GOLDEN SPIKE – The ceremonial spike driven that joined the rails of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory.
GREENWICH MEAN TIME – The time as measured on the prime meridian running through Greenwich, England, and used internationally as a standard calculation.
While I don’t have pictures of either, they are crucial railway terms. I do have these pictures though 😀
The first term I want to share with you is FIREBOX – The fire-chamber of a locomotive-boiler. It is jacketed with a water-chamber to prevent radiation of heat. The fire-box door may also be double and have a circulation of water through the hinges. A partition in the box sometimes divides the fire-space into two parts, and, being full of water, increases the fire surface. But, of course I don’t have a picture of this 🙂
It is near impossible to find #RailArt on a lumber FREIGHT CAR, but it’s almost a given that it will also have cargo cars that do 😀 FREIGHT TRAIN – A FREIGHT train is constructed and used for the carriage of merchandise.
I bet you didn’t see this coming, but “E” is for engine 😀
ENGINE ~ A machine which acts both to power and operate.
There is a town north of us called Junction City where I took this picture. Yep, you guessed it, there are A LOT of trains with a junction. The trains run right through the center of town. You literally have to pull over to let trains pass.
There is also a #RailArt term called #EndToEnd that is pretty simple to understand. The graffiti is LITERALLY painted from END TO END.
And while these last two aren’t END TO END they do fit our letter E.
Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
I hope spring is treating you well and that you had a beautiful Easter holiday. Spring has FINALLY come to our area and we had a very quiet Easter here. I made an abbreviated menu and had a quiet and simple day 😀
While our lows are still in the high 30’s, we are reaching the high 50’s and low 60’s during the day. It’s now time for light layers as you never wear the same thing all day 😀
Hot water, cottage cheese and pineapple
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THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
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WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
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I just downloaded a bunch of fun summer reads and hope to start one this week.
We did make it to the Tulip Festival last week. The day was beautiful, a bit chilly, but nice none the less. I got a few pictures, but the fields weren’t in as much bloom as we had hoped because of the late winter. 🙁
We bought this one for my mom for mother’s day.
I’ve been doing this for years and it works wonderfully!
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MONDAY
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TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
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THURSDAY
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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DINNER
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PAD THAI
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GARLIC LEMON CACIO E PEPE with ROASTED ARTICHOKES
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PISTACHIO CRUSTED CHICKEN with TOMATO RICOTTA SALAD
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CHICKEN BACON RANCH PULL APARTS and COLE SLAW
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ENCHILADAS
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BUFFALO CHICKEN PULL APARTS and OVEN BAKED FRENCH FRIES
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BLT SPINACH ROLL-UPS and PASTA SALAD
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DESSERT
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CINNAMON PEAR PLATZ
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DEPARTURE YARD: Like a staging track to ready locomotives, departure yards assemble cuts of cars to ready them for an outbound train. I have a great picture of a departure yard :somewhere: :sigh: I looked for hours and could not find it, so I was just going to go with the one below where the #RailArt begins with a “D” even though I don’t know what it stands for AND then I looked one more time and found it! 😀
The day I took this picture the dispatch yard was almost empty, but it’s normally FULL of lumber cars, both full and empty as well as a bunch of box cars full of #RailArt.
Another “D” would be for DEPOT. This is a preserved depot in the same small Montana forest town lumber yard that yesterday’s caboose is in.
| CABOOSE | A car which is attached to the rear of a freight train and serves as office and headquarters for the conductor and trainmen while they are in transit. Sometimes called cabin car, way car, hack, shanty, or crummy.
Major railroads have discontinued the use of cabooses, except on some short-run freight and maintenance trains. It has been replaced by the end-of-train device, a portable steel box about the size of a suitcase that’s attached to the back of the train’s last car.
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While this first picture doesn’t have any actual #RailArt on it, it is a rare sighting as cabooses are far and few between these days. It has been repainted from its traditional red to this bright white and repurposed as a Library in the Timber Country of Montana.
Once again in the picture below the #RailArt is colorful and I’m really not sure what it spells, but it is a car from the CANADIAN Pacific Railway.
I’m trying to incorporate some railway terms into my A to Z challenge posts. It won’t always be easy to coordinate pictures to the terms, but at least the terms will help with the alphabetical theme.
BALLAST – Coarse gravel or similar material laid to form a bed for roads or railroads.
I really like #RailArt that I can actually read or understand. The #BlackBird or #Magpie really speaks to me. This was taken in front of a local lumber mill and the color contrast was pretty nice.
The picture below was at a dirt road crossing and even though I can’t actually read it, it reminded me of a “BUBBLE BATH” 😀 The other 2 are just alphabetically pertinant even if I don’t actually know what they mean 😀
And so the A to Z challenge begins. Be sure and check it out. There are so many people joining in with a myriad of themes!
My theme for this year is Rail Art. My recent epiphany that photographing Rail Art for me is like someone who is drawn to storm chasing never held more true than last night as I was trying to decide on my first image and had so many to choose from.
Living in a small lumber town we see the lumber trains crossing through town at least once a day, but usually twice – one in each direction and when we’re lucky 3 or even 4 times. My BIGGEST challenge is being in the right place at the right time 😀
I decided to try and find a train term for each day of the challenge and today was super easy – ALL ABOARD for the A to Z challenge! I even found this great panda bear to be our conductor 😀 The phrase “All aboard!” is said as a warning or last call before departure, especially before a ship or train leaves. I believe he’s channeling the “alien” ghost head of a former conductor from the picture below.
The A to Z challenge begins tomorrow. Be sure and check it out. There are so many people joining in with a myriad of themes!
My theme for this year is Rail Art. I had a recent epiphany that photographing Rail Art for me is like someone who is drawn to storm chasing. Living in a small lumber town we see the lumber trains crossing through town at least once a day, but usually twice – one in each direction.
What I’d like to be able to do is find a way to see both sides of the train at once. LOL 😀 I try to plan my errands and trips into and around town to purposefully be timed so I’m the first or second car stopped at the crossing so I have the PERFECT view of ALL the cars.
Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
How is everyone doing this morning? How was your first week of spring? Good morning sweet friends, hope you’ve all had a restful week(end).
Anyone else started a serious spring clean? I’m in that mode now and trying to do donations too and organize. 😀 We have a full week ahead with projects.
The “delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction” more commonly known as “COVID ARM” is a good thing, though an annoying and somewhat painful side effect of the COVID vaccine and is wreaking havoc on my ability to get things done! Especially coupled with the horrendous headache I’ve had since last week!
It scared the heck out of me when it first appeared 7 FULL days after my first vaccination. It scared me even more when it continued to get worse AND cover a larger area over the next several days, but the Benadryl anti-itch cream is working wonders and I’ve been assured that this really is a “good thing” for my immune system. I can assure you though that the second dose will go into the other arm!
Our weather is supposed to be great (warmer and sunny) for the next couple days before taking another serious dip end of the week (last hurrah for winter I hope), but I will enjoy it while I can. This time last year we already had the garden planted! This year we’re just beginning the outdoor clean up to get ready to do that. We’ll power wash the winter away this week and uncover the garden beds that hubby informed me are FULL of ants. So there is that to deal with too.
Thursday we are planning on going to the Wooden Shoe TULIP festival in a neighboring town. I’m hoping the nice weather lasts at least that long. I’ve never been before, but I think it will be absolutely beautiful.
Hot water, cottage cheese with pineapple and a banana.
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THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
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WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
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I’ve downloaded a few books, but just haven’t figured out which one to read first. I’ve been reading some cookbooks and inspirationals.
Last Thursday was pretty stormy, but broke just in time for a gorgeous sunset. I took these pictures just a couple of minutes apart. It’s amazing how much a sky can change that quickly.
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MONDAY
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TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
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THURSDAY
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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DINNER
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ITALIAN CHICKEN & RICE
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CHICKEN VESUVIO
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PAD THAI
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C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
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CHICKEN IN WHITE WINE HERB SAUCE
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BEER BRAISED CHICKEN
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HAM STEAKS, BRAISED CARROTS & SHEET PAN MAC & CHEESE
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DESSERT
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BLUEBERRY LEMON LIME CURD MUFFINS
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Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
I hope you are all having a great month and starting to see signs of spring wherever you are. Winter is hanging on here and I’m not trusting that spring is here yet. I’m headed out early so will get this posted quickly.
Off and on rain this week with highs in the low 50’s and low’s in the high 30’s. I have on some comfy levis and a favorite soft and comfy hoodie.
Gerber Carrot Apple Pineapple squeezable and hot water
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THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
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WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
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I have some new devotionals from Mary & Martha that I will be working with this week.
It was a cold, rainy, windy, cloudy and lazy weekend here. Saturday was a day of off and on storms with multiple power outages. The only picture I got was of our domino game.
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MONDAY
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TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
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THURSDAY
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FRIDAY
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SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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DINNER
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HAMBURGER STROGANOFF SKILLET
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PORK CHOPS with BAKED APPLES and FARMHOUSE BEER BREAD
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ORANGE CHILE CHICKEN & RICE
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BEER BRAISED CHICKEN
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PORK with APPLE CREAM SAUCE and CREAMY MASHED POTATOES
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ITALIAN CHICKEN & RICE
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PAN FRIED PORK STEAKS & POTATOES
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DESSERT
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PISTACHIO BRITTLE or CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES
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Welcome to Tuesday 4 which we keep going in memory of our dear friend Toni Taddeo. This week’s topic is all about cooking. 😀
1. What is the most valuable kitchen utensil you have or one you use often and could not live without? A good set of sharp knives and crock full of QUALITY utensils. I LOVE my pampered chef mini whips for blending small amounts of sauces and gravies, otherwise my immersion blender works best.
2. Do you have any fancy gadgets like air fryers, etc in your kitchen? How are they working out for you? I have A LOT of gadgets, but I use all that I have. I LOVE my NINJA Foodie grill in the winter for air frying, grilling, dehydrating, slow cooking…
3. Do you have any step or labor saving ideas that make cooking and meal preparation easier? By menu planning and sticking to it, I can cut the prep work in at least half by chopping veggies all at once on day 1 and then using the portions I need throughout the week.
4. What is your favorite recipe of all time? Would you share it with us? Undoubtedly it’s pot roast and homemade applesauce 😀 Here’s 2 different versions and my homemade applesauce.
MAXINE’S POT ROAST
2 tablespoons Avocado oil
3 pound boneless chuck roast
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
3 medium red potatoes, washed and quartered
2 celery ribs, washed and large chopped
2 carrots, washed and large chopped
1 LARGE Vidalia onion, large diced
3 cups STRONG brewed coffee
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Kitchen Bouquet
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup Wondra flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
Now, for the oven I like to use my grandma’s old Magnalite dutch oven which cooks really even! And see those little hobnail bumps in on the bottom side of the lid? Those are better known as drip catchers. They collect the steam from the juices and redistributes it all right back down on the roast as it cooks. These help keep the meat moist and juicy.
HOMEMADE APPLE SAUCE
5 large Apples (I like Pink Lady, Honey Crisp or Braeburns)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 can peach nectar (Papaya or pineapple are good too)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
LAVERNE DEFAZIO ROAST
1 can Pepsi
3+/- pound pot roast, with good marbling
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 pound mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1 package KNORR brown gravy mix
1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon Beef base
Kosher salt and white pepper
