Peach Blossoms

The smells of spring here are intoxicating, orange blossoms, peach blossoms and lemon trees exploding with fruit, lemon sorbet next on the to do list.  It is officially spring here (although it already feels like June to me) bright skies, and no more rain (have been told rain will not come again till the end of September).  With one exception- I have been assured it always rains on August 15th- on Saint Mary's feast (we'll see about that).  

If you have a few  minutes do check this out- cool little video - Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie here.

 

Sigh

Not mine, am afraid but oh what a fun few sites to stroll through... starting with this- apartment therapy , then on to this  here  or some fun interior design-Harlequin. 

Discovered this architect Kyu Sung Wu, I believe he is Korean. Quite a fan of his style- in particular like his stone cloud house. 

Food!

Aside from watching the kids run and planes land our Sunday afternoon trip to the cafe at the local airport also left us very inspired ( we fell for yet another cook book). Breakfast Lunch Tea by Rose Carrarini.  

Wishing I could stroll over for a meal at her restaurant. 

I suppose I must be inspired lately- have begun again to make ice cream- starting with a chocolate fig sort yesterday. M M M 

Fennel Salad

My other half ( the one with Mediterranean blood), got inspired lately and made a fantastic Saturday lunch (fresh sea bream from the local Sunday fish market)  roasted potatoes and my favourite bit- the salad. Not being so keen on Fennel in the past I was surprised how much I loved this taste-of-summer salad, a simple fennel, fresh mint and orange salad. 

Fennel, mint and orange salad

half a bulb of Fennel, sliced and cooked till tender in boiling water(3-5 min) , fresh chopped mint (7-10 leaves), one orange peeled and cut into bite size pieces, (separately mix lemon juice, olive oil, little white vinegar, salt and pepper in a jar) toss with remaining ingredients shortly before serving.  

My son came to tell me he made a picture of he and his sisters... bit alien like, I believe the square headed one is himself.  

Because I just have so much time on my hands...(not at all)  but I can't keep away from that 2 am work time- I decided to make a social studies blog for my students-complete with links (exploding volcanoes, Hindu dances etc.).  So if you have any interest in The Second World War, Tourism and the Environment, Ancient India or Globalization give it a look - (one more week of teaching practice to go) will miss my students and the school.   

Bits and bobs

No time for films am afraid, I am totally out of the loop. Books same story but here is a recent find (not a bright first thing in the morning sort of song) but lovely just the same by Roakia Traore. 

Also in my search for some second world war songs to share with my students I came across this song (It's been a long long time) pretty sweet. How hard it must have been for all those families separated by the war . 

I have been on the look out for a few good new children's books, (my sons fifth birthday is around the corner)  . This one seemed interesting, it's by the same author who wrote Blueberries for Sal (an American classic I think).

So wish I could buzz myself back to the UK

 

To meet some new babies and to go see this play - England People Very Nice-if anyone out there goes to see it, please do let me know what you thought of it! 

Thank you St. Joseph

It was St. Joseph's day on Thursday so we all had off from school, which meant picnic in the park for my lot.   We went to a place I had never been before, Mistra Bay. The flowers were all blooming  and the sky was clear, an idylic day. A break amid the rush around of the usual week. Thank god for lovely moments when you do stop and take the time to sit in the sunshine and be happy for exactly where you are and who your with. 

Oh No

We did end up buying that Andrew Bird cd and I love it! Oh no is the title of the first track, really  like the lead in whistling bit.. a nice tune to get stuck in your head... and it makes me think of my grandfather who used to be such a fantastic whistler. 

These are some old Russian propaganda pictures from the Cold War (taught a class on the subject on Friday). In my search for resources to use in the classroom (to make the subject a bit more interesting) I found a whole bunch of old posters, here are a few, I enjoyed looking through the old posters. Still running to stand still here,  sorry for the lack of posts of late! 

One other tidbit for the American folks out there- the Fresh Air NPR interviews this week on the US health care system were really good-recommend it if you have time. 

No making or baking this week sad to say... my other half has taken the cooking on lately, look forward to the end of this course and getting back to trying out recipes from some of our (recently unpacked) cookbooks. 

We have doors and bookshelves now!!! Feel like at last I have landed! 

Oh to have a bit more time!!!

Totally overloaded at the moment..feel like I am jumping rope ....any moment am sure I will trip up and land on my face.

If I did have time......I would run to the library or local bookstore and try to find one of the books mentioned in this Tuesday's Guardian -As their country descends into chaos Pakistani writers are winning acclaim.
On the kid front- Stella has learned to sayÁlbi' which crudely translated means my heart, and then this is followed by a big hug and snuggle... yes leaving for campus every morning is pure and simple torture... it really does feel like my heart is breaking. She is one and for me to be away from her all day feels terrible.
On the up side- I introduced my kids to the classic Mahamanha song- which we have been hearing from them for days now- highly recommend.. I think I have never seen Gaetano laugh so hard. The turtle episode of the Swedish chef was really enjoyed by he and Liliana.
Good ole You Tube! If you don't totally hate James Blunt by now- his oh triangle song is pretty funny too- my kids love it! James Blunt on Sesame street.

Spring!

Seems out of nowhere the almond trees are all in full bloom, wild flowers popping out in the fields and when the sun is out- it feels just like May!  

Not exactly related but I do so like this song by  Thao Nguyen-(thanks Melis) and it sounds the way I am feeling at the moment. 

The Bee

A little something I came across this week in class.... quite liked it. 

The animal school (especially good to watch if you are involved in teaching or are a parent). 

Hooked!?

I think I may be pretty into this magazine- totally new discovery for me but perhaps its been around for awhile... it covers all kinds of global current issues AND cultural going ons- film, music, design, architecture, fashion... (and has GREAT pictures)... 

It's called Monocle. Seriously feel like I want to pause all else and just tool through their site for days-weeks (admittedly I got a little side tracked while buying a course book this week and walked out of the university bookshop with the a hard copy of this magazine) it's one of those thick magazines that you want to keep- add to the library...use as a reference.  Sort of like Granta. 

Home Sick

 

Down with the flu this week, and now my husband and son are too, am sure the girls will soon follow- endless cups of tea ahead! Must admit though, after the many weeks now  (since moving to Malta) of this new routine- up early out the door by 7 and not  home till after 6 .. it's been so nice to just BE  HOME ...really appreciate it.. it's not a weekend filled up with activities. 

A totally no expectations (apart from get some rest) day. Helps that's it's a completely miserable day out- pouring with rain and howling with wind.  Glad I got to forgo lectures and be home, let the kids cuddle up in front of our one little heater, with blankets and cups of tea,  putter about .. make warming soup for lunch..... the house finally has some life in it. It does feel so wrong to come home to an empty cold house every day... I think part time work would be just the ticket.... this full time back to school business is pretty demanding.

 

Not too much else exciting to say other than it's been a slow inside day with the family.

Featured in the picture are two books the children got for Christmas... a sick day is a perfect day for endless stories.  

Fits and Dizzy Spells

is the name of a delightful little song I heard this morning while enjoying my walk through the fog to University....( did I mention I love podcasts) - this I heard while listening to an interview with Andrew Bird from an NPR show called All Songs Considered. Guess the only way to hear the song is from  here (the album is coming out on Jan. 20th and is called Noble Beast).

Of note this week is the discovery that here in Malta if you are sick, your employer commonly has a ín house doctor' which then makes a house call to verify if you are really sick.... isn't that crazy?! My sister in law was home sick on Monday and within a few hours he came to check.

You can learn a lot of things from the flowers

My daughters favourite thing to listen to/watch these days is this scene that she saw the other week in the Alice in wonderland movie- a pretty sweet scene I must say - called Golden afternoon .   Follow the link to watch the scene- recommended if you have any under 4 year olds about. 

Should Really Be Studying

But ever since we watched the first episode of Madmen Adrian and I have been hooked! The costumes, sets, script and even music do not disappoint. Only down side is it makes you want to pick up smoking.

It certainly is a nice 'escape ' of sorts from the ongoing drill of preparing presentations and papers. What was I thinking- going back to school. The stress! 

BTW Just love the head secretary -  what a lady! 

What more...

could I want...... a night out on the town (Chicago) with my sisters who I so rarely get to see these days... champagne, sushi, saki and edamame to boot! 

A winter wonderland awaited us in Wisconsin- truly lovely. The children had a blast sledding, making snow men, sipping hot chocolate by the fire and hanging out with their cousins. 

Back now to the whirlwind of Malta. Feeling mighty refreshed though. 

Home Sick

Such a delay and odd departure..just when things were beginning to feel 'normal'. Major house works forced us out of our home for three weeks and at JUST that same moment (to the day) my four year old son was taken into hospital..... it's been three weeks now and we are still not able to move back but Gaetano is able to walk again and has had his first day back at school Hallelujah!!!
The girls are sick now but with curable familiar illnesses; ear aches and chesty coughs (just part of the seasons gifts). Teaching practice has been all consuming as having a really unwell child has been. 33 came and went and look what a friend passed on-FROM ONE PIECE OF PAPER - such a delight to look through- do take five min and check it out. Hope to be back in our home soon (our car has broken down and we are stranded at my in-laws... sigh... Malta has been a bit of a bumpy road so far).
thanks to all the warm support these last few weeks from dear ones far away.

oh heck - this school business has made me totally fall off the sewing/knitting/cooking bandwagon!! My days are now full of preparing lesson plans (one of my tasks is to develop a six week (30 lesson) course on Latin America- it's cultures, history, politics, economies and geographical aspects, etc.... which I am pretty excited about truth be told). Have been posted to a international school here (which follows a very broad theme when it comes to Social Studies (am teaching Judaism in another class). So creativity on the home-front has been reduced to nil. Maybe my next post will be a power point presentation on the Mayans... or would that bore you all....? 

Other big (round here) news is Stella is 1 and for her quccija (pronounced Uchia, which is a Maltese tradition when a child turns one- consisting of choosing an object that represents his/her future career- life path) she walked straight over to the calculator - then with the other hand grabbed a pen...... ahh hummm the math side of her genes have maybe won. Photo featured above.

Not to be missed

Favourites of the week include finding out about this new campaign(photo above)  written about in the guardian. Listening to Friday's episode of Fresh Air - an interview with Charlie Kaufman (of Adaptation, Magnolia).  Lastly an interview with Michael Pollan, the author of the book  In Defense of Food and who also recently wrote an open letter to the next president which was featured in last weekends New York Times Magazine. In my opinion he has some very wise words.... worth listening to (esp. those in the U.S. as it gives a critical and historical look at our food-farming industry).