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Monday, March 21, 2011

 

Ah, Spring!




Ah, Spring!
The hours of daylight are increasing, the temperatures are getting warmer.
Jan and I watched the 'super moon' - the closest the moon has been to Earth for 18 years - rise in the eastern sky Saturday night.
The garden is plowed and there are tomato seedings growing in my planters.



Sunday was the 34rd annual Mercy Health Partners Heart Mini-Marathon and Walk. In spite of the cool temperatures, drizzle and wind, there were nearly 18,000 participants.
Perfect running weather, they say!
Jan and her friend Doris participate in the odd years.
The girls were pleased with the results of their run.






We met for lunch at Smokey Bones.


We had a birthday to celebrate, don'cha know?










The 'big' kids arranged the candles on the birthday pumpkin pie.
Bet you wish you could have a pumpkin pie for your birthday!





Happy Birthday to You!









# posted by Martha @ 8:12 PM 0 comments

Monday, March 14, 2011

 

Mini Model Engineering Show

EnterTRAINment Junction hosted the 3rd Annual Mini Model Engineering Show this weekend.
The replica Norfolk and Western J 611 locomotive steam engine in 15-inch gauge is 37 feet long, six feet tall and weighs 8 tons. It took Don Guill three years to build!
One-fifth scale radial aircraft engines built by Lee Hodgson.
A Mississippi river steamboat engine and the Belle of Louisville.
A Rabbit Hash flatboat and Noah's Ark. All built in scale.
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The display by the Greater Cincinnati Garden Railway Society featured this unique engine. Built in scale, I'm sure.
Just outside the 'Junction Cafe,' was a display of miniature dolls dressed for various activities. Here are two of the groups of dolls.
And, me, I'm reluctant to sew doll clothes for an American Girl doll!

# posted by Martha @ 2:47 PM 0 comments

Saturday, March 12, 2011

 

Maple Syrup Time

We woke Friday morning to the inch of snow that had been promised after the 1.1 plus inches of rain we had had Thursday.
Yikes!
The ground was warm and the snow melted by noon.
Saturday was to be the warmer day of the weekend for our annual trip to the maple syrup festival.



We started out with the traditional all-you-care-to-eat pancake and sausage breakfast at the lodge.

And, coffee... yum!










A few people had gathered for the hayride to the sugar bush.




No hayride for us! We're tough! We walked the trail along Acton Lake to the sugar bush!
Modern ways of gathering maple syrup.
Plastic spouts are inserted into holes drilled in the trees. The sap runs through tubes connected to the spouts and into a pipeline system that carries the sap to the sugar house.
Indians put hot stones in the sap to evaporate the water. The pioneers boiled the sap.





This is a small version of the larger evaporator used to boil the sap.








The West Shore Trail was littered with branches and limbs from the ice storm and winds. We walked underneath this tree that formed an arch across the trail.
The crowds have gathered for the hayride to the sugar bush!

# posted by Martha @ 3:14 PM 0 comments

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