Friday, February 24, 2023

Egg-carton pots, Pansies, and the feast of Purim

 Hello dear readers,


At the Daycare Center for the Elderly, I'm helping make miniature flower pots as "Thank you" gifts for the wonderful, kind, and dedicated members of the staff. These gifts have to be ready for the giveaway on Purim.  11 out of about 20 little flower pots are almost ready.  There are only 3 days of work at the center before Purim and a lot to be accomplished.  Making kits at home consumes a great deal of my time.  


To make the flower heads I followed my own tutorial  (https://drorasminimundo.blogspot.com/2017/03/pansies-tutorial.html)

This is a sample of what each kit contains. Before assembling the flowers and leaves cut-outs they have to receive a second touch of paint.


Purim is a cheerful Jewish feast in memory of the liberation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia.  The Scroll of Esther in the Bible tells the story of Purim.  Traditionally it's a fun time for carnivals and masquerades, sending sweet treats to the poor, and most importantly, reading the Scroll of Esther aloud.


Baalatova:

Drora is in bed now so I can openly express my opinion about the Israel Post authorities. They employ stupid morons. One of these morons wrote by hand, in bold letters, and in Hebrew "לא נדרש" (In English it means "not been claimed"). How on earth could it be claimed if they didn't notify Drora that the parcel arrived? Only after about THREE months and a thorough investigation, the parcel was found. I am furious!!


Solly:

Please, Baalatova, Don't put a spell on the Iaraeli Post Authorities, just make them more efficient in the future. Let me look again at what my dear mum Birgit sent.  I love the beautiful glass bird and hope Drora will find an excellent place to display it.  Oh, look Baalatova, the delicious marzipan, and chocolates disappeared already.

Baalatova

Don't worry my dear boy, these delicious, luckily still edible, treats have not completely disappeared, they are safely hidden on Drora's hips. Personally, I prefer a warm bowl of calorie-free eyeball soup.  

BTW, I'm confiscating the lunchbox. It will serve as a safe for my spell books and other witchy items.






DEAR BIRGIT

Baalatova,  Solly, and Drora thank you from the bottom of their heart, for your gifts, your patience, and most of all for being our friends.





For Valentine' Day, Dana, my sweet (already 17 years old) great-granddaughter gifted me a packet of edible miniatures - adorable tiny bunny chocolates.  These too, have long ago disappeared to "safety on my hips".


I wish you all, dear readers, a pleasant weekend with blessings. 

 

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Tu BeShvat - The Trees New Year






Hello dear readers,
The Hebrew Calendar has 12 (sometimes 13) months a year.  Each month has a name. "TU" means the middle of a month.  Shvat is the name of the month in which the feast of the trees is always celebrated. (I already explained about this feast in my post on January 2022) Sadly, this year too, children were unable to go out to plant trees in the woods as expected. We experienced BARBARA and one of the coldest, stormy, rainy days of this winter exactly on the day of the feast. 

On Sunday, the day before the storm, a class of college youngsters came to visit the daycare center and offered cakes made by themselves.  They also helped decorate and plant pansies in little plastic pots gifted to all the members of the center.  The following photos show my experiments in making a tiny paper version of the real flower. I'll show my attempts to the ladies in the Center.  If they'll like it we can start making more together.  I'll supply the cut-outs.











This photo shows the cut-outs from my punches which I used for making the flowers. 




It's really very late to show the gifts I received for Christmas. There were many other gifts from family and friends and there's still one to come from overseas.


Megan sent me a very large box of wonderful treasures.  The items you'll see are all involved with miniatures.  


Trinkets 



Tiny Fimo hand-crafted teddy bears.

Tiny Fimo frogs




picture frames



embellishments




Paper boxes


books



conserved tins

There were also sweets, tea bags, flower seeds, hand cream, etc., etc.

THANK YOU DEAR MEGAN FOR ALL THESE WONDERFUL TREASURES! AND ESPECIALLY FOR  YOUR FRIENDSHIP!

Another very special and useful gift is from my daughter Galia, an iPhone case Galia embroidered for me.  Sometimes when I don't wear clothes with pockets in them it's hard to hear my phone that is not next to me ringing.  My daughters worry when I don't answer their calls. Now no more excuses left.




I wish you all a pleasant and peaceful weekend to enjoy with blessings.