Scattered Thoughts . . .

M y large scale 4-6-0 steam locomotive has been disassembled into numerous piles of parts for more than a week, I think...  maybe it has been two weeks at this point.  I've completely lost track of time.  Today was the first day that provided the opportunity to assemble some of these parts again so I could see how things are coming along after repainting most parts and adding some detail parts.  The paint is dry enough now to assemble and disassemble the locomotive as necessary without the risk of ruining the paint job. In this first image, at right, there are some changes here other than the major change in color.  I've added marker lights to the front end of the locomotive (on each side of the headlight) and, for me, this is a big change to the appearance of the locomotive which will be even more noticeable when they are illuminated.  I've also replaced the standard tall cow catcher with a large timber bumper which, in my opinion, not only looks better bu...

Panasonic G3 camera, Olympus Zuiko 70-300mm lens As I was writing my previous blog post this morning, I could hear all sorts of birds and squirrels outside  for the first time in quite a long time . It was as though they all moved into the area at the same moment! It has been unusually quiet here for months... no small wildlife at all... no birds, no squirrels... just an odd silence outdoors. All of a sudden, this morning, this all changed. I grabbed my newest camera purchase... my Panasonic G3 with my old Olympus 70-300mm lens mounted on it. This combo gives me a very long telephoto reach equivalent to a 600mm field of view on a full frame camera. This is a loonnnggg telephoto reach in a rather small package! When I stepped outdoors, I headed toward the deeper part of the backyard with old, tall trees where I figured most wildlife would be located. As I walked back that way, I listened to hear where the birds were located... "hmmm..." all the noise seemed to be c...