We had a great Open House today as part of the Town’s Veteran’s Day Parade and festivities! 43 visitors – 8 kids – some Boy Scouts – and a Yorkie! The trains ran well – we discovered we need a governor on one of the layouts… when the kids shove the handle to full throttle… well… So we had a derailment or two, but, hey. This happens.
We got the farm together somewhat… not done, but the corn is about ready to be harvested and the hens are laying eggs. The goat ate some bushes, but that happens. The Exmore diner was open for business even tho construction is still going on.
Anyway, if you were there… thank you so much for helping out! If you could not make it – you missed out on a fun day – maybe we will see you for Santa Train – Dec. 6th. Santa usually arrives around 2:30. Mark it on your calendar! Wait ‘til he sees the new room! (I wonder if he remembers the year the roof leaked so bad we had to put him under a tent – inside the building!) Progress!
Come see how much progress we have made on the building, the new rooms, and the layouts!
Progress. We are all about Progress.
I guess they expect these behemoths to back up for them - I don't know. But you would think that even an idiot seeing one of these monsters coming down the road would know enough to stop, get in someone's driveway or do something to stay out of harm's way. Most of us have deep drainage ditches separating our property from the road. This is flat land, the water has to drain into the Bay or the Ocean, hence drainage ditches. Notice the curvature of the road - it is called a turtle back here and is very slippery in freezing weather. It is very rare for a big piece of equipment to start up the narrow part of the road when they see someone else already in the middle of it.
However, on Monday, a school bus was coming down my road heading back into town. This monster sized piece of equipment did not stop and wait for the bus to get thru, he just kept driving. The road is 4 lanes wide about 500 feet before the bus and Deere had a "meeting" on my road. My property is a tenth of a mile long - no place to get out of the way for something this big. It is close even for 2 school buses to pass each other.
Did he expect the bus to back up over a tenth of a mile or just go in the ditch with all the kids on board? I came in the house to grab the camera. By the time I got back outside, somehow the bus had managed to get by and the equipment was up on my bank. 
It really was pretty, but it has done a number on some of the cold sensitive plants, namely the Strobilanthes
and coleus. I think I have all the impatiens in the greenhouse.
I grabbed the camera and jacket and headed out back. The azaleas got kissed by Mr. Frost, and tho they can usually take a bit of frost, I think this will finish the red and magenta ones.
My new roof on my newly rebuilt lean-to got a good covering of frost.
If anyone was hunkered down inside, I hope they were warm. It is built with openings so the possums can get in and out.
A nice pile of shatters makes a pretty mulch, and yes, it makes the soil acidic. However, camellias and azaleas LOVE acidy soil and that is why they do so well here. In the spring, potato farmers bring in tons and tons of lime to ‘sweeten” the soil before planting their potatoes.
is a big flower, whereas Yule Tide
is not much more than 2 1/2 inches across. These azaleas are about 3 inches across.
The temps that day were in the low 60s. This morning's temp was 30!
If you look carefully, you will see that the bushes are still covered with tomatoes. Each year millions of pounds of tomatoes are poisoned then burned so they can quickly be gotten rid of and the field made ready for the next crop. Currently winter wheat is up about 6 inches. Soy beans are being harvested. So the air is filled with the roar of farm equipment and the stench of burned tomatoes and soy dust. 
