All Aboard for Dad's birthday Train Ride

Happy Birthday to Dad...he is the one in the purple shirt

Every year the last weekend of April there is a live steam meet in Apex, NC by a local live steam railroad club. The trains run on 7 1/2" gauge track and are quite powerful for their size.

Luckily it coincides with Dad's birthday (4/27). Mom and Dad attended

this year's meet on April 24.

Many of the engines are made by their owner's as in the one shown below.
This gentleman traveled from Kentucky for the show. Most burn coal, some burn
oil and some propane.


The meet is held on the property of one of the local members. Below are a few pictures of his
property. We aren't sure how many acres he has but there are 2.1 miles of meandering track

throughout lovely woods and gardens

below is on of the 3 bridges the trains cross over.

The engineer on our ride around the property traveled from Michigan.

Below is the train we rode taking on water drawn from one of several ponds on the property.

Below is a picture of Dad shortly before he was given the privilege of playing engineer for a day.

This train is owned by one of his close friend from Virginia.

and finally a 17 second video of Dad driving a live steam engine for the first time after many, many years of attending this meet.

Happy Birthday Dad

We love you

Madi and Mom

Mom almost brought him home......

I turn my head in amazement as I listen to Mom tell Dad about

this most precious puppy that was almost my brother. I don't really know how I feel about that but I will admit he is about the cutest little thing I've seen in a long time.

Isn't this the most precious little puppy with his foster mom?!! Foster mom had been trying to rescue his K9 mom for some time. Then K9 mom became pregnant. Foster mom fed her and carefully watched her 5 puppies. When they were ready to leave K9 mom, Foster mom took them to her home (she is still trying to catch K9 mom to have her spayed). This precious puppy came to work with Foster mom on Friday. I met them when they were out for a walk in Cameron Village in Raleigh, NC. When this puppy saw me kneeling down he came running up to me with his tail wagging 100 mph....he rubbed that sweet little warm head up against my legs and then proceeded to lick me to death......I ALMOST said "I'll take him"....then I gave myself a reality check. I have no backyard to speak of, I have a CAT who is twice as big as the puppy. I'm pretty sure the puppy would love Madi but......would Madi love the puppy?

So since he was in a good home, I WALKED away but it was hard. Foster Mom thinks he is a hound/boxer bull mix which tugged at my heartstrings...I had a boxer bull as a child what sweet dogs they are and so good with children.

GRAND ANNOUNCEMENT...MADI won the coveted role as Miss Kitty
in Jack's movie Westward Ho. Click on Jack's name to check out the rest of the cast members.

Steeple Sunday: Sacred Heart Cathedral

I've been featuring some very impressive steeples that were very tall and grand. Sacred Heart steeple is just slightly taller than the roof. My research on Sacred Heart Cathedral was very interesting. It states, many cathedrals are known for soaring steeples or organs; however, Sacred Heart Cathedral has another distinction:
It is the smallest Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States.
The church was founded in 1924. It has a seating capacity of 320. According to the article in the newspaper, Easter weekend more than 4,200 celebrated one of several Masses either in the sanctuary, the school hall behind the Cathedral or on closed circuit TV at a nearby hotel.
The Cathedral claims 5,871 members, yet it is so small the building has no bathrooms.

Sacred Heart Cathedral sits in the heart of downtown Raleigh on Hillsborough Street. There is no other Catholic Church in downtown Raleigh. I've always admired the front entrance to the church and of course the sturdy stone construction. I've attended a wedding in the church it is lovely inside. The terrazzo flooring has a floral theme and the ceiling is bright blue with inlaid 14-carat gold leaf stars. In 1998 it had a major facelift at the cost of $500,000. Obviously, there is a need for a larger building. A committee has been formed to discuss a new home; however, the it sits on a tiny piece of land with no room for expansion. The church leaders have hired a consulting firm to study the feasiblity of a new cathedral. There are several locations being considered but not in downtown. It sounds as if the plan is for the original Cathedral will remain untouched and that is good news for this historical landmark.

Spring walk in Downtown Raleigh

While I stayed at home surveying my Kingdom, Mom and Dad took a nice walk in the older part of down town Raleigh.

She made a collage of pretty places the saw on their walk. We hope you enjoy it.

Please click to enlarge..
All of these lovely old homes are within a few blocks of downtown Raleigh. Several are listed on the historic register. The picture under the daffodils is of the old brick used on some of the sidewalks. The picture on bottom left corner of collage is the Governor's Mansion.

Friday Flashback Milky-Way

No Milky-Way did not have an orange nose....he has a sticker on his nose.

No one remembers who put it there, why or what it said. However, the real story here is that

Milky-Way was the most laid back cat any of us have ever known.

I expect if he were living now he would be one of the few cats who would enjoy playing dress up.

MW thanks for the memories.

I don't think I need to tell anyone that MW and Madi are not at all alike.

In fact, when Madi came to live with us we were clueless as to what we were getting ourselves into. After all we had MW for 14.5 years how different could two cats be...the answer is 360 degrees different.

Madi thank you for making everyday an adventure and keeping us young.

Mom and Dad