End of Ramadan today?

Well the end of ramadan might be earlier than expected. Street talk is if the new moon is sighted tonight, then Ramadan ends tonight. We'll have to hear how many cannon shots this evening to find that out. If it ends, then there will be 7 cannon shots.

Geraniums and agapanthus on the
convent balcony

Meantime things are heating up in the north. Israel has been preparing for some time now for a war with Lebanon but so far nothing is in the showing. Instead Israel bombed Syrian targets today because Syria had fired shots into Israel.

Internally Israel is also getting more divided then ever ... religiously. The stranglehold which the ultra-orthodox rabbis hold on Judaism has tightened. They refused egalitarian worship (= women) at the Wailing Wall. Then they extended their refusal to recognise conversions by other rabbis (mainly american and non-ultra-orthodox) ... which indirectly means they don't recognise the validity of these rabbis' ordinations.  Today rabbis and jews of the orthodox, reformed and conservative branches organised a huge demonstration against this tight-fisted control of a minority (ultra-orthodox) over all Judaism, and refusing to accept differences of expression and practice.

Honeysuckle vine

The swollen nerves in my hands and feet have gone done slightly. Less painful today. I managed to go to the Chinese Convent to water the plants as the heat (34 degrees) would kill the young plants I planted there. The 2 honeysuckle vines are doing fine and hopefully by winter they would form a shade over the balcony entrance to block the fiery sun from beating directly into the convent. One corner of the balcony which is shaded, I planted herbs like rosemary, basil, lemon grass and a small lime bush. On the other side there are geraniums, agapanthus, marigolds and 3 oleander bushes which serve to block the view from the main road below. And why am I watering the plants? because the sisters are so busy guiding pilgrimage groups they have no time. Like I said previously, they have gilded over 20 groups in these few months since the convent was established. So thanks to all of you, the sisters are now fulfilling their mission in the Holy Land.