A blueberry among sabras

Life sign

2011-12-17T10:17:00.004+02:00

My husband has started blogging (Hebrew)! That means that I have to kick my own butt and kick some life in my own blog.

This summer a revolution started in Israel, protesting against a monopolized economy that has skyrocketed the living expenses to a degree where only the richest can get by without a struggle. Besides that, liberal democracy is in jeopardy, with rightist fear-mongering as the general discourse among the ones who rule the country.

Pita on a demonstration.

Her sweater is a word game:

"Yesh li pipi ve kaki" means "I need to pee and poo"

On the sweater instead it says "Yesh li Bibi ve kaki"... ;)

I was demonstrating this summer, so was my dog and so where our kids and their mother with boyfriend - all but my husband. I know that he has the heart in the right place, but I could not seem to break him out of his indifference. Maybe not indifference, but rather despair.

Then a few days ago he just told me "I want to start a blog!" and I helped him set it up and there are two posts so far and all of a sudden he is far more outspoken and engaged than he has been even in our private discussions. I look forward to more of his thoughts. For you non-Hebrews, there is always Google translate!

Me and Pita.

She is 8 months old and

I am 22 weeks pregnant in the picture.

Another thing that has been neglected on the blog is that we are expecting a baby. As of today I am 24 weeks pregnant with a boy. He will be born around the beginning of April, at home in a birthing pool accompanied by a midwife. That is of course a separate story all by itself and there will be more about it.

Now I have to tend to my husband who just came home from a 35 km run together with Pita. He is preparing for Tiberias marathon on the 12h of January. Pita can follow him on those long runs, but Barak cannot. He is not the athletic type... ;)

Chasing wild pigs is not a good idea...

2011-10-09T13:32:00.004+02:00

Even in the land of kosher food, pork products are available in special stores. The wild cousin of the domestic pig is also roaming the lands, something Barak got painfully aware of the other morning when he was our running with Yoram and the rest of the running group. Barak has a strong prey drive and sometimes follows scents out in the vegetation and this morning Yoram heard more noise than Barak possibly could create himself. Suddenly a whole family of wild boar comes out from the grove and stand some 20-30 m ahead of Yoram. He thought that his last moment had arrived, but luckily the pigs took off in the other direction. Barak first joined up with the rest of the group and when they all gathered, the other guys told Yoram that Barak was probably stabbed by one of the pigs, and surely he had a wound on his thigh.

When Yoram came home with Barak I shaved the area around the wound opening, which was approximately a 3 cm cut and we saw that it bled pretty abundantly. I took him to the vet and at this point he also had a large bump on the thigh, which was indicating a hematoma inside his thigh muscle. He was put under anesthesia and our vet started to work on him.

He had to cut a 15 cm opening to be able to remove all the coagulated blood and damaged tissue in his muscle. After that he got stitches both in the muscle tissue and two levels of stitches in the skin, plus a long drainage tube exiting in two directions.

ּBarak was pretty docile the rest of the day, but ate his dinner in the evening. Already the next morning he was behaving just as usual, with no tendencies of pain. He is on antibiotics and he is keeping the drainage clean all by himself. I wonder, though, if he learned a lesson from chasing wild pigs - especially with babies...

Inherited wisdom

2011-06-29T09:12:00.005+03:00

Sit

Down

Heel

Distracted Mum, focused Pup

The previous pictures do not depict inherited wisdom. They show how brilliantly fast I have succeeded to teach Pita the basics in obedience. We progressed a lot in the beginning, but then we kind of leveled for a while, but I definitely need to continue bring things forward. The thing is that the season has now reached real Israeli summer and outdoor activities have to be moved to evening time to avoid the midday heat. We have taught some tricks with the clicker though, indoors, such as giving high five and rolling over, where the former was a piece of cake, while the latter is still in progress.

If we are getting back to inherited wisdom, Barak definitely learned quite a few things from his late girlfriend Goshen. I can see that now when he applies the same tricks on Pita. For example, if Pita has a bone that Barak wants, he lures her with some other toy, or even just a stick, and since her innocent curiosity demands her to check his toy out, she leaves the bone for Barak to sneak over and take. Goshen always did like this with Barak and I expect Pita, with her female brightness, to develop the same strategy, and sooner or later overcome Barak.

When it comes to what to stick in your mouth, little Pita has not come that far yet. The other day she started puking, and during the afternoon she emptied her system completely, and not until late evening I got her to keep a bowl of boiled rice with liver bullion. She was also quite pitiful and quiet. The dogs had gotten raw beef bones earlier on that day, and Yoram immediately blamed that, but since I already feed her raw on a daily basis without any problems, I did not buy that theory, but instead I believe that she had eaten something inappropriate from somewhere outside. She basically sticks anything organic into her mouth, and happily carry and chew also completely inedible things that filthy people have thrown where it does not belong, alas, the risk of getting irritants into the system is quite high. Luckily, the morning after she was fine again, with full energy and appetite.

I have slowly increased the amount of food she gets during every meal, and now I add raw meat to the puppy kibble both for lunch and evening dinner. In the morning I still only add the unsalted cheese to the puppy kibble. Besides that I improvise, with things like carrot, alfalfa sprouts, garlic, yoghurt, liver bullion, raw tahina, broccoli etc., and whatever is in the bowl, she finishes. She weighs more than 7,5 kg now.

Eyes...

Last, but not least, a short movie of the dogs enjoying their raw bones.

Social security

2011-06-21T15:27:00.004+03:00

I have lived here for a bit more than two years now, and the road to recognition in the form of visa and insurance have been anything but fast and smooth. My A5 visa, which entitles me to get social insurance was dated to the 9th of June, but things would not start moving automatically from that day. Not only did I need to go to Bituach Leumi, the most infamous of the Israeli bureaucracy entities, but I also found out that the possibility to get Kopat Holim (universal health insurance) would take another half year. Misrad Hapnim (Interior Ministry) have evaluated that I am allowed to reside in the country, but now it is time for Bituach Leumi to decide whether I am worthy of all the economical benefits. Certainly I am coming here for the 14 weeks of maternity leave, when in Sweden I would get 280 working days. Duh?! I simply want permission to pay from my salary to get health insurance, like everybody else.

This news really ticked me off, since I have been counting the days until we are able to start working on an additional human member of the family. Doing that without health insurance would simply be stupid. If things go as planned, I will not burden the system significantly anyway, since I am a natural childbirth advocate and want to give birth at home with a midwife (which is not covered by the health insurance), but just in case something would go wrong, I need a backup.

Today we went to Bituach Leumi in Haifa and arrived 7.45 to precede the worst queues. There were about 30 people waiting outside and they immediately informed us that we were last in line. When they opened everybody gathered and formed the queue that they previously only kept in their minds. We passed security quickly and after some confusion we came to the right person.

All the staff at Bituach Leumi drink bitter juice for breakfast and they all look intimidatingly angry sitting there behind their counters. However, no wonder with such a job! My husband on the other hand, is one of the most socially gifted persons I have ever met, and he goes up smiling and joking, turning the lady into soft jelly in his hands, including putting a big smile on her lips.

We got two good news. Pointer Software, where I work, has unwittingly paid social insurance from each of my paychecks, already during my simple working permit, and those money we will get refunded. Second, yes, it takes another six months to get Kopat Holim, but I am practically insured from when the A5 was issued and if I need medical care during these six months, I should just save the receipts to get it refunded retroactively.

Restrictions have been lifted and I am hoping that it will take quickly. I am 38 years old now and it is about time to squeeze at least one kid out.

Horse & Hound

2011-06-20T15:14:00.007+03:00

I have not been in the stable for a long time, first because I started working full time, then because of the move, and the last few months cannot be blamed on anything else but me being way too comfortable in my new home.

Before the weekend I stumbled upon Anat in the supermarket, a woman who also comes and rides regularly, and speaking to her was nudge enough for me to decide that I would meet up with her today. I left Barak at home and brought Pita.

I unleashed her when we arrived, but I was not prepared for just how debonairly she would roam the place. When I started to bring the Shepherds I needed to nanny them in the beginning, Barak since the place is full of cats, but also Goshen since she was not used to horses. When I rode I often had trouble keeping the dogs from herding me and my horse.

Pita on the other hand, immediately made friends with the stable dog Whisky, an old Vizsla male and she confidently went up and smelled the horses when they were taken out of their stalls, although she intuitively restrained herself from entering both the stalls and the arena. All the horses are more or less bomb proof, so I am not particularly worried that she will get kicked. I saw a few occasions were she was sniffing around between their legs and when the horse just lifted the leg, Pita moved away, and I think that this were lessons enough to teach her that these creatures can actually move.

When I rode, she stayed in the stable chatting around with the people that were hanging there. The stable is with no walls and the stable alley is clearly visible from the arena, so I could always keep an eye on her, but there really was no need.

She loved rolling around in the manure, smelling, tasting, just like any dog. After we finished with the horses we went down to the fruit groves to pick some blackberries and mulberries, and as if she was not dirty already she found some really swampy areas, due to the irrigation, and after playing around there, the whole dog was muddy and needed one shower before she could even enter a car, and then one more shower to really clean her when we came home. Five minutes later she had passed out of exhaustion.

ָA Muddy and happy Pita
(Before the mud down in the grove)

I rode Noor, and I had heard that she had changed a lot and become lazy, so I did not have any high expectations on her rideability, but she surprised me. No doubt, she was a bit more stiff in certain areas than when I rode her daily, but she gave her face and she moved away nicely for the legs, and she stopped from all gaits, just as if I would have worked her yesterday. Had she had sliders, I am willing to bet that she would have slid!

All in all it was a very inspiring day and I will surely go back to my previous routine of going there at least a few times a week when I am not working. Surely it will be good both for my own well-being, but also for Pita's socialization and environmental training - and of course for poor Noor who probably was just bored to death from carrying kids around.

Video of Pita

2011-06-18T22:40:00.003+03:00

I have put together a little video of Pita, playing with Barak and showing off some newly achieved skills through shaping with clicker and also some regular obedience.

Unknown age

2011-06-17T16:21:00.003+03:00

Full after a meaty lunch

Pita and her litter mates were rescued together with their mum and therefore no one knows their exact age. Estimates have ranged between a present age of two to three months, but we have gone with the older age. In her vaccination book there is a birthday written in as the 20th of March, and that is also what my qualified guess supports, around three months. Today we took the stitch in her forehead (by the way she has healed perfectly) and we asked the vet for an age estimate and he said around 3-3,5 months, so we will keep her birthday as is.

She has killed my tomatoes in the garden and she weighs way over 5 kg already. Right now she is digesting a big chunk of meat, laying between daddy's legs on our bed. This afternoon we will try to catch some obedience training on video. Stay tuned!

Fooood!

2011-06-16T12:17:00.006+03:00

Not so tiny anymore

There is definitely nothing wrong with the appetite in this puppy! She eats three times per day, and every meal is a bit different, but based on the puppy kibble. For breakfast I mix in a non-salted fresh cheese (normally used to fill burekas), and for lunch I let the kibble soak for a while in some of the liver bullion I got left over when I pre-boiled the liver to make oven-dried liver treats. In the evening she gets raw meat with the kibble, this week it has been from chicken, including meat, fat, skin, cartilage and some pieces of bone, to slowly get her used to eating whole animals. She is doing perfectly on it and has no problem whatsoever to digest it into normal poo. She also sleeps good throughout the night, except for that we take her out once or twice to relieve herself.

Then every afternoon she eats a good handful of the dried liver, during our training sessions, and then of course she chews on the bones that are laying around everywhere, both the marrowbones, but also different raw-hide bones. During the last few days she has gained 100 g per day, which is quite impressive, and we have a fun time weighing her. It is a game for her now, and we don't need to fight to make her sit still on the scale, or weigh her together with us. She just steps up and sits quietly until I allow her to step off again. She will hit the 5 kg mark before the weekend. On Monday she is three months old!

Realtime puppy

2011-06-14T15:13:00.003+03:00

I am really trying to imbibe every precious moment right now, since I know that before you blink, the puppy has grown up into a big dog. She has been here for almost 3 weeks and already so much has happened. When she came she weighed 3,2 kg and now she is up on 4,7! When she arrived she was a baby, timid and seemingly fragile, and the first few days we lifted her out into the garden to pee and poo. She could neither walk on a leash.

Now she joins for every trip with Barak, and she walks nicely on the leash. She runs and plays like crazy and we have even brought her on a few longer walks (1-2 km) in the fields and she never gives up and whines. She also sleeps less. The first week she took long, regular naps all along the day, but now she stays alert all day except for a few shorter naps. This also means that she demands a lot more stimulation, and she also gets it. I am continuing with the obedience work and she is now started on the "heal", both sitting and walking. She is doing great! We have also started to work more in various environments. She has also learned what the clicker is all about, and it took me only one session to teach her to get up on the scale and sit down on it. Teaching tricks through shaping is sooooo fun and rewarding for both handler and dog and I am looking forward to teaching her loads of tricks with it.

Pita got a painful lesson

2011-06-13T13:28:00.006+03:00

Bringing a new dog into a home where there already lives an older dog is always a bit of a risk, and the coexistence project will go on for quite a while before everybody have completely accepted each other and set the ground rules and hierarchy. During the first two and a half weeks that Pita has lived with us, Barak has slowly allowed her to come closer and closer to him, and although she has been quite obnoxious, he has most of the time put up with it. We have also corrected her when we feel that she has bothered him too much. When she has crossed the line, he has barked at her and that has been enough to deter her for a while. We felt pretty confident that he had the situation under control by that, but obviously he did not agree.

We have had the dogs together also unsupervised from almost day one, since they have access to the whole house and the garden, and I don't like the idea of separating them. They need to learn how to get along, and I know that they also appreciate each others company. Although they are not laying bundled together (yet!) I know that they seek each others company. Usually, both of them sleep during the time when we are away somewhere.

Yesterday we went to aikido in the evening and the dogs were alone for about three hours. When we came home both of them greeted us, happy as usual, but immediately I discovered that Pita had blood on her head. Looking more thoroughly, she had some scratches, a bit of swelling and one 2 cm long deeper cut in the soft tissues on her skull. At first, probably due to denial, we discussed whether she could have been stuck with her head somewhere, but soon enough we acknowledged the fact that it must have been Barak that gave her a "kiss". The reptile brain then tried to plant hysteria in me, but that is of course to no good. Neither was this any proof that Barak is a viscous dog that needs further restrictions. She was a pest, and he nipped her. Simple as that! He is also solid enough to not go completely bananas on her. I know him that well.

This morning we took her to the vet, and some antibiotics and three stitches later, she is as happy-go-lucky as always. Actually she was just that even last night when we came home, so no signs of emotional trauma - except for the fact that she seems to respect Barak's boundaries and integrity a bit more than before. I hope that is a lesson that lasts. Nevertheless, we will be even more tedious with correcting her bad behaviour towards him. Another month, and her ability to understand subtle body posture signaling will have developed fully.

Salmon cakes again

2011-06-10T15:48:00.003+03:00

The first time (and only time so far) I made breaded salmon cakes for the family was last fall, and it resulted in severe frowning from big one, and a complete refusal from the small one. The cakes were mild and tasty and not at all "fishy", so it was all a matter of exercising power. Today we made them again, this time with sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, and they were covered with crumbs and sesame seeds! Delicious! The big one even looked optimistic while he watched us in the kitchen and he finished two cakes without any fuss, and the small one finished one, although accompanied by some whining, and a lot of determination from us. Sometimes it is only a matter of giving it some time and work on other things, and then things seem to fall into place by themselves.

Food routines

2011-06-10T08:20:00.005+03:00

We bought a huge sack of a very good puppy food for Pita, that is supposed to last her entire first year. We also bought a small double bowl for food and water. The first week I did some obedience training with kibble and then let her continue to eat in the bowl, but I quickly realized that this routine made her eat less from the bowl. She became hand-fed, which is something that I do not desire, so now obedience will be rewarded differently. We also saw that if Barak did not finish all his food (which is pretty unusual) then she dived into his bowl head first with all her enthusiasm. Then I understood that not only was his food tasty for her, but she also liked the large bowl. From then on, she is fed in Goshen's old bowl, and she is standing with her front paws in the bowl to reach all the food. We also mix in a few of Barak's kibble in her kibble. Tricking a puppy to eat is evidently not different from tricking kids. You just need to be a bit attentive and creative. Tricking her or not, she is thriving in our care and has gained a kilo since she arrived two weeks ago.

This is how happy Pita is after chewing on her bone

As I said previously, our dogs also get a lot of raw food, and yesterday we brought two huge cow hip joints for them. It was hilarious to watch little Pita hauling around a piece of bone that was almost the size of herself. Today I will boil half a kilo of beef liver, cut it into small pieces and then slowly dry it on low temperature in the oven to create liver treats for training. It is the ultimate treat. No dog can resist it.

Love, eat, learn, sleep, poo, pee...

2011-06-06T17:01:00.008+03:00

Yesterday my little Pita became 10 weeks old, and she has gained 300 g during that first week in our home. She had almost only puppy kibble, but I want to slowly get her used to a mixed diet of raw meat, bones, organ meat and fish, complemented with some kibble, just like my other dogs. One day she got a chicken back and she went completely bananas with it, but I did not let her run and hide with it, since I want her to get used to us messing with her food irrespectively of how attractive it is for her. I grabbed the piece of chicken carcass while she was chewing on it and she did not show any tendencies of food aggression, which is a good sign. She did get slightly loose in the tummy from it, but nothing serious. I will give her another piece tomorrow.

Pita is eating and growing!

Pita is now officially a bed dog. My husband has always said "never any dogs in bed", and that is also how we started with Pita, and it worked OK. However, slowly she broke him down, and first she was allowed to be on the bed while we were sitting there with our computers, but soon she also spent the first night with us. Truth is that it has made the toilet business at night much easier. Now we notice immediately if she wakes up, and we can take her out right away, while when she was on the doggy bed on the floor, we always had accidents at night. I don't mind either. There is nothing more cuddly than spooning with a warm pup, and I am sure that the future will sort itself out. The funniest thing is that my husband blamed Yuval and said "You know, Yuval said that you can never keep pit bulls out of bed!". :)

Pitas left eye is still blue as the sky, while her right eye is somewhere between green and amber. It is clear to me now that she will stay odd-eyed.

Today I practiced some obedience with Pita in the park for the first time. Barak was also with us and I worked with them both intermittently. At first she was a bit too excited, and jumped on me instead of sitting down in front of me in the recall, but she soon focused and worked beautifully. In the kitchen she handles a "stay" both sitting and laying for up to 15-30 seconds, and I can also get up and move a few steps back and forth, while I have her absolute focus. One time I even circled 360 degrees around her without her moving, which is very well done, after merely a weeks training.

She is tirelessly trying to seduce Barak to play with her, but most of the time he just ignores her and moves away, and if she gets too rough on him, he educates her. However, the other day he actually bowed down for her for the first time, and sometimes he drops toys in front of her, so I think that it is only a matter of time before they really play.

Furry piranhas needs education

2011-06-03T20:02:00.005+03:00

This afternoon we walked to the park nearby for the dogs to run off some steam. We have not taken Pita to the fields yet, since she simply cannot manage such long walks just yet. She is still too small. There was a couple sitting on a blanket on the grass, and we let the dogs off the leashes. Barak is very aloof and never approaches strangers, while the pup of course (also being a Pit bull) ran straight up to them, and they were of course enchanted. Right now she does not scare anybody, but in time she will have to learn to stay with us and not run up to unknown people. Anyway, they started to play with her, and of course she used her teeth. They just kept on triggering her. At that point I started to intervene, upon the woman explained that she didn't mind. Then I explained to her that this little pup is actually not allowed to use her teeth on humans, simply due to the fact that although it might be cute now when she is 9 weeks old, it will not be that cute when she is a 9 months old muscled Pit bull. Then I added that she is actually a Pit bull and not a poodle, and that she has to learn good behaviour. They understood and looked a bit embarrassed. This attitude is precisely what makes ignorant people lose control over their powerful dogs, and it really ticks me off.

Visiting Goshen

2011-06-03T13:56:00.003+03:00

This picture was taken the weekend before we got Pita, but I just love it and want to share it. We took a walk out to the fields with Barak, to where Goshen is resting, and we put new flowers on her grave. The sorrow feels somewhat lighter now, and if nothing else, a brand new baby pup will keep our minds busy.

Me and Barak by Goshen's resting place

Trading places

2011-06-02T10:50:00.007+03:00

OK, there is something peculiar with my dogs. My Bully pup is taking corrections like an attentive German Shepherd, while asking my adult German Shepherd to respect boundaries is like banging your head to a wall. He is stubborn like, yes, a Bully.

Usually my dogs have free access to both the house and the backyard, through a constantly open back door, but while I clean the house I expect them to stay outside. Goshen always respected that, but Barak, he still never learned. He keeps trying to walk inside while I have soap all over the floor and it drives me crazy. Today was the first "cleaning house" experience for Pita and I began to ask both dogs to stay out. Pita was laying on her pillow on the porch, and she did not leave it until I was ready, while Barak tries to trespass as usual. I guess that it was not only my request, but also the fact that I was messing around with water, mop and a floor scraper, but nevertheless, I am very proud of her.

Pita being a good girl while Mummy cleaned the house.

I prefer to educate my dogs with as little corrections and physical reinforcements as possible. The emphasis should be on positive reinforcement, but I am also aware that with a powerful dog you cannot avoid situations where things get physical.

Barak was 2,5 when he came to us, and poorly educated, alas, he has demanded quite some physical corrections to learn to respect our boundaries and integrity. Little Pita is a carte blanche, completely undestroyed, and however she develops, I cannot blame anybody else. She also needs physical corrections to learn not to jump, nibble, charge at the cat, and so on, but with the obedience it is different. I have taught her all the basic commands without touching her. No pressing on the butt to sit down, no jerking on any leash - only voice and treats. The only correction is that the treat/praise is withdrawn when she doesn't do what I ask of her.

I have made the family agree to not use certain commands with Pita yet, since I want to make them absolute. I only ever say these commands when I have her absolute attention and when I feel certain that she will obey, because every time you say a command and the dog gets off the hook, that command is weakened. I also only train these things in the kitchen, so far. Obedience commands need to be taught in several steps, and successively you increase the level of difficulty, by adding time and distraction. Taking a pup to the park to start practicing obedience is like putting a 9 years old kid in a PhD course - not fair.

So, me and Pita we still do obedience in the kitchen, but I started to increase the time she stays in a "sit" or a "down" before she gets the reward, which is the first stage of "stay", and in that moment she was showing attitude. She got pissed with me for not rewarding her instantly, but now I think that I got the point through that I just ask her to stay for a longer time in the position. Educating a pup means walking on a fine line. If she makes mistakes, you can almost exclusively blame yourself. Either you moved too fast, with time or distraction, or you simply did not register the signs that the pup has lost her motivation and attentiveness. A pup in Pitas age has a concentration span of 5-10 minutes, and after that you do more harm than good. Divide the training into many short sessions during the day, and never try to teach the pup something when it is tired or winded up for some other reason. It is useless. Pita gets three scheduled sessions every day, one before each meal, and also ongoing lessons about "who's in charge" during play.

Yesterday evening we took the dogs to the park and they ran around freely. Barak has not really figured out whether he can play with her, but she surely tries to play with him. He is slowly coming around, though, and he is not keeping her on the same distance anymore and his patience is expanding. During the night she even went to his bed once and laid down beside him, and although he finally moved away, he actually stayed with her for a moment. I am sure that she is breaking him down slowly, slowly... ;)

Welcome Pita the Pit bull

2011-06-01T13:40:00.012+03:00

It has been a few intense weeks since Goshen passed away. Already when she was still with us, we discussed getting another dog, so when the sad loss hit us, it came natural to immediately plan for a new canine member in the family. But, what? Puppy, or an older dog? What race? Buy, or adopt? Yoram's ex planned to take puppies from the Dogue de Bordeaux Marta, but now we suddenly found us in a situation with one grieving and lonely Barak, and we felt that we did not want to wait for her to get into heat, be mated and give birth. That would take at least another 3 months.

However, we borrowed Marta for a few days, just to cheer Barak up, and it helped. He did not refuse the food anymore, and he had someone to play with. I started to make plans. Close to Netanya there is a shelter run by Yuval Mendelovitz (Facebook page), aka the Angel of Pit bulls. He is the only one in Israel that in an organized way rescues and rehabilitates Pit bulls and other stigmatized dog breeds. I am well acquainted with the breed and know that it is a superior dog - in the right hands. A Pit bull is a working dog, with a lot of energy and will power, and without proper guidance they can definitely develop out of hand, but that goes for any powerful breed.

The day before we were supposed to visit Yuval the first time, Marta's owner told us to not get a dog, since they did not have room enough for Marta, and that they most likely would like to give her to us. Yoram and Marta share a special love, and we were all happy. She was already functioning in our home and we looked forward to taking her. The next day we were told that they either wanted to take a litter of puppies on her, or have us pay some money for her. We discussed it, leaned towards paying for her. She is pure-bred, but without papers, and I am principally against backyard breeding. However, they asked for much more than it cost to adopt a Pit pup from Yuval, and since that felt more appealing for all other reasons, we were in doubt. The next day, Yoram gets a phone call asking why he is not picking up the "lady", upon he shares that he wants to discuss the matter. Then he is being told to forget that, she is ours, free of charge. He picked her up. We notice that Barak was signalling that she is about to go into heat, and then we decide to neuter her. We thought that just to be nice, we share this with the previous owners, upon which they got frantic and started chanting about "misunderstandings" and that they definitely want to take puppies from her. That made us boiling mad, but the dog moved back home. We don't want to "borrow" a dog! What were they thinking? That they would save some food money from keeping her with us, and then take her back? Heartless idiots, really!

Now, we were determined to go to Yuval, and last Friday afternoon we packed Barak and the kids in the car and drove to his place. We had a discussion about our life, about Barak and our cat Karma, and we all agreed that it would be most appropriate with a puppy. Barak will get used to her in his own pace, and she can also get used to the cat while growing up.

When we saw "our" pup, a female from Inbal's litter, I melted immediately. I noticed that one of her eyes will stay blue, while the other one will turn amber, and that did the trick! She also seemed very gentle. We finished the deal and took off home with our 9 weeks old baby girl. Yuval had given her the name Lynn, but we decided to rename her to Pita! It lays better in the mouth, and cuts better through the air than Lynn. Our little pup got car sick on the way home and threw up all over me, and since she also was very dirty from laying with the litter in the shelter, the first thing she got when she got home was a good bath, and I also cut the tips of her claws with Yoram's nail clipper. She kept us up all night the first night.

Pita, the Pit bull girl

Pita resting in the park

Odd-eyed Pita

Now Pita has been with us for five days and she is making amazing progress, but we are also working determinately with her. She is almost house-broken, except that she still cannot physically control her business all the time. She sleeps all through the night, except that we take her out a couple of times during the night. I am feeding her three times per day, and then she gets to eat as much as she wants during 15 minutes, and then the food is gone until the next meal. I also use her motivation before every meal to do a short obedience session. She already knows "sit", "down" and "come here" (although in Hebrew), and she has started to sit down right in front of me also on other occasions, just to please, so she is a very clever little dog. Now when I have a small pup, I am seriously considering engaging in formal obedience with her, not for competition but just for fun. She definitely has the drive, and the intelligence.

She is also not as gentle as she was the first day. ;) After becoming "warm in her clothes" she has started to show a very high energy and a lot of confidence. When she is not sleeping she is all over the place and the kids have not really figured out how to deter her from putting her sharp puppy teeth in their legs, so we have to supervise them all the time, except when she falls asleep in their arms. She is also getting boulder every day with Barak and she is challenging him to play by nibbling his tail, balls and groins, but he does not play with her yet. He just gently, but firmly, corrects her and his assistance in educating her is invaluable.

Thus, little Pita is not a beginners' dog, but of course we knew that from the start. She will need lots and lots of exercise, boundaries and discipline, but also endless love. She also gives endless love, just like the Pit bull is bred to do. We have a whole dog life of endless love ahead of us. Aren't we lucky?

Our beloved Goshen - Rest in Peace

2011-05-18T11:55:00.009+03:00

Goshen laughing, one week before she passed away

We have unexpectedly lost our precious Goshen. I have been crying comfortless for days and it is not until now that I can gather myself to write about it. Saturday morning she was happy as usual and we had planned to go and visit Yoram's mother in Karmiel. For some reason, I did not feel like going, and Yoram left alone with the kids just before lunch. I cannot say if that was intuition or destiny, or just pure coincidence, but I am so happy that I stayed at home, because right after they had left I noticed that Goshen was acting strangely. She went out and laid alone in the garden and I went out and called her up on the porch, and then I noticed that she was wobbling and could not stand up properly. I immediately checked her and noticed that her gums were completely pale and that she was breathing heavily. She did not even want to eat a chicken heart, but she did drink some water. I called Yoram and explained the situation and they decided to come home earlier than planned. I feared some kind of poisoning, but could not figure out what that could be.

When Yoram came home she was not any better and we tried to reach our vet, but he was off duty and he recommended us to go to a clinic in Haifa that backs him up when he is gone. We had to carry out a very weak Goshen to the car and we drove there. The young vet on duty started to examine her and took blood samples, but the blood initially seemed OK. Her tummy was not hard or swollen either, so we could not explain her shock state. Not until she examined her tummy with ultrasound, she could see something suspicious on her spleen, some liquid accumulation. We also took a few x-ray shoots on her, which confirmed the same. By now, a new blood sample revealed that she was actually loosing blood, and the accumulation in her tummy was just that, a big hemorrhage. The young vet called in the head vet of the clinic, who explained the condition and prognosis. He said that there was a 70% risk that the hemorrhage was caused by a tumor on the spleen. This type of cancer is called Hemangiosarcoma and it is very common on some larger breeds, and German Shepherd in particular. It is a blood-fed type of tumor that rarely is discovered until it suddenly bursts and causes a sudden death from inner bleeding. What he could have done was to open her and remove the spleen and send it to biopsy, but since Hemangiosarcoma is a malign type of cancer, and also very metastatic, the risk that it had already spread to other tissues was very high. Besides that, Goshen was already too anemic to safely be put under general anesthesia, so although it was excruciatingly painful, we understood that we had reached the end of her life.

I have never seen Yoram cry before, but now he broke down like a child, and so did I. Gal was also with us, and at first I don't think that he understood the reality in what was going on, but when he did he cried as well. I was sitting face to face with Goshen when she got the sedative and the anesthetic that put her to sleep and I can swear that I saw peace in her eyes, acceptance and contentment. She was OK with passing on and satisfied with her life. No fear or stress, or signs of disagreement. Although I found it sad that this did not happen with our regular vet, who has known Goshen all her life, I am also grateful that it was on a Saturday and we were home and could take care of her. I cannot even begin to imagine how it would have felt to come home from work to a dead dog. Now she had company during her last day in life.

We put Goshen back in the car and drove home. Yoram went to the neighbor and borrowed some shovels and I went in and took Barak out. He smelled me differently already in the house and when I opened the backdoor to the car, he saw Goshen and smelled her. He jumped up into the car and sat down on her, just as if he was claiming her for the last time. Then he jumped back out and looked away as if that was enough. We put him back in the house and drove out into the fields to a spot that Yoram had thought of as suitable.

Goshen's last resting place

We laid her down in front of two small trees that are standing solely on a small hilltop, viewing out over the Jezreel valley. We covered her with rocks to prevent the jackals from digging her up and we put some flowers. I opened a bottle of wine and we toasted her and thanked her for our time together, and then we all went home to a painfully empty house. Everybody cried themselves to sleep and the kids were calling her name in their sleep all night...

Goshen's wonderful view over the valley

Welcome Karma!

2011-05-05T14:57:00.010+03:00

Karma
A petite semi-long haired tortoiseshell tabby girl

I knew somewhere deep down that our family would not be complete without a cat, but with two notorious cat-chasers in the family the cat needed to be made of a special material, brave, but cautious and smart. Destiny would bring us that sooner or later, was my belief, and Sunday evening she arrived.

The dogs were inside and the cat was meowing in the backyard so we went out and talked to her and gave her some food. She seemed very confident, so we took Goshen out first, since she is the easiest one. She was just sitting still watching the cat, however intensely, and since the cat did not mind the dog, Yoram took Barak out as well, but on a leash. He was very excited, but had no choice but to sit still.

Suddenly the cat jumped off, and both dogs tried to charge after her. Goshen stopped on commando, and Barak was hanging safely on his collar. We took the dogs inside and within minutes the cat was back. We said goodnight for the night. In the morning she was outside and she got some breakfast. In the afternoon I bought a muzzle for Barak on the way home, since I knew that he would nip her if he got the chance. He had it on for a while when we spent time together on the porch. He quieted down so after a while, so I took it off. I wanted him to smell her so I let him stretch his nose over my lap, and suddenly, without any notice, he just took her foot in his mouth! I almost panicked, bent his mouth up and disciplined him harshly. The most strange thing is that the cat only meowed and did not seem to care more than that. It did not scare her, and she did not take off. Obviously it did not even hurt. It is possible that he did not bite her hard, but still fought me to not let go.

In the evening Yoram came home and he just let her into the house, and she did not hesitate. I was very nervous over Barak, but Yoram assured me that he would not do her anything when we all watched over it. He did not. I guess that I just did not trust him, and that energy probably affected the whole situation. From that moment, indoor coexistence was no problem.

What still is an issue is outdoors. Whenever the cat wants to leave the porch and go out in the garden, the dogs prey drive is involuntary, at least in Barak. Goshen has understood to let her be, but Barak just cannot control himself, so there we need to supervise thoroughly. And of course, we never leave them alone together anywhere just yet.

Comfortable on the running washing machine

Bottom line is, that she is a brave little cat, our Karma. She walks between the legs on the dogs in the kitchen, and if they get too close, they get a paw on the nose. She stretches out purring on the bed, while the dogs keep intense attention to her. It sure complicates our lives quite a bit, since we need to be more alert, and we cannot just open the back door anymore and just let the dogs out without checking if she is there. Sometimes, Barak is simply leashed in the yard, but sometimes not. Depends on how much effort we can spend. I am working with a lot of positive reinforcement, by rewarding Barak when he is calm around the cat, but if he charges after her, he will get punished, because that is a nono!

The cat has learned exactly how to navigate around our home. She knows how to pass the dogs to get out of the back yard, and when she wants to get back inside, she meows on the front door. In the evening she comes inside, during dinner and the evening chores, and then we spend some time with her in bed before we let her out for the night. Even if all the animals learn to get along, I think that she will stay out during the nights. After all, cats are nocturnal animals. Tomorrow we will take her to the vet to get her spayed. I guess that we are her family now. Since you cannot own a cat. A dog has owners, while a cat has personnel. We will cherish every day that she chooses to keep us.

Sedulous wins...

2011-04-17T15:01:00.007+03:00

... or shame on him who gives up!

Happy boys with a mountain of pancakes!

About two years ago I moved in with a four years old and an eight years old, who never had eaten anything else but white bread, white pasta, breaded schnitzel, burekas, Bamba and Bissli. We took off on a bumpy journey together, since I have different ideas about food than they were used to. We have taken baby steps, blended with a lot of friction, and had periods when the little one refused all food, period. Their father also saw the need for a change and we fought the battle together, sometimes with frustration, but with as much wisdom and patience as we could bring forward.

For a long while we were stagnated at a few vegetables, tuna, fish schnitzel (containing mostly soy), egg and an occasional fruit, but I wanted to introduce more veggies, more fruits and berries, and above all more fish. Canned tuna, with all due respect, is not a sufficient source of omega-3, and I dreamed of getting them to eat salmon. Maybe 6 month ago, I made delicious salmon cakes ones, which the big one tasted, but rejected, while the little one refused to even look at them. That was a loss that I grieved.

Nowadays they both are very interested in what is healthy and not, and our meals often involve discussions about food and health. They also see their father and me eat with a good appetite and filled with joy, and also that we prefer natural and healthy foods. The other evening we had bought a small jar of pickled herring and a jar with fresh mackerel in oil. Only for the two of us, of course. No unrealistic expectations here! Imagine our surprise when Junior wanted to taste the herring! And he found it tasty, and had a few more bites! Me and Yoram were sitting with our jaws down on the table.

A few days later, last Friday, Yoram said, let's make salmon for everybody. We had recently bought 3 kg of Norwegian salmon from our local fish dealer, and we took out an appropriate piece from the freezer. No attempts to hide anything, we just cut it into mouth-piece chunks and fried it with sesame oil, teriyaki sauce, ginger, garlic and sweet pepper. On the side we had fried potatoes. Delicious, juicy and a little sweet. We put potatoes and merely a few pieces of fish on each plate to not overwhelm the kids, and now it was time to drop our jaws once more. Initially, we had to encourage them slightly, but the big one took a piece of salmon to his mouth, and here the wonder happened. His face broke out into a big smile, that for us was worth a thousand bucks! To his surprise it was actually very tasty. They both finished their plates, and we felt more accomplished than ever before.

Yesterday we had a BBQ quite late in the afternoon which cancelled our customary Shabbat evening pancakes. Today I am home alone with the kids and I promised to give them their pancakes today instead. They have Passover holiday and Yoram works his last day before the holiday. I asked the kids if we shouldn't do the day the other way around and eat pancakes for lunch and something more proper in the evening after their water polo. I also promised them as many pancakes as they could eat. They were hooked on the idea. Then I said that instead of only having their regular chocolate cream or honey on the pancakes, I would do two other fillings. I made one with mashed strawberries and banana and one with grated apple, cinnamon and some honey. Both of them had one pancake each of the "new" things, and the rest with chocolate or honey, and I did not mind. Just tasting the other things was more than I could have ever asked for half a year ago. I ate seven, Ziv ate six, and Gal ate five, although the two last ones went down very slowly for Junior.

We are beginning to find harmony in relation to food. Food is no longer a power tool for the kids, but instead something that brings joy and pleasure to our lives, and the kids feel the same way. We are still balancing on a fine line, but the worst obstacles have been overcome.

Blueberry + Sabra = True

2011-04-06T10:18:00.004+03:00

Srulik

Sometimes Israelis that I know well ask me how I cope with the infamous sabra mentality. It happens after they see me interact with some totally cold and arrogant person who almost seems to evaluate whether I am worthy of his service, or not. Truth is, that although I am a pretty well-grounded person, with a "water on a goose" ability to shake things off, I was sincerely moved by this behavior for quite some time before I started to just ignore it.

However, I don't think that I ever took it personal - I was rather fascinated with how people had become that way, and of course there are many aspects that together forced this tough surface onto the native Israeli Jews. Because it is only the Jews. Never that you go into an Arab establishment and they look at you as if you would have arrived from outer space.

The term sabra was coined by the early Zionist movement, mostly in the kibbutzim and moshavim, where the new generations of Jews grew up, born in Israel and with Hebrew as their native language. At this time, the kibbutzim were strongly ideological communities, far from any happy-go-lucky hippy collectives. They consisted of hard-working people who went as far in their communal lifestyle as to keeping all children in children's homes, separated from their biological parents. This created a few generations of more or less emotionally detached individuals, and I have heard Israelis explain this as an altruistic sacrifice to get through the difficult times during the build-up of the Israeli nation.

This is certainly not an excuse for later generations, but the Jewish collective memory of the pogroms during Diaspora, as well as the fact that Israel has been under constant existential threats from neighboring Arab nations, from the beginning up until today, can also explain the tough and thorny skin on the Israelis. I would not say that Israel is a destination for the convenient traveller, who wants to meet cheesy (and false) smiles wherever he goes. I even know Jews who made aliyah, but gave up and moved back into Diaspora again, not only because of the sabras, but life in general, which can be quite demanding and frictional. I guess that a challenging life needs to be up ones ally to really thrive here.

The nuances in the behavior differ between a tough guy in a sandwich bar in Ramat Yishay, and a snobby barista in Tel Aviv, but the essence is the same. What furthermore is the same, is the soft and sweet inside. It is always there - you just need a little patience to penetrate, and when you succeed the love story is a fact. With the roughness of the sabra comes also a strong spirit that inspires you in ways that I would not replace for any superficial friendliness in the world. For me, sabra is something genuine and honest, and the blueberry is thriving among them.

Our new home in images

2011-03-17T15:44:00.005+02:00

Green garden

Fragrant Citrus flowers

Colorful trees (Judas tree, Cercis siliquastrum)

Home + dojo = Hojo

O'Sensei watering us with knowledge

Endo..rphines and hardened noodles

2011-02-17T12:36:00.017+02:00

Check yourself!
Why do you do like you do?
How are you being perceived by your partner?

I have just spent 10 days in Stockholm. First a week-long seminar with Endo Sensei, and then a few days more with the local heroes Jorma Lyly and Jan Nevelius. A whole week of Endo seminar consists of a yudansha part, only for black belts, and then an open weekend seminar. An Endo yudansha seminar is a privilege to attend, since it so rarely happens that you know that you actually will enjoy practicing with each and every one aikidoka present. It is extremely crowded on the mat, but every person in the room is advanced enough to handle such a situation and we all practiced under the highest concentration and commitment.

This kind of intense practice makes you transcend into breathing, feeling, thinking, dreaming and talking about aiki. As we practice, we refine not only our bodies, but our minds, emotions and spirit. This week led me to a metaphor of the refinement of your physical qualities - how another person perceives you when you touch each other.

Most beginners can be compared to unboiled pasta. They are stiff and inflexible, but at the same time very easy to break (their balance). The separate body parts cannot move irrespectively of each other and they often feel reluctance in their bodies for certain movements. They avoid deep contact and fall in a clumsy way as they go down. Then they learn from the teacher that they should relax...

After a while they can do that, and then they become like boiled noodles. Over-boiled noodles to be more precise! Now they learn how to fall softly and follow their partner, but they also move excessively, like the wobbly noodles they are. They do not keep their physical integrity and they show a lot of openings. This is a time where the more advanced aikidokas need to take care to not hurt the "noodles", since they in this stage often are quite ambitious and very enthusiastic due to their newly-discovered flexibility, and they happily let people throw them around although they are not really yet collected enough to always stay safe on their own.

The next phase is the longest one, since it will go on for as long as you keep on practicing aikido. This is when you turn into a metal spring, that gets thicker, tougher and heavier, without ever loosing its elasticity and ability to store energy. If you think of it, it reminds a lot of the physique of a wild animal. This is the quality of a true warrior...

Landed here for 5 minutes

2011-01-31T11:14:00.003+02:00

Jan Nevelius has been here again and we have had five days filled with wonderful aikido revelations. He also visited Tivon one day, as well as our own little hojo, which was an honor. What happened there will stay there, but it did involve aikido, yes. The result from everything is that we have a lot of new material to work on, mostly in our own dojo, where we are more free to express what we want for ourselves.

On Wednesday I go for my annual February vacation in Sweden, which will span over four packed weeks, in Malmö, Stockholm and Västervik. I will manage family, friends, as well as a week with Endo Sensei.

My new job has somewhat eliminated my efforts to keep a steady pace on this blog, and my boss would probably be happy to know that. Nevertheless, I am not planning to shut it down just yet, since we are living in interesting times here in the Middle East.

Review of our move...

2011-01-13T20:40:00.005+02:00

My guardian angel, Goshen

More than 10 days without any post and I do feel that I have neglected the writing, but for a good reason. Moving takes time and energy, and on top of that we have both been working full time. Destiny was however working in our favor, and our dear friends, the Jaeger's, had a visit planned since months back. Then all of a sudden it happened that we needed to move over new year, and "chick chack", we were blessed with the greatest support, both practically and spiritually, in the middle of all the mess.

We have moved to another neighborhood in Tivon, obviously a very nice one, if you ask the ones who know. We have a nice garden with great potential, and we are only 100 m from a descent into a wonderful wadi. That is also what I value the most, garden and the closeness to nature. We moved on the 30th of December and when we woke up on new years eve, me and the Jaeger girls went straight out into the garden and started raking leaves, completely procrastinating the kitchen than needed a basic unpacking to be able to handle the little come-together that we had planned to welcome the new year. Yoram came back from some errand and told me in his softest fashion that maybe there were more important things than leaves, right there and then, upon which I hissed at him a bit, but then went in and rolled up my sleeves. As it ought to be, since I would not have wanted him to arrange the kitchen under any circumstances.

The TV is according to my wishes squeezed into the smallest room, and the largest living room we are turning into a permanent hojo = home + dojo! But the hojo part is of course a joint desire! We came over some used, but decent, white tatamis and we have already laid out some of the mats on the floor. We will decorate the room in a dojo kind-of fashion, but the room will also serve as a cozy corner, with lots of pillows and blankets for good moments between aikido practices. On Tuesday evening we made our first aikido moves in the room, a completely spontaneous moment with the kids. We taught them to roll and me and Yoram threw each other in a few strong tenchinage's. When we started we were cold (houses here are freezing in the winter time), but after a few rolls, all of us took off the warmest clothes. Immediately, I had the idea that tatamis in the whole house would heat up the whole house... ;) Then we made dinner. This is the spontaneity that I have been dreaming about for so long, having the aikido as a closely integrated part of your life, enabling you to practice whenever you want, however you want, in addition to the scheduled practices.

The garden was not completely enclosed by a fence when we moved in, and that was one of the things that we needed to fix, since having the dogs in the garden will enable me to work full days without taking them out for a pee. However, some of the parts of the fencing area turned out to be more difficult than others, with heavy vegetation and other stuff, so the security of the fence is growing gradually. Goshen is not the problem, Barak is. Goshen showed already during the first few days, that she would stay in the unfenced garden as we left in the car, while Barak was leashed to a tree in the back yard. Goshen accepted, went back to him and came out and greeted us as we returned. Barak, on the other hand, turned out to be more difficult to contain, as we expected. He is after all a male, with intact balls (although they right now hang on a very loose thread), and he has the "vagabond gene". He wants to roam the neighborhood, and hadn't it been for his notorious prey drive on cats, then I would not mind if he took his tours ones in a while. He is of no danger for humans or dogs, but the cats should watch out. In the garden, his focus is on finding the weak spots in the fence, and we keep closing them. I think that this weekend we will close the last one, by cutting down a big bush and extending the grid fence in its place.

So, we are busy settling, exploring, decorating and placing our scent on the place. On February 2 I leave to Sweden for four weeks, and when I get back, the spring is here. I cannot wait to really dig my fingers down in the garden...

Jojo is quite busy...

2011-01-02T13:49:00.002+02:00

Happy New Year from the Shanir Sanctuary!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T13:20:00.004+02:00

This year we are alone on Christmas eve, and although Yoram has to work half the day, it is on a Friday, so we can actually celebrate a bit. I set up a home-made glögg to soak yesterday, and today when I tried it, it tasted remarkably well.

I have boiled a batch of rice porridge for later making a saffron pancake in the oven. Other than that we have some herring, smoked salmon, and palamida instead of eel. I will make a Janssons frestelse. When Yoram comes home from work we will go to Afula to buy some pork products. They have a sausage that reminds a lot of Prinskorvar. Maybe I can find a small ham and some minced meat to make Swedish meatballs.

Yesterday I stuck some cloves into a couple of clementines and that is about as much Christmas decoration I could manage this year. At least it seems like I am advancing every year. Last year Christmas went by completely unnoticed. Maybe I have some kind of tradition up running once we get kids together...

Saffron buns, my style

2010-12-18T17:17:00.005+02:00

My saffron buns

Since margarine (plastic!) is not crossing the threshold of my house there are some things that are not possible without access to real butter. The butter crisis in Israel is over, luckily, which enables baking again. To get a little Christmas feeling I baked saffron buns from whole wheat flour. I have gotten used to always choosing whole grain products of all staple foods, and I think that it works well for sweet pastries as well. It is just a matter of habit. I used Israeli white cheese (gevina levana) instead of kesella and pomegranate seeds instead of raisins, and loads of saffron!

At first, the dough did not leaven as expected since the cheese chilled the dough too much, but after putting the bowl on top of the toaster oven, things started moving. The somewhat experimenting recipe turned out very well for a first time and even the picky kids liked them. During the whole afternoon I terrorized the Jews in the house with my Christmas playlist. Christmas eve is next Friday and we are free from the kids. I am thinking about taking the opportunity to make some kind of Christmas dinner for me and Yoram. Last year the Christmas passed totally unnoticed. That will not do when I get kids of my own, so I better start building our intercultural family tradition.

House with a garden!

2010-12-17T14:49:00.004+02:00

We are moving, already on the 1st of January! Now when I have a reasonably consistent income we can finally afford to leave this dump flat, with its moron neighbours. We did not look for long before we found a cute house with a nice garden, although it took some negotiations before we settled around the agreements. First offer was an unreasonable increase of the rent already on the second year, as well as us having to do all the painting ourselves, but after my brilliant husband cast his spells, we ended up on no rent increase and the landlords will do all the painting. We will just choose the colours and move in to a renovated house.

It is an old house, where the kitchen, toilet and bathroom are not too modern, but that's just the way I like it. I am allergic to new houses with a modern and clinical style. Houses like that have no soul and it is very difficult for me to feel comfortable in such a house. Right now I am planning the colours for the different rooms and it will be ranging from deep fuchsia to lime green, ochre, colonial blue and black. The kitchen and the bathroom will be quite creatively decorated.

There are four rooms and a pretty large hall. Except for the master bedroom, the boys' room and a combined TV room/office, we have decided to make the large living room into a permanent dojo. However, in between practices, it will also serve as a cozy living room, by just spreading out soft mattresses, pillows and blankets on top of the tatamis. Finally, my dream comes true to be able to practice aikido whenever I want, totally spontaneously.

Now there is no nursery included in this plan and after all we are planning to get pregnant during next year, but on the other hand we will not stay in this house forever. During the infant period it is definitely sufficient, and as far as I am concerned, the TV can give room for a nursery. ;)

Anna Veeder on Newsmill

2010-12-12T20:54:00.005+02:00

For you Swedish-speakers I want to share my good friend Anna Veeder's article on Newsmill. Probably the sharpest reaction I have seen so far on the Stockholm suicide bombing.

En självmordsbombning? I Stockholm? Förlåt en luttrad israel, men är det inte hopplöst ute? Känns så... Netanya 2003.

Swedish blue eyes...

2010-12-12T15:32:00.007+02:00

Yoram told me this morning, that the first time is the most scary one. Then you get numb. I don't even think that most Swedes got scared when the first suicide bombing on Swedish soil took place yesterday afternoon. Their naivety strikes me. The first eye witness went up to the trashed body and tried to resuscitate him, after removing a keffiyeh from his face. In the interview he said that the first thing that struck his mind was that the guy probably was a terrorist, and that he understood that something had exploded on his stomach. Hello?!? Did it cross your mind that there might be more explosives that did not trigger yet? A sane person would stay as far away from him as possible.

Luckily, the pathetic idiot only succeeded to kill himself, and he did not even succeed to shred his own body properly to pieces. His shortcomings make me think that he probably acted alone, and was not backed by any larger terror organization. But on the other hand, he might just be so stupid that he fucked everything up, although he had a mastermind behind him.

Nevertheless, those who think that this was a one-timer should reconsider. Radical Islamism is spreading and the global jihad hates everything that our freedom and democracy stands for. Imagine yourself all the possible targets. But, on the other hand, like Nima Dervish said: The ones who says that it has nothing to do with Islam is wrong, but the ones who blame all Muslims are also wrong. It is important not to further stigmatizing all Muslims for what some extremist lowlifes are on to, but we need to prevent terrorism.

I have lived in Israel for one and a half years now, and although no suicide attacks have been occurring here lately I am myself stripped off of any naive illusions from living with these people who grew up under a constant terror threat. I just hoped that the Swedes would never need to get numb. I guess those days are over.

New style

2010-12-11T14:11:00.006+02:00

I have switched to another web browser, and since the blogger formatting is not compatible between the browsers, the text will look slightly different from now on. It really disturbs my aesthetic eye, but what can you do..? After a while we have forgotten how it used to look. Maybe.

Work & Horse & Hound

2010-12-11T13:10:00.007+02:00

My first two weeks at my new job have been totally fun and inspiring. Except for the design part, I am now also taken care of public relations and promotional materials. The future plan is that I will also start doing software quality assurance.

Yesterday I went riding for the first time in almost two weeks. I was alone in the stable and I mounted Noor bareback and brought the dogs for a trip in the fields around the moshav. We were out for a few hours and I was laughing at Barak most of the time. When he is at home, he is poking for activities and stimulation constantly. He still runs away occasionally to chase cats. Basically, he needs to get a lot of steam out. However, when we take him out like this, riding or running longer distances, he wants to turn back home all the time. Every time we came to an intersection, he wanted to choose the one that lead back to the stable. When I (and Goshen) chose another path, I could really see him sighing deeply and changing direction towards us. Far down in some olive grove he just laid down flat on the ground and refused to move. Goshen, who is almost 9 years old and full of arthritis, never quits and hardly pants, while Barak's tongue is hanging to the ground and he looks like he has rabies from all the white foam around his face. Pathetic... ;)

In the beginning Barak was the leader, but not for long

Goshen is not a quitter

I have a job!

2010-11-30T17:58:00.003+02:00

For months and months I had nothing to do. Then everything came at once. We started to plan for the tattoo studio. They wanted me as a Swedish teacher online. One guy asked if I could sell horse-back vacations on the telephone. I am not a sales person and the teaching job was too much effort for very little money. What finally made me trash both of the latter opportunities was that all of a sudden the perfect job landed in front of my nose.

My new boss is a friend of Yoram, from his running group. He has a software company that develops applications for many different purposes and clients, but also applications for iPhone and iPad. He needed a designer and there I was. I have now spent my first two days as an employee developing interface graphics for his iPhone and iPad applications. I am making lots of cool stuff and I can go completely crazy in Illustrator, which I love so much. I work full time, but get paid by the hour, which I kind of like, since it gives me a better overview of how I earn my money.

Here comes the best part. My office is in Ramat Yishay, merely 5 minutes from here with a car. Besides that, I have the freedom to work from home when I need to, which is completely amazing. This means that I can go to the office in the morning, handling all the meetings and discussions with my colleagues, and then go home to the dogs (and the kids some days) and keep on working at home in the afternoon and evening. It is a bit sad that I cannot ride horses almost every day anymore, but with my flexible hours I am sure that I will be able to squeeze in a few rides here and there. And the tattoo studio, well, that will definitely happen, but it will be someone else that helps Assi by answering the phone when someone calls.

Skin City opens on the 1st of January

2010-11-26T14:18:00.006+02:00

We are going to open a tattoo and piercing studio together with our good friend (and fellow aikidoka) Assi Goldstein, who is a brilliant tattoo artist (for you who have Facebook, look here for some of his work). He lost his job in Haifa and we decided to invest in a studio together with him. The place is in Yokneam, close to Kiryat Tivon, and we plan to open on the 1st of January, under the name of Skin City. We will renovate together, and then I will spend a lot of time there in the beginning, as a somewhat assistant to Assi.

On Tuesday, we spent the hole day wrestling with Israeli bureaucracy. We were not sure how to register the company, to make it as smooth and economical as possible, Assi alone, or with me also on the paper. Yoram was already excluded since he is employed and that would affect the taxation of the tattoo studio. We went to the Israeli Tax Authorities in Haifa, where we were juggled around between different people for hours. We wanted to know whether I at all can open a file on my present visa, and in that case how my husbands salary will affect my taxations. Why would it do that, you might ask? Well, in this country women are not considered capable of having their own business, so when a woman opens a business, it will automatically be written also on her husband. Don't ask me what unmarried women do. Her father maybe..?

Of course did not two persons give the same answer. One of the offices we were directed to, turned out to be manned by a previous neighbour of Yoram's. From that moment and on, things ran a lot smoother. This is something that happens to my husband all the time. I am not sure whether it is pure luck, or that he simply has friends everywhere. He is also THE negotiator. I would never do business without him. He is a walking bargaining machine and he has a way of getting a smile out of the grumpiest clerk.

Anyway, we found out that it is possible for me to open a file and we even found a grey zone that separates me from Yoram, which means no taxation calculated on his income. The afternoon we spent in our accountant's office, going over other options. How we in the end decided to register, we will keep to ourselves. Contract for the place is signed, file is opened, bank account is opened, equipment is ordered, and we also went to the DIY store and bought stuff for fixing up the place, such as paint for the walls. Things are moving forward!

Aikido vs horse riding

2010-11-20T09:45:00.005+02:00

I started riding horses when I was six years old and that has very much influenced who I am. Not only did it shape my personality, but it has also helped developing my motor skills and balance. I was born with a less than average sense of balance and I did not walk before the age of one and a half. Besides that, I have a visual defect that prevents me from seeing our world in three dimensions, which makes my ability to evaluate distance somewhat impaired. Both these skills improved remarkably due to all my time spent in the saddle as a young child. My balance sharpened, and I learned to judge distances in my own peculiar way, good enough for the things that I wanted to do, but not until this day can I catch a ball flying towards me in the air. Luckily, I am not the least interested in ball sports.

About ten years ago I stepped into an aikido dojo for the first time. During my most intense aikido years, I was pretty much gone from riding horses, for practical reasons. I was living in the city, studying full time, with no time to go riding somewhere. Aikido, however, had in many ways the same beneficial effects on me like the horse riding. My balance improved, and my sense of depth was constantly challenged through every attack that came flying in the air, hand or weapon. Not until I was back in the saddle again, did I fully comprehend how the two practices go hand in hand, but also complement each other.

Previously, I could feel a bit "rusty" after not riding for a while, but now when I started riding again with the aikido in my system, it was like I had never been away. The aikido also turned out to bring more quietness to my riding, and a better posture. Now, as I regularly exercise both activities, they constitute a continuous positive spiral of influence on each other.

Both aikido and horse riding is a cooperation between two individuals, where you create something beautiful and/or demanding together. In aikido this includes two humans, while in horse riding a human and a horse is interacting. What constitutes the major difference is that during horse riding it is the responsibility of the human to make sure that the horse understands what we are doing. In aikido, the responsibility is equally divided between the two partners. What unifies the two art forms is the marvellous sensation of melting together as one, minimising the signals and cues to the point where there is nothing more than pure ki flowing through the two beings, allowing them to perform their dance effortlessly. Both riding and aikido can look very powerful, but correctly performed there are no hard encounters between the two bodies.

Just as it takes patience and love to teach a horse to understand cues and to perform the exercises you want him to do, the same goes for aikido. I am convinced that a warm and caring environment, characterised by trust and joy, will make the aikidokas grow more efficiently. That is probably a provocative idea for some, since we after all are talking about a martial art, with the fundamental element of serious combat. Nevertheless, I think that an early introduction of confidence and trust, is a great way to start. There is no way around the battles with your ego anyway during the different difficult steps on the path of the aiki. This journey through crisis - revelation - transformation also happens for a horse rider. There are no short cuts, only hours and hours of practice, humbleness and an open (and empty) mind. That is the only way you can truly tune in with your partner (human or equine). When you start reaching those splits of a second moments when you feel that not only your bodies, but also your minds, unite as one, then you know that you are on the right path. In a way, also riding is nothing more than AI KI DO - the path to harmony through the energy of life.

This honest little horse called Noor

2010-11-17T16:38:00.006+02:00

Occasionally you meet a horse with a remarkable honesty and willingness to work and learn. Noor is such a horse. She is not pure-bred (Trakhener x Israeli Local Horse), and her conformation is far from perfect. She lacks some muscle mass on a somewhat long back, but with the right work that can be improved. Nevertheless, her attitude is worth more than any paper or perfect looks.

She amazes me in some way every time I work with her. Some horses have a lot of attitude and might have other ideas than what you are asking of them, although they know perfectly well what that is. That might call for some reinforcement to make them understand who is in charge. Noor, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to please, which means that if she gets winded up, or protests in some way, you can be pretty sure that you are doing something wrong, or that she simply does not understand what you are asking of her.

I had some problems with her left lead departure, but that turned out to be just a matter of riding her supple in her left side. Every horse (and human) has a strong and a weak side, but through some proper suppling exercises this can be evened out. It can be compared to learning to write also with the left hand if you are right-handed. Noor simply needed to get stronger in her left side and she is already much better, taking the left lead almost every time, with little support. Except for fixing the lead departures, she has started on the spin and she stops amazingly, only for the knees and a deep seat and without any rein pressure. One day I was told that she actually stops a little too good with the kids. When they wanted her to go down from a lope to a trot, she stopped in her tracks and the kid almost fell over her head! It took me one more session to clear out the difference between those two things. Now, of course, it demands that the kids squeeze her with their legs a bit to keep her in the trot. She will be the best teacher when I am ready with her. ;)

Up until now I have ridden her on a "cowboy snaffle" bit, which is like a jointed snaffle bit, but with shanks and a curb strap, which makes it into a leverage bit. I am not so fond of this kind of bit, but that is what all the horses are carrying and nothing else was available. I have used it with care and asked the horse to give to pressure mentally and not physically.

Noor is very broke in this bit nowadays and gives her head to the lightest pressure both laterally and vertically, so I wanted to give her a new challenge. I use a plain rope halter on her and I tend to keep it under the bridle when I ride, with the lead rope tied like reins. When we have been riding out on the trail I often give her release from the bit reins and only hold the halter reins. Today I decided to ride her with the halter reins in the arena, and with some minimal guidance to show her that the halter means the same as the bit, she was broke for the halter in no time. I was stunned that the transition went so fast. She gave her face and moved shoulders and hips, and she stopped on a dime from the lope, and backed up nicely. Pure joy!

Noor in the bridle with the rope halter underneath, moving in two-track towards the camera (I know that my hand position sucks, but I was not really riding and suddenly it was time for a Kodak moment and I just casually moved her towards the camera ;)

Noor in the rope halter, having a conversation with Pesach, a yearling Friesian/Quarter colt.

What I want now is a bosal, which is a more refined kind of bit-less bridle. The halter is all-right, but still not properly balanced on her face and not really aimed for riding. We don't have any bosal, but maybe I can get one myself in time. You can judge a rider on the level of severity of the tools that he or she uses. The better the connection between horse and rider, the less tools you need. Then in the end you might end up riding like this (Sorry for not being able to fit the whole video in the column):

I wanna shove your garbage up your ass!

2010-11-13T17:19:00.004+02:00

We went to the beach today and it was a sad story. First of all, the fishing park Dag-Bakfar opened a channel through which they poured out contaminated water from their fish ponds, straight out into the sea. It probably did not contain poison, but left-over fish food, dead fish and algae was enough to make it all but attractive to step into the water. The dogs, however, did not mind, and they happily bounced around in the green soup, and when it was time to leave they stank of fish. It was not that nice and they got a nice shampoo when we got home.

Except for the soiled water, I was again gasping in disgust over how much garbage was left on the beach. What the f**k is wrong with these people? What makes a human being so disconnected to our environment that he without blinking leaves piles of garbage on this beautiful place? I simply cannot understand this. I suppose that these trashy people will not read this anyway, since their education level probably don't enable them to comprehend my language. I am so angry!

Hot Moroccan Tilapia

2010-11-12T21:59:00.007+02:00

Karin in Rehovot inspired me (Swedish blog post) to make Moroccan fish, but in true Jojo tradition, I can never keep to a recipe. I just merely used it for inspiration. I planned a mild couscous that I thought would fit well balancing the spicy fish dish.

Fish:
Fry sweet pepper, fresh garlic, crushed tomatoes, paprika powder, harissa and some salt in a nice olive oil, until soft. We used Tilapia fillets (St Peter's fish) for this dish. Lay the fillets (skin up) on top of the sauce and let it simmer under a lid until the fish is cooked. Add the coriander during the last few minutes. We used canned crushed tomatoes, for the simple reason that the large tomatoes in the supermarket were pale and unattractive. If not, I think that I would have scolded and peeled fresh tomatoes. You can also use fresh chili, but we bought harissa, which also brings some sourness (it contains vinegar) into the composition. It worked out very well.

Couscous:
Wet the couscous with some hot bullion, after taste. We actually used chicken/vegetable bullion! Fry the onion in (real!) butter and add the spinach. Add some salt if the butter is without salt. Mix the couscous with the spinach/onion. Add pine nuts that have been slightly roasted in a dry pan.

A musty red wine is appropriate to a spicy dish like this!

Both dishes (Click to enlarge)

A small step for man...

2010-11-11T14:45:00.003+02:00

One lunch last week I boldly prepared a sauce to serve with the spaghetti for the kids. During my 37 years I don't think that I ever met a kid who did not appreciate a nice tomato sauce on their spaghetti. That was until I met my two bonus boys. They loudly refuse anything that might make the food on the plate the least "wet", except for occasional uses of some sugar-saturated ketchup!

I prepared Cornelius' tomato sauce, which is as famous and delicious, as it is simple. To make it more approachable for the kids, I passed it in the blender into an orange-red creamy and smooth sauce. I poured it over the spaghetti and mixed before I put up on the plates. On the side they got sliced chicken fillet, which I had fried in fresh za'atar herb, sesame seeds, some sesame oil and soy sauce.

The kids ate, and I was amazed. However, my biggest victory came a few days later, during the weekend, when Yoram tried to make a tomato sauce to serve with the pasta. He makes a more complex sauce, with more different veggies inside, but although he also passed it, the kids noticed the difference. To my surprise, the kids said that they liked my sauce better, which is probably the first time they ever gave credits to my food like that. The biological parents food is always the best, of course, and in particular Mum's food. Yoram looked a bit stunned, but I just sucked it in.

Jojo + Noor = Love

2010-10-31T15:09:00.008+02:00

Jojo & Noor

I am so proud of the little red roan. She is a mare with an amazing attitude, very honest and willing. She always tries her best, and if she gets winded up and protests, then I know that she does not understand, or that I am doing something wrong, and then I need to take one step back, relax us both and reconsider. We have had some trouble with the left lead departure, while the lead departure to the right has been working just fine. I have no problem moving her hip to the left, but I have noticed that she sometimes fall into a cross-canter, which could imply that she has some irregularities in her body that prevents her from carrying herself properly. However, she is not lame or tender anywhere.

I have been attentive to this, but still kept on working on first getting her soft and supple in all body parts and subsequently getting her into the correct lead on the left. I have tried to be very clear with the right leg, moving her hip over to the left, supporting her left shoulder slightly with the inner rein, while opening the inner leg and putting my weight on the outer side, but nothing helped. She consistently took the right lead, with the result that both of us got frustrated.

I realized that I needed to change something in the balance, so today, instead of sitting straight and putting my weight on the outer side of the seat, I put some weight in the inner stirrup while leaning slightly forward. The horse picked up the left lead, so I loped her off while rewarding her enthusiastically. I thought it was pure luck, but it worked one more time and I was thrilled. I stopped there for the day and went and pampered the horse in the shower.

Leaning inwards is of course not optimal, since it easy that the horse will drop her inside shoulder, but I will just have to be careful and consistent with the inner rein support until her left lead departure is so established that I can start straightening up to minimize the cues.

It feels like we have crossed a huge obstacle. I like her more and more and I am almost becoming a bit possessive over her, since we are working so good together. She is not in the riding school system yet since the kids are afraid of riding her (she bucked a kid off), but soon she will. Nevertheless, she will be mine as much as I want, and I look forward to keeping on working with her.

Horse & Hound

2010-10-27T16:03:00.005+02:00

I have been with a car this week, children on full time and two extra dogs. The kids' mother took on a holiday with her boyfriend and we have backed her up. This means that I have spent every morning riding horses in the stable, since I could drive there. There is a new horse, Noor, a part Trakehner mare. She has a beautiful red roan colour and I would guess that she also has some Quarter horse blood lines in her. She is more close to the Quarter in size and she also have a quite typical Quarter horse stride.

Noor

Before she came to our stable she had not done any work for almost two years, but according to rumours some dressage before that. Anyhow, she is a very green horse, who needs some fixing. I have been riding her every day, but also other horses, so I have been busy and happy. In just a weeks time, Noor has gone from being completely overexcited, with her nose high up in the air on a stiff neck, to a relaxed and broke horse, with a soft face on a low head, and moveable shoulders and hips. I am very much in love with her. Only problem is, that she refuses to take the left lead in the lope. She has the most brilliant lead departure in the right lead, but on the left side she chooses the wrong lead all the time, although I really disengage her hip to the left side. Today I stopped trying after a while, stepped down, and lounged her instead. I asked her to lope and first she took the wrong lead, but then she changed all by herself. I rewarded her and let her lope a few laps, stopped her and asked her to lope again, again in the correct lead. Then I climbed up again and asked for the left lead, but she took the right lead. Then I was recalling how she switched before and as I asked her to lope on a really small left lead circle, she suddenly changed lead. I rewarded her and let her lope off on a straight line, along the rail for a few laps. I succeeded to get her to take the left lead once more. We still have some work to do.

Other than riding, we also take care of Martha and a German Shepherd female, Billie. Bille, almost two years old, was given away by her owners as they discovered that she became a large and demanding dog, with a lot of energy. Duh..? The lame excuse was that the woman in the family became pregnant. Bille is now living with Martha, hoping for a new home. Had it not been for Martha being in heat, we could have had all dogs together, but right now we do not dare to leave them alone together. Alas, Martha and Billie stay in their garden and we go there three times a day. On Shabbat we took a long walk with all the dogs and Martha was constantly courted by Barak and I was constantly behind him preventing him from mounting her. Billie is a beautiful dog, with papers. She is a high energy dog who needs some obedience, so she needs a calm owner, with experience, or at least a willingness to learn for the benefit of the dog.

The pack

Billie

Fish fingers

2010-10-22T14:55:00.005+02:00

I miss the Swedish fish fingers. Of course I prefer buying fresh fish and prepare it myself, but that is somewhat an acquired taste for many kids. At least for kids who hardly ever got fish in any shape. Since I know how important the fish oil is, with its omega-3 fatty acids, I am doing my best to get the kids to eat at least some fish, in some shape. They eat canned tuna, but considering how lean the tuna meat it, there is no way that tuna can cover the required intake of omega-3. Salmon, Mackerel and Sardines would have been swell to get them to eat, but I can only dream of that. The white fish in the fish fingers is not that oily, but whatever it better than nothing.

Crispy breading and white fish filet

Then over to the Israeli fish fingers. The interior of these fish fingers mainly contain soy meal and a minimal amount of fish, merely for flavour. Then what's the point? They hardly taste fish either. At least the kids eat them. After buying the fingers for a while, I tried with some larger fish schnitzels with sesame seeds on the breading and they actually taste more fish, but still do not consist of fish alone. Even the cheapest Swedish fish fingers contain around 50% fish, including the breading. The nicest ones are even made from whole pieces of filet. How small the amount is in the Israeli ones, I don't even want to think about.

The Original... ;)

Easy money

2010-10-21T20:36:00.004+02:00

In Sweden I worked quite regularly as a model for croquis students. Now I started doing that here too. It is probably the easiest money you can make as long as you are not neurotic about nudity. Of course you need to be a bit creative and sometimes strong to keep difficult poses, but the longer the pose, the more comfortable you make it. Yesterday the first half consisted of dynamic 5 minutes poses, while the second half was one long pose. I was slumbering half-laying on soft pillows for an hour and got good money for it. Can it get better than that?

B1

2010-10-18T10:27:00.008+02:00

Finally! Today I got my first visa with a working permit - a B1 visa. But, there is no end to how recalcitrant the process is, and how contradictory the treatment can be from one clerk to another. Because, of course, you do not have your personal clerk. Every time there is a new tight-up woman with bleached hair and too much makeup on, sitting behind the glass shield. When we were there two weeks ago, we brought, except for the wedding certificate, pictures from the wedding, but our clerk for the day said that they were not necessary, since we had previously delivered a whole bunch of other pictures.

Today we came back with our last declaration, signed and stamped by Yoram's lawyer and then of course the bitch of the day asked for the damn wedding pictures! However, we talked ourselves out of it. Yoram even offered her to look in our Facebook acounts, but she rejected the offer. We promised to bring the wedding pictures next time, which will be in six months.

Now I have a permit to work for six months, but no other rights. No social security, no nothing. This means, still no baby plans. Maternity care would be scandalously expensive before I have general social security. In the end of April 2011 we will have to bring another suitcase full of proof that we actually live our lives together, as well as answering personal questions about one another in individual interviews. After that I will get a A5 visa (temporary residency), which includes ID card (Teudat Zehut) and social security (Bituach Leumi). This will have to be renewed annually for four years, and after that I can apply for Israeli citizenship.

So...

In case you are interested in exquisite Swedish graphic design, created by a reliable and fast-producing freelancer, please contact me. Svensk Chekchouka and her husband have already used my services for their company, and they would be happy to confirm my professionalism. Samples of previous work are also available upon request. Except that I do professional translation from English to Swedish if someone needs that.

Getting your foot in the door of the agricultural business appears to be like entering Fort Knox, so I have no high hopes for that. On the other hand, freelancing from home suits me fine at the moment. I need a little income to give me freedom to develop other ideas and dreams I have, like home-made beer and cheese, as well as the saffron cultivation. When the latter happens, at least no one can blame me for wasting my education.

If someone wants me to tune their riding horse a little bit, or help them to develop their own riding skills, I would be happy to help with that too.

Now I seem desperate. Enough!

Touchy milk

2010-10-17T08:31:00.003+02:00

I already killed my first yoghurt. The two first batches were so successful that the self-confidence went over my head. I did two mistakes with my third batch:

I overheated the milk slightly in the pasteurisation phase and it almost came to a boil. This denatures and degrades the proteins in the milk, which affects both the setting of the yoghurt, and the texture.
I waited for too many days before I inoculated a new yoghurt from the second batch. It was almost the last drops from that batch that I used, and although that yoghurt was very tangy, most of the yoghurt culture was probably not viable anymore.

After the evening in the warm water bath, and the overnight slowly cooling down, the milk had still not set. Since the bottle was hermetic, I heated up the water bath again for a few hours and then the yoghurt seemed to set. However, as I finally opened the bottle, the yoghurt was somewhat slimy and stringy, and without much of a tanginess. Nevertheless, I put it in the fridge up until today, and the tanginess has started to increase, but the consistency is not really that appealing. Anyway, there is nothing dangerous about it, so instead of serving as a breakfast yoghurt, I have used it to strain off into a labaneh, and I hope that it will turn out well. It might be that the sliminess makes it harder to drain through the cheese cloth. We will just have to see.

Yesterday I was a bit grumpy about it for a few hours, but then I accepted my defeat and learned from the lesson. Next batch of milk will be inoculated with a newly bought yoghurt culture, to be on the safe side. Then my challenge starts all over again.

Some doggy talk

2010-10-13T16:53:00.004+02:00

A new post about my dogs seems appropriate today. The longer time they spend together (almost 10 months now), the harder it is to see a clear pattern of who is more dominant than the other. This contradicts the theory about a strict pack hierarchy and instead suggests that the packs really are family units in where roles are not changed through struggles for dominance.

Barak shows dominance by claiming space. He is very pushy and often lays down very close to Goshen, or partly on top of her, and then she moves away. He is also the alert one when we are inside of the house. Goshen is instead often the instigator when we are outside. She is the one that takes the decision to run after something, and she will intervene very diplomatically if another dog is being annoying to Barak. In the house she is telling him off if he is not listening to us, if he will not back off, or if he is begging. She goes in between and very verbally explains to him that he is acting inappropriate. When they are wrestling she is also humping him, which is something he never did to her. I like the thought that they are equal members with different roles and mentalities, instead of the dominant one and the submissive. It seems modern in some way. ;)

I am happy that they are so harmonised today. Barak is becoming calmer each day. Up until a month ago, he would frantically check all bowls until there was no food left, so if Goshen did not finish all her food, we needed to take it away. Now he eats his own food, and if she chooses to leave some, he will not go and steal it. They also never really fight anymore. That only happened a few times during the first months together before they knew each other well and trust was built.

Today we discovered a new activity to get some steam out. Not really a new activity, but a very good place to exercise it. Down in Beit She'arim there is a long grass lawn, somewhat sloping down under a huge tree. We were standing in the upper end when I saw that there were a hole group of crows on the ground in the farther end. I had both dogs sitting down facing the crows. Then I just had to give them a "sssssssssssaaahhh" and they sprinted with everything they had those 75 m down to the crows, who of course lifted. I called the dogs back and before they were sitting down the crows were back on the ground. This went on for 10 times or so and neither the crows, nor the dogs, gave up. I will try to bring the video camera next time.

Great breakfast

2010-10-11T11:20:00.004+02:00

My second batch of goat-milk yoghurt turned out even better than the first one. The first one was inoculated with standardised cow-milk yoghurt, while the second one was inoculated with the leftovers from the first batch of my own. That is also how it will continue from now on. Before one batch is finished, we get new milk and set up a new batch. In that way, the same yoghurt culture can live on forever. I realise that keeping it as long as possible will be something I take a little pride in.

After one day inoculating in a warm waterbath and then two days in the fridge, the yoghurt I poured up for breakfast today was almost too thick to exit the bottle, with a full and rich acidity. As far as I have understood it is more difficult to get goat-milk yoghurt to thicken, but I do not seem to have a problem with that at all.

I put fresh pomegranate seeds, linseeds and pecan nuts in my yoghurt today. The pecan nuts are from the 2009 harvest, and I just realised that we need to finish them off to leave room for the 2010 harvest that is coming up in a months time. Nuts are really an amazing food. The shelf life of nuts with the shells remaining intact are almost eternal, and the nuts inside are small bombs of nutrients. One of natures great inventions!

Stop building and draw that damn border!

2010-10-09T12:32:00.007+02:00

I believe that the only right thing to do is to halt settlement construction until the future border is agreed upon. Although I know that many settlers were encouraged to move to the territories by generous subsidies from the state, I find the settlement enterprise of today appalling and not more than an arrogant strategy to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. Same goes for East Jerusalem.

The proponents of the settlement enterprise often argue for a need of the settlements as a geopolitical security measure, and indeed was this once a legitimate reason. However, in present time, when Israel has agreed upon a two-state solution, there is no morally acceptable reason to keep on building in Jewish settlements until we know which settlements will be evacuated or not. Especially not for the reason of "natural growth". If my children one day want a house, they cannot demand that there automatically will be a house for them in Kiryat Tivon, so why on earth would it be so for people living on land that is not even Israeli yet - if it will ever be.

Then the settlers claim the unfairness in not halting constructions for the Palestinians, but as I see it there is one fundamental difference. There are no Arab cities or villages in the West Bank that risk being evacuated in order to be annexed by Israel, whereas all the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are disputed until the day the final border has been drawn. Every inch that does not contain Jewish settlements (plus of course the settlements that will be evacuated), will become Palestinian territory in their future state - so why can the Palestinians not build on that land?

Boys and girls and taste

2010-10-08T18:28:00.006+02:00

Sheridan's Coffee Layered Liqueur

I mentioned before that Barak is drawn to any kind of alcohol, but Goshen rejects everything. I have found what fits her taste buds. She eagerly licks the leftovers from a glass of Sheridan, while Barak takes whatever he gets. He even licks it from the floor if anyone spills. Typical gender roles, anyone?

Home-made goat milk yoghurt

2010-10-06T08:42:00.008+02:00

2 litres of home-made yoghurt from goat milk

I notice now that I never shared it on this blog, but I did buy rennet when I was in Sweden, and after we returned home, I made a few batches of cottage cheese, from standardised milk. However, the tiny yield that you get from 1 litre of milk, in relation to the amount of labour and what you pay for the milk, makes it far from sustainable to make your own cottage cheese. It was more of a quaint experience to experiment a little bit with cheese making before I move on to some more complex cheese-making.

Instead of playing with standardised cow milk, I have now moved over to getting acquainted with the goat milk. Milk from different animals have different compositions and properties, therefore each and every one of them requires individual measures in the handling. Even milk from the same species will differ according to under which condition the animals live, what they eat, and so on. And, dairy products from goat milk are really, really healthy. And tasty! It is easier to digest (even for babies), due to a higher level of medium-chain fatty acids, compared to cow milk. Furthermore, almost half of people who are lactose intolerant are able to drink goat milk. Goat milk also contains more vitamin A. Cow milk instead contains precursors to vitamin A, called carotenoids. These must be turned into vitamin A in the body after ingesting the milk. The carotenoids are what makes butter and cheese from cow milk yellow, and the lack thereof in the goat milk is why all goat products remain white. Goat milk also contains more riboflavin (vitamin B2) than cow milk.

Two minutes from here, there is a big goat farm. They sell most of their milk to dairies, who I guess make dairy products like goat cheese, or possibly labaneh. It is not that common with goat milk or fresh goat yoghurt in the supermarkets. We can also go there and buy fresh, unpasteurised goat milk, basically straight from the udder. Just bring your own container and 7 ILS per litre.

Handling unpasteurised milk is a sensitive matter, and unless you are milking your own animals, and can control the hygiene during all steps, a brief pasteurisation is recommended. When the milk is still in the udder, it is free from bacteria (as long as the animal is healthy), but as soon as it passes the nipples, bacteria are added to the milk, mostly lactic acid bacteria. These are the good guys, that under optimal conditions will eliminate harmful bacteria, and later turn the milk into yoghurt. However, if the milk has been cooled down before pasteurisation, the activity of the lactic acid bacteria has slowed down, to the benefit of harmful bacteria, such as E. coli bacteria and other cryophilic (cold-tolerant) bacteria. In this case, the milk needs to be heated up to a temperature where these bacteria die, and after that you add a new culture of lactic acid bacteria to create your yoghurt.

Alas, I could not rely on the naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria in this milk, since it had been somewhat cooled down. I heated it up slowly to approximately 70 degrees and kept it there for a few minutes, and then poured it over on a clean glass bottle. I put it in the fridge to cool it down quicker, but checked it regularly so the temperature did not sink below 45-50 degrees. When I could barely hold the bottle, I added one cup of yoghurt (standardised cow-milk yoghurt), and closed the bottle again. Then the bottle was kept in a water bath, to keep the temperature around 45 degrees. I refilled with warm water for a few hours and then let it stay over night, and cool down by itself. This morning I could see that the yoghurt had already set, but now it needs another day in the fridge before consumption. One litre will go with our breakfast granola, and the other litre will become labaneh.

Making yoghurt from this goat milk is definitely sustainable. The standardised cow-milk yoghurt that we normally buy from the supermarket cost about 25 ILS for 3 litres. Here you get two litres for 14 ILS, and the work load is not heavy at all. You neither need to buy yoghurt culture, since you use a small amount of the previous yoghurt to inoculate each new batch.

Maybe I will try to do some cottage cheese from this goat milk, but my final goal is to start making more refined types of cheese. I will probably start with feta-type cheese, that will ripen in brine, or some mold-inoculated cheese ripened in oil, both of which are easy to mature in a regular household. Cheeses that need to mature "on shelf" are not that easy since it is difficult to adjust temperature and humidity in the air, unless you have a climate chamber. The mold culture I will just harvest from any of the excellent goat cheeses that are available around here. Making matured cheese from milk bought for 7 ILS per litre is neither particularly sustainable, but the feeling of achievement is much higher than after cooking together a batch of cottage cheese, and besides, one day we hope to have one or a few does to milk for ourselves, and then you can really start talking sustainability. Now it is only training and preparation. And a lot of fun!

Three days of retreat in heaven

2010-10-04T13:25:00.012+02:00

I love camping in the nature. For me, it is a spiritual retreat, just as valuable as any retreat arranged by practitioners of yoga, meditation or any other movement. Or an aikido retreat for that matter. So, when I go camping, I prefer it to be in a secluded location, far away from noisy and littering tourists. We got many tips about locations from different friends, and we also looked around last time we went to the North. We ended up close to the Lebanese border, somewhere behind the kibbutzim Daphna and Dan. It was a bit tricky to find our way in to where we had planned to settle, but suddenly we reached the river, deep into an avocado grove.

Yoram stopped at the first spot we saw and claimed that it was perfect. There were no shadow over the minimal entry to the water and in the middle of the spot there were big irrigation tubes. I refused. Yoram was almost exploding, but I insisted that we moved on. 200 metres away we found our home. Of course he would never admit that it was worth doing that last drive, but deep down he was happy for it. The entry was small and inside a lovely zula opened up, with a perfect corner for the tent and a fire place waiting to be lit. There was a big tree in the middle and as you stepped over its big roots you stepped down in the cooling crystal-clear water.

The crystal-clear cooling water

We brought everything we needed from home, except for two huge trouts that we bought from kibbutz Dan. They became our first dinner, together with marinated and grilled mushrooms and a broccoli salad. The fish was seasoned with a spicy fish mix and dried thyme before it was grilled to perfection. Not too raw, not too dry. Juicy and soft. When the fish was ready we had already eaten the mushrooms and the salad, and we sat down and devoured one family-sized trout each.

Trouts from kibbutz Dan

Grilled to perfection

Right now the days and nights are practically 12+12 hours long, with sunsets and sunrises as fast as hitting a switch on the wall. The longer you live in nature under those conditions, the more you adapt to a natural day/night rhythm, sleeping when it is dark, waking up when the sun rises. We were only there over two nights, but already the first evening we went to bed somewhere just after 21.00. But before that we took a walk in the pitch-black night, only with the guidance from our head-lights. Next morning I awoke at 5.30, and got up to imbibe the early morning atmosphere. I took the dogs for a stroll down the avocado grove, and although the harvesting season has not started yet, it is merely around the corner, I found some fruits that had fallen down on the ground.

Sunrise just before 6.00 a.m.

Almost ripe avocados on a tree

"Good morning, Daddy!"

I went back to the tent to greet my husband as he awoke, and we made coffee in the finjan. The avocados were not perfectly ripe, but good enough to make an avocado salad for breakfast, with boiled eggs, some onion and spices. We spent a lot of time reading books. Yoram read a history book and I read a book about natural childbirth (No, I am not pregnant.). The dogs were mucking around according to their own needs and desires, and Goshen spent more time in the water than out of it. It was so funny to hear her as she descended. She really reminded me of a human, as she made a deep grunting sound from the sensation of the cold water. The cold water also assisted us keeping the beers cold. We tied them to a rope so they hang just beneath the water surface, with the cork sticking out of the water.

In the afternoon it was time to start with the poyke. One day before we left for the camping I said to Yoram "What do you say about buying a poyke?". He agreed, and it turned out to be the best buy we have made, and will make, in a very long time. I will never go camping without my poyke, ever again. You get a full meal, and most of the ingredients, like vegetables, oil and spices, have no problem with a few days in warm temperature. The only sensitive ingredient was the meat, but we brought it directly from the freezer into an ice box, together with some other stuff, and that ice box actually contained ice all the way until it was time to go home on the third day, in spite of the hot weather.

My beloved poyke making its wonders

with the things we put in him

Our poyke stew contained these ingredients, which were added in mentioned order: oil, chuck steak, rosemary, mixed red/green/black pepper, paprika powder, mineral salt, thyme, garlic cloves, red wine, water, sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, onion, fresh chili, beans in tomato sauce, sweet peas, and chopped parsley.

Stew under way!

Our poyke stew fed us three times. Once in the afternoon, when it was ready, second time for a late evening snack, and the last morning we added some water and put it back on the fire to give us a thick and full-bodied soup to dip our pitot in. When it was empty, I brought it with me down in the water and scraped the last left-overs out of it, and then let it dry in the sun. After we came home, I cleaned it once more with warm water, and then greased it with oil to prevent rust. I love my poyke!

The water was cold. Well, with Swedish measures it was like just before it hits the maximum temperatures possible in Swedish summer waters, i.e. around 20 degrees. It was not meant for long swims, but nevertheless, the hot weather motivated us to regular dips in the refreshing water. It was also clear. Unless you stirred the bottom up, you could see everything. We did not see much fish, but I found a cute crab that I to Yoram's horror picked up. This guy was not big enough to eat, but normally I love crab meat. Yoram on the other hand, has sworn to never eat crab in his whole life, and it has nothing to do with kashrut or not. Obviously he already forgot that our first meal when we arrived to Sweden for our wedding, was a king crab cocktail and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.

Cooling down

Cute little fellow

Both dogs were running freely when we were awake, but for the night, we put Barak on a leash long enough to reach around our little bower. He is too territorial to let run loose unsupervised. During the second night there were some people walking on the road at some point, and Barak did exactly what he is supposed to, he gave two-three low-pitched barks that said "Please, stay away from here! I am guarding my family!". Instead, he slept a lot during the daytime. No doubt, did we feel safe.

Our security chief

We had camped on the beach already, and that was great in its own way, but I knew already somewhere deep down that I would love this setting more. It is definitely more quiet, less wind, not having sand everywhere all the time, natural shade, sweet water to clean yourself and other things in, no other people (if you make the effort to find the right place), etc.

As I said in the beginning, you need more than two-three days for the real serenity to kick in, and I hope that we will be able to do that on another occasion. I let go easier than Yoram, since I am simply more used to it already. I have felt that state, and can therefore reach there faster. Yoram is afraid of getting bored and restless, but that is part of the process of letting go. If you are bored and restless, you refuse to let go. Simple as that. We deserve laziness in our lives now and then, to regain energy and motivation. It is good for both the physical and spiritual health. On this trip we indulged ourselves in three of the Seven Cardinal Sins: lust, gluttony and sloth, of which I don't consider even one to be sinful. Only part of enjoying life.

Another natural zula we found,

with the possibility for setting up more than one tent

Chunky Martha

2010-10-03T12:14:00.004+02:00

Martha has grown a bit since I mentioned her the last time. She weighs more than both Goshen and Barak, although she is not as tall as they are. Sometimes we bring her with us on our walks with the dogs. She has calmed down considerably, but is still completely adorable. If we ever need to be away from home from early morning to late evening, we bring our dogs to Martha's garden to spend the day there, and they all get a long fine.

Pack gathers for an afternoon walk

Cuddly monster

Boiling Sukkot in Jerusalem

2010-10-03T11:47:00.004+02:00

On the Monday we had decided to go to Jerusalem with the boys. Ziv has been there before, but for Gal it was the first time. Normally this time of the year, it is comfortable 25-27 degrees, but this year the summer does not seem to want to give up, and we wandered around Jerusalem in 35 degrees, under a frying sun, among gizillions of people, since it was the Sukkot holidays. This did not have a positive effect on the enthusiasm of the kids, alas, we ended up dragging two whiny kids to the Western Wall, around the Old City and to the famous Mahane Yehuda Market. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, we went home with some nice experiences in the luggage. Now we do not have to bring the boys there for another decade or so... Or?

Natural high by the Western Wall

Ethiopian Jews brought both colours and music...

... wearing beautiful clothing and playing instruments

Married to a 3:d dan aikidoka

2010-10-03T10:27:00.006+02:00

Me, about to attack Yoram with a bokken

During Sukkot weekend Seki Sensei came and gave his annual seminar in Israel. I was only there the second, and the last, out of four days. Yoram was about to take his sandan, and two full seminars, as well as a sandan grade, was too expensive for us, so I stepped aside. Seki is not one of my primary teachers anyway, so I did not mind. I took on having the kids those two days instead, so that we would have more days alone after Sukkot.

We had prepared before the seminar, of course, but continued also during the seminar, especially with the weapon part. Seki does not care much about weapons, so the weapons play a minimal and formal part of the graduation. Nevertheless, we wanted a great performance, and I shared many of the tricks that I have learned during the years with Stefan Stenudd. We, as well as Yoram's teacher were under the impression that he would have to show defence against knife and sword, but the day before the test we realised that he would also do defence against stick, so we worked in some jodori techniques in the last minute. Not optimal, but what to do?

Yoram used Assi as his first uke, and me for the weapons, and then Omer joined in for the taninzugake. Yoram did an excellent test, far better than on any of his pre-tests at home. There was another guy doing his sandan test besides Yoram and someone compared the two couples like seeing two butterflies dancing beside two wrestling elephants.

As I was watching the nidan graduations, I saw once more that to keep pace with the people around here it is time for me to do a nidan test not too soon from now. However, this was not the place, nor the time. I want to do it in Sweden, under my own teachers, but those tests are different, with higher demands on the performance, longer tests, and a larger curriculum. A different approach, simply. There are pros and cons with both.

Although I once said that I will never do a test in connection to Lillsved, that is now what seems like the most reasonable option, considering the practical circumstances. I just hope that Stefan could be there too. Maybe he will. Anyway, it is time to get serious. Jan will be here in a few months and then I am up for some feedback on my preparations.

Review - Preview

2010-10-03T09:11:00.002+02:00

Now I have not been writing for a while, but I hope that alone-time with my husband is a good enough reason. During the Sukkot holidays we have completed an aikido seminar with Seki Sensei, one day in Jerusalem with the kids and three heavenly days tête-à-tête in a tent way up North. Every point will get its own blog post during the coming days. I just need to accept the fact that I am home again to everyday life.

Foggy distance

2010-09-21T09:58:00.005+02:00

I noticed that the rightist news broadcasting in Israel mentioned that the party "Sverigedemokraterna" (Swedish Democrats) have taken seats in the Swedish parliament after the general elections last Sunday. They referred to it as an anti-Muslim and pro-Israeli party, as if they were allies of some sort. However, they forgot to mention the important detail that the party has its origin in the neo-nazi movement. Alas, the flirting with the pro-Israeli lobby is just a dirty scam. They do not like Jews more than they like Arabs. Clearly, the Israeli coverage of Sweden is not more accurate than the Swedish coverage of Israel...

Update: Haaretz seems a bit more sober on the matter.

Late summer adventures

2010-09-14T09:01:00.004+02:00

When I look back on all the days I spend at home, acting like a desperate housewife, I sometimes feel that my life is a little bit boring. Then I can just look in my image library from the last few weeks, and my mind switches. Certainly, it is not that satisfying to be somewhat stuck at home a lot, but hopefully things will change soon. I am doing some graphic design and translation jobs from home, but in the beginning of October we have another appointed battle with Misrad Hapnim to deliver our wedding certificate, and hopefully my residency here will be a bit more legal shortly after that.

In the meantime the camera documentation proofs that I am living the good life, roaming this blessed land. One evening, we took the horses on a longer ride from the stables. We visited Beit She'arim and the Alexander Zaïd statue, and stayed there until the sun set behind the Carmel mountain. The breeze almost felt a bit cooling for the first time in three months. However, the extreme summer does not seem to let go of its intense grip just yet. We still sleep with the fan all night long, butt naked on the bed. I have neither used warm water for any shower yet, and it is mid September! People have a hard time believing me, but I am totally loving it!

Jojo and the black mare Laila

Alexander Zaïd statue in the sunset

Last Shabbat we took the kids on another kayaking adventure. This time we started off a bit further up North, in HaGoshrim instead of Kfar Blum. The water in the river was now definitely cooler than when we were there in August, but with the mercilessly frying sun above, it was with pure joy that we spent more time in the water than in the boat.

We succeeded to match our trip with Eid ul-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Ramadan, and it felt like all of Israel's 1,2 million Muslims had come to HaGoshrim to do some kayaking, or at least the adolescent ones. We all know what happens when adolescents with strict and religious parents go on holiday. They act like obnoxious testosterone-poisoned monsters, screaming, brawling and littering all around. All the boys tried to win the famous macho war, while the girls tried to squeal as high as possible if the boat rocked a bit too much. You who know me understand that this has nothing to do with bashing Muslims. I have enough Muslim friends to be able to speak up against bad manners among them. I do that with whoever deserves it.

Baptised? I don't think so. Blessed? Yes!

Beautiful Hasbani river, a tributary to Jordan river

Nevertheless, in between the herds of wild youngsters we enjoyed some quiet time on the river and after the kayaking we went to Kibbutz Dan for some time at the pool with the cousins of the boys. We got some nice tips for spots to camp on along one of the rivers that are well hidden from kayakers and the rest of the Israeli camping populace. After Sukkot we have five days in a row without kids and then we will put ourselves and the dogs on a river bank far away from civilisation. Or, as our tipper put it, "It is that far up North that if you meet anyone, it's Hezbollah".

The cultural shackles

2010-09-08T11:08:00.005+03:00

This story comes a few days after it happened, but the depth of the comment made by Yoram struck me a bit later. We went to the pool for a few hours on Saturday and just relaxed. No kids and a quiet day. There were quite a lot of people and just as we arrived, a family Yoram knows was just about to leave, so we waited to take over their shade and chairs. They have a boy, around two years old, who they were about to change clothes on. He was standing butt naked, but suddenly refused to put new clothes on. The parents almost looked embarrassed and asked him "Bli klum?" (Without anything?). As they left, Yoram whispered to me "That's how it starts, hu..?", and I answered "Yes, that's how it starts". The boy went to the car wearing only sandals, but I am afraid that it was a small victory. They will break the naturism out of him no later than puberty.

However, Yoram showed that he has widened his awareness of the deceptive dynamics of moral codes.

Shana Tova & Eid Mabruk

2010-09-07T17:53:00.004+03:00

I wish a Happy New Jewish Year for my Jewish friends and a Happy Ending of the Ramadan for my Muslim friends!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Shalom Salaam

Still a blueberry

2010-09-02T15:46:00.003+03:00

I am pouring up a cold drink in preparation to watch live broadcasting from Washington, when Yoram looks at me with a funny grin on his face and says: "I can tell that this is your first peace process".

It is hard for people born elsewhere to grasp how deep the despair and cynicism goes...

Day by day

2010-09-02T12:23:00.007+03:00

A second terror attack in two days. It is pretty clear that there are strong opponents against any kind of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and I am sure we have not seen the end of that. On the other hand, the Jewish settler bullies promise to continue building on their settlements and outposts as a mere answer to the terror attacks. This is how peace talks are shattered, and it is not the first time. It is a pattern. I just hope that there will not be another terror wave within Israeli territory.

I wish that leftist pro-Palestinians in Sweden and other European countries would realise that supporting the Palestinian resistance movement is not any more about achieving peace and a sovereign state for the Palestinian people. Hailing Hamas, equals supporting a fascistic and ultra-nationalistic regime whose ultimate goal is to eliminate Israel and to create a totalitarian, theocratic state that will oppress women, as well as persecuting anyone who will not abide to their mediaeval moral standards. Sometimes I wonder what drug dazed the minds of these notorious Israel-haters.

Speaking of drugs, I have previously tried to illustrate with words how it is to live in this intense region, where life is embraced like every day was the last one, for valid reasons! Lately I have seen several persons refer to it like the whole population being on drugs. Michael Totten have published some interesting interviews with people who have extensive experience from both Israel and Lebanon that pictures the parallel universes that seem to exist within a nation. The bright side is that most people choose life in this environment of dark forces of terror, oppressing power and continuous war.

A night-club in the Lebanese capital Beirut has made a commercial that expresses this contrast in a fascinating, but at the same time disturbing way. Lebanon is much more polarised than Israel, but Beirut is still in many ways comparable to Tel Aviv, where people dance their heads off although bombs can start dropping any minute.

We have aikido friends in Lebanon. I wish that we one day can take the car and drive straight up to Beirut and join for a freeing aikido session. First we need to withdraw from the drugs. However, the heaviest addicts have to be dealt with first, and that is people like Ahmadinejad, Nasrallah, Haniyeh and Meshal, who seem to go on a mix of crack, meth and PCP.

Washington summit

2010-09-01T17:49:00.008+03:00

"Everybody already know how the final agreement will look like", Moshe Amirav says on the TV news. Suddenly it strikes me that he is right. There is no other way. Approximately 9% of the West Bank will be annexed to Israel in a land swap, and this includes the largest settlement blocs. Jerusalem will be divided with the holy basin run by a special regime, and the Eastern Arab neighbourhoods will become the Palestinian capital. No Palestinian refugees will return to Israeli territory. The dream of a united Jerusalem is the sacrifice for the Jewish nation and the right to return is the Palestinian dream that is shattered. The procrastination is only a charade. The question is whether the leaders are brave enough. Are they ready to do the concessions? Bibi? Abu Mazen? Yalla! Kadima!

Then of course we have Hamas to deal with, who like loyal clockworks executed a terror attack just in time for the initiation of the peace negotiations. I do not have to put in words how I feel about the settlement enterprise, but being savagely shot down is a bit harsh punishment for occupying land.

Then there is Iran. I wish that people would understand that the Mideast conflict is about more than just some land in the Levant...

Scenic veiws, kabbalah, cheese and whining...

2010-08-31T12:39:00.011+03:00

On Shabbat we went on a short road trip in the Galilee together with the kids and Yoram's mother. We picked her up in Karmiel where she lives, and took off. Yoram rarely tells me where we are going before departure, which both creates a pleasant sensation of surprise, and a slight frustration for not being able to prepare for getting as much possible out of the destinations.

First we went to the Druze village Peki'in were we visited Savta Gamila. Savta (grandmother in Hebrew) Gamila began as a woman started making soaps and other beauty products from pure olive oil and medicinal herbs. Today the business is commercialised, but coming to the small store in Peki'in must be as close to the original as possible. We brought some massage oils, moisturising creams and scents from there which turned out to please us more than expected.

Statue on Peki'in town square,

holding the Druze flag

Peki'in is a village that since centuries back have had Druze and Jews living peacefully together. In Peki'in you find the cave where according to tradition Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, aka Rashbi, hid from the Romans for 13 years and in the meantime wrote the famous book of Zohar, which is one of the most important scriptures in the Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah. I consider myself being a spiritual being, but not religious. Religion, for me, is a frame-set of rules and rituals, mainly created to exercise power over the people. However, the true intention behind the actions is lost. People say their prayers and perform their ceremonies more out of fear than out of appropriate knowledge why. Mystical traditions, on the other hand, seems to focus more on the actual development of the individual soul. Kabbalah for example, provides a clear and logical terminology to describe us as human beings, our different components, and what drives them, and besides that, practical exercises to make you blossom. If you study a tradition like this, you will develop into a reasoning, balanced and sound human spirit, who is not easily duped by the religious clergy. No wonder why mystical traditions have always been banned and rubbished by the religious establishment.

The sign at the Rashbi cave

View from Peki'in

After Peki'in we drove up to another Druze village, Beit Jann. Beit Jann is situated on Mount Meron, 940 m above sea level, which makes it one of the highest points in Israel. We were driving through the narrow streets, and soon lost direction, as we often do driving through Arab villages. They have no road signs, and seem to build with no logic at all. At last we found the highest point, from where you could look out over the land below. Quite magnificent! On the way out we turned on the gps.

View from Beit Jann

On the way down we stopped by Ein Camonim, the goat farm/dairy/restaurant that I have mentioned previously. At that time Yoram was there alone with his mother and the boys, and only brought cheese back home to me. After that I promised myself that we would go there just the two of us. That was not really the case this time either. Alas, we did not sit down for a meal, but merely bought a few cheeses. This time I made Yoram promise me a day there without children and in-laws.

Goat cheese in Ein Camonim

Except for the fact that everybody but me and Yoram was complaining and whining all day long about walking too much, too much heat, and generally a too far distance to TV and computers, the day was pretty successful. Yoram promised the kids that we will never bring them on a road trip never again. Unfortunately, I do not think that he will stick to it.

Topical antibiotics

2010-08-31T11:07:00.004+03:00

Taste the term once again. Topical antibiotics. What I see before me is thoughtless abuse and optimal conditions for the development of resistant bacteria. People do not even respect systemic antibiotics. If they get a prescription for let us say 10 days, many quit as they start to feel better, and save the left-over pills for later occasions. This does not mean that the infection is eradicated from the body. Instead the strongest and most adaptive bacteria survive, and provide the basis for future antibiotic-resistant strains. This is why, if there is a true indication for using antibiotics, you should always finish the whole prescription - down to the last pill. However, most light infections are better taken care of by our own immune system. Every infection that is naturally fought, makes you stronger and better protected. Antibiotics do not give you that benefit.

So, what about the topical antibiotics? Do you think that people are more careful with them? Of course not. In Israel the doctor sends you home with eye-drops or ear-drops containing antibiotics for the lightest infection. No specific directions on for how long to use them, or possibly "until it does not hurt anymore". This is to me insane. It is like applying some nazis on Germany to eradicate all the Jews in the whole world. It only decimates them temporarily, and instead makes the survivors stronger.

Medical marijuana in Israel

2010-08-26T13:05:00.003+03:00

Some friends, like Assi, like to call me a hippie. Not only because I choose to see the good in people before I judge (if I judge at all). I just happen to believe that I am generally a little bit more in touch with my true nature, as well as the nature around us. I cannot understand the negative hysteria around naked bodies, and I think that processed food tastes like crap. I also happen to know that weed is not as harmful to you as the authorities in for example Sweden want to scare everybody into believing.

It is not only pleasurable to smoke some weed for recreational purposes now and then. It also has a very strong indication for medical use. 14 states in the US have legalised medical marijuana. It is prescribed to patients with terminal diseases in order to relieve pain and negative side-effects from other strong drugs, like chemotherapy. Patients with terminal cancer, or AIDS, get pain relief, but they also get an improved life quality through regained appetite, better sleep and general relaxation. Who is to decide over a dying person anyway?

Israel also has a medical marijuana program today. The company Tikun Olam grows and distributes medicinal marijuana under the good eye of the Israeli Health Ministry. Today around 1,800 people get help to relieve pain caused by various conditions. Stories like this gives me hope for this country.

Phoney license

2010-08-26T12:07:00.004+03:00

Now I am well established in the stable in Sde Yaakov, and I will keep on going there to ride their horses. However, after seeing my riding skills, I was asked by both the owner and the instructor if I have an instructor's license. Of course I have none. I am not even an official resident yet (but in a month I will be). Besides, in Sweden it is not necessary, at least not when you are instructing adults.

I started to investigate this kind of license and discovered a corrupt system that is built on money and not competence. Several private "academies" (like this one) offer instructor education's that are certified by the Israeli Sports Ministry and accepted by the insurance establishment. They learn about security and first aid, as well as some methodology and didactics, which most likely enables them to keep students safe around the horses. However, this is not where the shoe hurts. These institutions accept students that never sat on a horse before. In 300 hours training you can go from a complete novice, to teaching other people how to ride. Any one who is an experienced horse rider understands that this is impossible if you want to maintain a high quality. For this you have to pay around 10,000 ILS (20,000 SEK)!

Here I come, with 30 years of experience from various horse disciplines, and I am not allowed to teach even adults. I would say that the Israeli horse-riding instructor license is a big fraud that dupes eager students into believing that they will learn from an experienced rider. Instead, most of these newly-baked instructors can teach beginners to hold on to a horse in all gaits, but that's it. And that is not riding, as far as I am concerned. It is just travelling on a horse, which is something completely different. Truth is that it takes years and years to develop your own skills enough so you can actually work a horse in a correct way, and even more years before you can channel this knowledge into other riders.

Anyway, I will not spend 10,000 ILS on studying on a level where I do not belong, even though it would give me a license. I will keep on sharing my knowledge and assistance with anyone who desires it. License or not.

Blog strategies

2010-08-26T12:02:00.002+03:00

I have been contemplating over why I write blog posts less frequently nowadays, and my conclusion is that I have had too high demands on myself. When I have an idea, I want to develop it, do some more research and write more than a few lines. That makes me procrastinate, since I do not always have enough time, and since that seems stupid, I will try to change approach, and write more spontaneous. It might lead to shorter blog posts, but at least they will be more frequent. However, it is not a promise. Only an intention.

One-night camping on the beach

2010-08-22T14:48:00.006+03:00

There were quite a lot of people on the beach when we arrived, but we knew that most of them would disappear around sunset, and that was also what later happened. It was very windy, but we succeeded to get the tent up, and while we were busy doing that, Barak punctured one football and one smaller ball for some neighbours. What to do? I saw them provoke him playing with the balls in the first place, so they really did not have a case complaining about it. He loves to play with balls and has sharp teeth. That's it. These punctured balls instead kept the dog busy from that moment and on.

For dinner we grilled two huge entrecôte each, put a large spoon of garlic butter on them, and accompanied them with a Tishbi Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Nothing else. Later we made coffee in the finjan. When the sun goes down around here, it happens very quickly, but soon the moon instead lit the surroundings enough so that we did not need any flashlight.

There was a group of people who built a camp some 20 metres away from us, in true Israeli style. Swedes camp as far away from each other as possible, for the sake of privacy, while people around here gladly sits down right in your lap although the beach is everything but crowded. When we were observing them putting their things in order, Yoram concluded that skinny-dipping now unfortunately was out of the question. Nevertheless, as the dark night covered the beach, as well as us, he suddenly surprised me by stripping butt naked and heading into the water. The moon, which was not yet full, gave just enough light to orientate yourself around your own camp, while our neighbours merely appeared in faint silhouette. We stayed without clothes all night; swimming, drinking, talking, sleeping and loving. We were sitting in our camping chairs, feeling the wind from the ocean giving some relief from the heat, while people walked by merely metres away. I think that Yoram was pretty enthralled by the experience. When we slept, all the tent windows were open, but in spite of the persisting wind, we never felt the urge to cover ourselves with anything. During all my previous holidays in other Mediterranean countries, I have never experienced such warm summer nights. The strong wind in combination with the humid air, made the sand penetrate everything, and since you never dried up, everything was more or less sandy in a sticky way. That was just something to accept and embrace.

We were awake and up already before sunrise and going back into the warm water was the first thing we did. We made coffee in the finjan and had pitot with raw tahina and sliced banana for breakfast. I had decided that we would make this trip as easy and convenient as possible, and we succeeded doing just that. No sensitive groceries and no complicated cooking that created a lot of dishes. We had a cooling box that kept water cold for us during the whole time, and that was it.

We stayed all morning and headed home around lunch. We knew that we had quite a lot of work ahead of us, washing dogs and the other things to get rid of all the sand. Although we only stayed one night, it was worth all the carrying and washing. We relaxed and turned off the mobile phone and tried to just be in the moment. I think that my husband, who previously has claimed that he spent his whole army in a tent and therefore never again, now actually has rediscovered the charm and sense of freedom it involves placing yourself on a beach for a day or more. We will do it soon again, for sure.

Sunset

Moonlight

Candle light

Sunrise

Play

Contemplation

More Gal and horses

2010-08-20T12:42:00.004+03:00

A little review from Gal's second day in the stable with me. He was riding independently in a group of kids and out in the fields together with me. After that, he showered horses more enthusiastically than any of the other kids. He ate omelette and vegetables without hesitation in the stable, and when the day was over he did not even want to go home. Well at home, he asked for green peas...

Gal on the pony Don (The leader later left his side)

He ate lunch without any hassle

I had some really nice rides, here on the horse Fluk,

who is not far from doing all the reining manoeuvres

Give me a few weeks with him!

On our way out in the fields

Cooperation

Buddies

Passing the almost ripe pomegranates

Gal scraping water from Dina

Tonight me and Yoram will spend one (romantic) night at the beach, together with the dogs. Simple and unpretentious one-night camping, no zula, but only the tent. We go there in the afternoon and stay as long as we feel like it tomorrow. Red wine, entrecôte on the small grill, some easy breakfast, finjan and Arabic coffee. Not much planning or preparation. We built the idea yesterday evening. Review and pictures will follow.

Gal, the young horse man

2010-08-17T17:11:00.007+03:00

Gal is scraping the water off of

the old mare Yochevet after showering her

The way that I view horses as excellent educators of children, is nothing new for the ones who loyally follow this blog. This week I have so far been in the stable every day, and today the kids were on our lot, so we decided that I would bring 5,5-years old Gal with me. Ziv is 10 now, and big enough to stay home alone, and he is neither that interested in the horse thing. Gal is instead, during his good moments, a very nurturing child, who likes animals a lot, as well as caring for them. On the other hand, he is the victim of two over-protecting "curling parents", who have pampered him into a quite dependent and demanding young boy. These two character traits in combination, made me realise that he is a perfect prospect for a young horse rider.

Yoram dropped us off this morning, and in the beginning Gal was following me around and I showed him the place. Then I started riding horses, so he had to take care of himself. The stable was full of kids his age, as well as teenagers and adults, so he was hardly alone - rather surrounded by more or less experienced people with whom he could create new and neutral relationships with. After a few hours I found myself "forgetting" all about him, and he did his own thing. I took him for a short ride on a horse, and later when I was riding again, another woman also took him for a ride. Other than that, he told jokes to the other kids, petted goats and Guinea pigs, and as the day was almost over I was looking for him, and discovered him showering one of the horses together with another young girl. She was explaining how to do, and he was listening eagerly. Then he scraped the water off of the horse like he never did anything else.

I think that his spine grew more today then it has during his whole life. Parents need to cut the cord and let their kids grow independent. Parents who are not used to horses, are furthermore often banned from hanging around in the stable. They simple do more damage than good, by getting hysterical as soon as a horse lifts a foot. Gal even functioned better when I let go off him and let him interact with the other people in the stable, although I am not his mother. He is still too young to start riding in a group, but next year he will definitely start. Some of the kids that has started this year, are not taller than Gal, or more mature for that matter, although they are above 6 years old.

To summon the day, Gal spent 6 hours running around in a stable, in 35 degrees heat, rode two different horses, and even trotted a little bit, showered and groomed a horse. All of this without complaining or whining even once. I can also mention that when we came home, he showered on his own and ate his lunch with good appetite, including a variety of vegetables.

I have a draft in my head for a blog post with the working name "Aikido vs. horse riding", about the similarities, but I am not sure when it actually will be written. Today Gal took up all my writing spirit, after a tough day.

Back in the saddle

2010-08-12T19:30:00.005+03:00

Yesterday I finally went to Sde Ya'akov and rode horses in the small stable there. A good friend from Yoram's running group has a small riding school there for kids and adults. The horses are not any fantastic, pure-bred wonder animals and all of them are more or less shabby, but very well kept. However, as far as I have seen, also the backyard-bred horses around here mostly contain Arabian and Quarter horse blood, so they surely are decent horses.

Riding school horses that are not regularly ridden by someone who can correct them and loosening them up properly, often develop different irregularities, like stiffness on one side, or general stiffness in the neck and body, as well as a flat and sloppy stride. I was asked to ride three different horses who had different issues, but all of them seemed to be easy fixes if I would only give them some more sessions, or even on a regular basis. They wanted me to come back already today, but domestic issues prevented me, and instead I promised to come next week, as many days as possible.

We rode out in the fields for a while as I had finished the first horse, but the next two I was riding only in the paddock. Before I went there I had no clue as to how much I would ride, and where, so I did not have any hat. I quickly understood that our weekend mission will be to go to any nearby market to find me a light cowboy-style hat. In Sweden I had a nice camel-hair hat from the US, but now I giggle a little bit at that. Western riders in Sweden have cowboy hats as an important attribute, while here it is a necessity.

Hat or not, in the paddock they sprinkle water on the sand when you ride during daytime. Unless you do that, the dust will make it impossible to keep on riding. I was explained that the horses are used to it, and having the sprinkler in the middle of the arena helps the kids keeping the horses riding close to the fence. For me, I instead discovered that I was riding closer and closer to the sprinkler, searching the cooling rain drops. I think that both me and the horses enjoyed it a lot.

I definitely have found a new forum of expression, and I feel very inspired. It is one thing riding top-quality performance horses, but it is also very rewarding to work with these kind of horses, where you can see a lot of progress with little effort. I really hope that I will get the opportunity to do a good deed over there. I cannot wait until Sunday!

Strategies to cool down

2010-08-08T10:18:00.006+03:00

I think that we have spent most of this crazily hot weekend in the best way possible - submerged in water in different ways. On the Friday it was Ziv's 10th birthday, and just as last year we went to kibbutz Nir David in the Beit She'an valley. However, this time we did not go to Sachne, but stayed in the kibbutz. As we drove from home in the afternoon and descended down in the valley the outdoor thermometer showed 45 degrees! The actual birthday party we celebrated inside the dinner hall, cooled down by the air condition, but me and Yoram grilled the meat outside and the air was really burning. When the party was over and we were supposed to leave, we said goodbye to everyone and strolled over to a dark spot, stripped butt naked and slid into the cool Asi river. Yoram surprised me by without hesitation remove all his clothes, although we were right in the middle of the kibbutz, but I was not late to follow. Later he admitted that it was the first time ever he skinny-dipped in an Israeli kibbutz. Maybe I have some liberating influence on him after all. When we got back to the car to head home it was a bit after 22.00, and the temperature was still 37 degrees.

Yesterday we brought only Ziv with us to the Hula valley in the upper Galilee to do kayaking with some friends. The boys needed some time off from each other and although it was our free weekend we brought Ziv. Fortunately, he had other boys to play with there, so we got a lot of time for ourselves. In Kfar Blum there is an attraction centre that among other things offer kayaking on the Jordan river. I had a sun hat on and a piece of cloth that I constantly dipped in the cool water and then laid on my shoulders. Nevertheless, it was soon so hot that we spent more time swimming beside the kayak instead of sitting in it. All along the river bank people were camping or just spending the day to be close to the water, and we definitely got inspired to come back here for a camping weekend on the Jordan river. Maybe in September, for Rosh HaShana or something like that. If we bring the dogs, and especially Barak, we can sleep safely at night without being afraid of intruders.

After the kayaking we tried to find a picnic spot along the river, but it was very crowded with people and too hot to search for free spots, so we headed back to kibbutz Gonen instead, where our friends live. We went to the kibbutz pool and had our picnic there. With temperatures around 45 degrees the only place where we found comfort was in the baby pool, that for some reason was cooler than the large, deep pool. We were all floating around like seals in the shallow water, which was also shaded by a zula. When we returned home in the evening we were totally exhausted, but content. The temperatures right now are said to break all records, and it is safe to say that it is the highest temperatures that I have ever experienced too. But you will not hear me complain.

You have to go to some remote upper-Galilee kibbutz

to get a canned vodka/redbull kinda' drink in the pool bar

Dangerous heat wave

2010-08-04T18:08:00.003+03:00

It is damn hot right now! Hot even with Israeli measures. Yoram's running group meets at 5.30 in the morning, three days a week, and run for an hour or so, sometimes more. Normally Yoram brings at least Barak, and also Goshen if they have decided for a lighter run. Yesterday evening he said that he was thinking of bringing both dogs today, since it would be a quite light run. I advised him to leave Goshen at home. This morning he took only Barak and left, while I was still sleeping. At 7.30 he woke me up. "Baby, you need to help me with the dog. After the run he could not stand, and I had to wait for 15 minutes before I could get him into the car. We were pouring water all over him. Now I am late for work and need to shower and get ready." I went down below the house and Barak was laying like a wet sponge on the floor. His facial expression reminded more of that of a Bloodhound than a German Shepherd. Yoram took off to work and I was left pampering the exhausted dog. He drank too much water immediately after the run, so he had puked it all up, and he was also pooping basically water. I started to give him water in small doses, and on a regular basis I forced him up on his legs to go out on the grass to pee and pooh. After a few hours he had dried enough to get a good brush and come inside, and then after sleeping for a few hours he was like a brand new nudnik. For the evening meal, I have wet the food and added some extra minerals, and too my satisfaction, he is roaming around the kitchen as usual. The dog is OK. I do not even want to think about what could have been if he had brought Goshen too...

From dust to dust...

2010-08-02T12:43:00.006+03:00

I attended my first Jewish funeral a few days ago. It was some half-distant relative of Yoram's who passed away. One good thing in Judaism is that dead people should be buried as soon as possible, preferably on the same day, which seems quite sound compared to Sweden where they refrigerate the corpses sometimes for weeks before any funeral is arranged. On the other hand all Jews are buried intact, and never incinerated. For me, being burned and then have my ashes spread somewhere seems more appealing. Another difference from Sweden is that Jews do not use coffins, but merely a shroud. Nevertheless, considering the population density in Israel you might suspect that we will walk on bones and bones and bones in some near future, but I was also told that the grave yard applies "multistory graves", which means that if they dig a grave very deep you can expect that there will be another corpse above the first one later on. After the deceased is put down, the hole is filled up, first with some soil, and later heavy rocks. We were standing at a distance from the grave behind a lot of people and could therefore not see what was going on, but I could hear as they threw the heavy rocks down the hole on top of the body, and it felt kind of strange. Blessings are said and relatives share thoughts and emotions, of course in a microphone in true Israeli style (why differ from the weddings). Before it finishes, everybody should put a small stone or pebble on the grave to prevent the soul from dwelling around. I guess that custom is more needed with some than with others.

Sweden in images

2010-07-28T13:10:00.011+03:00

I find it hard to put words on our Sweden trip right now, but these pictures can speak for themselves...

Hot weather

Special places

Me and my Magnum Gold

Love

The first kiss ever... ;o)

Aiki wedding

Serenity

Heavenly flavours

Celebration

Wonderful aikido

Swedish night sky

Last day in Sweden

2010-07-26T18:09:00.004+03:00

Tomorrow we are returning to Israel, and the emotions are ambivalent as usual. I wish I could pick and choose between elements of both places and combine them into a personal utopia. My aiki suitcase is filled to the brim with new material and inspiration and I look forward to bring it home to the Israeli aikidokas. I just wish I could have put some particular persons in that suitcase too. And my parents.

Mrs Shanir

2010-07-18T21:44:00.003+03:00

Happy couple

Wow! Over a week and no posts. Sorry for that. This week was just really prioritised differently than sitting around the computer, which I guess is a health sign. Anyway, we got married! I am now Mrs Shanir. The week served every-other-day weather, and on our wedding day the sun was shining from a blue sky all day long. We were around 40 persons eating, drinking, laughing, doing aikido and so on. We had made a very appreciated buffet and Neli and Emma surprised us by setting up their coffee machine, so no boring filter coffee was needed. We had our own private baristas! Everybody spread out on the grass already before the quick but beautiful ceremony was over. No pretentiousness, only relaxation and comfort. For a good 12 hours we laughed and loved, before the last guests left around midnight.

Yesterday we left already, moving up North, passing Emma's parents who live close to Västervik, where I also have a large part of my family, and soon even my parents. Yoram was watching small red houses with white corners, and the dream about a small summer property in these surroundings are crystallising.

Today we are heading to Lillsved, and go figure that there will not be much written this week either. Only aikido, food, love, nature and peace of mind...

Sweden bubble

2010-07-12T21:41:00.003+03:00

After four days in Sweden I do not really have peace and quiet to blog about it. Maybe I will make a longer review later. Anyway, on Saturday I was abducted for a bachelorette party that at first only involved girls, but later turned into both female and male friends. Yesterday I was a wreck. Other than that we have chilled ourselves with Rosita bitter with grape tonic and the garden hose, in this crazy Swedish heat wave. To be continued...

Takeoff to Sweden

2010-07-08T21:11:00.002+03:00

Dogs are installed where they will stay while we are gone and suitcases are packed. Now we can relax for a few hours after getting some food. 1 am we leave the house to go to Ben Gurion, for a morning flight at 5 am. We will arrive in Malmö 2 pm tomorrow. Next week at this time it is the evening before our wedding! Crazy!

Pepito - Two too many balls in the house

2010-07-07T11:43:00.010+03:00

This is how relaxed he became in the house last evening

Gracious dog

Kind face

Outside the vet yesterday

Pretty, but skinny

Yesterday afternoon we took Pepito to the vet and scanned him for a chip, but found none. After that we took him home to us. Yoram took the Shepherds out and we walked for a while with the two males leashed. Goshen approached Pepito quietly, and after some guidance from me, they were fine with each other. When everybody was calm, we could unleash Barak and Pepito too, and it worked pretty well. There was tension in the air though, and some competition over Goshen. They had one small argument, but it was quickly over, and Barak was pinned to the ground for it, since he attacked Pepito. Later, at home in the house, they also had a small fight, but nothing serious. The peacefulness was soon involving everybody.

He was amazingly quiet all night, sleeping close to Goshen on the floor below our bed. This morning Yoram had them all out together in the morning, and apparently Pepito and Goshen had played nicely, although Barak attacked him again once. Yoram left for work, and I was with them in the house for a while until we got a ride to the shelter. I could tell that it would have been quite a challenge to make Barak accept him as a family member, so we had to acknowledge the fact that he will not stay with us. He is now in the shelter in Kfar Tikva, and possibly there is already someone who wants to adopt him. We wish him all the luck!

The dog collectors

2010-07-06T10:05:00.003+03:00

Yesterday evening we went to a mall in Haifa to get a hard-case for Yoram's 12-string guitar, so it can fly to Sweden. The kids were with us, and we bought some pizza for them. I took some sushi takeaway and we headed home. I was munching on the sushi as we drove through the industrial zone of Haifa bay area, as we suddenly saw a Doberman male running in the middle of the street. Yoram halted the car in the middle of a roundabout, and went out. The young wretch was first a bit cautious, but soon approached Yoram. I munched a bit more sushi, and then went out too. The dog had a collar on, but was very dirty and smelly, and considering that you could see every bone in his body, he had not eaten properly for weeks.

We made him a bit more comfortable with us, and then lifted him into the car. He was not protesting much, most likely because he was too weak to do so. However, it is not a dominant or aggressive dog. Only a bit anxious, but he soon started to trust us. I was sitting with him in the back to keep him calm all the way home, and we brought him to the children's mother's house, since she has an enclosed garden. He got one can of wet dog food and one cup of dry food and he ate it all. He was barking a bit during the night, but he poohed several times, which shows that his tummy is working fine. I will go there during the day and see if he allows me to give him a bath, and then in the evening we will bring him to our vet Pini to scan him for a chip and check his health status. Then we take it from there.

They say that you are doomed to keep the animal if you give it a name. Yoram already named him Pepito. Yoram is a bit prejudice against Dobermans. He thinks that they are unreliable and unpredictable. I claim that Yoram is wrong, and that he is just affected by a false stereotype. Maybe Yoram sees Pepito as his Doberman therapy, and already yesterday we noticed how fast he got attached to us. However, we leave to Sweden in three days, and have nowhere to house the dog. It was difficult enough with Goshen and Barak. During 10 days they will stay with Pini, but his pension costs a lot of money, so the kids mother will help us during the rest of the time. Anyway, I cannot see how we would be able to have three large dogs in our present flat, but maybe it is just wishful thinking that we will keep him. To be continued...

The hunt is over

2010-07-05T15:23:00.004+03:00

On Shabbat we went to the open-air market in Daliyat al-Karmel, since I wanted to buy something for my mother. It turned out that I found a very suitable wedding dress for 40 ILS. Bargain is in this case an extreme understatement. I do not think highly about prestige and materialism, and paying thousands of money for a dress that you most likely will use only once, is just plain stupid. However, my family had promised to pay for any dress that I found, but now they do not even have to. It is a simple all-white long halter-neck dress, in some shiny heavy stretch-fabric. I immediately wanted to announce my finding, but Yoram was initially a bit embarrassed about the cheap price. I explained to him that we are not getting married to walk around in expensive clothing, but to celebrate our love, and then we were all fine. Now the question instead is what the groom is going to wear. He looks awesome in very pale lilac, so a nice lilac shirt and white pants would be great. Then I could have lilac flowers in the hair. Well, we will get back to that. No pictures until after the wedding! Now, only three days until takeoff to Sweden!

Sun is life

2010-06-30T12:11:00.004+03:00

Life

In about two weeks I am getting married and then I do not want to look like a pale sheet. Most people in Israel do not sun bathe at all. Swedes do. For natural reasons. People on the Scandinavian latitude get so limited sun hours that we desperately want to take advantage of them, and this is a habit that we do not easily put a side. This year I have not been really burned even once, but I am still developing my own bright golden tan. Not as much because of using sun screen, as for spending the appropriate amount of time in the sun, i.e. not too much at a time. Sun screen is a subject that I have touched previously, and therefore I do not need to go there again.

Yesterday we went to the pool with the kids after Yoram came home from work. Although we arrived at 17.00 and the sun was pretty low I was the only one on the compound who was sitting in the sun. A very self-conscious person would possibly feel like a complete outcast, but I really could not care less about what other people think. What I do know, is that the extreme cautiousness in very sunny countries like Israel instead causes vitamin D deficiency, which in turn causes diseases like Rickets and Osteomalacia. People are advised to stay out of the sun during midday when the sun is at its highest position, but this is also when the strongest induction of the production of vitamin D occurs. Again, overly protective ideas cause new problems down the line. Use your common sense and enjoy the sun. 15 minutes of midday sun is enough to get your necessary daily dose of vitamin D, and the natural source is so much better than drinking milk spiked with artificial vitamins. Since vitamin D is a lipophilic vitamin, over-ingestion can cause vitamin D toxicity.

Work with nature, not against it. We will never beat it.