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.

One late evening...

We found ourselves down at the Boise Depot last night.

Much later than we had planned.

What we had come to see was late.

But it was sooooo worth the wait when it finally arrived.

More on that later.

The kids and I are going back down there today to inspect it some more today!

xxxx

Yard pretties...

 There are now lots of decisions to be made about what exactly will be going into the new flower bed we dug up last weekend.  I know there will be Zinnia's and Black Eye Susan's for sure but more choices need to be made so it will have a 'farmhouse style' look to it.  If anyone has any other suggestions, please share.  I'm having a bit of 'gardeners block' right now.

At least my new moose from the Art in the Park will be hanging out there amongst all the pretty blooms.

Everyone here is in love with him.  For the time being, he is hanging out amongst all the lovely dirt.  But soon I hope there will be some Fall blooms out there mingling with him.

 Along with the girls little yard pretties.

I just love the colors that the little snail and dragonfly have.

The stained glass is gorgeous.

 Right now I'm really loving my Zinnia's in all their glory.

I just can't help but smile every time I look their way.

 There will definitely be more of them popping up around here next year.

I'm hoping to get alot of the muscle work done this Fall so by next spring I can just throw seeds out and start enjoying.

On to the cuddly news, Bella Bunny is now finished.

All packaged up and just waiting patiently to be sent off to her new owner.

I'm so glad I went for the sock yarn on the ears to give a pop of color to her.

It's so pretty.

Let's not forget the matching tail to finish things off.

Next on the list...

a sewing project  that has been patiently waiting on the side lines while other projects pushed it aside like it wasn't important or something.

Lots of stuff...

Lots of things going on this past weekend.

The little cuddly is moving right along.

It's just a matter of putting all the pieces together now.

Kind of makes me feel like 'Dr. Frankenstein'.  ;)

There was a lot of yard work going on Saturday.

Brendon came over to help so it wouldn't take too long.

Do those words even sound right together.

Brendon.

Yard work.

Not taking too long.

For those that know him, quick yard work is just not part of his thinking.

There is always some stopping going on to goof off and then afterwards the complaining that the yard work is taking too long.

I just don't get it.

My thought was quit goofing off, but who am I to be thinking that.

Then there was Dogzilla to contend with.

Chasing after the hose and trying to kill it, pouncing on 'stuff' in the dirt, running like a spaz around the yard and trying to kill oneself by running at break neck speeds while on the leash and then coming to the end of the leash.

Again, who am I to ask.

Isn't there a saying that dogs resemble their owners after awhile.

Just remember it's not my dog.

At least that project is all done for now thank goodness but next time I'm not sure I will be asking for help.

Sunday was a lovely day with part of it being spent at the Boise Art Museum's Art in the Park.

It's our favorite thing to do in September every year.

Love it!

We always go on the last day, early in the morning when prices have been marked down and there are less people to deal with.

There was some good munchies to be sampled.  Pronto pups and strawberry lemonade were on my list of tasties.  Lots of art work we couldn't afford, and a few little treasures that were found to be brought home.

Pictures of all that next time.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

What did you all do?

xxxx

Dogzilla...

I must warn you ahead of time that this may be a shameless, cute puppy post.

My son Brendon, a few months ago, thought it would be a fabulous idea to get a puppy when he moved out on his own.  What he didn't count on was that he picked the reincarnated "Marley" out of the litter.

Don't be fooled by those cute little puppy eyes.

Riley is dogzilla through and through.

She eats rocks.

She spaz's out at the snap of a finger.

She fights with her leash.

She barks at her tail.

Then she will be calm, cute and quiet.

And you just can't help but be pulled in by her 'cute puppy' power.

For a little while.

Then she will jump up again, running around at break neck speed chasing Lord knows what.

She follows me around the patio and barks and growls at the broom when I'm sweeping and tiding things up.  Apparently she does not like my butterfly bushes that I have out back because she likes to 'trim' them for me when she comes for a visit.

Who knows.

Sometimes I think she has a goal to dig down to China the way she digs in certain spots of the yard.

Either that or she really likes earthworms.

I'm just waiting for the day when Brendon tells me she ate the receiver on the phone.

I'm glad she doesn't live here.  :)

Long weekend...

So, continuing on from where I left off last time...

After leaving the park in the early morning hours on Saturday, it was right back to the house for little ole' me.  I could feel the 'I didn't get enough sleep the night before' feeling and I knew a nap was in store for me.  It never fails.  Every time there is something planned for the next day and getting up early is included in the plans no one lets me sleep around here.  Numerous trips to the bathroom from little people and an occasional 'did you hear that noise' from my dearest, keep me up for most of the night.  So when morning finally comes around for everyone to get moving, I'm having to chug down a big dose of caffeine something or another just to keep from being a big 'grumpy pants' for the rest of the day.  We can't have me ruining the day, can we. 

A nap was had and all was good.  We waited for Glenn to get home so we could all head right back down to the park for more excitement.  Glenn wasn't too thrilled over the trip down there being he just came from that very area from work and we were parking in his work parking lot for the event.  He just can't get away from the place it seems.  :)

Off we were trekking over to the park to see more...

balloons!!!  

for the Night Glow.

The girls loved the Coke bottle balloon.

I believe they said it was over 6 stories tall and if it were filled with Coke it would hold over 250,000 gallons of the stuff.  That's way too much for me.

Soon after the sun went down over the hill at the park the balloon fans fired up to fill the balloons, about 15 of them, up with air.

Then the burners were fired so that they would stand up.

And soon after that, the show was on.

They all did the popcorn glow where all the burners would go off at different times in little bursts.  Then the wave was pulled off and several other bright glowy bits of things.  It was a good 1/2 hour to 45 minute show.  Well worth the trek down to the park.

The girls were happy to see bright kaleidoscope balloon along side the beloved BSU balloon.

Very cool!

They all looked very awesome with all their colors glowing in the dark.  

It was a wonderful show they had put on for everyone at the park.

Just beautiful!

The long and tiring day was well worth it when we kept hearing all the little oh's, ah's and squeals from two little people that enjoyed every minute of it.

The rest of the weekend was spent trying to recoup from the lack of sleep from the day before and trying to finish a little cuddly.  That was finally accomplished by the end of Sunday.

Meet Percy Pig.

Cute little guy if I must say so myself.

I just had to make him a wee bit different by adding bits of color to him with some gorgeous blue sock yarn in certain little places.

Not to forget the little curly tail you know.

He's so darn cute!

Then while yesterday was happening, I happened to look at the two little sweaters that I had just finished before and just wasn't pleased with them.  I kept worrying about the collar on each of them and did not like how there wasn't a whole lot of stretch in them.  So early this morning I was pulling out the old roll down collars to add ribbed ones.  I don't know why I didn't do this before being that it now matches the rest of the sweater edges and there is a lot more stretch to fit over little ones heads.

So fixed they are and now there is one more cute little cuddly to be made.

More on that next time you visit.

Off to make some yummy baked potato soup.

Just because I'm feeling kind of blah still and I'm thinking a few big bowls of that yummy goodness will just hit the spot.  I'm just in a piggish kind of feeling today for some reason.  ;)

Early morning rise...

Up before the sun, the girls and I drag ourselves out of bed to go downtown by the river to see some pretty cool things way early in the morning.

Glenn had to miss out because of work.  Poor thing.

So off we went in the pitch black before dawn for an early morning adventure.

We arrive at Ann Morrison Park just as the sun was creeping over the foothills.

People were slowing finding their way down to the park.

Some were still in their pj's.  Don't ask.

There was the Boise Police bagpipe brigade playing tunes for all the early risers.

Some history being shared by the announcer of the event.

Didn't know before this morning that the area where Ann Morrison Park is now used to be the landing strip for Boise back in 1910 or so.  Who knew!  Not I.

Then the fly over by the A10's from the Idaho Air National Guard to start everything off.

Brenna loved that.

Then a few minutes later the order was given to...

inflate the balloons!

Beautiful, colorful balloons!

There was one we had not seen before.

The rocket ship was Brenna's favorite.

She thought it was so awesome to see all the burners going to heat the balloons up.

She now wants 10 of them so she can fly them around.

Yeah.

They slowing start standing up.

Firing the burners

for lift off!

One by one, the balloons started making their way into the chilly morning sky.

A couple of little ones said they were cold and kept leaning up on me to keep warm. 

They asked why I was so warm.

I said it was all my 'fluff' I had on me.

I got the stink eye.

They all started lifting up into the air, in a different direction than they thought they were going to go.

I'm telling you, meteorology is the job to have.

You can monkey up a forecast and still have a job. 

The Boise balloon, the Spirit of Boise.

The girls liked the trees with the faces on it.

It always reminds me for some reason of the Land of Oz theme park in NC from when I was a kid.

Kind of creepy.

Brenna noticed that the rocket ship had gone away from the other balloons and was heading towards the foothills.  It looked cool glowing in the sky from the sunlight.

Slowly buy surely they all made it into the air.

We watched until all 28 had made it into the sky.

Then it was back across the river to head home,

until our next part of the event later that evening!

I'm taking a nap.  :)