outside :: inside

the danish version. northern summer light, white flowers.

we're off for the countryside tomorrow. taking the kids on the road. will be back in a couple of days.

hope you're enjoying your summer too.

inside :: outside

::

it's a hot summer.

we're spending our days indoors or inside - or near - the water. the ocean or the local pool.

today my man is turning 40 and tonight we're going on a date.

i've heard sad news from back home. it made me think about all the big stuff, the stuff that matters. but still, right here and now, i feel lucky.

it's a good summer.

outside :: inside

beets and sage in bloom - both from the garden.

it's been quiet from me. it's pesach here and easter elsewhere. D's of work and so are the kids. i'm going in tomorrow, but besides from that we've enjoyed being at home and at the beach. yes! at the beach! it's summer. or technically spring. doesn't matter. the house is warm, we're walking barefoot, got out the swim and beach gear, and some (not me!) are even swimming in the ocean again.

went to tlv the other day. D played beach volley and i had brunch with the boys at the beach cafe. then, as i was paying the bill, N had to go to the bathroom fast. and in the midst of packing all our stuff and getting the kids together i forgot to get the receipt back. and with that my credit card. this is the third time i've cancelled and ordered a new card in a year. actually four. i also cancelled my danish credit card one of the times. seriously. is it possible to live without credit cards in this world today? cause i am really considering that. just seems like i'm not fit for it. most annoying thing is, i'm sure it's there at that cafe, but they can't find it. last time i lost my wallet i closed the card and the next morning they called from the train station where's i'd left it while buying a bottle of water. i just walked out of there. to be honest, i lost it one more time, but that time i got it back before cancelling. again, i left it in a cafe with the receipt.

but at least D was cool about it. he's gotten really irritated in the past, but yesterday he wasn't too bad. annoyed, but keeping it to himself. or maybe he's just accepting that he'll just have to get used to it.

outside :: inside

it's been a week. which i started walking the winter beach with a friend, drinking hot chai sitting in the sand. what a perfect start.

then there was continued sickness, ending up in both little D and myself starting antibiotics. the ears, the lungs, and for me, the usual sinusitis.

there was work, plenty of rain, some sun. too much food, lots of coffee and finally setting a time with the vet, after listening to love sick cats through the nights.

and then there was today, the final day of our week. a perfect day, taking a trip down memory lane in tel aviv with the kids, while D played beach volley. we played at the old playground, passed by our old building and looked through the fence into the old kindergarten.

it's been exactly three years since we left tel aviv. pretty much half the lifetime of the twins. i'm not sure how much they really remembered, but they loved walking with me, talking about the people and places.

and then we had milkshakes and coffee under the blue sky down at the beach, passed by family on the way home and got exciting news that we'll be welcoming a new little one this summer into the family (update: that would be the extended family. as in D's younger sister and husband. i'm not pregnant ;).

afternoon in the garden, long shadows, warm light. home made bread for dinner. tired kids in pajamas, snuggling on the couch after a long bath, getting rid of all the sand.

i'm ready for a new week.

inside :: outside

apparently i just need to announce that i'll be around here less to in fact be here more. sometimes in blogging - as in life - the big diffeence comes when you feel you don't have to do, then you just do. or maybe that's me... but i don't think so. you know it too, don't you?

the sun was out yesterday, but today is full of rain and thunder. at least we had a little break. anyway, it's weekend and rain is such a good excuse to just cozy up in doors with hot drinks and comfort food.

wishing you a good one.

outside :: inside

last night was stormy with thunder and rain. still this morning. i baked the bread and had some left-over cauliflower and leak soup for lunch. the sun came back and we went for a walk in the fields and the puddles with the boys. no ninjas on this little trip, but a spiderman and a batman. not sure what's up with the dressing up. maybe they are warming up to purim.

the sick ninja woke up from his fever sleep early evening yesterday and was all good. which was strange (high fever for 6 hours, then fresh as a fish, completely awake till we went to bed around 11pm), but awesome (well, because no sickness in the house is always awesome).

we've got two movies to choose between tonight. hangover II (yes, i really thought the first was funny. i'm that immature) and tree of life (which i'm really looking forward to - see i'm a little bit mature too).

i also asked our movie dealer for drive with ryan gosling and carey mulligan as well. that one i really look forward to see. the director is danish. in fact we went to high school together, but i can't brag that we were friends. i thought he was weird. well, he was. completely obsessed with horror and splatter movies. but i'm glad he turned his obsession into awesome film making.

outside :: inside

two of the best things right now: the wild flowers in the fields that reminds me of something back home and the pecans falling from the tree.

i hope you're enjoying favorite things too.

inside :: outside

little details. in the living room and in the garden.

the title of today's inside :: outside post gets another layer of meaning this time. someone broke into our house the other night. i woke up at six with the littlest, sat on the couch and looked at the open window. wondered who'd left it open without the net (we need nets here to keep out mosquitos, flies, snakes, mice, rats, cats...you name it, this is farm land). anyway, it took my numb morning brain a few seconds before i instinctively looked towards the laptop usually placed on a small table by the wall, the shelf where i'd left the camera the night before and the bag with my work laptop by the door. all gone.

the person came in while we were sleeping. the windows weren't locked in the living room. which i never really bothered much about, because, well, i just felt safe.

the morning it happened i had mixed feelings. i was sad since i lost a lot of photos, as in most of those taken ince october. they were on the laptop and i'd been too lazy to save them on our desktop or the external hard drive. what i have is what i have here, on flickr and on facebook. i sent a few to my brother and D, but that's about it. those up there is from a few days before, and i'd already uploaded them to the blog.

the other feeling was relief. that they didn't take more, that they didn't take our bags, iphones, go through our stuff, enter the guest room where my mom was sleeping and take some other cameras, her laptop, passports, take... i don't know, that little jewlery i have, old silver ware, nothing too valuable, but impossible to replace for me. it seemed like a quick break in and out.

then later i started to freak. the feeling that you're not safe in your house. that we were lucky. what if someone had woken up. me, my mom...the kids. maybe that was the case. maybe they didn't take more because they heard little D calling like i did around 3, where i went to get him water. maybe they heard when J came to our bed around 5. maybe they were interrupted in the darkness when my mom went to the bathroom. D wasn't even home that night. just me, my mom and the children.

someone was in the house while we were there. what if it had been someone that panicked when i half asleep walked to my child's room? what if it had been someone full of hatred, ready to hurt, capable of violence? this country has more than its fair share of hate and violence.

i went through the house the following evening with my mom. made sure everything was locked. and hated the fact that i will now worry about this. which i probably should have worried about before, but hey, at least i got a few years feeling that i could go to bed without locking my doors or windows. that's more than most. and i will continue to lock the house in the night, but i hope that sooner or later i will no longer glance into the dark corners when i'm going to get one of the kids a glass of water in the night. or just quickly look over the living room when i get up in the morning to see if anything is missing or broken.

Luckily the kids never really got to understand what had happened, and luckily we didn't lose much, nor had our house turned upside down. the worst part about what happened is all those "what ifs". which i guess is lucky too.

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on another nicer and happier note, thank you so much to those of you who still find their way in here, even if i have not been commenting anywhere myself. i'm visiting blogs now and then, but time has been limited. so thank you, i really appreciate that.

wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

inside : : outside

i love how a seasonal flower brings beauty and the memory of last year. isn't that what makes something good, when form and content go hand in hand and intertwines to something more.

we're going through some mild sickness, that is anyway strong enough to leave me exhausted. today all kids are off to kindergarten and i'm catching up. i still love this weather, though. there's something really good about winter this year. well, this kind of middle eastern winter, anyway. definitely not ready for warmer days just yet. i will be, but not now.

and i love how the dried out flowers from the summer are standing string in the fields, soon they'll disappear in the lush green that is spring around here. but still they have the chance to show off their simple, quiet beauty.

inside :: outside

those pumpkins are huge. we got a few from the neighbor and passed around to family. my mom is here and she made some amazing pumpkin-ginger jam and marinated sweet pumpkin.

i took the last bit, baked it and made puree for a nutmeg, clove and cinnamon spiced pumpkin pie. i've never made pumpkin pie, but it's a favorite. i mean, how can anyone not love something smooth and creamy with those spices inside?

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last year i started a 365 - a photo a day project - on flickr. i made it to 150 before i finally gave up. too much pressure. this year i am trying a 52 - a photo a week - instead. because i like the idea of a photographic diary. hopefully this is a challenge that will be easier for me to succeed in.

inside :: outside

the fire died out, the storm is over. how ironic and sad life is sometimes. the moment the fire that left 43 dead and thousands without homes, we had a week of rain, culminating in the worst winter storm in many years with flooding and destruction. now it's once again a blue sky and warmer wind. but it is definately winter. or as much it can be winter in the middle east. the light has changed, the air is different.

it feels good.

and now i'll go and get some christmas shopping done. it's going to be a low key holdiay, but still, no christmas without a little bit of spending, right?