Jovan's Place etc.

First things first, if anyone knows what this bird is, please let me know. I think it's a baby, but look at this huge wing feathers!
Found him on my roof one day, I wonder if he's the tomato thief!



I was really sad to leave Hans alone for the night, but Monday night I drove to Ventor to spend some time with Sarah. She dragged me to see The Ugly Truth with some friends of hers, and I can honestly say it has been an awfully long time since I have seen a movie that bad. Oh wait, there was Twilight. That reminds me, I need to share this link with anyone familar with Buffy and/or Twilight (meaning Nanny, you can try it, but you very well may not understand it): Buffy Twilight Mashup.
Sarah and I went to see Lucy the Elephant since I have always wanted to see it.
However it was not nearly as grand as I had anticipated, and we couldn't find parking and we didn't want to pay to go up. Also my camera battery was dying.
But this was the last worthwhile shot I got.

Then we went to the beach with Amelia and Megan who came to visit as well. As much as I really do hate the sun and the sand, I love the water. It really made me miss the beach in Hertzelia with Noah that last day in Israel a few years ago.

In the meantime, update on the roof garden: lookin' good!




Of course I leaned one of the cucumbers up to the window so at least one of them would be reachable, while the rest clamber down the roof. And Hans wants them so bad! The don't help, taunting him up against the screen like that...

Lastly, I think I forgot to mention last post that last Friday, Celia told me about a small local restaurant by me called Jovan's Place that she had discovered and was super excited about. She was on her way when I ran into neighbor Noel and invited him too. Since he is leaving next month for grad school in England, he has been making an effort to do the things he has neglected to do with his time here (sort of my own tactic when leaving Baltimore) and so he also said he had heard wonderful things about it. The three of us enjoyed the deliciously fresh food (all prepared for you, none of it ahead of time, hence their catch phrase "it's worth the wait") including the bread and pesto appetizer, and complementary "liquid dessert" some kind of sweet liquor. We shared two meals, stuffed cabbage and Yugo-burger, which does not have a bun. All the meat is prepared by Jovan's father, a butcher. The burger came with brine cheese, and among all our mini-veggie dishes, came spinach mashed potatoes, something I had never thought of, but it was so simply delicious! Of course the kicker was when he showed us the video on his phone of his 2 1/2 year old riding a moped 15 mph in their backyard! Just kidding, the kicker was when he brought the kid out to do some flips in the air, complete with balancing on Jovan's hands mid-air. Oh, just kidding, the kicker was when he brought out his dog to do some tricks too, including, using only words, asking the dog to go to the bar, sit on the stool, bring him the cup, put the cup in his hands, replace it when he dropped it, etc.! What an entertaining night.
Last night Celia came over again and we hung out with the neighbors outside, and when reconvened, we realized that the three of us had been raving about Jovan's place since Friday! The kicker last night was when Gert took the dogs in, I brought Hans out in his harness and leash for the first time, and how well he did! He even started purring in Ian's lap! The seaweed treats helped, of course...
Needless to say when we came back up to the apartment, he was exhausted!

In other news, I need to book a bus to NYC on Wednesday for the Francis Bacon show before it closes! (Why do I always insist on waiting til the last minute?!)