Train Derails in our Neighborhood

1, originally uploaded by Laura Lynn - Soft Sculpture Artist.

Train derailment of freight train on 9-11-08 on the tracks that border the south side of the Burnidge Forest Preserve in Elgin, IL.

Worker worked all night with construction equipment to put the approximately 20 cars back onto the track.

As of 9-12-08 morning, they are still working on repairing the track.
I did not get photos of the actual derailment, but here are some photos of the morning after as they are working on the track.

Previews of the photos are below.. but if you want to see them uncropped - you will see them in my Flickr Account here.

"Adam Crack" One of our New Favorite Shows at Bristol

"Adam Crack" is one of our new favorite shows at the Bristol Renaissance Faire. Check him out here... but you MUST see him in person!

I Love Animal Videos

Generally I update my Teddies by Laura Lynn blog more often than this one. Yesterday I posted a link to a You Tube video about Christian the Lion - an amazing story!! I decided today that I had to cross post this one.... I know not everyone reads my business blog. Grab a box of Kleenex for this one (or in our case - Puffs!)

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

An All Ren Faire Weekend!

This weekend we spent both Saturday and Sunday at the Bristol Renaissance Faire. When we woke up Saturday morning at 7, it was raining quite hard. (we get up at 7 every day to keep Isis on her medication schedule). We took care of the Girls and then went back to bed - hoping that the rain would let up a bit.

Today was Feast Day in the Friends of Faire Garden - rain or shine - so we were going to Faire regardless of the rain!

Feast Day is like a pot luck, but in addition to bringing your basic "dish to pass" many people also bring meat to be cooked. There are some awesome chefs in the Friends of Faire - and it's just wonderful to be there when they start bringing out hot plates of meat :) (Bob's favorite!) Some people even brought quail, salmon and of course there was a lot of beef, chicken and pork.

As we pulled up in the parking lot, the rain turned to light rain, and then later to a fine mist - eventually drying up altogether. The cloud cover stayed, but that was just fine with me as it kept the temperature down.

Sunday we returned to the Faire again, this time with Jason and Jeremy in tow. J & J are the 13 year old twins that live on our street. They love to go to Faire and we love to take them with.

Sunday was quite hot, however. By early afternoon I (Laura) decided we had time for one more show (Adam Crack - The Firewhip Show) and then we had to go. I just do not do well in the heat with humidity... ever since I was in kindergarten.

No pictures this time -- but I will take my Nikon with one day before the end of Faire....

NASCAR Weekend!

Wow! It's July already???? I see my last post was in May - sorry about that! We've been busy doing lots of things (the deck is done! more pics on that later....) but last Saturday we went to the NASCAR race in Joliet (Chicagoland Speedway). This was the first time it was "under the lights" as the track just installed a huge lighting system to accommodate night time racing.

The race in Chicago has always been sweltering hot! I was looking forward to a much cooler race this year :) Wouldn't ya know it, this time a day race would have been very comfortable LOL! But it was cool under the lights. (not as cool as Under the Lights at Bristol, but still....)

It was an exciting race although the end stunk - Jimmy (#48) lost in the last lap :( due to a STUPID racer causing a caution in the last laps... and that driver was 5 laps down anyways.... grrrrrrr.

I don't take my camera to the races anymore as I don't like carrying a lot of stuff anymore. I did manage to take one sunset shot of the track with my phone though.

Deck Progress!

Wow the deck is really coming along! We decided to go ahead and stain the entire deck this past weekend. The temps were going to go just little below 50 degrees (directions say it must be above 50 for 48 hours after applying the stain) so we decided to chance it. Worked out just fine!

Also that weekend Bob had cut all the rails to length, predrilled all the holes in them and stained them all (in the temperature controlled workshop)

Monday after work Bob decided to start attaching the rails (vertical pieces) figuring it would take him 3 evenings. Much to his surprise it went VERY well and he finished it all in one shot!

Here's how it looks so far.... This Saturday Bob and his dad should be able to put up the gazebo!

The Outdoor Project for 2008

This past March for my birthday, Bob got me a new patio gazebo and the loveseat and one chair and small table from the set that is shown down below!


When we had talked about possibly getting the new stuff earlier, Bob questioned whether we would ever really use it because we didn't use what we had very often.

I had thought about it, and realized the reason we didn't use our deck much was that the Girls had to be out with us (or they'd be whining at the patio door!) If we had them outside with us I could not relax because they run around like maniacs in the yard, and do some rough and tumble play.

It was then that I realized that if our deck had a railing with a gate so we could keep the Girls ON the deck with us, that I could relax and we'd actually use our deck.

This weekend Bob started the project!! He moved the posts as necessary because whoever built the deck had them spread apart in an uneven pattern. He ripped out the old steps and added new ones, replaced a few planks that needed replacing and added the horizontal rails to which he will add slats.

Now he's waiting for it to be warm enough to stain what he's done so far. Then it's on to the rails!