch them almost disappear in the sky and then re-appear as they changed angle as the sun caught them. I took this image as they flew almost overhead before heading off towards the lake. This image is just a small part of the flock.
It's Friday, TGIF! My Weigelia is starting to bloom again. This image is from last year with some fantastic bokeh behind. Sharing for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog!
I have been able to see several Ladybugs this Spring which I have enjoyed. They are a bit difficult to photograph as they move around pretty quickly. I got lucky with this one as it paused for a moment in my young Sedum plant.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower in a type of Clasping Cone flower. They usually bloom May through July. They can grow up to 2 feet tall. They seem to like clay type soils.
I have had a lot of bird photo taking opportunities this past couple of weeks. I was able to get an in-flight image of a Kestrel. It had been sitting on a wire and then took off, swooped down and then back up to the wire. I noticed in my other photos that it had captured something to eat.
Happy Monday and happy new week! Starting off the week with a butterfly. I have seen a few of these around already on our warmer days. This image was taken last fall while it was visiting my Autumn Sedum. This is a Cabbage White butterfly.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is of another Shay locomotive they have at the Colorado Railroad Museum. Shay No 14 is a former Westside Lumber locomotive and is a 3 cylinder locomotive. It used to operate on the grounds of the museum before being fully retired and put on display. It was originally built in 1916 by the Lima Locomotive Works.
We finally had a good amount of rain on Thursday night. That morning, we had a lovely sunrise which I captured on the way into work. It was raining off to the east but that had missed us as per usual this year. We have not had our usual amount of moisture over the winter or this year yet. It hadn't rained since the very first few days of March and then it was only about a half inch. I have a feeling it is going to be a very dry year. 😓
It's Friday, TGIF! The Tulips are blooming! Some got nipped by the 12 degree temp we had recently but some made it through OK thankfully. They are a bit small this year, I think due to the no moisture. We have not had any rain since a small amount during the first week of March. This Tulip is growing in my former Tomato garden. I chose this photo for today due to the bit of bubbly bokeh behind the fence because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
I had a surprise this past weekend while cleaning up some dried leaves that had fallen on the floor from one of my potted plants. I saw something move and I was like, "what the heck?" I thought it maybe was an ant because I had taken a plant out on a warm day and had to knock some off as I was bringing it back in. Imagine my surprise when I saw what it really was, a teeny tiny Praying Mantis. I have no idea how it got in the house as I have not found any egg sacks. I picked it up with a leaf and put it in one of the flower pots where I hope it stays until I can get it outside. I quick got this photo while I knew where it was because it is so tiny, I will never see it again unless it should move while I am looking.
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's flower is one I am very much looking forward to seeing again as I find it quite lovely. This is Sulphur Cinquefoil which is in the Rose family and usually blooms in May and June. I have some planted in my yard and I saw that it is coming back up while working over in the area this past weekend.
The Killdeers are back in the area. They seem to leave for a few months when it is really cold and then return fairly early. I captured this image of a pair of them a couple of weeks ago while on a bike ride.
Happy Monday and happy new week! Starting off the week with a lovely Cosmos flower that I can't wait to have growing again. A Bee Fly was enjoying this bloom as well.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the blog! Today's steam locomotive is Denver & Rio Grande Western #318. It is a C-18 locomotive with a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement also known as a Consolidation. It was built by Baldwin in 1896 and it began it's life on the Florence & Cripple Creek Railway. The Rio Grande bought it in 1917 where it ran out of Salida, Durango and Montrose Colorado.
It's a double digit day today! 😁 My Amaryllis was very prolific this year and also rather photogenic. I decided to try a monochrome version of it and I was happy with how it turned out even though, for various reasons, it took me way longer to create this than it should have. LOL Anyway, I think the result was worthwhile.
It's Friday, TGIF! Today's image is one I was very happy to get. We have had a Bluebird visiting the yard this Spring and I was finally able to capture it. It has been fairly cooperative and sits in a tree for a while so that was great. Because it has some lovely subtle bubbly bokeh behind it, I am sharing it for today because Fridays Are Bokehlicious!
The bees have returned to my yard. I have seen some honeybees and also this bumblebee that I was able to capture. It was enjoying some Grape Hyacinths in one of my gardens last weekend.
Happy April! It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! Today's image is one of my favorites that I am looking forward to seeing again this year. This is Missouri Evening Primrose which blooms May through July. This flower is very drought tolerant. It's flowers open in the evening and then usually close by mid-morning the next day unless if it's cloudy, they can remain open longer.
So once again I was able to see a Heron in the typical way, flying away from me. 😏 I was able to capture a decent image of it though so I am sharing it today. I captured this at the spillway from Milford Lake.
Happy Monday and happy new week! I felt like starting off the week with some sunny looking flowers. These are my Rudbeckias and they make me happy. They are coming up again so I hope to enjoy them again this summer.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! Today's image is of Burlington Route locomotive 5629 at the Colorado Railroad Museum. This locomotive was built in 1940 in Burlington Iowa and is a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement which means it was built for speed. It began it's career running freight from Chicago to Denver and then between Lincoln Nebraska and Denver. In 1961 in was converted to oil and was stored in Lincoln where it's boiler was used for heat during a renovation of the Lincoln train station. On August 30, 1963 it was presented to the Colorado Railroad Museum by the CB&Q Vice President JJ Alms. The move was rather complicated due to the size of the locomotive and more can be read about it HERE if interested.
