It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! I went to the Steam Up that a friend has on Memorial Day weekend again this year. It was a fun time as always and I got to see some neat Live Steam engines. I ran a couple of mine as well and this was my C-21 2-8-0 running in the evening on the ground loop that he has. The conditions were really good that day and the locomotive was putting out a quite nice plume of steam as it ran along the line.
I was out by Milford Lake the other day and was a passenger in the car so I was able to take this image as we were crossing the dam. We have actually been having a good amount of rain lately. The clouds over the lake and the sun in the one area was interesting to me and, hopefully, to you as well. 😂
It's Friday, TGIF! My Common Milkweed is blooming and I was able to capture a Monarch butterfly that was enjoying it. That made me quite happy to see it benefited even just one so far. I am hoping it laid eggs and I will get to see caterpillars soon. I chose this photo for today due to the bits of nice bubbly bokeh in the background because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!
Last week I was able to capture my first frog at the Gazebo Pond. This guy was quite unlike the usual frogs there who I usually only hear giving a squeak before they jump in the water. I was skimming some debris in the water and even hit into the Lily pad it was sitting on before I saw it and it never moved. That was quite amazing. It was fairly small so maybe the older ones had not yet warned it to be afraid of me? I only want to take their photo so there is no reason. 🤣
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the blog! One of my favorite flowers is blooming right now, Queen Anne's Lace. I had transplanted some to one of my gardens a couple years ago and these do not have the tell tale red spot on them able to be seen well. This does seem to be fairly normal as even on the Kansas Wildflower's Page there are photos where it is not prominent. They are in the Carrot family and usually bloom June through September so mine are quite early this year. They are a biennial plant and spread by seed. I find them very photogenic.
It's a double digit day today! 😁 This Spring I had a couple opportunities to take better Heron photos. I was able to get fairly close before they decided to fly off. This one was in a pond in the housing area not far from where I live and I was able to capture it while out on a bike ride one day.
Happy Monday and happy new week! It is also Memorial Day today in the US. I decided to share this photo of my Poppy which is appropriate to the day. The red poppy became a symbol of remembrance during WWI for military personnel who died in service. Vibrant Poppies bloomed across the devastated battlefields of Flanders, Belgium where many soldiers were buried. Thanks to all soldiers for their service.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog! A few weeks ago I traveled to the newly revamped and refreshed Kansas Museum of History in Topeka Kansas. The museum contains the oldest surviving steam locomotive from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, Number 132. It is a 2-8-0, Consolidation type locomotive that was built in 1880. It was used for service on the steep grades of Raton Pass in New Mexico. It was donated to the museum in 1983 and the current museum was built around it. It was restored to it's original appearance when donated to the museum as well. It's a gorgeous locomotive.
It's not Wednesday but wanted to share this image. 😉😊 I have an area in the backyard where i have some Ox-eye Daisies that have kind of taken over. I enjoy it in the Spring as it is like a small field of them and quite lovely. I have tried to transplant some but I never seem to have much success. They like this spot by my small pond and a raised garden bed. I made the beginning comment because Ox-eyes are technically a wildflower. The image is a bit different in size because it is a phone photo and I changed the format it takes photos in to a more cinematic style.
It's Friday, TGIF! The Iris were not as abundant this year due to a very late very cold snap. It hurt a lot of Spring flowers in the area. This is one of my lovely ones from beside the Gazebo pond. This photo is actually from last year, none of them in this area bloomed. Hopefully they can come back and bloom next year. This image has my favorite bubbly bokeh so sharing for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog!
Today's image is a fun one I was able to capture on the evening of the storms that rolled through the area, Monday. I was biking by this pasture and saw these birds that looked like Egrets and the cattle were unusually close up against the fence, I guess because of the weather. I did not have my actual camera with me at the time and my phone ones did not come out great so when I got home I drove back and the birds were still there. This is my first time of capturing Cattle Egrets! They apparently feed off the bugs that get stirred up by the cattle. This one looked like he was trying to kiss the cow but I missed getting a shot when he was even closer to it's face. 😄
It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog! The Russian Olive trees have been blooming like crazy this year. They smell quite nice when you ride or walk by them. They usually bloom in May and June. It spreads by root suckers and can be invasive. Birds eat the fruits it produces. They are drought hardy.
This is an image I took quite a while ago now but never shared, I have a bird photo stockpile. LOL This is a Blue-jay I was able to capture while it was sitting in the Walnut tree.
Happy Monday and happy new week! The Lilacs are, unfortunately, finished blooming for the year. They did not do as well as past years, only produced a few blooms. I think it was due to the late extreme cold that we had. I was able to get a few images and this is one. I wish the flowers lasted longer as well as they smell so lovely.
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!
