Hum-de-dum

This is the exact same crane from almost the exact same angle (2 days ago).











A healthy jade plant, a bit rain-splattered.











This is a scentless chamomile type plant. Pineapple weed is very similar, but lacks the white petals and smells really good, like pineapple or something.

Trivia

Sharon I like your yellow rose. Speaking of yellow, I once took the Indianapolis phone book and looked up various last names. I found people named Brown, White, Green, Black, Redd, Violet, Orange, Silvers, Blue, and Gray, but no Yellow. I found people named House, Floor, Door, Gates, Garden, and Stairs, but no Window. I found Grass, Tree, Plant, Lake, Pond, River, Sky, but no Ocean. There was a Fox, a Wolf, a Cat, a Dogg, a Camel, a Lyon, a Tiger, a Bear, a Hogg, and a Duck but no Goose. Some people were either Short, Tall, Wide, Smart, Small, Sharp, Dull, Mad, Glad, but not Happy. Etc.
And did you know that the most popular dog name in the U.S. is Max?
Lastly, a quote from W. Churchill: You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.

Jerusalem of Gold

I was about to post when I heard a sound of exploding glass in the kitchen. It turned out the globe fell off the ceiling light. Funny, since it screwed on very tight.

I've been waiting for a clearer day to get a better picture of this crane. It's pretty far away for my camera. There are lots of cranes, and lots of construction everywhere. Some cranes have to have been dropped in by helicopter because there is no room to get a large truck in, even considering the crane taken apart into pieces.

















"Jerusalem of Gold" is a popular song. But seeing this gave me a funny feeling. It's like you could really get to love this place.

Life is so hard

I don't have any nice pictures of people, plants, animals, or landscapes, so that leaves hard stuff. Lots of nice color and texture, actually, if you're into that sort of thing. Staying home is getting pretty boring. Some wind, rain, and thunder are all that makes it interesting. It's too cold and wet to go out. But as they say, "April showers bring May flowers," or in this case maybe January showers bring April flowers.

Pavement in the Old City

Wall of the Old City

Horse I saw downtown.

The Wailing Washerwoman

Does anybody know what the icons on the center dial mean? I haven't been able to figure them out. I've been washing clothes in cold water for some time now, (with the temperature set at 50,) and then suddenly one day I have hot water! What did I do?

...or at any other angle, or on any other day

This is the second pink rose picture. Same rose(s), different angle, different day. It is about 8 feet tall and is in front of a palm tree.

This is the third pink rose picture. This is the best it got. The middle flower has fallen off now.








A yellower rose than yesterday's.
I never used to care for roses, but after seeing quite a few different kinds here, I do now.

I don't remember where the yellow roses were. The pink ones are in front of our apartment. There are lots of lovely plants everywhere. However, everything is a little bit neglected-looking. The sidewalks aren't swept, and everything is a bit disorderly or haphazard. That contributes in some ways to the look, which is sort of free and unstructured, but I like the look of freshly worked soil, and I would like to pluck off some dead blossoms, and pull the ivy out of the bushes. I could take some ugly pictures, too. There is one building near here with some broken windows but with nice plants that just need someone to love them. One thing I like is that there are fewer cars for the number people. We don't have a car and don't need one. We walk or take a bus, and a taxi would be another good option. On the other hand maybe if I had a car I could get out of the city once in a while, if I knew where to go, like maybe a roadside park, but I don't know if there are any.

Thistles, Snapdragons, and Vervain

Thistles try so hard to please. If you don't like spines around the edges, they can put them all over. If you don't like jagged leaves, they can grow spoon-shaped leaves. This one even has nice little cream-colored bumps all over.


These snaps really are this red. I didn't edit the color.




This resembles blue vervain, but I've never seen it quite like this, with groups of three.

A rose by any other name...

...or in any other color...

These were taken in dim light, which best avoids glare. I have yet to figure out why my camera over-exaggerates the bright spots in every picture.

Prickly Pears and Milk

This is the pineapple palm in front of our apartment. That's what I call it anyway, just so it'll have a name.

They say the natives here are like prickly pear cactus--prickly on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. I have encountered both. Grocery shopping yesterday was quite an experience. I never saw so many rude people in my life. I thought for a minute I was in New York. Maybe I should develop a few prickles myself--provided I am truly soft and sweet inside--that might be harder to accomplish. It makes you appreciate the other kind, who are soft and sweet on the outside, which makes you optimistic about what's inside. Just the look in their eye says, "I realize you are another human being just like myself."

I bought a carton of milk. Out of five words on the carton I could read "milk"and "vitamin D." One of the other three apparently means "vanilla," because it is sweet, vanilla-flavored milk. No wonder my coffee tasted like chocolate this morning.

This picture of Elijah may be up somewhere, but it's worth posting again.

Shona says, Ölivia, why are you drinking your toe?

Food

Food is on my mind lately. Probably because I'm half-starved. How did that happen. Probably because of cooler weather and not enough sleep and a different kitchen and different grocery stores plus I am just not naturally a food person. Plus I don't have five children hanging on me who would start complaining if they weren't provided for. (I did have five children and they were in no danger of starving.)
So I am trying to change my ways and eat more. The food is good here, if you bother to prepare it. (When it comes to feeding myself, I am extreeeemly lazy.) Ground beef is lean without being tough. Mayonnaise is a whole lot better than I am used to. It's not as thick and yellow and mayonnaisey tasting. Oranges are consistently very good. Bananas are expensive, especially when you consider that you throw away half their weight in peel. Well, maybe a third. Granny Smith apples are sour as ever--I bet they would make good fritters. Milk comes in 3% or 1% and is cheaper if you buy it in a bag instead of a carton. Zucchini are light green instead of dark green but taste about the same. Carrots are huge without being strong-tasting. Persimmons, or fuyu, are big and good and sweet, not at all like the sour ones that grow wild in Indiana. You can get Kellogg cornflakes, complete with the colorful rooster. Maybe I'll get some just to have that nice cheerful rooster around. Al hasn't complained about instant coffee.
I don't know anything about restaurants (don't need to). Don't even remember the word for restaurant, though I looked it up twice. I have seen a few Burger places, and nearby there is a Pizza Obama. There is kosher KFC and kosher Pizza Hut. I haven't tried any ice cream yet. Come summer, I'm sure I will.

Names

Rebecca -רבקה
Sharon - שרון
Jeshurun - ישרון
Caleb - כלב
Albert - אלברט
Ebenezer - אבו-העזר
Mercy - רהמה
That looks good to me. Does it look right to you?

שלם

Shalom. Which means, Peace, Hello, or Goodbye.

Experiment Two

The purpose of these experiments is to learn how to make cookies with no oven, no measuring cups or measuring teaspoons, and few of the good ingredients like vanilla, cinnamon, or chocolate chips.

This time I did even less measuring. I sort of dumped together flour, brown sugar, butter, and eggs. It made a soft dough that should have been chilled, but I had no room in my tiny refrigerator. I flattened them with my fingers and cooked them slowly in a frying pan, thinking that would make them harder. They looked weird and tasted, well, interesting. Better than yesterday's actually.

I could try toaster-oven cookies, but that would require a t-o sized cookie sheet, which I don't have. Or I could buy some pre-made dough. No, that's cheating.

Flower of the day.

Noise and Cookies

It was a noisy day today. First the neighbor's car alarm went off. The past few days it's been going off about 15 times. Today it was only once--for 15 minutes. Then another neighbor played loud music with their windows open. The music itself wasn't bad, but it sounded like a very cheap radio.
I've felt so bad lately, but it finally dawned on me what's wrong--I'm half starved. So I tried to catch up on calories by eating more peas and sweet potatoes. And then today I made cookies. I got a recipe off the internet and looked at it (didn't follow it). It came out something like this.
2 med. or lg. eggs
3-5 tablespoons, or maybe teaspoons sugar
45 grams melted butter
2 table- or some other type spoons milk
0 teaspoons vanilla, since I didn't have any
1.5 to 2 cups white flour, or maybe 5/6 of a large coffee mug
3 to 5 tablespoons chopped pecans
butter for frying
Combine all ingredients, stir with fork. If too sticky, add milk and stir again, which makes it even stickier.
Drop by forkfuls onto preheated, buttered frying pan. After the first batch they won't drop, so get them off your fork any way you can.
Not too bad, really. Not too good, either. Dipping in powdered sugar might help. Or dip them in your tea or something.
The highlight of my day was when a man walking his dog let his dog come and greet me. The dog was friendly, and didn't care what language I spoke to him.
I did put a zero in front of "teaspoons vanilla," but it looks like an "o."
Somehow, I'm craving another of those not-so-good cookies.

Christ Church Coffee Shop

This place has models of Jerusalem in old times. And it's the best place to get the best carrot cake.

The famous Allenby.

If you like jigsaw puzzles you might be able to imagine why I like this picture.

Buildings and towers

Apartments


Yeshurun Synagogue




A windmill, for whatever reason.


Tower of David


A tower


Is that a red cross flag?


St. Domitian


Another view of St. Domitian


The Dome

St Andrews Church of Scotland

Tombs.