Monday, August 31, 2020

Summer is Winding Down!

 Sunrises and sunsets are one of my favorite times to shoot. This post I have a mix for the week, mostly sunsets.

USCG Buoy Tender Abbie Burgess at daybreak.



After hauling anchor.
Volleyball at Good Harbor Beach on a dreary day.
Someone getting married?
East Gloucester dock scene.
Just clouds.
Sunset over Gloucester.









Monday, August 24, 2020

Crazy Skies!

 After weeks of little or no rain the weather pattern seems to have shifted. Several powerful T-storms have hit the area.

Shelf cloud.

About 30 seconds later.
North end of the shelf cloud.
The city under the shelf cloud.
Getting dark.
Closer
St Ann's Church
The UU Church
Lightning!
Our lady of Good Voyage Church.
A few days later.
Boat traffic.
The new Cameron's housing goes up.
A smiling face in the cloud!


Monday, August 17, 2020

From Hot & Humid to Cool & Damp!

 Up and down week as the weather goes and on Sunday we finally get some soaking rain. We needed it!


A jalopy at the beach!
Good harbor Beach late afternoon.
The creek.
The House.
Lone gull on the railing.
Gull between the twins!
Sun rising.
Tranquil waters off Niles Beach.
The derrick at Beacon Marine.
Friday night fire on Prospect Street.

                             

St. Ann's on a gray Saturday morning.

Mr Froggy knee deep on a lily pad in my pond.
A yacht, Greasy Pole and a lobster boat.
Yacht Revive.


Monday, August 10, 2020

I've Been Working on the Railroad!

 Well I was....Back when I bought my house in 1995 I had space in the basement to build a HO scale layout. So with a few crate panels I salvaged from work I built a 15' x 12' layout without knowing what I was doing! A fellow co-worker got me hooked. I noticed he had a copy of Model Railroader on his desk and told him I still had the original HO train I had as a kid somewhere in the attic. He began to give me extra track, locomotives and cars and I had to get going. My basement turned out to me my "dog house" and during those times I worked on the railroad! In 2004 we added a 2nd floor to the house and all railroad activity ceased. During the construction new plumbing and electrical work almost destroyed the layout.

      Where most model railroaders just put up telephone poles and leave it at that, but I strung'm up using thread! I used weeds found around the neighborhood as trees and spray painted them. I built lobster boats by carving them with a grinder out of rigid insulation then used paper plates to build the superstructure. The windows were from packaging material from those plastic packages that are always hard to open! White mini Christmas lights for the buildings interior and flat wooden coffee stirrers to build a bridge and a dock! And a bunch of other repurposed stuff. 

       So now I have to clear a path to the layout, carefully dust it, remove the cob webs and figure out the best way to clean the tracks.


Dust covers the steam locomotive.

Caboose alley.
MBTA F-40 pulling a B&M RDC , the old Buddliners!
Weeds for trees!
There's a lot of work to do.
Harbor

Gortons boxcar.
Another shot of the F-40.
I built this from scavenged parts to create this Cape Ann Railroad locomotive.
B&M Steam power!
Boston & Maine F-7
Daybreak over the city.
Sunrise over Harbor Cove.
Same place another day.
Look close and you'll see a listing fishing boat unloading at Ocean Crest.
Lobster boat heads to the inner harbor.