Crocodile Sunday

A couple of weeks ago we went to Crocodile beach, my favorite spot in the camp. It is a 300m sandy beach in a very secluded corner, that very few people know about. It's quiet, protected from the strong waves and the wind, its beautiful and it is amazing for taking nicely framed, dreamy pictures. It is known as Crocodile beach by some of the neighbors, not because there are crocodiles, but because of a giant rock that splits the beach in two, looking like a crocodile from above.

Lately we do not visit it often because it has become a big production with Adiel and because we need to carry her for a long steep hike (no flip flops in this beach). We all like to go though, but specially the dogs.

This was our Sunday at the beach.

I love focusing on the little details like this one of the sand in her arm.

Sometimes focusing on the details happens by accident with nice results. I love this one of Adiel jumping onto daddy's arms, but what you see best is her father's strong hands holding her tiny fingers.

 

This last one is Uri writing her Hebrew name on the sand.

Have a nice weekend.

Mercedes

My neighbor Aris

Reality check! This blog is public!

I was thinking I am sharing the pictures and adventures of my daughter with some of my friends and family... when I wrote about the birthday party of our neighbor Aris it never occurred to me that sooner or later someone was going to google his name and get to this blog. He still is an important figure. As I told you, I consider him family, we love him. We have dinners together often and once in a while he talks to us about his life. The man is the most knowledgeable person I have ever known. He is kind, intelligent, sharp, strong... we really look up to him. He is the type of person that will speak his mind and take a stand for the things that he believes in. He is tough, he is honest and wise. 

A couple of months ago Uri and Aris got together to do fresh handmade ravioli. It was a beautiful afternoon and a delicious dinner. (A series to Aris' family)

 I like the shots of his hands. You can see the guy is an artist, a builder, an inventor. He is delicate and precise, but strong and firm (Italian).

I will keep a closer look at what kind of information makes it into this blog from now on! But if you are reading this because of Aris, please drop him a line and I will take it to him.

Take care,

Mercedes

A family portrait

It is so rare to be able to take family portraits if you do not plan it... We wanted to take one for a long time, but never really put any effort into it.

Yesterday, after I came back from work, we took a very short walk with the dogs and suddenly discovered that our cat was joining us. We continued a little longer and he slowly got to where we all were, so I decided to just find a way to snap a picture. I hanged my camera from a small post and set it on the timer. And here it is. The whole family. Our beloved Reilly, the alfa male who recently lost his hearing; then Coffy, the youngest of the dogs who is an adventurer and a great hunter; Evita, our pit mix who will always be our first baby; our cat Redmond, who is ooooold but still does the job; Uri, Adiel and me. 

This was the first attempt... It was hard keeping so many little ones together and in frame.

Lately I have been complaining... It gets difficult driving every day to the city and back, specially with Adiel. I drive one hour to get to her kinder garden and then to work. When I finish I pick her up, we go grab lunch somewhere, we do some errands and then head home for another hour. I wish we were closer to the city, maybe on the north side, where there are also more young families, restaurants, cultural activities, etc. The truth is I really love my home and our remote end of the mountain. We have put so much work and love in our place and it gives us so much back. We feel privileged to be able to live in a place like this and enjoy these lovely moments. Everything has a price and driving for a hour is not so high.

 This is our house and our adobe dome.

Redmond the red cat.

It was a month ago that we took our Redmond to the vet for a check up and we came back with one of those cone collars that prevent them from scratching an open wound. You see, Red has been on cortisone for over 3 years due to a form of cat cancer, and now he has a tumor under his tongue. He is usually happy and active, he is still hunting, but once in a while he needs a shot to be able to eat properly.  So one month ago when we had to keep him inside the house with that collar he totally freaked out. On the third day he disappeared. We looked for him e-ve-ry-where. We hiked ALL around the mountain more than once looking for him (he needed his meds). Apparently he jumped from a 2 and a half story high, through a tinny opening in a window WITH the collar on... We thought he had left us for good, we thought he had gone to hide and die. Believe me, we looked everywhere and then waited. We were so terribly sad, we cried, we talked about him... And then, after a day, he came back still wearing the collar (I can not tell you how dangerous it is for an old cat to spend the night out in the mountain with a giant collar on that does not even let him see where he is stepping... there are lot's of predators out there!). When he came back and we saw him mawing out in the patio, we were crazy excited and cried even more!!! He is stubborn and has a couple of very annoying habits, hehe, but we love him so so much. He is a great cat and he keeps our mountain house free of mice, snakes and insects.

And he is the sweetest to my Adiel.

 I hope living in Nature has a great positive impact on Adiel. I look forward to talk to her about all the flora and fauna that surround us.

I don't know for how long we will be here and where we will go afterwards...  I also don't know how our family will change in the years to come... but I know right now we are loving it!

Until soon,
Mercedes