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2013-06-17 13:19:45 (14 comments, 0 reshares, 53 +1s)

Morning all!  We will be heading back home today from Minnesota shortly.  Thought I'd check in for a moment and play in the #macromonday  theme curated by some great people, +Kelli Seeger Kim , +Jennifer Eden , +Kerry Murphy and +Jake Easley .  Their sub theme is Fuzzy.  I had this older shot that works fairly well.  A fuzzy Bumble Bee on a Bee Balm blossom with another coming into the scene as well.  Hope you enjoy it and have a great day!

2013-06-16 15:19:02 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 29 +1s)

Morning everyone!  It's another +SteamySunday   #steamysunday         curated by +Paul Pavlinovich and me!  We hope to see some steamy shots today!  They can be ANYTHING steamy, not just trains, we love it all!  Please remember to share them Publicly and if you can tag your posts with +SteamySunday  #steamysunday  and/or myself and Paul it will make them easier for us to find.  Let's see some steamy shots!
I won't be around much today as I am doing steamy stuff here in Minnesota but I will be sure to catch up.  This is a close up view of the 15" Wagner locomotive that I help run as the cylinders were being warmed up yesterday and the water driven from them so that all they produce is steam.  They were closed shortly after this to provide the efficient power to the cylinders.
Hope you enjoy the image and have a great day!  Happy Father's Day as well to all thedads out there!... more »

2013-06-16 02:24:46 (21 comments, 1 reshares, 37 +1s)

Hi everyone!  This is wild Columbine growing in the woods in Minnesota.  Kind of neat as I have the same type growing in my yard back in Kansas.  Have been getting some flower and bird images in between doing steam stuff.  Hope you all are having a nice weekend and that you enjoy the image!

2013-06-15 00:37:00 (24 comments, 0 reshares, 56 +1s)

Project 52 B&W
Week 24: Get Low
#P52BW13 | +Project 52 B&W 
Curated by +Tisha Craw, +Susan Porter, & +Lauri Novak 

Hi everyone.  I almost forgot what day it was and that I needed to post my project photo.  I had taken this and was going to share it earlier this week for another theme but then decided it was perfect for this weeks project theme.  Hope you enjoy it!

2013-06-14 04:07:30 (19 comments, 1 reshares, 56 +1s)

Hi all from Minnesota.  Went out on a photography trip to various places with my mom-in-law today.  We went looking for Lady Slipper flowers and only found this one in bloom.  It was a lovely one luckily.  Hope you enjoy it.  Going to have to post and run today.

2013-06-12 20:46:55 (27 comments, 3 reshares, 67 +1s)

Hi all from Minnesota!  This is for #waterfallwednesday  curated by +Eric Leslie and is not a Minnesota shot.  It's a close up view of the small waterfall in Carlisle, Pennsylvania that I took this spring.  It was a cloudy day as you can see and I also used an ND filter to get the image.  Hope you enjoy it.  I will be checking in from time to time as I get the chance.

2013-06-11 12:27:13 (27 comments, 0 reshares, 92 +1s)

For +TransportTuesday #TransportTuesday
Curated by +Gene Bowker  +Michael Earley and +Annie Irving

This is an old print shot from back in the early '90s that I found and played around with.  This is a view of the Harrisburg, PA train sheds and an old GG1 on display.  Amtrak uses this station and we have used it regularly as it's very efficient and always on time and a great way to get places out east.  Hope you enjoy the image and have a great day.  I'm going to be sporadic here for the next several days as we are traveling to do steam stuff in MN where it will be a lot cooler than the 100 degrees we are to get today.  Yikes! 

2013-06-10 13:24:51 (40 comments, 4 reshares, 114 +1s)

Morning everyone!  This is for #macromonday  curated by some great people, +Kelli Seeger Kim , +Jennifer Eden , +Kerry Murphy and +Jake Easley .  This also works well for the #purplecircle  curated by +Lynn Langmade and +Sinead Sam McKeown .
This is a Spiderwort bloom after some rain.  Hope you enjoy it and have a great day!

2013-06-09 14:44:30 (20 comments, 1 reshares, 82 +1s)

Morning everyone!  It's another +SteamySunday    #steamysunday       curated by +Paul Pavlinovich  and me!  We hope to see some steamy shots today!  They can be ANYTHING steamy, not just trains, we love it all!  Please remember to share them Publicly and if you can tag your posts with +SteamySunday  #steamysunday  and/or myself and Paul it will make them easier for us to find.  Let's see some steamy shots!
This is a shot of the Ottaway engine that I run at a private railroad being blown down after a run.  We do this once the pressure has dropped quite a bit to get the rest of the water out of the boiler and to get rid of any crud that might be in there as well to clog things up.  Hope you enjoy the image and have a great day!

2013-06-08 22:27:37 (31 comments, 3 reshares, 87 +1s)

I have been seeing these beautiful infrared photography images lately.  While I don't have the means to shoot in infrared at the moment, I could process it as one.  I thought that this image I took out on +Konza Prairie last weekend would work well as an infrared image.  I like the results.  Hope you enjoy it as well!

2013-06-08 14:24:12 (18 comments, 2 reshares, 76 +1s)

Hey look +Marilou Aballe !  A skipper!  A Silver Spotted one to be exact.  I saw two different ones the other day but decided to share this one right now because he was so lovely on the Mock Orange bush.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend and that you enjoy the photo!

2013-06-07 17:31:41 (30 comments, 2 reshares, 104 +1s)

Project 52 B&W
Week 23: Broken
#P52BW13 | +Project 52 B&W 
Curated by +Tisha Craw, +Susan Porter, & +Lauri Novak 

I had a surprisingly hard time trying to decide what to photograph for this subject.  Surprising as we have lots of broken things around unfortunately.  Finally decided on this branch that came down in the wind storm we had a couple of weekends ago.  Hope you enjoy my take on it and are having a good day!

2013-06-07 12:14:10 (15 comments, 2 reshares, 75 +1s)

So I see it's +kimberton pemberly 's Birthday!  Hope you have a great day and enjoy yourself!  I found this rose with some fairy boogers all over it that I thought you might like!  Have a good one!  

2013-06-06 16:29:29 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

The Sheer Immensity of the Threat!
For #threatenedthursday  by +Diego Cattaneo +Sandy Schepis +Anette Mossbacher and myself.
Share so that others know what elephants face in Africa and elsewhere,

2013-06-06 16:00:50 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Have a question I hope someone could help with.  The Photos From Posts Album.  I was in Picasa web and was going to take the duplicates that were created during the problems with uploading time.  It says it wants to "delete album - such and such date".  If I do this will it delete it out of the album I put it in and wanted it in as well or only this copy of it?  Seems to me I remember some problem with this so wanted to make sure before I did anything I would regret.  Thanks in advance!

2013-06-06 12:27:12 (24 comments, 1 reshares, 82 +1s)

Morning everyone!  This is for #bugseveryday  +BugsEveryday  curated by +Chris Mallory .  
This is a shot I got last spring of a Pondhawk Dragonfly hanging out on a reed in an area of a pond where the water had receded.  I love his blue color and blue eyes.  Hope you enjoy it and have a very good day!

2013-06-05 12:40:57 (30 comments, 3 reshares, 105 +1s)

Morning everyone!  This is for #waterfallwednesday  curated by +Eric Leslie .  This is another of the lovely waterfalls that I saw at the Overland Park Arboretum a few weeks ago.  This is a 2 second exposure with an ND filter.  Hope you enjoy it and have a great day!  We are getting a bit more rain so a good one for us.  

2013-06-04 12:25:21 (16 comments, 0 reshares, 71 +1s)

For +TransportTuesday #TransportTuesday
Curated by +Gene Bowker  +Michael Earley and +Annie Irving

Morning everyone!  I photographed this Waco airplane at the Annual Bi Plane Fly In held this past Saturday in Junction City, KS.  I got a bonus of another bi-plane in flight in the shot.  From Wikipedia:  The Waco Aircraft Company (WACO) was an aircraft manufacturer located in Troy, Ohio, USA. Between 1919 and 1947, the company produced a wide range of civilian biplanes.
Hope you enjoy the image and have a great day!

2013-06-03 22:30:00 (32 comments, 2 reshares, 86 +1s)

Hi all!  This is for #backyardbirdingmonday  +Backyard Birding Monday #BackyardbirdingMonday curated by 2 great people +Celeste Odono and +Ricky L Jones !  I got this image yesterday.  I have been trying ever since the orioles have been around last year to get a shot of the female but she is so skittish.  I finally managed a few yesterday.  This one has a bonus too.  Most of our orioles are Northern Baltimore but this one that I noticed the other day and wondered why he was so dark is an Orchard oriole.  I matched his markings to my Audubon book.  So a 2 fer lifer!  :-)  Hope you enjoy them.  This was the beginning of a spat which got a little more heated but I missed getting a shot.  The female held firm to her position till she was done eating.

2013-06-02 14:08:32 (29 comments, 7 reshares, 63 +1s)

Morning everyone!  It's another +SteamySunday  #steamysunday     curated by +Paul Pavlinovich  and me!  We hope to see some steamy shots today!  They can be ANYTHING steamy, not just trains, we love it all!  Please remember to share them Publicly and if you can tag your posts with +SteamySunday  #steamysunday  and/or myself and Paul it will make them easier for us to find.  Let's see some steamy shots!
This past Memorial Day weekend I got to go to south central Kansas to the home of the son of the builder of the Ottaway engines we run.  His dad before he died acquired the very first one ever built which is on the left and he has owned the very last one ever built on the right.  This was the first steam up for number 1 since it had been restored, it was in very rough shape when it was found.  I was to learn it was going to be the only steam up for it as well as it will nowbe on display... more »

2013-06-01 14:39:59 (42 comments, 1 reshares, 74 +1s)

Morning all!  We went walking last night on +Konza Prairie  in preparation for the annual wildflower walk on Butterfly Hill there on Sunday.   Lots of flowers are blooming but everything is a few weeks behind due to the very cool spring we have had and late snow.  I saw this Common Variegated Fritillary on some Spider Antelope Horn Milkweed near the beginning of our walk.  It's good to see more and more butterflies showing up again.  Hope you enjoy the image and have a great day!

2013-05-31 12:45:34 (45 comments, 1 reshares, 133 +1s)

Project 52 B&W
Week 22: Technology
#P52BW13 | +Project 52 B&W 
Curated by +Tisha Craw, +Susan Porter, & +Lauri Novak 

I decided to go with old time technology.  This is a V-twin engine that runs a very beautiful 1946 Indian Chief motorcycle.  These motorcycles were quite well made and were quite the thing.  I've always wanted an Indian motorcycle but have yet to find one I can afford.  :-)  Hope you enjoy my take on the theme and have a great day!

2013-05-31 01:10:58 (20 comments, 3 reshares, 67 +1s)

Hi all!  I saw my first 2 butterflies since the very late frost we had early this month.  I was able to somewhat capture both of them but this was the best shot I got.  This is a Red Admiral.  The other one I saw was a Monarch.  Very happy to finally see one around again.  I was beginning to worry as I hadn't seen any except for very tiny ones after that frost.  Hope you enjoy the image and are having a good evening!

2013-05-30 01:53:26 (13 comments, 0 reshares, 30 +1s)

So I see Photo Uploading still has some issues.  Had to do this one 3 times before I could get the dialog box to work.  :-(
A bit different shot from me.  Yesterday was our anniversary, a significant one, and we spent the evening eating some great Italian food and then seeing one of our all time favorite bands play and becoming a bit deaf in the process.  This is a cell phone shot I snuck of Cheap trick and cleaned up as much as I could in Photoshop.  I was kind of pleased that for a phone shot fairly far away I got as much detail as I did. Hope you enjoy the shot.  If you are a fan of their music they are a fun band to see in person.  I even got a Rick Nielsen guitar pick!

2013-05-28 12:19:14 (28 comments, 2 reshares, 62 +1s)

For +TransportTuesday #TransportTuesday
Curated by +Gene Bowker  +Michael Earley and +Annie Irving

We were traveling to Wichita, KS for the day yesterday and saw this outside of the city.  It you have ever seen the Storm Chasers show on the Discovery Channel you probably have seen this.  It's their Tornado Interceptor Vehicle or TIV.  We were too chicken to talk to them but I wonder where they were headed as they were not predicting bad weather in Wichita all week, the bad weather was to the east and north.  We may get some today in fact.  Hope you enjoy seeing it and have a nice day! 

2013-05-27 13:56:52 (21 comments, 1 reshares, 76 +1s)

Hi everyone!  It's Memorial Day here in the US.  I had taken this photo back in late April and I thought it would be a fitting shot for today.  This was a scene in our city park.  Won't be around today, we are off to play trains.  :-)  Hope you all have a very nice day today!

2013-05-26 14:03:13 (20 comments, 7 reshares, 87 +1s)

Morning everyone!  It's another +SteamySunday  #steamysunday   curated by +Paul Pavlinovich  and me!  We hope to see some steamy shots today!  *They can be ANYTHING steamy, not just trains, we love it all!*  Please remember to share them Publicly and if you can tag your posts with +SteamySunday  #steamysunday    and/or myself and Paul it will make them easier for us to find.  Let's see some steamy shots!
This is something a bit different.  This is my Garden Railway live steam locomotive.  We were at a friends house playing yesterday so this is on his raised layout.  What looks like smoke coming out the stack is actually steam.  This engine runs on butane and water and is a replica of a C-21 locomotive of the Denver and Rio Grande.
Hope you enjoy the image and have a great day!

2013-05-25 14:21:35 (45 comments, 13 reshares, 137 +1s)

#birdpoker  curated by +Phil Armishaw theme of Wood Peckers

Saw these 2 Red Bellied Woodpeckers at home in their tree a couple of weekends ago.  This was shot at the Overland park Arboretum on a walk through the woods there.  Hope you enjoy the image!
Woohoo, Photo Upload is finally fixed!  Thanks very much G+!

2013-05-24 12:13:55 (31 comments, 5 reshares, 120 +1s)

Project 52 B&W
Week 21: Curves
#P52BW13 | +Project 52 B&W 
Curated by +Tisha Craw, +Susan Porter, & +Lauri Novak 

I liked the curves of the lily pads, the outer petals and the tips of the inner petals.  Hope you enjoy my take on the theme!  Have a great day and a great weekend!  It's a holiday weekend here in the states so it's 3 days!  Woohoo!

2013-05-23 13:49:48 (19 comments, 4 reshares, 82 +1s)

Since photo uploading still is not working correctly I thought I would re-share this for #birdpoker  curated by +Phil Armishaw .  Sorry it's rather recent but it fits today's theme of Sparrows.  A White Crowned sparrow that was under the feeder in my yard the beginning of this month.  Hope you enjoy it and have a great day.  Hope they fix the photo up-loader soon.  Don't understand why it's so hard to add back something that was there before.  :-(

2013-05-21 12:46:49 (16 comments, 2 reshares, 71 +1s)

For +TransportTuesday #TransportTuesday
Curated by +Gene Bowker  +Michael Earley and +Annie Irving

Since the photo upload is not working correctly, sharing an older one from when I didn't have as many people circling me.  :-)  This is the T6 Texan that I was lucky enough to get a flight in and even take the stick for a while.  The flight was a gift from my husband. Hope you enjoy the photo and have a great day!

2013-05-20 21:59:00 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 53 +1s)

This is for #macromonday  who's sub-theme is Art Supplies.  Macro Monday is curated by some great people, +Jennifer Eden , +Kelli Seeger Kim , +Kerry Murphy and +Jake Easley .  Hope you enjoy my take on it!
Wish G+ would fix photo uploading.  :-(  Hate the double post into Photos From Posts.  Hope that doesn't count towards my storage. 

2013-05-19 13:44:38 (30 comments, 1 reshares, 96 +1s)

Morning everyone!  It's another +SteamySunday  curated by +Paul Pavlinovich  me!  We hope to see some steamy shots today!  *They can be ANYTHING steamy, not just trains, we love it all!*  Please remember to share them Publicly and if you can tag your posts with +SteamySunday and/or myself and Paul it will make them easier for us to find.  Let's see some steamy shots!
Since G+ still isn't working well with uploading and creates double photos I might as well share one that's already there back from my early days on G+.  This is from Steamfest 2009 in Owosso, MI where we were able to attend a night shoot.  The Daylight is the more prominent engine and the one closest is the Nickel Plate 765.  Hope you enjoy it and have a great day!

2013-05-19 02:18:06 (20 comments, 1 reshares, 78 +1s)

Hi everyone!  Hope you are all having a good day.  Was away all day so haven't been able to be on G+ today.  This is a Greygreen Wood Sorrel flower that I saw today.  They are very tiny, less than an inch across.  A Kansas wildflower.  Hope you enjoy it.  We are under a tornado watch.  Looks like summer is about here!

2013-05-17 21:52:29 (10 comments, 3 reshares, 60 +1s)

I bought this Lantana plant last Saturday at the nursery.  They are supposed to be good for attracting butterflies.  Ever since the cold snap have only seen really small ones.  I hope we get some back here this year.  I miss seeing them.  This is for #floralfriday  curated by +Tamara Pruessner and +Beth Akerman and someone else who I am very sorry I am forgetting.  Hope you enjoy the image and have a great weekend!

2013-05-17 12:15:34 (19 comments, 5 reshares, 83 +1s)

Project 52 B&W
Week 20: Framed 
#P52BW13 | +Project 52 B&W 
Curated by +Tisha Craw, +Susan Porter, & +Lauri Novak 

I know, more tulips, sorry.  :-)  The sun/moon is a yard art doo dad that I have that the ball in the center which is supposed to glow at night broke and fell out of.  When I was looking through various shots I had taken of this I liked this one best as it looked like one of the tulips was growing out of the holder for that.  Hope you enjoy my take on it and have a great day!

2013-05-16 22:24:54 (26 comments, 3 reshares, 78 +1s)

My spring Columbine flowers are blooming like crazy.  Just took this shot while I was out watering.  Just can't stay away from taking photos and sharing on the same day I guess.  Had an easier time uploading today.  Just wish it wouldn't go into my Photos From Posts Album too.  Hope you enjoy the image!

2013-05-16 01:46:02 (22 comments, 4 reshares, 83 +1s)

I am not happy at all about how you share a photo and get it into an album at the moment.  Took me forever to find the photo I uploaded today and still not sure how I finally found it I lucked into it.
After 501 days of taking a photo and posting it the same day I am finally breaking from that.  While I have enjoyed it, I think it's time.  This is for #waterfallwednesday    curated by +Eric Leslie  and was taken Saturday at the Overland Park, KS Arboretum.  A beautiful place to visit.  Hope you enjoy the image!

2013-05-15 22:40:40 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Apparently I am an idiot.  I cannot figure how to upload and share a photo now.  I added a photo to my Landscape album and expected it to give me the dialog about what I wanted to say about the photo but when I "Skipped tagging" it totally disappeared.  It's not in my album and I don't know what happened to it even though it said it was "Done" except for the tagging part.  How do you *easily upload and share a photo AND get it into the album you want.  Thanks in advance.  :-(  Shelly who is not having a good day.

2013-05-14 21:42:36 (27 comments, 2 reshares, 67 +1s)

I bought this flower this weekend.  It's a Bracteantha or Straw Flower.  I just thought it was pretty and different looking.  This is a macro shot of it after I watered it.  We went right to summer today.  93 degrees F on my way home from work today.  Yikes.  Hope you all are having a good day.

2013-05-14 12:33:02 (12 comments, 5 reshares, 55 +1s)

For +TransportTuesday #TransportTuesday
Curated by +Gene Bowker  +Michael Earley and +Annie Irving

Morning all!  This is a scan from a photo taken back around 1990 at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.  This is a Constellation type aircraft with a radar mount on top.  I always thought the styling of these was rather cool with that triple tail and all.  Hope you enjoy it and have a great day.

2013-05-13 21:54:20 (27 comments, 2 reshares, 73 +1s)

This is for #macromonday  curated by some great people, +Jennifer Eden , +Kelli Seeger Kim , +Kerry Murphy and +Jake Easley .  Their sub theme today was Light.  This is my Spring Cactus which I just got this weekend enjoying the sunshine with some water droplets after being watered catching the sunlight.  These are like Christmas Cactus except they bloom in spring.  The flowers seem a bit more flamboyant as well.  Hope you enjoy the image!

2013-05-13 12:25:22 (16 comments, 3 reshares, 62 +1s)

Morning everyone!  This is a shot I was able to get late last summer of an Oriole cleaning it's feathers in the Sycamore tree.  Wish I had a longer lens at the time.  For #backyardbirdingmonday  although this was actually in the front yard, curated by +Celeste Odono and +Ricky L Jones .  Hope you enjoy it and have a great day!

2013-05-12 21:44:40 (21 comments, 2 reshares, 67 +1s)

Playing with dandelions and dew.  We were going to tame the yard today of all the spent dandelions and long grass.  Since we have had some rain the past week and a half the yard went crazy.  I quick went out and shot this and I thought it turned out rather well.  Hope you enjoy it and are having a great day.  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

2013-05-12 15:58:14 (22 comments, 2 reshares, 13 +1s)

So +Google+ Help +Brian Matiash hope I am asking the right people.
I realize I am a nobody compared to others here on Google and their followers but if these things frustrate me, they must frustrate others and I have heard it happens to everyone.  
What is going on with the streams these days?  I was not able to be on G+ yesterday and today when I go backward through the stream there are HUGE gaps in time.  It skipped from a post made by Maiej Markiewicz made yesterday at 1:16 am to posts I had already seen and commented on on May 10.  I know I did not see all the posts that occurred yesterday either as I never had to manually refresh like you do when it hits it's automatic limit and asks to show more.  This is not a new occurance, it has been happening for a couple weeks now.   Hugely frustrating.
I still can't see everyone's posts that I follow unless I go to theirindividual pa... more »

2013-05-12 13:26:12 (14 comments, 3 reshares, 51 +1s)

Morning everyone!  It's another +SteamySunday curated by +Paul Pavlinovich and me!  We hope to see some steamy shots today!  They can be ANYTHING steamy, not just trains, we love it all!  Please remember to share them Publicly and if you can tag your posts with +SteamySunday  and/or myself and Paul it will make them easier for us to find.  Let's see some steamy shots!
This is another scan from a photo from the archives in  October 1990 of the British locomotive "Dwight D. Eisenhower" on display in Abilene, KS for the centenary of Eisenhower's birth.  Hope you enjoy it and have a great day!  I have a work around for my internet problem at the moment so hope to catch up today.  :-)

2013-05-12 02:05:56 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 49 +1s)

Hi all!  Have limited internet again.  I hate Embarq at the moment, they won't bury my phone line, LONG story, so every time the people across from us mow they chop up my phone line and I have no internet.  UGH
Anyway, I was at an Arboretum today in Overland Park, KS.  There were some beautiful things blooming there.  This is wild Mustard I believe that was being photo bombed by a Bumble Bee that I never even saw till I was home looking at my shots.  If I had tried for it I never would have gotten it so clear.  LOL  Hope you enjoy the shot!  Be back when I can.

2013-05-10 21:51:45 (36 comments, 2 reshares, 90 +1s)

This is for #floralfriday  now curated by a bunch of wonderful people, +Tamara Pruessner , +Beth Akerman , +Eustace James and +Kiki Nelson .  The Bleeding Hearts are in bloom again.  I just love these!  They are not mine though I hope to pick up a pot of them tomorrow when I go plant shopping.  I think they are just so lovely and dainty.  I had never seen them for real till last year and was happy that the weird weather didn't cause them problems.  Hope you enjoy them and have a great weekend!

2013-05-10 12:13:03 (18 comments, 0 reshares, 64 +1s)

Project 52 B&W
Week 19: Food
#P52BW13 | +Project 52 B&W
Curated by +Tisha Craw, +Susan Porter, & +Lauri Novak

Hi all!  I work in food esentially and I found this assignment rather difficult to decide what to photograph.  I finally chose a salad for the various colors that would come across as different tones in a B&W photo.  Hope you like my take on it.  Have a great day!

2013-05-10 07:54:16 (17 comments, 0 reshares, 83 +1s)

Hi everyone!  Had a busy day today.  This is for #leavesonthursday  curated by +Anne Durand , +Stephen Thackeray and +Ray Bilcliff .  My Blue False Indigo plant with some rain drops from the approximately 1 inch of rain we got  overnight.  We're very slowly building up again.  Hope it keeps up.  An inch here, an inch there is good.  Hope you all enjoy the photo and are having a good day.