Azerbaijanis love flowers. If you stop to admire flowers, the owner will insist on cutting some flowers for you. When we go visiting, often I will come home with flowers that the host has given me. Flowers are given to new mothers, on International Women’s Day, graduation, birthdays, visits, house warming, competitions, sporting events and are placed at memorials and on graves. In the spring, flowers start appearing everywhere. In front of most schools are garden areas where flowers are planted and cared for by students and the maintenance staff. Most houses and many apartment buildings have flowers planted at the entrances. The parks in Shirvan are full of roses, lilies, petunias, daisies and cannas.
The Holly Hocks in the picture are planted in front of our apartment building entrance. Many colors of Holly Hocks (white, shades of pink, red, shades of purple) are planted all over town. The roses I am sitting in front of are planted in a median on a wide street but there are also roses in the parks, at houses and public buildings. There is every color of rose imaginable – from purplish blue to orange. One gas station has a beautiful garden of roses. Multi-color pansies are planted in the 8-point-star planters in the parks. These pansies bloom most of the year. There are also petunias in several colors (solid or striped) all over town. Our area of the country can get very dry but great care is taken to water these flowers.
We have been enjoying strawberries during the last of May and into June. They will not last much longer so while they are available people really eat them and make jams for later. At first they were expensive, but everyone told us to wait until they were about one manet a kilo and then buy. Now cherries are in the market. There are white, red and dark red varieties. The white are the sweetest. We have bought cherries and made a wonderful cherry sauce to put on ice cream or cake. Now the pomegranate trees are blooming. I had never seen a pomegranate tree. The bloom is a small, very bright red flower and the fruit forms at the base of the flower (see picture). The tree is small and bush like. They can grow wild in pastures, fields or around houses. Pomegranates are peeled and eaten or made into a juice. Many houses have grape arbors in the front courtyard. Tables and chairs are put under these arbors and family and friends will sit out in the evening under the arbor. These grape vines must be severely pruned each year or they can get out of control. At this time the arbors are full of leaves and the beginning of grape clusters. Many vegetables are now coming to market – green onions, eggplant, runner beans (green beans), tomatoes, cucumbers, and new potatoes. I have several people who have told me how to cook different vegetables. It seems that Azs have just so many ways they cook a vegetable, fruit, meat, bread and that is it. They teach their daughters how to cook these before they are married. Recipes are not written down but passed along by demonstration and verbally. There are no measuring cups of spoons used in AZ. Girls practice and watch mother/grandmother to know how much of an ingredient to use. All cooking is done from scratch. There are very few prepared foods in the markets or bazaar. (If you find prepared food, it is expensive.) Food preparation takes much time and effort. During the winter months vegetables are brought in fresh from Iran (to the south) but the prices are higher and many families can not afford to buy vegetables out of season.
Now from Denney: Summer is here, but the weather is not too bad yet. Everyone says it will get close to 110 sometime in July or August. We have had a week or so in the 90’s, but now 80’s for awhile. Everything is a little more laid back. We plan to do some traveling in July.
Linda wrote about plants, I will talk about an old man jogging. I get lots of looks, stares, handshakes, “salam” (hello), “ala” (excellent), thumbs up, and eye avoidance. I try to run 5 days each week. I go between 35 and 45 minutes during the work week and an hour to an hour and a half on Saturday and/or Sunday. I run in the morning and my best responders are the taxi drivers who now all know me by sight.
I was buying some summer shoes in the bazaar and three store owners mentioned my running. Linda, Bill, Dorothy, and I got a tour of the boxing and wrestling building because the coach knew about my jogging. It has opened many conversations. It is the fact that I’m old that gets acceptance.
One highlight of my jogging was a particular morning there were 4 men drinking tea in a park by the Central Hospital, and one shouted “America Yaxshi” (America is good), and I yelled backed “Azerbaijan Yaxshi!” Thumbs up all around was next in order.
I run in long baggy nylon pants and tee shirts – very hot this time of the year. Shorts are not worn by men under any conditions. People would gossip and say I am out in my underwear.
The Holly Hocks in the picture are planted in front of our apartment building entrance. Many colors of Holly Hocks (white, shades of pink, red, shades of purple) are planted all over town. The roses I am sitting in front of are planted in a median on a wide street but there are also roses in the parks, at houses and public buildings. There is every color of rose imaginable – from purplish blue to orange. One gas station has a beautiful garden of roses. Multi-color pansies are planted in the 8-point-star planters in the parks. These pansies bloom most of the year. There are also petunias in several colors (solid or striped) all over town. Our area of the country can get very dry but great care is taken to water these flowers.
We have been enjoying strawberries during the last of May and into June. They will not last much longer so while they are available people really eat them and make jams for later. At first they were expensive, but everyone told us to wait until they were about one manet a kilo and then buy. Now cherries are in the market. There are white, red and dark red varieties. The white are the sweetest. We have bought cherries and made a wonderful cherry sauce to put on ice cream or cake. Now the pomegranate trees are blooming. I had never seen a pomegranate tree. The bloom is a small, very bright red flower and the fruit forms at the base of the flower (see picture). The tree is small and bush like. They can grow wild in pastures, fields or around houses. Pomegranates are peeled and eaten or made into a juice. Many houses have grape arbors in the front courtyard. Tables and chairs are put under these arbors and family and friends will sit out in the evening under the arbor. These grape vines must be severely pruned each year or they can get out of control. At this time the arbors are full of leaves and the beginning of grape clusters. Many vegetables are now coming to market – green onions, eggplant, runner beans (green beans), tomatoes, cucumbers, and new potatoes. I have several people who have told me how to cook different vegetables. It seems that Azs have just so many ways they cook a vegetable, fruit, meat, bread and that is it. They teach their daughters how to cook these before they are married. Recipes are not written down but passed along by demonstration and verbally. There are no measuring cups of spoons used in AZ. Girls practice and watch mother/grandmother to know how much of an ingredient to use. All cooking is done from scratch. There are very few prepared foods in the markets or bazaar. (If you find prepared food, it is expensive.) Food preparation takes much time and effort. During the winter months vegetables are brought in fresh from Iran (to the south) but the prices are higher and many families can not afford to buy vegetables out of season.
Now from Denney: Summer is here, but the weather is not too bad yet. Everyone says it will get close to 110 sometime in July or August. We have had a week or so in the 90’s, but now 80’s for awhile. Everything is a little more laid back. We plan to do some traveling in July.
Linda wrote about plants, I will talk about an old man jogging. I get lots of looks, stares, handshakes, “salam” (hello), “ala” (excellent), thumbs up, and eye avoidance. I try to run 5 days each week. I go between 35 and 45 minutes during the work week and an hour to an hour and a half on Saturday and/or Sunday. I run in the morning and my best responders are the taxi drivers who now all know me by sight.
I was buying some summer shoes in the bazaar and three store owners mentioned my running. Linda, Bill, Dorothy, and I got a tour of the boxing and wrestling building because the coach knew about my jogging. It has opened many conversations. It is the fact that I’m old that gets acceptance.
One highlight of my jogging was a particular morning there were 4 men drinking tea in a park by the Central Hospital, and one shouted “America Yaxshi” (America is good), and I yelled backed “Azerbaijan Yaxshi!” Thumbs up all around was next in order.
I run in long baggy nylon pants and tee shirts – very hot this time of the year. Shorts are not worn by men under any conditions. People would gossip and say I am out in my underwear.
Azerbaijanis love flowers. If you stop to admire flowers, the owner will insist on cutting some flowers for you. When we go visiting, often I will come home with flowers that the host has given me. Flowers are given to new mothers, on International Women’s Day, graduation, birthdays, visits, house warming, competitions, sporting events and are placed at memorials and on graves. In the spring, flowers start appearing everywhere. In front of most schools are garden areas where flowers are planted and cared for by students and the maintenance staff. Most houses and many apartment buildings have flowers planted at the entrances. The parks in Shirvan are full of roses, lilies, petunias, daisies and cannas.
The Holly Hocks in the picture are planted in front of our apartment building entrance. Many colors of Holly Hocks (white, shades of pink, red, shades of purple) are planted all over town. The roses I am sitting in front of are planted in a median on a wide street but there are also roses in the parks, at houses and public buildings. There is every color of rose imaginable – from purplish blue to orange. One gas station has a beautiful garden of roses. Multi-color pansies are planted in the 8-point-star planters in the parks. These pansies bloom most of the year. There are also petunias in several colors (solid or striped) all over town. Our area of the country can get very dry but great care is taken to water these flowers.
We have been enjoying strawberries during the last of May and into June. They will not last much longer so while they are available people really eat them and make jams for later. At first they were expensive, but everyone told us to wait until they were about one manet a kilo and then buy. Now cherries are in the market. There are white, red and dark red varieties. The white are the sweetest. We have bought cherries and made a wonderful cherry sauce to put on ice cream or cake. Now the pomegranate trees are blooming. I had never seen a pomegranate tree. The bloom is a small, very bright red flower and the fruit forms at the base of the flower (see picture). The tree is small and bush like. They can grow wild in pastures, fields or around houses. Pomegranates are peeled and eaten or made into a juice. Many houses have grape arbors in the front courtyard. Tables and chairs are put under these arbors and family and friends will sit out in the evening under the arbor. These grape vines must be severely pruned each year or they can get out of control. At this time the arbors are full of leaves and the beginning of grape clusters. Many vegetables are now coming to market – green onions, eggplant, runner beans (green beans), tomatoes, cucumbers, and new potatoes. I have several people who have told me how to cook different vegetables. It seems that Azs have just so many ways they cook a vegetable, fruit, meat, bread and that is it. They teach their daughters how to cook these before they are married. Recipes are not written down but passed along by demonstration and verbally. There are no measuring cups of spoons used in AZ. Girls practice and watch mother/grandmother to know how much of an ingredient to use. All cooking is done from scratch. There are very few prepared foods in the markets or bazaar. (If you find prepared food, it is expensive.) Food preparation takes much time and effort. During the winter months vegetables are brought in fresh from Iran (to the south) but the prices are higher and many families can not afford to buy vegetables out of season.
Now from Denney: Summer is here, but the weather is not too bad yet. Everyone says it will get close to 110 sometime in July or August. We have had a week or so in the 90’s, but now 80’s for awhile. Everything is a little more laid back. We plan to do some traveling in July.
Linda wrote about plants, I will talk about an old man jogging. I get lots of looks, stares, handshakes, “salam” (hello), “ala” (excellent), thumbs up, and eye avoidance. I try to run 5 days each week. I go between 35 and 45 minutes during the work week and an hour to an hour and a half on Saturday and/or Sunday. I run in the morning and my best responders are the taxi drivers who now all know me by sight.
I was buying some summer shoes in the bazaar and three store owners mentioned my running. Linda, Bill, Dorothy, and I got a tour of the boxing and wrestling building because the coach knew about my jogging. It has opened many conversations. It is the fact that I’m old that gets acceptance.
One highlight of my jogging was a particular morning there were 4 men drinking tea in a park by the Central Hospital, and one shouted “America Yaxshi” (America is good), and I yelled backed “Azerbaijan Yaxshi!” Thumbs up all around was next in order.
I run in long baggy nylon pants and tee shirts – very hot this time of the year. Shorts are not worn by men under any conditions. People would gossip and say I am out in my underwear.
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