Pulled up to Nazareth

... and really was feeling about a half past dead. I'd had a pretty sleepless night in a little cabin we were staying in & that was enough to lessen my energy levels before we even set out for the adventure around the little religious hot spot in the north of Israel.
Nazareth is a remarkable place. The council obviously have a different set of rules concerning building and infrastructure standards. We drove around some pretty steep, narrow lanes, discovering at the worst points that they were 2 way... I have to admit that driving around was way more interesting for me than the church... I love it when the signs change from Hebrew to Arabic, it makes me feel just a little international.
We got to the Basilisk of the Annunciation and enjoyed the grounds and mosaics of Mary. It was an impressive building. I did find the lack of information about the significance of this place rather frustrating. As someone who likes a historical site as much as the next gal I still couldn't help wandering around that place wishing there was a plaque telling me what was what. But I'll make it easier on you: the church is the site where Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would bear the
son of God. But there's a spring down the road called Mary's Well where this visit may have actually happened. I Googled it super-quick-style and got flooded with all sorts of passages written in that 'thee, thou, shalt, bespoken' garb and decided I was satisfied with the first explanation that it might be the place where that visit took place.
I sound like such a cynic.

The family went off to the local pools on the second morning of our stay, leaving me alone in the pretty outdoors around our cabin. There was one view down a long, plant-lined path that reminded me of possibility. I practiced some Sun Salutations there and the effects of my second sleepless night disappeared. We had a lovely journey home, stopping in a Botanical Gardens and beside horse paddocks.

This country really is quite spectacular. I'm so lucky to be here.

Raw O'clock

For years I've wanted to try a juice feast (as opposed to a juice fast). I get freaked out by the thought of going without solid food because I love solid food so, so much. I get hungry just thinking about trying to go without a nice bit of bread or some noodles.... mmmmmmm-nmm-nmmm solid food.


You've probably heard of this 90 day feast that people are raving about; well I'm not doing that. What I have been doing is slowly introducing juices back into my diet over the last 2 weeks or so. The main thing has been starting the day with a fresh juice, and then having the odd glass in the mid-afternoon.
I've lost 1.5kgs without trying anything else. But this needs further explanation; I've never owned scales before, but at the beginning of the Israeli summer a friend and I decided we wanted to get rid of some of our extra bits that had started appearing - and sometimes actually pouring out - over the tops of our jeans. So we each bought a set of scales (which took almost 6 weeks to accomplish). Then we joined a basketball team. Then my friend went overseas for 6 weeks. Now, the scales have become a favourite toy for my children, the basketball totally f*@ked my left wrist (which has really upset my yoga practice - no arm balances, headstand, wheel pose etc) and my friend is either going to return skinny & beautiful or will look exactly the same.
In between my kids using the scales for their games I did manage to weigh myself most days, usually in the morning & at night. I'm not giving out the grand total here on this strange, public page, but when I weighed in over the last 3 days it's been at least 1.5kg down.

I've been juicing for years. My mum used to make fresh juice when I was a kid. Then a few years ago some friends got us a juicer (actually they got us an espresso machine, but we switched it) and I started a love affair with liquefied fresh produce.
My main recipes were always based around the combination of carrot, apple, ginger and often beetroot. Totally delicious! But now I'm trying to steer towards this green juicing world I've been reading about for a while.
Availability of many of the leafy greens used in most recipes is not readily available to me here in Tel Aviv, but I am starting a good hunt for these ingredients & will let you know where these things can be found. Meantime I'm using spinach, celery& parsley as the base greens & topping up with cucumber, lemon (my newest fav addition to all juices) and ginger.

Lunch today was watermelon, carrot & lemon. They'd all been in the refrigerator so it was one seriously awesome chilled juice. I had to snap a photo to share. Check out that colour!

Add to all that goodness a divine workout by Shiva Rea. I just got one of her yoga videos from Amazon for my birthday and today was the christening. Feedback: I can't wait to do it again.
Another little goodie I stumbled upon is this little workout for arms by the personal trainer of all the hottie 30-something actresses, Tracy Anderson. Have a squiz, it's pretty damned fun. And if you can keep going constantly for longer than 4minutes, you're doing better than I am!

You've got to grab the bull by the horns when inspiration takes hold. And I'm doing just that by getting serious about juice & yoga! Peace!