Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Year, New Hard Drive, New Attitude

Yes folks, I am typing to you from right here at my newly refurbished laptop - back from the shop with a zippy new hard drive and hopefully now virus-free as well. My data is safe - they backed it up and then I backed it up a second time as well onto my own external hard drive (yes, I do have one, and I do use it regularly, I just hadn't had a chance to back up this last week yet, and I'd worked on a lot of critically important files this week). On a more worrying note, they said that in addition to my hard drive crapping out, my computer was also riddled with viruses that my company's swanky anti-virus software did not find. Lovely. They recommended another program, ESET NOD 32, as much better, but since this is a company machine I'm stuck with company software. I will certainly pass the recommendation on, though I doubt it will do much good.

As you can imagine I'm feeling very relieved now that I'm up and running again, but I'm also working on an attitude adjustment. Data, no matter how critical it may seem, is just data. In the grand scheme of things it's just small stuff, and they say not to sweat the small stuff, right? I had a major run in with the Big Stuff this week, the world lost a soul much, MUCH too young to lose, and in a way so random and tragic as to defy reason. His family's life will never be the same without their son in it, and my life is forever touched by my friend's loss. That is Big Stuff. That is something truly worth grieving over, a stupid computer, whatever it holds inside, is still just a piece of plastic and is replaceable.

Something else worth focusing on is the tremendous group of friends and readers I have here. You guys pick me up when I'm down, smile when I smile, and are so generous with your spirit. I'm truly thankful that you are in my life and are here to welcome me each day and to help me grow - as a mother, as a photographer, and as a human being. I couldn't do what I do here without you.

Perspective.

I don't always have it, but I'm working on it. This week taught me that.

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy, safe and peaceful 2010.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Major computer disaster

My laptop is in the throes of catastrophic failure, and with it all my latest work files and the last round of photos I took (including my chrysanthemum *sob*). The files are in there, I can see them with the Rescue and Recovery program, but it won't let me get them out of the C drive.

I'm on a 9-year old pentium 3 desktop for now and trying to keep my stress over this from reaching atomic proportions as I deal with my company's IT department and their distinct lack of responsiveness.

In short, blogging is going to be a bit hit or miss for (oh god, please make it just) a little while as I (please oh please oh please) sort this out.

Between that and a devastating personal tragedy that has befallen a friend my priorities are elsewhere this week.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Pink Chrysanthemum

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Click to enlarge
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Hot off the press camera - shot this one this morning and loved it so much that it went straight to my etsy shop! Those pink petals really pop against the black background, and the faint checkerboard pattern on the petals (how does Mother Nature do that anyway?) add some great depth and texture to the image.
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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Acadia National Park

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Click to enlarge
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Visit Monochrome Weekly for more black and white images from around the world.
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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas from Israel

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Madonna and Child, rooftop statue, Notre-Dame de L'Arche D'Alliance, Abu Ghosh
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Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and happiest of New Years to all who are celebrating. Visit Skywatch Friday for more holiday weekend skies from around the world.
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8x10 Giveaway Winner and Happy Holidays to All

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Congratulations to Lissie from Training to be a Mummy for winning the Around the Island Photography giveaway over at As Good As Cake, and just in time for Christmas too. Remember, you can pick any image from my etsy store or even one from the blog. I can't wait to see which one you choose.
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Happy holidays to all who are celebrating, and speedy get well wishes to me - after all, I've got a
blogger meet-up to get to Saturday night and this upper respiratory thing I've got going on is definitely NOT on the agenda!
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Fountain at Dusk

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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week. A very Merry Christmas to all that are celebrating (and a fantastic rest of the week/end to the rest of us).
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Monday, December 21, 2009

Let's just say this is red

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I know, I know, it's actually much closer to pink (ok, it is in fact pink), but I'm getting sick and haven't had much time for shooting lately and pink is basically just a lighter version of red anyway. Work with me here.
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Click to enlarge
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Happy Holidays everyone.
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Photo Giveaway - only 2 more days to enter

Quick! There are only 2 more days to enter to win an 8x10 print from my etsy shop over at As Good As Cake. Don't miss out!

While you're busy browsing the shop (and thinking of all the people who would love to receive a fine art photo as a gift - with yourself at the top of the list - go ahead and treat yourself if you don't win) I'll be heading off to bed - it's midnight here already and I'm fighting off a nefarious cold that has already led to the utter and complete demise of my voice. Heaven knows what it's going to attack next. If it (my voice that is) doesn't reappear by Tuesday I may have to cancel my shift on the breastfeeding helpline, and I'd hate for that to happen. It's staffed completely by volunteers and we're terribly shortstaffed as it is.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Winter Sidewalk

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Click to enlarge
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An unseen park bench casts a gridlike pattern of shadow across a sidewalk strewn with fallen leaves.
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More monochrome images can be found here.
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Friday, December 18, 2009

And so it ends

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Tonight we will light the final candle on the Hannukah menorahs and enjoy the collective light of their 27 candles (8 plus a shamash, or helper candle, for each of three menorahs) before packing them away for another year.
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Click photos to enlarge
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It's been a great holiday despite the rain and occasionally intervening work crises (both mine and my husband's - so much for early nights). There were latkes, and then more latkes, and then still more latkes (ours, friends' and the neighbors'),
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and jelly doughnuts, both edible and not
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and soccer tournaments (they won 11-4)
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Gifts were given, and received, dreidels were spun, (chocolate) fortunes were won, and another year's memories were forged in love (and hot oil). Who could ask for anything more?
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Wishing you all a very happy Hannukah.
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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Sky, reflected

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A bit of a different take on Skywatch this week. It's cold and windy and very very gray here this week, and it's making me long for the warm gold tones of summer.
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Just because it makes me smile

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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week.
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Monday, December 14, 2009

Red Gerbera Daisy

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Happy Ruby Tuesday everyone, and Happy Hannukah to all who are celebrating.
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Hmmm... Now that this is up I don't like it at all. It looks squished. Bah humbug. The center looks right but the petals are all wrong. It didn't look that way when I was working on it. I was a lot happier with yesterday's flower. Grrr...
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Calling all Israeli Bloggers

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Don't forget to
register for 26 December blogger meetup being held at the Nes Ziona home of Sara Melamed of Foodblogger fame. Come on, you know you want to. All the cool kids will be there, and we all know that YOU are one of the cool kids.
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The guest speaker will be Jacob Share, the job search expert who created the award-winning JobMob
, one of the most popular job search blogs in the world with over 1.5 million pageviews in 2009 alone, and the founder of Share Select Media, a company focused on authority blogging. Jacob is also the driving force behind Group Writing Projects, a great resource for (what else) blogger group writing projects.
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Like this image? Click to enlarge it, and then visit my etsy store, Around the Island Photography, to see more (link in sidebar). Fine art photographs make great holiday gifts and are a terrific (and easy!) way to send a bit of the Holy Land back to your loved ones abroad.
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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Lisianthus Bud

And now for something completely different...
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I've been frustrated lately with an inability to make the types of macro shots I want, the ones I can see in my mind's eye, without a proper macro lens so when a photographer friend offered me two magnifying filters to play around with until I can get my hands on a poor man's macro lens set of extension tubes from the States (I'd REALLY love to get the lens but I just can't justify it right now) I jumped at the chance to take them for a spin, even buying cut flowers especially for the occasion.
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Unfortunately the weather wasn't cooperative. My under normal circumstances almost bright enough kitchen was dark and dreary, and the work surface closest to the window was completely covered with fresh pasta waiting to be cut. (Photography is my passion, all things dough is my husband's. Yes, it's a tough life.) The vase of flowers ended up stuck in a dark corner between the sink and the refrigerator. Being an impatient sort I decided not to let this stop me and grabbed the camera and the filters "just to see what they can do". Ninety-seven very grainy ISO 1600 images later I finally conceded defeat and decided to try again tomorrow morning.
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Determined to salvage something from the photo shoot I decided to try for moody and brooding instead.
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It's not at all what I was going for originally but I like the way it turned out. It's fun when that happens. I quite enjoy the creative process in and of itself, and all the better when I'm pushing myself out of my comfort zone to create something new (to me) and different.
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Click to enlarge
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More monochrome images from around the world can be seen at (the apparently newly renamed) Monochrome Weekend.
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Friday, December 11, 2009

Happy Hannukah

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Tonight we lit the first candle on the Hannukah menorah (or rather the menorahs, plural - each kid has one that they made, plus the ceramic one Jay and I were given by his mother when we first got married).
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I completely forgot to take pictures in the chaos excitement of the moment, so here's one quick snap from Maya's kindergarten Hannukah party last night.

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(Editor's note: The kindergarten Hannukah party is a Big Deal in Israel, complete with much singing, dancing, props, jelly donuts and the ubiquitious black-lit white shirts. The "light sabers" you see are from these very strange light up sheep that the children recieved as a gift. No, I don't know what sheep have to do with Hannukah either. Nothing I suspect, but light up toys of every ilk seem to appear every December to mark the coming of the Festival of Lights.) .
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PS If you're liking the new larger images I've been posting lately you can thank Rita from
Coffeeshop Free Stuff - for this Blogger image size hack and for a whole host of other very cool PhotoShop and PS Elements (finally, someone who recognizes that Elements users are serious about their craft, even if they can't afford or justify buying the full version) actions, textures, tips and tricks that she actually gives away for FREE!
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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Winter Sky

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Israel, November 2009 - click to enlarge
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Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Window and Wall

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External wall of a reconstructed olive oil press building at the Eretz Israel Museum. Visit Window Views for more windows and doors from around the world.
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Have you entered the Around the Island Photography giveaway at The Big Piece of Cake yet? No? What are you waiting for? Around the Island's giveaway is just one in a month-long series of wonderful holiday giveaways Kate is hosting - and all by indie artists and shops. She's helping them (us! hey, I've got a store now too, I'm still a bit giddy at the idea) get the word out that there are many beautiful, unique and affordable gifts out there even in this age of big box store uniformity. Especially in this age of big box store uniformity, so head over there and do your part to spread the word about the talented little guys out there, and don't forget to leave a comment to get your giveaway entry.
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Latkes! (now with recipe)

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Breaking news: Around the Island Photography is sponsoring a giveaway! Visit Kate Coveny Hood, one of my favorite bloggers and all around do-gooding soul, over at The Big Piece of Cake for a chance to win an 8x10 print of any one of my images. Don't stop there though - Kate is running an entire MONTH of giveaways featuring those small independent artists, designers and shops whose products sometimes get lost in the Big Box Store shuffle. She's got a whole host of exciting giveaways going on all month - enter now for a chance to win fabulous prizes and discover these amazing shops (there is some SERIOUS talent over there!) for yourself.
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Click to enlarge, and visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week.

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Hannukah starts this Friday night. May your lives, and your latkes*, be deliciously light and joyful.
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* Latkes are potato pancakes fried in oil and they, along with sufganiyot (jelly donuts), are a traditional Hannukah food. That's my kind of holiday tradition.
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Several people have asked for my latke recipe. This one, slightly adapted from the one in Naomi Howland's storybook Latkes Latkes Good to Eat is our family's favorite:
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3 large potatoes
2 eggs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbl flour
vegetable oil
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1. Peel the potatoes and rinse them in cold water. Grate very fine. Place the grated potatoes in a colander and run cold water over them to keep them from turning black. Using your hands, squeeze out all the water.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the onion, salt and flour (this is where families with less picky children would also add pepper and about 1 Tbl finely chopped parsley). Stir.
3. Add grated potatoes and mix well.
4. Heat a small amount of oil to sizzling in a large frying pan. Drop mixture by the large spoonful into the oil and flatten into a "pancake" shape. Cook until golden brown underneath, flip, and cook the second side until golden brown.
5. Eat right away. Latkes are traditionally served with applesauce and/or sour cream.
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Monday, December 7, 2009

White Bean Dip, or, how I nearly starved to death for want of a photo

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The mind of a blogger is a dangerous thing.
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It all started the other day when we forgot a pot of beans on the stove and cooked them into mush. Nevermind, I said. I'll just turn them into something else. I saw an
interesting pasta sauce the other day that used pureed white beans. But without the scallops or the right cheese or the white wine (I was out) it didn't sound destined for success. I then remembered that a friend had brought over a pureed white bean dip a few months back that had been pretty good. Pretty good, but no wow factor. I wanted wow factor. So I headed back to my lonely writer's garret (fictitious bonus points to anyone who gets this very esoteric musical reference - hint, if you're thinking bananas you're on the right track) kitchen to see what I could do.
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Five minutes and six ingredients later I'd discovered bean dip nirvana. Seriously, this recipe turned out so well that I practically licked the bowl. (I would have too, if that big sharp blade from the food processor hadn't scared me off.) If you like white beans this is definitely the dip for you, and since it is, of course I wanted to share it with you. Which means I needed to quantify my "throw it in until it's right" recipe. And that I needed a photo.
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Now, how did I nearly starve? It's like this... (subtitled "Why I am never going to be a food stylist")
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I was about to sit down to eat my wonderfully smoky and delicious dip (love that smoked paprika) when I realized that the red peppers and red paprika would do very well for the Ruby Tuesday shot I'd been looking for.
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Okay, plate the dip in a small bowl. Dump Neatly arrange red pepper slices on a plate. Realize that red peppers on a red plate is ridiculous. Get a yellow plate. Dump Arrange, peppers on the new plate. Rearrange five or six or a million times.
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Take pictures of the whole setup.
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Concede that today's horrible weather was not exactly bathing my kitchen in lovely soft natural light. Turn on lights. Bump ISO up to 1600 in an attempt to avoid using the flash, thus making all the food appear a wonderfully appetizing shade of orangey-beige. Try again. And again.
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Rearrange peppers. Get progressively hungrier. Take a few last shots before giving up in disgust and going off to eat my lunch before it got manhandled to death.
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Eat. Ahhh... Bliss...
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It really was that good, even after the grand photo fiasco.
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Finish eating. Sneak in a few extra spoonfuls. Look at photos. Spend way too much time in photoshop, and finally end up settling for this.
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Click to enlarge (you can, but why would you on this one? If you're looking for actual good photographs go here)

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Trust me, it tastes way better than it looks. Really.
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Really.
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Robin's White Bean Dip
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1.5 cups dried beans, soaked and cooked into oblivion (very mushy) - can substitute 3C canned beans (drained)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl olive oil
1-2 tsp smoked paprika
2-3 tsp lemon juice salt to taste
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Saute the garlic until golden. Add paprika and saute over low heat for another 2-3 minutes. .
Dump everything into the food processor. Puree until very smooth.
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That's it.
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Serve with raw vegetables. Or crackers. Or just with a spoon. Not that I'd know anything about that of course.
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Sunday, December 6, 2009

Olive Press

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Click to enlarge
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I was so busy with the opening of my new etsy store this week that I nearly missed this week's Monochrome Weekly. (I also still haven't quite wrapped my head around the idea that it goes live on Saturday now, not on Sunday. What can I say, I'm apparently a very slow learner...)
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We took advantage of some gorgeous weather yesterday to visit Tel Aviv's Eretz Israel Museum (which I would have enjoyed even more if the rest of the cretins who share my last name wouldn't have complained quite so much about being bored). This ancient olive press is one of many on its grounds. It would have had a giant wooden beam through it which would have been pushed around in a circle (often by an animal) to roll the stone and crush the olives. You can see an recreation of an ancient olive press on the museum's website.
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Of course our own little olive tree (a sapling growing in a pot on our patio) only gave seven olives this year (yes, seven, I didn't leave out any zeros) so I doubt we'd have much use for a press like this.
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Edited to add a link to Dina's fascinating post over at Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo about how olive oil is produced today.
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Saturday, December 5, 2009

Hey look, I've got a widget!

Look right over there to the right, just under the subscription button. See? Isn't it cute? Thank you etsy for making it so easy to share my new online store with all my readers. Just click on the widget and presto, you're magically transported straight to my store. If you click on an individual photo it even brings you straight to the click and buy link for that photo. Cool, hey?

(Yes, this was a shameless plug. I won't overwhelm you with them but this is all still so new for me and I'm really excited about it!)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Israeli Sunrise, December 2009

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Click to enlarge
Visit Skywatch Friday for other skies around the world.
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I've finally listened to you all and taken the plunge -
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This image and others are available for purchase at
Around the Island Photography - my brand new etsy shop!
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Come have a look.
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Tuesday, December 1, 2009