It's all in the feet

Finally, I delivered the photo of Father today, it took a while to find a good printer, but when I handed him the print, he exclaimed 'Allah' That was the best response I could have had.

Another gorgeous day and so I headed out on the Light Roadster and stopped off for a chat at Ahmed's place. He sits on the edge of the road, at the door of his premises, close to the 'Temsaleyn' (Colossi of Memnon)

Day in, day out, he sits with a pile of date palm and a cleaver making the most wonderful and functional things. Tables, chairs, sun loungers, picture frames, lamps, I have even seen him make a cradle that swings! He is so clever, that by simply looking at a photo, he can make whatever you want.
I have a mirror that is framed by the palm in my bathroom, as well as tables and chairs in the garden. Most restaurants and coffee shops are also filled with palm furniture.

I took many photo's today at Ahmed's and had a hard time to choose which one I wanted to share with you all. I decided on this one of 60 year old Abdin, Ahmed's father and grandfather to his 3 children.

Look how he sits. He has everything he needs; ghetto blaster, selection of cleavers and a plank of wood to hammer the 'nail' into the palm to make holes. He is so supple! How can he sit there all day, using his feet as a vice...incredible!

The wonderful thing is, that his son is carrying on the family tradition and supplies not only people on the West Bank, but also sends shipments to the UK.

We of course associate the Palm tree with dates and with only 10 days until Christmas Day, you will be peeling back the cellophane and stabbing those sticky dates with that plastic fork!

While I was saying my goodbyes, Ahmed said 'Wait'...within just 60 seconds, he had made a heart for me, which now has pride of place hanging in the garden.