Weekend at last

My echiums are blooming well

It's Friday .... the beginning of the weekend. By right everything should be winding down .... in true Sabbath tradition .... winding down to a halt. Tomorrow should be a day of rest and peace and quality time. Not for me. Every night I'm sleeping almost at midnight. Waking up at 3 or 4am to start work. Rushing from one corner of the City to another; or one city to another. The exhaustion is so bad I've been sleeping in the middle of meetings, classes and work. Total shut down.

The flowers on the other hand are working overtime and enjoying it. Profusion of blooms everywhere. My echium bush which was partly damaged by last year's snow has grown back with a vengeance. Freesias, muscari, chincherinchee, anemones are all flowering as well. It would have been a perfect garden except the weather the past few days have dropped to 5 degrees in the night, and daytime saw a very cold and gusty wind blowing which destroyed all the petals. Many many people are sick with the flu. Thank goodness I had it a month back. Am virtually immune to it this time round.

Our refectory on Easter Sunday 

We're still in the week of the Easter Octave. The Orthodox churches celebrate theirs a month from now. This distance in time is good as there are less clashes at the Holy Sepulcher and in the streets of the Via Dolorosa. Though there are less of us at home - many have returned to their countries for the holidays - our sisters have decorated our refectory (read "dining room") in the usual Easter way. The lot more jolly the atmosphere.