Update

I haven't been online for a while. I've had computer trouble, but that's solved for the most part. The other reason is even more unpleasant: I have problems with my joints. My foot (ankle) is still swollen, not only on the inside but also on the outside. My other ankle is hurting too. My left arm has (probably) inflammations from elbow to pulse to the joint of my little finger. They are red, warm and swollen. My right pulse and elbow are also painful. My GP doesn't trust it and has made an urgent appointment for me with the internist (Friday afternoon).
In the meantime I can't do a lot. It's driving me crazy!! I had to pass on the Lucie Silvas concert last Thursday and cancel aquaspinning for the second time. Ron has to help me out around the house and Wonder has helped a lot also. Still, it's frustrating! I want to be there for Ron and now he has to do things all the time: walk the dogs, run the house. I know I can't help it, but... grrrrrrrr!

Monday evening Wonder and I went to a lecture / presentation by Anodea Judith at Selexyz Scheltema in Almere. She is an authority on chakra psychology and has written several very good books about it. She is in Europe to promote her newest book, Waking The Global Heart (in Dutch: Hart Voor De Wereld). I'm so glad I went despite my joints, because it was very interesting! You can read all about it on the special website. Anodea is a very nice and friendly woman. Afterwards she signed her books for us. She looked at me and signed mine with "Blessed Be, Anodea Judith". She had seen my pentacle pendant and asked me whether I was pagan. When I confirmed that she told me she's pagan too. I wasn't surprised though, in the presentation and her books were enough hints.

TT #11: supercharge your life

Thirteen ideas to supercharge your life Yesterday I received this Daily Inspiration by e-mail. There are 13 points so I immediately thought of T13. That wasn't a coincidence in my opinion. I want to share this with you and remind myself! Okay, some are easier said than done, but I'm going to try! Focus on what you WILL do, not what you can't do. Prioritize. Be proactive by putting first things first. Purposefully act, don't react. Face difficulties with courage. Be willing to make mistakes, learn from them and move on. To prevent being overwhelmed, ask yourself: ‘What one thing am I willing to do differently today?’ Communicate with positive language. Watch your thoughts and patterns of inner talk, and listen to yourself when talking to others. Teach and lead by example. Spend time with people you admire. Be bigger than your story. If you feel yourself getting into victim mode, ask yourself what the payoff is. Feel and own your personal power. Know that you do have a choice. Celebrate your results! ~*~*~*~ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! ~*~ Cheryl ~*~ Tug ~*~ Judy Callarman ~*~ Tinker ~*~ Amy ~*~ Shoshana ~*~ Skyelarke ~*~ Joy Renee ~*~ Nathalie ~*~ Tina ~*~ Caylynn ~*~ Darla ~*~ Carmen ~*~ Christina ~*~ Uisce ~*~ N. Mallory ~*~ scribbit ~*~ Peppylady ~*~ Irish Church Lady ~*~ Candy Minx ~*~ Brony ~*~ Shaylondon ~*~ Alethea ~*~ Tiggerprr ~*~ Kailani ~*~ Janene ~*~ crse ~*~ Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Clumsy

I'm so clumsy... I already sprained my foot on the stairs a few days ago and yesterday evening I did it again! The inside of my ankle is swollen even more. Now it really hurts when I walk or stand on it. Ron walked the dogs today and helped me around the house. I did walk to the supermarket and back, but I had to put my foot up after that. Grrr....

Good news too! I got an e-mail this afternoon that I have won 2 tickets for a Lucie Silvas concert Thursday evening in Paradiso. Yay! I really like her music and she seems to be very good live. I just hope I can sit. :-)

My path, my faith

Judy Callarman asked me in a comment on the Druid Podcast post how I have come to be a witch. I have written something about it on a special page of my website, but I'll post about it here somewhat more.

I am raised as a Roman Catholic, but I have always missed things in that religion. For example the female aspect of deity: I believe in one God and one Goddess, sometimes acting under different names but all manifestations of the same. Like everything in nature there has to be a balance: the God can't exist without the Goddess and vice versa. Apparently I was thinking about that very early, because my mum told me I had asked my dad when I was in early primary school: "But dad, how do you know God is a man? You've never seen that! Why wouldn't it be a woman?"
I love nature in all its splendour and care deeply for Mother Earth. I cherish every living being big or small. I love animals to the point that I don't kill flies and spiders, but try to get them outside.
From childhood on I have always been interested in spiritual things like meditation, divination and magic. I've read a lot about it and tried some things on my own, but didn't give it a name. Because of personal issues and problems I didn't come to do something with it in a really active way. But right at the moment I needed it, my path unfolded.
When I got access to the internet, a wonderful world of information came within my reach. I started exploring and found sites and forums full of kindred spirits. I discovered the Craft that had everything in it I was looking for: the balance of male and female deity, the spiritual interest and the love of nature. I knew I had a lot to learn, but it felt like coming home. This is what I searched for all along. I've never lost that feeling. I'm happy with my path.
More questions about it? Feel free to ask!

I'd love to read how others came to their path, faith, religion or whatever you want to call it. Leave a comment here or post about it in your own blog and put a link in my comments. You can link to this post, but that isn't necessary. I'm very interested in your stories!
~*~ Judy's faith story (-revisited)
~*~ Wanderer's White Wolf archive

I'm not alone

I'm very tired (despite resting a lot) and down. My elbows and pulses hurt but I don't know why. My foot is swollen, because I sprained it on the stairs. I'm having post menstrual syndrome. To put it briefly: I'm not feeling my best at the moment... I could give up, get even more depressed and lie down under the blankets. But I don't want to, it doesn't make me feel better. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I won't let myself go today.

When your day is long and the night
the night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough
of this life, hang on
Don't let yourself go
'cause everybody cries
and everybody hurts
sometimes

Sometimes everything is wrong
Now it's time to sing along
When your day is night alone
(hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go
(hold on)
When you think you've had too much
of this life, well hang on

'Cause everybody hurts
Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts
Don't throw your hand
Oh, no
Don't throw your hand
If you feel like you're alone
no, no, no, you are not alone

If you're on your own in this life
the days and nights are long
When you think you've had too much
of this life to hang on

Well, everybody hurts
sometimes
Everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes
So, hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on, hold on,
hold on, hold on, hold on
Everybody hurts
You are not alone

written by Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe
performed by REM

TT #10: witches

Thirteen things people should know about witches We don't look like the witches you know from fairytales: old, ugly, crooked nose with big pimple, etc. There is no stereotype really! We do have besoms or brooms; however they are not used for flying but for cleaning the circle, the sacred space, before doing a ritual. We do not worship satan. We don't even believe in the devil or his existence. We don't have a holy book like the Koran or the Bible. We have a Book of Shadows (or BOS), but that's a personal book in which a witch records his or her personal beliefs, rituals, etc. It is called "Book of Shadows" because in earlier times witches had to hide it to prevent being accused or burnt. The term has nothing to do with 'dark magic'. There are a lot of male witches and they are called witches too. Gothic is not the same as witchcraft. Some goths are witches and some witches are gothic, but there's no connection. We respect people of all religions and don't want to convert anyone to the Craft. Everyone should be free to choose his or her own path in religion. If someone shows real interest though, we'll do our best to explain and help further. Witchcraft is a generic term for a lot of traditions within the Craft. To name a few: Gardnerian Wicca, Celtic Wicca, eclectic witchcraft, druidcraft, etc. etc. (*Gardnerian comes from Gerald Gardner, the founder of Wicca) We use another concept of deity. Some witches believe in one God and one Goddess, others are polytheistic. We all believe in a feminine form of deity right next to the masculine form. Like everything in nature there has to be a balance: the God can't exist without the Goddess and vice versa. We don't need a church or temple (although they are sometimes used). Nature is our sacred space and very important to us. We cast a circle to do a ritual; the circle is our sacred space and can be cast anywhere we want. We celebrate the Wheel of the Year: a full circle of the seasonal year, consisting of eight holidays or sabbats, starting at Samhain then Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon. Sometimes other names are used (solstices, equinoxes). The moon has a special place within the Craft. We live by the phases of the moon. Full moon celebrations are called esbats. Although there are witches / traditions that work skyclad (dressed in sky=naked) in ritual, a lot of witches don't. Some wear special garments, some work in day-to-day clothes, some work naked. The thought behind skyclad is being closer to nature, no hindrances in the form of clothes. In any case it has nothing to do with sex (*I know, it's hard to believe but it's true!)!! If you have any additional comments or questions, please feel free to leave a message! I have Blogger Beta. If you have classic Blogger and don't allow anonymous comments, I can't leave a comment on your blog. I'm sorry! Blogger will fix that later. In the meantime I can recommend Blogger Beta! ~*~*~*~ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! ~*~ The Gatekeeper ~*~ Silver ~*~ Nathalie ~*~ Caylynn ~*~ Incog & Nito ~*~ Darla ~*~ Addie ~*~ Velda ~*~ Carmen ~*~ Gattina ~*~ ma ~*~ Skittles ~*~ Mandy ~*~ Peppylady ~*~ The Shrone ~*~ Cheysuli ~*~ Geggie ~*~ Candy Minx ~*~ Nikki ~*~ Nicole ~*~ Whiskey ~*~ Duchess ~*~ Brony ~*~ N. Mallory ~*~ Nadiah Alwi ~*~ crse ~*~ Sparky ~*~ The Merry Rose ~*~ Joy Renee ~*~ Faerylandmom ~*~ Danielle ~*~ Silent Prayer ~*~ Judy Callarman ~*~ Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Druid Podcast

Through Witches Weekly I heard about something unfair and in my eyes sick and cruel. I'll copy the synopsis from Lady Tawodi's log:

Druids have Equinox Ritual. Christians go “undercover” and record the ritual without the Druids knowledge or consent. These include Kirk Cameron from “Growing Pains.”
Christians put recording up on website as a podcast, being blatantly ignorant and full of bigotry.
Download or listen: here (right-click and save link as)
A disrespect to those poor folks out at Ravens Cry Grove, ADF.

I've listened to it and I'm baffled. I hope (and know) these so-called christians are not representative of Christians in general. The Christians I know don't break the law or ridicule another religion, even when they are not that comfortable with it. But I'm not naive either: I know there are groups that do those things... Just one word: sick!

Paradise in Lier

Wonder has been staying in a friend's country home in Lier (Belgium) since Sunday. He invited us to come and relax. Yesterday Ron and I drove over there. We left around 7am, because we knew we would get into traffic jams. Wonder called when we were on the ring road of Antwerp. He was just awake and we were almost there. :-) We arrived at 10am.

The piece of land is hidden away and seems to be on the edge of nowhere. It is huge (to our city standards), but not completely open. The house is situated on the bank of a little lake. Everywhere around it are hidden spaces, connected through beautiful and natural paths, bridges, etc. There is a circle made of rune signs, a spot with a big tipi, a small and a large sweat lodge and much more to discover. I have great pics, but I won't reveal everything. Let's just say the title of this post really does it justice!

We walked around, sat in the sun, talked, relaxed... We felt so good there! Ron decided to make a fishing rod of bamboo, a piece of thread and a paperclip. And it worked; he catched a little roach! The place worked wonders for Ron. He just sat there and enjoyed himself; no stress, no worries, away from it all. He wanted to stay behind when Wonder and I went to Lier itself.

Lier is a wonderful old town with medieval roots and modern accents. It has lovely streets and alleys, nice shops and old buildings. The bridges over the river Nete are decorated with an abundance of flowers. We drank something in the square by the Zimmer tower (with Jubel clock). We visited a magical shop named De Mysticus with a broad esoteric assortment. After all that we did some shopping for the barbecue.

When we got back Ron was still fishing. I had to rest for a while because we had walked a lot. Foofur and Boris loved the land, all the green and so much space! Ron and Wonder prepared the barbecue. We were quite hungry! When the last food was on the barbecue Wonder screamed "Help!" from inside the house. The toilet didn't flush and the living room was partly flooded. With a lot of towels the problem was solved and Ron fixed it as far as possible. We drank something inside, I slept for a while and around 10pm it was time to go. Reluctantly we said goodbye and left for the return trip. Because of road maintenance we needed 3 hours to get home. Exhausted but relaxed and satisfied we went to bed. A mini-vacation in a day!

TT #9: random this week

Thirteen random things about this week Wednesday I had a petshelter committee meeting at 5pm. A very inconvenient time and I've told them so. The new chairman wanted it to be the fixed time for the meetings. I stood up for myself and said no. Yay, I'm proud of me! Bastet has been to the vet for her vaccination and to get a chip. She is doing great! Ron is at home with a burn-out. He has to get a lot of rest, especially in his head. I help him wherever I can, but I feel so powerless. Monday he had to go to his company doctor. We couldn't find the building, so Ron was even more stressed when we finally got there. The doctor was very understanding. I have to take care of myself to be able to be there for Ron. I can't help him if I am too tired or stressed myself, but I have to be reminded sometimes... Today we'll go to Lier in Belgium, where a friend of us is staying for a week. It is something over two hours to drive, but Ron loves to drive so it'll be relaxation for him. This week Ron has built in the car navigation. I'm glad because I totally rely on it for long drives and places I've never been before. I'm not home to add all of your links, but please leave them in the comments and I'll add them a.s.a.p. I'll visit them all! The aquaspinning season has started again. It is tough to get into it. I was exhausted but I'll see it through. I like it very much! I'm still "clinching" with Oxxio, my mother's power supllier. I did everything to end it in the best way possible, but they just don't seem to want to understand... They have even hired a collection agency to get the money they aren't entitled to. Grrr.... Ron has tidied up the garage. I really need to do the same upstairs, but there's still a lot of mum's stuff and I'm not sure whether I'm ready for that. The day after tomorrow there will be a fair in Velsen-Zuid (same district as IJmuiden). We'll be early, because there will also be an unregulated street market for kids. I have Blogger Beta. If you have classic Blogger and don't allow anonymous comments, I can't leave a comment on your blog. I'm sorry! Blogger will fix that later. In the meantime I can recommend Blogger Beta! ~*~*~*~ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! ~*~ peppylady ~*~ mztinkerbell ~*~ Silver ~*~ Darla ~*~ celfyddydau ~*~ Shannon ~*~ Ghost ~*~ Amy ~*~ LuluBunny ~*~ Jenny Ryan ~*~ Renee ~*~ Tinker ~*~ MommyBa ~*~ Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Witchy Girls Night 7

Yesterday I attended the 7th Witchy Girls Night. This time Sorcha chose a location outside: an almost deserted part of the beach of Zandvoort. The weather was great for this time of year and the sky was beautiful pink and blue. We met each other on the end of the boulevard and first had something to eat and drink in Havana.
We walked along the beach and settled for a nice spot at the edge of the dunes. We made an altar from sand and decorated it with the things we brought. The theme of the Mabon-ritual was water, so we put the altar in the west. We made circles around it with candles / tea-warmers and sunflowers. In each direction we placed a bowl with some fruit (harvest). It looked wonderful, also when the darkness came.
The ritual itself felt really powerful and did me a lot of good. I was at the south this time, calling the element of Fire. That was the first time in a group ritual, but it felt ok. At one point we threw runes. My rune was Naudhiz (read here and here) and Luna's explanation was so true, bull's eye! One of the Girls had brought mugwort tea, strange taste but not nasty.
After the ritual we cleaned up and only left natural materials: the circle of sunflowers, the harvest fruit and on the altar pentagrams of wooden twigs. I'd like to have seen the faces of the people who first found our spot today! ;-)

SFGA: Mabon

Yesterday evening we had a SFGA-meeting in "In De Waag" in Amsterdam. The theme was Mabon, the Fall Equinox. We wanted to do something different, so Wonder and I had suggested to do crafts: making a Mabon wreath. Everyone had bought a wreath of willow twigs and brought some extra stuff: lavender, dried apple, feathers, berries, all kinds of natural decorations. I had some difficulty to make a start, but when busy I enjoyed myself very much. The results were very different, but all beautiful in their own way. This is mine; you can see all of them here. Ron liked it too and put it in our entrance hall on the door.

TT #8: Rob

Thirteen things I love about Robbie Williams his pop music, with superhits like "Rock DJ", "Feel" and "Kids" (with Kylie Minoque) his swing music, he does The Rat Pack justice and brought swing music to a new and younger audience he is not afraid to try something completely different for a new album his eyes, beautiful green mirrors of his soul his body his tattoos, although I hope he doesn't take many more his new logo (see also in header), he designed it himself from the Eye of Horus (he has that as a tattoo), a question mark and the letter R he kicked the habits of alcohol and drugs abuse his videoclips, artistic and controversial his personality he is a born entertainer and amazing live performer from members that left a boyband (in his case Take That) to go solo, he is by far the most successful he isn't ashamed to show his emotions I have Blogger Beta. If you have classic Blogger and don't allow anonymous comments, I can't leave a comment on your blog. I'm sorry! Blogger will fix that later. In the meantime I can recommend Blogger Beta! ~*~*~*~ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! ~*~ crse ~*~ Nathalie ~*~ Caylynn ~*~ Incog & Nito ~*~ Mrs Lifecruiser ~*~ The Little Woman ~*~ Carmen ~*~ Shannon ~*~ Ali ~*~ Darla ~*~ Eveline ~*~ tbirdonawire ~*~ Knitting Maniac ~*~ Gattina ~*~ Julie ~*~ Dane Bramage ~*~ Kailani ~*~ Brony ~*~ BecK ~*~ Charmed1 ~*~ astrocoz ~*~ nadnuts ~*~ amy ~*~ MommyBa ~*~ Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

London & Milton Keynes

I've had a fabulous weekend!!!!!!
Ron drove me to Twinkle's home Wednesday evening, where Hanneke and I spent the night to be in time on Eindhoven airport. It was hard to let Ron go, I missed him already. We have been texting and calling all weekend; my mobile phone bill will be high.

Thursday morning Twinkle's brother drove us to the airport. It was going to be my first flight. I wasn't nervous, but didn't know how everything goes. My luggage was 9.4 kilo, not too much (15-20 allowed). We were flying Ryan Air, the no. 1 in flying on time on these kinds of flights. Unfortunately our pilot had to change planes because of a technical problem, so there was a delay. Ron was watching us online by webcam. I waved to him before boarding the plane. I sat at the window. I love flying! The clouds are so beautiful from above. The flight lasted about 50 minutes, so we arrived earlier than we left because of the time difference. On London Stansted we met with Mon, who travelled along with us to Euston station. She left there by train to go to Milton Keynes, where she would be staying. We walked to the Generator Hostel, where RMF (from Denmark) was already waiting for us. The hostel was situated behind Tavistock Place. We put our suitcases in a special room. We had to wait for Aims (from Stoke in England) to check in, because she booked for all of us. In the meantime we had lunch and shopped a bit. When Aims arrived we went to our room. We had a little 6-bed room in very bright colours: orange, blue and red. I took one of the lower beds. We had dinner in the hostel, but the choice was not much and neither was the taste. Later in the evening Twinkle, RMF and I went out to have a drink at a nice place just around the corner.

Friday was concert day. Twinkle and RMF left early to queue for the Golden Circle. Hanneke, Aims and I had general admission cards, so we could go later. We took the train to Milton Keynes around noon I think. On MK station we took a cab to the Bowl, just 7 pounds for the three of us. We had to walk the last part. Aims had our tickets, but Hanneke had to get hers first at the Box Office (the cards weren't ready in time to send abroad...). Fortunately the queue there was short. The queues for the entrance gates were not! We decided to go for gate 4. The weather was dry and sunny, opposite to the forecasts. In the queue we met with Bry, another forum member. Around 2.30pm the gates opened. Hanneke ran and found us a great spot on the right side of the podium, just behind the Golden Circle. And then we had to wait again, while the Bowl filled up. The support acts started at 6pm; first DJ Coco, then Basement Jaxx. The members of BJ have been very rude in the press about Robbie fans, so I didn't feel like cheering and bouncing for them and so did a lot of the others.
We saw Rob's chopper arriving and the adrenaline started flowing. And then finally... Rob!!! He was amazing, the concert was the best. He looked tired but handsome as always. He seemed to enjoy himself very much. His father was in the audience too. The new single Rudebox is great live! I know it's different from what he did before, but that's one of the things I like about Rob's music. I'm looking forward to the new album (due in October). After the encores I was exhausted and had a sore throat, but it was so worth it..! Still in a rush we left the Bowl and walked to the rail station. There were extra trains and everything went quick and organised. We were back in the hostel very late. I fell asleep instantly.

Saturday we didn't set an alarm, but Twinkle, RMF and I were awake early. They had coffee and we sat outside on the stairs chatting. Later Hanneke joined us. When Aims was awake and ready too we left. We bought a day ticket for the tube (very muggy but cheap), so we could travel easily all day. We first stopped at Green Park to have breakfast next to a nice market. After that we jumped on the tube again to London Bridge. Right next to the station is the London Dungeon, a tourist attraction that combines real history, horror and humour to bring gruesome goings-on back to life in the 21st century. Live actors, a terrifying boat ride, shows and special effects transport the visitors to London's gory past. We had bought tickets in the hostel so we didn't have to queue. I liked the Dungeon very much! Even the toilets were in style. After we had a drink across the street we decided to go to Covent Garden to shop. It was very busy, but a great place to shop. In the Disney store I bought 2 Tinkerbell mugs and a fridge magnet. When the shops had closed we had dinner outside a nice place called My Kitchen. The menu was very extensive, so it was hard to decide. I took chicken & chips, served with bread and salat. It tasted very good. Aims and Hanneke wanted to go to the hostel, so we walked (through Soho I believe) to a tube station and did so. RMF, Twinkle and I decided to have another drink around the corner. We had some serious talk, but we laughed a lot also. I had Diet Coke and they took one glass of wine. When we got back to the hostel we were giggling like teenagers, so Hanneke and Aims thought we were drunk. We weren't, but we had a lot of fun. Everyone was awake, but in bed. We talked and laughed for hours. It was around 2.30am before we went to sleep!

Sunday morning I was awake early again and joined RMF and Twinkle on the stairs outside. Hanneke and Aims came later. We had to wait until it was time to leave for the trip home. So we had coffee and chocolate at Starbucks. I had Caramel Hot Chocolate, very yummy! I bought a big black mug for Ron. We walked together to Euston Station, where we said goodbye to RMF, who was flying back to Denmark from Heathrow. Aims accompanied us to Euston Square. Her bus would leave a few hours later. We took tube & bus to be on London Stansted in time. The checks were more intensive this time. My handbag was taken apart and emptied, but there was nothing wrong. We took off around 5pm and landed in Eindhoven at 7pm (1 hour time difference). Twinkle's (other) brother picked us up and drove us to Valkenswaard. About 15 minutes later Ron was there. I was so glad to see him!!! Unfortunately we had very bad traffic on the way back, so we were home late.

My pics are here.

This and that

The kittens are doing fine! Bastet is settling in. She and Freyja squabble a bit, but they wash each other and sleep together also, on their own or with me. When Bastet wants some rest alone, she sleeps on the radiator. Both Freyja and Bastet eat and drink very good and they are both clean (house-trained).

Tomorrow morning Joke, Gerard and I are going to scatter mum's ashes on a special place on the cemetery; the same place we scattered dad's ashes. It will be very emotional again, but it's good to have some kind of closure.

Tomorrow evening Ron will bring me to Twinkle to stay the night. Together with her and Hanneke I'll fly to London Stansted. I know them from the Robbie Williams forum and we'll meet some others in London. We call ourselves the F-gang (F for forum). My F-gang t-shirt (left on the front, right on the back) arrived today, just in time! Friday night I'll wear it at Rob's concert in Milton Keynes. We bought tickets for Wembley Stadium, but it wasn't ready in time. That means we'll have to travel by train for an hour. Ah well, that won't spoil the fun! I'll be back sunday evening.

9/11

It's 5 years ago, but I remember it like yesterday. Still know where I was, what I was doing, how I felt... Every time I see the footage it still feels surreal and unbelievable... That day I was glued to the television, again today. I watched the ceremonies, listened to each and every name spoken by relatives of victims. Very touching. My thoughts are with everyone affected. I'm just someone on the other side of the world, but I will never forget...