Berries, Ulpan

With all the berries around, it should be easy to attract birds. I think I heard an oriole today.

This was a lousy picture, but my photo editor did wonders for it.
















Red berries...














Dull black berries...













Shiny blue-black berries...














Today in Ulpan we learned, among other things, 3 new verbs, 4 forms each. Somehow we got on the subject of children's songs, and several class members were asked to sing a children's song in their own language. So we heard one in French, one in Spanish, one in Arabic, one in Russian, and one in Hebrew. A priest sang a nice little church tune with no words, and Al and I sang Yankee Doodle.

Ulpan First Day

Today is a real milestone. I have survived my first day of kindergarten...er, Ulpan. It was super. And I wasn't as terrified as I was the first time I went to kindergarten (fifty-some years ago?!) We went through eleven letters of the alphabet and a few dozen words. Out of 22 students, I was probably the second oldest (Al was the oldest). Some found it quite easy. Others often looked puzzled or totally blank. I enjoyed staring at all the faces as much as I did learning Hebrew. Young ones, middle aged ones. Indian women with beautiful headcoverings. A young Italian nun in white. A guy with nice dredlocks and a nicer beard. A huge guy who barely fit under the doorway and had to duck to get into the elevator. The guy whose nose pointed down, the guy whose nose pointed forward, and the woman whose nose turned up. Quite a few spoke Spanish. There was a thin clergyman from Mexico, who didn't look the least bit Mexican. The class was taught almost totally in Hebrew, which I expected to be slow and awkward. Actually it was a bit slow, but still too fast for me at times. I'm glad I've been studying on my own for the past two months, otherwise it would have been quite stressful.
And now it's time for homework. And then make some coleslaw.
After my nap.

Eat Something Red

This is the most random blog I have ever seen. Maybe you have noticed. But I'm afraid my life just isn't as fascinating as most of yours. No children, no pets. Sigh...
We eat lots of red things. Red Rice. Red Beans. Red cabbage. Lots of red peppers. White onions and green apples. If I had Terry's recipe for pimiento cheese or whatever it was, I could make good use of the red peppers. (hint, hint)
Sabbath has begun here. Everything will be quiet until tomorrow night. Except for the neighbor's car alarm. The longest it has stayed on at one time is 25 minutes.

Waiting on the Lord

Asking your input--- what is waiting on the Lord? Concise answers, please, or quotes.

Nyala and Beethoven

Now that I have your attention (you do agree that Beethoven is the greatest, right?), how about listening to Beethoven and watching Nyala? The bulls do this display without ever getting into a fight. (This video shows only one bull, but there are two doing the same thing, watching each other's every move.) I especially like the part at 3:00 showing him putting his feet down.
See YouTube's "Nyala Bulls Displaying to Beethoven". Or "Synchronized dual of Bulls," (better view of the two bulls, but not showing the footwork and without the music.)

February

There's not much to do this evening (well not much except do dishes, sweep the floor, hem my skirt, study, sort papers--but other than that, not much) so I'll mess around with some photos.
After looking carefully at my crane photos, I decided the smaller-appearing one was just at a different angle. They must be working on a different spot, because lately it's stretched out sideways so I can see its full size. Sometimes I see it turning back and forth. Some people aspire to go bungee-jumping, but if I weren't afraid of heights, I think I'd like to find out what it's like on top of a crane.


A friendly neighbor (albeit somewhat of a sour-puss).

Across the street from our place.

Unidentified, sigh.... Maybe I'll meet a plant person who can tell me the names of plants...Dream on...Hey, wait, there is a nursery not far from here. Maybe I should browse.

Hibiscus. Ever see a blue one? The blue ones are beautiful.

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.