Just Thursday

More Amish pictures. This lady is carrying 3 bags of ice to her buggy.

During a day watching trains we were lucky to see the GE test track with these 3 going through some maneuvers using dynamic braking. It is testing an alternative way to save the actual brakes on the locomotive. If you are interested in learning more click over to  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_braking_

One of the volunteer sunflowers I have near my bird feeders.

Most every morning we have lots of fog out over the fields. The weather has been beautiful lately with cool mornings and lots of signs that Fall is near.
Have a great rest of the week.

It's Thursday

This shot was supposed to be last, and I don't know how it got here, but I was taking pictures yesterday in a muddy drainage ditch by the railroad tracks and found these tiny polliwogs( Tadpoles). Not sure what kind of toad/frog they are from, but they are pretty small and fairly young since they don't even have their legs yet..I'm thinking they might be from Tree frogs/ most folks know them as Spring Peepers.
Have a wonderful day. I'm going to finish planting my garden today. It is much cooler here and that makes for a much more enjoyable time working outside.

We had a beautiful day for watching trains yesterday. These Canadian Pacific locomotives rolled by around noon pulling a very long freight train. We don't see Canadian Pacific locos very often, so I was ready with my camera.

Along side of the railroad tracks is usually a muddy ditch. Here are some of the goodies I found in and around that ditch..
The Daisies are in full bloom as are the red Clover..

I got lots of shots of this Angle wing butterfly too. He was flitting here and there, but always came back to the same spot. Right on the  mud.

Yellow Vetch grows close to the ground.

I really don't know what this is, but I liked the shape and the green and red colors. Again something growing along side of this muddy ditch.

Weekend Reflections

It's Saturday again and time for reflections. We traveled to my home town of Warren, Pennsylvania last week, and I remember when the steam trains used to carry passengers and freight many times a day over this bridge. I also remember before the era of automated crossing signals, at the area where the tracks cross the road, whenever a train would approach a little man would walk out from his small building and stop all the traffic till the train passed by. Now, this is all gone and maybe one freight train, pulled by a diesel engine, a day goes through this town and the once beautiful elegant railroad station has been torn down. A sad story all too often seen across this great country.
To see more reflections, do click on over to http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com

Monday

We  went for a ride this afternoon, and passed by this yard loaded with these beautiful flowers. I have no idea what they are, but what a sight.

As I mentioned so many times, I just have to take pictures of Canada geese when ever I see them.

With granddaughter Becca along, we went watching trains, and were not dissappointed.

We also checked on this Bald eagle nest, and found an adult sitting hopefully on eggs. Last year a fierce storm showed up one night and blew the baby chicks right out of the nest. I hope they have better luck this year, but I am worried about this early spring.

We found the most beautiful wild Violet flowers today. I've never seen any this dark color.
Happy Monday everyone.

Tuesday

Another gorgeous day dawned, and we were off with a picnic to watch trains. It was a fairly good train watching day and we saw about 5-6 long ones.

Later a ride down to the lake and all the hungry gulls were waiting as usual for some treats. It's so funny, they all know the sound of the power window as it goes down and they are all of a sudden on high alert. I saved them some popcorn and what a feeding frenzy.

Saw a small flock of Redhead ducks too, ones I haven't seen this season.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Off to the dentist tomorrow.. UGH!

Macro Monday

It was a beautiful day Sunday and we took a ride to see if there were any trains running. We were lucky to see this Norfolk Southern freight train about 30 minutes after we found our parking spot.

This particular train was traveling East and pulling some tank cars, grain hoppers, and empty gondola cars. Traveling at 55 miles per hour, it was heading towards Buffalo, New York.

A close up shows the Thoroughbred logo that the Norfolk Southern railroad is famous for, and if you look closer you can see the engineer on the left behind the window, and the conductor on the right. The engineer "drives" the train, and the conductor is the "boss".
Do click on over to http://lisaschaos.com to see lots more close-ups.

Sunny Saturday

It was a beautiful sunny day, and we took advantage of it for sure. Driving to Chautauqua Lake there are always a few gulls around waiting for a hand out. I thought this guy was so cute.

A few more waiting on the rocks.

I had to try another shot of the moon while the sky was clear. Now at 9:30 PM, the clouds have moved in, and no telling when we'll see it again.

X marks the spot in a gorgeous sky today. Temps in the 40"s strange but not all that rare for January...We WILL pay you know....

This nice weather has let us continue to watch trains.
Have a great weekend, and GO STEELERS!

Ruby Tuesday

Yesterday afternoon we went to the lake looking for ducks, and also saw this good looking Canadian Pacific locomotive sitting idle on the siding over the Christmas holiday. The engine was running and was coupled to a very long string of tank cars. Most likely the engineer and conductor were home with their families and would be taking the train on it's way Monday morning.
Happy Ruby Tuesday and do click on over to http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com to see lots more RED.

Cold, Wet, Raining again! and even a wee bit of snow..

I'm afraid I don't have very much to add today. The past  few days have been just so horrible  and lousy weather for picture taking ...Cold , wet, and raining...
This shot was taken at a small local lake that during the morning hours is home to a great flock of Canada geese.

Even in the rain we can pack a lunch and watch trains! On this day we saw at least 10 in a 2 hour period. The train traffic seems to be picking up.

Not far from the train watching area is this beautiful falls and after all the rain lately there seems to be lots of water. Sometimes this falls is dry..
Ok, that's all folks. Snow predicted for Friday.. Take care all...

Weekend

This day was a good day watching trains, and we saw 6 within a couple hours period. That's improving which is possible that the railroad traffic and the economy is picking up in our area.

While there I did see a pair of Eastern Bluebirds. I would have thought they would be in the South by now. Earlier this week not 2 miles from this spot the weather turned very bad one evening and 2 tornados set down. No injuries, but several buildings were damaged

Back home, near here on Findley Lake a flock of Tundra swans have spent a few days. I couldn't get very many of them because there were just too many trees in the way.

A beautiful day with lots of gun shots all around being the first day of deer season in New York. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Weekend Reflections

Definitely NOT beautiful, but with all the rain we've had along with the gloomy days, this is what I found one day while we were watching trains. In the center of this wheel hub of a huge tractor trailer, you can see some freight cars from the passing train.
Have a wonderful week-end, and click on http://weekendreflection.blogspot.com to see lots more reflections.

Pics from vacation, and home

Our vacation was spent in Gallitzin, Penna where we stayed at an awesome B&B right along side of the Norfolk Southern railroad mainline. The trains travel all day and all night, so there is no excuse for not getting enough train time. The B&B has a wonderful deck on which you can sit with a cup of coffee, tea, or soda while you visit with other train fans while below on these tracks the trains travel East and West through the Allegheny mountain range. This particular control point is the highest point on the line, and from here East to Altoona, Penna is all down hill. The Eastbound train traffic must stop here while checking their brakes. The tunnel on the right is the Gallitzin tunnel, built in 1854 and enlarged in 1995 to permit double stack trains. The other tunnel the Allegheny tunnel was built in 1904 and is no longer used. The tracks have been removed, and at the present the workers are closing up the tunnel with cement blocks mostly to keep kids from getting into trouble. Check out the man in the yellow shirt, and then you can see just how mammoth these tunnels are. The larger one is almost 1 mile long. Back home the Downey woodpeckers are bringing the kids now for lunch.

A Bluebird checking out the house, but sadly they left, and when I went to check out why, I found an ants nest inside. I cleaned it out, but I think they won't be back this year.

These shots are out of order, but here are some "helper" engines. They attach to the rear of the trains and help by pushing going up hill as the trains travel West toward Pittsburgh, Penna.

While on the deck waiting for the next train, I spotted this Robin doing a bit of preening.

Finally finished, he sat on one leg for quite a while just resting.

We've had more rain last night with tons of lightning and thunder. We even lost elec. power for 2 1/2 hours, and expect more coming our way later today. The grass is growing by leaps and bounds,so it requires mowing at least twice a week.

Father's Day

It's Father's Day, and I want to honor the memory of my Father Rusty Templeton. He was a wonderful, warm, and oh so caring Dad, and I still miss him every day. This week Gary and I went on a short trip, as we try to do near Father's Day, to a really cool B&B where we could watch trains all day! My Dad was also a huge train fan and he would have loved this place! Happy Father's Day Dad, and to my husband Gary who is also a super, marvelous Dad. We took a side trip to the Horseshoe Curve where the trains come and go all day and night.

This neat street light always caught my attention, and this time I got a picture of it.

We visited the National Railroad Historical Museum in Altoona, Penna. Outside the museum is a big yard with many old railroad cars in various stages of restoration. Back at the B&B this is the upstairs deck where the railroad tracks are within 30 ft, and it offers such a good safe view to watch trains and take lots of pictures. There is also a chiminea where you can build a nice fire to keep warm on cold nights. I take my computer out to this table so I can keep in touch with my family and all my Blogger friends while I'm away from home..

Another place to watch trains is from an old Model "T" car bridge that crosses over the tracks.

From the deck at the B&B this is the view we see as the Amtrak passenger train climbs up the hill from the Horseshoe Curve. This and 2 other tunnels were built all by hand tools in the 1800's by mostly poor Irish immigrants. These tunnels are the only way for the trains to cross the Allegheny mountains from Pittsburgh, Penna to Harrisburgh, Penna. I'll post more on the tunnels next week.

That's all for today. Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there.