corner view: coffee in israel

i'm a coffee girl. but not much of a feinsmecker, i have to admit. i do own a moka pot and a french coffee press, but my daily coffee(s) is not that advanced. i start the day with taster's choice. lots of coffee, lots of milk, and yes, lots of sugar. and then i add some cinnamon. i'll probably have two or three more cups of instant coffee during the day.

coffee to me is a break. a moment to sit down. and relax, breath. these days we have 35-38 degrees celcius in israel. it's hot and calls for ice coffee. preferably to be enjoyed under the shade from the palm tree leaves and accompanied by ice cold water with fresh nana (mint) from the garden. so that's what i do. while the kids cool down with their feet in the blow-up pool or eat the pancakes they convinced me to make them in this heat.

or little D will reach out for my coffee cup, which means we're on to this conversation (or a variation of it):

little D: cham? (meaning "warm" in hebrew)
me: yes, it's hot.
little D: cham!
me: yes, hot.
little D: cham!!
me: yes. i know.

pause....

little D: cham?
me: mmm...
little D: cham??
me: yes, hot!
little D: cham!!
me: yes, i know.

pause....

and unless something else calls for his immediate attention, like some water that must be moved from one bucket to another, we could probably continue this conversation until i would be able to make a grand finale with something like "no. actually it's cold".

jane... i know, you asked for a funny conversation, but what can i do... this is pretty much the type of conversation i'm having these days, living far away from cafes and working from home. if you'd asked for a deep, serious, eye-opening conversation, well, this would have had to do too.

traditional coffee in israel is called cafe turkie (yes, that would be turkish coffee). that's the strong, strong non-filtered kind of coffee. and if you want a latte in a cafe, which is what i usually want, you ask for "hafuch". meaning "the opposite" in hebrew. the reason? because there's more milk than coffee. if you want two of those, you'll say "paamaim hafuch". and if you want the waiter to know that you're not israeli, you'll follow that order with a "toda".

i'll just add a little disclaimer here to any israeli readers i might have: i'm not saying israelies are rude or anything. because you'll usually smile and chit chat with the waiter while ordering. and you can always find someone you both know, or an aunt that went to school with your best friend's mother-in-law's cousin. but saying thank you is just so formal. and formality is not really big around here. more like "we're all friends. or family". or maybe more like "we're all in this together". i mean, you do also attend weddings in jeans, flip-flops and tees. that's pretty in-formal.

check out cabrizette's coffee post for the serge gainsbourg theme song video. or listen while reading isabelle's on lou et tom. love it!

other coffee corner views from around the world. :

jane, ladybug-zen, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemian girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virginia, april, rebecca, b

this red monday: painted bird

i got this painting from a dear friend when she moved to hong kong. she makes beautiful art. she used to take care of J and N everyday while i was working. they would spend the day with her and her son, who is just a few month older than they are. i have good memories from that time.

we met in the street and became friends, not only because she's a wonderful person, but also because we had a lot in common: both danish, living in tel aviv, married to lawyers (oi!), and kids the same age.

then we moved to the countryside, and shortly after they moved to hong kong. they visited us a couple of times before they left, like this day back in march, where we took them down to feed the neighbor's horses. we miss them very much!

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other shades of red: these amazing red clogs from swedish hasbeens that i found via skinny laminx. i must admit though, that even though the red clogs are the cutest, my latest obsession after visiting the website is these natural leather peep toes. they have my name written all over them.

this red blouse from tinywardrobe is also absolutely adorable (but no, it wasn't sold to me. wish it had been though :). and this helleristning by julie of moments of perfect clarity is the cutest thing ever.

dogsitting

we are dogsitting a samoyed dog for friends that are in china for two weeks. snowy is the name. or snoowy as the kids call her. she's really cute, very old, very quiet, but the sweetest and easiest dog ever. which is probably good, because i'm not much of a dog person. meaning i like dogs, but i never had a dog myself. same goes for D. so she's the perfect dog for beginners.

she loves the chickens. when she's in the garden she's just walking round 'n round the chicken coop. not sure what she would do if she had access. or what the chickens would do for that matter. those ladies can be mean to intruders.

corner view: the great outdoors

date palm trees almost touching the sky:

tiny creatures creating great achitecture:


sherry tomatoes getting ready for next month's salad:


little blue-eyed heartbreakers in the front yard:


a lawn, suddenly covered with wild flowers in my favorite purple shade:


a well-protected new resident in the chicken coop:


and colorful beetles enjoying my peaches:


yup,it is definitely great, right out there in our garden.

other corner views from the great outdoors around the world:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b, sunnymama, kyndale, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina

pomme granate hideout

i had to share this with you. seriously, it's the prettiest thing.

when we moved here in february we were debating whether or not to get rid of the pomme granate trees on the east side of the garden. they run about 50 meters, from the road till the back end of the garden, where we have all the orange trees. anyway, this winter they looked awful and we were pretty sure they were dead. they looked like ghost trees.

we had plenty to do and forgot about them. and then, about a month ago, dots of green leaves appeared. and shortly after everything was green and these amazing red flowers began to show.

the branches are so heavy now from the leaves and the flowers that they literally fall into our garden and touch the ground.

in the back, just where there's a little path going through the orange trees, just before the pomme granate trees end, the branches have fallen over some old dry bushes, creating a perfect hideout for the boys. they play in there, pretending to be in the jungle.

so i let them play, but i buzz around nearby. once in a while i'll even go in there and interrupt the playing with a stick and dig around in the grass and the old, dry bushes to check if there are any unwanted visitors. it's snake season. and there are some nasty ones among them.

but so far no one but us has been hiding out in there. so we enjoy it, in all its green glory, shining as the sun makes its way through.

corner view: shopping

shopping. this one should be easy, because, well, yes, i'll admit it: i love to shop! i'm into things and shopping. those things that i like they don't have to be new, or fancy, or cost anything. it can be a drawing. a vintage belt from my mom with a personal story. something cute and funny i found at the flee market. or when D stopped by the favorite baker on his way home from work and bought me the cinnamon rolls that make my world spin for a moment.

and not only do i find a market place like this charming with all the noise, smells and high intimacy level (it's crowded!), i am also one of those persons who actually enjoy a trip to ikea (not with D, though. he's a party killer in ikea).

when i lived in the city shopping was easy. and it was certainly easier to make impulsive shopping. like when you pass that little vintage shop, or the guy selling handmade jewelry in the street on the way to the supermarket.

living in the countryside makes shopping something you plan. and forget about running out 2 hours before a wedding to buy a new dress when you just can't fit any of those other dresses - probably because you've been eating way too much home-baked bread and good food after moving to a house with a kitchen just begging you to cook and bake - the fashion scene is not big around here (it's actually really small, and to be honest i didn't find it yet).

so, blogging is not the only thing i took up after moving out here. i also found out that the internet is an amazing place to shop. i mostly practice window shopping, though, but that's also extremely convenient to do from your own home (maybe another reason why those summer dresses don't fit...).

i have always preferred to see, feel and touch what i'm about to buy, whether it's food, clothes, or things. and i always preferred those shops where you'd get that personal attention (not the icky one where the sales person ambush you in the dressing room or follow you around, not leaving your personal space for a second). You know, those places where you feel like the person selling you something is proud of the product and is happy to tell you about it. and even if you don't buy, they enjoy talking to you.

and the internet is just filled with passionate and proud crafters, designers of all kinds, farmers and basically whatever your heart desires. i don't buy much, admitted, but the few times i did it was an amazing experience. because it's personal. really, it is, in fact much more personal than most other shopping experiences i have had out here in the real world.

and the funny thing is, that after the internet pretty much killed personal snail-mail, it is now bringing it back to my life. how many birthday cards do you get in the mail? invitations and thank you notes are pretty much only the case when it's big events like weddings and the like (and people seem to move toward the internet here as well). and letters... they are rare. i have sent a few letter the last couple of years, but it's only a fraction of what i used to before everyone got online. and i really don't get many personal letters either. i can't even remember the last time i did.

and now the internet is bringing back the excitement of receiving mail. at least this is the case in my life. because not only do you get what you ordered, usually you also get a little handwritten, personal note. and it's wrapped up nicely so it's a thrill to unpack. sometimes you even have a little email correspondence going on with the seller before or after your purchase. other times you know a bit about the seller from his or her personal blog, or in the case of etsy or the like, from the profile pages. the trust factor, which scares many people away from online shopping, is pretty much eliminated by the fact that you can see there's a real person behind the product.

those pretty cookies at the top of the post... i didn't buy them. i wish i had though, cause i am sure i would have loved to go to the laduree bakery in paris and pick this box out. that would be good shopping! i'm a sucker for places like that, with history, traditions and old fashion ways. these little cookies were bought by a friend of my husband and he brought them to us. and since i didn't do any online shopping recently those photos will serve to illustrate that part of my point about internet shopping: that i was never there, in the shop, but they totally had me with the bag. and the beautiful box, and the bow. and the cookies were wrapped in thin paper. i mean, honestly, that is just plain nice.

the cookies were good, but it's almost not so important: i had my sweet moment unwrapping the whole thing. if i had ordered them myself and had these delivered in the mail (like a really fast mail so they would still be crispy and eatable), i would have thought they were worth every penny. add a personal note from the baker, wishing that i'll enjoy his cookies, hey that would just about make it the best shopping. ever.

have a great day - and please do enjoy these other wednesday corner views:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie,esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina, april

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.