Ready To Call It A Day

it is 10:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed.   I just finished tulip painting the outlines of the pink poodle appliques on one of the costumes.  I didn't do that great of a job.  I kind of spread the outline paint on the thick side.  I used to be able to do it thin.   I didn't have the patience nor the skill set anymore.  I hope that paint remover also removes tulip acrylic paint.  I kind of smudged the dress in places.

I have been meeting with the actors each morning this week to do fittings and decide on articles of clothing.  I have given them an hour of my time and then I have run or taxied it to work.  I have been cooking for 5-6 hours a day.  the guys haven't been eating much and some of my dishes have been virtually untouched.  I have had to throw out a lot of leftover food that didn't get put away.

today there wasn't a scrap of food left from lunch.  I found a full pot of morracocan chick pea stew in the fridge when I came in this morning.  I actually tasted it.  it was fine.  I did have to chuck out a pot of potatoes that had soured from the night before.  certain spices like turmeric can turn a potato off.  I removed most of the chickpeas from the stew and threw in the remaining rice from the night before.  I had made a mix of white and brown rice.  I reinvented the stew as a tomato soup.

I also made roasted potatoes and roasted cauliflower.  I fried up a bunch of corn fritters from the remaining canned corn and I made a small zucchini kugel.   the guys didn't touch any of the raw veggies at breakfast so I made an Italian dressing and they ate it.  yesterday I made a corn soufflé and a bread pudding from left over challah.  I didn't have any milk so I added some tahini to water. it worked.   the guys seem to like rice.  I found a package of brown rice in the pantry as well as two packs of whole wheat spaghetti.  the guys loved it.  I made turkey meatballs for supper with brown rice, roasted eggplant and a salad of chickpeas and diced tomatoes.  I felt that perhaps, it wasn't enough food; so I opened an industrial sized can of corn.

they are turning off the water tomorrow for about 7 hours.  I kind of panicked and started looking up recipes that didn't require water.  as it turns out, I will be nearly finished by the time they turn off the water.  I was going to schlepp bottles of water to the yeshiva but I won't have to now.  I just need some water for myself to drink and to wash my hands.  I think i'll have enough time to fill up some pots when I get in.  it is always a challenge to come up with meals when I don't have any eggs, or oil or gas or in this case, water.  I do like a good challenge.

the lady cook, who replaced me when I got sick, once came in on a snow storm and wore a miner's cap with a head light and cooked for the guys when there was no electricity.  she did live up the block from the yeshiva, but still, it took a lot of fortitude on her part.  I am not that devoted.  I also live quite a distance away.  it is about an hour walk.  I did a massive clean up in front of the yeshiva's kitchen yesterday.  there were loads of discarded cardboard boxes and a couple of humongous trash bags that were ripped open by the cats.  I somehow managed to fold up all the cartons and place them in another box to be thrown out.  I also put the spilled contents of one of the garbage bags into a fresh bag.

I had to use my hands as I had no scooper or even a broom.  the guys threw everything out after they had their lunch.  they even tidied up the dining room, too.  we made real progress.  I couldn't really fall asleep last night.  I was too tired.  I had too many thoughts spinning around in my head.  hopefully, I will pass out soon.

Ready For Shabbat?

it is 4:30 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  the food is on the electric platter ready to heat up for Shabbat.  the kids are coming to me for the meals.  they were all in Jerusalem for the independence day festivities.  I schlepped to tel aviv on Tuesday.  I got a good report from the oncologist and don't have to see him again until next year.  I think I officially made my 5 years clean.  it took about 5 hours to get home to safed.  I caught a bus to tel aviv in front of the hospital.  it is about a 50 minute ride.  I stopped off at the train station to see schedules.  I was toying with the idea of training it home.  I got confused and panicked and ran across the street to catch a bus.  I waited for about 50 minutes for an express bus.  it usually takes 2 1/4 hours.  it took three hours to get to rosh pina.  I caught a taxi which left me on the main road.

I schlepped up a long hill and stopped off at the supermarket.  I bought popsicles and candy, hot dogs and chicken wings, beer and fizzy drinks, veggies and rolls and chumus and potato chips and marshmallows;  just in case my friends wanted to do a grill for independence day.  I was invited to a friend's house to have pan fried hamburgers.   no one wanted to grill.  I promised to bring over some beers.  I ended up sleeping through most of the day and evening.  it was a bit frightening to be that tired.  I also ended up food binging.  I ate all of the candy and all of the popsicles.  I don't know what happened to me. it was a full fledged binge. it was like an outer body experience.

I went to work at the yeshiva on Wednesday.  it looks like the guys aren't coming for meals.  I have been tossing out tons of food.  it is a bit discouraging.  I know that my food is tasty .  I don't understand the current dynamic.  they used to finish up every crumb.  I took home some cooked spaghetti and kasha.  I made a spinach kugel with the spaghetti for Shabbat.  my daughter-in-law loves kasha.  I will have to chuck out a lot of food on sunday.  I doubt that the guys finished the food.  I didn't want to work on independence day and I wasn't sure if they were having any public transportation.  I made 4 meals on Wednesday.  I caught a taxi home.  I was exhausted.  it was extremely hot and there wasn't any air in the kitchen.  I couldn't find the remote to turn on the air conditioner. 

I felt a bit nauseated by the time I reached home.  I think I was borderline dehydrated.  I ran down to the supermarket this morning to buy more candy, potato chips and popsicles for Shabbat.  I couldn't carry half a watermelon home and I didn't feel like calling a taxi.  I bought a lot of nash for the kids.  I hope I won't indulge again.  I made a simple Shabbat.  I made : mashed potatoes, teriyaki chicken livers, sweet chili chicken wings, fresh corn on the cobb, hamburgers and hot dogs, Moroccan style stewed tilapia fillets with carrots and potatoes, a red cabbage slaw and an Israeli salad.  I bought a small container of chumus.  I wanted to bake a chocolate cake but I didn't have any flour.  I was thinking about using matzah meal.  I think I'm too tired.  I have cookies, blanched almonds, dried apple rings and mini halvahs.  I think no one will miss the cake. and of course we have raspberry sherbet popsicles.

I need to do a quick mopping of the kitchen and dining room floors. I am ready to fall asleep again.  o well....

Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays

it is 10:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed.   the grandkids got taken to school at 7:45 a.m.  grandson stayed home at the Sephardi grandma's.  he had a terrific bicycle accident on Shabbat and thankfully, didn't break anything.  his poor face is all scabbed and swollen and he has an egg sized bump under his eye.  my daughter-in-law apparently fainted after the incident.  I was very lucky to have not gone through these things when my son was growing up.

I am not thrilled about going back to work.  yesterday I made turkey meatball cabbage soup, chopped turkey meatloaf and shepherd's pie with chopped turkey.  that is what I have in the freezer to use.  I made a sweet noodle kugel  and one with grated zucchini and onion.  I made it with spaghetti as there isn't any noodles in the pantry.  I tried to make extra dishes because I have an appointment to see the oncologist tomorrow in tel aviv.

I was pressured because I had the grandkids sleeping over.  the Sephardi grandma picked me up at work and drove us all home.  the kids made art projects out of some felt material I had bought to applique a costume.  the grandson made a shirt and pants that actually fit one of his sister's dolls. it was better than what one sees on project runway.  the kid has talent!

I wanted to smear arnica oil over his face to help reduce the swelling but he was having no part of it.  he finally fell asleep at around 11:00 p.m. and I tried to apply the oil but it was hard while he slept.  it was also hard to get the granddaughter up and dressed.  she fell asleep at around 9:00 p.m. but she was really tired.  it is very hard having her mother out of town. I need to travel tomorrow at around 6:00 a.m.  I will order a taxi when I get home from work.  the health insurance pays for a one way taxi to the hospital for cancer patients.

I am hoping to get a good report now that I am almost 5 years clean.  I know that I will hear something about my eight gain.  I tried to put off the appointment but they didn't have another until two months from now.  I didn't want to wait that long.  I did lose a bunch of weight awhile ago but I gained a ton when I broke off relationships with my family.  I look huge.  I think that I might cab it to work.  I'm exhausted.  I want to cook up a bag of chick peas and turn the remainder of the meatball soup into a chick pea stew.  I will serve the remainder of the shepherd's pie for lunch if there is any  left and if, of course, it was put into the fridge.

as usual, there is no one really at the helm of the ship of the yeshiva.  there is a student who runs out to buy items and groceries but he doesn't always get things right.  he got me the large aluminum disposable trays when I actually need the smaller ones.  he also got this really cheap tin foil that rips and doesn't really do the job.  I truly don't feel like working this morning.  I need to make a pot of soup, some cauliflower fritters and some ratatouilles.  I dread leaving the house.

So Tired

it is 4:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed.   I just got home from working at the yeshiva.  I got a call this morning to ask if I could come back to work for them.   apparently, there are only 10 guys right now.  I said I would give it a try.  I was absolutely knocked out by yesterday's 'fashion' outing with my friend.  I have been supplying her with costumes for her next play.  we had a field day at the open air market downtown.  we bought a whole lot of things to use for the play.  we had another cast member come over to try on her costumes.  that was at 3:00 p.m.  we had set out at 10:00 a.m. to scout out clothes.

I got my friend set up in her costume but we needed to bring the dress to the seamstress to shorten it.  I had found a fake leather jacket in the street and we took that in to have shortened, also.  I had sorted out another male cast member the day before with 3 outfits.  a Gloria Vanderbilt black dress that I had bought in a thrift shop and worn 9 years ago made an incredible priest's gown.

I appliqued paw prints and French poodles made out of pink felt onto a very punkie looking black dress.  I found the dress years ago at a thrift shop or possibly in the garbage bin..  I don't quite remember it right now.  we have been using it for purim and plays for years.   I used to be able to fit into it.  the current actress couldn't get it closed.  we ran back to the seamstress in town to add more material at 5:00 p.m. when she reopened her shop.  we also took a  very long polka dotted skirt to have shortened into a micro mini.

the seamstress is doing okay by us.  and of course, vice averse.  I do not have the patience or the skill set right now to shorten clothing.  we decided that we needed a red paten leather belt for the blouse part of the polka dotted outfit.  at close to 6:00 p.m. we schlepped to every single store in safed looking for a red belt.  we found a seamstress/dressmaker who was ready to make us a red satin sash but it wasn't a proper belt with a buckle.

at nearly 7:00 p.m. we bought a thin stretchy elastic red belt in a dress shop for only 39 shekels.  my friend had nearly succumbed to buying a rather wide genuine leather red belt for 150 shekels.  the shop owner was giving us a discount down from 200.  luckily, I talked her out of it.  she later admitted that the belt was rather uncomfortable.  we said our goodbyes and I got home at 7:30 p.m.  it was already holocaust day.


the regular television broadcasting is cancelled on this day.  they only view movies about the holocaust and documentaries.  interestingly enough, they did broadcast the BBC. I ate something quickly and pretty much passed out on the t.v. couch.  I woke up to a really dreadful film, 'death in love'.  I was too tired to watch it and too tired to turn it off.

I woke up this morning and felt as if a truck had hit me.  I was tired.  then I got the call form the yeshiva.  I managed to get there without taking a taxi.  the place looked clean and it had been painted.  I quickly started cutting up an enormous sweet potato.  I could barely cut through it.  I wanted to make an orange soup.  I had finally succeeded in cutting up the sweet potatoes, onions and carrots and seasoned it.  the manager came to tell me that they weren't planning on feeding the guys today.  I told him that I thought they had about 6 guys here already.  I got the green light from the head rabbi to proceed and make supper for them.

I quickly realized that they were out of gas.  I went into plan b and c.  I baked a bunch of white potatoes in the oven.  I then took the veggies from the soup and added pieces of cauliflower and zucchini and decided to bake them also.   there were no aluminum tin trays.  I placed the potatoes on the wire rack.  I removed some tin foil off of the electric platter and put it on a baking rack to accommodate the veggies.  I added some oil and broth from the soup to the veggies.   the electric kettle was missing so I didn't know how I could prepare some bulgur.   I took most of the remaining liquid  from the baked steamed veggies and poured it over a pot of bulgur and placed it on an oven rack.  finally, the gas balloon was delivered and I finished cooking the bulgur on the stove.

I made an israeli salad with tomatoes and cucumbers and a bit of tahini sauce.  I didn't mince it really tiny.  I took the electric platter into the dining room to set it up.  it was only 3:00 p.m. and dinner isn't until 7:00 p.m.  the few guys saw the food and I had to tell them that I only made one meal for them.  they didn't care.  they were happy.  it was the first hot food they had eaten in a while.  oh well.......

7:00 p.m.  I went to watch my cooking contest and realized that it is still holocaust day .  that is, for  at least another hour.  I ran outside to hang an Israeli flag.  independence day is next week.  I didn't remember but I actually found a huge flag outside the supermarket last year.  I am early.  there is only one other flag hanging on my block so far.

Getting It Back

it is10:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed.  the holiday of pesach ended on Friday night.  I still have not put all of my pesach pots and pans away.  I am in the process of  washing various pieces of cutlery, plates, sink inserts and dish racks.  I am cleaning the electric hotplate and still need to do the stove top.  on Shabbat I took out my grandma's blue glass soup bowls.  I only have 4 remnants of her set that represents a time gone by.  a time before disposable dishes and table cloths and cutlery.  a time of sets of china and linen tale cloths and napkins.  a time when everything was served on heavy china platters.

I serious wonder if I will be able bodied next year to pull out the pesach things once again.  who knows?  my brain MRI was cancelled for this week.  .it was pushed off until the end of may.  I see my oncologist next week.  I think it will be 5 years cancer free in October.  I need to wash the kitchen floor.  I also must tackle the upstairs for a potential rental.  I am also involved in getting costumes ready for a play at the beginning of may.  the kids went back to school yesterday.  the daughter-in-law's place of work closed so I am off the hook right now for babysitting.

my girlfriends and I played monopoly on Shabbat afternoon.  I slaughtered them.  I had a slow start but finished magnificently.  the key to success is to buy houses right away.  I didn't build up a lot of monopolies but I built on all the properties that I had.  one friend was not amused.  she is a bit of a sore loser.  my other friend and I were laughing and singing old movie tunes.  it passed the afternoon at any rate.  Shabbat is very long these days.

I did a bit of binge eating yesterday. I was pretty good during pesach but I did eat too much.  yesterday I polished off the potato chips and dairy chocolate.  I also had these horrible coconut cookies.  I need to get myself together for my oncologist appointment next week.  I am bored I guess

2:00 p.m.    got all pesach things put away.  I managed to rearrange the closets and put the pesach stove top on a bottom shelf.  too bad I couldn't fit the electric platter there, too.  I washed the kitchen floor and everything looks back to normal.  I actually prefer the way it looks on pesach.  oh well.....

Wednesday All Day

it is 9:00 a.m. in the holy city of safed.  the kids are chilling.  it is a bit windy but definitely sunny.  I am waiting to take the kids to the petting zoo in town.  I already made French fries for the grandson.  I would like to stop off at the post office and pay my electric bill.  I have hard cooked eggs to bring along with us.  we are all recuperating from the epic family barbecue and outing yesterday.  we took three cars and multiple trips to get to the outdoor park not far from safed.  we were picked up at noon and we were returned home at 6:30 p.m. I think I am the only person in that crowd who doesn't drive.

I brought a package of liver, a package of franks and a package of chicken wings.  I would normally eat everything off the grill but on pesach I am very stringent about what I eat.  I do not use spices and I do not eat anything with peanut, soy or corn derivatives.  I do not eat seeds of any kind, also.  they rubbed the grill with canola oil but what could I do? I ate a couple of boiled eggs but I was hungry.  they put my chicken wings on the grill separately but I gave most of them to the kids, who were starving.  I was content to sit and drink my bottled water.  the kids were running around and playing.

there was a huge wooden jungle gym with slides to keep them busy.  they were digging in the dirt and were filthy.  my daughter-in-law would have 'plotzed' if she saw the condition of their clothing.  the granddaughter fell and ripped her white tights.  the grandson's hand was bandaged after having been bit by the aunt's dog, the day before.  it was covered in dirt and I couldn't wait to get him home and cleaned up.  one of the young aunts thought he should be bandaged up again.  I knew that he needed to wash his hand very well with soap and water and apply a few drops of lavender oil as an antiseptic.

I finally got the kids showered and patched up. I let them rent the movie "thor' even though they had seen it already in the movie theater.  they lovingly warned me when not to look. at one point he lost his eye.  they didn't think it was for their fainthearted grandmother.  the six year old granddaughter assured me that it was not real.  we all fell asleep on the floor on mattresses.  I slept between the kids. I think we were all asleep by 9:45 p.m.  that's what hours of barbecue smoke, sunshine, physical activity ,and tons of barbecued foods will do for you.

I am pretty exhausted today, too.  running with the Sephardi clan is an endurance test.  I didn't really do anything.  I simply packed up some snacks and drinks.  I guess I need to barbecue the defrosted liver today.  I hope it isn't spoiled.  tomorrow is the last holiday of pesach.  pesach officially ends on Friday night and we go right into Shabbat   the kids will be joining me for Shabbat meals.  my friend is coming over on  thursday to barbecue some fresh lamb chops.  i'll make some mashed potatoes, I guess.  that will be our holiday meal. 

I don't know what i'll do for Shabbat.  I have more tilapia fillets , plenty of chicken and potatoes to cook.  I might make a turkey neck soup.  I also have chopped turkey to fill frozen artichoke bottoms. I will see how I feel tomorrow.  I am not so keen about doing much today.

ןit is 7:30 p.m.  we got home about an hour ago. I  made another batch of chips for the grandson.  that was his third serving of chips today.  I just peeled a bunch of tomatoes for tomorrow.  we got down to the petting zoo at around 1:00 p.m.  it was closed due to building repairs.  the kids were rather disappointed.  we stopped off at a cheap toy store first. I spent about $12 on action figurines and dolls.  town was virtually closed.  I couldn't find anywhere to buy them a popsicle.  we hung out on some grass for awhile and the kids ate potato chips and drank apple juice.  we caught a bus to the central bus stop.  from there we walked up to the large playground at the city park.

the kids ran around for a few hours until I got tired.  they wanted to visit their Sephardi grandmother.  we walked back to the main bus stop and the granddaughter refused to go any further.  she wanted to go back to my place and chill.  she was tired.  the grandson was relentess about going to his grandparent's house.  we jumped on a bus for about one stop and got off close to the grandparents' house.  we stayed for about an hour.  the granddaughter was out of control.  the grandson was good as gold for a change.  he had bought two sets of tiny lego in a plastic egg and he was happy to put them together.  the young aunt drove us home.  I reheated some franks and the granddaughter lapped them up.

the kids munched on matzah and chocolate spread.  I made myself some chicken breasts and a sweet potato.  the kids are not in the mood for showering.  I can't be bothered anyway.  the parents should be returning tomorrow.  they are doing art projects now and they are in pajamas.  I think it will be another early night.  i'll cook tomorrow.  I think I will make turkey meatballs and serve them in artichoke bottoms.  I plan on making mashed potatoes and fried chicken cutlets for Shabbat lunch. if I get to barbecue some liver I will make it in wine sauce.  and of course, my friend will be making lamb chops for the holiday.

Eyes Wide Open

it is 3:00 p.m. in the holy city of safed.  I finally got up and showered.   I think I slept though yesterday.  it felt like an out of body experience.  today is gorgeous and sunny.  I think i'll run down to the supermarket and buy some milk.  the kids will be staying here with me for a while. they went to see the new 'peter rabbit' movie with their mom in a nearby town.  we have a movie theater here in safed that doesn't show films anymore.  it does have the occasional play, art exhibition and school production.

I looked around today and I can't believe how clean my house is.  my drawers are also clean and in order.  I know I worked hard but I kind of go into a cleaning trance and don't always remember doing everything.  it is a great pleasure.  I still have food in the freezer, too.  I have way too many potatoes and carrots.  my friend brought over tons and I guess, I bought tons, too.  I forget I live alone sometimes and don't cook for a crowd anymore.

the yeshiva I worked for is, once again, looking or a cook.  I really miss the extra cash but I don't know if I can ever work full time again.  I will call after the holiday and check it out.  I gave up the job to a young father so he could have a livelihood.  I wonder what happened with him.  I guess you can't compete with a jewish mother or grandmother.  we give our souls and our hearts.

if the kids come tonight i'll make them fries.  they love them.  I have hot dogs and chicken wings in the freezer and marshmallows in the closet if we decide to do a barbecue tomorrow.  there is some kind of children's' activities in town tomorrow to go to.  it is a bit of a walk from the bus stop but I think we can manage.  maybe I should charge up the cellphone just in case we need a taxi.  I seem to live like like a recluse.  I hardly ever go out and I never take my cellphone with me.

I have plenty of cookies and chocolate bars in the closet and a few bags of potato chips left to take with us for a picnic.  I could also take the kids to the petting zoo downtown.  there isn't actually anything to pet but it's not really a zoo, either.  they have ostriches,rabbits, birds, and some kind of monkey or two.  sometimes they have a pony ride.  it's good for about an hour or so.  I better freeze some apple juice so we will have something cold to drink.  I could also make up some lemonade.  I picked tons of lemons from the tree before the holiday.

Oh What A Beutiful Morning

it is 1:00 p.m. in the holy holy of safed.  I didn't end up babysitting the kids last night.  my young male guest got home at 11:30 p.m.  I was still blogging.  the trio of adults skipped the movie and went out to eat instead.  it took some time for me to settle down and go to sleep.  I watched some television but I couldn't really follow any of its story lines.  I only realized this morning that my guest had turned down the volume.  no wonder I couldn't follow the shows.  I couldn't hear anything that was being said.

the grandkids went to their Sephardi family this morning.  I was left to rest and catch up on much very needed sleep.  my body actually shakes a bit.  the paying guests left a day early.  the downstairs is still very clean.  I got paid and didn't ask any questions.  I didn't offer any refunds either.  I can pay my winter electric bill now.  yeh!  I ate a mound of butter with a mound of round matzah this morning.  oh well....

I am too tired to actually do anything today.   it is a glorious sunny day.  the daughter-in-law is taking the kids to do something locally later in the day.  I am not involved.  we talked about taking them to a giant outside kids' park in a nearby city.  I guess, no one has any strength to do much today. I am off the hook completely.  I couldn't start making fries or schnitzels or even boiling eggs today.  I am really wasted.   I hope no one is angry with me.  we will see what happens tomorrow.  I assume the kids will be sleeping here for three days this week.  I am not sure if the family will be coming here for the end of the holiday or going to the Sephardi family.  it doesn't really matter.  cooking a regular holiday meal is a cinch compared to making a seder and Shabbat.  one is allowed to cook and even bake on a holiday with a just a few limitations.