busy, but good

we have had visitors from denmark, a trip to jerusalem, a brief meeting with summer warmth and the beach, spring flowers. it's been a busy and good month.

hope you're enjoying these days too.

kisses in jerusalem

neshikot - kisses - from the jerusalem market back in august. i don't really like them, but they do look pretty.

we're on the last days of our vacation. there's fall in the air. middle eastern fall. meaning we're pulling out the long sleeves for the evening. i don't mind this change. it feels good.

happy weekend.

good stuff

i now have a laptop. i never had that. weird, i know, considering i have worked in hi-tech and internet for so long. which might be the reason, since a) i was really tired of sitting in front of a computer by the time i got home, and b) i work laptops (not the cool one though, it seems to me that marketing people often end up with the crappy old ones, because the business and product people need the newer, cooler and better ones. or maybe i was just unlucky).

anyway, i now have my very own. and as i was putting in some photos from the summer and fall, i found these. from the market in jerusalem back in august. and i thought they were funny.

wishing you a wonderful weekend with lots of fun.

what i brought home

hello little lady, i said, when i saw her in the most bizarre little yard sale in tel aviv.

a little sign on a busy street in the middle of the city saying cheapest yard sale now, with an arrow pointing towards a tiny shed in a back alley filled with cheap plastic crap, boxes of old tools, books and clothes. and then this old, but very well-kept golden dame.

i always liked these wooden sketch dolls. and this one was particularly nice in old, toned wood.

wishing you a wonderful weekend :)

in the city of gold

we took the day of. the kids, my parents and i went to jerusalem to meet D's younger sister who lives there. we walk through the old city bazaar. it is an absolute tourist trap, especially religious tourists, but nevertheless, it's fascinating and there are so much to look at. we made stops in some churches and at the wailing wall, watched the amazing view over the "city of gold" as the sun set and reflected in the yellow sand stones of the city and the gold of mosque roofs, giant menorahs and crosses reaching for the sky.

it was a great day. there's no traffic in the little streets of the old city and it's a colorful potpourri of race, ethnicity, culture, religion and ages - people as well as buildings.

we are exhausted now, in our minds, bodies and souls. in the good way.

more photos to come...

jaffo

jaffo, more than 4000 years old coastal city, just south of tel aviv. now a part of tel aviv, but still a city in it's own.

the flea market is super amazing. really. with the the best little cafe in the middle of it where everything you sit in, eat from and drink out of is for sale.

and there's plenty of gorgeous old wood, bright colors, scary pieces of fur, sellers with golden shoes, white clouds on blue skies, and old buildings falling apart/being renovated, but still looking gorgeous. i love jaffo.

this red monday: flavors

at the breakfast table. tomato salat with red onions. and red cranberry beans with salt and butter. joined by fresh baked buns and a laughing cow.

a trip to the market. of all the colors, red stands out. chilies, apples, strawberries.

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other shades of red that i love: this amazing marmalade skies necklace (but i already bought the looking glass necklace, so another time).

if you need some redness in your life, then you might want to check out (red).

and, finally, forget about red and sooth your eyes with winged elms and other amazingly soft, white and dreamy photos from bee hives. i wish i could enter one of those photos, just for a moment.

wishing you a dreamy week.

family, food and flavors

my mother and my aunt have been visiting since last sunday. my aunt left today, my mom stays another week. it's been lovely to have the ladies around. we've been making great food, they've been absolutely excited to spent time with the kids, and we did a bit of sightseeing. not a lot, mostly trips to the beach, but we also squeezed in a trip to tel aviv and the farmers market, shuk hacarmel. i love that place!

israel produces pretty much all it's own vegetables and fruits, taking pride in not importing. meaning of course, that it's almost all local food (israel is a tiny country:). prices, taste, offering and color all depend on the season, which i find charming and makes a trip to the market even more exciting.

right now is the end of the strawberry season for example, which means they are extremely cheap, very sweet and deep red. just a few weeks ago you couldn't buy grapes anywhere. now the season started, making them a bit sour and expensive compared to the taste and price a month from now. oranges are available all year, but we are nearing the end of the season and until it begins again with the first rain in october, they are not as interesting as you could wish for. the first oranges in october are green and sour, and by march and april they are all orange and full of juice. and ridiculously cheap.

of course the market also offers spices, dried fruits, different flavors of tea, olives, oils, meat, fish, bread, flowers and pretty much anything else you could wish for at a market. it's always crowded, smelly, noisy and absolutely amazing!

so, full and content from a week full of family, food and flavors, i wish you an amazing week.