Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Celebrating Trains, Planes and Automobiles!
My husband likes anything with wheels, so we’ve managed to visit many different museums and historic sites dedicated to them, in our travels over the years.
Trains
We found the Sante Fe 5021 at the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento on our recent road trip.
He spent hours inside the excellent museum, while I was in and out, then toured Old Town.
We once visited Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where I took this picture of Bob in front of Big Boy Steam Locomotive # 4012.
I also took his picture in front of Steam Train #2023 at Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta. In fact, we’ve visited several parks in Western Canada with steam trains, including one in Edmonton, where soon after we boarded Bob disappeared. A few minutes later he returned and said, “I hope you don’t mind. I’m going to ride up front with the engineer.” No, I didn’t mind, and the memory still makes me smile. 🙂
Planes
There’s no shortage of planes at the Museum of Flight in our hometown of Seattle. To be expected I guess, since Seattle was the birthplace of the Boeing Airplane Company.
We found more airplanes at the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum in a less likely place – Hood River – where they were tucked in among the automobiles.
Planes and Automobiles
I enjoyed all the brilliant colors and shapes of the planes and cars displayed in the museum.
But not as much as Bob, who spends twice as long as I do, and reads all the fine print.
Fortunately for me, there are wonderful views of Mt. Hood next door while I bide my time. (He extends the same courtesy to me when I take twice as long when we visit gardens.)
By the way – do you know what all these pictures have in common besides the wheels?
Numbers! Thats why I’m sharing this with Sunday Stills.
~ Susanne
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You Know What They Say About the Early Bird!
This robin does!
Happy Saturday! 🙂
~ Susanne
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Benji’s Herb Bed
Literally.
You’ll find him between the catmint and the chives.
~ Susanne and Benji
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Photinia and the Bees
It’s been a cold and rainy spring in the Great Northwest and I’ve been worried about the bees.
Until yesterday when I found them in great numbers on the Photinia, a shrub I’ve totally neglected.
Not that it needed me to thrive.
It thrived without my notice. Or attention. Or appreciation.
An ordinary garden shrub I thought, good only as filler in the background.
Until I saw the blossoms and smelled their fragrance.
The bees know and love it.
Bees which till now, seem to have been in short supply.
So thanks to the Photinia. I still may neglect you. But I will always appreciate you. 🙂
~ Susanne
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A Soft and Furry Monday
Outside is rainy and cold, but inside is warm and fuzzy.
Hope your day is as relaxing as Benji’s!
~ Susanne
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Just a Kitty in a Basket
Nothing to see here.
Just a kitty in a basket.
Happy Caturday from Benji.
~ Susanne
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When Beauty is Needed
In the Quinault Rainforest.
~ Susanne
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My Feathered Friends – It started with the Chickadees!
I’ve been a backyard birder for as long as I can remember, and it was the chickadees that first attracted me. I saw them flitting about in the trees and heard them calling their friendly greetings to one another and to me too, it seemed. I was hooked.
I’m still charmed by chickadees and am happy that both the black-capped and chestnut-backed varieties live in my yard; I was recently visited by both.
It seemed that spring finally arrived last weekend (yes, I know it’s nearly the end of May) and I was out enjoying the sunshine with the stream running.
I was hoping to entice the birds and I succeeded when a black-capped chickadee stopped by for a dip.
I was ready and sat quietly nearby with camera in hand enjoying the show.
That wasn’t the case when a chestnut-backed chickadee surprised me while I was in the hot tub!
He landed on the branches of the evergreen tree hanging over the deck and bounced from branch to branch looking for insects. Sometimes he hung upside down just a few feet from me, without any fear while I watched, both overjoyed and astounded.
Now obviously I did not have my camera with me in the hot tub, so you’ll have to take my word that this visitation occurred; by the time I was out he was done hunting for the night and all I got was a picture of the branches.
I thought it might be one of the chickadees who nested out front earlier this year, so I went to see if I might find him there.
Instead I found these two enjoying the snag – house finches I believe – more of my feathered friends.
Sharing with Sunday Stills.
~ Susanne
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Under the Sea – at the Monterey Bay Aquarium!
I didn’t mean to leave you hanging in Big Sur so I’m back to close out the road trip series with our last major stop in California – the Monterey Bay Aquarium – one of the top aquariums in the United States.
We were welcomed by Aqua Man and all manner of sea creatures, both great and small!
(Click on pictures in the gallery to enlarge them.)
All were wonderful but I enjoyed the jellies the most. The Moon Jelly and Crystal jelly are the first two in the gallery below, followed by the Bloodybelly Comb Jelly, Sea Nettle, and Purple-Striped Jelly. (Click on pictures in the gallery to enlarge them.)
Check out the link to the Aquarium for more on these marvelous creatures.
I was mesmerized by them and could have stayed and watched them all day. Instead, I took videos so you could watch them too.
Aren’t they mysterious? Why don’t see for yourself the next time you’re down in Monterey.
~ Susanne
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Whatcha Doing, Benji?
“Isn’t it obvious, Sue? I need to get into the closet.”
“No you don’t Benji. I don’t want you in there. I don’t even like you sitting on the banister. You could fall.”
“Fall?? We cats are nimble, Sue. We don’t just fall.”
“Okay, Benji. But I’m still not going to let you into the closet.”
“Please, Sue. I need somewhere quiet to sleep. Where it’s nice and dark.”
“No can do. It would be too cramped in the closet anyway, it’s full of stuff. Why don’t you find a place to sleep where you can stretch out a bit.”
“Good idea, Sue. I’ll see what I can find.”
~ from the desk of Susanne and Benji
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 