There are some delightful things about this apartment so far:

We have hibiscus growing along the front porch, and they attract Palestine Sunbirds. So pretty! and they have nice vocalizations. I don't have a good lens for capturing wildlife, so have a short video:

Click to view

Since it has been a bit rainy, we haven't had a chance to be out in the garden ( Read more... )

With our trip to France and the subsequent fatigue and need to get back into a rhythm, I did not finish the cover for my illustration workshop in a timely manner;.  However, I have been slowly working on it over the past month and today reached "Done."  The instructor has given me the same verdict.  Hooray.  I did not like the feeling of having ( Read more... )

Went on a hike with the family today to Lake Chouwen* in Jabal Moussa.
Lebanon is a beautifully mountainous country with steep valleys and scads of interesting vegation.A few photos for your enjoyment, but there are much more stunning photos on the net.  I am so out of photographic practice and just could not do the colors justice (and I just can't ( Read more... )

*argh!* How aggravating! I had a long entry typed up, just needed to attach a photo and say a few more words before hitting "post," and I fumble-finger navigated myself away from the page.  Unlike LJ, it didn't ask to restore the draft, even though it had auto-saved it. :(

Long post short, I mentioned watching the first season of Landscape Artist ( Read more... )

Forgive the weird photo, but this a snapshot of the front of our building, taken by leaning over the balcony railing--in the rain--without letting my phone plummet 5 stories to the ground....


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I seem to be on a crochet kick these days.  This is mostly motivated by the fact that it is cooooooooold here.  Look, we had snow:


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Here is a reposting of a review I wrote on Goodreads for Lagoonfire written by Francesca Forrest:

As per my request, I received an Advanced Reader Copy of Lagoonfire in exchange for my honest review.

Having read and very much enjoyed Francesca Forrest’s The Inconvenient God, I was thrilled to find out there would be a sequel. I am a Whopper-of-a- ( Read more... )

Sightings:
We have a very, very skittish new visitor to the bird feeder, a great spotted woodpecker (pic épeiche), and I vow to get a better photo. In the meantime, observe that Friendly would like a close encounter with the birds, too >.<( Photos and ramblings this way )

With one car in need of repairs, snow outside, and the cozy-indoors or close-to-home lifestyle that can induce, we have been voyaging in other ways these past few days.
First of all with food.

I don't know if I have shared a recipe for Poulet Coco (coconut chicken) from Mayotte before, but I made it last night and thought I would share the culinary ( Read more... )

As you may or may not know, our children are "unschooled," a type of home-schooling that, simply put, does not follow a pre-decided curriculum based on what legislators or business people deem necessary for their development according to a pre-determined timetable.

The French president is currently trying to push through a law that takes away ( Read more... )