So my car wouldn't start yesterday, or this morning, so eventually I decided I had no choice but to call out the ANWB (RAC).........nice man came along with his jump leads etc and determined that the battery was not up to scratch!! "Replace battery" flashed up on his little reader.................so the long and short of it is that I am now 100 euros poorer and Phoebe sounds like a F1 racing car!!! Whoa, what a difference when I fired her up with the new battery!!! No wonder she has been struggling for such a long time, totally under-powered I realise now. I was then able to get the last minute shopping for Tim and 3 apple flaps for us this evening, and come home.
Finka is snuggled happily under her blanket on the spare bed. I debated whether to wait until later on to give her the sedative but a few incredibly loud bangs later I decided she had better start now. I can hear her purring as I type, but her legs are wobbly again and she is sleepy so I am hoping it will all be alright this evening. From around 7pm the fireworks can legally be let off, so it is going to be very noisy and very long......thank goodness there is no need to go anywhere again today!!
Sue xx
Friday, 31 December 2010
Last Reverb 10
Core story. What central story is at the core of you, and how do you
share it with the world?
This is the final reverb for 2010. I have not been neglecting them but some of them seemed to repeat things I had already said, so I have kept them in my journal. I think this one means what defines us; what is the unique 'you' that makes you that individual person, the never to be repeated, once only, irreplaceable you. And I am not sure how I want to answer it. I can, and I have a fair idea about what I would say, but it is too personal to say out loud.
How do I share it with the world? By simply trying to be the best that I can. Being there for others, helping and listening and sharing their burdens. Being a good friend. Being a good mother. Learning to listen more to my heart and intuition. Trusting freely even when I get brutally wounded by the actions of others. Not losing sight of my own gifts however insignificant they may seem to others. Following my dream.
Susannah Conway is the instigator of the unravelling courses and sometimes I read her blog to see what inspiration I can gain from it. (susannahconway.com) She talks a lot about not allowing the negative side of life to hamper you from going for what you secretly wish for. About not letting life's knocks kick you so hard you don't recover. About believing that you deserve to have that dream come true....................so in her words:
saying yes
saying no
believing in possibility
taking risks
trying really hard, then trying some more
finishing
putting it out there
being open
being patient
being excited
allowing dreams to manifest without getting in their way
letting go of all fear, worry and competitiveness
embracing hope.
So, having thought about it long and hard my one little word for 2011 has to be REGAIN.
Have a great day, a fun evening, be with friends and family, and most of all, be safe as you welcome in 2011.
Sue xx
share it with the world?
This is the final reverb for 2010. I have not been neglecting them but some of them seemed to repeat things I had already said, so I have kept them in my journal. I think this one means what defines us; what is the unique 'you' that makes you that individual person, the never to be repeated, once only, irreplaceable you. And I am not sure how I want to answer it. I can, and I have a fair idea about what I would say, but it is too personal to say out loud.
How do I share it with the world? By simply trying to be the best that I can. Being there for others, helping and listening and sharing their burdens. Being a good friend. Being a good mother. Learning to listen more to my heart and intuition. Trusting freely even when I get brutally wounded by the actions of others. Not losing sight of my own gifts however insignificant they may seem to others. Following my dream.
Susannah Conway is the instigator of the unravelling courses and sometimes I read her blog to see what inspiration I can gain from it. (susannahconway.com) She talks a lot about not allowing the negative side of life to hamper you from going for what you secretly wish for. About not letting life's knocks kick you so hard you don't recover. About believing that you deserve to have that dream come true....................so in her words:
saying yes
saying no
believing in possibility
taking risks
trying really hard, then trying some more
finishing
putting it out there
being open
being patient
being excited
allowing dreams to manifest without getting in their way
letting go of all fear, worry and competitiveness
embracing hope.
So, having thought about it long and hard my one little word for 2011 has to be REGAIN.
Have a great day, a fun evening, be with friends and family, and most of all, be safe as you welcome in 2011.
Sue xx
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Happy New Year to You
This is one of my favourite movies, and a sentimental tribute for the end of the year. I hope you enjoy it too.
Finka has had one of her sedatives this morning and has been wobbly around the house as though she was a ships cat!! Her little legs could barely keep a straight line, so I think she reacts very well to just even a third of the tablet! She was put out by her bed in our bedroom being moved overnight, so couldn't rest all morning until she finally dragged her blanket down the stairs and into the living room so that she could snuggle up in it as normal!!! She is the smartest cat in the world!! There are more fire crackers going off now, so I am glad she has had it, and I will top her up in the next couple of hours so that tomorrow is not so bad for her.
Tim and Lex are still baking the oliebollen at the bakery so I think the smell of them when he returns will be over-whelming! I do hope he brings me an apple-flap or a cherry one ( even better) as those I do love.
My car wouldn't start which was a nuisance when I needed to get to the shops so I biked there instead. I hope it starts on Monday when I need to go to Schagen..........wish I knew what the right thing to do is to get it going again????
My little word is still undecided as I have narrowed it down to two, but not made a final decision. I am going to plump for either REGAIN or WAIT. I seem caught between the two of them right now, so have to decide which has the more weight to it, and more influence over me in 2011.
Well, I need to do some other things before the afternoon is out, so I guess now is as good a time as any to make the move and do them!!!!
Just one more day to 2010..................and thinking back to last year, today was when I heard that Xander was terminally ill and needed to go to sleep. He is uppermost in my thoughts today and will be tomorrow as well..............he is certainly never forgotten.
Sue xx
Finka has had one of her sedatives this morning and has been wobbly around the house as though she was a ships cat!! Her little legs could barely keep a straight line, so I think she reacts very well to just even a third of the tablet! She was put out by her bed in our bedroom being moved overnight, so couldn't rest all morning until she finally dragged her blanket down the stairs and into the living room so that she could snuggle up in it as normal!!! She is the smartest cat in the world!! There are more fire crackers going off now, so I am glad she has had it, and I will top her up in the next couple of hours so that tomorrow is not so bad for her.
Tim and Lex are still baking the oliebollen at the bakery so I think the smell of them when he returns will be over-whelming! I do hope he brings me an apple-flap or a cherry one ( even better) as those I do love.
My car wouldn't start which was a nuisance when I needed to get to the shops so I biked there instead. I hope it starts on Monday when I need to go to Schagen..........wish I knew what the right thing to do is to get it going again????
My little word is still undecided as I have narrowed it down to two, but not made a final decision. I am going to plump for either REGAIN or WAIT. I seem caught between the two of them right now, so have to decide which has the more weight to it, and more influence over me in 2011.
Well, I need to do some other things before the afternoon is out, so I guess now is as good a time as any to make the move and do them!!!!
Just one more day to 2010..................and thinking back to last year, today was when I heard that Xander was terminally ill and needed to go to sleep. He is uppermost in my thoughts today and will be tomorrow as well..............he is certainly never forgotten.
Sue xx
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
One Little Word 2011
Every year I try to think of that one special little word that is going to keep me on track for the coming twelve months. I have been joining in this habit for several years now, and like the reminder it offers when things are not going the way I hope or want or wish. It is a word that means something to me alone, not your interpretation of it, or what you might think it means to me; it is uniquely mine. So I am taking my time and thinking hard about what I want to choose for 2011.
I have just got ahead of the mountain of ironing that needed my attention today! I do so love putting ironing away; never getting it out!! But today has been all about chores, and not much else. At 4 o'clock I am finally ready to put my feet up with a good book and a cup of tea. My energy levels are not high today. I always have a rather low blood pressure so do get 'dips' in the day when I feel really tired and lethargic for an hour or two, but then I get going again so I never worry too much about it. I think I am not sleeping as well as I ought to......maybe that is the problem. I wake up in the middle of the night and then go back to sleep again only to find it is later than I think when I finally decide to get up! My morning rhythm is being thrown completely out of whack!!! Monday is going to be hard for all of us, getting back into the usual day to day routine.
Well, tired that I am, I am going to love you and leave you for that well earned cuppa.
Sue xx
I have just got ahead of the mountain of ironing that needed my attention today! I do so love putting ironing away; never getting it out!! But today has been all about chores, and not much else. At 4 o'clock I am finally ready to put my feet up with a good book and a cup of tea. My energy levels are not high today. I always have a rather low blood pressure so do get 'dips' in the day when I feel really tired and lethargic for an hour or two, but then I get going again so I never worry too much about it. I think I am not sleeping as well as I ought to......maybe that is the problem. I wake up in the middle of the night and then go back to sleep again only to find it is later than I think when I finally decide to get up! My morning rhythm is being thrown completely out of whack!!! Monday is going to be hard for all of us, getting back into the usual day to day routine.
Well, tired that I am, I am going to love you and leave you for that well earned cuppa.
Sue xx
Go England!!!
After 24 years England have finally beaten Australia to win THE ASHES. Well done those chaps!!!!
Sue xx
Sue xx
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Making a start
We finally decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy those darn bookcases!!! Being still a quiet week on the roads we headed off for Ikea in Amsterdam this morning, Tim buoyed up by the promise of breakfast there........and me with the thought of buying them at long last! Not that we can fill them yet.......it is just that the room looked so empty now that the tree is down, and the huge gap beside the settee was just asking to be filled.....................
I don't really need to make excuses. I have talked about buying them ever since we moved in here, and now I have. But not quite.......because I think that to make the effect around the door that we are after I need to buy the extensions for the tops, as the height of the door frame is not the same as that of the bookcases. Tim has put the CD/DVD case together and the cupboard but I am not entirely satisfied yet. It gaps, and I don't like that! I guess once they are fixed to the wall for balance and safety, it will be ok, but until then it is annoying. And I finally bought a light for the loo and a shelf, as well as a frame for my red poster in the kitchen. Now I just need to find those sticky black letters.....
We have also got Finka some tranquilisers for New Year. She is going to be terrified by the fireworks as she is a timid girl at the best of times, so we are thinking ahead, and going to sedate her. I am worried that if we don't she will be so scared for a long time afterwards as well, and that will set her back in her little life and we don't want that to happen. She is so lovely and sweet but only really happy with the three of us, and everybody else she pretty much keeps away from most of the time. She is ok with some friends, but she is not keen on loud, deep voices so men are not her thing!!! Genghis is fine with the fireworks, not keen on them but he is used to it and just cuddles up to me and tries to sleep through it all.
So this is how my day is going; what about yours? I always think this is a 'something 'n nothing' week between Christmas and New Year, and I prefer to get to next week when school and all the normal stuff starts up again. I miss my morning and afternoon routine so much!!!
Sue xx
I don't really need to make excuses. I have talked about buying them ever since we moved in here, and now I have. But not quite.......because I think that to make the effect around the door that we are after I need to buy the extensions for the tops, as the height of the door frame is not the same as that of the bookcases. Tim has put the CD/DVD case together and the cupboard but I am not entirely satisfied yet. It gaps, and I don't like that! I guess once they are fixed to the wall for balance and safety, it will be ok, but until then it is annoying. And I finally bought a light for the loo and a shelf, as well as a frame for my red poster in the kitchen. Now I just need to find those sticky black letters.....
We have also got Finka some tranquilisers for New Year. She is going to be terrified by the fireworks as she is a timid girl at the best of times, so we are thinking ahead, and going to sedate her. I am worried that if we don't she will be so scared for a long time afterwards as well, and that will set her back in her little life and we don't want that to happen. She is so lovely and sweet but only really happy with the three of us, and everybody else she pretty much keeps away from most of the time. She is ok with some friends, but she is not keen on loud, deep voices so men are not her thing!!! Genghis is fine with the fireworks, not keen on them but he is used to it and just cuddles up to me and tries to sleep through it all.
So this is how my day is going; what about yours? I always think this is a 'something 'n nothing' week between Christmas and New Year, and I prefer to get to next week when school and all the normal stuff starts up again. I miss my morning and afternoon routine so much!!!
Sue xx
Monday, 27 December 2010
All over for another year
We spend so long waiting for Christmas then in just a few short days it is all over, the decorations are down, and the house is returning to normal again. Ahh..............life starts to pick itself up and the normality of everyday routine begins. It does feel strange today as it is Monday and not a Bank Holiday here. Of course Christmas and Boxing Day falling in a weekend in the UK entitles us to two more days off work, but the world is getting back to the daily grind here in the Netherlands; but without me and Tim!!! We have got days free to prepare for the New Year, and the decorating that is starting in January. Yes, it is finally time to strip off the old wallpaper in our living room and get some new up and a bit of colour on the walls. I think my brain is trying to skip past the hard work on to the making it homely stage because as I was cleaning this morning all I did was stand and imagine the bookcases that are coming once the room is finished, and how joyous that is going to make me feel! The space is there............and sitting browsing through the Billy Bookcases in Ikea on the web this morning, I can see what it is going to look like now. I am compromising on them............just like you suggested!! ;-) but there will be enough room for the best books and our ornaments etc so I am happy. This just about takes care of January 2011; doing the living room. February will be the bookcases month ( for my birthday) and then March it is holiday time!! April Tim turns 18 and will start his driving lessons.............oh, am I really wishing the year away before it starts?!!! No, just anticipating wonderful events and moments in our future. It looks so grey and dull outside this morning that these sunny thoughts are making me smile, and that can only be good.
So, time to start on the Christmas mini album with my tags so that the stamps can all be put away for another 12 months and I can re-arrange my shelves and snuggery to accommodate SPRING!!!
Sue xx
So, time to start on the Christmas mini album with my tags so that the stamps can all be put away for another 12 months and I can re-arrange my shelves and snuggery to accommodate SPRING!!!
Sue xx
Boxing Day
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| Boris the Turkey being prepared for the oven! |
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| Boris cooking nicely!! |
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| Giving of presents. |
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| Tim, Jacky, Gebke, Martin, Harry, Ann, Frederique & Arjan. |
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| Smile please!! |
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| Happy Faces. |
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Happy Christmas to You!!
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| Finka getting her paw in the fluffy ball! |
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| Genghis sleeping peacefully besides me. |
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| Tim and Top Gear...goes without any need for explanation! |
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| My books -yay!!! |
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| Finally....the Cruzer!!!! |
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| The usual Selection Box. |
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| 6am.....Bucks Fizz and Mince Pies - oh, and tea of course! |
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| Left from Santa's visit. |
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| The 3 Wise Men. |
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| Mince Pies. |
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| Table flowers with Mistletoe. |
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| Cranberry relish & Luxury Bread Sauce. |
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