Libby makes capsicum boats

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 Granddaughter Libby is only 5 but she is already a specialist at making capsicum boats.
She fills capsicums (bell peppers) with tuna and avocado.  

During my recent visit to Australia I was surprised to find my daughter's new kitchen has dappled mirrors as splash boards. 
Just the thing for the bloggers' weekly meme Weekend Reflections.

Libby is so cute in her school uniform.  (This is the winter one.)
She is in kindergarten at a friendly public school.
It was the end of winter when I came to Australia but by the end of my visit, two weeks ago, the kids were just switching to the cooler summer uniform.
Libby's brothers go to the same school and must wear a white shirt and sometimes even a tie; and all the kids need a wide-brimmed hat in the sun.
I think it looks nice and gives a good feeling to have all the schoolkids looking so tidy.
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Yurong Water Gardens

The Yurong Water Garden is an environmental artwork inspired by the Yurong Stream that once ran close to the edge of Cook and Phillip Park through the mangrove mud-flats down into Woolloomooloo Bay. The Yurong Stream itself was sourced up at the head of the Wooloomooloo Valley (the Darlinghurst escarpment), close to the gaol. It meandered down, under William Street via a culvert, and into the increasingly putrid head of Wooloomooloo Bay.

It was joined at the back of St Mary's Cathedral by an unnamed (but steep) tributary. Roughly hewn boulders of sandstone and original pavers and rocks from the landscape have been arranged to form a course for the "stream" which flows down three terraces of gardens retracing the path of the original tributary. The use of sandstone reflects the cultural and natural heritage of the surrounding area. Both the Yuromg Strem and the tributary have ceased to exist since the 1860s, when they were converted into the Wooloomooloo Sewer. It is hard to believe that these shots are in the centre of my city. The serenity of the area nowadays, could be taken as an abject apology for our cavalier approach to their bounty during the 19th century.

The installation was devised by Anita Glesta together with Spackman & Mossop, and installed in July 1999.

An Odd Thing to Remember

It's sixteen metres long and made of portland stone.  The Southwark Needle on London Bridge blends in with the environment to the point where it is easy to walk by barely noticing it among the tall buildings that surround it.   What's the point?  Well it marks the approximate spot where the heads of executed traitors were dipped in tar and impaled on tall spikes.  A  delightful 16th century custom.

Sheltering diggers from Israel's sun

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City Daily Photo bloggers share a Theme Day today about SHELTER.
As the only Israeli in the group I felt obliged to post about my bomb shelter, and how "protected rooms/mamadim"  are now required by law,  but it was too depressing.
So I am showing you the happy topic of archaeology instead!
The shade cloth that is put up daily over the squares we are digging in provides merciful shelter from the merciless sun. 
Just like an air raid shelter, it's hard to live without it (literally!).

Here you see the temporary shelter being raised over the excavation at Tel Yarmouth.
By the way, the rope the Bedouin worker is pulling is called a meitar in Hebrew, and from there comes the name of my town in the desert, Meitar.  It is the rope which allows you to "enlarge the space of your tent" as advised in Isaiah 54:2.

The top photo of me swinging the pickax at the 2009 Tiberias dig was taken by volunteer Gretchen Cotter.
She made a nice little video about working eight hours a day in the hot sun, and there you can see just how simple it is to put up the sun shade (IF you know what you're doing).
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Check out the other city bloggers' shelters at City Daily Photo.
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Men at Work

They work around the clock on cross rail. This section is at Tottenham Court Road.