Cold and rainy

Blueberry cheesecake with
a giant sparkler

The weather has suddenly turned damp and cold again after a lovely summer spell the last few days. Forecast is for rain during the weekend ... not very good as this evening begins the end of the Jewish Passover and the beginning of the Orthodox Paschal Triduum.  People celebrating the feasts outdoors will find it impossible. The ritual of the Washing of Feet for example takes place in the courtyard of the Holy Sepulchre ... outdoors. The Patriarch and bishops will be drenched.

Yesterday my library collaborators celebrated a belated birthday lunch with me. Simple food of spaghetti and a lovely blueberry cheesecake. Enjoyed it very much. There was no place in the library to eat so we had the meal in the alley behind the library ... which is a lot nicer than you imagine because it runs along the 16th century City Walls build by Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire.

16th century City Wall as seen
from the outside

Despite the cold weather, the canaries are now nesting and one actually laid an egg this morning. I hope this year's broods will do well. Miss Bird loves her wooden nestbox which I lined with sawdust. She brings her bell inside the nestbox and makes a lot of noise with it. She needs new toys all the time as she's intelligent and tries to learn new things ... now she's learning how to open her cage door and escape!!

My nose has begun bleeding since yesterday. Don't know why. It hasn't happened since I had my nose operation a year ago. One thing I'm really thankful for was that operation ... I can finally breathe. In fact I'm acutely aware of the great difference that had made in my life. No more breathing through the mouth, no more blocked nose and the dreaded sense of suffocation. I can breather normally ... and that's alot to be thankful for.