under the pecan tree

a spring day

2012-02-05T10:51:00.000+02:00

Cyclamen in the forest

almond blossom

happy Helen enjoying a ride on my husbands back after walking quite a bit...

January was a very rainy month- 29 days with rain! According to the newspaper a record. This weekend was finally dry and sunny and we went yesterday for a nice walk to enjoy the sunshine, flowers, the water and mud :o)

Although this is Israeli winter it still feels like spring to me.

It will be a bit weird to fly to freezing and snow-covered Europe after this, but we look very much forward to those few days with my family, in the mountains, in the snow…

all those anemones look almost fake ...

muddy mud :-)

some paper stuff

2012-01-30T08:25:00.000+02:00

We will soon fly to Switzerland. To make the trip shorter, keep the girls a bit occupied and get them something to remember the holidays I usually make them small journals. I print some pages- colouring pages and other things- and also leave many pages just empty. The girls can draw or glue things inside (post cards, train tickets....)- this time I also want to make some kind of diary with Neomi and write down with her, what we did and what she liked- we'll see how she will cooperate.
I usually just fold the pages in half, sew them together in the middle and sew them to the cover.

Another thing I made last week and ever since Neomi wants to play all the time: pantomime cards. I printed cards with all kinds of different things. One needs to take a card and pantomime- the others need to figure out what is on the card. I took only quite simple things for the beginning.

kids thoughts

2012-01-26T09:09:00.001+02:00

I should write down more of my older daughters questions… I just love how kids think.

"Are there also blood and bones in hair?"

"Do thieves also have blood?"

(yeah- she is in a stage of much interest in the human body)

"How do babies breathe when they are still inside the belly?"

Or the other day- when she built a "cloud-factory" with her wooden blocks:

There was some kind of kitchen from where the steam went into a chimney and then the clouds flew into the sky. Some clouds were to heavy to fly and they died, so they were collected in the cloud-graveyard… I could not have come up with something like this…

What I laugh most about right now is her love for a song, she always wants me to play on you-tube. She requests "the song with the boots" (those boots are made for walking) from "Nancy Senator" (Nancy Sinatra)… best part is: She will put on my boots and dances to the song. She knows by now quite good what kind of steps and moves to do because she watched the video over and over….

It would be worth to make more notes… like this I just keep forgetting most of those things…

Do you keep notes from your kids questions, ideas…?

stamps

2012-01-24T10:04:00.001+02:00

Rainy and cold days…

Poor Neomi wanted to go to her favorite boy from kindergarten to play- but he changed his mind and invited someone else. Then I told her to invite another friend to our home and one of her best friends wanted to come but changed her mind too later on. Neomi was very sad and it just breaks my heart to see her like this. I went through situations like this many times as a girl … and I also know it's part of being a kid, part of growing up… but it still is hard. In the end we agreed on doing something with gouache at home.

I gave the girls all kinds of items to try stamping with. Lego, pieces of plastic pipes, cinnamon sticks, cork, lids….

For a while they were occupied and we had after all a nice "after-daycare-time".

more nuts

2012-01-22T15:04:00.002+02:00

Yesterday was a nice, sunny day and we got down some more nuts from our tree.... I don't know how many kilos we already have- more than 4 large buckets full....
My husband climbed on the small roof over the entrance and tried to get down as many nuts as possible- the girls loved the "nut-rain" and collected them.
Now we just need to crack them all.
Yesterday I made a chocolate-pecan-cake and more nuts-baking will follow.
Today we are back to rainy and cold weather...

are there some more???

pizza, please

2012-01-20T18:24:00.000+02:00

Something I wanted to do for a while. Some days ago my husband brought some felt home and I could start making the toy-pizza for the girls. So far I managed one dough with one pepper, one cheese and two mushrooms. I want to do some more. Some two years ago I made felt-vegetables for Neomi and the girls play a lot with them (the cats too... unfortunately...)
Maybe in our holidays in Switzerland I will manage to make some more.

ein avdat

2012-01-11T10:12:00.000+02:00

down nahal havarim

Nahal Havarim/ Ein Avdat- that was another very nice hike- especially Ein Avdat- a nature reserve/ oasis with beautiful water pools on different platforms, trees- even a small forest and animals (well- we saw only eagles and birds- but on quiet days there should also be ibex). The last climb was a bit of a challenge to me- quite steep, narrow stairs- cut out of the rock- and ladders… I have a bit of a problem with heights and very steep places and now while pregnant I am also getting very fast out of breath. Neomi though loved it and climbed together with my father without any problem.

the lower pools in ein avdat

looking down to the upper pools of ein avdat while climbing up the steep canyon walls

my husband and Helen while climbing up

the Ramon Crater- view in the evening from Mitzpe Ramon

ein saharonim

2012-01-11T10:01:00.003+02:00

Ein Saharonim- a very old khan (caravanserai)- about 2000 years old from the time of the Nabateans. The khan was one of many stop-overs on the spice route. I did not take many pictures… but I like places like this and Neomi was very interested too- she had to enter every "room" and we imagined who/ what had been there. There are the remains of an old cooking-oven, stairs and even bath-tubs (probably added by the Romans on a later date). There's another, much bigger place- Avdat- more to the north but we did not have time to go and visit- something to do next time.

wadi nikarot

2012-01-11T09:56:00.002+02:00

the beginning of the wadi

Wadi "Nikarot"- the "Grotto Wadi"- This is the wadi that drains all the water from the Ramon Crater (in case there is rain…) and it is the only natural water resource in the crater. It's a nice loop-walk and the kids enjoyed the many small stones (why can't we just collect about EVERY nice stone we see and take them home???) and we saw a group of ibex (desert goat) and some kind of wild chicken (I have no idea how they are called).
There should also be some wild donkeys in this area but we saw none of them.
There are some small grottos towards the end of the wadi where we ate our lunch. The good thing about going to the desert at this time of the year- it is not burning hot- it was even chilly in the shadow.

the dry riverbed- only a few puddles of water are to be seen

my parents near the end of the waddi where the grottos are

a desert weekend

2012-01-10T08:01:00.000+02:00

the woven fabric of the roof of the tent

We spent the weekend in the south of Israel. First I did not feel much like going, but I did not wanted to spoil the fun… anyway it was not realistic to just lie on the sofa with a thick blanket, a good book and a hot cacao ;-)

So we and my parents drove the 3 hours to the "Machtesh Ramon"- the Ramon Crater. When the landscape started to change from juicy green to desert sand and stone and the evening sun let everything glow in warm yellows, oranges and reds I knew it will be a nice weekend.

We spent two nights in a Bedouin tent. The nights were freezing- no surprise since the nights in the desert are always cold and in the beginning of January even more. There was ice in the mornings but we slept quite cozy and warm under our blankets and sleeping bags.

During the day we went hiking- more pictures later- and the rest we spent in the Bedouin camp near the warm fire with hot, sweet tea…it was a perfect break.

traditional embroidery

sleep well, my little one...

new food blog discoveries

2012-01-02T12:14:00.002+02:00

Since I am back on track with cooking I am hunting for new recipes and new ideas for our dinners (that's the meal we all enjoy together while during the day we all eat at work or in the daycare/ kindergarten).

I made some new food-blog-discoveries and want to share some with you- hopefully they will also inspire you!

A mini chicken pot from sundaysuppers

A roasted tomate tart from Canelle et Vanille

A special ice cream from seven spoons

And last but not least: pears in wine from b comme bon.

rainy end of the year

2012-01-01T10:48:00.000+02:00

A rainy end of the old year... we had to cancel a planed hike and went instead for a walk inside the Kibbutz. The girls had fun walking and jumping through the puddles, dressed in their "rain-and-mud-gear". It's hard to find raincoats and mudpants for kids in Israel- the kids walk around with umbrellas which is so uncomfortable.
Luckily my parents always supply us with those things from Switzerland.

The new year started as usual- we slept through midnight and went to work and daycare in the morning like on any other day... Israel must be one of the few places in the world where the New Year is not celebrated... there are parties but there are no official celebrations and no days off...

I wish you all a wonderful 2012, with good health, peace and lots of time to be creative and spend with your families!

ready to celebrate

2011-12-28T11:53:00.001+02:00

Ready to celebrate Christmas with my parents this evening. The tree is decorated, the presents wrapped- only the food still needs to be prepared and the table set...

The wooden figures I bought on etsy got their place on our olive-christmas-tree. The girls love them too.

I discovered some new, wonderful food-blogs (yes- I am very much into food again... wish I would have more time to actually try new things...)- I will share some links with you some time soon.

holiday craft

2011-12-27T08:27:00.000+02:00

Fitting to both holidays- Hanukkah and Christmas- we made some colourful lights. It's something I used to do when I was a kid and when Neomi saw a picture here I decided to go for it. We used wheatpaste a glue- would probably have been better with the glue "lilla a" used, since bothe girls got annoyed after a while because of their sticky fingers :-)

tear thinpaper in small pieces

glue them to the glasses

after a while Helen prefered to glue them on paper... why not...

happy Christmukka

Hannukah

2011-12-27T08:11:00.001+02:00

Today is the last day of Hanukkah- the festival of lights. I had enough of all those celebrations- especially since this year it is at the exactly same time as Christmas. Anyway- what I always like is the evening with the fire-show. The youngsters from the kibbutz prepare everything by themselves and everyone is comming to take a look. All the kids have lanterns and it is a nice atmosphere. Afterwards there was a soup-dinner in the dining room where there are typical decorations of paper cuts that look very nice- see below.

We also celebrated Christmas with the other Christian-Jewish families of the kibbutz... we are getting more every year (more kids, that is :o)
We went for a walk in the dark in search of Santa, found a decorated tree in the fields and met Santa. Later we hade some good hot wine and various cakes and the kids opened presents and we played games.
At home we will celebrate with a delay tomorrow because my parents will arrive today for a visit. I am already looking forward to meet them again!

nuts

2011-12-24T13:18:00.002+02:00

IN the middle of all the Christmas and Hannukah celebrations we found time to finally clear our garden from the huge piles of leaves and collect the last nuts that keep falling down.

We have enough nuts for the whole year- to bake bread and cakes and cookies... and to just eat like this.

Some more on our Hannukah and Christmas celebrations later on.

comenting problems

2011-12-20T14:31:00.000+02:00

No- there's no snow here... I just long for snow and posted a picture from one of our visits to my parents when there as a lot of snow... this was how the back-jard looked in the early morning... it was so beautiful...
And my parents and sisters send me now pictures of snow and write about snow walks and going out with the sledge... it's not fair...

Apart from this I am getting more and more annoyed about a problem I have with comenting on other blogs. Since months I am trying to solve this. If I open the blogs with google chrome, there's no problem- if I do the same with explorer, I can't coment with my profile on most blogs (if they have pop-up windows it's working)... and I don't have google chrome available all the time... maybe one of you knows what to do...

another week passed

2011-12-18T09:27:00.003+02:00

I survived a week alone with the girls while my husband was in the States. Although still tired a lot, I feel so much better now. My husband came back and spoiled us rotten with presents. He bought new shoes and jeans for the girls and for me and him new jackets, I got a new pullover.... and the girls each a new "pet"- Helen the above cameleon (she's not going anywhere without him now) and Neomi a fish (Nemo).... prices must be soooo low in the States now with all those sales and extra sales and discounts...

All those things would have cost here much more.

It's kind of snowing in our garden... not snow, but yellow leaves from the pecan tree. We made huge piles of leaves and jumped into them... it's so much fun!
And we made fresh orange juice...

The Christmas-present for the girl also took shape over the weekend. It's not finished yet- still some things missing. My husband started to build the stable. That's how it looks so far:

Since we will celebrate Christmas only on the 28th (my parents will arrive on the 27th) we still have a bit time to finish.

back to food...

2011-12-13T13:14:00.001+02:00

It's great- I can think about food again! After almost 2 months... I can finally read food blogs again, think about cooking, open the fridge, go grocery shopping WITHOUT feeling sick! How great is this?

So to celebrate with you- here some nice links:

Love the wintersalad above- although I can't get all ingredients here. From foto e fornelli (German and Italian)

Mmm... some salmon would be nice too- with latkes (a kind of potato pancake... typically for the Jewish Hannuka-holiday that is comming up next week)- from Chili und Ciabatta (German only)

I love apple tarts- but this one is a special version with apple compote and it looks so wonderful.... from tartelette.

And this way of making french toast is just perfect for this time of the year! From Sweet Paul.

Apart from all this I have strange carvings- which I did not have during the other two pregnancies... sauerkraut with sausages, red cabage with apples, anything sour and good meat (even though I don't eat much meat generally... and I could even live without).

Bon Appetit- or as we say in Swissgerman: E Guete!

the season of the citrus fruits

2011-12-12T14:01:00.000+02:00

Saturday was beautiful weather- like most days now. Cold (for Israel), but lovely, clean air and strong colours. I love the yellow leafes against the blue sky (not all trees here lose their leafes).We went for a walk inside the Kibbutz and picked some oranges and kumquats and red grapefruits. Of course from trees we know we are allowed to pick from- I hate when people just sneak into privat/ half privat gardens and pick everything... same with our pecan nuts- some people think they can just come and collect all the nuts from the ground in our garden!
I even managed to make a small amount of kumquat-jam. I love the bitter-sweet taste of it.

The girls went on their tractor-tour and climbed every tractor they saw... and later they played in the first heap of fallen leafes in our garden.

This week my husband is in the States and I am home alone with the girls. Thank God I feel better and manage to cook. I trick the girls into going to sleep early- otherwise I would fall asleep before they do...

second birthday

2011-12-12T07:57:00.001+02:00

On Friday we celebrated Helen's second birthday. Such a big girl already! Already since weeks she was all excited about her big day. We made a small celebration at home with one set of grandparents. But presents also came from Switzerland. Here two handmade things:

A paper cut card from my mother- I will frame it and hang it in Helen's room.

My sister Sara (she's Helen's godmother) made a lovely towel with a whale (a bit wrinkled from the package...).

I finally also manage dto finish the christmas-presents for my sisters and their families and sent the package yesterday. For my niece I made a small wooden elephant as part of her present.

a december-walk

2011-12-05T07:52:00.001+02:00

It is quite cold since weeks (cold in Israel means around 8 degrees Celsius in the mornings) and dry... But since rain came early this year we have already quite green fields. On Saturday we went for a walk through the fields with the kids. The first flowers are out- I especially like the wild growing daffodils.

I feel a bit better these days...
Right now I could live on hot cacao, gingerbread (Yes- I managed to bake gingerbread... now I should get started with the christmas-cookies) and good dark bread with avocado...

Have a wonderful day!

advent

2011-12-02T17:47:00.001+02:00

December started. I even managed to hang the advent-calender with all the small presents. This year the presents are mostly books (not new one, but with stories for this time of the year) and creative stuff.

Yesterday someone in my office cut a lot of paper and I took all the left over stripes and I taught Neomi how to weave. She was not very patience but she managed a small piece. Next time will be easier.

Today there were feathers in all kinds of colours inside the calendar and we made some collages with them and with paper. The girls really enjoyed it and they were occupied for quite a while. Some of the collages we will leave at the windows- they look nice when light shines through.

( I put some plastic sheet that is sticky on one side on the windows, the girls stuck the feathers and paper on the sheets and then I covered the collages with another sheet)

Have a happy weekend!

a birthday present

2011-11-24T13:05:00.001+02:00

Helen's birthday is only in two weeks but to my own surprise I already managed to finish her present- a small bag where she can put her stuff for the day-care. It was the first time I did such a bag and there are a few minor things I would change next time- but I am happy with the result. The outer fabric is from an old cushion cover, the lining is from new fabric. The pattern I made (as almost always) myself.

I made the bias tape myself- also my first try. I used this tutorial and it is much easier than I though! Try it!

The inside of the bag- with another elephant and Helen's name.

I am at home- not only feeling sick because of the pregnancy but now also with a cold... so most of the day I am lying on the sofa, drinking tea...

marble art

2011-11-18T16:15:00.001+02:00

Today after lunch I felt well enough to make something creative with the girls.
We laid some paper on the bottom of an empty shoe-box and an old baking-tray. Then we dropped a few drops of colour onto the paper and added a marble or two and let the marbles travel forth and back over the paper and leave their colourful marks.
Of course Helen very fast just wanted to paint with her fingers :o)
But Neomi and I made some nice pieces of art...

etsy love

2011-11-17T14:24:00.001+02:00

Ah well... I bought some more things on etsy today. There are just too many beautyful things to find there. I can't post pictures since some of the things will be gifts for Christmas.
Of course I would have loved to make some gifts myself (and some I hopefully will manage to make if I hopefully will feel well soon....). But then I won't manage everything. And since I prefer unique and handmade gifts- etsy is the perfect place. Even if the prices are sometimes a bit high for my budget (especially the shipping to Israel)...

Here some few new found treasures...

lovely arm warmers from homelab

sweet slippers from hydraheart

once again beautiful yarn from magnolia handspun

a dream... from peppermint pinwheels

Gorgeous mittens from ForMyDarling

would love to buy two of those reversible huts from my daugters... from Adrene Sews

Well- I am soon starting my weekend. It will be a hard evening since my husband is comming home very late (how the hell am I going to cook....?).

the reason...

2011-11-13T13:24:00.001+02:00

Okay- I guess I finally owe you some explanation why I hardly post anything anymore in the last weeks.

Well- I am 11 weeks pregnant... and since 5 weeks I just feel terrible- mostly towards the evening. In the mornings I feel quite okay so I can go to work without any problems. After work I take the girls from the daycare and I just have no energy and I feel sick, sometimes even have to throw up....

So, well.... no time for the girls, for my husband, for doing anything in the house, for being creative.

My grateful-list has since weeks only one thing on it: my husband. He comes home after work and takes care of the girls, cooks, cleans and needs to spend the evenings all by himself because at eight I am asleep- together with the girls.

I hope that this won't last much longer and I will have time again to spend with the girls and my husband, to cook and be creative, to write posts and prepare things for Christmas and most of all- to finally look forward to this 3rd child.

Have a nice Sunday.

pyramid beanbags

2011-11-04T08:10:00.001+02:00

Yesterday my niece turned 1. Unfortunately we could not celebrate with her... she's too far away. But I sent her a present. I made small pyramid beanbags for her. They are quite easy to make and look so much more fun than normal ones. Last Christmas I made beanbags for my girls- but normal ones (read here)- now they want pyramid beanbags too...
I used the this tutorial.

I also covered a shoe-box with vintage paper- an old map from Budapest and paper from an old, broken kids-book. Like this my niece already has a place to store the beanbags.

The colder season arrived to Israel now too... Yesterday we had heavy rain and today is a beautiful day with fresh air and lovely sunshine. The house is getting cold and we will have to dig out the heaters from the storage.

Have a nice weekend!

something for Chrsitmas

2011-11-03T08:47:00.001+02:00

It's only the beginning of November... but I already ordered some ornaments for the Christmastree and they arrived yesterday. Lovely, small, wooden figures to hang on our Christmas-Olivetree this year. When I was a kid we used to have similar ones and I always wanted some too. I found them on the etsy shop of ismoyo.

In the afternoon yesterday I sat with the girls on the sofa and we unwrapped those small treasures... it was a bit of a magical moment. Of course Helen thought that she can play with them and I had to disapont her.

printing

2011-10-28T17:52:00.000+02:00

Yes, I am still alive... not quite myself though in the last days/ weeks. I will write a longer post about this sometime next week if I will get to it.

Here with a delay what we did last Friday. I printed with Neomi. I got the idea from another blog- but again I forgot from where. I should make better notes.
It was a fun activity and we could hardly stop making prints. I guess the pictures show quite good how we did it.

we used an old baking tray and gouache colours, spread the colours on the tray

With a cotton-ear-cleaning-thing we drew shapes, patterns into the colour- then but a paper on top, pressed it flat and removed it.

hanging to dry...

some creative fun

2011-10-19T09:07:00.000+02:00

While in Switzerland I found some foam rubber sheets (I guess that's how you call them- in German the material is called Moosgummi). I cut them into shapes and the girls could "glue" them with some water to the window. I saw this idea on another blog but just can't remember where exactly. It is a very nice activity and the shapes are also easy to take down and they leave no marks. You could also use them on the bathroom tiles for some fun during bath-time.

handmade wedding items

2011-10-18T09:00:00.000+02:00

The wedding of my sister was on a beautiful day and it was a very nice celebration. Weddings in Switzerland start usually shortly after lunch time with the ceremony in the church, with an "apéro" (snacks and drinks) right afterwards for everyone who came to the church and later on the ones invited for the wedding party will usually move on to a restaurant/ hall/ private place to celebrate and eat dinner.

Here I want to show you some of the handmade items. I will show you the dresses I made for the girls later- hopefully I will find a good picture somewhere.

The beautiful bouquet my sister had (made by one of her friends sister)
I had similar colours and flowers in my bouquet when I got married.

The flowers they had on the car- Just loved the colours! (made by the same one as above)

The brooche I wore- bought on etsy from this shop.

The idea was mine, but my mother and middle sister sew the papergarlands...
must have been a lot of work! The lamps are from IKEA, attached to simple light bulb strings.

My mother and I sew all the napkins, I ordered the wooden buttons on etsy (here) and I stamped also the name signs.

My small sister (the one that got married) and her husband made the wooden signs and painted them black- my middle sister wrote the menue on all of them- she has a beautiful handwriting.

And- although not handmade- the bride's shoes.

Luzern

2011-10-15T14:49:00.002+02:00

Ah well... I have had so little time during the last week to do anything. I am very often tired and now I once again have an annoying cold.
But finally I got to sort out some pictures of our time in Switzerland. Here some from Lucerne.
My sister and her husband got married civilly there. It was a very short trip. We just walked from the train-station to the city-hall and went back to the train afterwards. I visited Lucerne a few times in the past and I wished we could have walked around a bit more. To enjoy the beautiful old houses, the beautiful weather, the lake... well- maybe another time.

I very much hope that I will have the power and time to post more often again and to visit other blogs.

Have a wonderful weekend!

my story- part 3

2011-10-06T13:45:00.000+02:00

Yes- I am still alive. We were in Swizterland for two weeks and I did not spend even a second in front of the computer... I simply did not find the time for this.

Actually I wanted to post this last part of my story last week on our wedding anniversary. My husband and I went for a very nice walk in the mountains to celebrate the occasion.

Now I am back with loads of pictures to sort and loads of missed posts to read.

Here the 3rd and last part of my story:

I remember this first morning of work. I put on my working clothes and shoes, waited on the side of the road for a friend of mine who worked (and still works) in the avocado-orchard to pick me up. It was early- probably shortly before six, still a bit dark.

The van came, I got in and said good-morning to my friend and to the other guy- Or- sitting next to him in the front. I did not meet this other guy the two times I was in the Kibbutz before but I could tell that he was an "old" member of the "avocado-team".

After the usual black coffee and cookies we drove out to the orchard to pick avocados from some small trees. Since they were small you had to pick the fruits from the ground- without machines and it gave me plenty of time to chat with this "new" guy I never met before. Turned out that he was still in the army the first time I came and travelling in New Zealand and Australia the second time.

Yes- it was somehow love at first sight from my side :o)

After a few days I had to admit to myself that I was madly in love with Or.

After two weeks we started to meet after work to watch movies or to work for the Purim-party that was coming up.

After one month we were a couple and a week after I basically moved in with him. Everything went quite fast but of course if you work together you have plenty of time to get to know each other.

Me and Or in the desert- Spring 2003- shortly before I had to go back to Switzerland.

I stayed a bit longer than planed and then had to go back to Switzerland to sort things out. I looked for a job for the summer and Or came to visit for one month. I was very close to ask him already then if he would want to marry me. I just knew that he's THE guy. But I was also realistic enough to see, that it won't be that easy and that I would have to try first if I could really just leave Switzerland and live in Israel. Switzerland was not an option. Or did not have any profession yet and had to go and study first. He could not have worked in Switzerland and would not have got a visa. I on the other hand had a profession (although I can't really work as a teacher in Israel.) and I was able to get a working-visa for Israel if we could proof that we are a couple and live together.

So in October 2003 I moved to Israel.

I did not think in depth what it would mean. I was in love.

The beginning was hard. It was suddenly not just holidays anymore- it was real-life. I could not work in the beginning, I did not understand the language (only the very basic), I could not read and write (although I already knew the Hebrew alphabet- but Hebrew is quite different from German or French or English….), I missed my family and my friends, I often felt lonely.

But I started get over it. I started to work again in the Avocado-orchard after a while. I started to understand more Hebrew and later on learned the language better in a course (ulpan). I started to adjust. And I stayed.

In September 2005 we got married in Switzerland.

Things got easier. The language is not a problem anymore- although I am reading slow and writing is still a hard task but I get by. I made new friends.

Some things are still hard- I still miss my family and it hurts many times that I can't share my life with them. Especially that they can't see my daughters very often and it's also hard for me not to see my niece…. It's hard to think about the future- if something will happen to my parents or if they simply get old and I can't be there to help.

In my mind I am still not here for good- I did not yet give up the option of going back to Switzerland… only the chance is shrinking with every year that passes. I also have roots here now and for the kids the Kibbutz is a paradise.

2011

my story- part 2

2011-09-20T08:54:00.000+03:00

I did not know much about the Kibbutz I was going to stay. It was not easy to find a Kibbutz from Switzerland. It was still somehow a rather pre-internet-age. I found phone-numbers, few e-mails and only one good homepage. This one homepage was from the Kibbutz I live now and that's the only reason I chose it- I simply had no other Kibbutz that replied in any way.

I knew that they had avocado-orchards and I did not have a real idea of how an avocado looks, tastes and how exactly it grows- but the first thing I told the volunteer-leader, was that I want to work there. She laughed and told me that I would have to start in the dining-room like everyone else. So I washed dishes for 2 weeks until I indeed was scheduled to work in the avocado-orchard- and there I stayed. Lucky me. It is hard physical work. To pick when it rains and when it is cold, to cut branches, to fix the irrigation-system, to work in the heat… but I loved it. I loved to work on the machine, to drive a tractor, to work with the small team of mostly kibbutzniks and a few (ever changing) volunteers. It was so much better than work in the soap-factory or dining-room…

me on a tractor with a container full of avocados

Volunteer-life was easy. You had to work, but besides this you were free. I met many young people from all over the world. I improved the basic English I learned in school. I made many friends- with some of them I am still in contact. I got to know new kinds of food, new cultures, new ways of thinking….

Months went by, winter went by and the moment came I had to go back to Switzerland. I really did not want to go back. I hated the thought of going back to study in the teacher's college. I had other things in mind. But my father brought me to reason. He told me that I have to come back and finish my studies. Well- and I did. (Today I am grateful I did listen to him and finished my studies even though those were the most terrible 3 years in my life…).

I finished my studies, worked a bit in different jobs and in the end of 2000 I went back to the Kibbutz. I wanted to spend another winter in the avocado orchard. Unfortunately they did not have any work and so I ended up making cheese for 2 months until I again could go and work in the orchards. Again I made new friends. Again I went home…

… only to come back in the beginning of 2003 after a trip to New Zealand. It was supposed to be my last trip. To enjoy a last time the freedoms of volunteer-life. And then to go back to Switzerland and settle down- get a steady job. The moment I got to the Kibbutz I knew that it would not be like the times before. I felt that I was now too old for this- with all those young volunteers. I had a few days before starting to work and I even thought about going back to Switzerland immediately. But I thought that things will change as soon as I could work again in the avocado-orchard.

And they did.

Part 1 of my story you can read here.

Part 3 will follow next week.

a morning at the beach

2011-09-18T10:47:00.001+03:00

Yesterday we started early and went to the beach. It takes maybe half an hour by car to get there but still it was only our 2^nd time this summer. For a long time there were too many jelly fishes and then it was too hot… Now I promised myself that we will go more often until it will be too cold.

The girls so much enjoy to be in the water, to feel the waves, to look for fishes, to dig in the sand… We all enjoyed it very much. I just don't like the sticky feeling from the salt water afterwards and the sand everywhere…

We usually go to a beach that is part of a nice nature reserve. It's nice in the winter there too- to sit on the rocks in the southern part and watch the waves and in spring there are many beautiful flowers everywhere.

After a fun morning we went to eat in "paradise" on our way home. Faradis (Arabic for paradise) is an Arabic town and we love to eat there fresh humus (chickpea-paste), labane (thick yoghurt), falafel and pita.

A perfect morning! :o)

my story- part 1

2011-09-15T13:20:00.002+03:00

How it came to be that I live in Israel.

I thought after one year of blogging I should write down my story. Or at least a part of it. I still many times think about how it came to be that I live now in Israel. If it was destiny (is there something like destiny anyway?). How everything started- and well, where exactly did it start?

So let's go to the very start of it:

My parents met in 1974. No- not in Switzerland where they are both from, but in Kibbutz Einat in Israel. They were both volunteers there. My father for the 2^nd time. (the 1^st time he stayed as a volunteer during the war in 1973- 1974- a crazy story by itself.) My mother was in the Kibbutz for the 1^st time -together with her brother.

They actually only started to date when they were both back in Switzerland- but without the stay in the Kibbutz they most probably never would have met, since both are coming from different places in Switzerland.

In April 1976 they went back to the Kibbutz together and stayed there until December 1976. In January 1977 they got married and in March I was born. You can do the math yourself.

When I was 2 my parents took me for a trip to Israel and the Sinai (today Egypt- at that time Israel) to visit friends and to travel. Those are my first memories- probably because they were so unique. My first flight when I received postcards, colour pencils and colouring books from the flight attendant (I treasured them for years and at least the postcards still exist now after 32 years.). Playing with the kids of my parents friends. Staying in the children's house.

A scanned picture of me in the Sinai desert 1979 and..

... in the children's house in Kibbutz Einat

So Israel was always present. Looking at old pictures and movies, hearing stories from my parents.

Through the stories from the bible also a historical part came alive and when I got older I got more interested in the story of the Jewish people. I read a lot of books and I always seemed to bump into something new connected to the Jewish people or Israel.

When I was 15 or 16 my parents thought about going for summer-holidays to Israel and I got real excited- and then terribly disappointed when they chose to travel with us to Scandinavia (Norway). (Despite my first resentment I fell in love with Scandinavia and re-visited many times afterwards! I would love to go again one day.)

So when during my studies at the teacher's college we had to go and work for half a year in a "non-social-profession", I chose to take the chance and go to work in a Kibbutz. To see for myself how life is there. To experience everything for myself…

In December 1998 I packed my backpack and boarded the train in Basel. Together with another student who wanted to go to Israel too- just to another Kibbutz- I started my journey on land and water. I did not want to take the plane. I wanted to travel slow as my parents did (okay- not that slow- they choose even longer routes- through Austria and Yugoslavia and all kinds of Greek islands…) and like the people before, during and after the 2^nd World War.

We took the train from Basel to Milan to Brindisi (Italy), the ferry to Patras (Greece), the train to Athens and the ferry via Rhodes and Limassol (Cyprus) to Haifa- Israel.

*****************************************************************
(All my pictures are still at my parent's place in Switzerland... so I have no more picturs to post...)

Part 2 will follow next week.

Have a nice day!

on the earth piles

2011-09-12T12:21:00.000+03:00

Yesterday after the day-care I went with the girls to the earth piles on the edge of the kibbutz. Altough it was hot and humid we had a fun time and it was much better than staying at home. They baked some earth-cakes, digged and made small hills and jumped from the piles.

"I am warm...."

tape and crayons

2011-09-12T12:01:00.000+03:00

I am a bit in delay with posting... Last week we did some art work. I was inspired by this nice blog and this post! (Take a look- there are wonderful projects!). So I remembered the special cardboard I still have hidden in our storage room. We stuck tape to the board (and table and chair...) and started to draw. Helen was not very interested- she thought it more fun to take out all the crayons and colourpencils and sort them. Neomi made a frame with the tape and filled the whole boards with nice colours...

sticking the tape onto the cardboard

And after we took down the tape (was very easy on this kid of cardboard) we admired the clean lines that were left. We covered the best drawings with contact paper in order not to smudge the colours.

gratitude list

2011-09-11T10:29:00.000+03:00

I guess most of us remember well where we were on this day 10 years ago. Although many ugly/ cruel/ terrible things happen all the time, the terror attack on the twin towers will be burned into my mind forever. I was sitting in the office (I worked for the Railways in Switzerland at this time) when I heared about the first plane crashing into the first tower. We turned up the volume of the radio and heared live how the secon plane crashed. I immediately knew that this was terror attack. I just knew. Luckily I did not have a TV- the pictures in the newspaper were terrible enough...

So while remembering this terrible day I think it is in the same time good to make another gratitude-list... to enjoy and be grateful for the small, good things in our life...

Nature:

- A fresh breeze on a hot day

- A red dragon-fly on a rock beside the pool

- The many stars on the dark sky

- A chameleon in the garden- what an amazing animal!

- Leaves turning yellow

Family:

- Sitting in front of the computer with Helen half asleep on my lap, snuggled tightly against me.

- Playing football (soccer) with Neomi

- Taking the girls out for a bike ride in their bike-trolley.

- After-shower-time with the girls, lying on the bed and laughing and giggling…

Food:

- Dark Lindt-chocolate

- Fresh passion-fruits (our fridge is full of them…)

- Cold water with a bit fresh lime-juice and peppermint-leaves

- Olives

Others:

- Soap-bubbles

- Dreaming together with my husband about our future house (well…. One day…)

- An evening with good friends

tuesday's handmade

2011-09-06T09:43:00.002+03:00

Is autumn approaching? Do I long for colder days? I guess so... Here some adorable handmade caps for kids.

from sweetpeatoadtots

from zoik

from TheMeasure

and by the way- I ordered this wonderful hairclip from DFinn from this post.

I just hope it will arrive before we will fly to Switzerland... I ordered a bit late...

the stables

2011-09-02T14:35:00.000+03:00

well... only the horses are missing on the pictures.... we are spending more time again at the stables. The girls like it and it is a nice green place.

Have a nice weekend!

we are on strike...

2011-08-31T23:34:00.002+03:00

Yes.... officially she should have started Kindergarten tomorrow. But there's a problem.... so all the kids, who are in the kindergarten in the Kibbutz will be on strike from tomorrow on. A decision we parents made this evening... so at least for tomorrow we will have to improvise and find a solution on who and when to be with Neomi at home... and how to explain this to her... and hopefully, hopefully a solution will be found fast and the kids can go (back) to kindergarten and get their good kibbutz-based education! Anyone who has some influence with the education-ministry or education system in Israel is most welcome to help! :o)

a new blog discovery

2011-08-29T13:38:00.001+03:00

I discovered the blog "lilla a". If you love crafting with kids- go and check it out. For me it is a huge inspiration!

(Now I just need more time to actually do those things with my girls.... can someone tell me where to buy a time-creating-machine?)

(pictures from the blog of "lilla a"!)

a week passed

2011-08-28T12:25:00.000+03:00

Sunday and Monday were the last two days in the day-care for the girls. Tomorrow they will start in their new day-cares... moving up in the age-groups.
So on Tuesday we went to visit friends who live next to the beach- it was a great evening and the girls loved to be inside the warm water and play in the sand.

Since Wednesday I am a bit sick- I have a cold- the most annoying thing to have in the middle of the summer.

We played with light-sticks in the evening.

Neomi wanted to clean the bathroom and scrubbed the place shiny... (I hate our bathroom- can't wait for a new one one day...)

I cut out the pieces for the girl's dresses for the wedding of my sister... well- it should look something like the above in the end. I will have to hurry to get them ready in time.

Neomi and I spent time with our "story-telling-cards"- you need to pick 3-5 cards and tell a story with them. Neomi is getting quite good in it :o)
I made the cards myself- just printed some pictures and glued them on paper. I got the idea from here.

My first ever try with this style of sewing (I guess it is called "free motion sewing, but I am not sure). I like the work of those artist- see here and here and they inspired me. This I made as part of a present for my husband- his birthday is next week.

Doing some more water painting in the heat....

Have a wonderful weekend!

tuesday's handmade

2011-08-23T14:24:00.000+03:00

I am truly addicted to etsy.... Not that I buy too much (for this I would have to get an extra-job to pay for....) but only to look at all those goodies... makes my fingers itchy to be creative, makes me dream...
Here some of my favourites at the moment:

wonderful colour, beautiful flower- from DFinn

another gorgeous colour... from textilemonster

if only the wristwarmes I knitted would look so beautiful.... from Purlsandlvy

Purlsandlvy again... I can't find words...

paint

2011-08-22T14:46:00.000+03:00

Helen is now 1 year and 8 months old. Time is running and sometimes I notice that she get's less attention than Neomi got in her age. This is only normal, I guess, for the second kid. On weekends I usually try to get up with something to do for Neomi while Helen is napping. Crafty stuff, Story telling, playing games… But time only with Helen is rare.

Yesterday I decided to do some stamping with them after the day-care. It was the first time I let Helen take part and experiment with paint… should I have done this earlier? She loves to draw with colour-pencils.

Neomi liked the potato-stamps and other things we used for stamping- but Helen was THRILLED! She loved it and could have gone on and on and on… she didn't want to stop. I had to stop her because I had to prepare dinner and could not supervise her anymore (keep her from licking the paint and painting the chair and table….:o).

I will sure do this again soon.

sad days

2011-08-21T11:37:00.000+03:00

I did not get my hands much on the computer in the last days.
I have the feeling that I am living in a bubble. But still I worry. The situation in israel is not too good- maybe you heared in the news. I am just sick and tired of it. I don't want to give up hope for peace, but it is not easy. I don't want to fall into the trap of hate- it's against my believes and my nature. But the worry can make me sick to the stomach... Please, God....

Whatever- I can't think about it all day- it's not helping and it's not healthy.
So I want to share with you some pictures of the illustrator Colin Jack. I found his blog here and love his caracters! Something to smile :o)

and the winners are...

2011-08-14T14:53:00.000+03:00

Since only three people commented on my give-away all three of them are winners. I guess it is holiday-time and most of you out there are away and taking time off....

Petra, Darcy and Melanie- as soon as I will have your adresses, the pony-tail holders will be on their way!

And I am trying to think about something good to cook for dinner this evening.... I feel like rice with a good sauce...

skirt for my niece

2011-08-12T08:43:00.000+03:00

Today is my niece's birthday-party. She turned 5. I wanted to give her a puzzle but could not find a nice one- only ones with very digital-looking pictures and I like nice drawings. So I made her a skirt. It is partially up-cycled.
I hope she will like it.

If you still want to participate in my give-away you still have a chance until midnight today!

1. blog aniversary and give-away

2011-08-07T10:53:00.001+03:00

Today a year ago I started to blog and a whole new world opened before me. I did start once much earlier but stopped quite fast until I discovered the world of blogs again. There are so many wonderful and inspiring blogs out there... In this year I met virtually many nice people from all around the world.

I prepared a small give away. I have made 3 pairs of pony-tail-holders (of course you could alos use them for other things) for 3 of you.

All you need to do is to leave a comment and which one you would prefer (if possible) and a way to get in contact with you in case you will win.

You can leave comments until next Friday- 12th of August and my girls will draw the winners on Saturday.

wochenrueckblick

2011-08-06T16:12:00.000+03:00

Okay- today I will post loads of pictures. Let's see what we did during the past week...

Playing with paper, puncher, glue...

Playing with the wooden beads- keeping Helen busy for almost ONE hour!!! Filling cups and plates and try to get them on the "pipe-cleaning-thing".

(Wie sagt man Pfeiffenputzer auf Englisch???)

eating water-melon

I got a very nice present from Petra (find her blog here)- thanks, thanks, thanks!!! :o) A cellphone-cover that is matching the bag my mother made for me from a swiss-army-blanket. How absolutely nice is it to get a present from someone you only know through blogging?

And the present came with a card from lovely paper.

eating mango

tons of grapes from the garden... you can step by and get some for free...

story-telling-time

playing with the wooden cubes outside on the porch in the early morning

and last but not least:

a coffee to start the day... :o)

tuesday's handmade

2011-08-02T15:14:00.000+03:00

Some nice handmade things for inspiration and dearming :o)

Lovely hand-dyed twine from CocoaBeans- I just bought some and it is beautiful! There are other colours too.

Beautiful tags from greengrasspress.

This quilt is a dream. I love the soft colours. Made by lovelydesign.

And a wonderful dress made by lightbluegrey. Great fabric and I love the round pocket!

Have a wonderful day!

number-connecting-games

2011-08-01T10:24:00.000+03:00

Neomi knows the numbers up to 10. It's not that someone taught her- she just somehow figured it out from asking and playing. She can recognize all numbers, but can't write them yet.

I remembered a game I liked as a kid. To connect numbers in order to get a picture. I made a few for her and she is begging me every day to make her more. They need to be simple since she knows so far only the numbers up to 10. She also needs to practice a bit more how to connect the numbers with a straight line - she tended to draw all kinds of shapes to connect two numbers :o)

For those of you who have small kids too- I scanned a few of the pictures and you can print them. In addition there is also a coloring picture.

Have fun!

the kid can add the legs and arms himself afterwards

some sewing

2011-07-30T16:13:00.001+03:00

A hot and humid weekend.
Yesterday I finished to sew pants for Helen from left-over fabric that I bought for the napkins. I like very much how they turned out and I think I will also sew another pair for Neomi.

For Neomi I finished an "up-cycled" tunic from bright orange fabric. She did not really wanted to model for a picture but preferred to lay on the sofa outside and eat grapes from the garden... well... :o)

We have tons of grapes. I cut down half of them this morning. They just turn bad so fast and we can't possibly eat that many. We should have taken better care and cut out some grapes...
I worked a bit in the garden this morning, but after only half an hour I was drenched...

octopus

2011-07-23T08:43:00.000+03:00

I finally caught one! :o)

Friday morning I had some time besides baking bread, swimming and grocery shopping. I finished the octopus for the baby of friends. They live close to the sea so I thought this could fit.

I am also sewing napkins for the wedding of my sister- since they are not celebrating in a restaurant we had to choose between paper-napkins or very expensive fabric ones- so I decided to shop for fabric in Tel Aviv and make them myself- after all it is a Swiss wedding with approx. 50 guests for dinner and not an Israeli one with 300 guests...

They are of Seasucker fabric in lemon-green, turquoise, dark purple-blue and raspberry colours. I think it will look very pretty.

Okay- and now we will get ready and go to the swimming-pool.

Have a nice weekend!

in the sports hall

2011-07-16T15:44:00.000+03:00

Since two days I don't feel very well- some kind of stomach-bug is bothering me. But so far today I felt okay. In the morning we took the girls to the sports hall with two of their friends. That's one thing I like about being here- something you could not easily do somewhere else. The sports hall is mainly used theses days for basket ball, table tennis and some festivities. Not much stuff is left, but enough to have some fun with the kids for a while- jumping on the big mattress, playing with balls, running around...
When the summer will be over and the swimming-pool will be closed, we plan to open it regularly on Fridays or Saturdays for the kids for a few hours.

biosphere reserve and gratitude list

2011-07-14T10:50:00.002+03:00

Our area has been chosen as one of the world's biosphere reserves. I copied the following from the UNESCO home page:

Ramot Menashe, Israel. The biosphere reserve encompasses a mosaic of ecological systems that represent the Mediterranean Basin's version of the global “evergreen sclerophyllous forests, woodlands and scrub” ecosystem types. This 17, 000 ha site is managed by the Meggido Regional Council, and was established after an intense, innovative bottom up process, which involved 13 agricultural settlements and 10,000 inhabitants. It comprises the Meggido World Heritage Site and has on going cooperation with the adjacent Mount Carmel Biosphere Reserve. The biosphere reserve functions as a pilot site for sustainable development practices which could be adopted by other dryland biosphere reserves. Several sustainable development practices in this rural area are in place such as drip irrigation with mostly recycled treated wastewater collected from the biosphere reserve's rural settlements, and maintainance of the integrity of the “batha” ecosystems while generating sustainable income derived from a pastoral livelihood.

I really like the area we are living in- although I don't like the hot summers. Some people compare it to Tuscany and I guess there is a bit something to it. Now I hope that being certified as a Biosphere Reserve will help to keep this tiny bit of land as it is and only make improvements.
That is good news for a change.

Maybe is this also a good time for a gratitude list:

Nature:

- A honey-sucker, fluttering between the pink blossom of the oleander
- The cows on the fields in the early morning
- A porcupine sniffing around in our garden

Family:

- To sit under the pecan tree and knit while the girls are playing peacefully in the garden
- Helen holding our new kitten Felix and carrying him to wherever she feels like
- Making paper garlands with Neomi
- Running around between the water sprinklers with Helen- giggling and getting wet
- Doing dishes with my mother and talking (this has always been talking time for us)

Food:

- Juicy apricot pie, still warm from the oven
- Salsiz- a kind of air-dried salami from Switzerland that my parents brought
- Tomatoe-basil-feta-salad

Others:

- Lying in bed, watching the ceiling-vent turning, listening to the sounds of the night from outside (crickets, jackals, someone listening to music…)

Have a beautiful day!

good bye

2011-07-12T10:22:00.001+03:00

We learned to say good-bye. It is not so hard anymore. The sadness is still there every time but we learned how to go on and look forward to the next time we will meet.

My parents went back to Switzerland after spending 10 days with us. Neomi cried- she wanted them to stay. But we will visit them in September.

We went hiking and swimming. We went to eat Falafel and we celebrated Neomis birthday in her daycare. We drunk loads of coffee and enjoyed to be together.

Today I am at home because Neomi is sick. Time to make some order in the house and time to tell stories and make puzzles.

food-links

2011-07-04T11:06:00.000+03:00

My parents came for a visit and so I don't really get to download pictures or write long stories- they will follow later on.
But here some links I wanted to share. Food-links.
In the past year I started more and more to look for new recipes on the net instead of "real" cook- books. There are so many wonderful blogs out there...

from call me cupcake- oh those wonderful cakes and pictures...

(in Swedish and English)

from foto e fornelli- I made this poppy-cherry-cake and it was delicious...

(in Italian and German)

from Matkonation- the one food-blog I follow the longest...great pictures and wonderful recipes.

(in Hebrew and English)

from Tartelette- heavenly, wish I would have the time and ingredients to try all this stuff... (in English)

from smitten kitchen- want to try those pancakes next weekend.

(in English)

And some more:

Wolkenfees Kuechenwerkstatt (German)

Sweet Paul (English)- he has a wonderful online-magazine

Photisserie (German)

Do you have some great food- blogs to share too?

a new old bike

2011-06-28T08:57:00.000+03:00

On Saturday Neomi turned 4. How time is running! How come that as a kid a year seems like an eternity and when you get older a year just seems to get shorter and shorter…

My husband and I fixed an old bike for her. We found the bike and it was still in a good shape- although for sure more than 20 years old. We took it apart, replaced some parts and painted it new. Neomi loves it and she now will have to practice to ride it.
Until now she had one of those wooden "like-a-bike" without pedals- a great bike!

Below one pictue that will for sure be one of my all-times-favourites. Neomi and her friend Noya on the tricycle.

now I can show...

2011-06-27T20:16:00.000+03:00

Some time back I created the wedding- invitation for my little sister. That means I made the picture/ drawing and printed it- after this my sister glued them on nice cards.
I am looking forward to their wedding in September and wish I could be there to help her plan and choose stuff....

homesick

2011-06-23T10:59:00.001+03:00

It's not one of my best days. I am tired and would love to just crawl back into bed and hide under the cover... but I need to work and in the evening I will have to start to bake muffins and brownies for Neomi's birthday party tomorrow (well- maybe this will make me feel better)...

I am a bit homesick. I am usually good in suppressing this feeling. It was really bad when I just moved here and suddenly realised that I am not here for just another visit but for good...

Heimweh...

Heimweh nach frischer, würziger Bergluft,

Heimweh nach weichem Moos unter den nakten Füssen und nach runden Kieselsteinen aus dem Bach.

Heimweh nach Bergen, die sich rosarot verfärben am Ende eines bitterkalten Wintertages.

Heimweh nach grünbedeckten Hügel und darin eingebetteten Bauernhäuser.

Heimweh nach dem Duft von frischem Holz, sonnenerwärmten Tannennadeln und frischgemähtem Heu.

Heimweh nach hochstämmigen Apfel- und Kirschbäumen voller süssen Früchten.

Heimweh nach knisterndem Feuer im Ofen und knarrenden Holztreppen.

Heimweh nach frisch gekochter Hagenbuttenkonfitüre und Hollundergelee.

Heimweh nach stundenlangem Ligretto und Dog spielen.

Heimweh nach warmem Sommerregen und heftigen Sommergewittern.

Heimweh nach Familie und Freunden, nach Schweizerdeutsch.

Heimweh nach wandern in den Bergen, nach Wasserfällen und Alpweiden, nach Glockenblumen, Schlüsselblumen und Margeriten.

Heimweh nach unbeschwerter Kindheit.

Heimweh nach meinem Elternhaus voller Duft nach frischem Zopf, nach frischer Aprikosenwähe, nach frischer Kirschenkonfitüre, nach frischem Sonntagskaffee...

Heimweh nach Kuhglockengebimmel.

Heimweh nach Sonnenstunden am Rhein, nach Zeitung lesen im Cafe.

Heimweh nach Eisenbahn fahren und warten an Bahnhöfen.

Heimweh nach...

another peaceful saturday

2011-06-19T14:52:00.001+03:00

We had another peaceful Saturday. We spent all day outside in the garden- thanks to very nice weather. It is already middle of June and still not unbearable hot- love it!

While the girls played peacefully together I sat under the pecan-tree in the shadow and started a new knitting project- maybe I will manage to finish it until the winter will start. I am such a terribly slow knitter. But the arm-warmers I am knitting are simple to make...

While Helen was napping in the afternoon Neomi and I made paper-garlands for her birthday-party next Friday. I love those moments alone with her.

story magnets

2011-06-17T10:05:00.000+03:00

I got the idea frome here. I would love to have a machine for laminating- but I don't. So I just printed and some images on paper, glued them to a thicker paper and stuck some thin magnets to the back. The magnets I have from all kinds of advertising- and business-magnets like you get them in shops.

I will make some more and then Neomi can play with them on the fridge. Since they are not laminated I won't give them to Helen- she would just tear them apart ina matter of a few seconds...

The nice thing is, that you can combine them anyway you want and invent cartoon-like stories.

I am also workign on story-cards. I found the idea here and thought that I could make some myself.

invitation

2011-06-16T08:56:00.000+03:00

Next week Neomi will turn 4. Time is running and she's already so big. We will make a small party for her- nothing fancy- just some of her friends will come over for cake and playing. I made an invitation even though this would not have been necessary- but I like to make those small things.

gratitude list #2

2011-06-12T09:53:00.000+03:00

My second gratitude list (online)

Nature:

- The big mulberry-tree in the courtyard at work
- Green parrots flying from tree to tree in the morning
- The blossom of a three that is leaving the ground covered with a beautiful,
violet carpet
- A lonely stork, flying circles above my head
- A glowing beetle in the night

Family:

- Lying in the dark beside my husband and teaching him basics in German
- My husband , Neomi and I lying on the sofa in the evening, trying to find
Walter in this book. (Where is Wally or Where is Waldo- in English)
- Helen's fascination of the CD-player- swinging from one leg to the other to
the sound of the music while we have a dance rehearsal
- Collecting pine nuts with Neomi
- Talking to my grandmother on her birthday- wishing to be with her though…

Food:

- The first couple of fresh cherries (terrible expensive this year)
- Lemony minty meatballs from this recipe
- I made my first ever cheesecake and it turned out just perfect

Others:

- Designing and painting the boards for Shavuot
- Reading the book "The help", written by Kathryn Stockett

Have a lovley day!

a movie

2011-06-11T20:33:00.000+03:00

I just found this movie about the old days of our Kibbutz. It is nicely made and shows a lot of aspects of the kibbutz-life. For those of you who are interested...
More about the Kibbutz you can read here:
part 4
part 3
part 2
part 1

shavuot

2011-06-10T17:51:00.000+03:00

So we had a nice shavuot holiday. The girls had fun seeing all their friends. Lot's of people cameto the festivities. There were songs and music and the harvest of the year was presented- mostly symbolic. Every year also the new born babies are presented with their parents and siblings. This past year there were 20 new babies born in our Kibbutz- that's a lot for such a small place.

I am in the middle with the black skirt- in the background you can see the boards I painted

The same place in 1944

There were dances-part of it you can see below and to compare with the same place about 70 years ago. The stone pillars are still standing but everything around is now so green and full of trees and bushes and houses. The story of Ruth from the bible is traditionally told on Shavuot- Neomi knows all the details :o) A few years ago the Kibbutz made a show with the story of Ruth- 70 years ago they made the same- My husbands grandfather played the part of Boaz.

The same place in 1944- my husband's grandfather playing the part of Boaz.

accessories for the holiday

2011-06-09T09:59:00.001+03:00

Shavuot- the harvest holiday- is over and I will write more about it tomorrow.
For now just some pictures of the accessories I made for the girls:

Pony-tail-holders for Neomi with some of the white fabric that was left from the dress.

Wreaths- I made them last year. The girls usually have wreaths with flowers, leaves or other stuff.

2011-06-05T20:26:00.001+03:00

Only a short post before I will leave for the dance rehearsal. I finished to paint the boards for the stage with the "7 kinds of crop"- wheat, barley, fig, grape, granade, olive and date. Later I will post a picture when the boards will stand on the stage.

creative weekend

2011-06-05T10:21:00.001+03:00

On Friday I had time to finish the dresses for the girls- now they will be able to wear them for Shavuot (Jewish harvest festival). For Neomi it had to be very twirly- so for the lowest stripe of the dress I had to use almost 4.5 meters of Fabric! Helen's is a bit less twirly and with my button-maker I made matching buttons. Maybe I will even make matching ponytail holders.

Saturday was a nice day. I got to paint the boards for the stage for the Shavuot festivities. I am not finished yet so I will go back to paint after work. It was nice to be creative, to have people pop in every now and then to take a look, give comments, gossip and supply me with cherries and water. And in the basement was a rehearsal so I even had nice music to listen to.
I will also participate in the dance- this is always fun too.
On Tuesday evening we will have a Shavuot-dinner- traditionally a dinner with loads of cheese - no meat on this holiday (well- this is no problem at all for me, since I don't eat a lot of meat anyway). So in the next days I will be busy with painting, rehearsals, baking and cooking.

On Saturday I had also a nice siesta- sitting outside underneath the pergola with the grapes and passion-fruits, reading my book and drinking a ice-coffee. Helen was sleeping and Neomi played something for herself. I love those peaceful moments.

thuesday's handmade

2011-05-31T08:36:00.001+03:00

Some things to dream about and get inspired!

The absolutely beautiful "dream guardian" from "herzensart". I am sure Neomi would find it very funny to see his small penis (she would call it "bulbul") :o) I love the shape, shine and idea of it and would not mind one guarding my dreams!

I found this boat on this blog, made by Ann Wood. There are more of them and they float beautifully in the air. Makes me itchy to create something similar…

And this drawing by Oliver Jeffers is already a long time on my computer. I just love it. It's from a story he wrote; "how to catch a star".

Have a great day!

weekend ends

2011-05-28T21:57:00.002+03:00

Saturday evening and the weekend is coming to an end... way too soon as always.
Yesterday it was very hot (35 degrees Celsius) and dry- which makes my hay-fever wores and I am all moody. I managed to sew a bit. I am making a twirly dress for Neomi- but I will only show it when it's finished.
I made a very easy, fast and delicious poppy-cherry-cake (find the recipe here in German and Italian) and today not much is left. (So if you want a piece you need to hurry!)

Today in the morning it RAINED! How crazy is that!? I mean we usually have the last rain somewhere in April and then nothing until October or November. This year we were blessed with rains in May too. But now it is already the end of May... Especially Helen loved it. She stomped around with here bare feet on the wet wood. Later in the day it got hot again and we played some football in the garden. The girls were the goal keepers :o)

instead of comments...

2011-05-26T12:23:00.000+03:00

I have a problem leaving comments on other blogs. As I researched I discovered that I am not the only one... And this at a time when I found so many nice things to leave a comment for, so here some links:

I made this mexican dish yesterday for dinner- it sounded easy and tasty and it was indeed like this! I changed it a tiny bit since I did not have ready made sauce. No monsters in my bed

Nicole makes wonderful pictures- the last ones from her trip to Ethiopia are just gorgeous! They are in an adoption process and I feel nervous and happy for them. 60 piggies

Petra made a very nice cushion for a friend of her son. I woudn't mind such a birthday present too :o) vervlogen dagen

A nice post about elderflowers and a tasty sounding recipe (in German). Too bad we don't have elderbushes here in Israel...SeelenSachen

list

2011-05-25T13:08:00.003+03:00

We celebrated "Lag BaOmer"... don't ask me what this holiday is about- because I don't really know. But what you do is making bonfires, bake potatoes in the blaze and roast some marshmallows. We celebrated at my brother in laws place.

Helen likes when Savta (grandmother) reads stories to her. And Neomi took a picture of me and my husband.

On Sunday we had a "Lag BaOmer" celebration with the day care of Neomi. We made a bonfire and made a picnic for dinner. The kids sang songs and their teacher and one grandfather told stories.

Inspired by the list Darcy made on her blog and by various other bloggers I want to make a list myself every now and then. A list about the things I am grateful for, the things I loved in the passed days and the things I am happy about. Here my first version:

Nature:

- The strong, sweet smell of the jasmine flowers
- The fields with the hay bales, glowing golden in the evening sun
- The songs of the birds in the early morning

Family:

- To talk to my sisters on Skype and to be able to see my small niece this way
- Neomi singing a song with her friends from the day-care and enjoying herself so much.
- Watching Helen still napping when I come to get her from the day-care.

Food:

- My husband's Persian rice- I could eat tons of it! He's a master in cooking this dish.
- Strawberries fresh from the garden
- A delicious fish dish in a restaurant at the beach in Tel Aviv while watching the sun set with my husband
- halva cookies
- fresh, crispy, homemade bread bread- straight from the oven

Others:

- Evening walks with the kids and my husband
- wearing my twirly, turquoise skirt

Have a wonderful day!

How annoying- today I can't leave any comments in other blogs... I don't know, if it is only my problem that my profile never shows... hope tomorrow will be back to normal!

a summer treat

2011-05-20T08:48:00.001+03:00

Now that the hot days seem to be here ther girls naturally feel like eating ice cream. Now I don't want to stuff them with too much sweets and I am for sure not the one that goes every day with them to the shop to buy them ice cream and sweets. But I love something cold too on hot days.

I have a silicone frame at home so I can make "ice-cream" whenever I want.

The most simple way is to just fill the frames with sirup of fruit juice- but they tend to turn out a bit hard. I also just smash fesh fruits and mix them with a bit of yoghurt. The other day we had not so nice looking peaches at work. They were still compleatly fresh- so I took them home, cut them in pieces, cooked them a bit with fresh orange juice, added fresh peppermint, smashed everything, mixed with a bit of yoghurt and filled it into the frames. The girls like the "ice cream" and I don't even need to worry about too much sugar and food colorings.

Try it!

environmental questions

2011-05-18T14:43:00.000+03:00

Neomi is ready for the summer- I could not resist and bought her this cute red hut with the white dots...

As most of you probably already know- I grew up in Switzerland. I spent my first 26 years there until I moved to Israel.

For me it was the most natural thing to:
- have a compost
- to separate waste- collect paper, cardboard, glass, tins, plastic bottles, electronic waste...
- to not just throw garbage on the ground and always leave a place clean and tidy
- to go shopping with a shopping-bag
- to mostly walk or use my bike or public transportation to get around
- to collect the rainwater from the roof to irrigate the garden in summer
- to buy seasonal products
- to buy products from the region if possible
- to buy environmental friendly soaps and detergents
(I could go on...)

I grew up in a family that is very conscious about environmental issues. We had a small vegetable garden and used the car very little (for a few years we did not even have a car).

Coming to Israel was a huge step back for me. Only in the last few years Israel is waking up and things are starting to move. There's still a lot to do.
I came to a conclusion that many things are also a luxury for richer folks. I would love to buy organic products- but they are hard to find here and mostly much more expensive. And to drive with the car half an hour or more just to buy something organic seems contradictory to me.
I would love to buy sometimes products for the house and garden with a long life time but cheap plastic seems to rule the world these days and everything else is hard to find and very expensive.

When I went shopping here only some 4 years ago with my fabric shopping bag, people were a bit amused. They packed their stuff in tons of plastic bags. This changed and today a lot of people have their personal shopping bag ready. In the last years people also started to collect paper, plastic bottles and glass. Slowly, slowly awareness about environmental issues is growing.

Still- too many people drive too many cars- the public transportation is terrible (except for the bigger cities). Biking became a very trendy sport but is not really considered a way of transportation (except maybe in the Kibbutz). People buy usually a huge amount of food and I am sure that also a lot of this is going to waste. There's mostly no way to know where vegetables, fruits and meat come from. Eggs and milk are also mainly produced in a large style- no free range chickens here... And wherever you go people leave their garbage- it looks especially bad after holidays with huge amounts of one-way-plates and cups. People in the Kibbutz are much more aware of this in general and not everyone leaves his garbage of course... seems to be a lot of time a question of cultural and social background.

And maybe it's better that I don't know the state the industrial sector is in...

I myself try to do the best I can, teach my kids and make people in my surrounding more aware. I also know that I could do more...

the album is here

2011-05-14T11:04:00.001+03:00

Well- it took some months- but finally I managed to finish our 2010 family- album and it's printed now. It's the first such album I made. Since we bought our digital camera some 4 years ago, we simply have too many pictures and they mostly stay on the computer. Now I decided to make once a year an album with the best pictures.

Helen was sick almost one week, then Neomi and now Helen is getting some more teeth and she cries a lot and basically just sits on my lap all the time. We have rainy weather which is very, very strange. In the middle of May we usually have hot and dry weather.

found

2011-05-09T09:25:00.000+03:00

Now that we don't really have an "office" anymore, all my stuff is still in boxes- it's driving me crazy. I am trying to find new space somewhere but not very successful...

I found two drawings I made some time ago. Maybe the above I will frame and hang in one of the girl's rooms. The below hung on our entrance-door until Helen was born... maybe I will make a new one.

Today is the memorial day for the fallen soldiers, last week we had the holocaust memorial day... on both days we hear sirens and stand still in memory and honour of the dead. I am always sending little prayers that things like the holocaust won't happen anymore and that no more soldiers need to die... that there will come a day without war and hate and fighting...

This evening though we will move on to happier celebrations- the independence-day will start at eight in the evening. We will have firework and folkdances and coffe and cake and loads of music and singing. It for sure will be nice.

happy clown and sick kids

2011-05-07T15:36:00.000+03:00

I managed to make a small drawing for my sister- her birthday is soon (now I just hope she won't read this blog....). Helen sat- and is still sitting on my lap- not sick but very quiet. That does make the whole drawing process a bit harder :o)

Neomi is sleeping on the sofa, wrapped in a thick blanket- now it is her turn to be sick. She has fever... and I was already looking forward to a nice day with friends...

sewing and baking

2011-05-06T15:03:00.001+03:00

This week I was more at home with Helen than at work. She was sick a few days. It's nice to be at home- even with a sick kid. So many things I can do that I usually don't have much time for. When I did not read stories to Helen, when she was not cuddling on my lap or when she was sleeping I had time to

sew and bake.
I sew 3 t-shirts for the girls out of old t-shirts of mine. I made the little apron you can see above and fixed some clothes. I made "blanc manger" (a recipe here) and cheesecake-muffins and I made some granola using this wonderful recipe- I love the use of thina (or "tahini") in this one.

Happy weekend to all of you!

spring-run

2011-05-01T12:03:00.000+03:00

We enjoyed the "spring-run" yesterday. Neomi had a lot of fun with all her friends from the day-care. Some of them also run the "family-run". The most important thing for her afterwards was the medal she got. I made one for her and one for Helen. She did not once think that I made the medal :o)

The new week started. My youngest sister flew to Canada on Friday and I am looking at the map, wondering what she's up to with her friends- and wishing I could go travelling too. It has been 8 years since I travelled last time. That was when I went to New Zealand for two (too short) months. I have a long list of nice places I would love to go to! :o)

upcycled skirt

2011-04-30T13:48:00.000+03:00

I had an old tunic I almost never wore- so I made some changes and turned the tunic into a dress for Neomi. She loves twirly skirts and dresses. The first thing she usually asks about a skirt/ dress: "does it twirl good?".

We have lovely weather today. Windy, with few drops of rain here and there but not cold and the sun shines from time to time. I enjoy it as long as I can- the summer will be terribly long as always.

There will be the "spring run" this afternoon in the Kibbutz. The grown-ups can choose between 5 and 10 kilometer running. We will participate in the "family-run"- that one is only 800m long- just fine for Neomi- and I will push Helen in her stroller.