Happy Birthday, Geri!

Today is actually Geri's birthday. She is probably still resting up after the big party . . .

more of Geri's family

Dad & Geri.



Bill, Geri, Eleanor, Shirley & Clarence.



Evelyn, Rita, Geri, Jerome & Vince.

Geri's party

My cousin, Dianne, asked me a few weeks ago to take pictures at the birthday party she & her siblings were hosting for their mother, Geri. Geri is a sister to my Dad. The party was this past Sunday at the Superior Country Club. I asked Dianne to make a list of the photos she wanted. One of the things she listed was to photograph of each of her siblings with Geri. I was happy to do so & I've listed my cousins from oldest to youngest. I think I got it right starting with Gary.



Then Carolyn.



Tom.



Loren.



Dianne.



And Janet.



Dad hitched a ride with Sully, Rita & Eleanor. I told him I could give him a ride home if I was to leave before his carpool was ready, but he was having too good of a
time to leave when I did. It was a great party.

fall

I was headed west on Highway 6 Saturday morning on a trip to see Dad & take some pictures. I needed to pull over to address some text messages & my timing was such that I revisited the trees along the railroad tracks again. The fall landscape is spectacular right now.





Since traffic was light I also stopped on this viaduct over the tracks on Highway 14 to get a higher vantage point.

another birthday . . .

. . . and I'll never be too old for birthday cake!



Thanks, Kathy!

notes

I keep notepads & notebooks scattered around my house & even have one in my car so if something interesting pops up I can jot down the idea, or thought, or even a recipe. I ran across this notepad a couple of weeks ago & remembered that this quick & easy recipe I heard on tv sounded good. And it is. I've made it a couple of times already using up the last of the summer's tomatoes. I sauteed my bell peppers (I've used red & green), onions, garlic & a couple of diced up tomatoes (skin left on) until everything was cooked. Served it with the Italian sausage. The second time we served it with rice too. Adding the tomatoes makes a nice sauce.

more of the CROPS farm

I was back at the CROPS farm Saturday morning with my friend, Joan. I just wanted to take more pictures but Joan still needed the volunteer hours. Margaret was there to supervise our work. We did some hoeing, fed the chickens & gathered eggs. The chickens are very friendly & did not peck my hand when I collected the eggs they were sitting on. I was grateful for that. When I was a kid our chickens were not that nice.



Margaret's t-shirt was picture worthy.







These lettuce sprouts were going into the ground later in the day.











More tractor love.

the CROPS farm

I've put in some volunteer hours this summer at the Community CROPS farm on the outskirts of town. The work has been hard at times (hoeing) & also relaxing (picking spinach) but I have loved going there to get away from town. The roar of traffic is a decibel or two lower. The gardens are amazing with their vegetables (tomatoes, butter lettuce, okra, basil, eggplant, peppers, spinach, beans, peas) & there are even chickens to add that farm feel with their clucking. On one visit though I went exclusively to take photos. The produce is sold at farmers' markets in town & also sold weekly to people who sign up for the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes. There are more CROPS gardens sprinkled throughout the neighborhoods of Lincoln. These gardens are tended by low income & often immigrant families as a way to supplement their food. I have enjoyed my involvement with this group.