creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Rain and cooler weather and even a touch of fall color in the neighborhood means winter is coming and so too the desire to craft cozy items. I would love to make this fun crocheted llama, maybe it will happen? With a family wedding in Jerusalem and a shabbat together before the wedding, I'm rushing to get it all done, so lets take a look at the features from last week's party!

A Visit To Kibbutz Harduf, In The Lower Western Galil, Israel

This past summer in place of traveling to the USA we stayed put in Israel, so I tried to find some vacation destinations that would feel like a totally new experience, though only an hour's drive away from our home! We totally lucked out with our first location, Kibbutz Harduf, which is not far from Kiryat Ata, which is north of Haifa. While the kibbutz no longer operates as it once did, this kibbutz happens to be quite dedicated to their communal mission which includes providing loving communal living for disabled adults as well as foster children. The market on the kibbutz is organic, and the folks I believe are mostly vegetarian if not vegan. The view from our rental was stunning, and I enjoyed walking the loop around the kibbutz and taking it all in. I have already shared a visit to the Tzippori River promenade, here, flowers of Harduf, here, the stunning variegated bougainvillia, here, lovely coral vine in Harduf, here, the views of Harduf here, and some wonderful mosaics in Harduf, here. Now, for a wider view! Won't you come along?

A Touch Of Fall Color In Northern Israel!

Fall has certainly arrived here in Northern Israel, and I'm grateful for even one little tree proudly displaying its fall color! So sweet really, as it can be seen from afar, which is why I ended up taking a walk with camera in hand to begin with! Of course there are many bare trees and lots of patches of earth normally covered with greenery, and the meadows seem to be slowly drifting off to sleep, but there is nothing like orange hued leaves to shout out, hey, winter is coming! So enjoy the photos I took yesterday on my neighborhood fire trail, and how about making a sketch from one of them, great idea!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! With Fall in full swing and cooler weather, I'll admit I've started a new knitting project that requires small needles and is quite tedious, especially since I'm trying to figure out the pattern myself, nonetheless it feels great to have yarn and needles of some kind between my fingers! I hope you try something new this season or return to a cozy craft of some kind! Take a look at the features and get inspired, there is always time for creativity!

Stunning Views From Kibbutz Harduf In The Galil

This past August we had the great pleasure of a 3 night stay on a kibbutz in the southwestern Galil, by the name of Kibbutz Harduf. I chose it because, well we'd never been to that area, and I was craving mountain views, something new, and within an hour's drive from our house. The vacation rental was on the edge of the kibbutz, meaning it felt like we were in the middle of nature. Here are just a few photos of the views from the rental and on the dirt road just below the rental. The view is looking West towards Haifa unless otherwise indicated. Enjoy, and consider exploring parts of Israel that you've never heard of, there are so many delights!

Stunning Coral Vine With Tiny Pink Blooms In Harduf, Israel

This past summer we has the great pleasure of a three night stay on Kibbutz Harduf, (more about that soon) in the Southwestern corner of the Galil, and I saw a lovely vine with tiny flowers that I did not recognize. Fast forward, today I finally had to chance to do a bit of research to find out just what this charming plant is, and yes, it is called Coral Vine! It is not native to Israel, but rather Mexico, and it clearly loves the climate in Harduf.

Coral vines have beautiful heart shaped leaves and delicate flowers, and they are often used grown along a trellis, arbor or stone wall as their growth habit easily covers them with vines. And when in bloom they attract pollinators like hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees! It is a tropical plant, so don't know if I can give it a try, (we have winters that get down to freezing) but I just might have to if I find it at the nursery.

Before you fall in love with this plant, it is important to note that the vine spreads very easily by wind, water, and through dispersal of animal fecal matter. Coral vine patches are known to pop up far and wide, and their growth pattern can smother other plant species. This explains why they are considered in category 2 as an invasive exotic species by Florida's Pest Plant Council. So keep this in mind and lets learn more!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here. This week has been full of conversations about knitting and a plan to go with a friend of mine to learn how to knit a traditional Jewish knit kippa from a woman (who is the great grandmother to some of my friend's grandchildren, so she has a family connection, and will do a better job of writing down the pattern in Hebrew!) Now, this plan involves a 2 hour bus ride each way, and multiple visits so here's to hoping it really does happen as I've been needing to do this for years! On top of that, my 20 year old daughter came home for shabbat and suddenly announced that she wants to learn to knit and crochet, and my heart nearly exploded! Later she said "I guess I really am becoming you....." and it sure seems that way, so maybe she'll be able to take over this blog someday, here's hoping! In the meantime of course, I will continue to sail the ship happily. Let's take a look at last week's features, shall we?

Simple DIY Broken Tile Mosaic

I love mosaics of all kinds, though the ones I've actually made have mostly been using broken ceramic tile and dishes. So this August when our airbnb's rooftop porch had lots of mosaic covered surfaces, I felt right at home! The mosaic portions are actually the top of the exterior walls of the home below, and beyond the railing (not to worry there is one!) and this crafty touch lends a really nice feeling to a vacation rental, not to mention that it pairs nicely with the artificial grass! Enjoy this look at broken tile mosaic, and think about where this might work for you?

Views Of The Kinnerest And Har Arbel From Hararit

This past August during our 3 week summer vacation, we had the great pleasure of exploring some stunning mountainous areas in the lower Galil, under an hour's drive from our home, and yet new to us. One of my favorite locations was a community called Hararit, where there are stunning mountian views on two sides of the mountain peak top location as well as a lovely view of Lake Tiberius (the Kinneret) and Mt. Arbel, another favorite location. Hararit is located on the Netofa mountain range, which is parallel to the Meron mountain range, the end of which we see from our home. So friends, enjoy my photos and think about visiting this amazing location yourself someday.......ask me about it if you like!

A Sunburst Over The Galil In Northern Israel Just Before Sunset

Yesterday as I was pondering whether I had time to do a #sketchfrommywindow for my ongoing Instagram sketching challenge, when I suddenly spied rays of light coming from behind a cloud, and ran to grab my camera! Not every spectacular thing in the sky can be captured by a camera, or at least not mine, so I was very pleased to see that I did manage to capture this "sunburst" over the Galil, and more specifically over the Meron mountain range! So now, when someone draws a sun with rays coming out of it, well, we can say we've actually seen something just like it! Okay, lets take a peek at some more photos, shall we?