Sunday, January 18, 2009

I walked into my garage...


P1180030, originally uploaded by yoel1984.

I have strange parents.


P1180018, originally uploaded by yoel1984.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Camp JCA


Camp JCA, originally uploaded by yoel1984.

These guys look down on me because I don't have an iphone. Well, they can enjoy their little cult. I'm not drinkin' that koolaid.

succulent flowers


succulent flowers, originally uploaded by yoel1984.

This is at the garden at JCA. These flowers, which are dime-sized, grow from an iceplant-type succulent.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Sweet Birds

I didn't feel like studying for the GRE anymore so I took a birdwatching break and scoped out the backyard from my window. Spotted a flock of about 15 Cedar Waxwings on the neighbor's tree! That's a first for me. Northern Flicker was also in the neighborhood, along with Lesser Goldfinches, Juncos, White Crown sparrows.

Friday, January 2, 2009

mud oven

We made a very small pizza oven out of mud at winter camp this week at JCA. I don't know if it will actually work but it was good practice for the future. Having enough natural clay in the soil is very important. The dirt at camp is very sandy and barely holds itself together so we added white clay slip to the mixture to get the right consistancy. I told the kids to make little mud "turds" out of the adobe and they got really excited about me saying that word, so I think it helped get them motivated. The mud is layered over a mound of sand to form the correct dome shape, then when it all dries out on a few days we'll scoop the sand out and the hollow shell will remain.