Siamese-twin peaches

Summer in the Negev desert is a long hot and dry season that tries one's soul.
Will it ever end?
About the only good, refreshing thing about Israel summer is the many kinds of fruit that flood the shuk.
Even these Siamese-twin peaches.
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(I once read that  double peaches are thought to be caused by drought stress at the time of flower bud formation.)
UPDATE: I added an explanation in the Comments about how produce is sold in the open-air market or shuk.
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New life, green

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The greening of Israel.
With the first rains the dry summer brownness gives way to refreshing greenness.
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A golden moment

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A moment of grace this afternoon!
For five minutes a little patch of rare sunlight was centered exclusively in my yard.

The golden light made it look as if we had glorious foliage colors, just like other hemispheres have.
Actually Israel does not have many deciduous trees.
Only the fig tree drops all its fig leaves and gets totally naked.

The silvery olive and the wild sumac, and of course the evergreens, they stay green all winter.
The pomegranates can't seem to decide whether to shed leaves or not.
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The heavy sky is joining SkyWatch Friday.
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Thanksgiving blessings to all who celebrate today.
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Staying warm

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HAIL Winter, full of surprises!

A brief but fierce hail storm caught me as I was walking up to buy bread this morning. Oi!

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Readers of yesterday's post were surprised that Israel can be cold.

Some asked about our heating system.

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Well, here is mine. This electric radiator is my heat source.

That plus fleece-lined jeans, thermal undershirt and two sweaters, and "fur"-lined hiking boots.

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Jerusalem's stone and concrete buildings are notorious for retaining coldness all winter.

Normally it is warmer outside than inside.
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And at night the radiator is turned off, the window is opened, and I quickly dive under the fluffy feather-filled puch.

A simple old-fashioned hot-water bottle under the blankets does wonders to defrost feet that have half-frozen on the cold stone floor.

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I'm not sure but I imagine new and modern residential buildings have central heating, maybe.

Because of our high altitudes, Jerusalem and the Upper Galilee always have the coldest temperatures in the nation.

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Today's Ynet has a surprising article which begins "The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews . . . is donating NIS 20 million (approximately $5 million) to pay the heating bills of 134,000 elderly people in need throughout Israel, ensuring that they will have a warm and safe winter. This is the first time in Israel that a philanthropic organization is transferring its donation directly to the Electric Corp., which will deduct the sum from personal electric bills of eligible recipients. . . ."

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