Epiphany

Yummy chicken curry

It's Epiphany! The last day of Christmas. We had Mass at 7am instead of 6.30am ... that's what we do for solemnities. After that we had breakfast ... but I started work in the garden. It's a rare day that both libraries are closed so I quickly took opportunity to plant the tulip bulbs. They need a cold shock before planting ... and the 3 degree weather of the past 4 days was just the thing they needed. I also planted alyssums into pots that contained summer plants and now have died off in the cold. Trimmed the night jasmine tree behind the sacristy and planted more hardy geraniums on the flower troughs where the summer campanulas had died.

After that it was already 10.30am. Our indian sisters cooked chicken curry for me but there was no rice. So Nadia our cook cooked up a pot of white rice and I had brunch. It was fantastic. I really needed something hot after 2 hours of gardening in the cold outside.

Very cold but sunny on Epiphany

I had originally planned to go to Tel Aviv and enjoy the sun and sea there but after the dreadful floods of the past 2 days, I thought I'd better avoid that city. The roads would be chaotic with debris, traffic jams would be everywhere and most flooded shops and restaurants would be closed. So I'll stay home. I need to clear the Christmas stuff out anyway. Christmastide is over and we'll be back to Ordinary Time tomorrow. Meantime the Epiphany celebrations are going on now in Bethlehem and some of our guys are in Bethlehem to join in the solemnities.

I'll be starting a series of excursion type retreats for the next 3 weeks so I've cancelled all my classes. It's not something I like to do as I tire very easily but I was told it was necessary ... so I'm going to have to do it. And the worse thing is that the forecast is for rain for this weekend and all of next week.