She's so Skinny!

What about these 'teasers' on website news articles?  "Precious is so skinny now and looks like a model - we can't stop staring..." and "Anne Hegerty is so skinny now and looks gorgeous!".  "After her weight loss, Celine Dion confirms what we knew all along".  Were they on diets in 2019?  Maybe they those one these these 2019 diet trends.  Read the list and tele if the article would be titled:  "No one believed what she ate to get so skinny!" 1. Keto diet - involves very low carbohydrates and moderate protein so that 70 to 80 percent intake comes from fat 2. 16:8 is a fasting diet - involves fasting for 16 continuous hours, then being free to eat whatever is wanted for the other eight, every day.  The most widely researched approach is taking the eight-hour eating window between 10 and 6pm 3. Alkaline diet - limiting acid forming foods like meat, fish, dairy, grains, alcohol and highly processed foods and refined sugars, while bumping up your intake of alkaline forming foods like fruit and veggies.   4. Blood type diet - tailoring your diet to suit your blood type so people with type O should have a diet rich in animal protein but light on grains, type A should stick to a vegetarian diet, and types B and AB should eat slightly differently 5. Mediterranean diet - sticking to a plant-based diet of wholegrain, olive oil, fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts, herbs and spices - this one is recommended as a good way of eating Nutritional trends from besthealthmag.ca look crazy too: 1. medicinal mushrooms - fungi-infused teas are available at David's Tea for example.  2. oat milk - this is becoming a leading dairy alternative 3. cauliflower - this is a low-carb stand-in - make pizza crust to faux steak 4. elderberry - with anti-inflammatory benefits, it is on the rise as an ingredient 5. cannabis infusions - Coca-Cola was recently in talks with B.C. cannabis producer to make a CBD-infused wellness drink No food photos today - we're looking at a layout at the Sacramento Narrow Gauge Convention.

Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Where will we weather?

We have a freezing rain and rain weather alert today.  I wondered where would a person live to have great weather year round. This is an easy internet question, with many sites giving answers.  Is temperature the deciding factor?  Is it the number of sunny days a year? These two seem to be at the top of the list. At the tenth spot on the list of themysteriousworld.com is Medellin, Colombia, know as the City of eternal spring.  The temperature ranges from 64 to 82 degrees, and there are colourful flowers year-round. This seems to be an understatement as the pictures retrieved are of flower floats in the Medellin Flower Festival.  This is a flower growing area now and Colombia exports 500 million flowers for Valentine's Day, according to one article.  At the first spot on the list is San Diego, with temperatures of 71 to 57 degrees.  San Diego has over 300 sunny days a year.  If one wanted to live in one of the '10 best cities in the world',  neither of these cities pop up, but Sydney Australia shows up in both lists.  We could find top places to live for James Bond lovers or Sherlock Holmes building connections - there are all kinds of reasons to visit and live in places.  Alternately a railroad layout in the basement, like Bill and Mary Miller's in Maryland would keep you inside most of the time.

Strasburg the Oldest

It is a Strasburg Railway Day.  It is the oldest continuously operating railraoad in the western hemisphere.  It was chartered in 1832 and operates under its original charter and name.  The buildings and the water tower certainly set the stage for an historic heritage railway.  The countryside around the railway has Amish farms using horses for ploughing. It seems like an heritage area all round - a percentage of each train ticket is contributed to the Lancaster Farmland Trust.

Remember the Trains

Today is an historic day.  Just as people remember where they were when John Kennedy was assassinated, so people remember where they were when the twin towers were attacked. However, we are looking at a different story today.  We're on the railroad.  Our second photo shows Gramps tank cars.  These are famous tank cars in the modelling realm. The name is said to come from the nickname of the oilfield owner William Hughes.  To please his grandchildren, he had is name painted on the tank cars of the Union Tank Car Company. There is also reference to known Gramps Oil and Refining - perhaps he was on a roll with the name,  The tanks were shipped to Alamos, Colorado for transfer to the narrow gauge.  Then they were on to the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. This bought them their spot in history.  I can think of no railroads more beloved to modellers than those in Colorado.

Strassburg Wheels

The Strassburg Railway in Strassburg PA is a great visit for anyone.  The steam locomotives are amazing, as this photo shows - the wheels, gears and all sorts of mechanical parts to make things work. 

There is lots of peeling, weathered paint there. There was a little bit of wear and tear on the ground that made a nice abstract.

Model Trains

Everyone loves trains.  Even though the steam era is gone from North America, there is still a great interest in steam locomotives and railways of the steam era.

This very large layout is now located in Orlando Florida.  Here's a section modelling a southern U.S. cotton plantation.