Watery Wednesday

We're up to Watery Wednesday. This shot was taken Tuesday afternoon on our way home from town. We take this back road lots because there is always something going on. This pond has several duck houses, and lets hope this pair of Wood Ducks is using one. I didn't see the female sitting on the end of this log till I uploaded the pictures when I got home. Surprise!
Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting this fun meme. Click on http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/ to see lots more watery photos.

Ruby Tuesday

For my entry for Ruby Tuesday this week, I have chosen this Orchid that is blooming now. It has no scent -darn-.
Thanks to Mary/the teach for hosting this meme. Click on http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/ to see lots more RED.
Check out my regular post for today below, and don't forget to click on each picture to enlarge it.

On our day trip to Ashtabula, Ohio we decided to check out the beach area too. We're always looking for beach glass, and since it was such a beautiful day we took a short walk.

Another shot of the lighthouse I posted 2 days ago. This is from another angle.

A cold front coming in.

There was lots of drift wood. Gary used to make driftwood lamps, and we used to collect lots from many of the beaches we walked.

I'm not quite sure what this is. It is full of holes, and really heavy. I couldn't kick it over.

OK, enough from that trip.

There are lots of Crocus blooming right now, and oh so many bees.

I bought 2 miniature roses. Can't wait for Spring!

The Pussy Willows are blooming too, BUT right now everything is under 2" of snow that we got last night. Tomorrow it will warm up, we hope!

Day Trip #3

This will be the 3rd in a series of a day trip we took to Ashtabula, Ohio along the shores of Lake Erie.
The railroad cars coming up from Kentucky and West Virginia bring the coal to the Ashtabula Harbor. Here they are emptied and the coal is carried across the harbor on conveyor belts and here is a huge bull-dozer that levels this gigantic coal pile. The apparatus in the rear of the picture loads the coal into lake freighters to be shipped on the Great Lakes.

This shot shows just how mammoth this coal pile is and how small the dozer now looks. Up close this dozer is over 8ft. high.

This is another shot taken from in back of the Marine museum. We'll go back when it is open after Memorial Day.

Nautical effect along the parking lot.

This is the lift bridge I posted yesterday. It is being repaired right now, and the cars aren't allowed on it. They will raise it for tall boats however.

Another shot of the bridge. In the background you can see a long line of black coal cars loaded with coal. These are at least 6-8 cars deep.

Lots of pleasure boats waiting for better weather, will travel under the lift bridge and be on their way out to Lake Erie.

Toward the back of the parking lot is this beautiful old Victorian house. All refinished it looks over the harbor. I love the colored glass in the turret. I was too close to it to get a full view.

The finial is really decorative.

My 4th and last post will be from the beach where we went to search for beach glass. It was just around the corner from this park where we watched the coal trains. Until then have a wonderful start to your new week. As I type it is Sunday night around 11:00 and it is SNOWING here ! ugh!

Day Trip #2

Continuing on with our Ashtabula trip. This is the pond where all the ducks, geese and the 2 swans were. A couple Canada geese slide in for a landing.

The Mute swan doing a bit of preening.

A good look at those big wings.

We then went to Point Park in the city of Ashtabula, Ohio. It sits way atop of a hillside, and you can look down on the huge railroad yard of coal cars coming up from down South to be emptied at this facility. There is also a Marine and Coast Guard museum. It doesn't open till Memorial Day.

This is the front of the museum.

All the loaded coal cars are in the big yard to the right of this shot. They are then unloaded and the coal is put on a conveyor belt and carried across the river to a mammoth coal pile. It is then loaded into freighters and shipped on the Great Lakes. No freighters there that day.

This is the area where the coal comes off the conveyor belt and is piled into these huge mounds. There is a very large dozer on top this coal pile pushing the coal over the edge.

On the back of the museum is the front portion of a tug boat.

Also from our vantage point we can see the draw bridge that will allow all the big boats access from the harbor out to Lake Erie.

I still have more pictures, and I'll put them on sometime this next week.

Have a great Sunday all.

Another Day Trip #1

This morning we decided to take another day trip. The weather was just beautiful. This time we went over into Ohio and to the Ashtabula Harbor. When we left home there was plenty of fog. The first place we stopped in Ashtabula was along the Erie lake shore and this light house was way out at the end of a breakwall.

Another smaller light, and I don't think it is operational.

A marker at Lakeshore Park.

Nice landscaping.

A pretty stone bridge, with water running underneath. On the back side of this bridge is a large pond with a pair of Mute Swans, ducks, Canada geese ( they fly in off the Lake ), and of course the ever present Sea Gulls.

This swan might be the male. It has a thicker neck.

The other swan was busy eating from the bottom of the pond.

Of course I just had to photograph this Canada goose. It was very friendly, but the signs said NO Feeding the Waterfowl.

Most of the geese and ducks stayed away from this swan.

Bottoms up!

Check out the water droplets.

Water dripping from the bill.

Just a pretty pose.

I got a ton more pictures, but this is enough for today. It's supposed to rain here tomorrow, so I probably won't take any shots outside. I did see some Crocus' blooming down near our Pond Trail. I must get a picture.

Have a great week-end.