VE Day (Victory and Vegetables) - R2BC

Potatoes, tomatoes, oranges and lemons! Thanks Esther!

The biggest Reason 2B Cheerful today is that it's VE Day - Victory in Europe. If VE had not been won our lives would have been very different. And as a Jew, I might not have even been born. I'm sorry that all the street parties and public celebrations in the UK were canceled, although rightly so. No nation does street parties like the British!

A few weeks ago I ordered a vegetable box delivery  from Kibbutz Alumim, where my friends live. It was fabulous and very reasonably priced. Since then they've been continuing the box deliveries but as a family of two, we really didn't need a whole box of vegetables every week. Yesterday there was a knock on the door and my friend Esther, who lives on the kibbutz, was standing there, in a mask,  with a box of fruit and veg.

They are discontinuing the service now that the schools are going back (the surplus was from the dormant school lunch contracts) but they had some produce left over in Jerusalem. Esther took a box, divided it up between some of her Jerusalem friends, and made personal deliveries. Thanks Esther! (Note to self: Don't think you can not clean the bathroom because no one is coming to visit.)

In other news. I really enjoyed the enormous storm we had on Wednesday. Sheets of rain, thunder and lightning and heavy winds into the night. It might have been the last big storm of the year and was certainly very unusual for May. But what is usual these days? (Update: I just looked at the weather app and scattered thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow. Here's hoping.)

Another of my daily app checks is the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). It's only 11 cm below the upper red line. So exciting when you live in a desert.

Last but not least. Having put on loads of weight during the first six weeks of lockdown, I finally brought myself under control and went back to Intermittent Fasting. So fast so good.

Have a good week yourself and check out the linky on Becky's Lakes Single Mum for more cheerful blog posts.

R2BC - Running Into Spring

I kept the blue tub. It sits in a cupboard, perfect for collecting stuff to donate.

Reasons 2B cheerful as some of the local signs of spring appear. Namely the Yedidya Bazaar, signing up for school for September, and checking the Sea of Galilee for the final water 1evel before the end of the rains and the spring run off. In truth, because of the snow on Mt Hermon, the level will continue to rise until the end of April but we're already excited about this year's position. 

1
Declutter for Yedidya
The annual Yedidya Bazaar came and went last week. I took out all the stuff that had accumulated over the past year. The samovar and the wok were on a previous declutter post but were then forgotten at the back of a cupboard. Happily they both got to the bazaar his year and were both bought.

This year was also the first time I was able to go on the Saturday night before the Sunday opening and help set it up, because DD is old enough to stay home alone for a bit. It was an amazing show of volunteer spirit. About 60 people turned up and got through two rooms filled to bursting with donations in about 5 hours.

I bought a pile of books for the school's English library.

In the past I've gone on Sunday morning to sort the last minute donations and left before the 4pm opening time to collect DD from school. This year I was also able to be there to help during the actual sale time. It was quite something to see hundreds of items (at 3 shekels each, about 70p) fly out of there. There were good clothes and shoes hardly worn, whole dinner sets, duvets and blankets, a room full of toys, and so many books that we had to keep most of them in boxes below the display tables.

2
Junior High
We signed DD up for junior high School. It's called junior high and you can change schools again after two years. In reality most schools are junior high and high school together so hopefully we'll be happy enough to stay in the next school until 18. You can put down between 3 and 5 schools on your list and rank them according to preference. I'm pretty sure we'll get our first choice as it's the closest school to where we live.

3
Sunny Respite 
We've had a few days of sunny weather before the rain returns tomorrow. We're grateful for the sunny respite and also grateful for the much needed rain.

As I don't have a dryer, as soon as the sun comes out I rush to do two loads of laundry. I'd do more but my drying rack only holds two loads. I leave it out all day and bring it inside in the evening, hoping that the heated apartment will dry it off overnight. Often it takes a couple of days of this in the winter, or longer if it's raining and the rack can't be pulled outside again in the morning.

Yes laundry can pile up a bit in the winter. Otoh, a load of laundry dries in about two hours in the summer. Shame it's not like firewood that can be stockpiled for the winter.

4
The Sea of Galilee 
Monitoring the level of the Sea of Galilee (we call it the Kinneret) has been a national pass time since the days when this freshwater lake provided most of the water for the whole of Israel. In the past decade Israel has built a number of desalination plants so now most of our water comes from the Mediterranean. This has definitely helped the Kinneret but years of drought or near drought kept levels low even so.

Last year we had a rainy winter which replenished the Kinneret at lot but it was still way below the upper red line. The upper red line is when they open the flood gates and let the excess water flow down the Jordan to the Dead Sea. The last time they did this was way back in 1992. This year we've had so much rain that we're nearly just 1m below the upper red line. We're expecting more rain this week and there is still all the snow on Mt Hermon to melt and run off down.

I look up the level of the Kinneret every day online as do many people I know. When there's a big rise people post it on face book and get very excited. And my 5th grade pupils at school ask me for an update every lesson. I'll keep you posted.

Crossing The Red Line - R2BC

The weather and DD's school play are my reasons 2B cheerful this week. The linky is still with Becky on Lakes Single Mum as we see out the month of March.

1
School Play
DD was a monkey in her school play. She told me, "I only have two lines but I exaggerate them. She was great!

The play was a joint project with students from Nissan Nativ - a film and drama school in Jerusalem (like Rada). Kobi Marimi, our Eurovision entrant, went there. Unfortunately he has graduated and had nothing to do with DD's school play.

2
The Red Lines
We've had the rainiest winter following a five year drought. Not no rain, but very little and not in the north, in areas that feed The Kinneret (Sea of Galilee - not a sea at all but rather a largish lake, smaller than Lake Geneva for example). When we went there in the summer it was a good walk down to the water, over what had once been the rocky sea bed. It was very sad. And two islands have appeared where once there were no islands. However, this year the lake has filled up to above the Lower Red Line for the first time in two years.

There are two red lines. The Upper Red Line, set at 208.8 m below sea level, is full capacity and they open the Deganya Dam to send the excess down the Jordan River to the Dead Sea (also not a sea and now two distinct lakes :( ). The last time they did this was in 2013 following spring flooding and a need to replenish the Jordan River. This is something I would love to see again but it won't be this year.

The Lower Red Line is the point at which they are supposed to stop pumping water as any lower causes ecological damage and the water quality deteriorates. There is 4.2 metres between the two lines and we are only at about 1 metre above the Lower Red Line.

We need to be a good two meters above the Lower Red Line in order to stay above it for the duration of the summer as 1 cm per day can evaporate in the hot weather. Apparently there's still lots of snow on Mt Hermon to melt and, amazingly, it's still raining - with another storm expected this week! I check on the level daily. I'm a bit nerdy like that.

I have to mention that there is also a Black Line, 1.87 m below the Lower Red Line, which is below the pipes so you couldn't pump even if you wanted to. This is also the historical minimum. When things get this dangerous they plan to pump sea water from the Mediterranean into The Kinneret. But we absolutely don't want to go there again!

There's something exciting about heavy rain in springtime because you know the summer is coming so you don't get depressed thinking that this is the situation for the next three months. I intend to enjoy every minute of what could be the final storm this year. 

  

R2BC - So Long Wet Winter

Ready for Spring (photo by Sarit)

I really wanted to write this Reasons 2B Cheerful post tonight so that it gets in under February's posts, so that's why I'm on time this week. The Linky is at Mich's Mummy from the Heart for the last time before moving for March.

1
The Power of Whatsapp
Yesterday I was walkng to the bus stop when I met my downstairs neighbour on the corner waiting for her ride to work. We were chatting when we saw a car try to turn the corner on the wrong side of the road and hit another car. No one was hurt and both drivers got out and started taking pictures. My neighbour's ride came and I went on to catch my bus.

Later I got this Whatsapp message: "This morning I was involved in an accident on the corner of x and y streets. Two mothers from the school (actually my neighbour isn't but I am) saw it. Please pass this message on if you have kids in other classes so that I can find and talk to them." And there was a phone number.

I called. She is a First Grade mother but the power of Whatsapp sent the message to almost every class in the school. She told me that the guy in the other car is saying that it was her fault. I wrote down what I saw and whatsapped it to her. She was very grateful and said that they probably won't need a witness but the insurance company might call me to verify.

2
Away Away
In the famous words of Meryl Streep in Mama Mia, it's not just away, it's away away. Yedidya Bazaar was earlier this week. I took along five shopping trolleys worth of stuff that I'd decluttered last summer but not yet moved out of the apartment. I'm still trying to decide how to best use the freed up space in the spudy wardrobe.

3
Stormy Weather
We just had the most almighty storm in Israel. The streets turned to rivers, the lights went out at school (although strangely all other electricity was fine), it hailed tennis balls of ice, the ground is saturated. It was amazing! Obviously it was amazing because it only lasted two days. I get it that this sort of weather that can go on for weeks in the UK and other northern climes, is not amazing, just depressing. But for us, it was amazing. Now it has almost passed. Almost but not quite.

This winter has marked the end of a five year drought. That doesn't mean no rain for five years but very little, and not enough. And more rain expected next week, although not as big a storm as we just had.

4
Marching On
Tomorrow is March. So long winter. You were a wet one this year and we're ready to say thank you and good bye.

The First Rain

You can't see the rain but dig the wellies.

The big news this week is that it rained yesterday.

I was still in bed when DD came running in to tell me, "I just realized it's raining!" I jumped up and ran into the living room. And there it was. Real rain. DD said, "I can't believe it. I haven't seen rain for so long." (Think how you would react to waking up to the first magical snow - that's how we felt and reacted.)

DD put on her wellington boots and went out onto the balcony. She stood watching, transfixed, and smiling from ear to ear.

It wasn't only us. There were tens (or even hundreds) of comments on facebook just announcing the rain. We were collectively thrilled. We even have a name for the first rain after the long hot summer. It's called the Yoreh.

It was cold outside too. I wore my fleece and real shoes instead of sandals.

The best thing about the rain is the clear fresh air it leaves afterwards. Looking down, the street looks clean and the cars are all shiny again. A thick layer of dust and dried mud has been washed away. I feel like cleaning my house.

So forget September 1st as the real start to the new year. Or my birthday on September 4th. Or Rosh Hashana. Or Yom Kippur. Or, as usually happens, "after the all the festivals are over we'll get going with real life, goals, work, diet, etc..." (That would be next Sunday). We're up early, refreshed and raring to embrace the new year, today, after the Yoreh.