Gray and green

I spent a few days in Montreal and Quebec City last week to attend a professional conference (and give my first talk!) I hadn't been to Montreal since I was 17, so it was great to have a chance to explore a bit. It had definitely already turned to fall--the leaves were changing, and the weather was very gray and rainy the whole time. I loved it though--it reminded me of home! Certainly a far cry from the 100+ degree temperatures I had left behind in the Southwest.
Among the highlights of my trip were visiting the Algerian bakeries in the Petit Maghreb neighborhood (almonds and orange blossom water in so many delicious combinations). I didn't take any pictures, but I'm making plans to try to create something similar at home. My previous attempts at Moroccan sweets were ok, but seeing as these are among my favorite flavors, it's really about time that I perfect the recipes.

I also went to the most fun concert I had been to in a while (and I go to a lot of concerts!) The group is Bajofondo. They are a group of 8 people from Argentina and Uruguay. They mix tango with rock, Euro dance club, and some hip hop. The audience was really into it, and we all danced the whole time. If they ever come to your town, definitely check them out.


In continuation of the theme of my week, when I arrived home I injected some Autumn and French influence into my kitchen my making Apple and Almond Clafoutis, based on the recipe recently posted by La Tartine Gourmand. I love clafoutis as an alternative to pies or tarts. They are very simple to make, and have such delicious flavors.

Still here!

Hi everyone--I'm still in Israel (almost at the halfway point). My blogging efforts are focused on the Kesley Museum dig blog for the time being. Please head over for a bit to see what we're up to. My goal is to post at least one thing a day (there might be a delay in when they show up on the blog though). The blog comes in different sections:

the main blog
our find of the week
and dig life

If you have any questions or are curious about some aspect of our work on the archaeological dig, send me a note on the comments and I'll try to address it through the Kelsey blog. thanks!

A week in Israel

I've been working in Israel for a week now, and everything has been fantastic. We're staying in a lovely guest house with gorgeous gardens and a beautiful view of the valley below:


Miriam Avitan, who runs the guest house with her husband, makes us 3 fantastic meals a day. Last week for lunch we had homemade falafel:


I do my conservation work in a covered shed at the guest house, while most of the team works at the dig site in the mornings. I was able to visit it for the first time last week to see how things were going. They have a gorgeous view from up there of vineyards, and you can even see the Lebanese border on nearby hills.


This summer I will be repairing a whole lot of pottery. Although I do something very similar in the museum setting, here I have added challenges. For example, even though the ceramic fragments are sorted into groups before they come to me, there are usually a few sherds that don't belong. The two pots below were found in the same bag. I also don't have any idea of what the pot will look like when it's completed--or if I have all the pieces. It's like doing a difficult jig saw puzzle without the box, and with a handful of pieces missing.


The cool part about it is that I am the very first person to work on these objects, and the first to see them complete! The pot below was really challenging to put together--if you look closely you'll see that it was actually thrown in two pieces and put together so that the wheel marks run in a different direction than you'd normally expect. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on!


I hope everyone is enjoying a great summer. Although my internet connection is super slow, I'll try to add some pictures to the blog on occasion.

Summer slowdown

Early Monday morning I'll be leaving the States and heading to Israel for 8 weeks. I was offered a chance to work as a conservator on an archaeological excavation, and jumped at the opportunity. This will be my first time working on a dig, my first visit to Israel--and I'm very much looking forward to it. As a conservator on a dig, I will be stabilizing and putting together artifacts that are excavated by the team. It will be an intense work environment, where we will work from early in the morning until the evening 6 days a week. I will be knitting as much as possible, but do expect this blog to remain pretty quiet in the upcoming months. I'll try to post interesting pictures and stories if I can. In the meantime, I will also be guest blogging about my professional work as a conservator over at the Kelsey Museum website:

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/kelseymuseum.digdiary/blog_

If you've ever been curious about life and work on a dig, do keep an eye out for updates. And feel free to send questions my way!

Best wishes for a great summer,
Meghan