by - 0 comments

The second and final bee gift this year

Decapping the comb
The frames go into the spinner
Spinning (hand spinning) click below
The empty frames come out of the spinner
Open the tap from the spinner and the honey pours into the double sieve which removes any wax click below
The honey is filtered through the sieve
Then we open the tap from the tub and fill the jars
by - 3 Comments

Parallel universes

View from the dining room
Date palms growing from date pits I put in pots months ago (they take a long time to germinate/sprout/ push through their hard shell)
Clouds dotting blue September skies
In Lviv, western Ukraine close to the Polish border, there are friends and family of friends whose lives are disrupted daily by Russian missiles and drones
These sketches and photos come from a book made by a friend who

Joined a trip we organised to Lviv (then, 20 years ago, more commonly still know by the Russian name Lvov). J and I took group from out London community on a week long tour around Ukraine ending with a Sabbath in Lviv. The most memorable trip of my life and the most poignant.

Today bombs fell one block away from the unique painted synagogue that we helped to restore. In 2007 we took another group of 150 adults and children from London to Lviv to rededicate the building and rejoice with their community.

Today I am thinking of all those injured in Lviv and the families of those who perished. For now the synagogue is still standing but the missiles fell just one block away snd the building shook violently. There may be unsafe areas inside.

I am so privileged to live amongst the peace of nature but the world of war is never far away and the news from Ukraine, Israel, Sudan and too many other places of strife and famine and injustice (including too many violent acts of murder, many by young children with knives in our own country) are just a heartbeat away.