All Aboard - Amtrak's 40th

Grenville and grandson Bobby visited the Providence RI train station, a stop for the Amtrack 40th anniversary exhibit train.

Amtrak assembled a special train to commemorate its 40th anniversary. The train is making 23 stops from Washington, DC to Portland, Oregon from May through October. Here’s the full schedule of all its stops.

The train contains displays of photos, uniforms, seating, china, and memorabilia from “America’s Railroad” and also presents a look into the future of railroad travel.

Yes, these horns can all be “tested” and Bobby tried them all.

There’s also a special play train area for kids OR grandkids . . .

Hardest part was convincing the
grandson that it was time to leave . . . (lots of folks had similar “problems”)

Steam Trains and Grandkids

Grenville and grandson Bobby share a love of trains, and this week they rode on the Essex Steam Train operated by The Valley Railroad Company.

This is a heritage railroad originally founded in 1868 and based in Connecticut. A heritage railway, preserved railway, tourist railway or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in many cases by volunteers. These operations typically seek to recreate or preserve railway scenes of the past. However, not all tourist railways are heritage railways.

The Essex Steam Train is the only steam train and riverboat connection in the country. It travels through the scenic towns of Deep River and Chester and features two coal-fired locomotives and a collection of restored railroad cars. At the historic 1892 Essex Station, passengers board vintage rail cars pulled by an operating steam locomotive. The train travels to Deep River Landing, where passengers can take an optional trip aboard the Becky Thatcher riverboat on the Connecticut River.Bobby and Granville enjoyed the hour-long ride through the Connecticut countryside.

And, this weekend they will be going on another train adventure.

 

 

We are visiting in RI to meet Bobby’s little sister, granddaughter #1 Elizabeth – barely 2 weeks old, just over 6 lbs. and being held by grandparents Beatrice & Grenville.

Can you tell she’s already won our hearts . . .

and Grandpa’s favorite hat too !

Friday Funnies

Car window messages spotted last weekend.

Just Married . . . Honeymoon Part 2

This window reads . . .

Brian & Michelle 4Ever . . . Oh How He Loves U

Today this car was seen at a gas station in RI.

The license plate says it all

Vacation Bound

Travelling on the highways during summer vacation time is a great chance to see all the paraphernalia folks take along just to “get away” from it all . . . somehow that seems contradictory. Here are some travel sights seen on our VA – RI route last weekend.
Various RVs  (notice that the RV in the lower right is towing a separate trailer)

Lots of cycles . . .

Kayaks galore . . .

Surfboards and More (motorcycles and jet skis)

Very colorful bags

This group was travelling light – no bags or trailers . . .

“Grand” Update

Thanks for all the well wishes for our new (very first)granddaughter and road trip. All were very much appreciated by Grenville and myself.

Our blog posting will be sporadic during our 2-week RI road trip. We’re staying in an extended stay with a very slow internet connection. It even has trouble sending out regular emails.

The new granddaughter #1 and older grandson #1 are both doing well and so are their parents. Already, at just 1 week old today, Elizabeth has taken her first Wal-Mart shopping trip.

WHY?
Being a girl, she went clothes shopping – what else?

E needed some clothes because she was running out of outfits to wear. Despite getting gifts of 0-3 month clothing, most outfits really are too big. At 6 lbs, she is a petite little girl – even preemie clothes are too large, but at least smaller. 

Already she is a John Deere girl. Despite what you might be thinking, grandpa Grenville did not get these pink booties.

These were courtesy of our VA eastern shore friend, Possum.

And, these outfits too will have to wait awhile for E to grow into them . . .No guessing needed to know who gave these outfits.

Yes, all the garden to go travelling veggies from the F&P garden were delivered to family members. from NJ to RI.

Garden to Go

Yup that’s what Grenville is busy packing as I compose this post. The hot and humid weather that’s hitting so many other parts of the U.S. is here on the VA eastern shore.  It’s   resulted in a bounty of veggies, so . . .

Since we will be on a 2-week road trip visiting our new granddaughter (Elizabeth) and the older (4-1/2) grandson (Bobby) the veggies are travelling along for distribution to family and friends in NJ, CT and RI.

It’s the shop-at-home concept, sort of . . .

Grenville mentioned something about towing a produce cart behind the Jeep advertising “Fresh Veggies.”

Sure glad he re-thunk that idea !

Of course, we will keep blogging along the way (don’t we always). There’s upcoming visits to museums, aquariums, and fire stations  PLUS train rides. Grenville has already scoped out scenic railways in New England.

Meanwhile, if anyone needs some fresh veggies, there’s still some pickin’ left at the Frog & PenguINN veggie garden. Take what you need and leave the rest.

Basil Pesto

Basil is one of our favorite herbs for cooking, especially with tomatoes. But, it has a nasty habit of bolting up so fast – first there’s none and then an over-abundance. Thankfully, we harvested all of this year’s crop before the current heat wave hit; if not, it would have withered in this 90° + heat.

Basil doesn’t freeze well and has a tendency to become brown and unsightly, so I decided to make pesto. It’s one of the easiest ways to extend the basil harvest. A little bit of pesto goes a long way, so not much is needed to flavor a dish. It can be frozen by tablespoonfuls or in ice cube trays or tiny containers.

Pesto is easy to make using a food processor and will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of months or frozen up to a year. , Replace the top coating of olive oil after each use, when storing or freezing in containers.

Note: pine nuts are very costly (at least in these parts). If not available, substitute walnuts.

Basil Pesto

Depending on how much basil you have, this recipe can be doubled, tripled or made more than once.

• 1/2 C plus 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 C chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 C pine nuts
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 C grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

1. Combine 1/3 C olive oil with the remaining ingredients in a food processor; process to make a thick paste.
2. Transfer the pesto to a container and smooth out the top.
3. Cover with a thin coating of about 1 TBSP of olive oil. Refrigerate or freeze in ice cube trays or by tablespoons.

Note: These pesto balls were formed on parchment paper using a melon baller. They were then placed in the freezer. After the basil balls froze, they were wrapped individually and all the wrapped balls were placed in a freezer bag.

 

 

Friday Funnies

GOT the time?

That might have been the question from this immature grasshopper

Who was relocated to a nearby tree.

An adult grasshopper checked out a holiday flag . . .From ALL sides . . .

Then, deciding some greenery was a better camouflage

WILD about Wildflowers (and Crazy too)

YES, the Frog & PenguINN has lots of . . .

Wildflowers in the meadow that Grenville planted.

Now for some close-up collages – all colors !

More meadow views . . .