This long-necked cow steadily worked her way along the row.
The rest of the cows weren’t interested at all.
Monthly Archives: May 2015
Happy Birthday Thais
L-R: Leah, Holly, Lauren (wearing pink t-shirt), MacKenna holding daughter, Rita, Thais, Sophia.
Mermaid and merboy:
Pre-ride for Sierra Elementary Bike Club
Next Thursday will be the last club meeting for this school year and we’re going on an off-campus bike ride. Hurray! Sometimes it’s difficult to get permission from the school to do an event like this – insurance, liability, and safety concerns. It’s very important that I do a pre-ride to understand what challenges may occur and which teachable moments are best.
We will meet at Whistle Stop Yogurt Shop,
carefully cross a busy road in individual drivers of our own vehicles (with parent help on both sides of the street but letting students make their own decisions about the right time to enter the roadway).
Then a short uphill, which will may be a challenge for some bicycle drivers,
followed by: scan, signal, scan, and merge to a left turn lane and the beginning of the El Dorado Trail.
And then my plan fell apart when a creepy-looking man began walking the trail ahead of me. Nope, not going to do it. The end of the pre-ride.
RLEHS goes to RL Prep
I tried really hard to create a new community event this year: a Middle School Cooking Challenge. I started organizing, planning, communicating, etc. last January. I invited 4 local middle schools to participate but did not get an enthusiastic response. Two weeks ago, I had to admit defeat and canceled the event. Shawn Baker, the after-school program coordinator at Rio Linda Prep, was the best at keeping in touch and trying to generate interest at Rio Linda Preparatory Academy. To thank him, I arranged to meet the students this afternoon and brought all the ingredients for each of them to make their own healthy after-school snack: whole-grain waffle, whipped cream cheese, (homemade) apricot-pineapple jam, and blueberries. Oh my, what a mess we made, but it turned out delicious.
At the end, I asked them what they knew about me. Huh? Finally someone read the words on my t-shirt and said “You like to ride bicycles?” Correct answer. Then each student got a goody bag of reflective stickers and snap bracelets, a pencil with a safety message, and a bicycle keychain. (Since May is Bike Month, I have lots of little things I can give away.)
Sierra Bike Club and storm
I forgot to take pictures of the bike club today, but did capture some girls trying to swing as high as possible. Swings of any kind are a rarity on school playgrounds nowadays, so it was nice to see these at Sierra Elementary.
4 pm: I had to rush quickly to pack up supplies and load them into my car as the raindrops began to fall. Within 10 minutes, it was pouring! Whew. As I drove west to Auburn on Hwy 49 then to Nicolaus, the rain slowly subsided. Looking eastward toward the the Sierras (including Auburn & Placerville) from Justin’s front yard:
Southeast:
West:
Mother’s Day
Early morning coffee with Doug:
Afternoon get-together at Justin’s. Next year’s crop of walnuts will be easier to pick up with my new Weasel Nut Gatherer.
Inspecting the pig pen:
Checking out Justin’s latest tractor acquisition:
Practicing so he can help Grandma this fall:
Building a pillow tunnel:
“Grandma, let’s go see the sheeps.”
Poor Sophia did NOT feel well at all – it turned out to be pneumonia and the rest of the day and night would not be pleasant for her and her parents.
Farm & Tractor Days – Saturday
Another long day but a good one. My favorite part was seeing so many friends and students from my past. Doug, Stacey, Kellen, Odin, and a member of the Little League team Doug is coaching came by.
It was great to see some former students. Julie and Anne Marie Tomlinson with grandson:
Rebecca Beals and her husband recently started a new business in Rio Linda:
Bethany and Brook Linder:
From Calvary Lutheran Church:
If you want to see even more pictures, go to
rlehs.wordpress.com
Farm & Tractor Days – Friday
For the past 3 months or so, I’ve been a part of the team who organized this year’s Rio Linda-Elverta Historical Society’s annual Farm & Tractor Days. I was in charge of all vendors which included community organizations who provided craft activities for children on Friday or general information, volunteer groups who wanted to help out, food providers, and people selling their products. It was really hectic this past week answering all the last-minute questions.
The first to arrive this morning: about 40 FFA students from Rio Linda High School – ready to help wherever needed.
For MANY more pictures of Farm & Tractor Days, check out rlehs.wordpress.com
Sierra Elementary Bike Club
Bike to School Day in Auburn
This was a before-school event. 
Lots of prizes and encouragement given out!
arletelouise 