The House I Built, not the needlepoint one.

It's progressing, right? The metal window wall is up as well as the walls of the greenhouse. The hanging wood cabinet is NOT the right color! This will have to be fixed to a color much closer to the wood floor. 

The view from my windows is not a city view, is it?
I'm very happy with the mix of shiny new cabinets and old beaten up wood cabinet.

 I love the pattern we did in the wood floor at the entrance! It almost looks like a wood area rug.

Our Master Bath is full of pattern. There are SO many decisions that need to be made when building a house and I love most of my choices. The stone floor in the bathrooms is not one of my favorites but it will do.

 I really obsessed with the tiles in the kitchen. I saw them in a European magazine, tracked down the US supplier, realized that I can only afford a small area and placed them sort of like a runner in the kitchen. I love them!! Not everyone does, I realize that.

 Our stove top is Induction. We love the way induction works, even more than gas.

That's it for now.

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A week ago today, AMAZING!

We were all together to celebrate the amazing event! Orin, our son-in-law, produced the beautiful musical, THE BAND'S VISIT, which won 10 Tony's at the award show on Sunday, June 10th.

Here is a screen shot of Shiri and Orin at the awards show.

and here they are rocking the red carpet!

Our family was all together, a huge treat!

 Nina looked beautiful and was soooo proud of Orin!

 My beautiful daughter, Shiri.

It was an amazing night!!

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Nina

What a wonderful event we attended yesterday! It has kept a smile on Reid and my face since yesterday.

Nina and one of our favorite people of all times, Nina's buddy Aden Siegel.

Congratulations to all the talented kids who bring so much to making our world a better place!

Bravo!

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Back.

I'm back from four wonderful days with some of my favorite people in the world!

We went on a walk at Dumbarton Oak Gardens, which was quite lovely! Very humid and hot, but lovely.

Still, my favorite view was the top photo.😉

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Esther is feeling so much better!!

Thank you all for the love and concern you have showered upon us! It must have made a big difference because Esther is doing remarkably well!!
She is happy to see us and any guest who comes by, she has started showing her tail in the up position and she is happy to roll over for belly rubs. Understandably she is nervous and unhappy when we go outside, particularly when she sees other dogs. I'm not sure what can be done about that, we hope she will regain confidence. In the meantime it's a great joy to see her more energetic and funny.
In the photo Esther is standing still, frozen, will not move as long as the doughnut is around her neck. She HATES it, so we don't use it much and instead try to watch over her to make sure she doesn't get to the staples...

Esther, Reid, Nina and I send our love and gratitude!💗💗💗

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Poor Esther, it's not right!

Yesterday morning Reid took Esther to our local dog park. Truth be told, we are not big fans of the park because there is no separation between the big dogs and the little ones, but Esther mainly stays to herself and likes running around. Reid was throwing a stick for her to fetch. He threw the stick and she sprinted to get it. At the same time another dog came running from a different direction, pounced on Esther, pinned her down, grinding her face into the mulch, and went for her neck. Reid was quick to respond, grabbed the big dog (40 lbs to Esther's 14lbs), and pulled him off of Esther. He then picked her up and headed right out of the park and brought her home. By the time she got home she had blood all over her neck, bites and bruises all over her neck and she was obviously in shock. We got into the car and took her to the emergency vet.
She will be fine but needs round the clock care for the next few days.

The whole time I can hear Esther say: why? what did I do? I was just minding my own business? She has a look on her face that to me says: but I didn't do anything, why was I hurt?

This is the second time Esther has been attacked, out of the blue, by bigger dogs. I'm not happy right now! Everybody better lay off of our sweet Esther!

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Nina's piece played on the stage of GAMP!

Last night Nina's piece "Lucas' Theme" debuted on the GAMP stage.  So very proud.

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Nina, an amazing photographer!!

On Friday Nina visited the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival.  She brought the festival home on her camera! I love her eye for photography!

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My Shiri

If you've been reading my blog you have been introduced to my daughters, Shiri and Nina.  

Shiri is my eldest.  She was born in Israel and at 5 months I began raising her as a single mother.  For the next 12 years she and I created a bond of mother-daughter that was so strong, so brave and complete. We loved each other's company, we enjoyed the same things, and we understood and reacted to the world in very similar ways.  Shiri has always had a unique ability to be fun and wacky while still being responsible and mature.  She was easy to mother, I just had to follow her lead.  When she was 12, Reid came into our lives and Shiri made room for him, and yet the bond she and I had stayed strong, it did not change.  We continue to be very close.  I have watched her become a wife, a mother, a career woman and I admire how beautifully she chooses to live each of these parts of her life.  

There is one part of her life which I selfishly enjoy and that is the part of her as my daughter.  She loves, cares, and nourishes our relationship and I can't imagine what I did to be so lucky!  This year, as a gift for my 60th birthday, Shiri surprised me with a trip to Paris!  She arranged to get away from home, made sure my calendar was cleared and organized a week of wonder for the two of us from start to finish.  All I need to do is show up. Can you believe it????  How lucky can one mommy be?

In 10 days Shiri and I will fly off to explore, enjoy and be together. I am oh so lucky!!  

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I'd like to introduce you to a brilliant new artist!

Nomi.

My 5 year old granddaughter is one of my great helpers!  She will drop anything for some art time, for a new craft, or just some drawing time on her own.  As you can imagine, we have much in common.  So a few weeks ago, while visiting with Nomi, her brother Ruben, and their parents, I had a big stash of threads with me to wind and prepare gift grab bags that I like to slip inside your order boxes.  I wind the threads and then put them together in color groups, whatever strikes my fancy. There was Nomi, and I thought: I'll have my helper work with me!  I explained the task and with much excitement she embarked on her journey.  I asked her to write down what each combination she pulled reminded her of, what it make her think of.  She loves sounding out words and I gave her little bits of paper to write the thoughts on.  Here are her combinations and thoughts:

I'm pretty sure you don't need me to read these to you, but just in case: AKA flowers

Beautiful, of course

Apples, (who needs that second "p" anyway??)

Grass

But the one I will share with you now is the one that blew my mind.  This is the one that made me realize that we have a brilliant artist on hand!!

Frustrated.


and that, in a nutshell, is our Nomi. 

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I don't like saying goodbye.

My visit is coming to an end.  I'm counting down and I don't like the prospect of saying goodbye. I've been meaning to share these photos with you, I took them on Friday at around 2pm, as the bustle of getting ready for Shabbat was winding down.  People are making their last purchases for the weekend, whether food or newspapers/magazines for the weekend read.
Buying ready made food is still not customary here.  Most of the cooking is done in the home kitchen unless going out to a restaurant.  But in the past 10 years or so, one can buy ready made, home made food.  The malls are lined with tables and on them huge pots filled with amazingly delicious dishes. The dishes are made by the person standing behind the table.
There are tables and shelves of pastries and sweets, as well as bread, (particularly Challah) stacked high, (although these photos show the stacks lowering quickly).

Logs of Halva, a sweet delicious treat made from sesame seeds.  It comes with nuts, or chocolate, or fudge, very decadent! 

You can tell it's midday by the large basins of food that are emptying.

A shot from above.  Look at that fruit!!

I wish you could have smelled the spices...

I'll be back next week, a little sad but happy to be home.
xo
Orna

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