A Day In The Life Of A Teacher In July

Here is a pretty border at Kew Gardens.
Today was not the day for photography. 

Hooray! School holidays!

The day started at 7.30 am when I got up to make sure DD left the house at 8 to go to her day camp at school. I then went back to bed for an hour because, as it's the holidays, obviously I didn't go to bed until 2.45 am last night.

I had students to see in college, around the corner, starting at 10.30 so I set the alarm on my phone for 9.20. I forgot to check that it was set for Tuesday so I was quite surprised and panicked to wake up at 10.20. I quickly called my first student and told her I'd be 15 minute late. Rushed like a mad woman to shower and dress. Grabbed the keys from the dish in the kitchen and slammed the front door behind me.

I had grabbed the wrong keys and was now locked out. I prayed that DD had her key but with no time to deal with it, I sprinted (metaphorically) to college. When I got there I texted DD to ask if she had her key and she replied that she did. Phew.

My second student of the morning was the one who tutored DD all year in Hebrew. I had a small gift for her. I'd left it at home. These meetings are the final meetings for English. These students leave college next week and I never see most of them again. Ooof!

Then I remembered that I had an identical gift in my bag intended for DD's art teacher, who had not been in school on Sunday. It was in a decorative envelope and I'd written a message on the front. I quickly tore open the envelope and when the girl arrived I presented her with the unwrapped gift as something from DD to say thank you and how much she had enjoyed her lessons. Because 10 year olds are allowed to forget to wrap the present, and write a note, right?

On my way home DD called in tears. She'd thought she'd taken her key but actually she hadn't. I called my neighbour downstairs who I thought might have my spare key, and discovered that she'd be home in about an hour and a half.

DD and I had no choice but to go out for lunch. We had to go to the pharmacy to collect a prescription anyway so this was something accomplished at least.

And here's an interesting thing. We went to the Roladin Cafe/Bakery on the Hebron Road and decided to cut straight to the dessert. In fact we ordered the exact same items that we'd had at Roladin in the Hadar Mall on Sunday. Except that this time the cake and coffee were a deal together for 33 nis instead of 34 plus 12 nis.

Btw, you can buy the whole cake to take home for 60 nis and a slice is about one sixth of the whole cake. Just saying. Although this information doesn't help you if you're locked out. The Sprite was the same 12 nis in both places. (DD had the cake and Sprite, I had the coffee.) Folks we have switched our loyalty completely to the Hebron Road Roladin.

My neighbour called to say she'd got home early. The day was looking up. Luckily she did have my spare key - we gave it right back to her after letting ourselves in.

I made DD pasta for whenever she got hungry (the summer has that effect on set mealtimes), talked with my mum on the phone, popped out to meet one more student at 5, came home for my OMAD (one meal a day) of baked potatoes and salad, sorted out a few more students by email, did a load of laundry and hung it out to dry, one blog post (this one) and it will be Netflix till bedtime whilst crocheting kippot (skullcaps) for my brother's wedding.

I love the holidays!

Paradise On Earth

The view from our hike stroll.

In the Bible, King Saul, Israel's first King, led a charge against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa (1 Samuel 28:4). The battle ends with the king falling on his own sword and Saul's sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua being killed in battle (1 Samuel 31:1-4). Wikipedia

At Gan HaMa'ayanot
I call this one "10" 😋

Our Independence Day holiday - Day 2 took us to Paradise on Earth. (See Day 1 here.)Of course you have to earn your place in Paradise - everybody knows that. So before trying to go there we went on a short hike. Normally I hate hiking in Israel because it invariably involves climbing or walking over rocks. Remember this disastrous outing? But this time we walked on a smooth path towards the enchanted natural pools of Gan HaMa'ayanot (Spring Park - as in natural springs).

Entrance is free. You only start paying for things if you visit the shop, the cafe, hire bikes, or pay for a cart to drive you to the springs.

We frolicked in the first pool on the route. DD was't too sure about the tiny fish that come to nibble your feet but you pay a fortune for this treatment at a spa so I was up for it.

You can choose from several routes of varying degrees of length and wetness. You can opt to take the paths between the pools or walk through the streams that connect them. After the first pool we opted to walk straight back to the car and head for the real jewel in the crown.

Sakhne to my left....

Gan Hashlosha (Park of Three, I think it means three pools), also called Sakhne, is a place dear to my heart. When we arrived on our kibbutz in September 1981 for our gap year, one of the very first places they took us to was Sakhne. I have a very clear memory of my future b-i-l and another boy throwing me off the bridge and into the water head first. I was terrified as I fell but then it was fine of course. And though it's one of the most beautiful places in Israel, I've not been back in almost 38 years.

... and Sakhne to my right. 

We were lucky on two accounts. Firstly it was still April so not too hot. And secondly it was the first Friday of Ramadan so it was much less crowded than on a normal Friday. Oh and a third lucky thing - we didn't arrive on the same day that the Azerbaijani contestants recorded their intro video for Eurovision. (Ahh so that's why you recognize it. Yup).

It cost something to get in - I think about 65 shekels per family of two.

And, unlike God, on the third day we rested. except that it was like God because our third day was His seventh ifyswim.

Gan Garoo

The photo on the Reasons 2B Cheerful post on Saturday, mentioned Gan Garoo in the Beit She'an Valley. The valley is part of the Jordan Rift Valley that runs all the way down the Jordan River to the Dead Sea. Beit She'an is just south of the Sea of Galilee.

I love this area of Israel. It's where I spent a year on a kibbutz for my gap year and it's absolutely beautiful in the spring. Luckily our Independence Day was just at the end of springtime, and this is when we have a tradition (of two years standing, lol) to go away for the whole weekend - even if Independence Day doesn't actually fall on or near a weekend. (We take Fridays off school when necessary and it's allowed because Friday school is only until 11.45, the children are in school six days a week, and their only day off is Shabbat when many people don't travel or spend money. And anyway there is no public transport on Shabbat. Everyone agrees that some flexibility is essential.)

So this year, after the Independence Day Eve fireworks and street party in Jerusalem, we traveled up the country on Thursday morning. On the way to our guest house on Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin - actually a delightful cottage in the countryside, we stopped off at Gan Garoo. It's a play on words. Gan means garden and garoo could be 'where they live.' The 'they' in this case is kangaroos, koalas*, and parakeets from Australia. (Although by now all of the animals are several generations born in Israel.)

Israel is anyway replete with eucalyptus trees that were imported over 100 years ago to help drain the swamps. So walking into Gan Garoo was not so different from the animal sanctuary I visited once near Sydney. The Gilboa stood in place of the Blue Mountains, the sky was blue, but it was only a two hour drive to get there as opposed to a 28 hour flight (or flights) to Australia.

*Okay I'm coming clean about the koalas. There weren't any. Apparently the last one died 18 months ago and they are still negotiating getting some more from Australia. But we did walk among the kangaroos. They were mostly dozing in the sun and the children could pet them. I saw one with a joey in her pouch. Who knew that they go in head first with their legs sticking out? (Someone tell E. H. Shepard. I will never trust Little Roo again.)

The children loved feeding the parakeets with bits of apple on sticks. They were very easily bought tame. You just held the food next to your shoulder or arm and there they landed for a perfect photo op. (Not for us - DD and I didn't want any birds landing on us. No thank you.)

The other attractions at the park included a Dinosaur Maze, a children's playground, a picturesque pond with black swans, and a variety of puzzle 'mazes' for the children to work out. And bats which were actually quite fascinating.

The Dinosaur Maze was amazing. (See what I did there? ☺) The paths were like walking through a forest and around every corner was a life-sized model of a dinosaur. Many of them moved and roared or quietly chewed leaves. It was very realistic and sort of thrilling. There were also lots of interesting facts to learn. Well I thought they were interesting. The kids were more interested in getting lost in the maze and trying to find their way out.

Do you know why dinosaur fossils and bones have only been found in Israel near Jerusalem, in the north, and in parts of the Negev Desert? I.e. none in the centre of the country? Here's a hint - the centre of the country is the coastal plain. Here's another hint - Jerusalem, Haifa and the Galil in the north, and parts of the Negev are mountainous. And the final hint - Dinosaurs only lived on land and not in the sea. (Answers on a postcard - the chances of the diabolical Israeli Post Office delivering them is less than 1%.)

I don't know why I don't have any photos of the dinosaurs. I thought I'd take some. Oh well, next time.

We spent a good few hours at Gan Garoo. I don't remember what it cost because a friend of a friend got us reduced tickets through some membership or other. We bought coffee and ice lollies in the shop but rather than picnic in the pretty grounds, we decided to go elsewhere for a proper lunch.

All in all, a great day out and highly recommended. (But you need to avoid it between May and September if you hate extremely hot weather, as we do.)

R2BC - The Pesach Edition

Place names for Seder night. 

We went to London for Pesach. I try to keep our travel plans off social media until we've returned home but it doesn't usually work very well. Anyway, lots of reasons 2B cheerful from our holiday. And lots more R2BC from other bloggers over at Becky's Lakes Single Mum.

1
Seder Night
We have two of them. Both a lot of fun. DD was in charge of making the place names for the table. The photo shows what she made for the first night. Thanks to my friend Janet for the idea - hieroglyphics for the exodus from Egypt. The first activity of the evening was to work out who was who. It's actually quite easy when you know which names you're looking for. We kept ours for bookmarks.

2
Chihuly at Kew Gardens
The Best Day Out! Thanks for taking us Doreen. This will get its own blog post so no photos on this one.

3
Fashionista
After years of refusing to wear anything but sweat pants, leggings or shorts with a t-shirt, DD surprised us all at our semi-annual trip to Primark and H&M. "I think I need to change my style," she announced. She then started picking out pretty summer jump suits with delicate shoulder straps and frilly off the shoulder 'sleeves'. I steered her away from the less practical ensembles. I am not about to iron frills although my iron may have to come out after 10 years in the cupboard. And we live in the Middle East so protected shoulders are a must in the summer. Still, it was so much more fun to buy a range of pretty clothes for her.

4
Fit Flops and Skechers
I always wanted Fit Flops. When they first came out my mother asked me what gift she could bring when she came to stay. I asked for Fit Flops and she brought me a pair of flip flops. Soon after, my sister asked me what I wanted as a birthday present and I asked for Fit Flops (I didn't realize the price at that time). Then she forgot about it and I didn't like to remind her (or maybe she already knew the price). I finally bought myself a pair - years ago, but I made the mistake of buying the ones without the thong. I thought the thong would be uncomfortable for every day. Stupid me. The other kind only came in dowdy designs. They were comfortable and I wore them to death but I didn't love them. After that I discovered an Israeli make that I wore for years (Ben Ami) but they're now more expensive than Fit Flops. So I finally bought my thonged Fit Flops in John Lewis and I love them.

I also discovered Skechers sports shoes. Thanks Marilyn for the recommendation. I'm never going back to other trainers and neither is DD.

5
Family Wedding
My brother got engaged. He's been with his fiancee for over three years so she's already a part of the family. And so we thought it could continue forever. They surprised us all by getting engaged and we're now waiting to hear when the wedding will be. Mazal Tov Michael and Alyson! xxx

Holiday Guilt

Sunburst from the Chihuly exebition at Kew Gardens

Believe me, it's a thing. It starts before the holiday with things to get done before we leave. Be up to date with work commitments (prep and grading), paperwork (taxes, paying bills, filing, etc...) and cleaning the apartment. The time gets shorter and shorter and we leave for our holiday with work unfinished, paperwork in a pile on the desk, and a whisk round the apartment with a lick and a promise. I should have managed my time more efficiently.

There is also the social media dilemma. I don't want to announce, even in emails, that we will be away for two weeks and thereby implying that the apartment will be empty. Of course I could mention my sumo-wrestler cousin who will be house-sitting with his two mastiffs, but that's like protesting too much - a transparent ruse. So I keep quiet and feel terribly guilty that I'm going to disappear from the blog and people might worry that I've been run over by a bus, or worse, lost interest in writing. Thank you Margie from Toronto, for your concern. I do appreciate it under my guilt. And sorry, sorry, sorry.

The truth will out of course and friends write on facebook, "will you be in London for Passover?" I try to ignore these questions but I feel guilty.

And then my friend's mother suggests we meet for coffee over the festival and I would love to see her. I was the recipient of her hospitality, kindness and wisdom as a teenager and it would be fabulous to catch up. I PM her that I'll call her daughter when I get to London. And other friends whom I'd also love to see, message me and I get all future President of America and I cannot tell a lie. But I arrive in London and I don't call them because I remember that I have a 10 year daughter who doesn't want to catch up with all my old friends over coffee and also doesn't want to spend her whole holiday playing on Gandma's computer while I'm doing said catching up. It's a sad situation - guilty if I do and guilty that I don't.

I get lazy about blogging sometimes but I vary rarely miss a Reasons 2B Cheerful post. A week before the holiday I wrote on twitter to the regular contributing bloggers, that I'm sorry I'm always late with mine but I don't usually have time to get to it before Saturday. A couple of the others also said they preferred Saturday and so it was decided to change the R2BC day to Saturday. Then I disappeared for two weeks without telling anyone even though the move to Saturday was mainly because of me. Guilty.

Whilst in London we went with my cousin to see the Chihuly exhibition in Kew Gardens. It was absolutely stunning and deserves its own blog post. Later that day my cousin posted her photos on facebook and tagged me. I accepted the tag without thinking of the consequences and the cat was out of the bag. "Oh, I see you're in London," wrote Mich from Mummy from the Heart (one of the two R2BC hosts). "I wondered where you were?" Sorry, sorry, sorry, I should have told you.

Of course I did intend to write some location neutral blog posts while I was away but with limited computer access and the fact that it's much more fun playing kalooky and watching endless recorded episodes of Escape to the Country until 1 am and then getting up too late to accomplish anything in the mornings, I didn't blog. Moving back into my mother's house brings with it a certain amount of teenage behaviour and the associated guilt about wasting all that time.

About wasting time. We love being in London. We love the weather, we love the parks, we love the supermarkets, we love the tv, and we love shopping in Watford. We also love a day in London proper (as opposed to the suburbs where we live) and other outings like Kew Gardens, Legoland, the theatre, etc... But we don't have a driving urge to visit loads of museums and monuments, or even to be out and about every day. This holiday involved celebrating Passover which revolved around delicious meals at my sister's house with all the cousins and other guests (including two Seder nights), and a lot of going round to people's houses for tea, coffee, or a light supper. We're a bit grounded as we don't eat out at all during the eight days of the festival. But we're in London! Just visiting for a short time! I feel so ungrateful and lazy that we don't make the most of all that culture and entertainment on our doorstep for a short time only. But we don't. This is why I will probably never be a travel writer and another source of guilt.

We travel home on the early morning flight from Luton that requires getting up at 3 am on Sunday to go to the airport. I don't bother going to sleep the night before. We get home at about 5 pm because we're just in time to hit the rush hour as we enter Jerusalem. I then have to go out to the little supermarket around the corner because we've no food in the house. I make some supper for DD, tell her to put her dishes in the sink when she's finished and to turn off all the lights when she goes to bed. I go to bed at 7 pm and leave her to it. She hates it when I do that. Guilty.

I wake up at 11 pm with a dehydration headache. I take a paracetamol, drink coffee, and then drink a large green tea because the coffee didn't seem to work. I can't sleep. I read until 3.30 am, sleep for 3 1/2 hours and turn up for my first day of school exhausted and, actually, late. Guilty.

That night I fall into bed at 7 pm again. Now I've done this to DD two nights in a row. Guilty. I ignore the phone when it rings at about 10.30 so my mum doesn't get to tell me that my brother is engaged. I read it on facebook the next morning. Guilty. I still haven't unpacked and it's now Tuesday. But I have four hours of teaching at college on Tuesday afternoon so I need to prepare those lessons rather than unpack. Guilty. On Wednesday I after school I should have graded all the papers that came in from online courses over the holiday. But it's Holocaust Memorial Day and I want it to be meaningful so I make DD watch a movie about Anne Frank with me. Then I tell her that it's not appropriate to play on the computer or watch You Tube on this night so we both go to bed. On Thursday after school DD has gymnastics until 7.15 pm. We get home at 7.30 and there are three weeks' worth of emails to deal with so no grading tonight. Guilty. Today is Friday and I have to do some grading before Shabbat comes in as we don't work tomorrow. But I will unpack tomorrow - only six days after we came home. Guilty again.

Such a little word yet it generates so much anxiety.

Work, Play, Stretch And Shop - R2BC

DD has discovered the joys of gymnastics.
I remember it so well.

Okay so it's not coming home but that's no reason not 2B cheerful. Life goes on and here are my Reasons 2B Cheerful for this week. The linky ladies are with Michelle this month on Mummy from the Heart.

1
Football Crazy
I was passionate about football for a whole 2 hours. Possibly less as I only joined the semi-final at half time. Although I was caught up in all that "Football's Coming Home" excitement and I have been singing it all week. (Note to self: Try to stop singing it now. Time for a new song.)

Someone on facebook posted a link to live coverage so I went there and was hooked even though I missed the first England goal. I saw the equalizer. Then I got bored. Even I could see that England weren't playing very well. I was flicking about between websites and I missed the second Croatia goal. But I was hopeful until the bitter end. However, England will be 3rd or 4th in the World Cup - that's still world cup football. And at least we weren't beaten by France, eh?

2
What Holiday?
I've said before that I'm always surprised in July when the college semester finishes and the work doesn't. Well my July just got more worked up as next week I'm standing in for another teacher on a summer course (another one as well as the one I'm already facilitating online). It was all at the last minute (personal reasons) but I've suddenly got to come up with 25 hours of frontal teaching from Sunday till Thursday.

This time next week I'll be extremely happy (never mind cheerful) as I send in my hours to the college bursar.

3
Latch-key Kid
DD has been taking her door key to summer school with her and I've been free to come home leisurely instead of racing against the clock. Still loving the new sense of freedom and life is so much less stressful without this rigid time constraint. I don't stay out all afternoon but I can be an hour late and she's fine. It's great that she can call me on my mobile - what did we do without them?

4
Independence Day - The Movie
Well not that actual movie but a different movie. This week DD went to the cinema with a friend. The friend's Dad took them, bought the tickets and made sure they went to the right screen. Then he left and they walked home together after the film. We're lucky that we have a Planet Cinema complex about 20 minutes walk away, along the main road. DD loved the whole experience. And so did I.

New watch.
I'm left handed and wear it on my left wrist.
This makes taking the photo tricky.
#rubbishphotographerstrikesagain #outoffocus

5
Which Watch?
After wearing DD's Barbie pink watch with a plastic strap, for weeks now, I finally bought myself a new watch. It looks more expensive than it is - which was the goal.

Does anyone know what film this comes from? My Dad used to quote it all the time.
Two men meet in an Arab shuk.
A: Which watch?
B: Two watch.
A: Two watch? Such much?!

6
Olga Korbut
DD is into gymnastics. More about that later but the photo above is pretty much standard at any given moment, if she's not perfecting her splits or doing a backbend.

Wishing you a great weekend and a cheerful week ahead. 

I Was Wrong About The Clarinet - R2BC

Jerusalem Orchestra

Reason 2B cheerful are plentiful this week.

1
We Break Up
It's the end of the school year. One more week to go and I'm actually in school for only two more days. And one day in college will have almost half my year course students passed and signed off. DD has to return all her school textbooks tomorrow and she has her end of year party in the afternoon. I will be working on a summer course and meeting with another 18 students from the Year course but without four days a week in school it's all much more relaxed. I have plans - of course. :)

School Orchestra

2
Clarinet Soloist
DD had her end of year concerts this week. The Jerusalem Cub Orchestra was fantastic and the kids were so excited to be playing in a real theatre and with other older orchestras and bands. The next day they had the school orchestra end of year concert. In this one DD had a solo. The girl who wouldn't be part of any school assembly because she was too shy, had the first solo.

The children who are in both orchestras performed a surprise rendition of 'Toy" from the Eurovision Song Contest. I never knew it actually had a tune until I heard this orchestrated version. It was a lot of fun as all the children started clapping and singing along.

One of the fathers said to me afterwards, "weren't you the parent who complained at the beginning of the year about them having to take up a new instrument when they can't play the recorder yet?" I still think a recorder ensemble is lovely and worthwhile, but I admit that I was wrong about the clarinet. We will be continuing next year.

School solo

3
Family Visits
My nephew stayed with us last week, on his way to be a leader for a group of school children from his old school who are touring Israel for two weeks. It was sharav weather last Shabbat (over 36∘C) so we just stayed in, enjoyed each other's company, and played contract whist. We do love our card games. And this week I'm looking forward to seeing my cousin who's here for a wedding.

I've joined the linky over at Becky's Lakes Single Mum
along with the other cheerful bloggers.

Hanukkah Nights Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six

Third night we lit at the airport. 

We got back from London on Sunday evening so I'm still in catch up mode. I wrote about the first night of Hanukkah here.

The second night was just DD and me at home. I didn't take any photos but she did get a new umbrella for her present. It replaced the old one which is in perfect condition and will go to the Yedidya Bazaar in March. It was time for an upgrade as nine year olds cannot been seen with a little pink umbrella decorated with Bratz dolls. I got that.

Third night we were at the airport and of course we lit candles there. We declined the big sugary doughnuts though.

Fifth night family party at Mum's. Party hats are compulsery.

Fourth night we went to my sister for Friday night dinner and lit candles there. My gift and DD's gift was that she got to stay the night and spend the whole of Shabbat with her cousins while I went home with my mum.

On the fifth night which was Saturday night, my mum hosted the immediate family for our family Hanukkah party. It's candle lighting, presents, dinner, latkes and doughnuts (not together), a quiz, crackers and party hats - the whole thing.

Cousins conferring over the joke from the cracker

Sixth night, my sister hosted Sunday lunch for my b-i-l's family. When it's her turn to host their Hanukkah party we get to go too. More latkes and more doughnuts.

So far so festive. However, on the Seventh night we had more lights than ever.... you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that as it deserves a whole blog post on its own. And I have to go to bed as the teachers' strike I was so hoping for tomorrow has been called off.

Mini Summer Staycation In Israel - R2BC

The view from the top.  Mediterranean scrub.  It is what it is.

On Thursday we set off for our annual mini-holiday with our friends. This year we were only 4 mothers and 4 children aged between 5 1/2 and 8 1/2. Also, we left it too late to find two consecutive nights in a kibbutz guest house so we only had one night away.

We set off early on Wednesday morning for the obligatory hike and picnic. I described the Israeli obsession with hiking here and gave my views about it. I don't need to go into it again. Suffice to say I've not changed my mind but we don't have a car so we have to go with the flow to some extent.

We went to Guvrin National Park which is a full of ancient ruins, houses, cisterns, and caves in the Judean Hills. We trekked a bit and every so often there was a ruin where everyone climbed down into the underground cistern to look. I don't do climbing so I stayed above ground and sat under a carob tree to wait.

This solitary house was once part of a whole village in the hillside.
That's a carob tree on the right. 

Lunch was trying to balance plastic boxes and human bottoms on a series of rocks because the picnic tables at the first stop were all in the sun. I ate a bit but it wasn't lunch as I enjoy it. More of a quick snack and not worth all the cool boxes and flasks that came out and were packed back in the cars after 15 minutes. DD didn't eat at all.

My friend showed me that you can pick a carob pod, break it in half and chew the inside (you discard the beans). It's delicious. I always thought you had to cook them somehow first.

Some of the solitary houses we saw were once part of a whole village built into the hillside. Originally each house had an underground cistern to catch the rain water and the cisterns were connected by tunnels. This meant that the water was shared and also that the people could walk between the houses without going outside.

DD in a carob tree.

After two ruins with underground cisterns, DD and I opted out and sat at a shady picnic table to eat our real lunch and read a chapter of Harry Potter. This is why I like to take our own food. We had it with us, we sat at a table, it felt like lunch.

From there we drove to our kibbutz guesthouse and spent the afternoon at their beautiful pool which we had almost to ourselves (probably because all the other Israelis were out hiking in the mountains). And in the evening we drove to a nearby town for shnitzel or felafel and chips. The children played and eventually went to bed. We sat outside and drank coffee until late. I love this part of our trips the best.

The Soreq caves are magical.

Day two started with our Israeli breakfast (though not nearly as good as last year's). Then we set off for the the Soreq caves on the way back to Jerusalem. The Soreq caves are full of natural stalactites (with c for ceiling) and stalagmites (with g for ground). It's beautiful like a fairy cave. You go round in groups of about 20 with a guide on a purpose built path through the structures that are lit up to show the different shapes and formations.

I went to this cave about 25 years ago and DD went last year on a school trip. It's a strange concept that you know every Israeli adult on the tour had visited this place before. Imagine if you went to Cheddar Gorge, for example. You wouldn't assume that every British adult you saw there had been there before. Israel is a small country and it's part of the education and national psyche to visit and learn about every inch of it.

These formations are between 1 million and 10 million years old.
One drop of water can take two months to drip.
One mm of rock can take about 100 years to form. 

It used to drive me mad on my gap year that one week we'd go and climb a mountain in the Mediterranean scrub and two weeks later we'd go and climb another similar mountain. What was the point? To the Israelis it was obvious - that was Mt. Tabor, today we are climbing Mt Nebo. Next week we will climb Mt. Gilboah. Different history, different parts of the Bible innit?

And then home for a rest before a birthday party in the park down the road. There was food and beer for the adults. Home at 7.45, straight into bed for a chapter of Harry Potter, and asleep by 8.30 - both of us.

Pool dude

I'm linking up with Reasons 2B Cheerful over at Lakes Single Mum.

Our Three Day Holiday

Akko, the garden of the crusader fortress. 

Once upon a time I didn't understand the concept of the mini-break. I couldn't see the point of a three day holiday - wasn't it all a bit rushed? Then I did it a couple of times and was converted. You really do come back refreshed from three days and two nights away.

Water science at the Science Museum, Haifa

Last year we only did an overnight. It was an experiment. This year we upgraded from camping to a kibbutz challet and added on the extra day and night.


Day 1. On the last Thursday before school started, we left home at 7am, and drove north to the Science Museum in Haifa, having dropped my friend's dog at her mother near Tel Aviv on the way. There we met up with the rest of our group. In total we were five mothers with five children between the ages of 4 1/2 and 7 1/2. I won't tell you how old the mothers are but our combined ages are older than the United States of America.

The museum was great - loads of interactive exhibits, some of which you could ride on, explaining about weights and pulleys, water science, gears, pipes and tubes, and many more things that we didn't even get a chance to see. The only down side was that the weather was 38C (100F) and much of the fun was outside. In the end the best bit for the children was when they just ran into the water fountains to cool off. I think we may have eaten a picnic lunch but I can't remember. Maybe we just each gave our children food when they asked for it? We all drank a lot of water.

"Don't worry we won't get too wet"

Then we headed off to Kibbutz Shomrat to check into our challets (we had two for the 10 of us) and off again to the beach. We frollicked about in the swell and as the sun went down we ordered pizza to eat on the shore.

"We couldn't help it. It's just too hot!"

Day 2. Full Israeli breakfast at the Kibbutz, the way only Israel knows how. As well as the traditional cereal and milk, toast butter and jam, there were yogurts, pancakes, pastries, eggs, salads, quiches, fish, bread rolls and cheeses.  To drink: teas, coffee, OJ, or chocolate milk. Something for everyone.

Entrance to the shuk in Akko

We went to Akko (Acre) but as it was Friday we stopped first at a take-out shop to order food for Shabbat. We chose shnitzels, rice, potatoes, salatim, challahs, meatballs, etc... and they kept it all in their fridge for us to pick up on the way home.

Akko is famous for its crusader fortress and castle, tunnels, ancient bathhouse, museum and all things crusader. There is also a beautiful harbour with fishing boats, horse and cart taxis, and a traditional Middle Eastern shuk (market). I didn't take many photos so follow the link to see Akko in all its glory. (I only put my own [rubbish] photos or those donated by friends, in posts as after a while Blogger removes photos pasted from other sites.)

I tried to explain to DD about the crusaders.
Me: They came from England and France mostly to try to get all the Moslems and Jews to love Jesus.
DD: How did they make everyone love Jesus?
Me: They said, 'if you don't love Jesus we'll kill you.'

Stairs were built wide and flat to allow for knights on horses

The Fortress was excellently presented with images of the crusaders and clergy going about their daily business projected onto selected walls. DD was terrified, had a panic attack, and we had to leave.

We collected our food for dinner on the way home. Again I don't remember giving the children lunch other than handing DD a bread roll or an apple from my bag. The afternoon was spent at the pool or beach (we split up), meeting back at the kibbutz for dinner together on the veranda.

Day 3. It was Shabbat. After another big Israeli breakfast we went for a walk around the kibbutz, spent more time at the pool, ate a late lunch together on the veranda, relaxed, and the children played. It was a real day of rest.

We headed home in the evening passing not one but all three IKEA outlets in Israel (Kyriat Ata, Netanya, and Rishon). They were all open and we didn't stop at any of them  - what a waste! On the other hand we had two sleeping children in the back of the car and, for half the journey, a dog.

I Cannot Believe I Did This

You've seen the photos of DD on her pony ride in England. Well here's the truth behind the pictures. Reader I cannot believe I did this.

Last year when horse riding was the bee's knees

When we were in England last year we took DD to Aldenham Country Park. It's not huge like some other farm parks but it has everything we need and it's only ten minutes in the car from where my parents live.

There is a farm where you can feed the animals, a petting area with rabbits and lambs, an adventure playground, a lake with ducks, and pony rides. Last year DD loved the pony ride. It's a pound a minute but five minutes didn't seem like very much time so we paid 10 pounds and bought her a 10 minute ride.

She didn't stop talking about it for months. And asking, 'can we go back to the farm one day and go on a horse again?' If it hadn't been the end of our holiday we would have found more horse riding for her before we left. Having said that, I was also mindful of not encouraging an expensive hobby that we can't afford.

So this year we went back to Aldenham, obviously, and had great fun feeding the animals. Of course I bought DD a 10 pound for 10 minutes ride on the pony and while we were waiting for our time, she expertly climbed round the adventure playground three times.

Ponies are DD's thing at the moment. My mother bought her a My Little Pony toy (which also cost 10 pounds) and it instantly became her BTF (Best Toy Forever). She found My Little Pony on my parents' wall-to-wall cable package and watched it at every opportunity. And every time we popped into Sainsbury's for my mum, we had to go to the toy isle to check if the My Little Ponies had got any cheaper. Funnily enough, they never had.

Last year we loved it

Anyway, back to the story, After the third go round the adventure playground I suggested we stroll down to the paddock to be ready for our pony ride. DD didn't want to go. "I've changed my mind, I don't want to go on a pony."

"What?! You loved it last year. Why not? You talked about it for months. I've paid 10 pounds for the ride and I can't get my money back. Don't be so silly, we're going. I've bought the ticket and we're going. You can't change your mind after I've paid for it....."

DD: "I don't care, I don't want to."

Now this child is not afraid of being on a horse. She was just enjoying herself so much on the adventure playground that she didn't want to leave. I couldn't promise her that we would return to the playground after the ride as we were with my friend who needed to go home. That was another factor, my friend Danielle who had so kindly driven us there and spent the whole afternoon with us, had been a bit 'surprised' when I bought the pony ride tickets at 3pm and the next available time slot was 5.30. However, she graciously agreed to wait so that DD could have her ride.

I was furious, I was stymied, I had five minutes to come up with something. That's when I heard myself saying it. I am not proud. This was not my finest parenting hour.

I said, "If you go on the pony ride I'll buy you another My Little Pony toy."

Think about it. I actually said that if she accepted the expensive treat I'd already bought her, she would get another expensive treat as a thank you from me. I still can't believe I said that but I did.

DD, beaming triumphantly, skipped happily to the paddock for her pony ride. In semi-shock I listened to her babbling on about whether she was going to choose Twilight Sparkle or Shuttlecock Fluttershine to go with her Pinky Pie.

This year it was a means to an end

She climbed on the horse without a care and did her once round the big field at the back. She didn't not enjoy it but she wasn't overly enthusiastic about it either. It was a means to an end and the next day we popped into Sainsbury's and bought Twilight Sparkle with three sets of detachable wings.

Since then I've been going over it in my mind. Whilst I'm happy not to have an expensive and potentially dangerous hobby on my hands, and whilst I don't resent that I bought DD one present to keep (not including books and clothes) from our holiday, I'm still struggling with it. And since then, I've been giving short shrift to changing one's mind. "You said you wanted shnitzel for supper so that's what you've got." "You told X you wanted to go to her party so you have to go."

There, I've told you. 

Whatever Happened To April?

This blog needs a kick-start. It always happens in April. We go to England for our yearly visit and I get lost between living out of the suitcase, catching up with old friends, the Pesach (Passover) chaos, and 52 episodes of Escape to the Country recorded by my mum.

And as happy as I am to get back home to our own wardrobes, current friends, and a regular routine; I find myself hitting the ground crawling. It takes me several weeks to get back into the swing of things, including blogging.

Meanwhile the blog stats are falling and my TOTS100 fell by about 40 places - taking it into the vague "top 500" rather than the badge announcing my actual and personal rank. However, this was just the challenge I need to get my mojo moving.

For a gentle start, here are some of the things we got up to in England over Pesach:

We made friends at the Natural History Museum.

We liked it so much we bought the book.

We escaped to the country ourselves but just for a horse ride. I didn't buy a cottage with outhouses to convert into holiday lets (this time).

We went to the farm and fed the cows

And the sheep who looked positively Biblical in their barn complete with a manger and little lambs.

We made daisy chains in the park. 

We also love the exercise equipment, far better than the swings and slides.

The adventure playground is fab though.

We had fun with our cousins. This is the big one.

We played with the old train set. 

We enjoyed staying at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Best of all, on our return I found that you can watch hundreds of episodes of Escape to the Country on You Tube. :~)