Winter projects

A triangular shawl inspired by Autumn, with a matching cap. The shawl is lovely, soft and warm, and fits in a very comfy way around the shoulders once clasped. The cap was claimed by Shira.

Need, want, must, should

First off, an unrelated comment: thank you for all the warm wedding anniversary wishes. You ladies are awesome.

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Mrs. P is writing a wonderful series of posts about the real vs. imaginary costs of child-raising. Read the first part here, and the second part, which is about housing, here.

I have written numerous posts on this subject as well, and I'll say this: living simply is not so much about skimping in whatever way you can (though that, too, can be a necessity if you're working towards getting out of debt or for other reasons), but more about re-evaluating your whole mode of thinking, what you really want, and what really is important to you.

Not long ago, I heard a heated radio discussion about how overpriced chocolate bars and breakfast cereals are in Israel. Militant moms urged a customers' boycott until prices are lowered. I laughed and observed to my husband that yes, we should definitely boycott such products - and not go back to buying them even if prices would plummet. Often, what is simpler and cheaper is also healthier and better for us overall.

Consider, for instance, how much some spend on vacations. After a weekend of visiting family in the city, I more than understand why people dream of a nature getaway, and are willing to pay an arm and a leg for overpriced cabins.

We, on the other hand, enjoy the quiet solitude of our home so much that we feel no need to go elsewhere to be well-rested. I estimate we pay as much per month as people pay per night in "nature retreats". An added bonus of living in the middle of nowhere is that you have no shops with window displays to make you restless and discontent with what you have. I'm not saying everyone can or should live the same way - you can make the choice to live simple anywhere, at any stage of life - but it's an example.

As for children, when they are young a large chunk of their "cost" is essentially daycare - paying someone else to shepherd your children. If you do it yourself, you save this cost and reap other, far more lasting benefits. The possibility of having a yard for safe outdoor play is better than the most expensive toys. Children are entertained and educated alike by sun, wind, grass, earth, insects, birds, clouds... they run about, play, climb and explore. They say a thousand entertaining things a minute, and you marvel at how sharp they are (3-year-olds do have fascinating logic. :-))

All in all, it seems to me that those who speak of the "impossible costs" of children come from a point of view of not wanting to have children in the first place, and are mostly making excuses. For when there's a will, there's sure to be a way to think outside the box of stuffy, overpriced daycare and the mad rush someone decided we are all supposed to be engaged in.

Four years ago, today...

... I walked towards the chuppah to the sounds of this:



Although it seems like yesterday, it's hard to believe I've already been married four years.

Chickens and eggs

 In the picture above, there's one unseemly corner of our yard, by a dog house which currently stands unused. I've been telling my husband we should get rid of this board and those rusty barrows, but quite unexpectedly, our chickens began to favor this spot above all others. Here they rest in the shade and take dust baths, which is great fun to watch. 

If you look carefully, you can see our black rooster. We now have two roosters, one older and more sedate, and another who only recently started crowing. There's quite a lot of rivalry between the males, so we are thinking of giving one away. Initially, when we only just started out with our chicken adventure we only wanted to keep females, but it turns out roosters fight away stray cats the way hens don't do.

The stray cats are another bit of trouble. In our old home, we had a harmless kitty in the yard who kept the other cats away and never touched a chick. Here we have savage-looking huge cats who come at night to prowl around the chicken coop. They set our dog to barking, of course, but once they figured out he's on a leash and can't harm them, they just ignore him and remain in the yard until I get out and shoo them away.  

Here's one of the first eggs we got from our hens. I couldn't tell you the breeds we have, they are cross-bred most likely, but each hen lays eggs of a slightly different shape, color and shell texture. Some are pointy and glossy, other more rounded and velvety to the touch. Either way, all are a delight to collect, all have bright yellow yolks (we have plenty of free range space) and all taste way, way better than store-bought eggs, not to mention they are infinitely superior in terms of nutrition. 

Once the nights get warmer, we plan to let our chickens brood and grow chicks, which of course means we will need to find a better solution to the cat problem (a small chick is so much easier to snatch than an adult chicken). Another thing that puzzles me is this: my husband built several "nests" for the chickens to lay eggs in, all nice and snug and covered in straw, but for some reason they all prefer to lay in one nest. Yesterday I found two eggs from different chickens right next to each other. I wonder if a chicken will go broody over another's eggs, and whether they can "co-operate" while hatching and raising their brood. I've heard this happens with other social birds, but I suppose I will need to research this further. 

Where is G-d?

Last night, I was telling Shira the story of Exodus, which we are learning by-the-by now as Pesach is approaching.

"And then," I said, "G-d told Moses to step up and tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go."

My 3-year-old's eyes opened big and wide and she looked around and awe and whispered a question, "where is G-d?"

"G-d is everywhere," I said, "He is with us in this room, too, even though we cannot see Him. He knows all you do, He made you, and He loves you."

"He doesn't," said my little girl uncertainly.

"Yes, he does," I insisted, "He knows you better than anyone else ever will, He knows what a good sweet girl you are, and He loves you."

Soon after, she was asleep, and I was left marveling at how much our children's thoughts and sentiments reflect our own. For adults seek G-d as earnestly as children, and are sometimes as uncertain of His love. And like children, we are reassured to know that He is everywhere, in all we see, hear, say or do.

Plannin' for cleanin'

When Pesach rolled around last time, we were living in a house with two bedrooms and one bathroom. Now we live in a house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an office, which obviously means I have more to clean.

Now, I will be honest with you. Pesach preparations have always been a daunting task for me. No matter how well I prepare and how hard I try to work beforehand, the last days before the holiday are always a mad race against the clock. Not in the least, of course, because chametz (leavened bread) is eaten until the very last, and crumbs have a tendency of spreading. Close to the end I begin wistfully thinking how nice it would be if we were all gluten-intolerant, and would never eat wheat.

So, I might have said this before, but... when doing a lot of cleaning, it's easy to get carried away and say it's "necessary" to do this, and that, and that. But this year, in order to survive, I really feel I must separate cleaning and getting rid of chametz. The two don't always overlap.

So, which spring-cleaning tasks have nothing to do with chametz?

Bathrooms - bathrooms should be clean and bathroom cabinets orderly, but it doesn't mean this must be necessarily accomplished before Pesach to a degree of perfection. My family never eats in the bathroom, so even if it gets messy, it's free of chametz.

Closets - if I have no time to re-organize the closets before Pesach this year, I will not feel guilty about it. So long as I only let clean clothes in and check the pockets, I should be fine.

Windows and shutters - while on the inside, there's still the remote possibility that some little sticky finers got some chametz between the window and its frame, on the outside this most certainly didn't happen. I won't lose sleep over dusty windows.

Bookshelves - I'm not going to flip through every book in the house. None of us eats and reads at the same time.

Sprucing up the garden - yes, there's a lot of junk to throw away, and I should dig up some more gravel to make a neater path, but it doesn't have to be done before Pesach.

Does it mean none of these things will get done? Not at all; I have this list saved here, and will return to it when the holiday is over and the pressure recedes.

Colors in the sky

 It has been raining all week, and when the rain ceased for a little while and we had a glimmer of sun, we witnessed this magnificent rainbow. I have never seen one of this size.

Also, the rains were so abundant that in the past days, we found ourselves living by a stream - a muddy, murky brown, but still a stream. It only runs in very rainy years.

I hope to pop in with an update before Thursday, but still, will take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Purim!