Feeling better...

This week has been a bit trying to say the least.

Tuesday morning I started feeling a bit crummy with a scratchy throat.  But after I few shots of Zicam, that all went away.  The stuffy head and nose decided to hang out for a few days. Wonderful.  I haven't had a cold in so long that I forgot how awful they make you feel.  Wednesday absolutely nothing got accomplished around here.  Thanks goodness the laundry had been all caught up.  Dinner that night was just whatever one could find and throw together quickly.  One dose of Nyquil so I could sleep and Thursday was a better day.  Not that anything amazing got accomplished but I felt better.  Which was saying alot compared to the two days before.

My little helpers were wonderful to me while I wasn't feeling tip top.  They always want to help.  All of these veggies were gathered from the garden yesterday afternoon by them.

 The garden didn't do as well as last year.  We are going to have to 'rethink' a few things mainly because our neighbors have this tree that is starting to shade out our garden space.  

Is it bad to wish a tree would go away because it's ruining your garden?

I'm thinking not.

Sometime yesterday it hit me that I had not made any pumpkin hats for the little ones in the family for this year.  It's their 1st Fall you know.  How awful to go through life knowing that you were not properly accessorized for the season.  So I started on that yesterday evening and one is nearly finished already.  It's so darn cute and easy.  Itty Bitty Hats.  The best book for cute hats for little ones.

 I had made progress on my sweater before the 'lets feel like crap' thing started.  I finally made it to the point of holding the stitches for the sleeves and then connecting to finish the body.  I can't to finish it.  And the weather seems like it will finally start cooperating with sweater wearing by getting into the Fall temps next week with highs only getting into the 60's.  I'm excited.

Bring it on Mother Nature!  I'm ready!!!

 I'm trying not to overdue things today while feeling better.  I must pace myself so that I don't get worn out before I go the quilters preview party I was invited too.  I'm so excited that my friend Stephanie (who works at The Quilt Crossing, that is on Glenn's mail route) was kind enough to include me in on this.  It's my first time at an invitation only event.  Hopefully I won't embarrass myself too badly.  :)

My little invitation is patiently waiting for my to grab it and head out the door this evening.

Love that little ornament that was made to go with the invitations.

Must be off to the store.

I have been informed that we are at the danger level of running out of milk.

And that is not good around this house.  People wouldn't know how to function without it.

Here's to a much better weekend ahead!

I need it.

xxxx

Hoping for a slow day...

It's been busy around here the entire weekend.

I had a hard time getting up this morning.

All I wanted to do was stay snuggled up in bed.

There were no thoughts about getting going on the to do list for today.

Let's see what got accomplished on the past few days though...

I finally finished the girls' dresses that I had bought this lovely fabric for.

Can't believe I waited this long to get them made.

But there are no complaints because the weather has been warm here all weekend and they are enjoying them now.

Friday there was some planting going on in the new flower bed.  I just couldn't stand seeing bare dirt anymore and had to buy some color to pretty it up a bit.  Bulbs still need to be planted but I have to wait until I go get some chicken wire to put down over the bulbs so the pesky yard rats (squirrels) won't dig them up and eat them.  Or move them to other places in the yard.  It very aggravating to see bulbs growing out in the middle of the yard when you know you never put anything there.

You must excuse this pic.  I was lazy and took it through the window of the craft room this morning.  I didn't think the neighbors would appreciate the 'crazy woman with the camera' out in the yard in pj's first thing in the morning.  ;)

Saturday started out very well with the most beautiful sunrise we've had in a while.

Blue and Orange.

It must have been a good luck sign that our BSU Broncos were going to win their game later that night.

There was a trip to the store to get all the essential goodies that is needed for a football game.

There was plenty of yelling, eating and jumping up and down going on during this game.

I'm not a big football fan, but I can't help but watch our hometown boys.

They are the only team I will watch football for.

There was some casting on late Thursday for a new sweater for me.  Just a top down ragland.  Simple but I like it.  I'm loving the color alot.  It's a big change for me as far as Fall colors are concerned for me.  I thought to myself, "Self, why don't you make something that is a bit more colorful than the normal, darker, Fall colors you wear?"  So I decided to listen to myself and pick a lovely yellow in honor of all the gorgeous yellowy, golden leaves that will soon be on the ground.

I thought I was doing pretty darn good and was quite please with my progress.

Until I realized that I had not been increasing every other row (like the pattern says) and was increasing EVERY row.  So I had to rip it back to where I connected the front and start that part over.

Here's a little tip for you...

Read the pattern and remember what you read.

It really helps alot!

I was a little miffed over the whole thing but I'm glad I realized the error then and not later.  You would have heard some yelling then instead of the little huff and puffs I was doing yesterday.

Off to start lessons now.  Nobody is wanting to get moving for the day as you can tell.  I'm just glad that Monday's schedule is never too taxing on the brain.  That would not be good to start the day like that.  

Especially today.

xxxx

Chugga Chugga!!!

To continue where we last left off...

We arrived at the Depot around 5pm because the 'piece of American history' we came to see was to arrive around 6pm.  About 5:30 or so everyone who was waiting was informed that it was going to be late and wouldn't arrive until about 7:30pm.  We were not leaving.  No way.  So we took a walk through the neighborhood around the Depot admiring some of the pretty old homes in the area.  After a bit it was back to the Depot to make sure we had a good viewing point so as to not miss a thing.  Brendon finally showed up at the Depot.  I'm so glad he wasn't going to miss out.

There was some 'I Spy' books to be looked at. 

And of course some rock hunting for a little one.  You honestly think with all the 'great specimens' laying all over the place, she would pass up looking for a 'perfect' one.  No way.  And of course I ended carrying a few good ones in my bag because they were too special to leave behind.

We had to wait a little longer than 7:30.  But so worth the wait I tell you.

There was a guy at the Depot also waiting patiently, watching the GPS tracking site for our 'prize' on his Ipad.  It was nice getting the updates at this point because there were a few people I was with that were getting a wee bit antsy.

About 8:15ish we could hear the whistle 2 miles out.  Then about 1 mile out we could feel the rumbling while standing on the platform at the Depot.  Then Ole' 844 turned the corner of the tracks to head into the Depot and it took our breath away!  The light in the sky wasn't totally gone yet and you could see the steam and smoke bellowing out into the evening sky.  

AWESOME!!!

As it got up to the Depot, the whistle blew and it shook you right down to your bones!

It was something that I just can't rightfully describe to you so you can understand what we felt.

We got rained on by the steam shooting up into the sky, then condensing and falling down.

The steam shooting out everywhere, the rattling of the whistle...

Something we will never forget.

Here's a link to see what we experienced in the dark.  The only difference was that we were only 5' away from the engine!

AWESOME!!!

We listened to it hiss and groan for the longest time.  It was so cool listening to it 'live and breathe' in it's own little way.

We stood and watched the flames coming out of the bottom of the firebox.  We were so excited by all that was going on, it was hard not to do a little jig every now and then.  :)

It was a bit overwhelming to be standing by this beauty.

We stayed and watched everything that was going on, little ones were asking questions and we were taking in all the sights and smells for about an hour.  We headed home finally for late night snacks.  No one was ready to go to bed with all the excitement that was running through us.  We finally had to say enough and go to bed so that we could get up in the morning and go back for some more 'exploring' with 844.

This engine is massive to say the least.

Nearly 100' long.

It weighs 460 tons, without water and fuel.

Do you see those pistons on the front there?  They are HUGE!!!

#844 was delivered in 1944 as a high speed passenger engine.  In the mid 50's it was placed into freight service.  Soon after in 1960 she was saved from the scrap yard and has been used for special service ever since.  Can you imagine something this magnificent being destroyed for scrap!!!  I about fell over when I heard this.  I'm so glad the Union Pacific decided to save her.  That would have been an absolute tragedy to destroy this piece of American history.

It's nearly 20' tall.

Some of it's 30 wheels are 80" in diameter!

One of the guys told me that one wheel weighs as much as a small car!

It's all controlled by valves and levers.

Can you imagine.  No digital anything.

Here's a link for a better view of the inside of the cab.

Amazing!!!

I laughed so hard when the guys told me about the speedometer and then watched the link on the cab tour.  Too funny!  The engineer talking in the video passed away May 2010 and you can really tell he is so very missed by the entire crew.  Quite a man from what I was told.

You can not imagine the shear beauty of this engineering marvel unless you are right up on it.

It is something I will never forget I tell you.  

I brought back feelings from when I was in the AF, being around all the jets every day.

Goosebumps I tell you.

I miss those feelings.

I'm so glad that we were able to see this unforgettable masterpiece of engineering.  Just think about where this country would be if we didn't have the ingenious people that came up with this fine piece of machinery.  I'm so proud to know that our great country had people with this type of ingenuity that made our country what it is today.  God Bless them.

Union Pacific has named 844 the "Living Legend".  Let me tell you that the name is well fitted to this wonderful marvel of engineering.  

I wish we still had them running all over.

What a sight that would be.

After all of the excitement of 844, there was a few quiet moments spent at the Koi pond in front of the Depot.  No trip here is ever complete until the fishes are visited.