A Day In The Life Of Corona Times

Miss Amy Miles' Dolls' House, the V&A, 1000 pieces.

Schools in Israel have a three day holiday for the festival of Purim. I've written about this before. It's our Carnival, Mardi Gras, dressing up, parades, exchanging gifts of food, a festive meal and listening to the story of Queen Esther (not necessarily in that order of importance).

The actual festival is tonight and tomorrow in most of Israel, and the Jewish diaspora, but tomorrow night and Wednesday in walled cities like Jerusalem (even though most of the city is now outside the ancient walls). Today was a fast day - most Jewish festivals have a nearby fast. It seems that our sages knew a thing or two about the benefits of intermittent fasting centuries before it was a 'thing'. Fast days are usually half days (meaning we finish a couple of hours early) in schools but a couple of years ago the Education Ministry accidently printed it as a full holiday on their school calendars. It was a mistake but since then it's been a full day off. LOL.

First port of call today was the bank to deposit a cheque that would normally have waited until I was passing. However, one of my colleagues is in self-isolation after returning from France and after being at work for a couple of days. The directive was retroactive so home she went for the 14 day duration. Another friend returned from the US on Friday and popped over yesterday. We chatted in my home. Then this evening it was announced that all travelers returning from abroad have to self quarantine for 14 days, but not retroactively so he's ok. All it would take is for one person I've been with, or a student or teacher from my school or college, to test positive for corona and I'd be confined to my apartment for two weeks. So the cheque needed to be deposited today.

On the way home I went to the supermarket and stocked up on more food. It was the little local supermarket so more expensive than the big one and not much choice of tinned foods. I may go to the big shop tomorrow morning. I did see a good deal on toilet rolls so I got another couple of packets. We now have enough toilet paper for about three months. You can call it panic buying but actually it's sensible because there's no just popping out once you get the notice. You could be arrested... and you could be responsible for killing someone.

People out and about were greeting each other by knocking elbows. Social distance doncha know. It's all a bit Dunkirk spirit for most of us but terrifying for those with chronic conditions or with compromised immunity. This is why we're taking it seriously and doing as we're told.

Another friend came in from Switzerland yesterday and is under 'house arrest' as Switzerland was on the list before the worldwide ban came into effect. She's a jigsaw puzzle enthusiast so I took two big puzzles round to her house. She buzzed open the front door from upstairs and I left them just inside the hall.

Tomorrow night we're going to a Purim party to hear the Story of Esther and enjoy a festive meal with friends. Special readings are being streamed and broadcast on the radio for those in quarantine.

A Purim R2BC

I didn't get round to doing Reasons 2B Cheerful last week and this week I'm mega late. So lots of catching up to do. The linky is with Becky on Lakes Single Mum.

1
Purim in the Park
We had a blast. On Thursday we went to Kfar Saba with friends, to a big park for a picnic. This was our festive meal as outside Jerusalem they celebrate Purim a day earlier. (Walled cities like Jm celebrate a day later - dunno why exactly except that Shushan, where the story happened, was a walled city.) [Update: I found out why. The fighting only stopped outside Shushan a day later.]

There were trampolines in the park and elastic jumping thingies that the children loved. We also brought roller blades and scooters so we were well prepared for a long day in the sunny weather. And the weather didn't disappoint.

2
Butterflies Everywhere
On the way there we commented that there were loads of butterflies everywhere. And in the park there were even more. The next day there were reports in the news about how millions of Painted Ladies had swarmed all over Israel on their annual migration from Arabia and Africa to Europe for the summer. It happens every year but because of the high rainfall this year, there were more than ever before. Apparently these exact butterflies won't survive to make the journey back south in the autumn, but their offspring will.

3
Queen Esther
We returned to Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon to go to the reading of the Purim Story (The story of Queen Esther) at our friends' house. The 'rule' is that  you are supposed to hear it read twice - once in the evening and once in the morning. It's great fun. Many people in fancy dress and every time you hear the name of the wicked Haman, you shake your noise makers and hiss. As fun as it is, once a year is enough for me. I had intended that DD sit with me to hear it too but the other children disappeared downstairs to play so she also disappeared. However, she'd already heard it in school last Tuesday so she was covered.

After the reading, we all eat. People bring food to contribute to the meal. There are some very wonderful and creative cooks in this crowd. I bought stuffed vine leaves and carefully took them out of the tin before leaving home so they looked a bit home-made. They almost all got eaten so that's what's important.

4
Liquid Courage
On the Friday, which was Purim in Jerusalem, DD and I delivered some Mishloach Manot (food parcels) and then went out for lunch. Just the two of us as we'd had our Purim meal in the park the day before. One family turned up at our house dressed as characters from The Wizard of Oz with a basket containing all sorts of Oz symbols. The miniature liquid courage has gone down well in a hot toddy each night for me. And I have one serving left for tomorrow night too.

5
A Lovely End
We stayed in on Friday night but went to friends for lunch on Saturday. A great end to a lovely, low key and relaxed Purim weekend (except for the Costume Drama on Tuesday).

And now I'm writing this during a massive electrical storm over Israel. It's of The Sound of Music proportions. I'm a little disappointed that DD hasn't woken up and come running into my room so we can sing My Favourite Things while jumping on the bed.

The Costume Drama

"I look ridiculous!"

If you've been reading my blog for a number of years, you'll know that DD hates dressing up. Since the age of two, she's refused to dress up in a costume for Purim. Purim, the festival where even adults in the streets can be seen wearing silly clothes and costumes, is a nightmare for DD. I've given up trying to persuade her and she usually goes to school, the only child in her class without a costume. And she doesn't care. Or, like last year, she doesn't go to school.

This year she was invited to go shopping for a costume with her best friend. She declined even though I said she could choose anything she likes from the costume shop. And costumes for DD's size can be up to 250 nis (£50). We have a giraffe onesie in the wardrobe but for sure that wasn't coming out. And so I thought another costumeless year would go by.

Then, on Sunday, on the bus, on my way home from school, DD phoned me. "Mummy, do we have anything that I could use to be a girl pirate? I just don't want to be the only one with nothing for a costume." So I got off the bus three stops early and went into Max Stock (like Poundland). I found one Alice-band with a pirate hat, a hook, and a plastic telescope. 5 shekels each.

At home she put on black leggings and her boots, I found a red T-shirt and a black waistcoat of mine and we were done. For £3. :)

Today was the day that all the kids dress up for school. DD woke up this morning and refused to go to school. She had to go as she had to reveal herself to her secret friend - they've been playing Giants and Dwarfs in the class. So she agreed to go but she wasn't dressing up.

Obviously it wasn't about the money, but I was fed up with the dithering. I knew she'd be happy once she got there. The costume was the most unridiculous costume you could find. I would wear it, without the hat and hook, on a normal day... if I looked as good as DD did in it. So I did what any mother would do. I threatened to take away her phone and her computer, and I pushed her out of the front door in tears.

By the time she got downstairs she had already taken off the hat and the hook. I watched some amazing costumes walking to school. DD looked up at the balcony where I was standing, and scowled.

Four hours later she came home with a friend, all smiles. It had been a really fun day. "Are you pleased you were dressed up?" I asked. DD tried hard not to smile as she refused to answer.

March Project and Celebration - R2BC

Almond blossom in Jerusalem. One of the signs of spring.
We even have a song about it. 

In case you  missed it. I'm making a celebration and doing a project for each month of 2018. So far January celebrated 'Turning Over a New Leaf' and the project was to get all my paper work in order. It's almost done. 😜

February celebrated the end of the winter and the first signs of spring. The project was major decluttering and spring cleaning. It's almost done. 😜

March is really the start of spring here. I put the radiators away today. (We have socks and fleeces if it gets a bit chilly in the evening.) That's a reason 2B cheerful in itself. Here are my other Reasons 2B Cheerful for this week.

This year the festivals of Purim (which is our equivalent to Mardi Gras and Carnivale) and Pesach (Passover) both fall in March (the 1st for Purim and the 30th for Pesach). So the Celebration is friends and family.

The project is getting together with friends, inviting friends for Shabbat meals (not every meal), making the effort to do all those 'coffees' that I really want to do but the winter kept getting in the way, and spending time with family (over Pesach).

Basically, it's a kick in the behind to get off the sofa, out from under the blankets, and reconnect with the world. There's a sub-plot to this project because in order to make all those coffee dates I have to be up to date with my work. And in order to invite people over I have to be on top of the housework because I can't invite people to a dirty house. So it's also a general kick to get going with everything. Those lazy winter evenings that started at 5 pm are over (and we didn't even do one jigsaw-puzzle).

Tonight is the actual night of Purim in Jerusalem so we're starting off in grand style by going to a Purim service and party at friends. It's dressing up for those who want to, a vegetarian potluck, and a lovely get-together of old and new friends. I'm taking potato salad. And tomorrow we have some friends coming over at lunchtime for the Purim meal. Not a bad beginning to a month of socializing.

So  here's to a sociable March. And of course to finishing off that paperwork thing, continued decluttering, and finishing spring cleaning.

The R2BC Linky is back at Michelle's Mummy from the Heart for the month of March. I'll be hanging out there as usual with the gang.

R2BC - The Carnival Has Started

DD took this photo from our balcony
of the sunset behind the tree. 

The Carnival has started. Reasons 2B cheerful this week are all about Purim. The linky is at Becky's Lakes Single Mum and I'm proud to be among the cheery gang over there as usual.

1
Dressing up
I mentioned that when the Purim festivities started on Tuesday, DD did not want to go to school in pyjamas because it was silly. On Wednesday the dressing up theme was sports. She wore her trainers to school (as usual) to be sporty. Thursday was 'Angels and Hats'. I'm not sure if there is a connection between angels and hat but DD said, "I'll pass."

On Thursday night she slept over at a friend's house so we had to consider Friday's costume on Thursday afternoon. I think she physically shuddered when I told her it was anything to do with the circus. "Forget that!"

On Sunday it's 'opposites' or 'upside down' day. Boys can be girls and girls can be boys. (We're lending a dress and a hair ribbon to a little boyfriend.) You can do clothes inside out or upside down, black/white, teachers as pupils or pupils as teachers. "Why don't you wear your clothes in an unusual way?" I suggested. "Stop it! Don't be weird!"

Later she announced. "I'm just going to be opposite from what everyone else is doing and that's that."
"How are you going to do that?" I asked.
"Just by not dressing up and that's opposite."

I get off very lightly I know and appreciate. There are mothers with four or more children who all want to dress up fully for every day. And these costumes are just the build up. On Tuesday is the main Purim Parade when everyone wears whatever costume they like. DD is considering being a plain clothes detective. Or possibly not a detective at all and just a plain clothes. LOL.

2
Holidays
On Tuesday the schools break up for a few days holiday in which to dress up and celebrate the actual day of Purim. I have no college teaching on Tuesday so I'm thrilled to be off after only Sunday and Monday at school. Five days holiday! Woohoo!

3
A Taxing Situation
I finally got my tax forms sorted out. It took three trips to the Income Tax Office. The first time I went on a Tuesday only to find out that they are temporarily closed on Tuesdays. So I went back last Thursday and got all the forms. I faxed them to the various companies that employ me from my college. The faxes didn't go through even though I got the receipt that said they did go through. So on Sunday I took them to school and faxed them again. One of them was wrong. I'm employed by three places on a salary but the freelance work was supposed to indicate a special category for writers on the form. I went back yesterday and got the form changed. On Sunday I'll fax it from school again. Almost there.

Meanwhile the tax summary forms are coming in from last year and once I have all of them, I'll have to take them to the Income Tax Office to get a rebate as I think I paid too much tax last year. It never ends.

Being 'Opposite'

Rolling up her sleeves to tuck into a large Belgian Chocolate Waffle. 

Last Friday they celebrated family day in DD's school. It's the same programme every year but with a different theme. Every year they invite the children to bring in their grandparents or an uncle, aunt or cousin. There's an assembly, they go to the classes and hear stories from the grandparents on the theme, and there's food (obviously).

It's a nice morning. I enjoyed it the first year. The second year was a bit samey. By the third year I really didn't need to go and meet everyone's grandparents again - especially as we have no relatives in the country to bring.

I have some second cousins but not in Jerusalem. Anything further than second cousins I probably wouldn't even know and would include half of the Jews from London probably. I had a friend in primary school whom I used to dance with in country dancing lessons, who turned out to be my third cousin. We had no idea at the time. My Dad sat next to his Dad in synagogue for 30 years and they had no idea that they were second cousins. It gets ridiculous after a generation or two.

So last year in Third Grade, DD went but I didn't. This year she didn't feel the need to go either so we went out for waffles for breakfast to celebrate our family of two.

A word on the waffles. I'm not eating sugar so I went for a savoury waffle. DD's waffle was far too big for one meal so we had half of it wrapped and we took it home. She ate the other half for breakfast on Saturday morning. She didn't need chocolate covered waffle for breakfast two days in a row.

One option is for two people to share one dish - they happily provide two plates for this purpose. But if they sold a reasonable portion for one serving at half the price, we'd definitely go more often. Especially as this was our second eating out in the past couple of weeks. The first time when DD said she wanted a waffle, I said she could have it for dessert. The pizza she ordered for her main course was way too big for her to finish and we brought half of that home with us too. We never got to the waffle. On Friday I said she could go straight for the waffle. Seriously though, half the mains and half the dessert for the same price would be preferable and we really would do it more often.

Today the Purim festivities started. DD's school have a dressing up theme for each day until they break up for the Purim holiday next Tuesday. Today was pyjama day. I put clean pyjamas, Ugg slippers, and her big fluffy dressing gown on the bed this morning in case she wanted to wear them for school. I knew she wouldn't. She came out in normal school clothes.

DD: Do I have to go to school today?
Me: Yes.
DD: I don't want to be the only one not in pyjamas.
Me: So wear pyjamas.
DD: No, I don't want to. It's silly.

DD never dresses up - she hates it. She's the only one in the whole school not in costume on the day of the Purim Parade and she doesn't care. The first time she refused to wear a costume was when she was two. I cried. After that I provided a costume each year which she hardly wore - only if bribed strongly urged to by the teacher. After that I gave up. Each year we go to the costume shop to look at costumes. I tell her she can have anything she wants. She won't choose anything. End of.

One of the things about Purim is to be silly. The idea is to be 'opposite'. I think it's because, in the story, the Persian minister wanted to kill the Jews but in the end, the minister and his sons were executed instead and the Jew became a Persian minister. So we dress up and let ourselves do things we wouldn't ordinarily do like eat and drink too much (haha, that's a joke).

As she walked out the door, DD said to me, "Well I am joining in sort of. I'm being 'opposite'."

  

The Usual Springtime Events - R2BC

This week sees three of our regular springtime events. Three very good Reasons 2B Cheerful. I'm linking up with Mich on Mummy from the Heart where you can find more R2BCs.

1
Unicorn 
After 6 years of refusing to dress up for Purim, DD suddenly decided that she wanted to be a unicorn this year. I was delighted. I took her down to the toy shop and said she could choose whatever she wanted from the costumes and accessories, Here the toy shops stock up on costumes espeially for Purim, like in America before Hallowe'en. With only one child I was willing to pay for whatever she wanted. There was no unicorn and she didn't want anything else so she came home and made her own costume. It was only a head-dress worn with her normal  clothes but this was a huge step forward for us.

2
The Yedidya Bazaar
The Yedidya Bazaar is next Sunday and Monday. I have a top cupboard where I save things for the bazaar. The first item went into it about one week after last year's bazaar. Don't you hate it when that happens? Anyway, the cupboard was full and I pulled everything out last weekend. The picture shows my hoard before I've even finished. There are a few games and toys I didn't put on the bed because I know that DD won't let them go if she sees them. We also went through DD's clothes and thinned them out. Remember that we took a whole load of games and books to her school market only a few weeks ago.

In the end we have 10 bags of stuff for the Bazaar, 3 bags to return to a friend, 2 bags of outgrown clothes for my downstairs neighbour (aged 4), and a couple of items that DD's very slim friend might like. Result! (Although where we get it all from every year still baffles me.)

3
Jerualem Marathon
Tomorrow we are bunking school (along with 90% of the pupils) to go and cheer on my nephew in the Jerusalem Marathon, He's running the 10k and the route goes relatively near where we live. Not as near as the full and the half marathon routes which we usually go to watch but near enough to walk to. We'll also see the full and half marathon runners but we won't be standing at the end of the road with our neighbours like last year.

He is threatening to run in his kilt (more of a tartan skirt than a kilt) which he wore for his Purim costume. Well at least we won't miss him if he does.

Carnivale! - Reasons 2B Cheerful

It's Purim this weekend. Basically it's the Jewish Carnivale, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, etc... Of course we have a religious story to go with it along the lines of: they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat. We have a miracle that we attach to it and traditional food, songs and blessings. Seriously though, it's all about celebrating the spring equinox as it is all over the world and with every religion. (Trust me on this, I've done research.)

The actual day of Purim is Sunday (or Monday in Jerusalem and other walled cities - I forget why.) But today the schools went wild. I was at DD's school this morning. Everyone came dressed up. Even DD agreed to wear a costume of sorts this year (More about that later.)

Vending machines meet Buzz Lightyear

See the princesses in the background?

The most brilliant costume imo

Marge and Homer Simpson

The Principal and the drama teacher

More teachers

Even the adults dressed up

The children exchanged Mishloah Manot - food parcels of nosh that they made and decorated. There was a fair with the children manning the stalls and each class rotating to different venues. There was candyfloss and popcorn and the grand finale was five big bouncy castles on the basketball court.

Then my batteries died and I came home to write this blog.


I'm linking up with Reasons 2B Cheerful over at Mummy from the Heart.

No Costume For Purim

Purim again. Ho hum. Carnival time, big parties, lots of sweets, dressing up. Well if you've been reading this blog for the past five years you'll know that dressing up and DD do not get on. You can read about past costume failure (or should that be failure to costume?) here.

So this year we are older, right? This year we understand what it's all about. This year we don't want to be different from everyone else. This year we don't want to be the only person in the school, including all the staff, not in costume. Right? WRONG.

It started last Wednesday with Mad Hats and Masks day at school. I got out all the hats in the house and offered to decorate one of them. DD enjoyed trying them all on and has even taken to wearing some of them at home. However she would not wear a hat or mask to school.

That evening was the 2nd Grade Purim Party at school. They dressed all the girls as Queen Esthers and all the boys as Persian Princes. DD too was dressed up and I even got a photo or two - hooray!

Thursday was animal day in school. That is, dress up as an animal. DD: "I am not an animal. I don't even like animals. I'm not doing it."

Friday was transgender day boys dressing as girls and vice versa. (I had to laugh at the article in the DM about the fuss over the proposed transgender day at a school in the UK. In Israel a thousand schools had such a day this week and they've been doing it for years.) As it happened, it was also Marathon Day in Jerusalem so only 30/300 children turned up for school.

Sunday was Pyjama Day. DD wore her school uniform as usual.

Monday was witches, wizards, devils and ghosts. Nope, not us.

Today was everyone wear whatever costume you like day. There was to be a parade and a whole day of festivities. It's a bit like the last day of the winter term before Christmas in the UK. So 299 children and all the teachers, the secretaries, the Headmistress and even the school guard wore fancy dress today. Just not DD.

Of course I prepared a costume for her just in case she changed her mind. We have 50 stairs from our flat to the ground floor and this morning I must have asked her on every second stair, if she was sure. She was sure.

I sent a text message to the teacher promising her that I had organized a costume and asked DD a hundred times if she wanted to wear it but she would not. That's how insecure I was feeling. Not so DD. When I collected her at the end of the day I asked her if she had minded being the only one not in costume. "No, why should I mind?" was the reply.

On Thursday evening we are going to the Purim service where we read the story of Esther and then have a big party with many of our friends. Most of the adults dress up or at least put on silly make-up and wigs. I doubt DD will dress up. I won't be dressing up either because I hate dressing up.

The 25 Hour Watch

Despite not dressing up at all on Tuesday, DD did have fun at school where the whole day was one big carnival. When I picked her up at 4 we took the bus into town to buy her a belated birthday present - a new watch. Her first.

Here's the back story, We have a small group of older mother friends with only children. There are five of us and we met at various stages of pregnancy. One of the things we do is celebrate birthdays together. As three of the five children all have birthdays the same week (though three years apart), we try to spread the parties out a bit. What with one thing and another, DD's party was yesterday on her 6 1/4 birthday. The tradition is that each of the others contributes 50 shekels for a really nice big present. In the past we've had Playmobil, Lego, and a scooter.


My favourite old fashioned watch shop in town had children's watches for 59 shekels or a Cassio children's watch for 185. I was aiming for the 59 shekels because it might get lost and need replacing. So as we walked we tried to think of something to buy with the other 140 shekels.


Unfortunately the shop was closed. It's such an old fashioned shop (which is why I love it) that it follows the old tradition of early closing on Tuesdays. So at 5pm on Tuesday evening we went around the corner and bought another, light blue with different coloured numbers, watch for 100 shekels.


Then we got pizza for supper and went to the theatre to see Peter Pan the Musical. It was lovely. We clapped so hard to bring Tinkerbelle back to life she's good for another 100 years at least. Tuesday was a good day.

It may be an Israeli thing to make cakes in dishes but everyone does

Wednesday started off good too. We made a cake in my new oven instead of buying one. I sort of made up the recipe from ingredients I had in the house and was quite surprised when a cake came out. We had our party. I had gift wrapped DD's watch even though she'd been wearing it the evening before, so we could present her with it at the party. The highlight of the afternoon was when my friend R took a second slice of my cake. :~)


Then everyone went home. DD looked at her watch and said, "It's 12 to 6." I told her that meant it was 6 o'clock. After I'd cleared away a bit she came and asked me to take her watch off her wrist and asked if she could play on her tablet. I was sitting with my laptop on my lap and she took the watch with her.

I would have left it plain but it was a birthday cake so we had to ice it.
The red candle is for next year, another Israeli tradition

A bit later: Where's my watch?


Reader we have looked everywhere. We looked in the boxes of all the games that had been out. We looked in the sofa and in my bed (where she had taken her tablet). I even looked through the rubbish bags before taking them out.



So that's what you call a 25 hour watch. I'm hoping it will turn up. Where could it have gone, this is not such a big apartment and there were only the two of us in it?




If it doesn't turn up I have another 50 shekels from one of the other friends (the fourth friend couldn't come to the party) so I'm thinking of the 59 shekel watches in the olde watche shoppe in town.


Or maybe 6 1/4 is just too young to have a watch and we should wait until she's 7?


UPDATE: At 1.30pm on Thursday she found it on one of the dining-room chairs, which is exactly where she had left it. :)

A Country In Fancy Dress - Except One

Even adults join in the fun

Today is the day when the whole country dresses up in costume. It's the last day of school before the Purim holiday. Of course the real days of Purim are on Thursday and Friday when there will be more dressing up but today all the schools have half day and it's one big costume party. Imagine if you did Halloween at school the same as the last day of the Christmas term - that.

Those who have been reading my blog for the past four years will know that I have had varying success in getting DD to dress up. Usually I lost but the nursery teacher managed to persuade her and we got a few photos.

This was our costume fight last year.  (2014)
This was the year before when I ended up in tears. (2013)
Here is 2012 - This was the one year we managed a happy dressing up experience.
And in 2011, when I also ended up in tears. 



This year the school went all out with a dressing up theme for each day for almost a week. Last Thursday each year group had a colour. I managed to get DD to wear her red t-shirt and red sweatshirt (I even slipped in red socks under her blue jeans). On Friday she flatly refused to be an animal. On Sunday she had no interest in being a boy. And luckily her class had a theatre outing yesterday so they were asked not to come in pyjamas like the rest of the school (although they could bring them in a bag to wear afterwards which we didn't of course).

Even the teachers dressed up. By coincidence the principal is called Etti (Esther) so the female staff reenacted the beauty pageant whereby the king chooses Esther to be his bride. 

The student assistants

Today, however, is the big parade. There are two schools and five kindergartens in our street and round the corner. (There is also a teacher-training college round the corner - honestly it's like living on a campus sometimes.) The street today was awash with costumes and disguises. Even the teachers and some parents joined in.

DD is at the back, the only one not in costume

DD wore a t-shirt, jeans, and a plain hoody. I think she may have been a bit shocked when she saw that everyone was wearing a costume except her as she didn't want to stay. The teacher suggested I bring her costume in a bag.

I came back 10 minutes later with the strawberry costume in a bag.

DD: "NO, I DON'T WANT IT HERE! TAKE IT HOME!"

I left it in case she changes her mind before the big parade but I'm not hopeful. *sighs*

Perfectly normal scene in the streets today

Cool 6th Grade girls

Facebay, More Decluttering, Tips, And Good Karma

I get a lot of things passed on to me from friends with older girls and I take great pleasure in passing them on when we are done with them (the things that survive that is). When DD was born I bought an expensive carrycot/buggy/carseat combo and that was it! Everything else I needed for a new baby was given to me by friends and family.

I am also not a hoarder. As we grow out of clothes, books, toys, and equipment, they get moved on. Some people want their things back, some things go to families with younger children, some things do have to be chucked unfortunately (everything has a limited lifespan), and many things go to the Yedidya Bazaar.

So as I have started clearing out for the Yedidya Bazaar which is in only three weeks time and I've been reading Elaine's de-cluttering posts on Mortgage Free In Three, I was tempted by her lucrative activity on Facebay to actually sell a few items rather than be so generous this time.

Facebay is your local 'Buy, Sell, Swap' group on facebook. There's no packaging up and postage costs (especially great for larger objects and furniture), you just say pick up here, and they come and pick up in return for some cash. Simples. This was Elaine's experience last weekend.

This was my experience:

I posted DD's old bike for 150 shekels (about £25). I had bought it for £40 three years ago and the training wheels were missing. However, it's an excellent bike for a 4yo to learn to ride on as its so small. It took DD about five minutes to teach herself and I didn't have to run after her holding onto the saddle even once.

I was advised that this was too much to ask so I dropped the price to 100 shekels (£17). One person tried to bargain me down but I already felt bargained down so I declined.

I also posted a selection of different Purim costumes. The festival of Purim is next week. It's our dressing up in costumes, Mardi Gras, Carnivale type holiday. The kids even dress up for school all this week. We had a dressing up box which DD is not interested in at all (she hates dressing up so much she told me she's not even doing it for Purim - deja vu.) So I thought I'd see if I could make a few bob.

Here's DD as a fairy in 2012

The fairy, the strawberry, and the the bride, 25 shekels each (£4), the pirate paraphernalia (left over from DD's pirate birthday party) for 20 shekels and the witch's hat for 15 shekels. I was asked if I could take the fairy costume to the town centre (6 shekels on the bus and about an hour of my time - no, sorry). Then a very nice lady with a 3yo came to buy it directly from my spare bedroom and gave me 25 shekels. Hooray! My first sale on Facebay.



Then the new cooker was delivered (delivery pre-paid) and the guy asked me for a tip. I gave him 20 shekels. I'm not sure why I did that. Delivery was pre-paid and I had to pay them 100 shekels extra for taking the old cooker away, Apart from that, they delivered. I wasn't thinking - I was just so thankful to have an oven that worked and be rid of the broken one. This tipping business has got out of hand imo. So my 25 shekels was instantly cancelled down to 5 shekels (87p)


On Shabbat some friends came over for an impromptu Shabbat Lunch. The three children dressed up as pirates and the two guests took home swords, binoculars, eye patches, and belts - why not? The 5yo girl was also given the bride's dress and they borrowed (although I really don't want it back) the bicycle on which to learn to ride without stabilizers. The mother of the 4yo boy took the witch's hat - that's her fixed for Purim :). No one wanted the strawberry. And no money was exchanged obviously as these are my friends - we share loads of things.

So the good news is that more 'stuff' has gone from my flat. The great thing is that lots of people are very happy (including the cooker delivery guy). I fully expect to receive in spades from the Goddess of Karma. Maybe I should give that extra 5 shekels to charity?

The Snowman Diet

I've finally found it - the fastest, simplest, biggest weight loss diet ever. It's called The Snowman Diet after our very own little Olaf who trialed the diet whilst wasting away on our balcony. Here is the chubby little fellow at 10:30 am on the day he came into our lives:

Six hours later on The Snowman Diet and he looked like this:

There were a few side effects such as the loss of an eye (his only good one in fact) and an elongated nose but his clothes were literally falling off him so it was all worth it. I swear to you that there has been no photoshopping on these pictures whatsoever. This is the genuine article, he really did drop about 30% of his body weight in only six hours!

We next weighed in after another couple of hours. So this next picture shows 8 hours on the diet. Notice his long, elegant, slimline, nose:

So far the diet had involved just sitting in the sun. No food was imbibed but, on the other hand, no exercise was necessary. This diet is especially suitable for those who abhor exercise.

Anyway, just as a plateau was seen to occur, as it does mid way through most weight loss programmes, we changed tactics. Our subject, Olaf, switched to sitting in torrential rain for the next few hours. Once again, for those worried about the exercise requirements - he didn't move an inch, we brought the weather to him. And only 3 hours later, 11 hours after starting the amazing Snowman Diet, Olaf looked like this:

At this point we, the professional dieters, thought that he'd gone far enough and should probably stop the diet. However, he wouldn't hear of it and insisted on staying out in the rain. Between you and me, I think a tinge of anorexic psyche had crept in. Whatever, the client is always right, so we went with it. Two hours later we had to concede that this is not a diet you want to try at home. Our subject looked like this and was ailing fast:

And here he is at half past midnight, after 14 hours on The Snowman Diet. After this distressing photo shoot, I went to bed:

Surprisingly there was still something left of him at 9.30 in the morning after 23 hours of dieting:

But by 10:30 am, exactly 24 hours after commencing the [now controversial] Snowman Diet, there was nothing left of him. R.I.P.:

There is a conspiracy theory that at the 23rd and a half hour, the pizza delivery guy smuggled in some garlic bread and spicy dip, thereby providing enough sustenance for the snowman to ride away with him on the back of his motorbike and go live at the pizza parlour, near the stone oven, where there is loads to eat, and it's nice and toasty. There's a flaw in this theory, however, or several.

No, we must sadly report that our subject did not survive The Snowman Diet. This means that 100% of snowmen who trialed The Snowman Diet did in fact die.

Verdict: This is not a diet to follow if you want to live as well as lose weight. For people who don't particularly care about living, as long as they are slim, The Snowman Diet could be the answer to your dreams.

Disclaimer: It's Purim next week, a Jewish festival in which we are encouraged to be very silly.