Extreme hospitality update

Reading down the blog, I went back to the first post - time for an update on our global village guests. Our Polish-German friends are now working in Germany with their American toddler and a new (?) German son, whose bris, iy"H, will be tomorrow. Our American PhD student married a woman whose parents live down our road. The wedding was in Israel in the summer and the happy couple will be taking up residence in our loft again for Sukkos. Our Swiss friend is marrying a boy from our shul, in Switzerland, after Yom Tov and we now have a queue of singles, asking if they can live in our loft :) Isn't it amazing what can happen in a year?

yomim norayim thoughts

Snatching a few quiet minutes while everyone else is asleep after Tzom Gedaliah, gives me a chance to catch up. I can't believe I haven't posted for 6 months. I don't know how other people manage to do it every day! Purim was short but wonderful, Pesach long and amazing. Every year I think, surely this is it - Moshiach will come this time, but no, and we went into the sefirah, which for us has 2 birthdays, and this year an opsheren. Our baby is no longer a baby, but a little boy with peyos and tzitzis. He is now in nursery and enjoying it, but still loving his home time as well, and needing to recharge with lots of cuddles.

A gorgeous and revitalising 2 weeks in the mountains - so good that we booked again for next year immediately - this time for three weeks! The back to school rush and now a month of yom tov. The cooking is fine, but I can't see how I am going to get everyone's Shabbos clothes clean twice a week for the next 4 weeks.

B"H Rosh Hashana went very smoothly: no disasters on either the home or shul front. Now Shabbos and into Yom Kippur. Our shul runs a short programme after Kol Nidrei and this year, in the absence of any other takers, I am one of the speakers (gulp). When I have planned what to say, I think I will post it so I can see what it looks like.

The family is "in a good place" at the moment. We have had lots of bonding time and on erev Rosh Hashana we sat at the supper table and sang niggunim and "Melech, melech, melech" which felt uplifting and a good preparation for yom tov. Just as well, because we didn't really have singing guests and also my husband, having davenned, leyned, spoken and blown the shofar, wasn't really up to it at lunch time!