A reality bites post

Sometimes it's important to post the "reality bites" parts, just to make sure this blog doesn't become a full-on Instagram version of our lives. So this is maybe more like a Reddit post? After a 33-hour trip home from Israel due to a missed connection in Frankfurt, I came down with COVID. After exposing some sensitive people and all the anxiety that comes with that (they ended up fine), I studiously isolated in my home office, ate alone for a week, and got sore spots behind my ears from wearing N95 masks when I did leave my little home quarantine zone.

Finally got past that when a few days later, Portia got sick. Cough, congestion, fever… plus, well, because why not, some very explosive GI issues to boot. But she had five days of negative COVID at-home tests in a row. Huh. Finally took her to see the doc yesterday: whaddya know; it's the flu! Oh, and strep too, just for kicks. But confirmed PCR-negative for COVID! Meanwhile, Wiley catches it too… cough, fever, GI issues… and I've got a sore throat and a cough again too.

Good thing (for him…) that Neal was traveling this week and he and Graydon are away for the weekend camping. And just in case you were wondering about it, I took this cute picture just before Portia said she wanted to be alone and kicked Wiley out. Because, well, being sick makes you grumpy, too.

I've only been staring at the plywood for 2+ years...

With both real hands-on help and moral support from Nana (mastic) and Gramps (tile saw), we finally tackled the kitchen backsplash project! We're just missing the grout now.

Been staring at this ugly plywood for so long now, can't wait to cover it up! 

How many tiles does it take to fill the hole? Lots of measurements and head-scratching involved. 

Measure twice and cut once...? We did pretty well. There was only one tile we had to cut a little smaller after the first cut, and none needed do-overs. 

Thank goodness Nana is good with a putty knife (and suggested we cover the stovetop just in case). 

Ta da! 

It turns out there is no such thing as "standard white subway tile." After some long consultation and several visits to the local tile shop, we had these shipped from a warehouse in Michigan. Last of their kind! Good thing I have only used about 20% of the box... so now... where else can we put tiles???

Answering Maggi’s question

Mami went to Israel for a week-long "official" delegation from the US EPA to study water recycling (and general water management) practices in Israel. This is a photo of desalination membrane elements in an unusual format (usually they are only 8" or about 21cm in diameter) from the Sorek I seawater desalination plant, which will be the largest in the world when its Phase II is completed. Israel now supplies 85% of its drinking water from desalination and 85% of its agricultural irrigation from recycled wastewater.

Israeli wildlife crossings