More Trains...See How Happy Hubs' Is...

 ...and the nice engineer let him come up and stand in the cab while the engine was running (stopped on the track). It was about 110 degrees outside the cab and probably 120 inside. He was light-headed...

 ...this all took place in old Abilene Town, a living history-type attraction just outside of town. Before I took the photo, the stagecoach driver allowed me to pet the heads of the mules, Tom and Jerry. They were very gentle, tho I was cautioned that Jerry doesn't like his ears messed with....

...this would've been great with a fiery red sunset to contrast with the muted, distressed green paint....

...my dream-home. I'm almost serious. I would love to live in an authentic log cabin; one of the old-fashioned double cabins with a dog-trot in the middle...

...the log church in Old Abilene town; one of the few shots without any modern intrusions such as cars or light posts....Did I mention it was HOT? Also, I found a lady in the gift shop who had attended the event in Abilene in the early 1950's when Dwight Eisenhower announced his run for President; Abilene being his hometown. (Speaking of Living History)

"The Silver Wildcats"....

"....whendidourboyfriendsturnintoabunchofgrampas?" asked grandma?  Actually, they look pretty damn good; a core group of friends of Hubs', many of whom went to K State.  A couple are missing: the great guy we stayed with and his wife (both classmates) had a family reunion.  Sadly, The Leader of the Pack passed away in the mid-1980's, but he is remembered always. Also, within the past year, one of the guys' wives passed away after a long illness. Such is our age group.   But mostly, all is calm and bright; we hope so to remain and to see them all in 5-years or before!!

Manhattan, KS Street Scenes and Memories....

 ....street level at the Warham Hotel, the town's finest old hotel, now probably condos. They still park the cars on the main street like it was 1930...

 ...picturesque old water tower near the Sunset Cemetery, where family members now rest.....(Tiger Woods' Dad, as well)

 ...here comes the bride--she must have been stifling in the heat in that dress. I hope it was an indoor wedding.

 ...homeplace....built in the 1930's by Hubsy's grandparents, it is still much the same, with bigger trees, of course. You can't go home again, but you can drive by and take photos!

OK, Johnny Caw...not quite the right angle, but it's a town joke...use your imagination ;-)

Hidden Deep in the Heart of the Country: Heart and Soul....

 ...my favorite part of these reunions is that we get to stay with this wonderful family! Part of the core of Hub's group  of friends from school, these two married young and stayed young--now with 4 great-grandchildren!

 ...OK, it's not a great photo, but People It Was 107 real degrees (no heat index foolishness). We Was Hot! The young lady holding the dog is a very lovely one-half of a cute set of teenage twin girls who like to go fast in a bright yellow sportscar: WatchOut, Kansas!

 ...Annie, the rat-terrior likes people, treats, company and hassling rats around the fields of the farm...

 ...do they know that the old oil drum deep in the back yard is so photogenic? I don't think so....

Shadows and Colors of a Killer Hot Day--(I was so hot by this time that I felt cold!)

Driven West on I-80 Past Omaha....?

 ...you've seen these two giant rail engines perched upon a bluff above the highway on your right...good ol' Big Boy and, of course, UP #6900 (known lovingly as "UP #6900"), the largest steam and diesel engines ever...,

 ...well! good news: you can go visit the restored engines for yourself in Kenefick Park, near the Omaha Botanic Garden...

 ...the little boy in the green shirt was just SO into it: he ran ahead of his parents, charging over to each engine, then running back and forth with timeless "little boy train love"....it was cute..

 dad tried to get a shot of him in front of the engine; the kid was too excited to settle down for the picture...

...my little boy was happy to stand proudly in front of his "engine of choice", the Big Boy. Don't worry, this was not the last train adventure we enjoyed on the trip.

Hubsy's 45th HS Reunion...People Live This Long....?

 ...Manhattan, KS HS 1966....but first we had to get there--which is at least half the fun! On a blazing hot morning, a retired pile of rusting old farm equipment displayed near our motel; I-80 is just beyond the tree line; you can't feel the sweaty heat nor hear the roar of the trucks on the road. Little kids loved this exhibit, no surprise....

 (actually, in answer to my rhetorical question, two of Hubsy's classmates passed away this very month! Sad) Who the heck knew that Council Bluffs, IA had such a pretty downtown central square? This statue is one of several at the war memorial--I include it since I can vaguely remember such elderly women as is represented here....perhaps poor, but with dignity and genuine, simple grace, clad in plain worn cloth coat...

 ...never pass up a glorious daylily--that's my policy....

 ...an impressive water feature in the park, sounding refreshing and cool in the muggy hot morning...

....just some nice fresh colors on an old building--looks like a flourishing wine shop in downtown Council Bluffs, shot while Hubsy was filling up the gas tank.   Below, looking back east from Omaha....

An Evening with FlowerGirl and her Entourage....

...the new dog, Eden (aka Edie) is 10 lbs of energy in a 5 lb package. She loves to run-run-run. If you throw a ball for her, she doesn't return it, she "herds" it all around the yard at top speed; she jumps, she bounces--but she loves to be held and petted.  FlowerGirl's Mom and Dad went to a meeting at the local Public Library about dog training....

 ...so I came over to stay with the little girl and her dog. We played a card game by her rules and she won!! We played outside with the ball and the dog and the swing; we cooled down with a little Nemo on the Disney Channel....

...then we got out her vast "Barbie" population and each chose our favorite doll and a boyfriend for each one and dressed them up to go clubbin' with their crew, yo'. The two guys look dressed for Venice Beach, but the 'Girl doesn't know from Venice Beach yet. This was fun...

 ...got everyone together and tried to keep them all from wiggling too much....

....she had fun, too. She would like to come spend the night at our house for a SleepOver (without the pup).

The Twins Came to Town Today...

 ...so let's take 400 pictures of them trying to enjoy their morning play on a very HOT morning....

 ...Micah puts some much needed water on the rain garden...

 ...Molly's watering the lawn with her watering can, pleasantly color co-oridinated in her crisp new Von Maur's dress that her Grandmother got for her....

 ...cute...

 ...Micah likes to explore the pathways in the garden--they are just his size....

 ...friends loaned a toy choo-choo train; a simple old-fashioned toy the kids love...

 ...I love Micah's funny little grin as he explores the prettiest weed patch in the country...

 ...Molly trying to pull the train, but wanting a rider...

 ...Micah caught in mid-air as he runs to get on board...

...getting ready to beat the heat by going inside for a while. Later, I heard they watched the Eagle Cam on the computer. (easy google if you haven't already seen it. the eagles were not on the nest when i looked today)

French Vanilla, Anyone?....

The Happy Couple....

...we didn't properly salute this handsome and lovely pair: aka Brown Eyes and his beautiful wife Amethyst.
This is a photo taken by Amethyst's Mom on her recent trip (along with her Fabulous Fiance) to visit the kids in Charlotte NC.  Adorable and once again, Happy Anniversary, Dears.

What the Camera Saw Today....

...the vegetable garden produces greens, beets, peas and snap peas at the moment. Edamames will be a while yet, but we love them and Hubs' planted a lot....

...today is the Gardener-Next-Door's Birthday. She and her Hubs are celebrating with her "near" daughter's family today--the twins will get chocolate cake again....also, just behind their picnic table, you can see that the new rain garden is doing very well. If we'd ever get any rain....

...Hubsy helped me finish my table restoration project by re-engineering the attachment of the holder for the detachable legs: he thinks the original fixture was not well done and the reason the table top split in the first place....

 ...so here it is. It's child-sized; it was likely used as a small coloring table in the 1920's or '30's.

 ...here's how it looks with the legs stowed in the holder. I love the robin's egg blue color of the original paint and the wear marks; I simply cleaned them, lightly rubbed them with fine steel wool, used the tack cloth and coated with clear polyurethane....

...here's the table top in all it's cute-ness. I bleached and after that tried TSP to remove stains. No luck. I had thought the stains were mold and mildew. My current theory is that some hapless little person, 75 years ago, may have upset a bottle of ink. The stain just beneath the medallion is rusty red--maybe the kid's blood after his mom murdered him! (lol, of course).