Ersatz WORKOUT

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For ABC Wednesday E is for my son, Edo, exercising at Elma, exactly one year ago.

Daughter Naomi gave it a try, too.
I was too busy taking pictures.

You may remember my 8 nice posts about Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel in Zichron Ya'akov.
Thanks to the right connections, our whole family got to be together and stay two days at the new hotel, before it was officially opened. 

Don't you just love the table?
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Back when people still lived in this forest

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Let's continue the previous two posts and stay in Australia's Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden.
Here's daughter Naomi surveying the trails before she and I set out into the wild bush country.
You can click a few times and enlarge the photo to see the topography.

The maps says that "Guringai was the language of the people who first inhabited this area."

In many locations in and around Sydney, where I was visiting,  I saw statements like the one above:

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, the Guringai people on whose land we now stand,  we pay our respects to Elders past and present. 

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(Linking this M is for Map post to ABC Wednesday.)
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Organic bush crafts at Wildflower Garden

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A "Bush Birthday Party"!
My grandson's classmate had his 8th birthday at the big Ku-Ring-Gai Wildflower Garden in NSW, Australia.

Before they sat down to eat,  the ranger took them on a guided walk on the trails and they collected natural things from the ground, like seeds and pods and leaves.

The ranger held a bowl of brown balls and cautioned the kids not to bite them because they were not chocolate.
They were lumps of moist clay!

Here's my sweet Eyal contemplating what kind of "bush critter" to make from the raw materials.

Here's what came out.

Two girls created these fanciful gardens.

What a fun way to combine nature walks with "organic bush crafts."
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(Linking to OurWorld Tuesday.)

Libby makes capsicum boats

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 Granddaughter Libby is only 5 but she is already a specialist at making capsicum boats.
She fills capsicums (bell peppers) with tuna and avocado.  

During my recent visit to Australia I was surprised to find my daughter's new kitchen has dappled mirrors as splash boards. 
Just the thing for the bloggers' weekly meme Weekend Reflections.

Libby is so cute in her school uniform.  (This is the winter one.)
She is in kindergarten at a friendly public school.
It was the end of winter when I came to Australia but by the end of my visit, two weeks ago, the kids were just switching to the cooler summer uniform.
Libby's brothers go to the same school and must wear a white shirt and sometimes even a tie; and all the kids need a wide-brimmed hat in the sun.
I think it looks nice and gives a good feeling to have all the schoolkids looking so tidy.
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Honey for a sweet new year

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Tonight is Erev Rosh Hashana when Jews everywhere dip apples in honey and say the blessing asking God to grant us a sweet new year.
The tree hollow you see in the photo contains a hive of native Australian bees, busy making honey. 

It says they are stingless, never come out if it is raining or below 18 C, and pollinate within a half kilometer radius.
You can enlarge the photo to read the sign. 

The unusual hive is but one of the discoveries we made today at the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden.
Sweet daughter Naomi took me around the trails for several hours in the warm spring sun.
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A good and sweet new year 5776 to all!
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UPDATE: Just saw this interesting article about how Israel is teaching America successful methods of using eucalyptus trees and flowers and Texas bushes underneath to help bees in their pollination. And also selling eucalyptus seeds to Jordan and India for the same purpose.   Beekeepers in Israel have not suffered from  the Colony Collapse Disorder that threatens many countries.
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(Linking to Camera Critters.)
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Tel Aviv cats and their photographer

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My son is a professional photographer in Los Angeles.
Tel Aviv's MANY cats caught his interest when he came for a short visit to Israel in February.

We walked the little lanes of the older neighborhoods on a quiet Sabbath afternoon.

Schlaf-stunde, Shabbat nap-time for cats too.

Linking to Camera Critters.
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Hail, hail, the gang's all here*

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My kids all came to Israel for the week of Feb. 9-15 for their father's funeral.
That was the week of wild weather -- dust storms, thunder and lightning, and to the north snow.

We left Tel Aviv soaked and bedraggled after gale force winds and driving rain caught us on the way to the train.
Here son Edo holds hailstones that awaited us at our destination on that last day together, the new Elma hotel**.
But he was also squinting because the sun had come out.  Go figure.

Here is the view from the hotel, which hugs the southern slopes of the Mount Carmel range.

And looking to the other direction, inland.

West of the greenhouses and fish ponds and farm fields -- the dark blue of a wavy Mediterranean Sea.

Lots of agriculture.   (All the photos can be enlarged with a click or two.)

The weather changed back and forth rapidly in the 24 hours that we stayed at the hotel.
This dark and threatening sky was at 3:00 in the afternoon. 

Then just two hours later came this beautiful light.
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*One version of the 1917 tune: 
(listen on YouTube at the link)

"Hail, hail, the gang's all here,
Never mind the weather, here we are together;
Hail, hail, the gang's all here,
Sure we're glad that you're here, too!"
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**UPDATE: Just published in XNet/Ynet!: stunning aerial photos of Elma hotel now and as it was in 1968, when it was Mivtachim (a rest & recreation place of the Histadrut).\!  Also interior shots.
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(Linking of course to SkyWatch Friday! )
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