Lumbar Spine I dont think so

Found this on my phone after My Beloved was facetiming with Yabba

My Beloved was once again off to Herzliyya this morning, I hit the Hebrew, and can now recognise most of the letters on signs I see, the trouble is they don't make any sense as bllllllrrrr means nothing to me, but I'm getting there slowly but surely, I recognise words when I hear people speak, but I certainly can't eavesdrop.


Nelly popped around this morning her Doctor of the Heart had called and was needing to speak to me, so she gave me his number and I gave him a call, I now have a meeting with him at 5pm tonight to pick up a letter for My Beloved to get an x-ray, now there is nothing wrong with My Beloved's heart, it was just the only Doctor I could find who could give us the letter.


Amy had messaged to say that she had left a package for me at the Crowne Plaza, via Scott who is back in country for a wee while.  So after the Hebrew I set off for the Crowne, Mikhail was on reception and gave me a lovely warm greeting when I arrived, it's the first time I have seen her since we left, I really do miss the folk from the Crowne, I picked up the bag, and walked to Mandarin for a cup of Mint tea and a small salad, the diet has started today, no more crap for us, and no more wine for a while. Drugs and cigarettes we can do in abundance, they are not funny, but they are not fat either.....


I really like the waitresses at the Mandarin, they are so friendly and always welcoming, I had a chat about the children being over, and the fact that they hadn't realised I was now living here, and then I set about reading the books Amy had sent over, luscious books about BBQ's and sauces, they look delicious, Amy had also sent over some stock sachets and a Salt Lick BBQ sauce, who would have thought such things could warm the cockles of your heart, the waitress said she would like some of the dishes in the book too, as she bought over my order.


Whilst I was there Bubba Mumma sent me an email so I gave her a quick ring to catch up, having not spoken for a while it was lovely to hear her voice, I caught up on the family and Bubbaliscious who now has five teeth, and is at the crawling, but not moving stage.


From Mandarin I headed home and phoned Nelly for directions to the Doctor of the Heart, Nelly passed me onto Itzhak as she couldn't describe how to get there, Itzhak gave me the street name and number which turned out to be a different number from the one the Doctor had given me, just as well....


I decided the best way to tackle the journey was to get the bus to the Canyon then get a taxi for the rest of the Journey, the 23 took me to the taxi and a lovely driver took me to Trumpeldore, I jumped out of the taxi, and looked at the building numbers and found what I was looking for 44, the trouble was this was a building with nothing in it, and it appeared to be an apartment, I could hear people speaking so I exited rather quickly, I then tried to remember all the directions I had been given, Itzhak had said the building was new, now the one I had been in wasn't old, it just wasn't right, so I looked around and across the road was a new building, and it was 47 the number Itzhak had given me, how can a Doctor not know the number of his building, so I crossed the street, and walked around the side to the entrance, on the way up to the first floor a gentleman was coming out and I said 'Doctor' and he said yes so I went in, I couldn't find any signs that made any sense, but a gentleman was already waiting so I decided to wait my turn and see what happened.


When it was my turn I knocked on the door just as Doctor Orlim was coming out to meet me, hooray I was in the right place, Doctor Orlim welcomed me in and set about writing a letter for referral, unfortunately his computer said no, My Beloved called and I had to call him back to get his passport number for the referral, eventually Doctor Orlim called a computer geek who accessed his computer and wrote the referral for him, I now have a referral for an x-ray, we are set, you would think.


I jumped on a bus back to the Canyon, then took a taxi home, phoning My Beloved on the way as I had no cash left, Doctor Orlim had wiped me out, 580 shekels for a letter, I should start writing letters for a living. The taxi driver asked if I had be travelling in circles all day, as he had been there when I had travelled to Trumpeldore.


My Beloved met me with cash, and then we headed to Elisha Hospital with our letter, we arrived eventually at x-ray and the radiologist informed us that the letter was for a lumbar x-ray and not the hip as we had asked, this led to a phone call with a nice lady who spoke with My Beloved who informed her YES he knew the problem was not his lumbar and no the Doctor had not actually seen him. So the x-rays were taken and we then had to go back downstairs to pay, 107 shekels, how can an x-ray be so cheap and a letter be so expensive. Whilst we were paying the radiologist gave us the disc of the x-rays and we were sorted.


We then drove home, we actually could have walked to the hospital, and we should have done, as the parking was a nightmare, had I known the shortcut through the road at the bottom of our street we would have done.


We arrived home and I prepared the supper whilst My Beloved played with his computer, supper was leftovers from the freezer with a few added extras, and then I sat to watch the TV, TV said no, I could not get the programmes to change and eventually gave up and watched a film from the ipad plugged into the TV. A while later My Beloved picked up the remote and miraculously the TV worked, I just don't get these remotes.


Did I mention that I was so cold today due to the sun being transported to Scotland, I even put tights on and a cardigan, 23 degrees just isn't warm enough for me.

MY LOVELY GOODIES FROM AMY

ALL THE WAY FROM AUSTIN, TEXAS

Sun Cream and sore spots

We woke early and once the phone calls were dealt with we packed a bag and headed for Herzliyya, the sun was shining and we were looking forward to a day of peace on the beach.


We arrived and My Beloved dropped me off and headed to collect his service tickets, keeping his fingers crossed he wouldn't get called to do anything else on his one day off a week. I found a couple of sun beds, and settled in for the day, the heat was really quite intense and I factored up the face with 30, mainly because the freckles are starting to join up.


The area I had chosen to spend the day was close to the waitress, but also close to the music, so it wasn't quite the peaceful day I had intended, but all in all it was ok, My Beloved arrived just after 11 and creamed himself up, leaving his socks on, as his feet still haven't recovered from his last visit to the beach. And we sunned ourselves until lunch time, then we ordered a feast for 12, well it felt like it when the plates arrived, My Beloved had ordered a chicken wrap, which arrived with a salad and the extra chips he had ordered, I had ordered Hummus and a plate of vegetables, which came with two pitta, the food was lovely and I filled my Pitta with veg and ladled on the Hummus, after which I had to lay down and rest my belly.


We watched the world go by, I love to people watch, I watched people of all ages, some who were so funny, just because of their animated behaviour, and some who were serious, due to the fact that I think they had lost their sense of humour, there were children with no clothes on running away from parents, and girls burying boys in the sand, there were big bellies, and bikinis and speedo's for pedo's, the compulsory old man with jeans and shoes on with his phone attached to his belt.  The teenage girls chilling in the sun, whilst the boys cooed and ahed over them, the happy families surrounded us, beautiful babies with curly long hair, and adorable toddlers eating the sand, the stampede for the sun beds became quite noisy just after 1pm, when beds were like gold dust, but we were happy with our beds and preceded to snooze into the afternoon.


Ice coffee's and Iced Lemon nana's were ordered and drank, and thankfully I'm not the only person to get brain freeze in the right eye, I even tried drinking from the left, it made no difference I was tortured by ice, as was My Beloved, I love to share.


Late afternoon we decided to pack up and head home, shoes were put on and off we went to collect the car, thankfully My Beloved had the forethought to park the car at the top of the car park facing the entrance or that could have been a nightmare.  Natalie was relating a story to us about Independence Day and how busy the Carmel beach was, people were parked everywhere and BBQing on every available patch of grass, this included the roundabout in the middle of the street!!! There was even people pitched up on the field where she walks her dogs, and they had been there since the previous night guarding theirs spot...


We arrived home and I set about preparing the supper, chicken with sliced potatoes', baked in the oven, with a lovely salad freshly prepared from the veg and herbs I had bought yesterday, I even threw in some of my pickled lemons for good measure, and they tasted yummy.


We both had work to do on the computers, myself it was the Hebrew, My Beloved it was work related, numerous phone calls were taken throughout the evening, then Yabba called on the facetime, and My Beloved chatted with her, she was at a friends for a sleepover, and was telling us about her trip to see Example and what goodies they had for the evening, lots of juice and chocolate. During the conversation my eyelids became stuck together and there was nothing else for it but to sleep, My Beloved eventually woke me and said think you should go to bed now, been a long time since I fell asleep on the sofa, so I moved to the bedroom and promptly fell back to sleep.

Push me Pull me or Yoyo?

My Beloved left early this morning for Herzliyya again, still trying to get his service tickets signed off. I sorted through the house, and made a start on the glass, having a patio door that is heavy as hell is very tricky when the handle on the outside is so small only a childs fingers will fit, we are constantly using olive oil to grease the sliders, one day we will find the correct compound and when opening the door we will push it straight into the neighbours.


Tonight we are having Darren for dinner, and Jimma is also invited so I took myself off to the supermarket for supplies, after eventually standing on the bar at the meat counter and pointing my finger at the correct chicken I was needing, this did take three attempts, I left and headed for the wine store, bottles collected it was time for home.

I dropped off the supplies and headed straight back out again with my trolley, this time it was a 37 to Wadi Nisnas for veg, I walked through Wadi checking out all the lovely vegetables, some of which I have never come across before, I bought fresh herbs by the carrier bag, and fruits and veg for the supper, I found a rather unusual fruit and asked the lady what it was, she had no English equivalent but told me to try one, now they look like mini tomatoes but taste very similar to gooseberries without the furry outside, so I bought a kilo, just don't make the mistake of biting into the pip though, man that thing is horrid.

I jumped on the bus back up to Carmel centre, and received a call from My Beloved who was now heading back to Haifa to find some gel, this was unexpected but had caused a ruckus in the Port and offshore,  and had led to our evening entertainments to be put off for another day. As I was getting off the bus Natalie text and said she was heading over for a visit, having not seen her for a while this was great news.  I then received another call from My Beloved with his lunch order, luckily for him he came bearing gifts, he dropped off some lovely flowers as a gift for me, then collected his toasted cheese sandwich, a bag of work gear someone had left behind, but desperately needed, and was gone, I'm sure it was My Beloved but only because when he left giving me a departing snog, his bristles tickled my face, this is usual after an early start and no shave, yep I'm sure it was him.


Natalie arrived bearing flowers, a gift for the house, flowers are a little like buses, you don't get any for ages, then you get run over by them.  We spent a lovely afternoon chatting in the sun, Natalie left me some Hebrew homework, and helped with some of the rules for Hebrew, before she went to meet Asaf for a meal at Meat in Meat out.  My Beloved had arrived home and was helping to demolish the wine.


Having had our plans changed I had marinaded the chicken anyway, and when I threw it in the oven the smell around the kitchen was heavenly, we had a lovely evening, unexpected because our guests had been cancelled, and a visitor had arrived, but it was a lovely evening, we will just have to arrange another meal for the folk that had to be cancelled. Only a couple of phone calls interrupted our evening but its ok, they were from people I actually like.

When in Rome, do like the Romans, when in Romania stay there

What a lovely day I had, doing absolutely nothing of consequence to anyone else but myself.


I had the supper ready by 11am, and this consisted of Chilli, now having bought my supplies from Isfiya I could read some of the ingredients, but who would have thought you would need to read the ingredients of tomato puree, or tinned tomato's, there was a sweetness, to the chilli that I just couldn't figure, and having added no salt, why did my chilli taste salty, I added a large tattie to the dish and threw it in the oven, now don't get me wrong, neither of these flavours, the salt or the sweet were offensive to the taste buds, just odd. But let me tell you, once I removed the tattie it was eaten for lunch and it was lush.

I spent most of the day with The Hebrew lessons, popping in and out all day to the garden and the sun bed. The town was quiet this morning due to the Holiday and the buses weren't running so I had nothing better to do but stay home and learn Hebrew whilst topping up the tan.


I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I am really enjoying the language lessons, thank you Milingua, their online course is great.


My Beloved arrived home starving, due to the holiday there was no food at the Port today, luckily I was organised or there may have been trouble, the Lion was fed and we sat in the house and had a lovely evening, well apart from the occasional interruption from the phone. Obviously I'm not talking about the Lou Lou chat, phew good recovery.

Independence Day Israel

Having had a late night with My Beloved I struggled to get out of bed, My Beloved was away to work after having the breakfast at the hotel, I threw some bags at him so he could leave them in the car, and rolled over and snoozed for at least another five minutes.


Eventually I took a shower sorted the room and headed down for breakfast, the nice chef prepared an omelette for me with cheese, although rubbery it was lovely, freshly squeezed orange juice and then I was set, I left two of our bags I hadn't thrown at My Beloved with the Bellboy and headed for the beach. 9.30am and already the walkers and joggers were strutting their stuff, people of all ages parade up and down the beaches in Israel, some carry hand weights, some listen to music, then you get the swans, you know the type they go swimming with their heads up high so as not to get their hair wet, now these ladies do the wiggle but don't break sweat and chitter chatter with their friends all the way through their walk.


The beach boy was back at work and today I borrowed his Hebrew book for the day, and I sat in my cabana and practised my writing, I ordered tea with nana leaves and relaxed in the sun. The beach was quiet today and at 11am the siren for the Memorial for the fallen soldiers was sounded, we all stood on the beach, even the gentleman in the water stood and lowered his head, it was a moving experience, and I was glad to be part of it.  Once the siren became quiet, life carried on and the gentle chatter continued.

I lunched in my cabana and watched the world go by, My Beloved is having one hell of a time with invoices but he is battling through, I was struggling to stay away so while he worked I snoozed at the beach.


I ordered an ice coffee when I woke and it was lush, sipping the ice trying not to get brain freeze was not easy, but I managed with only one small pain to the right eye.  My Beloved called to say he would be finished around 3.15 so I would meet him at the hotel to collect the rest of our bags. I had a quick tidy up in the ladies and collected our bags then My Beloved picked me up and we headed home to Haifa.


We ate and showered and then went to meet Darren who is celebrating his birthday on Independence Day, we met Jimma on the way to the Dan Panorama and had a lovely chat with him, before meeting Darren and Dragos. Dragos is my first vampire friend as he lives either in or near Transylvania and he informs me that vampires are a myth put about by the locals to scare the Turkish, I've seen Twilight I know they exist. Thanks to Dragos being small but tall I borrowed his hoody as the evening was cooler after being in the sun all day.

Dragos and Darren

We watched the fireworks from the Dan Panorama hotel then headed to the park for the concerts, the music was good, and the park was full of families enjoying the evenings entertainment, children with blow up hammers were wandering around, girls with glow lights around their heads and Israeli flags stuck on their faces, we ended up in the beer house, and drinks were ordered, and some chips, now these were ordered as they looked lush, they were a little like crisps and our plate was overflowing with the tasty little treats.


I forgot to mention my brother who is currently sunning himself in Luxor, he called on Tuesday night to tell me he would be watching the sun go down over Luxor, so we both watched the sun go down but in different countries.

Sunset in Herzliyya

Sunset in Luxor

Herzliya away day

My Beloved and I set off early for Herzliyya today we arrived after a very slow journey, we pitched up at the office and I said my goodbyes and headed for the coffee shop.

I sat and blogged for a while, then headed to the beach, I walked to the beach and found a lovely cabana in the sun, a gentleman bought me mint tea and I sat in the sun soaking up the rays once more.

The beach was quiet today, and I started to practice with the alphabet, the beach boy saw me writing and came over and chatted, he told me about a great book that he then went off and dug it out of his bag, it's a phrase book/dictionary and I wrote down the name so I can order it when I get home, He also helped me with some pronunciation, zayin is 7th letter of the alphabet and the sound is made at the front of the mouth, like TSunami, where as ayin is 16th letter and is the sound is made at the back of the mouth, a bit like Mine without the M, this was very helpful, and I continued on with my lessons.

Lunch time My Beloved called he had no time for food but would have time to check us into the hotel, so we met at the lobby and dumped out bags in the room, I headed back to the beach My Beloved went back to work.

Later in the afternoon after doing the all round tan thing I decided to head for the shops, just a quick look around, and I was needing to visit the 4chef store, I just love kitchen stores, the gadgets could easily replace my obsession for handbags, so today I bought a chopper/slicer thing, My Beloved informs me it's a Madalin, personally I believe that to be a fruit!!! Just kidding its a musical instrument.

I headed back to the Dan Accadia and our room, and sorted through our things, and snoozed until My Beloved arrived close to six pm, we showered changed and headed downstairs for supper, all the restaurants are closed this evening due to the Memorial day for the fallen Soldiers, My Beloved is not daft, we ate in the Lobby bar, and we met in with some guys My Beloved,knows through work, we had a lovely evening sitting blethering and laughing at each others tales of Energy inefficiency.

Alphabet and Birthdays

I struggled to get out of bed this morning again, who would know why, its not like I have been working, or exercising, or really doing anything energetic, but the bed feels cosy, and I never have much liked leaving a warm bed, even from an early age, when my Dad would tuck me in at night so tight as to almost cut off circulation, I think that is why I like to have a sheet or something over me even on the hottest of evenings, I pull it under my chin and dream of childhood.  Unfortunately by the time I wake my dreams have usually turned nightmarish, and the sheets are strangling me or worse no longer on the bed.


So this morning I sat in the garden and started the computer, the blog was done, then it was Hebrew time, I am getting to grips with the alphabet and now I'am able to recognise the printed word, and almost although not quite, the handwritten Hebrew, now that looks something akin to music notes all curly and squiggly, but I'm getting there. The computer was still giving me fanfares on correct answers, so I was happy.

I spent a good two hours going over and over the alphabet before I remembered I needed a shower, so I threw washing in the machine and jumped in the shower, I then had a lovely hour on the sun bed relaxing whilst listening to radio one, thank all that is merciful Chris Moyles is back from his holiday, being tortured the last two weeks with Scott Mills is not my idea of fun. 


Lunch was a quick affair, a couple of small jackets thrown in the oven, then outside again for a flip over on the sun bed. Once that was done, the washing was hung out the back, now it's warm here but the humidity seems to stop the clothes drying properly, and My Beloved wonders why I use the tumble drier so much, the other thing is that having hung bed sheets out today, when I did bring them in, there was a small layer of sand on them, euk My Beloved informs me the dust should stop soon.........


Today is St. George's day, and having forgotten it was Maisie's birthday today I had sent a card from moonpig which will be late, Maisie shares her birthday with Dina and we have a little gift to deliver this evening for Dina once My Beloved finishes work.


I watered the plants and cleaned the patio, dust again! it gets everywhere. Then My Beloved arrived, we showered and changed and headed to Kiryat Motzkin for a visit with Dina, Dina had already called to say the Magic cubes had taken the pen off the wall, thanks to Darren for bringing them in from Cyprus, the Little Princes had told us about these cubes that are like little miracle blocks for parents who's children decide their Picasso art should be on the wall.  The journey over was slow, they appear to be shutting more roads down near Hadar again, and this is causing more snarl ups than usual.


We arrived at Dina's and Zheni's and Dina's parents were also visiting, we shared food with the family and each of us toasted to Dina's good health and happiness, and also to Dina and Zheni's wedding anniversary, which Dina had completely forgotten, seven years today. Dina's mother toasted our friendship, Dina's health and the families health and also invited us to stay in Ashkelon with them this coming holidays, unfortunately My Beloved will be working right through the holiday period, which is a celebration of Israeli Independence. Whilst we were there I received a call from Natalie pre warning me about the impending siren alarms, just in case I panicked, Natalie is hoping to visit on Friday, feels like forever since we had a catch up, I had invited them to dinner with us on Saturday for My Beloved's birthday, but Asaf was working and having partaken of too much alcohol on the Friday evening Natalie declined as she was feeling rather delicate, I wonder if Natalie is a Geordie like My Beloved!!!!


We left around 10 having only meant to stay a wee while, the roads again through Hadar were being shut off, so a slight detour up the mountain and we were home.  My Beloved kicked off his shoes, and cream was once again applied to his feet, then he was on the computer, I pottered around getting bags ready for our overnighter tomorrow.

I rolled out of bed none to happy, My Beloved's phone had been blipping all night, the light of the screen lit up the bedroom like christmas and My Beloved slept through everything, I grumped my way to the kettle in the hope that tea would calm my shattered nerves, two cups later and I was feeling a little hydrated but none to calm.  I set up my blog for the day, then attempted to settled down to my Hebrew lessons, fail......


I eventually threw myself in the shower, and then sorted through the washing, how can two people make so much washing is beyond me, the towels were hung out to dry, and the trees were watered, then it was time to head to the bus, today I'm meeting Celia for lunch, so I jumped on the 23 heading towards Kiryat Eliezer, north of Haifa and home to the Maccabi Haifa stadium, and also some of the cheapest shops in Haifa.


The bus route was one I haven't travelled before, well I have but not going down the mountain, but I took note of the stops and one of them being the steps leading to Wadi Nisnas, great for food shopping, all I have to do is hop off at the steps and I'm sorted, getting back is equally easy and I just pop around the corner and the stop is there. I jumped off at Eliezer and met Celia, we then jumped on another bus and headed for Bat Galim, and the Dolphin restaurant that Celia had been told about.


The restaurant is one I have passed before, we entered and were shown a table, and took another one closer to the window.  The menu contained all kinds of seafood delicacies to tempt our taste buds, I ordered the sesame shrimp, and Celia the mussels. We chatted about Miami and food, and then our food arrived, my shrimp was lovely and arrived with a jacket potato, the waiter had also bought us a dish of salads and pitta bread, Celia's mussels arrived and we ate our food, and very nice it was too, no supper for me though tonight.


We left the restaurant and hopped on a bus back to Eliezer, we decided just to hop on the first bus that arrived as if it's not going your way, your only one stop away from the right way. Luckily the bus took us to Eliezer and we alighted and walked to the shops to exchange things Celia had purchased the last time she was here, we then went to the cleaning store as I call it, its the one Natalie took me to for cheap cleaning things, I bought some coat hangers, the last time I went in the wardrobe instead of gently allowing the big rail to pull down I let it drop the last couple of inches, and all my coat hangers jumped off the rail, and all the clothes jumped off the metal hanger, plastic ones needed.

after I dropped the rail, NO CLOTHES ARGGG

Then the supermarket, I wasn't needing anything but wandered around and checked out the shelves whilst Celia collected her wine, then it was time to check out one of the grocers before heading back up the mountain. This time I took the 37 again another route I haven't tried from Eliezer, I think one day I going to have a bus day, and see how many buses I can travel on, and where they all go..


I pulled out a few weeds that had snuck into the flower beds and sorted out the garden for a while, then got the Hebrew lessons out, I sat in the garden listening to the pronunciation of the words and writing them down, I needed a trace of the alphabet so that was started and I'm going to pin it to the fridge.  


My Beloved arrived home very weary and with very sore feet, they had initially been not too bad this morning, but as the day went on they had started to burn, so I applied the tomatoes as recommended by a friend, I wasn't sure if I should use beef or cherry so I applied the slices of beef tomatoes and hoped for the best.  So once again My Beloved was sitting with his feet wrapped in cling fling with slices of tomatoes on his burnt bits, I have also been advised evaporated milk works, maybe I will have to try that tomorrow.


I made My Beloved's supper and left him with his feet wrapped whilst he ate, although he didn't get his supper warm due to the amount of phone calls he was receiving and having to make. I started my Hebrew again and this time I managed to get through six of the first exercises, I was quite proud of myself, writing and speaking the words I was reading. And I really liked the little fan fare I got every time I got a answer correct.


My Beloved had so much work to do that he wasn't finished with the computer until around 9.30, and then he had a lovely phone call with the Little Princes, Yabba should find out Tuesday about her Chemistry and Kitty had been playing with her photos, she had decided to give herself a golden glow on one of her pics, unfortunately she didn't like the result as the pic now has an orange glow.


We went to bed both very weary, My Beloved complaining because having pulled the sheets out once more the soles of his feet were cold, whilst the upper parts were burning, moan, moan, moan, I don't think he will forget to cream his feet again, but when the red finally fades his feet will be lovely and brown, whilst the rest of his legs will still be milk bottle white.........

House of Mather goes picnicing

This morning was a little hazy, mainly due to way to much alcohol last night, although I was doing remarkably well, as opposed to My Beloved who was dying, the living room looked like a hurricane had swept through, I tidied up and left My Beloved nursing his head.


When he eventually did get out of bed I mentioned the picnic and yes was the reply, although his green colour did rather match the salad I was going to prepare.  But I set about preparing the food for our adventure, now I had purposefully hidden away a packet of cheese puffs for our picnic, the trouble is I forgot to leave myself a note of their whereabouts, I hunted everywhere and I could not find the pesky little orange puffs, so no cheese puffs for our picnic then. I cut up peppers and carrots, took out the cheese and pate, and two rather brown hoagies I had bought for My Beloved, the cutlery and plates were the new bamboo biodegradable ones I had purchased in Herzliyya, a large bottle of water kept chilled in the wine bag and we were ready.


We left the house, hit the bank, then we were trundling down the hill, destination unknown as yet. My Beloved not being quite himself had us on the wrong road, but that sorted we headed for the beach, and a sun bed, we found both, the beach was heaving with folk enjoying the weather and because it was Shabbat there was lots of families out.


We settled into our sun beds, I applied my sun cream, My Beloved had applied his before we left, and we were rocking, the sun was lovely, and the breeze was enough to stop the smell of burning flesh.

My Beloved ordered a beer as this was his idea of a cure for his still lingering sore head, the cure worked and my cappachino hit the spot.  Lunch was lush the cooler bag worked a treat and the picnic was as cool as it should be. We watched the world around us, the children playing in the sand, the adults drinking and eating and the water lapping at the sand. I had an urge for some watermelon so the lovely Russian waitress took our order, I think she must have walked to Tel Aviv for it though as it took an age to come, but it was worth the wait, so tasty, and cool and way to much for two people.

There was a table of people just behind us, so I took the plate of watermelon over and offered them the plate, I got talking to them and they asked where we came from "Haifa", haha, then we chatted about Glenfiddich and the ridiculous price of cars in Israel, 110% import tax on all cars, so next time my fellow Brits go to buy a car, spare a thought for the Israelis who pay twice as much and a bit more for the same car.


We eventually took ourselves back to the car, and My Beloved drove me to downtown to show me the best wine store in Haifa, the best Butchers, grocers and fish shop too, Mickey the welder had taken My Beloved on a tour of the shops, because in these shops we can get the best prices, and the best of meats, fish and vegetables, oh yeah and of course wine. We drove up the street by Wadi Nisnas, and I became very uncomfortable the street is more like an alley and very narrow, I was breathing in, then we came to a stop, the woman in front had just hit a gentleman who was walking up the alley, and he was none to happy, pulled open her car door and raged at her, cant say I blame him.


We then drove home, My Beloved checked his email, and had a couple of phone calls to deal with, and I got myself ready for our evening out.


I was taking My Beloved out for an early birthday surprise and he had no idea where we were going, all I had told him was that he had not been to this restaurant before, many questions had been asked, but I held my ground.  When My Beloved eventually stopped listening to his Beloved Newcastle on the computer he took a shower, now the fun started, the silly man couldn't understand why the water was hurting his feet, until he looked down that is, having applied his sun cream at home with his trainers on, he had forgotten to cream them when he arrived at the beach, they were scarlet, I'm sorry but I couldn't stop laughing, 46 tomorrow and still a wally....


We left the house and I took him on a detour around the Carmel Centre so he wouldn't know until the last minute where he was going, Viola we arrived at the door, the restaurant is called Voila and it was lovely, the gentleman I had spoken to the previous day when I made the reservation welcomed us and the waitress took us to our table, the menu was amazing, so much choice, I couldn't decide what to order, the waitress told us about the special of scallops so that was me sorted, My Beloved chose a Beef fillet with pepper sauce and a rosti, and for a starter we shared a phenomenal dish a puff pastry base with thinly sliced apples around the edge with baked camembert in the middle and it was truly delicious.

My Beloved was very happy with the choice I had made, and so was I service, setting, food all 10/10, the only downside was My Beloved's feet, by this stage they were starting to throb from his misuse of the sun cream.  We had a lovely evening, and walked home two very happy bunnies.


When we arrived home, My Beloved kicked off his shoes and I had to apply ice, then yoghurt to try and cool the heat in his feet, I gave My Beloved his birthday present a lovely bottle of Double espresso vodka, chilled nicely and tasting even better. He hobbled off to bed and dragged the sheets off the end of the bed so as to alleviate the pain to his torture puppies. And so ended a lovely day spent with My  Beloved, pampering his needs.

My Beautiful Husband

Scallops in a ragu of chesnuts, potatos leeks with spicy garlic bread 

Beef Fillet with pepper sauce, and a rosti

MUPPET

Consonants not Vowels

Eeeeeee, so I woke early in a beautiful mood, my sleep had rested my body and enlivened my soul. The same could not be said for My Beloved, who's soul was somewhere between tattooed and tortured!


Once My Beloved left I sorted through the house, showered and then set about the patio, I washed the metal blinds, hosed the floor then let the sun dry the wet patches. I then sat down with my new Hebrew lessons, the trouble is I really need one of those idiot proof books they give to kids, you know the kind, dot to dot, so I decided I would walk up to Carmel centre and see if I could get a book from the book store.   Unfortunately they had no such book, so as it was such a lovely day I hopped on the 37 up to the University, I know I have seen what I need there.  


Once I arrived at the University I headed to the bookstore, and a lovely young lady helped me, I told her I was looking for a childs book which would depict the Hebrew alphabet for me to copy, we eventually found a book, and the young lady then labeled each letter with its corresponding English equivalent, I picked up some pencils and highlighter pens just to be on the safe side, and then headed back down the mountain to the Carmel Centre, I walked home and changed into my bikini, then I sat on the patio with my new books and learnt how to write the Hebrew alphabet.


I have since learnt that Hebrew does not have vowels as such, just consonants, had I been told this months ago my stress levels would have been much lower, and my alcohol consumption reduced.  I actually feel quite confident that I may master this language after all, well maybe......


I spent an hour or so with the Hebrew then decided to have a snooze in the sun, but first the sun cream, for those of you who have been away on your own, there is nothing worse than the dilemma of suncream, how to apply to one's back, well let me tell you of My Beloved's clever little idea, you take your suncream and apply or spray it on either a door or a wall, preferably marble as the smears are a beggar to get out of a painted wall, so you spray the surface and then rub your back up and down and round and round, now I wouldn't recommend this on a wall you don't know, but it works for me in the house, so I had a lovely snooze on the sun bed and topped up my tan.


Shabbat is looming so at 1.45 I quickly changed and headed up the road for supplies, nothing worse than being out of wine on Shabbat, the nice gentleman in the wine store helped me with a little gift I was needing, and then headed to the supermarket for picnic supplies, fingers crossed tomorrow if My Beloved doesn't have to go into work we will be picnicking in the sun.


I packed away the supplies then set about organising supper, My Beloved finished early tonight, amazingly!! so when he called I threw the chicken on the herbs Jamie Oliver style and threw it in the oven, dill, coriander and pancetta, lush. Then it was time to prepare the veg, shallots with garlic and new potatoes, brocolli and gravy, thanks to Darren I now have a large supply of Oxo stock cubes of every colour, and bacon for the freezer, oh yeah and English mustard, what more could a girl ask for.

We had a lovely supper, I think Jamie does it quite well, the taste through the chicken was heaven, but the new potatoes left a lot to be desired, I think we will stick with jackets next time. We had a lovely evening, no phone calls, no disturbances just us.....................and the wine

A very Busy Day

I woke early and set about the house, organised the blog and made myself presentable, this took until well after 11, its not an easy job.


I investigated some more Hebrew classes and have now hooked up to an online course, much cheapness, and plenty help. Unfortunately it took ages for the confirmation to come through, so I decided to take myself off to the shops for a few things I needed, instead of keep hitting refresh and not getting the confirmation email. 


10am and the siren went off, yes the bomb siren, I was on the phone to My Beloved at the time, and he said have to go, I picked up my phone and walked to the bomb shelter, the trouble was I had been expecting the siren yesterday, not today, I text Natalie and she called me laughing at me because I was in the bomb shelter, the siren was a one minute silence to mark the end of Holocaust Memorial day, next week there will be another to mark Independence day, and I will make sure I'm up the street for that one, Amy's blog informed me that the whole street came to a stand still, cars, people, everything, so next week I will be in the street to witness this event. My Beloved had gone off the phone as you have to stop what you are doing completely, as a mark of respect.


In the Centre I found paper, and then decided to have a spot of lunch, Mandarin today, and the waitresses are so nice and welcoming, I settled for a 'healthy salad' small please, so my salad arrived piled high with lots of lovely healthy things to eat, cucumber, tomato, bean sprouts, seeds, lettuce, couscous and carrots, I tried in vain to eat my way to the bottom of the plate, wow it was one hell of a dish, I didn't even make a dent before I was full.  I finished up and headed back out into the street, next stop the shoe shop, I'm in need of slippers, not the baffy type the mule type, and I found a lush pair, red and made of towelling and these puppies can go in the washing machine.


I then headed to the supermarket for some torture, and I was not disappointed, the till was unbelievable. The young girl behind me decided to move to the till next door, she had her whole basket on the conveyor belt when I woman came over ranting and raving, as the young woman had walked past this woman's trolley, now I never saw this woman at her trolley, and I was at the till for ages, anyway the young girl held her ground.  What is it with people that think they can park their trolley and walk around the shop, continuing to pick up things they need, and we are still not talking one item, nutters! Wouldn't happen in Tesco.


I then headed home, and checked on my confirmation email, yep it was in, so now I'm all logged in and ready to rock. So instead of doing Hebrew I decided to tidy the bomb shelter, it's a good name for it, as it contains all the things we haven't quite found a place for yet. I decided to set up the surround sound system to the TV as a surprise for My Beloved and to save him a job, I moved all the photo frames for fear of dropping or breaking them, and so I began sorting out the leads and cables to the speakers. I cut the lead off the system and rewired it to an Israeli plug, then I'm ready, or so I thought, the new TV has no scart lead plug, and we appear to have mislaid the yellow and red and white leads, or any of the other multi coloured leads. Initially I thought the film on the TV was playing through the surround sound, until I realised it was out of sync, and I was actually playing the USB through the surround, and the film was over the top through the TV.


I then began getting supper ready, just a quick supper tonight, Jacket Potatoes with lovely, lushious, mouth watering cheddar cheese. And pate with crackers.


My Beloved arrived home just after 7.30 I think, I never retain numbers, and unfortunately My poor Beloved had loads of work to do so I left him to it and attacked the ironing pile that was peaking around the bomb shelter door, I managed half, and then I sat at my computer and began my Hebrew lessons. Firstly I started with the Alphabet, which once I had that down and understood about the dots changing the sound of a letter  I was rocking.

Now if you place a dot over the right branch the symbol becomes sh for shin, but if you put it over the left branch it becomes s, as in small, and if I'm correct no dot is just sh, as in shalom. Now it is a seriously complex language of masculine and feminine, and what Yabba and I decided whilst she was here was the connecting/linking words are missing, which is why when I have come across lovely people who will attempt to speak to me in English, the context of their speech takes my brain a little time to decipher, its kind of like lets throw away the pleasantries and get down to business, the pleasantries are the connecting/links, being British I need them.


I finished up with the Alphabet and My beloved finished his work, and we sat down together, it still took him a huge amount of hints before he even noticed the surround sound, not that it was working but it looks the part, I have learn't that if I need My Beloved to notice anything I have to hang it around his neck........

My Lovely new slippers they are so comfy

Beef Stock

When I woke I checked out the weather and according to Accuweather, and my iphone app it was going to be 33 degrees and cloudy, I was actually quite grateful for the impending cloud as today is the day I get the weeds moved out. 


My weeds have taken up residence down the side and back of the apartment, last time I weeded was the day the Little Princes arrived, and since that time, apart from a small patch of earth my beloved kept watering, mainly because he is too lazy to fill a bottle and actually water the base of the plants I have sitting at the side, the sun has baked the earth to a rock hard crust, with occasional cracks.  The rake wasn't going to touch it, so it was down to the hoe, to crack open the soil and release those pesky weeds, it took me quite a while to work down the side of the house with the hoe, then go back with the rake and snaffle up all those lovely stones, and weeds I had uprooted. We are still waiting for our path to be laid down the side, and the grass to be laid at the front, I hope it happens soon, so I can then plan out the rest of the garden.


Floors were washed again, I really miss having carpet, at least you don't see the muck! The trouble with washing tiles is that you work your way through the house only to discover you have boxed yourself into a room, and the only way out is on your eyelashes.....


Natalie called just after I had finished and said she wouldn't manage round today, so I gave Celia a text and we arranged to meet later, lunch was salad for me, freshly prepared and snaffled in minutes. I had a quick but irritating chat with My Beloved, and also Dina who has now started working at the Port for Buzz at ATP, and had just popped into Garry's office as I called.

I then took myself off to Hadar in search of stock cubes, this really is becoming a trial. I took the no 3 down to Hadar and walked through the market, the lovely smell of the fruits and veg hitting my nose, everything looks so lovely down there and so very cheap too, no luck on the stock front, so I walked to Wadi Nisnas, as I knew I had found the chicken cubes there before, I got to Wadi and found the shop I needed, and bought the whole box of Maggi chicken stock cubes, half for me and half for Celia. Still no Beef stock.

Hadar Market

Wadi Nisnas

Then I walked to the bottom of the Bahai Gardens to jump on a 28 to take me to Eliezer, changed buses onto the 101 and headed to Haifa Mall to meet Celia.


Celia was getting her pedicure when I arrived, and had managed to lock her iphone onto speak text, so once I managed to sort that out for her, one of the ladies in the shop wrote down what I needed to ask for in the supermarket regarding stock. Obviously not being proficient in the speaking or the reading I just showed the lady in the store what was written on the paper and was taken to the stock. For a while now I have been wondering if the soup that I find in all the stores is actually the stock, and it turns out it is, so I found chicken and amazingly Beef, but only one tub of Beef, so I bought chicken for myself and Celia and the one Beef tub, well at least we can take a photo and Celia can ask when she needs it.


I returned to the Manicurist and Celia was just finishing up, so we headed back to the supermarket, we purchased a few more bits and pieces, and miraculously the supply of Beef stock had been refilled, so Celia bought herself a tub.


With our newly purchased stock we said our goodbyes and headed in opposite directions, when I left the mall the weather had really closed in and having worn shorts and a t'shirt I was quite cold.  I hopped on the 132 and was delivered back to Wedgewood toot sweet.
I unpacked my supplies and began the supper, cauliflower bake, broccoli and steak with mashed tatties, when My Beloved arrived we opened the soup/stocks and it turns out the chicken most definitely is stock, and the beef is too, although you wouldn't want to add too much of that stuff, because man was it salty, coronary in a tub comes to mind.  So I will wait patiently for Darren arriving tomorrow and bringing with him proper beef stock cubes, cyprus style.

We had a lovely supper, followed by an even lovelier evening, no computers, no phones, well almost,  then it was chat time with the Little Princes, Kitty was chatting about fake tan, and My Beloved didn't have a clue, so the phone was passed over, I talked her through exfoliation, and handed the phone back, Yabba had her chemistry test today, and we have our fingers crossed for her, the weather is very cold at home for them, they will need some more sun me thinks, and very soon.


Doctor Lavi, yep thats his name, called me today to try and make arrangements to see My Beloved, we now have an appointment on 29th April, mainly because My Beloved is too busy to see him earlier, I had numerous conversations with Doctor Lavi, and his lovely secretary throughout the course of the day, instructions were given, directions are needed and the X'rays we have to take with us are going to be interesting to get done.

Bahai Gardens

Up early again for me, My Beloved bought me through my tea as I had threatened all kinds of nasty stuff to his nether regions should he leave me sleeping again, if I choose not to drink it thats up to me, but don't decide for me, or you will suffer, I love my Chocolate truffle tea in the morning its ace.


So I stripped our bed, and set it through the washer, did I tell you I love this washer, its huge and I don't have to stick my foot in to get the throw in to the door, and the drier is equally as big, push and play thats what I like.


I left home around 10.45 to go and meet Amy at the Crowne Plaza, I arrived early so chatted with Hassan and Gustavo, before heading to the lounge to see Natalie, always a pleasure to see Natalie, and her boss came in with a delegation for the Dan Hotels who were in for a snoop, but we carried on doing what we do, and Natalie helped me with a little issue of a shot hip, and a buggered husband.  We met Amy at the lift and she was heading to her room so I told her I would see her in reception, today Amy is taking me to the Bahai Gardens, I have been here since January and have never done the tour so I was very excited.

Once Amy arrived in reception we toddled off to the Bahai gardens and the tour in ENGLISH, we were a little early, because we so didn't want to miss the tour, our guide was a gentleman called Itzhak and he gave us the history of the gardens, so interesting, and informative.  The gardens are beautiful, and are tended by followers of the Bahai religion, who also donate money to fund the upkeep of the facility.  The main part of the religion is that they believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the future purpose of life and of the future society.  And Baha'u'llah said 'The earth is but one country and mankind it's citizens'. And he teaches of the oneness of religion, not just one religion, I'm all for that..

Amy who leaves Israel on Thursday, I will miss her very much

We wandered through the terraces, there are 18 in all, we didn't get to the lower terraces unfortunately, the significance of the 18 terraces being the original followers of the Bahai faith, and the Shrine in the middle being the Shrine for the leader of the faith.

We finished our tour with a 17 minute video clip of the Bahai faith, its history, its leaders and the buildings in the gardens, so information and fascinating, every five years, the world leaders and followers of the Bahai faith come together in the Bahai Gardens, Haifa and the video had footage of such an event, truly spectacular, all  the individuals in their national costumes. 

The Shrine of the Báb, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.

On May 23, 1844, in Shiraz, Persia, a young man known as the Báb announced the imminent appearance of theMessenger of God awaited by all the peoples of the world. The title Báb means "the Gate." Although Himself the bearer of an independent revelation from God, the Báb declared that His purpose was to prepare mankind for this advent.

Swift and savage persecution at the hands of the dominant Muslim clergy followed this announcement. The Báb was arrested, beaten, imprisoned, and finally on July 9, 1850 was executed in the public square of the city of Tabriz. Some 20,000 of His followers perished in a series of massacres throughout Persia. Today, the majestic building with the golden dome, overlooking the Bay of Haifa, Israel, and set amidst beautiful gardens, is the Shrine where the Báb's earthly remains are entombed.




We left the gardens after our video and headed to Farina's for a spot of something for lunch, we both decided on a fruit salad, and cold drinks, the fruit was lush and very refreshing, and we enjoyed the company, the view, and the lovely weather.  Then it was time to head up the mountain again, so we headed to the bus stop, no 23 took us back to the Carmel centre, and back to The Crowne, Natalie had called whilst we were in the Gardens, arrangements have been made for My Beloved to see a specialist, the trouble is he can't make the meeting tomorrow, so it will be in 2 weeks time. Fingers crossed this meeting will lead to improvements in My Beloved's comfort levels.


I headed home after saying goodbye to Natalie and Amy, I then took myself to the supermarket and with the help of a non speaking Israeli lady I managed to get some steak, and some chicken livers, and yeah and some wine from the wine store.  Then it was home and preparations were underway for the Chicken Liver Pate, I have only once in my lifetime made liver pate, and I don't think it was chicken, and the smell of it around the house for days nauseated me so much I never tried again. But today I have the use of my steam vent, and smelly candles so lets hope when I wake tomorrow morning I'm not still smelling the Liver.


My poor Beloved arrived home very late, and very bedraggled, should I ever meet any one of the members of Noble that were at his meeting today I will tell them what I think of them. Oh yeah and it won't be pretty.


My Beloved enjoyed the Pate I had made for him, and so did I, I have enough for freezing so that means we can have it when ever we feel like it.


My Beloved finished the day off with phone calls and emails, and schematics, helped by large amounts of Liver pate and the occasional glass of vino de plonko, I left him playing with his drawings and went to bed.

around 2000 lights are in place at the Bahai gardens, so the Bab will never been in the dark again.

Architects and Neighbours

This morning I was up sharp, sorted through the house and organised myself for the day, I made arrangements with Amy for tomorrow, and was meeting Celia at 1pm today. I blogged and sorted through some paperwork that was dearly needing my attention.


Then I took myself off to the beach to meet Celia, I was a touch early so when I jumped on the 132 and the driver didn't know where he was going, and I didn't know what to ask for, because Haifa Mall wasn't ringing any bells with him, so I paid my shekels and took a ride on a bus going somewhere, but not necessarily where I wanted to be, I had a sneaking suspicion I had used this bus once before to travel from a road I had ran out of path on, its a miracle I had the right bus, the right numbers and I'm heading to Haifa Mall, the bus driver really needs to learn his route.

The view from Celia's apartment

I popped into the mall and had a quick peek around, then I headed to the next bus which would take me along towards the Leonardo apartments and Celia. I arrived and was told which floor and which lift to use and arrived at Celia's door, she was in the shower when I arrived, as I say I was too early, and the corridor to her apartment was sweltering, I phoned her and she let me in, all wet and soapy.  We chatted whilst she got ready, and then we were off, Qiryat Eliezer for some retail therapy, Celia showed me around the shops that she had discovered on her travels, and we looked at handbags and shoes, and dresses, and shorts and skirts and tops, beautiful colours and wonderful prices, it turned out to be the same shopping area Natalie and her mother had taken me too.


Then it was time for some tea, we have a wonderful coffee machine at home, but since I was unwell I have hardly drank coffee, so Celia ordered a Latte and I order Tea with nana leaves, nope its not some old Grannys leaves, it is mint leaves known locally as Nana.


We drank our tea and coffee in the sun, but goodness me it was toasty, I had to turn to face the sun in the end because I was back to that burning flesh smell again, we asked one of our waiters where we could get beef stock cubes from, and he assured us we would get them in the supermarket, Celia wasn't convinced, and after we bought our bacon from the Russian shop she was proved right.  So no stock cubes to be found. I have managed to track down the chicken as mentioned before, but beef is very elusive and I can assure you I am not spending all day doing it the old fashioned way. So the search will go on, although I have got two friends bringing me in a heap when they come back to Israel. I would have them sent over but knowing my luck they would get stuck in customs.


Getting back to the bacon, the lady in the store showed us the bacon, and my initial thought was thats not for me, she then showed us a second piece, and ok its not lean back, or straight forward but I bought it anyway, I now have to decide what to do with it, because obviously its not slices, so me thinks I will be making soup and carbonarra with it.


Celia and I said our goodbyes at the bus stop, luckily for me she had handed me some heavy duty bags prior to leaving her apartment, as I was weighed down with groceries, I jumped on the 28 which took me straight back up to The Carmel and home.  I unpacked and just looked at my purchases, and thought what the hell am Im going to make with this lot.  I decided on chicken, I used half a stock cube and placed it in my newly purchased disposable tin foil dish, I love this disposable lifestyle saves on cleaning for sure.  I only used half a cube because being more difficult to get than bacon, I need to eek them out, and get myself to either Isfiya or Wadi Nisnas to stock up, get it stock up. I then threw together a salad using the herbs I had previously purchased, one being coriander and the other unknown, but it does smell good, and I think it could be dill, maybe..


My Beloved arrived home just as I had finished making the supper, so I threw the chicken in the oven, covering it with foil to avoid my disastrous oven burning it to a crisp. 40 mins later and dinner was ready, the chicken was lush as was the salad, although My Beloved has asked for warm salad next time, as the cold kills his teeth.....


We settled in for a quiet night, which with My Beloved's phone is not easy, or the little ping of the emails, then we got a call from Itzhak, would it be ok if the Architect came and looked around our kitchen, he forgot to mention the neighbours would be coming along too, they came in said hello, and looked around the kitchen, Hebrew was tooing and froing, and then they were gone, the new neighbours will be moving in sometime in August, but what Itzhak did say was he and Nelly would be moving in tomorrow, hooray.

I forgot to mention, when we were driving the Little Princes to the airport we had stopped at a gas station and lo and behold cheese puffs, I bought 4 bags, just in case I needed them for a hangover, one can never say never, they cost a fortune I might add, but they are the best cheese puffs I have ever tasted and they are huge.