The Palace Car

My Vet enjoying his morning Coffee

When I married My Vet, I had just graduated from College and still didn't have a job, and My Vet (student) was a full-time student. As you could guess $$ was tight, so instead of a traditional honeymoon, we used our money to buy a car.




So this year we decided to do something special for our Crystal Anniversary. Friends recommended The Whistle Stop, and even offered to watch the kids!

The 1890's Pullman, transformed into our Palace Car.

Situated between Fargo and St. Paul on Hwy 10, it was a short drive on a very scenic route. We even stopped and enjoyed a few points of interest along the way. New York Mills, where the Whistle Stop is located, has an emerging art scene that was fun to check out. We also did some reconnaissance work checking out what businesses were thriving/existing in some of the newly revived down towns.

The view from our front porch!

The best part though, was just the serenity we encountered. (If you intended to travel here, please note I used the word serene, not quiet. The train theme extends to the nearby railroad tracks that are busy.)

After so many years, I am glad that we were still able to chat, uninterrupted, almost non-stop the entire trip.


Thank you God for blessing our marriage, and I pray that you experience that blessing as well.

The Rabbit Hole

The Dog

Shortly before My Vet came home from work, I stepped outside to check the mail. I had already let the dog out, so when I looked to the right and saw a giant hole in the front yard, I immediately knew the culprit. Annoyed, doesn't begin to describe my initial reaction. On Saturday I spent a good bit of $$ and a fair amount of time, spreading lime, fertilizer, and grass seed in various areas of the yard. Including a small area right where this new hole is, grrrrrrr. When I stopped to look closer at the hole to assess the repairs I would need to make, a movement caught my eye. Oh Oh what did he do now?

Upon closer inspection I found 5 baby rabbits, huddled and shivering in the cool evening air. Not sure what the right thing to do was, I took the dog in for a bath, and sent a text to My Vet.

Newly 'insulated' rabbit hole

Like most men, I would not use the words warm and fuzzy to describe My Vet. Yet, there he was digging through the closet, garage, and yard to find bedding material to keep them warm for the night in a way that hopefully their mom would find them and take over. This morning after checking that they were still there and alive, he left for work. Vowing to pick up some straw while at a horse appointment this morning. These are the types of little things that make all wives love their husbands just a lit bit more. Right?

Makeshift fence

The babies' alive, I now need to solve the problem of an imminent predator, The Dog! A couple of weeks ago this would have proved more challenging. Luckily on Saturday, while I was busy trying to grow grass instead of weeds, My Vet was busy replacing the fencing by the garden. This left me with some items I could use to create a makeshift fence. Now the dog has the run of the back yard, and the babies are in the front.

Please ignore the huge patches of dirt in the photo. That is one of the many areas I seeded on Saturday. I now know why I had a repair patch in the location of the new hole though.Yeah!! (sarcasm is really hard to do in print.)

***UPDATE***  The straw kept them warm and alive for another night. And it looked like mom had bedded down with them for the night. Then after work the next day, the bunnies were gone. We are believing that mom moved them, not that they were victims of another predator.