Zombies

We headed to the Haymarket on Saturday evening. It was a perfect time to eat outdoors. We were enjoying our meal at the Oven when we found ourselves watching the Zombie Walk, an annual event in Lincoln. There were a lot of people having a lot of fun with fake blood. And there was a smaller group of civilians trying to "save" us all with their Nerf guns. We didn't see anybody get shot though.

boys

My coworker, Renae, asked if I'd take some photos of her with family. So we hooked up earlier today at Roberts' Park. The weather cooperated & so did the boys. Even when they are fussing they are cute!

capers

I loved my aunt, Geri, who passed away this spring. I loved her passion for cooking. She watched the Food Network & I enjoyed talking with her about different personalities on that channel. I once printed off a recipe from the Food Network & wrote her a letter on the back of it. On the day of her funeral family gathered at her home to visit after the burial & church luncheon were over. I was in the kitchen leaning against the counter & someone stopped to get a drink out of the refrigerator. And I noticed a jar of capers in the door of the frig. I was so surprised I grabbed the bottle & asked my cousins about it. Not only did Geri watch the Food Channel but she tried new recipes. Dianne, my cousin, said Geri would fix a holiday meal with all the traditional dishes & then have two to three new recipes. (I wish I'd been invited to that spread.) And then Dianne told me I could have the jar of capers. Really, a wonderful gift. But capers don't keep forever. So the other day I opened the jar & combined a good tablespoon of them (some say to rinse them off) with some diced onion, red peppers & olive oil and spread that on some toasted French bread. It was great. They add a wonderful saltiness to food. There's always a jar of capers in my frig. From now on they will remind me of Geri.

four years

Today is my blog's four year anniversary. I have quit it a time or two only to come back to it. The first two years were a breeze. The past year more challenging. Some weeks I have no idea what I will blog about next. Those are the times I consider giving it up. But today I am still here. I want to thank my readers. Especially the ones who leave comments or tell me they read my blog. For me it has always been about posting photos I take that I want to share. I hope you keep checking back.

modern wheat harvest

When Nancy sent me photos of Mike harvesting wheat I thought they were great. But I also knew he didn't harvest the entire crop with this equipment. Too old. Also too time consuming. We are all about efficiency now. So when I asked her about it she said Mike saved back a few acres so they could use this Allis-Chalmers equipment. Most of it is owned by a friend. So today she sent me photos of how he really cuts wheat. Very impressive . . . and efficient. But I still love the old machinery.

wheat harvest

My sister, Nancy, sent me some photos of wheat harvest. I've photographed my brother, Gene, harvesting wheat in the past but he didn't plant wheat this year due to the drought. So seeing these photos is a treat. I only wish I had taken them as I think they are great photos. Thanks, Nancy!

wildflowers

The parks in Lincoln have suffered from budget cuts over the past few years. Now only the periphery of the park is mowed; the rest of the grass is left to grow wild. I'd prefer more maintenance, especially when I am walking Zeke & Clarabelle. Last week when I was driving past Roberts Park something piqued my interest. There were flowers blooming in the tall grass. Small, delicate flowers. Beautiful flowers. No doubt planted by the parks department. A pleasant surprise.

Chinese visitors

Yizhi has family visiting from China: her father (in the white shirt), sister, and aunt & uncle. Her father & aunt are siblings. Yizhi says that she was mostly raised by her aunt. They arrived in the states last Tuesday & came to Lincoln Friday afternoon. Austin suggested we take them to the farm. He had been shown the home of Yizhi's grandparents when he'd been to China, so thought seeing our family's roots would be something to do. Gene & Jean were gracious hosts. We showed up Saturday morning & they fixed a feast of grilled burgers & brats, deviled eggs, jello salad, macaroni salad, baked beans and homemade cherry & peach pie. Gene shared some of his home brews too. Then our guests got the tour of the barn, hay bales and corn & soybean fields. The men hit it off with Gene discussing farming. Yizhi stayed nearby so she could interpret for them. Her sister is studying English but was always very quiet & shy. They all marveled at the wide open spaces and the big equipment. They enjoyed the farm tour. My Chinese guests brought me several teas. I shared some of it with them while they were here. I discovered that the reason the Chinese drink so much tea is that they have to boil their water before drinking it. So they make hot tea. It is the kids who drink more soda. I also learned their kitchen stoves only have one burner & no oven. Yizhi's aunt thought our American kitchens were amazing. Yizhi also explained that when school children get to middle school & high school they attend school from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm. They have a two hour lunch break & a one hour supper break. And when they get home from school they still have two to three hours of homework to do. An incredibly rigorous & competitive education. Only once a year can they take the college entrance exam. If you do poorly you have to wait another year to take it. Classrooms typically have a hundred students. We found the cultural differences to be significant & we only scratched the surface. But we also found that even with a language barrier we could enjoy each others company. Meals were enjoyed when shared. And the weather was mild enough we ate outdoors. A treat for all of us. Our guests left Lincoln yesterday morning with encouragement for us to come visit them now.