Simple pleasures.....

I can derive so much pleasure from finishing a project. Even knowing that it will leave me to venture out into the world and become someone else's present. The process is what is most gratifying to me. In this case turned into quite a big object. There is only 100 grams of yarn in this object. amazing right? It's resting after being blocked on my futon bed, and that is how much room I needed to spread it out, a queen sized bed.

Anyhoo....I'm off to teach another sunday Do-In class in a few minutes, which is also a simple pleasure to enjoy with my little class. And after that back to the grind of finishing my big translation job. I estimate a maximum of two more days on that one.

Have a great sunday everyone!

mother nature roars again

My heart goes out to all the people involved in the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan this week. Some of the spots we know well on Big Island Hawaii were hit as well, the news said not so bad there, but I'm sure for some folks it was. This is some raw video on Kealakekua bay, near Kailua Kona. We swam there on our last visit when we were trying out our snorkling gear, and thought it was a quaint little seaside village, we might want to stay in next time.

http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2011/03/11/raw-video-kona-tsunami-house-washes-away-floats-in-bay/

I sincerely hope it was mostly material damage and no personal incidents. Either way all devastating. I send out my love and heart out to all.

Aloha

Reasons to be cheerful part 1001

I am blessed with many friends, but I of course also have a best friend, well actually two, one Girl and one Boy. How great is that? Boy does not live close enough to be a physical daily fixture in my life like Girl, but we do make sure we have our time together every few months (we need a fix every now and then!). Yesterday was one of those days. And we were so productive! Apart from catching up, shootin' the breeze, having coffee at the new Bagels & Beans, visiting my other workplace at the guitarstore, etc., we had chores to share (ahum). A doorknob that had been waiting more than 10 years to be attached........, cleaning up the computer (and thus making it faster!), and working on my website. Not often Boy decides to have a sleepover, but in this case he did because he missed the last train home. (he lives on the other side of the country). So today two more chores to take care of. Me: in charge of finding chores and giving directions. Boy: very practical and hands on! And luckily for a single girl I have an abundantly filled toolbox (very impressive!). He's still fast asleep as I'm writing this blog entry, but after coffee and breakfast, we will continue to be on a roll! Ain't life Grand?
So what else is going on......? I also got the guts up to ask my needle doctor to treat my Achilles pain that I had been suffering from for almost four years. He did, and with reasonable success, and I'm grateful to Zoe for coming along and supporting me for the first round of those, cuz I was a bit freaked, and I don't freak easily. And now after 6 shots in 2 months I'm done for a while, cuz that stuff seriously messes with my head (and my hormones).

Decided once again to control the yarn stash (yeah right), finish a lot of pending projects, keep the knitting machine after all and pay Jen installments for it like a sort of lay away plan, hehe, right! And just recently started to offer my little finished projects for sale. I make them just because I like the color or design or challenge of the design and not with a particular plan or recipient in mind. Hence I need extra rooms added to the house to allow for the stash and all the cute products arising from it. We'll see how the sales go, whatever happens

I'll probably just keep producing. But the little baby cardi I had made last week was sold within days, so that is hopeful. Have the little brand tags and business cards all laying in wait. Also sorted out a whole pile of grandma and mums button stash. Sorted into sets, packaged and labelled to sell off. They are vintage right? And I'm not using them.

The practice at the moment is too quiet, unfortunately. I'm working on a big translation gig and started to do a few extra hours at the guitar shop. I'm trusting the universe will support and I will be able to relax into "enough" or "slight abundance" any time soon. Am getting more and more relaxed about all this. And as you can see: I'm still standing!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2011!

We seem to all mention to each other how time is flying, and it flew again. So after having a rad fun filled party (Thank you Ria, Alex, Ron & Nick for organizing all that, I especially loved launching the big paper lanterns with our wishes for the new year. That was so much better than the usual plethora of fireworks that the Dutch tend to set off at New Years.) And now it is new years morning and I am in awe.........or just stunned.....hihi.

My housekeeper, who is the dearest soul, even showed up today to help me enter the new year with a relatively organized (my part of the deal) and at least clean house (her part of the deal). Luckily she showed up a little later than usual........ahum....but I was up and adam and breathing and drinking tea before she showed..... ;-) Albeit in my jam-mies, but that is okay for today. I tend to stay that way as long as I can today. Tomorrow morning I will be all active and teach my first yoga lesson of the year. I promise to be gentle with my participants.

I'm taking a short break from knitting and crochet production as I have bursitis in both shoulders and that got so bad that I had to have a shot in it (which is no fun but my orthopedic GP is a wizard at giving injections without pain). It's just a very intrusive nasty procedure to have done. And that is all that I'm gonna say about it.

Last weekend I immersed myself in the grand art of Tunisian crochet, which I hadn't done in years. Tried out all kinds of different stitches and ended up making a cute little pram blanket instead of just a few swatches. I was quite pleased. I will do more delving and later in the year I will teach a workshop in Tunisian at Woool. That will be fun. Throughout the year I have been teaching beginners and intermediate workshops in crochet for Pauline. And she is doing so well with the shop, I love dropping in on Saturdays to help her out,

just because it's fun! This worldwide revival of the needles arts has really taken off and hasn't passed as a fad.

I took a day trip on a Wednesday in December with Jennifer to Hoorn to meet Will Schouten and visit his shop, which resulted in a small increase of my stash, but still was great fun.

On the business level 2010 has been a good but challenging year for me and the practice. I think it is due to "intimidation" by the media over the crisis that makes people decide to keep their purses closed and not enjoy regular preventative treatments, although these treatments for the most part were still being reimbursed by the health insu

rance firms. Or maybe there are other reasons that I'm not smart enough to pick up on? So there was about a 40% drop in income for me. I must admit that I am developing more and more of a sense of Laisser Faire with all this, trusting the universe to provide for me and being immensely grateful for the support and concrete assistance that my friends and family give me when I really get into a bind. I'm still working two mornings a week at the guitar store, I'm still doing translation jobs and I also still am teaching workshops at the Pauline's yarn shop. So altogether all activities that I love and enjoy, keeping me basically covered, but still demanding work weeks of 60 hours and up sometimes. What I hope and trust for in the New Year is income just a bit above and beyond that, so I may relax a little more and maybe take some time off now and then for a breather, be it at home or on little or big trips. On that topic there are some wishes for the new year, visiting my friends in Goa (India), going to Glasgow again and swimming with wild dolphins in Bimini, and of course returning to Hawaii. Hope springs eternal!

Health-wise there are still a lot of challenges for me, but nothing that will keep me from achieving the above and more. So that will remain a work in progress. Happy to say that I'm on a diet that is working for me (anti-Candida diet) and that I've lost 13 kgs since oktober. Yeehaa, so if my body allows me I will keep shedding slowly........

I wish you all Health, Happiness and abundance for all of those you love, and ofcourse for yourself (and me!!).

In love and light

Yoff

where did time go?

Okay, so keeping up a blog like it should be is hard when you are so busy. Now to find out what I'm so busy with so I can weed out the unnecessary. I work hard in two places and I really need my downtime too. I love my creative projects and helping others with theirs (reading and translating for example. Since I have less energy to go around I have realized this has greatly affected my social life. I just don't have the energy to run around with all my friends anymore all the time. Which doesn't mean I don't love them and miss them dearly.

Anyway..........today is Sunday. I'm on summer schedule for teaching my do-in class, so I had this morning off. Taking things to a slow start. Out to lunch with my friend Jen, and then together off to an interesting knitting workshop with a famous knitter/designer who is from around here, but had her book published worldwide. Then dinner with another friend, and not back home too late like a good little girl. Before falling asleep each night I send off my version of prayers and distance treatments for some folks who are going through rough spots physically or otherwise. That is the time it is most easy for me to concentrate those energies.

And sometimes

I even remember to include myself in that moment!

I haven't been working like mad on any projects, just a slow trickle, but here are two that are my favorites from the last half year.

I'm focussed on keeping afloat through summer which is usually a bit slower than the rest of the year. But this year has been slow in general. This month I was saved by my first tax return in years. I was really pleased with that! This week a few new clients arrived (all on one day) and as much as I love all my clients. The new ones bring excitement and heightened awareness as it is my style to delve deep into their lives to offer them the best help I can offer.

It's been pretty hot for dutch standards, so my last week also was about keeping it cool, rescheduling and using my little air-co and fan to create a cool zone, so I could get a little sleep. Friday me and Rach hid out at the cinema, which is great cuz it's cool, and we love movies, so that always works out. Then we went purse hunting for her with medium success. It was a perfect day for shopping as it was quiet in town. I'm proud of Rach for getting out there. Good day for this exercise!

Holland has been in the grip of the world cup football. The dutch tend to go a little crazy over that. At which time I try to embrace my inner Canadian and just breathe deeply ;-)

My knees have been giving me trouble, so until I get myself to the second opinion center in Rijswijk, I've gotten over my initial shyness and started using a crutch while walking. Hopping on the bike to get around is still no trouble at all. So need to get a little brace attached to the bike so I can bring my crutch along on my bike trips.

I'm gonna go catch up on some shows I recorded over the last two weeks and then get gussied up for my venture outdoors downtown. As far as that goes it's simple nowadays, something clean, not too shabby and a dash of waterproof mascara. I don't do the full theatric version anymore, thank goodness. But those were the days!

See you soon, but I can't make any hard promised on that!

are you authorized?

I've come to the point where I think my blog doesn't even recognize me anymore, ha, ha! Well it is true, I haven't updated in forever. But as you can see, I'm still here, working away at my projects, working hard at the practice, taking workshops to keep my mind alert and inquisitive.

Health reasonable, little pains (and big ones) here and there, nothing to stop me in my tracks.

Mom was in hospital in December, that taught me a few things about myself and how my perceptions change and my own history weighs less upon me. Our magnificent trip to Glasgow to see and meet with our favorite band in December was a high point in my year. Glasgow is a great town as far as I had time to enjoy it, the people were friendly, the architecture grand. So I must revisit some one day and really make the time to take in the sights. As our weekend was so chock full of events we hardly had time for all that in December. The year has already brought me to the brink of march, I can't believe it! I'm still reigning in chaos by contributing my hours working admin at the Guitar Store. I'm learning to do my own bookkeeping online. Still detest the demands that the tax office puts on me (us). But coping with that too. December was an amazing month for the practice. Jan and Feb have been a bit less exciting and full. Still I'm doing okay. My anniversary year (10 years as a therapist) is winding down. And as of April 1st (no joke) giving in to the fact that my rates also must increase a bit following the rest of the world in being expensive! I finally crocheted my first piece of jewelry: an necklace in silver-wire with rough tumbled rubies. More to come I'm sure. Okay, till next we meet live long and prosper (I've been watching old episodes of Star Trek, they never bore me!).

miniature holiday

I have granted myself 3 days off starting tomorrow.
do have some loose ends to tie up, but that is okay
three glorious days off, no work, but instead time to visit friends.
might end up doing that one day out of three and just resting the other two.
I thought I was entitled cuz I haven't really had holiday this year.
Anyway, last week was fun teaching and participating in the teachers inspiration day for Do-In at the school where I trained to be a therapist myself. Bit nervous at first, but after that just fun.
I felt much appreciated and I always find it very inspiring to be with these people.
Sunday class was great too. 50/50 boys and girls (men/women), that hardly ever happens and one participant was only 10 years old, but very serious!
working really hard this week at all my jobs and tasks.
Next week I'm making the official start on Iris' book. Exciting and daunting, never had such a big project yet, apart from the ongoing translations for the crystal website.
anyway, life feels pretty good. The practice has been a bit more busy, which is very encouraging. The body is in a bit of an uproar, 5 or 6 tendons decided to go on strike at the same time and are all inflamed and very very painful. One at a time is enough as far as I'm concerned. But this too will pass.
Next week is already september, I really can't believe it...........really!
anyway, that is all for now I think. I'm starting to rest, now, right now!!