Taking a break.

Roberto Matta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

When I decided to take a break from blogging on 11th of December I did not intend to stop for as long as I have, as it's now three weeks ago that I wrote a blog post.

On 11th of December there was a lot going on here, we had the unexpected visit from a good friend John, who we had not seen since 1993 apart from a brief visit in 1999.

It was quite incredible; it was very emotional but lovely to see him again after all these years, a very special visit from a special person who is a close friend of Richie’s.

When I decided to take a holiday from blogging I only meant to stop during John's visit which was from 8th of December until 16th of December.

On the day after John left I decided to extend my time off from blogging to enjoy the days before the winter solstice and then Christmas before writing again.

Apart from time off from blogging I wanted to see what life would be like without my laptop and my connection to the outside world via the Internet.

I discovered that I can live without my laptop and the Internet; however my conclusion is that I can live without but I'd rather not have to do so.

I still have so much that I would like to write about, during my time off there were days when I could feel that I was overflowing with ideas for my blog posts.

Last night I decided I would start blogging again from today; it's not easy as my left index finger which I rely on is not functioning well, and is becoming inactive.

I should have made more of an effort learning how to use the Seetech computer in August instead I chose to write using Dragon voice recognition.

So now I have a problem because I can not use the laptop like I used to and it is very frustrating to feel that my index finger won't work that is so frustrating.

There is nothing worse than sitting in front of my laptop unable to click on any items or to scroll down or to surf the net or do anything much.

The Seetech computer worries me, however I will not let fear rule me and I intend to learn how to use the Seetech computer so I can keep writing and communicating.

I have not only missed the writing I have also missed the communications with blog friends who have become important for me, I'm glad to be writing again today.

Looking Forward.

 

Angel Planells.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Planells
 

Today it was dark at 17.20 and now at 18.35 it looks like the middle of the night, tonight Richie says there is sickle moon.

 I wish I could see it too, sadly our only view is of buildings, I did catch a glimpse of a star, Jupiter, over the roof of the Fijnout theatre when I was being hoisted out of my wheelchair.

Its Halloween, I recall it was called All Souls in Trinidad; people visited the graves of their dead then, not knocking on stranger’s doors for sweets.

Here it is a very quiet evening, nobody seems to be out and about, and no one has knocked on our door or rang the doorbell, not one.

I think that Halloween has not caught on here, which is a good thing, as it’s become a huge commercial event, just like Christmas.

Christmas has really only taken off here in the Netherlands since the late1990’s, presents were given traditionally on 5^th of December, Sinterklaas, or Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicolas).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

The clock going back yesterday means it is not long now until our 10^th wedding anniversary on 19th of December three days before the Winter Solstice.

They are my favourite days, I love how quiet it is, no bird sounds in mid winter, and it feels like being in a beautiful bubble from 19^th to 31st of December.

I am looking forward to the delights of December and in the New Year of the return of more daylight hours, as we progress.

Relaxed Day.

 
Serge Poliakoff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Poliakoff

Relaxed day today had a very nice visit from Anja, a good friend of 26 years now, brilliant to see her this afternoon, especially as I was just thinking it would be pleasant to see her.

Wonderful to get her mail yesterday asking if it was ok if she popped by this afternoon, which of course it was, in fact it was very alright.

Lovely to have a visitor, felt like the first one for ages, I enjoyed chatting for an hour, very nice to give Anja a present, also for Erik, her partner and Bosse, their son.

Have enjoyed that this Christmas, it is such good fun to give friends presents, felt good to do especially this year, particularly because I am enjoying the moment..

Richie and I had a pleasant time this Christmas, we always do have a good time together, but I still miss also sharing the holidays with friends and having friends coming by.

Thirty years here in Amsterdam, yet despite everything that I do like here I still miss the community that I had in Reading.

Writing that I am immediately aware that of course looking back in time tends to imbue the past with a rosy glow, everything looks better.

Probably just how I chose to remember it, memory is like that it seems to have airbrushed out all the things I would rather not remember.

Becoming very aware that if I want something different that I need to do more to make it happen, which I will try to do more of.

First of all I am going to talk to Richie and suggest we have a party in January, be nice to make up for the cancelled party on the 19 December and have it either on 23 or 30 January.

Especially nice if we can have it then as January is such a long dark month, a get together with friends sounds like a great idea.  

  

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Cold Winter Day.

English Beach at Heist.
Georges Lemmen (1865–1916)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lemmen

Sitting here typing with my left hand mostly, though I do try to keep using my right hand too, even if only intermittently.

Just gone 16.00 now and it is getting dark, not long now and it is night again, really feel it is winter now.

Marleen is a little bit happier and more relaxed today, which is lovely to see, she also does not look as depressed and as middle aged as she did on Tuesday & Wednesday.

When she sat with her jaw hanging, looking suddenly much older and quite resigned to life.

She seemed to get tremendously cheered up by her walk yesterday, plus Richie put her on my bed in the morning those plus lots of games and attention.

Really good to see Marleen looking and being herself, she woke up very cheery this morning and wanted her early morning games.

First time since last Saturday when Spike was just died that Marleen has been abit livelier, she really wanted a game with Richie this morning which was sweet to see.

At the moment there are no Jack Russell’s online that need re-housing, we will keep looking and hoping for a new dog, so we can lavish attention and love on it too.

Marleen is definitely missing Spike presence and the interaction with him, their 5 years together made them very close, a lovely little pack.

Who knows we may be able to find Marleen a new chum after Christmas, I hope we do.

The Start of Summer and Good times to Come.

It is a warm sunny day here, getting warmer now and soon I hope I will be back outside, but for now I am in bed thinking of things to come.

It is Whitsun Weekend, in England they call it Spring Bank Holiday, the holiday has made me curious about these festivals and their origins.

It is obvious that our holidays like Easter and Christmas owe their existence to older religions.

Easter was the time to express thanks for the new growing season starting; the rabbit was a symbol of the old religion as they worshipped the goddess Eastre

My dad told me that every first day of the month before I said anything I had to tap my foot three times on the foot of my bed and each time say rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.

I asked Richie and he told me it was a remnant of an old religion, funny how our holidays are all existing ones that have been remodelled to suit our religions.

Funny that my father, who was a devout Catholic, should be such an advocate for the old religion, he tapped his foot and said rabbit, rabbit, rabbit every first day of the month.

‘’Easter is named for a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oestre or Eastre, and in Germany by the name of Ostara. She is a goddess of the dawn and the spring, and her name derives from words for dawn, the shining light arising from the east. Our words for the "female hormone" estrogen derives from her name.’’

http://www.goddessgift.com/pandora%27s_box/easter-history.htm

Interesting to find out that old pagan traditions were reworked and taken over by Christian religions, makes sense to rename the festivals and make them your own.

That explains the eggs and the bunnies which of course are symbols of the new life that happens with the beginning of spring.

Then there is Christmas another holiday that was converted from a pagan festival to a Christian one.

‘’ No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover.

One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th.

The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. ‘’

>http://www.essortment.com/all/christmaspagan_rece.ht

‘’The Pagan holiday was called Saturnalia, honouring Saturn, the God of Agriculture.’’
So all our big festivals are clearly linked to the seasons, Christmas is the time when we get all the foods we still have and make a feast to celebrate the fact that it is the Winter Solstice.

And once the dark nights are over the new light of spring will be here and with that will come new life which we celebrate with eggs and chicks and rabbits.

I much prefer to know the truth about everything and knowing that Pagan holidays were turned into Christian ones make sense to me, it was all about winning the hearts and minds of the people.

Researching this has kept me busy and makes the time go by that I have to stay in bed, hope Ton agrees with Richie that I can sit again this coming Wednesday.

Makes me feel like starting my own festival on Wednesday and celebrating it every year.
Well here’s to the start of summer and good times to come.





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Being Aware

Gareth's Photos From Wales.


Another day of brief glimpses of sun that soon vanishes under another huge cloud until the cloud cover is like a lid on the whole city.

Shame it is not better weather especially for the public holidays such as Queen's Day last Friday and tomorrow Liberation Day, where they commemorate the end of World War 2.

This is only a public holiday every five years, so getting this off is a big deal here and then everyone wants good weather.

As they will want on the two remaining public holiday which are Accession Day on 13 May and Whitsun Monday on 24 May.

After that there are no more public holidays until Christmas and New Year, they have 8 public holidays here every five years and otherwise there are only 7 per year.

That is why I was in shock when I was first here and found out you do not get a day in lieu as you do in the UK when a public holiday falls on a weekend.

A very dour approach to life which is very Dutch I think, as is the attempt to not show off if you have wealth by dressing down and often downright dowdy.

Moving here made it clear that while there were and are many similarities between The Netherlands and The UK there are also a lot of differences.

Still find myself being surprised when I discover some new information, especially as I have been here now since 1981.

The only time I spent away was term time at Hillcroft College and Middlesex University between 1991 and 1996, I was here in Amsterdam every holiday I could be here.

Yesterday I made a page on Face Book called Save The Vietnamese Rhinoceros, thought it was a good way to give this more publicity.

Think that it may sadly not help the Vietnamese Rhinoceros but if it helps make people more aware then that can't be a bad thing.

We all need to be aware of our impact on the planet and the long term effects if we carry on as we are now.

Mutual support is something I believe passionately in and think it is crucial for us all and our mutual well being and ultimately our survival.

That is why I feel it is important we keep giving Steve @ The Wheel of Fortuna our support

Especially after the Memorial for BobRobert on Saturday in Belcher, now in these next weeks is the time when the grieving for BobRobert will really start.

Hope we can keep giving the support we have been giving Steve,

Please vist


http://spinfortunaswheel.blogspot.com/


And leave a supportive message to let him know he is not alone.

Blimey! it is already Monday 28 December.

Blimey it is already Monday 28 December, doesn’t time go by quickly, guess it always did, just there were times when it seemed so very slow.

This is when you are getting to understand how things work; this is when you did not know that every year the big events happen at the same time.

Like birthdays and Christmas and New Year and of course Easter and mid summer, and in Trinidad Divalli and other festivals.

And once you have experienced these events several times, you start to remember them and you start to create a schedule or map for your reference.

After awhile when you get older, you pretty much know when things will happen and time seems to speed up.

It of course just passes at the same speed as it always did and always will it is just my perception is different at 8 than it was at age 8.

It has been a bright, cold day today, according to the weather forecast it is set to get very much colder.

We could have snow and ice for the New Year, that is when we usually get it here and not before Christmas like this year.

In 1981, it was a very cold winter, my first here in Amsterdam; I could not work out how come there were so many people wearing mountaineering boots in such a flat country.

When it got cold I totally understood and quickly got a pair of stout climbing boots, which kept my feet warm.

It snowed before Christmas in 1981 and it stayed until end of February, so I really did need those stout walking boots.

Still need warm footgear just not mountaineering boots, with thick sole just ones with a thick lining.

Going to post this and enjoy watching the dogs lying peacefully in their beds and the sound of a few children playing outside.

It is 4.30 pm and it is still light which is lovely.

Sitting Around.

Henri Rousseau.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Rousseau


Spent the afternoon in the front room after Mathilde the physiotherapist had been for our Monday session.

Her pleasure at seeing me sitting in my wheelchair was very touching; she is such a nice woman.

Glad she is my physiotherapist, she has such a good effect on my mood, if I am feeling down, she can get me smiling again quickly.

After she left today, I did my 30 minute leg exercises on the Motomed in the front room next to the Christmas tree.

Love being in the front room again after so long, Richie feels the same, says it cheers him up no end, can see that it might not be so much fun on his own, with me in the bedroom..

The dogs were every excited, playing around my wheelchair, Spike picking up other toys apart from his kong (his favourite toy) and shaking them excitedly at me, which was great fun.

Spent from 13.30 to 18.30 then got Richie to put me back to bed, real good to see more than the bedroom.

I know, that I have to be very aware that making the best of things can get out of hand and end up shutting out other possibilities.

It was good that I learned to make do with less stimulation for the last 15, nearly 16 months.

But now I need to almost unlearn and open up to the fact that there is more stimulation available for me now.

Really enjoying rediscovering life outside of bed and the bedroom, had a feeling today that it is going to be good fun.

Hello NTehm
Thanks for following my blog but where is yours?
Strange there is no way of contacting you no blog no email shame!

Take care everyone and keep warm and happy
Have a happy Winter Solstice and a great Christmas.