a book I just finished

nothing special

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3035349886

who does NOT come from a woman's body?

From one of my favorite bloggers! I can't say anything more to what she has written!

https://kimberlyharding.wordpress.com/2019/05/25/its-not-about-a-womans-body/

LIFE, RETIREMENT and YOGA teacher training

Well... it's been a long while...since I started this post in draft form! Gosh...so much to do in life! LIFE just keeps on moving on! There is so MUCH to learn and do! 

I graduated, November 2018, from a year long 200 hour course in yoga teacher training! 

While I am now a certified yoga instructor I did not take the course to teach but to enrich my life and my yoga practice! Since I've completed the course, winter came and it's been a wild winter! And now winter is on it's way out! An example of how TIME FLIES. 

In the course, we did some painting, the purpose was to learn more about a particular deity and allow our inner artistic abilities come out. 

A friend said...'Your White Tara painting is cool. I like the freedom and simplicity of it.'

I realized that day that I NEED to get back to my pastel painting that I've neglected in the past 12 years because I was creating and selling semi-precious gem jewelry. 

I had a business for 12 years which I just closed...time to move on! Craft shows are fun and rewarding but I'm got tired of it!

You can still see and order from my Facebook page that my daughter maintains...

https://www.facebook.com/Shieldmaidens-Handcrafted-Jewelry-239040999614377/

It will take me awhile to dig out my pastels and get back into that...for among other things... 

I have been in a book club for about 2 years, on top of all the others books I read, for pleasure and learning! I still do Hospice home care, just received my 10 year service certificate. For about four years I've been a Girl Scout Leader's helper with girls ages 7 to 10. I do yoga twice a week at the studio and try to do home practice 3 times a week. I go to the gym 3 to 4 times a week during the winter. I ride a bike, 7 miles outside, EVERY day weather permits during the season; last season I biked 800 miles! 

I have a 20 year relationship, with a wonderful man, that takes time and effort to maintain along with my two homes (his and mine). I have my own small apartment and at his place we have a veggie garden, many flower gardens, a labyrinth and a park-like environment we maintain together. 

Oh and I just had my 72nd birthday! 

Life is HUGE...no need to be stuck on ONE topic for one's entire life!

my thoughts today

After seeing so much of the current immigration policies that I am helpless to fix or understand, here are my thoughts!

Roots are important Yes! And I’m not speaking about heritage or family ‘tree’ here.

I’m talking PERSONAL ROOTS…your CORE your CENTER your SOUL!

One’s life is ‘rooted’ but those roots are NOT in STONE and are NOT stationary! They move!

People and families and friends MOVE around and they CHANGE…yes even family members change!

People die, one day you will die, that’s the nature of life…to die.

EVERYTHING CHANGES NOTHING IS PERMANENT.

Life is hard! The world around can be so heartless and cruel! We can be afraid, scared, helpless, angry, bitter and much more.  At the same time we sense/know we are lucky…not to be them! It’s a paradox. There is always someone worst off than you! This is how and where empathy and compassion come in. Times like this make us a BETTER person.

The fate of being a human being is to FEEL and to KNOW why we feel. But to be a healthy human being one must protect one’s ROOTS. We can’t fix all. We have to know what is good for us and when to let the rest fall away from us.

We cannot internalize it all! We live, we feel, but we should NOT internalize it all. We are alive BECAUSE we are unique…there is NO ONE else like you! 

We DON’T have to stay in any stage ROOTED, like a tree.

If you don’t like where you are move YOUR ROOTS and plant yourself somewhere else where you can grow…that is why you are alive…to grow!

just because

Just because...at this time in my life...it's always 'just because' and I don't have to explain a thing!

Our first real weather day of spring!

First real day of spring! 

After lunch it was 40 but the wind was high, we had to go for a walkabout on the property with clippers! A few days ago I purchase a new pair rubber garden boots, just so I could walk around in the wet areas; they worked really nice except those boots were ‘not made for walking’. They are purple in color and match my hair! There’s a lot of the property that is under water in spring and fall and by the time the water goes away everything is so over grown I can’t do anything…that’s why I wanted these boots.

First we went to the pine we planted at the end edge of the ‘decorative’ fence that separates the back field/woodland from the lawn and labyrinth. I have another garden area there; I have flower gardens everywhere. We had to trim back some bottom branches of the pine and clean out the ‘nasty’ weed growth so we can mow around that tree and to the path on the opposite side of that fence; which leads along with another path to the target range outback and the back area of pines we planted. We managed to get that cleaned out! The outer/back area of the labyrinth is next to the creek, and is encircled with pine we planted and one birch for its welcome! The front of the labyrinth is open to the lawn and faces the huge river-birch and the bon-fire area which is between the labyrinth and the side of the house! This is our peace sanctuary.

We checked the ‘spring’ garden area we planted last year and sure enough the 10 tulips we planted have spread! There are some other spring plants there (haven’t come up yet) and we are planning on planting the new yellow ones he just gave me in that same area, turning the rectangle space into a triangle, where the tip of the triangle is at the birch tree where there are holly-hocks planted. This whole spring garden is behind the garden bench, which faces the labyrinth and the veggie garden, and is a great place to read under the branches of the huge birch tree behind it! Its companion birch is directly in front of the house and has the bird feeders.

I also check the garden around the well-head that’s in the front lawn; those tulips are coming up. I also have BIG Turk lilies (that have spread), peonies, iris, daisies and black-eyed susans. We then walked across the road to check out how their new pond is doing. They have a grazing area for black angus cows. I call them the 'big black moving rocks' because we can watch them from the house; they are huge! I’ve been hearing ducks/geese over there and sure enough, there was a pair of ducks! Beautiful creatures, both the ducks and the cows!

All in all it was a wonderful first day of ‘weather’ spring!

tattoo additions

Finally, had those additions, I've wanted, on my first tattoos, completed. 

My guardian god is Thunor; that's the Anglo-Saxon for what most people know as Thor. And no he is NOT the one portrayed in comics and movies! He's the real thing! 

Two years ago I had a bracelet with a þunor's hammer tattoo. Now I have his greeting, in Anglo-Saxon (Old English)!  

Wes þú hāl þunor    

 Wassail! be you healthy and whole, þunor

When I RETURNED to my ancestral gods and goddesses of Northwest Europe, before they were forced to become Christians, I was drawn to those early tribes of the island known today as England, particularly the tribes of the Angles and Saxons. The language that we know today as Old English is Anglo-Saxon. I know several of the ancient gods and goddesses of those tribes. þunor is my protector God. 

Along with my love of them I have learned more, via my practice of yoga, about the ancient gods and goddesses of Hinduism and Buddhism. 

My other tattoo is the Sanskrit of OM...the sound of the universe! My logic of having both the OM and the Hammer is...I am ONE with the universe and if there are obstacles in my way of staying calm then I just reach for my Thor's Hammer and smash them, thereby staying calm and one with the universe!  

Over time, I've become very fond of Lakshmi, goddess of peace, harmony and plenty. I have her picture on both my computers! as well as other places. I chant her mantra, using the mala-beads (prayer beads) I made just for her. 

Om Shreem Maha Lakshmi Namaha 

to know more see these sites 

https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/9001/namaha

https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/10048/om-shreem-maha-lakshmiyei-namaha