Framing

Yesterday I had some photos framed, to give as gifts when we go to New York. To me, the framing is part of the art, the composition. I can take a few of the same photo and give each a different look with different frames and matting.

The framing place is very tolerant and helpful. Of course, they benefit, since by giving the right service and prices, I'll be back.

Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised when everything was done as I waited. I was so sure that I'd be told to return in a few days and had been going nuts trying to figure out when.

I was pretty mellow, probably weak from my cold, so when I discovered that the photo-printer had printed the wrong one and then offered to print a replacement, I accepted his offer. Then I ended up buying them all at reduced prices. He insisted that the one he chose was the nicer one. While the pictures were being printed (again) I managed to buy wedding gifts for a wedding I had just gone to, the one this week and the one we're missing.

So, all and all, I really got everything done.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Yes, "mad dogs and Englishmen" may prefer the midday sun, but if you (in the northern hemisphere) are looking for something indoors to do, try reading the Gantseh Megillah, monthly internet magazine. It's full of a great variety of articles, including some lady out of the box...

ps It travels well and is fun-reading in the southern hemisphere, too.

My Voice Fades

That awful cold I was sick with yesterday has now affected my voice. I taught today and did the oral/interview test on my seniors. I'm supposed to read tests to kids tomorrow. A neighbor told me I'm crazy. My voice is so bad that the kids I "help" may fail. I have to call the English coordinator.

If that's the case, all that's left of the school year is the staff trip and party. I still have to go through my stuff to take things home and throw things out.

Yahoo Changes, Worse Than Before

The free yahoo just recently underwent changes. I can't think of anything very good about them. There are two serious ones I don't like. One is just annoying and the other is a very, very bad foul up.

The "spam" business just added another step. It used to be that if you labeled a piece of mail "spam," it disappeared or went into trash. Now, it goes in to the spam mailbox. That wouldn't be all that bad, except that I empty it on entering the mail service, so now I have to empty it twice. Since sometimes legitimate mail goes there (including my own yahoo mail,) I sort through when opening the service. Now I have to change my routine. Always annoying.

The super-problematic is what they did to draft. Draft had always been my archives. Now, if I have something in draft, it self-deletes when sent, and if it's saved as a draft, the bcc addresses self-delete. Now I understand why I didn't get my usual replies to the mailing I sent yesterday. People didn't get the mailing. I have to redo everything. Very bad news for me.

Another Havel Havelim Debut!

She writes like she talks, a blogname I wish I had copyrighted, debuts with her very first Havel Havelim. Actually, it's only part 1. Part 2 should be posted in a few hours. I guess that she has never read my blog carnival instructions.

There are lots and lots of posts and more to come!
Enjoy!

I Napped

I slept so deeply that I didn't even hear the phones and they were right next to me. Now I have to wake up again, shower off the chlorine from the pool.

It may be a little late for my morning coffee, but I really need it. I'm just afraid that I'll have trouble falling asleep on time, then a vicious cycle...

It's so rare for me to nap. I guess I really needed the sleep.

1 Thing Cancelled

As I posted earlier, I'm just too busy and too sick today. So I called my daughter and she agreed that I shouldn't babysit. We don't want me to gt the kids sick.

Now the rest of my plans don't involve such intimate relations with others. I'll go to the pool, get some sun, less pool than usual, but that's why I took a membership.

I'll do my exercise with friends.

Then I can rest, then tutor, then a wedding ceremony (not the meal) at Tel Shiloh.

Yes, it's still a busy day, but not dangerously so.

Rediculously Busy Day Today

...and I have a bad cold...

Tomorrow's busy, too, but not as...

Tuesday is bus plus stress...

Wednesday, a long one...

Thursday? Maybe easier...

Friday? Nothing much planned.

But that's if I survive today...

Printing Those Picture Books

I'm beginning to wonder if I should take the plunge and order one of those picture books from one of the online deals. Honestly, I just get very nervous at the idea of sending my credit card details to some mysterious online internet site. Am I crazy? paranoid?

If you've done it, what do you recommend?

Tangle-Free Linen

I wanted to give you an update about the linen-laundering quest.

Good news!

Baby shampoo is the perfect detergent for laundering linen and taking out the tangles.

After spending a fortune on dry cleaning and electricity to power the iron and energy to iron my linen skirts, I've discovered that I can wash them in the washing machine with baby shampoo. After hanging them to dry, there are less wrinkles than after ironing.

Reduce the Meat--Reduce the Pain

OK, I admit; it could have been coincidence. But since I've cut back on meat/poultry my knees are better. They are neither swollen nor painful. I don't have the flexibility of my youth, but I'm not a kid anymore. Things had gotten so bad I couldn't dance at weddings without paying a painfully heavy price.

Keeping the Jewish Laws of Kashrut means that I don't have meat/poultry at more than one meal a day, since I can't eat those things with dairy, and I can't have dairy for a number of hours after eating them.

The article which accompanies this gorgeous picture give ideas on how to reduce meat portions. I find it difficult to eat just a tiny bit of meat during a meal. If it's a meat meal, I take what is my general portion. I fill my plate with salad, cooked vegetables and meat/poultry. Then I eat the salad and veggies, and only afterwards do I eat the meat. And if I think I'm still hungry, I take seconds of the salad and veggies.

For me it's easier to "cut back" by having meatless days. On those days I'll have fish, dairy, eggs, soy, but no beef or poultry. I also don't serve fish as a first course for a meat meal. I prefer one course meals or salad first meals.

Now, if I could only figure out a painless way of losing weight...

Yes, I Was First!!

It wasn't that I got to the pool at the stroke of 7:30am; it's just that I was the first to arrive to swim.

The staff was waiting, sort of. They weren't really ready. The local manager, a male, still had a couple of things to do. When he finished and left--ladies' hours are ladies only--I stripped off my robe, added the shirt, cap etc to the bathing suit and went in.

Brrrr... yes, the water was cold. It will take a few days of sun to heat up, but it was wonderful!

Summer has finally begun!

Just Fading Away

This year, even more than usual, the school year is just fading away. Usually I have a week or two after grades are in to show the kids movies. Now there's just one week to go, and Tuesaday is the English Bagrut, national finals. On Monday, I have some important fianl teaching and oral testing with my seniors. I'm not sure that I'll have the 10th grade and pretty certainly not the 11th. Since Tuesday's the Bagrut, the 11th and 12th won't study English on Wednesday, so... that's it! Hard to believe.

Less Than Twelve Hours To Go!

I've been waiting about nine months for this. Yes, and less than tweleve hours to go.

Are you guessing?

Well, nu?

What happened nine months ago? And what will be ready, G-d willing in less than twelve hours?

Staying In The Shade

One of the mistakes we made in planning the house was putting the merpeset, balcony/terrace, on the south side of the house. The original idea was for it to be on the east, in the very front of the house. At some point, very early in construction, it was moved requiring a switch in where the second large window would go and where there would be a door out.

There are pros and cons to both, of course. It's the location of our "succah" every year during the Succot holiday. I have the very best clothes lines "in the world." In the summer, I can dry sheets faster outside than in a clothes dryer. But I need the merpeset to be a "playroom," relaxing place for adults, etc. It's too windy in the winter and too sunny in the summer. Finally, just a couple of years ago, I got my son to buy us this black netting. He has the job of putting it up every year, late spring, and then it gets taken down before the succah is put up.

It had made such a difference. There's no rain here in the summer, so the netting isn't damaged, just dusty. Now, I really must get myself some lounge chairs...

When we first came to Shiloh, the only shade at the Tel was under an ancient fig tree. There was an old wooden picnic table there, and for years people would say: "Meet me at the fig tree."

A couple of years ago, when the Tel was being developed for tourists, the fig tree was declared "diseased" and cut down. The picnic table disappeared and this, whatever you want to call it, was put up near the place most archaeologists believe the Mishkan, The Tabernacle, had stood and Eli the The Priest had stationed himself to wait for news after the Holy Ark was taken to battle.


The view is amazing and the spiritual vibrations inspiring. So, that's where we went on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the first of the Jewish Month of Sivan. If you want to join us on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, July 4, 9:45am, please do. For details contact mmdcta at yahoo.com.

You don't have to wait for a special time. Tel Shiloh is open for visitors, prayers and special events at all times. For more information, call the Tourist Office of Tel Shiloh, 02-994-4019.

There is now, also, a Coffee Shop--Gallery. Snacks, art work, photographs and other souvenirs are for sale. Meals for groups can be arranged.

Not A Total Loss

Granted, last night was a waste. I went to Jerusalem for a very disappointing meeting.

There was just one great thing, the sky. I almost missed the bus, because I was tempted to photograph the sky while going down to the bus. Luckily, I controlled myself and didn't. If I had I would have missed it, the bus, that is.

So, to compensate, I took these pictures in Jerusalem:

They Don't Make Movie Stars Like They Used To

In the "olden days," when the studios "owned" the movie stars, they were very careful about "image."


Even when playing poverty-stricken whores, the stars looked better than this:

I guess that slob is the new sheek.

Do you recognize Modanna and Kate Hudson (and her mother, who looks better coifed)?

New Pan, New Recipe

When my cousin visited on Pesach, she gave me a ceramic baking dish. I decided to use it for cooking meat. I like the idea of one nice-looking dish for both the cooking and serving, and this one looked just perfect, very classic, white and deep enough for just about anything.

As you can see, first I put cut vegetables around the edge, just some carrots and simple green squash.

Then I added chopped "meat," actually chicken, not beef, mixed as for a meatloaf. That means an onion, cut small, some tomato paste, an egg and whatever spices you like. I don't add salt.

I decorated it all with some simply sliced onions. Use what you have, like etc. Then I baked it in a hot oven until it seemed well-enough cooked.

This can be a very filling, impressive, fancy diet meal. Just serve it with a salad. For those who can handle the starch, add potatoes to "decorate." Sweet potatoes are also good.

Like most of my recipes, variations are totally flexible. You can make individual servings if you have the right size and quantity of baking pans.

I'd love to know how you've played with it, your successful and less so variations. You can update me in the comments.

Enjoy!

ps thanks "h"

Guess Who Has Been Here!!

Nu?

I'm sure you can't imagine...

The really big question is:

How long will it take me to clean everything up?

Eating Solids

My grandson has started "really" eating solids, mushable solids. My grandkids are progressing the opposite of how mine did. My eldest ate great, ate everything. Number two a little fussier and number three, notoriously fussy. No, I think "fussy" just doesn't say it. She ate nothing, for years almost no food, and she had been weaned at 11 1/2 months. But she was healthy. No, she hardly gained, but she wasn't thin. She didn't eat, but she crawled before she was five months, sat at five months, stood at six and a few weeks later, still before seven months, she walked around "holding on."

My eldest grandkid didn't go for solids or bottles or anything but her mother. Even today, she doesn't eat much variety. The second eats much better and the baby just loves to eat, whether it's applesauce, yogurt, blended chicken and veggies, etc.

Now I'm hungry writing about this.