BATMANThe owl that lives in that tree is stunning,
Down here all we have are burrowing owls, and I hate them.
They attack people at night, make terrifying noises, and they poop out axle grease.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
They are nothing but yellow eyed flying demonic horrors.
Last page I offered up a delicious Florida brew. Now for something that is competely the opposite. Black Cherry Flavor Hard Mountain Dew Zero Sugar. This stuff is just entirely so wrong:
If you are feeling brave, try a can. You will be shocked at just how bad it is.
Sorry.
Back to work on the master bedroom...
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Evening
We have a really cool great horned owl that hangs out around here quite a bit.
Bush Lake is only several blocks over to the west and Nine Mile Creek comes in behind our place so there's quite a bit of wildlife around for being so close to the city.
I was watching that owl in the back by the pond reservoir one evening as he turned his head from the 12:00 position, to darn near all the way around to the 9:00 position. It's really neat when they do that. He had heard something and was quite enthralled for a while as I watched.
I had forgotten which way his head had turned from before and for a second thought it kept going around when he turned his head back Of course I knew better than that but it kind of freaked me out for a split second there.
I really like his baritone Who and sometimes he who's back staring at me with those big beady eyes after I who him.
Owls are definitely an interesting bird of prey.
https://youtu.be/5ZtbCOpx8Sk
TF
We do not rake leaves, not that we have many leaves, we just let them blow into Minnesota.
As soon as Mom and Dad moved to PA, they hired a man with a truck aand plow to clear the driveway. It was rather long.
Here we have several powered machines to take care of snow. A tractor with a snow blower to clean the roads, and a skid streer to clear the sidewalks. We even hired a contractor to widen a sidewalk so that the skid steer could ride on it better.
We do have a great distance of roads, parking lots and sidewalks, but we do not clear the church parking lot. The parish is responsible for the parking lots and the sidewalks around the Church.
As for myself and my stuffed animals, we stay inside where it is warm, and watch the world go by.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I usually went through each year's budget at the school pretty closely.
When things were ordered, the companies sent invoices that the school board approved each month.
Each year a teacher ordered owl pellets. I had no idea what that line item of the invoice was -- owl pellets?
I finally visited that classroom and found out the students would dissect the owl pellets to find what foods the owls had been eating. The students knew what they were doing -- the teacher had to explain to me what it was all about.
The owls ate small animals whole, with the soft nutritious part being digested, while the bones, fur, feathers, etc., were formed into pellets and regurgitated. These pellets are found on the ground below where the owls roost.
I had no idea.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
Did you know that to acheive their sharp vision, the owls eyes are elongated, rather than round. They cannot move their eyes from side to side as can other animals, thus they must turn their heads. This is why they can turn their heads faster than the blink of an eye.
Certainly like when they spin their head around to see something.
https://youtu.be/qJ09rYFm57w
The World Is A Beautiful Place
York1The owls ate small animals whole, with the soft nutritious part being digested, while the bones, fur, feathers, etc., were formed into pellets and regurgitated. These pellets are found on the ground below where the owls roost.
My younger sister is a Biology Teacher, and she explained owl pellets to me.
She said it was one of her student's favorite lab days.
SeeYou190My younger sister is a Biology Teacher, and she explained owl pellets to me.
Dianne and I were sitting on the side of a road several years ago watching a Great Gray owl that was only about 20' away. It had been sitting still for a long time but then it started to act like it was choking on something. Sure enough, after a number of convulsions, it coughed up a pellet! Our kids were still young enough to be into gross stuff so we retrieved the pellet and took it home. After letting it dry for a few days we took it apart (Dianne had decided to not participate - just retrieving the pellet was enough for her!). It contained the expected collection of tiny bones and globs of fur, but it was interesting none the less.
The things we do for our kids!!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good morning Italy. A large cappuccino please and some breads and cheese, Chloe.
Sit with a coffee. Relax and enjoy the scenery around Cortina D'Ampezzo.
Seeing Cortina was my first time in Italy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0afjoKpPAU&ab_channel=MindTravels
Venice Santa Lucia Train Station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bU6wvCpvJM&ab_channel=NomadCitello
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Good morning
Some Italian freight over coffee.
https://youtu.be/CCEWH32O7Fg
Never seen canvas wrapped box cars before. Kinda like a wagon train
Today I drove out to pick up out beef and chicken orders. We got 4 whole chickens and a quarter side of beef from natural farmers to the north a bit. That basically filled the whole vertical freezer in the garage.
I was surprised to see that both farms were Amish. Delaware doesn't have a large Amish population, but sure enough, I got stuck behind a horse and buggy on the way home. I'm sure they were having more fun than me.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
It was a beautiful day today but I spent it inside doing renovations.
I just heard Michael J. Fox died. He was a big Canucks fan. When he was in town he would sit in Michael Buble's suite and there was only a half wall between them and us. We had a lot of good times chatting back and forth over the years. Sometimes they would come over to the suite we were in and hang out. A sad day for us.
Over on WPF Ed mentioned painting his antimacassars (that is quite a word) Washing all those things must be a big pain in the.... I then got to thinking about when we would host a hockey tournament, we would provide the jerseys for all the teams. The jerseys would be provided through sponsors like Tim Hortons or another sponsor. We were always awash in cash from all the donations and could put on a good show for the visiting kids. At the end of the tournament, there would be 200 to 300 hockey jerseys to wash, they would literally fill the back of my pick-up right up. I would back into the garage and unload these stinky things into a big pile on the floor and start the washing machine, it would take days. Hockey jerseys are not exactly small and you cannot get a lot of them in, even in our extra-large washer. We would buy a lot of laundry detergent at Costco at times.
If I was washing them, I would pull them out of the dryer and stuff them into hockey bags. If my wife was doing the loads all the jerseys would be neatly folded and perfectly placed back into the hockey bags. I still miss Saturdays at the rink with the kids, it was better than doing renovations.
Time for a shower, a pour of Glen Fiddage, and the Canucks.
All the best to all.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Good evening, everyone. Houston just won the World Series. I really didn't mind either team winning; it was a fun series to watch.
Even though we get an extra hour of sleep tonight, I hate these time changes. Today the sun came up after 8:00 a.m., meaning the school day was starting before dawn. I know this is normal for the friends north of us, but for me, I hate it. I would like to go back to standard time all year.
Have a good evening.
York1 I would like to go back to standard time all year.
I would like to go back to standard time all year.
You ain't the only one, John.
Attuvian 1 John
BATMANI just heard Michael J. Fox died.
So Michael J. Fox is alive and well. It was a hoax that he had died, the local classic rock station that I was listening to today was saying he died.
This is good news to be sure.
Good morning Italy. Some meats and cheese with breads and a large cappuccino please, Brunhilda.
We put our clocks back last week, so up and about earlier today than the folks over the pond.
Rome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DcA4BePBdA&ab_channel=DiversifiedDiversions
Rome to Palermo by train.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Tm5M9OMVo&ab_channel=KeepGoingPlaces
Good morning, diners. Donut Day!
We changed our clocks last night, but our dog didn't get the message. Since she is the boss of the house, I had to get up with her.
It's an exciting day today -- I'm going to start painting my new layout bridge. It doesn't take too much to excite me.
Mister Beasley, we have an Amish settlement not far from us. They generally stay off the highway since we have a good system of county gravel roads.
Not much else going on here other than the daily leaf pick up. Hope everyone has a great day.
What a great-looking train! How about a ride on the Nebraska Zephyr?
Good afternoon Italy. A glass of Italian Merlot please, Janie.
Our son is a good cook and today he is trying a 'new Christmas Dinner recipe' in preparation for the big day. We shall be joining in.
Meanwhile Dawn has asked me to do some sausage rolls. They are now in the oven.
Sicily to Naples in daytime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8k0AQPKsOQ&ab_channel=NonstopEurotrip
BATMAN So Michael J. Fox is alive and well. It was a hoax that he had died, the local classic rock station that I was listening to today was saying he died. This is good news to be sure.
Yes, good news indeed. I looked it up yesterday and found nothing, so it's good to hear it was a hoax.
Good morning from the wet West Coast where it is snowing big wet flakes. A perfect day to hit the trail with the mutts as we are unlikely to see anyone else.
MisterBeasley BATMAN So Michael J. Fox is alive and well. It was a hoax that he had died, the local classic rock station that I was listening to today was saying he died. This is good news to be sure. Yes, good news indeed. I looked it up yesterday and found nothing, so it's good to hear it was a hoax.
I had the radio on while painting yesterday and they went on and on about him as he is a local boy. Makes you wonder how miserable these people's lives are that perpetrate misinformation for kicks. My son said there was also stuff on Youtube and FB about it as well.
I just removed all the hardware and washed the walls in the next room to be painted and it is not even 0900hrs yet so we are off to a productive day. The room had huge shelving units in the closet that had to come out.
We changed the clocks as well, however, the dogs don't know the difference, they get up when we show up in the kitchen.
A little guitar, 7 to 10 km with the mutts, and then back to painting.
Hi Everyone,
Brunhilda, coffee with cream, please.
watched ppart of the world series game last night. I wasn't rooting for either team, but it was a good game. Good to see Dusty Baker get a ring as a manager. I can remember when he played for the Dodgers, many moon ago. I don't know when it all changed, but it used to be that they wanted to win the pennant, now they win rings. Maybe they get both, but they never mention the pennant part of it.
This month we're in Italy. Never been there and no burning desire to go; however, I'll happily read about other diner's adventures and information about it. Since I went gluten free about nine years ago Italian food isn't even an attraction, although I do miss pizza. Every once in awhile I can get a decent gluten free crust, but I don't have pizza much at all anymore. Train Fest is next weekend. If I'm off work I'd sure like to go. I made the mistake of convincing the family to go to the Dupage train show last winter based on pre-COVID memories of layouts for my grandchildren to see. Alas, such was not the case. Not knocking the Dupage show, it's really quite good, but the grandkids want to see trains run. If the wife and I can go to Train Fest, we'll bring back a report to hopefully have the family put it on next year's calendar. I know they would enjoy the trains running.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
up831 . Alas, such was not the case. Not knocking the Dupage show, it's really quite good, but the grandkids want to see trains run.
. Alas, such was not the case. Not knocking the Dupage show, it's really quite good, but the grandkids want to see trains run.
I know what you mean. The last show I took my younger granddaughter to a train show she took a shine to a particular layout. The two operators were chatting to themselves not running trains.
The granddaughter, not backward at coming forward asked them, "Why is there no trains running?"
The 'look' they gave my granddaughter as if to say 'How dare you interrupt us?'
Not getting an answer my granddaughter said "They are not nice people are they Papa?" as we walked away.
The sausage rolls (sausage parcels really) I baked earlier were a success.
I seem to recall hearing the M.J, Fox died hoax some five or six years ago. I hope he's taking it in stride. I think People Magazine even got wrapped up in it somehow? I'm old enough to remember the "Paul is Dead" hoax from the mid-1960s. Can't really blame the internet on that one.
Springer-ZimZam(2)-Swiss-07-29 by Center for Railroad Photography & Art, on Flickr
Early darkness means an hour sooner to retreat to the train room! I have been sorting through sound locomotives to weed out ones that are not performing to my liking and replacing wiring, decoders and speakers as needed. Some have shown considerable improvement.
Then I return them to the layout and run them through their paces. For the past two or three weeks I've been running some engines that I haven't run in years. Great fun!
PRR_E6-shop by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
There was a report going around some years ago that Jon Heder, star of Napoleon Dynamite, had died. He laughed at on talk show television.
A couple of weeks ago, there was another of these. The subject was someone aleady about to cross the rainbow bridge, who actually did leave us a few days later, but can't anyone be a bit responsible about things like that?
Watching the big game!
If she starts drinking my Scotch, she is in real trouble.
BATMAN Watching the big game! If she starts drinking my Scotch, she is in real trouble.
Lions win! You can give your four-footed sweetie a taste - if she'll take it.
There is an Amish restaurant near Montezuma, Georgia called Yoder's Deitsch House that used to be well worth the 30 minute drive to-and-from Interstate 75 to visit as you drive by.
There are not many Amish people in Georgia, so it is an interesting visit.
I blew a sip of coffee across the living room this morning. That's Funny Stuff Brent!
Our dogs, Magnum and Nellie used to sleep on the foot of the bed. Nellie a springer spaniel and Magnum a German shepherd-black lab. Magnum was a great watch dog and Nellie the bird dog just wanted to be one.
Magnum would watch TV at night and stand up interested if a dog or any other animal was on TV. A cereal commercial aired quite frequently at the time advertising the crunch as a selling point. The crunch sounded exactly like foot steps on the icy frozen deck boards outside. Nellie would jump up frantically and run out through the doggie door barking profusely.
Each dogs personality can be hilarious at times. Magnum would just turn around and look at us like, "WHAT THE HECKS WRONG WITH HER"?
Have a great rest of your morning gentlemen
Benvenuto in Italia. A large cappuccino with breads, cheeses and meats please, Zoe.
Italy. Play with close captions to see where the drone is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCmF1DzyZTI&ab_channel=8KVIDEOSHDR
Anzio. A bit different to when the boys of 1944 were there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnKmYsA_2rE&ab_channel=InFlightHistory4K
Suburban Trains Around Rome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZK1AuclO3o&ab_channel=CentralCity-WorldPublicTransportVideos