The Minimalist Game - Days 5 -7

The matttress and sheets as posted for sale on facebook.

Read this post about The Minimalist Game if you've not read it as it explains what I'm playing at. 😁

Day 5: A single sponge mattress from a child's bed and two fitted sheets to go with it. (I put these 3 items up for sale on a local facebook page.) And 2 glass jars that DD painted and gave to her friends.

The Child's bed was bought for DD when she graduated from the cot. It has undergone a couple of transformations. It originally had a trundle bed underneath for sleepovers, and two large storage drawers under the trundle. All these heavy additions have long gone and we swapped the child's mattress for a regular single suitable for an adult.

One of the things I realized a while ago is that I don't want heavy furniture. I've said it before but we live in a desert and there is a lot of dust. I don't want a load of furniture that you pull out once a year for cleaning underneath. I want to be able to get the hoover or the mop under the beds and sofas. It's cleaner and the rooms look more spacious when you can see the floor extending under them. It's a lighter, airier look and feel. (See the new sofas)

The child's mattress had been standing next to the bed, alongside the wall for a couple of years. I admit that it was a useful little shelf for putting your specs and your book on when you go to sleep but without it the room is wider. A small bedside table does the same job and is good for a lamp and a glass of water too. It's amazing how an extra 10cm of room makes so much difference.

With the old sofa that was the size of a single bed, DD's bed and the trundle, the mattress (and in fact I had another similar mattress that I gave away with the old sofa), my double bed, and another small double; I could sleep nine people in this apartment! Even when my sister brought her family of five to stay (only twice in 17 years since the 'baby' was born), we were only seven people. And although I have two toilets, I only have one full bathroom and probably not enough hot water in the tank for nine people to shower anyway.

I don't know why I kept all those bed options. I think I forgot that I'm no longer a student with whole crowds of friends descending for weekend parties. I now have sleeping accommodation for five people, including us two, and that's quite enough. My sister's family no longer all travel together as two of the kids are grown up. And if one day the whole family plus my Mum and my brother all want to come at the same time.... there is a lovely little boutique hotel around the corner. Sorted. (I'll offer to make dinner so they can book B&B),

The other 2 items to make up the 5 for the 5th of the month, are two empty Nutella jars that DD painted and gave to two of her friends as part of their Mishloah Manot for Purim. Sorry no photo but she painted a rainbow coming out of a cloud on one jar and a panda bear in a forest on the other. They were rather cute actually.

If you read the linked post about Mishloah Manot, you should know that the days of making a million of these are gone for the moment. DD made two for her best school friends and that was it this year.

Day 6

Day 6: Three ceramic bowls, one painted enamel cooking pot, one pottery planter and an old silicone loaf baker. These have been sitting on the balcony since I read one woman's account of collecting all sorts of coloured containers to plant things in on her eclectic balcony. I never got round to doing that planting and although I do plan to plant loads for April's Project, I've decided that the eclectic gypsy caravan look is not what I'm after. It doesn't really go with the minimalist style. So that's 6 wouldbe planters from the balcony.

Day 7

Day 7: A tray, two milk jugs, two teapots (I used to collect them), a loose-leaf tea strainer in the shape of a teapot, and a gift from a friend (not pictured so as not to offend but nothing to do with teatime). I bought the tray and the yellow jug in 1985 when I left home to live with two other girls. There used to be a yellow sugar bowl to match the jug and there is still a red teapot that I kept.

That's 31 things so far from The Minimalist Game making a running total of 416 clutters since October.

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.

Like Mother Like Daughter.

I'm glossing over the Purim Carnival at school today as DD refused to go.

We went to the local shopping mall yesterday evening, for the second time, to look for a costume, for the second time. There are loads of costumes in all the toy shops at this time of year. You can buy cheap masks and accessories to make up your own costume, or you can buy onesies with hoods made to look like any animal you could think of, or you can buy a complete outfit and accessories in a pack to be a profession, a super hero, a fairytale character, anything. En-ee-thing!

I really thought she'd get something this time. I said she could choose whatever she wants. The more expensive costumes cost up to 200 nis (about £40). I didn't mind. Whatever she wanted. I have only one child to dress for Purim after all. My only condition was that if we bought something, she had to wear it for school tomorrow (today).

She couldn't bring herself to commit to wearing a costume for school. We bought felafel in pita for supper and came home.

This morning she didn't want to go to school, obviously. I let her stay at home as it's my WAH day, school was half day and there were no lessons today. This afternoon she has her youth club meeting. DD won't go because there'll be dressing up.

Where does she get this from?

On Thursday evening we will go to a Purim party at the home of friends, we'll read the story of Queen Esther followed by supper. It's a hoot. Everyone will be dressed up in costumes. DD won't of course. And I won't dress up because I hate dressing up. OH.

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'."