Back in 2022 Jonny celebrated his 54th birthday. In 2021 I made him a birthday card showing him
trekking around the Kinneret, or the
Sea of Galilee, with
some friends. In 2022 his wife sent me a photo of a beautiful hotel in Greece that the couple had stayed in and asked me to create a card showing
them in front of it.
Apparently their room was the one with the balcony, in the centre of the building, and they loved
it!
A few months after Jonny's birthday, it was Mizzie's turn to celebrate. It was a short time after Mister Handmade in Israel and I lost our youngest son and I was finding it hard to work, but Jonny knew that my cards were important to his wife, so wrote and asked me if I could perhaps make her a birthday card. He suggested a design showing Mizzie and me on one of our
tiyulim (a walk or hike). Every couple of weeks, in the months after my son passed away, we would go out into the Jerusalem countryside for a short walk in nature and then I would find a nice café for dinner. One of our favourite picks was the Orchid Greenhouse Café at Kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha in the Judean hills, just off the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. The café is a charming place, set in a greenhouse; half of it is used as a café and the other half an orchid nursery. The dairy and vegan food is delicious and the service is excellent. We have both been back.
I was unsure whether I could even create a card with me on it or whether Mizzie would want me on her birthday card, but Jonny was sure that she would love it.
I decided to show the two of us sitting in our favourite café, with the beautiful orchids in the background. We are enjoying a cup of tea, or in my case, coffee, and sharing a big slice of lemon cheesecake for dessert (as we once did!). And just to point out the obvious, Mizzie is on the left, with brown hair. I am on the right, with my grey curls.
It turned out that Mizzie was very happy with her card and, as it happened, she loved the Orchid Greenhouse Café so much that she went back there with her whole family on her birthday.
"Thank you so much for the beautiful card, it means so much... You're so creative and talented!" she wrote to me, adding "The Lisa card MADE my birthday!"
