Weekend Wanderings

Yes, I'm still alive... An amazingly busy few weeks since my last post...

I thought I would share some random images from the weekend so far. The first four were taken during my morning constitutional around the perimeter of the CH grounds. Later, we went fitness equipment shopping. Would you believe there are at least three shops in Luxor that deal in exercise equipment. We just bought a treadmill from one of them, and it was delivered by donkey cart! On this run, I got some bright red 3kg hand weights so that I will have no excuse for not doing my exercises in my room! So there are four shots taken during the shopping trip--the pharmacy is across the street from our last fitness shop stop, which consists of an equipment shop AND a gym, and across from the gym is a wall with lots of graffiti. The last three shots were taken this morning at Healey House--two of the Healey House Hoopoes (sound like a sports team!) and one of the supplies needed for a relaxing morning on our roof:

A solitary balloon over the West Bank, striking against the rose-gold of the sunlit mountain

Sunlit bougainvillea

Rich red hibiscus

A CH carpet hung for cleaning

Rooftop relaxation necessities: (clockwise from top) journal and pen, face mist, coffee in my special Sunday cup, fly whisk, iPad, and sunglasses

Running Out of Steam

Day 6 of uninterrupted blog posts! I think it's a record for me, but it's wearing me down... So, one last daily post tomorrow, and then a modified schedule, which will be more like once or twice a week, I hope.

Today turned out to be a bit stressful, but ultimately reassuring. I had been having some problems with my right eye--possibly significant new "floaters" and some blurriness on the right edge. So, I've been worried. Today I got in to see "Oculist" Doktora Fadia. She gave me a thorugh exam, then put drops in the eye and examined me again. I breathlessly awaited her verdict, which was "You are fine, Madame Mary!" She went on to say that I have the very tiny, extremely early signs of a cataract, and that it would not give me any problems right now. She prescribed regular use of sunglasses (luckily I have a prescription pair); an antioxidant vitamin supplement called Selenium-ACE, which I will take for one month; and eye drops, which I will use three times a day from now on.

I am absolutely thrilled that she didn't find evidence of any possibilities that would have been infinitely worse. A cataract I can deal with! In fact, my good friend Bette just had cataract surgery in September, and she says it's a snap. And on top of that, I paid out a total of only 225 Egyptian pounds (150 for the doctor and 75 for the prescriptions). That amounts to about $32!

I do have a few photos for you from CH today:

Buttons lying down on the job

Lovely, sweetly scented plumeria are beginning to bloom

More homegrown watermelons, and some blossoms too!

My newly refurbished shisha--notice the USA colors of red, white and blue! Shokran, ya Amer!

Tomorrow, I will share with you some experiences from our season opening in the Library!

Stocking Up & A Miscellany...

Sundays are good days for taking care of personal business, as they are the one day each week we have entirely to ourselves. In addition to doing some laundry I didn't want to entrust to the staff, I made my initial raid on the supply magazine, the food magazine, the beverage refrigerator and the cookie store. Here is my booty:

Clockwise from top: Paper towels, dish detergent, juice boxes (mango-peach), club soda, pomegranate with pulp, Adel's famous oatmeal cookies, nut mix (almonds, pistachios, walnuts and peanuts), dust cloth and sponge

Later I made up a new cocktail using gin and the club soda and pomegranate. Very refreshing!

Today's miscellany includes flowers and the library. I'll have more for you about the library and its workings soon. Don't forget to let me know if there's something in particular you would like me to blog about. I'll do my best!

Wonderfully fragrant jasmine from the Library entrance

Marvelous Marvel of Peru from the breezeway

Original East Bank CH Library (houses the card catalog, journals, monograph series, and folios)

Library Extension (houses the Main Collection)

She's Back...for Her 11th Season!

Just arrived in Luxor at about 6 a.m. yesterday morning--10:45 p.m. flight from Paris to Cairo, 5 a.m. flight to Luxor. Exhausted but happy! It's always good to come back "home".

Slept most of yesterday, but did manage a couple of photos of my first close encounter of the cat kind, with Buttons!

After doing a bit of unpacking yesterday (in between deep sleep sessions!) and this morning, I made my way to my office and started the procedure for preparing the library for opening, probably late next week. After lunch, I took these photos of the flora of CH (since I had taken the fauna shots yesterday!):

Milk and Wine Lilies...

...fill the foyer with the most wonderful fragrance!

The breezeway garden at the beginning of the season

See you soon...

Life on the Perimeter--Part One

A new exercise regime has me walking the perimeter of CH twice a day, once clockwise and once counter-clockwise. I also wander around the grounds with my camera every now and then. It's truly amazing how much "life" one finds in the space of 2.5 acres! I'm not even going to try to caption each of these photos. Just look and enjoy!

Check out the bumble bee!

Not GMO but HMO

A little fun at CH! Either Yarko or one of the guys at the back gate provided us with some HMOs: Humorously Modified Organisms:

At a distance, these may look like a curious variety of tulip...

...or perhaps a rare variety of red iris...

In reality, some jackanapes has taken fallen bombax blossoms and attached them to the tips of this other (non-blooming) plant!