Goshen's x-rays

Goshen's hip dysplasia has caused her severe arthritis in her right hip joint. Since I have some own experience from working at a veterinary clinic, I immediately saw that the joint looked terrible, when Pini showed us the images. Besides the arthritis we also discovered that she has a prolapsed disc, which has caused arthritis on the two adjacent vertebrates, probably originating from some trauma some years ago.

All in all, she is definitely in pain, but she is a strong dog and that is why she never complained much earlier. Now she is on Carprofen for a month to give her acute relief, and after that we will see how she has improved.

A total hip replacement would fix her completely, but it is very expensive and the dog is after all 8 years old. If I had endless amounts of money I would probably do it for her, but unfortunately that is not the case, so we will have to do the best out of the situation. The long runs with Yoram and Barak are most likely over for her and she need to take it a bit easy. You could actually say that it is fortunate that Barak is gone this week, since there will be no one to provoke her to play and run violently.

She is still happy about life and that is what is most important. Right now she is sleeping below our bed. We called the quarantine compound and Barak is being a good boy, eating properly and showing much less stress then the other dogs.

Update 4 - Quarantine and Goshen's hips

Today at 17.00 we drove Barak to the quarantine compound in Nazareth. The law is very clear and there is nothing we can do. However, the intruding woman agreed to pay for it. We also filed a police complaint today, just in case. The guy who works there is a real dog lover and he does his best to make their time as good as possible - but fact remains - there is 20-something dogs sitting in small cages with a mesh as floor, no bedding, no nothing. All dogs were barking constantly as we were there and the environment made me sick. I cried like a girl as I put Barak in the cage, although I know that he will be fine and time will pass quickly. Most of all I am furious over this stupid bitch who put my dog in a cage for a week! On the way back from Nazareth we met up with her in Alonim to get the money, but I chose to stay in the car. She showed Yoram an image of her leg in her mobile and she had a big bruise with two holes from his canines. Very well-earned!

Now over to the other dog. During the last few months Goshen has occasionally been slightly stiff in her hips after resting. Yesterday evening when I was about to take them for their night pee pee ride, she could hardly stand on the right hind leg. She was x-rayed as a puppy and had moderate degree of hip dysplasia, so she was discarded as breeding material and given to Yoram without papers. However, she never had any problems until now. Today we went to our vet Pini and counselled with him. Tomorrow morning we will take her back for x-rays, and then we set up a plan according to the results. Pini offers acupuncture at his clinic, which feels very appealing to start with. He has had some very good results with it on dogs with similar problems. Next step would be non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In any case we will also give her food supplements, such as glucosamine and chondroitine, to stimulate the regeneration of the cartilage in the joint.

Barak is hopefully home again before next weekend (since they can start counting from the day of the bite), and the story of Goshen's hips is to be continued. On the way home from the compound Yoram tried to cheer me up with all crazy things, but I did not start smiling until he suggested that after a week we will have discovered how easy life is without Barak, and then we can sell him and put the money on Goshen's treatment. That statement was on one side true, but on the other completely crazy. Crazy enough to cheer me up! Barak is a handful, most definitely, but I love him with all my heart. Even more after this ordeal.

Update 3 - What really happened...

I have been contemplating what happened at the door that we never got to see with our own eyes. First, if the door opens from the outside, Barak never barks or charges towards it. We fixed that behaviour-problem long ago. By all means, we have small kids running in and out all the time! He walks up to it - but - as he now saw a person that he did not recognise, he was immediately alerted. Simultaneously, the woman saw the dog. In this situation she panicked and backed up, trying to escape and close the door. This in turn, triggered the prey drive in Barak, who realised that something was wrong and therefore took action. He charged at her, barked and snapped, and then he backed off, as we approached the scene. In whatever way I toss and turn the matter, I still think that he did the right thing.

Update 2 - Police complaint

We have talked to our own vet and he encouraged us to fight against the demand for quarantine. First we will file a police complaint against the trespassing. Obviously we need that in order to free ourselves from the liability. I guess that it is not necessary to say that this woman will regret that she ever took this thing further...

Quarantining vaccinated dogs is a debated subject in this country. Studies have shown that no animal who received one rabies vaccination and a booster a year later and who was current on his or her vaccinations contracted rabies, even when bitten by a rabid animal. Additionally, to quarantine vaccinated animals encourages irresponsibility among dog owners, who see no point in getting their animals vaccinated if they will be quarantined irrespectively.

To be continued...

Update 1 - Dogs, rabies and the law

Yoram just called me and said that he got a call from the local vet and it seems like Barak has to go into quarantine for his nibble on the stupid intruder. This happened to Barak once before, but that was before he came to us and started his rehabilitation. However, also on that occasion it was a stupid neighbour who trespassed into the yard where Barak was roaming freely.

Today Yoram explained what happened to the vet, who of course acknowledged that we are not liable in any way, but since Israel is a rabies-endemic country, the rabies-control laws prescribes that any dog who has bitten has to be quarantined, regardless of whether you can show an updated vaccination card for the dog or not. This quarantine cost something like 500 ILS (1000 SEK) and Yoram said that we refuse to pay for it. The woman trespassed into our home! Clearly things has to go through a committee first, but when the dog has to go, if the woman then refuses to pay, we will sue the shit out of her. The dog just did his job.

I wonder how these regulations are applied when it comes to police dogs and army dogs. They must bite people now and then in their jobs. Do they have to go into quarantine every time? Or does the law then rely on the vaccination cards for these dogs?

To be continued...

Brave dog - Proud Mummy

Our brave guardian being hassled by the kids

This evening we were sitting in the sofa watching some TV. Kids were asleep and the house was quiet. All of a sudden the door to the apartment opens from the outside. This door is in the living-room, but screened with a short wall-segment, so from the sofa we cannot see the door. Yoram and me looked at each other with puzzled faces, but before we reacted any further Barak was on his legs heading towards the door. As he approached the door, hidden from us, we could hear him charging out through the door, barking loudly. At this point we were right after him, finding a woman in shock at the door. I brought the dog back into the flat while Yoram went out to talk to the woman. He asked who she is, and she tried to explain that she went into the wrong door. She also concluded that the dog bit her, standing there with ripped pants and some blood on the leg. Yoram pointed out the stupidity in just entering a door without knocking, but the woman left to find her intended destination. I also have to point out here that this was not an attack to kill - it was a warning snap, or what you call a distance-increasing action, and yes, they do cause some damage. If he really had decided to hurt her she would lay in a hospital by now. Now instead, I think that she learned a lesson for life.

Just before this scenario started, we had cleaned some stains off of the floor and therefore a bucket with some soap water was standing by the door. That bucket was tipped over as Barak charged at the intruder, so we had to start scraping the floor dry again. Then the neighbour, who the woman was on her way to, came down. We explained what happened, and that the dog just defended our home. Yoram also said that we have children and the dog is really not vicious. She asked if the dog has had his shots, which he has, and that made her satisfied. Luckily she was reasonable.

As I took the dog back inside, I was amazed over how quickly he turned the control over to us and tagged down again. That not only proves to me that he is a very mentally stable dog, but also that he has truly accepted us as pack leaders. We have not trained him to defend his family. That is in his genes, but he knows that under normal circumstances, we are in charge, and when we are outside, he is never ever aggressive towards humans. However, this was not a normal circumstance and the dog took an initiative that I cannot disagree with. As Yoram scraped the floor, he said that he did not know whether to be angry at Barak or to reward him. According to me we should do neither. A reward might reinforce these territorial behaviours too much, and repressing it could possibly kill this instinct that he is born to use. He is exactly perfect as he is now, and this evening he was allowed to dip his tongue into Mummy's Lagavulin.

And, you might think, what about Goshen? What did she do? Well, she was laying on her spot, looking with her big eyes with wonder at everything that happened around her. She is not and will never be a brave guard dog. She is beautiful, but that is basically it...

Closed circles

Shomen in the Integral Aikido dojo, Tel Aviv

Yesterday it was time for a visit at the Integral Aikido dojo again, but this evening Kurt Bartholet from Aikido Zürich in Switzerland was on a visit. It is the first time I see him, but I could immediately tell that he has some wonderful qualities as a teacher and a nice approach to his students, much like Jorma and Jan, and also my own Stefan Stenudd in Malmö. Kurt has met Stefan in Japan previously and he had some nice words to say about him, which made me very happy.

I have met some of Kurt's students in Lillsved and we always connected well, so now you could say that this meeting closed a circle. That also goes for another aspect, since without Kurt, I had never met Yoram. Many years ago when Kurt started to come to Israel, he told Shlomo Edelsberg about Jan Nevelius. Shlomo went and saw him in Switzerland and was enchanted. Shlomo later told Anati Miron (Kiryat Tivon Aikido) about Jan, who then also went to see him. She came back with tears in her eyes and after that she started attending Lillsved. After some years she finally got some of her students with her, including Yoram, and the rest is history.

Baker woman is baking bread

I have always loved to cook food. Baking on the other hand never appealed to me in the same way. I have no other explanation than that I imagined baking recipes so strict. When I cook, I like to take inspiration from recipes, but I never read the amounts of ingredients, but merely shoot off of the hip. This, I imagined was impossible with baking and therefore I considered it too complicated. Stupid, yes, I know...

A few weeks ago I took the bull by the horn all of a sudden. We had talked so much about making our own healthy bread from whole-grain flour and with seeds and nuts inside. The reason was that I found this amazing Tupperware baking bowl, laying around deep inside of a cupboard, and I decided to try it out. I shot from the hip with whole-wheat and whole-rye flour and mixed in linseeds, sunflower seeds and crushed walnuts. Then I made a few cups of lukewarm milk with some honey and yoghurt, in which I dissolved the yeast. I mixed the wet with the dry, kneaded into a good consistency and let it leaven for half an hour in the baking bowl. When it had grown for a while I topped it with some whipped egg and pumpkin seeds and threw it in the oven for about 40 minutes in a temperature also shot from the hip - since we only have numbers and not temperature on the button on the stove.

What came out from the oven was pure love - a juicy and heavy bread that keeps fresh for days, in case we don't finish it sooner than that. Most of the time we do! After this first success I have kept on providing us with a home-baked bread on a regular basis, and although I cannot say exactly what it is that I am improving, each bread gets better than the previous one. One day I even used the whey that was left after my home-made labaneh, and that made me feel like a genuine housewife. I even save the whey from every batch of labaneh in the freezer, to collect for making a batch of ricotta cheese when I have the right amount. I have become slightly obsessed with producing refined foods from scratch instead of buying fabricated ones from the supermarket, which I know most of the time are stuffed with food additives and sugars. Most things we buy ready-made are local products from places we know provide good quality. I want to make our own bread and some dairy products, and I never buy ready-made sauces or things like that. Yoram is as interested in these things as I am and we are definitely encouraging each other when it comes to our family food culture. Let us see how far we can take it.

Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut

Yom Hazikaron (Israel's official Memorial day) always preceedes Yom Ha'atzmaut (National Independence day of Israel). Scheduling Yom Hazikaron right before Yom Ha'atzmaut is intended to remind people of the price paid for independence and of what was achieved with the soldiers' sacrifice.

Yom Hazikaron

On the memorial day, national television and radio only broadcast stories of lost soldiers and quiet beautiful Israeli music. Memorial day opens the preceding evening with a siren at 20.00. An official ceremony is held at the Western Wall, while most people watch the ceremony on TV. Memorial day then proceeds on the following day, with another siren at 11.00, until in the evening when the independence day officially starts by returning the Israeli flag to full staff on Mount Herzl.

As a Swede, who has lived in peace for several centuries (well, at least my ancestors have), this day filled me with ambivalent emotions. I know what sacrifices the Israeli people has made for its nation, and still do, but nevertheless it was a bit hard for me to grasp this day. Of course every personal story I watched was extremely sad, and some even brought tears to my eyes. On the other hand, one part of me stayed objective and a little bit disturbed by all the dwelling. I even ended up in a discussion with Yoram about benefits and risks with dwelling too much in sad memories. Maybe it is the Swede in me, or maybe the credits are all mine, but I rather exercise my imagination than my memory, rather looking forward than backwards, but mind me, this has nothing to do with suppressing memories, rather the ability to accept, forgive and move on. I also could not get rid of the thought of all the other human sacrifices suffered in this conflict, not only Israeli soldiers. Bottom line is that I definitely honour this day, but I also hope that most people will channel their emotions during the memorial day in a positive way, towards forgiveness and hope, instead of bitterness and despair.

Yom Ha'atzmaut

As the sun sets, the memorial day reaches its end for this time, the country wipes away the tears and prepares to celebrate its independence day, this time the 62:nd. All people meet in the streets and in Tivon the sports stadium was turned into a huge fairground with attractions for the children, food stands and a big stage on where diverse entertainment was delivered. Gizillion kids ran around beating each other with white-and-blue inflatable hammers and axes, with Magen David on. We came alone, but met the kids there, and after an hour or so, with tired kids and boyfriends and girlfriends and exes and everything, we quietly snuck home again, to enjoy what was left of the evening just the two of us.

The morning of independence day the kids came to us and we took off to the Ramat David Airbase, which is only 20 minutes from here, where they have open house on independence day. The queue of cars probably stretched a kilometre so it took a while before we were parked and set to enter. The security was rigid, we went through metal detectors and got our bags were checked through. The questions you get are as always amusing; "Do you have any explosives in the bag? Weapons..?" "Erhh no, I left it in the car."

F-16 (Falcon)

F-15 (Eagle)

Skyhawk

Black Hawk

Cobra

Hercules

We walked around and looked at jet fighters and combat helicopters, together with other Israeli Jews, Arabs, Druze and what else, all very proud of the national defence forces. Although I am light-years from a person that glorifies war machines, it was quite fascinating to see these technological masterpieces close up. However, independence day was warmer than usual and walking around an airbase in 30+ degrees under a frying sun was not all that comfortable and we were quite soon satisfied, bought some ice cream and headed back to the car.

Israeli queueing system (or rather lack thereof)

On the way out we got a first-class experience of the Israeli car-drivers psyche. The Hebrew word for patience, savlanut, is one of the most frequent words used, but at the same time a character trait that Israelis are not well-known to harbour. One of the exits from the large field where cars were parked, and which were only one-car wide, was completely attacked by cars from a full 180 degrees. Everybody was jammed in a fan-formation, if seen from above. Just outside of the exit cars came from another exit, so some every-other car strategy could have been applied, but nothing moved anywhere, whatsoever. People got more and more frustrated and if one car moved a tiny bit, the two cars behind it fought to squeeze in front of the other. There were police officers and staff from the airbase trying to direct things, but instead of being effective they kept on arguing with the agitated car drivers who by now left their cars to offer their "assistance". Yoram had some wild verbal arguments with other drivers about trying to squeeze in front of us, and as we finally reached the exit, the car before us was hit on the hood by another driver from the other line of cars. The guy in the car in front of us got furious and jumped out of the car, ready to beat up the guy who hit his car, but people succeeded to prevent them from getting more physical. I was quite amused, but it was wonderful to leave the place. The AC in Yoram's car is failing and needs some fixing, so we were completely over-heated and the kids in the back seat were almost fainted.

We came home around lunch, completely exhausted. I had not slept all night, since Goshen was tummy-sick and needed to go out four times during the night, and the kids were worn out after a late independence day eve. Nevertheless, we had to go to Karmiel and BBQ with Yoram's mother. We ate well, but headed home pretty soon after the meal was over and everybody fell asleep like logs last night.

We all slept like logs, but four o'clock in the morning, Yoram heard Ziv screaming on Gal. He blamed Gal for jumping over in his bed and peeing in it, so Yoram ran in to their room and grabbed Gal out of his sleep. However, Gal was completely dry and when Yoram then looked at Ziv he could see that Ziv had actually peed himself in his own bed. I guess it is the bad karma from continuously teasing his younger brother for occasionally wetting the bed.

Israel preparing to beat Iceland in smoke

Samir's pargiot (de-boned chicken legs)

Israel is preparing for Independence day, or Yom Ha'atzmaut, a day when a smoke thicker than what Eyjafjallajökull can accomplish, spreads over the holy land, as every man puts on the BBQ apron and sharpens the knives. Fires are lit wherever there is a free green spot - in the middle of the highway if necessary.

We will go to Karmiel to BBQ with Yoram's mother, but of course the meat comes from Samir, who I have mentioned frequently on this blog. In the preparations for Yom Ha'atzmaut, the news website Ynet presented a list (Hebrew only) of the 12 top butchers in the country (no particular order) and Samir was one of the honoured butchers on the list. We say congratulations to Samir - Mabrook Habibi!

Warning: Dog body fluids

When Goshen is feeling ill I immediately notice it on her. I know her so well and my perception almost feels intuitive. Barak on the other hand, is not that clear just yet. Goshen is normally quiet at home, but when she is ill she pants and acts restless. Barak pants and acts restless on a regular basis, although he is much calmer than when he arrived to us. If Goshen is tummy-sick I will know in time to take her out, and when she comes out, she will pooh at once. Last evening, when we came home from Tel Aviv, I took them both out for a short night-ride, he peed several times, and we went back in again. Just as we were going to bed he was walking around, following our doings, as he normally does, maybe slightly more excited than normally (if I look in the rear-view mirror), but we ignored it. Just as I am about to turn off the lights in the living-room he lays two humongous piles of pooh on the floor, looking completely ashamed the poor thing. What to do? Just starting to pick it up and clean the floor. I took him out again, but he did not seem to want to pooh more at the time so we all went to bed. Later on, in the middle of the night, I awoke from hearing him wandering about in the flat. First I observed him for a few minutes, since he normally changes sleeping place a few times during the night, but he really seemed anxious, and even came in whining in our bedroom, so I put some clothes on and took them out. He immediately poohed twice, diarrhea this time. Do you think that I was happy for my attentiveness this time? Today he is eating over-boiled rice for dinner and I look upon these events as a good preparation for handling future baby diapers.

Previous section was written the day before yesterday, but never posted. Next night he did not succeed to wake anyone, so Yoram woke up with a pile of loose pooh to take care of yesterday morning. Since then he did not pooh, but he hardly ate either, so I assume that he is empty now. The rice he was given to eat in the evenings is completely sucked up by his body and leaves nothing to dispose. I hope it is over for this time. My conclusion is that he got a tummy bug from eating the manure in the straw that some idiot put in our back yard.

Today as I cleaned the house, I tied him outside as usual, with Goshen hanging out with him unleashed (she has earned that trust), but I also gave them fresh bones to chew on. Maybe a bit bold so soon after his tummy ordeal, but I think that he will be fine. After they finished the bones, Goshen suddenly came inside and called for me, so I went out to see what was going on, and where Barak once was tied I found a shattered leash. He was not far away, though, probably provoked by a cat, so when I called he came back and was retied with another leash. The leash he shattered is a very thick leash, which we got after he shattered another one. I guess that the only thing left that can keep him put now will be a metal chain.

A very content Barak,

with the leftovers from the leash hanging on his collar

As persistent and hard-headed as Barak is, as wise is Goshen. She is the always-in-duty deputy officer in the house and she constantly observes Barak's every move, growls at him when he begs off of us or the kids, and warns me when something is up. Now when Barak's tummy was bad, he ate grass and puked a couple of times, and for some reason he prefers to puke on their rugs, in case that I don't notice it on time and can move him out over the floor instead. On two occasions Goshen came and noticed me when she saw that he was retching, which enabled me to move him away from the rug in time. Yoram claims that the reason she did that was that she knows that when one rug is in the washing machine, she will have to lay on the floor, since Barak is such a gentleman (not!), but I seriously doubt that her thought-processing reaches that level of complexity.

Right now both of them are stretched out over the floor, Goshen with all four legs in the air, quiet and content. In spite all their follies I love them so much.

Goshen in one of her classical sleeping poses

Integral Aikido

Me and Daniel in an aiki jam

with Miles in the background

In a way you might say that this is all thanks to Daniel, who wanted to visit Miles Kessler's new dojo Integral Aikido in Tel Aviv (Facebook page), but now I have been there for practice twice, and Yoram one time, and both of us are overwhelmed with positive emotions and intend to attend classes there on a weekly basis. Not that I never practiced with Miles before. We have met on the mat several times, during seminars and when we went to Bethlehem, and I have been in his new dojo numerous times. I have just not practised there or taken a class for Miles. I guess you can say that I have been a bit too lazy and convenient up until now to join.

It all started with Daniel and me deciding to visit the Integral dojo together last Thursday evening, for what would be one regular class and one "aiki jam". From what I have seen so far (and felt) I knew that Miles was carrying around some unique qualities as an aikidoka and teacher, with a unique approach to his students, same as also my Swedish teachers posses, where the teaching is interactive, detailed and highly personal. During the first class he showed many excellent exercises to advance body awareness, confidence, posture and centre, and both Daniel and me were quite astonished over how well his students move. Miles has only been in Israel for five years, which means that most of his students are mudansha, i.e. white-belts. I cannot wait to see these ones as they start reaching shodan level. They will kick some ass, for sure!

Before the second half of the class Miles asked me if I wanted to show some exercises for learning soft high-falls, so I took over the class for the last half hour. Everybody falls very confidently and smoothly over the hip, but they have not done so much free high-falls yet, so I showed how you successively can build up for high-falls on kokyunage, kotegaeshi and tenchinage. That was pretty many things squeezed into 30 minutes and some of them looked a bit shocked, but I wanted to deliver a taste of the exercises you can do to work on these things. With the foundation they already have, most of them could immediately take high ukemi with only a hand as a reference point and I was thrilled to work with them.

Then the aiki jam. This is a concept that Miles developed to bring the aikido beyond technique, form and frameworks, i.e. to kill the Buddha. Lights were dimmed and incense was lit, and we meditated shortly in a ring before we started. Ambient music floated in the background and we moved around freely, trying to clear our minds and create a contact with the partner that was in a constant flow, beyond any desire to apply any technique. As time went by, the music became successively more intense, bringing also more intensity into the practice, and suddenly we found ourselves doing jiyuwaza, with applied techniques, but definitely with a more liberated mind. We also did some randori (several attackers), and I was amazed how confidently everybody handled the randori. To wrap up the class, the music brought us back to a slow and meditative atmosphere and we finished of where we started, with subtle-contact movement, without techniques or throws. Amazing evening!

When I came home the next day I bombarded Yoram with my experiences to the point where he agreed to join me the next time. The next time became already yesterday. Yoram was in Tel Aviv working, and I came in there with a sherut in the afternoon. Miles gave two classes this evening, one regular class and one advanced (from 3 kyu). This time the focus was more on kata forms and applications and I must say that I feel very much at home in his aikido. Miles is brought up in the Iwama tradition and practised for many years with Saito Sensei. However, Miles' aikido is much more dynamic, soft and less codified than the Iwama-style I have previously encountered. It is clear that he has reached the stage where he is no longer a slave under one particular teacher, or system, but instead he is creating his own aikido, inspired from many teachers, as well as his students. One thing I do see, though, is a fair amount of Christian Tissier stuff, and I am sure that Miles himself would agree on this.

I was enchanted once more, and Yoram dreamt about aikido all night after this evening, so it is pretty safe to say that we will make the effort to attend his classes on a regular basis, although it is 90 km from home and we arrived at home about 23.30 in the evening last night.

Goats with the wind

On the way down to the farm,

which is visible on the left-hand side

The last post about Ein Camonim, was clearly merely the beginning on my quest for the Israeli cheese. Yesterday we went on a road-trip with the kids, up in the Galilee. The initial purpose was to visit a friend in Yodfat, but we never got a hold of him, so we continued up to Hararit, where another friend lives, but although we knew that she would not be at home, we climbed up to the entrance just to enjoy the magnificent view from there. On the way down we all of a sudden exited the road, and I was asked to open and close a few gates as we slowly rolled down on a dusty dirt road. After passing a few hills, we descended into a valley and Yoram explained that we had arrived to the goat farm "Goats with the wind".

A handsome buck

It felt much like being thrown back a century in time. As far as I could tell, there is no electricity, although they have running water. The farm is run by a couple from Hararit, and it includes production of goat dairy products, like yoghurt, labaneh and a variety of cheeses. There is also a small restaurant. However, and this is very typical Yoram, he had not checked the possibilities to get access to the restaurant and the products, and it turned out that you need to call in advance for them to prepare for your visit. So, I had to settle with strolling around in this small kingdom of free artistic expression. People can come and volunteer at the farm and therefore many different persons have put their mark on the surroundings. Doors and gates were decorated with detailed colourful paintings, and rocks in different sizes had been used to create the houses, walls, stairs and natural "furniture" and it is obvious that things have been built with patience and love.

A smoker built from collected stones

So, as you understand, I did not get my hands (mouth) on their cheeses this time and it felt a bit like being locked outside of a candy store, but on the other hand I think I will enjoy also this place more without the kids. Both of them were completely indifferent to the experience and Ziv was even grumpy over not being home with the computer or TV. I suggested to Yoram that he would benefit from spending a weeks time at the farm, with no access to any stupefying devices. Maybe that would bring back some inspiration to use his own fantasy and creativity for once. Or maybe not. Before I get any kids of my own, TV and computer will have to step down a number of steps on the priority ladder in our home. If it was my own decision, the TV was gone long ago. I did not even have one when I lived in Sweden. But those things is a whole different story. I hope to be back at the goat farm soon, and then to eat, drink and buy cheese.

Gal sitting in one of the pergola's

The shower head in the "bath room"

Sofa

Artistic details everywhere

Oil lamps is the only light source

Close to nature

More amazing handicraft

Say cheese!

It took me almost a year before Yoram revealed any Israel-made cheese that has some culinary qualities. Most cheeses in the supermarkets are just pale, boring and tasteless. I am sure that there are hip delicacies-stores in Tel Aviv that import French cheese and sell it for a gizillion shekels, but that was not really the point. I want local! However, I never lost the faith.

On Sunday Yoram took the kids to pick up his mother in Karmiel and drive to Lake Kinneret to visit the grandmother in the nursing home. Daniel had left the same morning and I kindly refused sitting jammed in a car all day with two impatient kids and a constantly talking mother-in-law, and instead stayed at home tinkering around in the house. Yoram called me on their way home and mentioned that he had brought me something and as they arrived I got two pieces of cheese from Ein Camonim, a small goat farm situated close to Lake Kinneret. We have been talking about this place, and planned to go there, and now you might think that I regretted not joining this excursion, but hell no. I want to go there alone with Yoram, sit down and eat their buffet before spending all the money I do not have on their amazing goat cheeses. Yoram brought me one sooted, soft-ripened cheese and one hard cheese with cummin and both of them completely blow my mind. I almost finished them already, and now I need patience. We cannot go there until next weekend, since the kids are here this weekend, however, I do not think that the pieces of cheese will last for so long.

Aikido and BBQ with Daniel

Yesterday our aikidoka friend Daniel visited us here in Tivon. The aikido class for the day was given by me and therefore it was extra fun with a visitor on the mat. The class was moved up to lunch-time instead of in the evening since it was a holiday eve. The class was loads of fun and I had them trying out some tricky things besides a lot of useful aiki exercises. After class we played around for a while and it was so great having someone that really knows how to throw me confidently. Daniel is able to express a lot of power in the high iriminage without loosing his sensibility and I was lyrical, since I don't really have anyone here that can do that just yet.

Maybe he did not use THIS much power, but almost... ;)

In the afternoon we had a BBQ in the Pecan grove and we grilled pargiot (de-boned chicken legs) and Samir's ktzitzot (meatballs). Besides that I had made a pita dough and we brought the sagg (or taboon), which is like a wok but upside down, on which you bake the pitot. On a sagg you make thin taboon bread, typical for e.g. the Druze. The first piece of dough that Yoram put on the sagg was however not thin and it became a disaster. Don't ask me why he did that, since he has used a sagg a thousand times, but maybe you can look at the picture in educational purpose, like a "do and don't". The dough was anyway excellent, made from whole-wheat and fresh yeast. We stayed until the sun went down, climbed up to Alexander Zaïd to see the sunset and then we kept on at home in the evening, talking and sipping single malt whisky. Life it great!

The sagg with one bad pita and one good pita

Allowing the child to grow his autonomy

I remember clearly the first time I, as a very young child, succeeded to clear myself from a temper tantrum without any assistance from any adult. It was an extremely empowering experience that filled me with self-confidence and an inner calm. I also remember how proud I felt as I came out from my room to my parents, who immediately embraced me with their encouraging love. Had they tried to comfort or bribe me out of the previous dramatic state of mind, I would have continued to use strong emotions as a weapon to get my way with things, and I had neither ever learned to take control over my own emotions.

Parents who constantly try to pave the easiest way for their kids, most often out of pure selfish reasons, don't realise how this will affect the development of the identity and autonomy of the child. No parent is perfect, neither was mine. I had a period where I refused to eat anything but pancakes with sugar on, until my grandmother got her hands on me and forced me to eat normal food. However, and more importantly, my parents allowed me to make my own experiences, as well as mistakes, while they always stayed in the background, of course prepared to be there for me in case I would ever need a safe place to fall back on. They never doubted that I could manage things and they always trusted me, and knowing that I also could trust them, I was free to discover the world - both the outer world and my inner emotional world.

The other day 5-years old Gal overpowered a temper tantrum independently for the first time. Both his parents always bend over backwards to keep him happy, comforting, bribing and pampering, and this has created a manipulative little monster who knows exactly how to use his resources. However, in this house things have started to change, and if the boy is furious over something and screaming his head off, I am encouraging his father to be strong and patient. Yesterday we all succeeded to cross the finish-line in a joint effort. Gal was laying on his bed, screaming mean things to us, and hitting and kicking his pillow over something, while I convinced the rest of the family to sit down and eat our lunch alone. We had some music on and it was so obvious how Gal took the chance to scream a bit extra in between the songs, just so we would hear it. However, we were all patient. After we finished the food we were sitting in the living room, talking and laughing for a while, when suddenly Gal came out from his room, as if nothing had happened, and went straight up to hug his father. Later in the afternoon, when their mother picked them up to be with her, Gal hugged his father again and told him how much he loves him and that he had had the most wonderful day. I think that both father and son felt proud and empowered at that moment.