FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE - RANDOM 5 FRIDAY

1. Together with Ilona we visited our friend who had a hip surgery, and therefore can't get out of the house yet. As she is a very active woman, it's hard for her to stay home and is thankful for each visit. There is always something to discuss ! This time it was about Ilona's ex-husband who lost his mind at 72, he fell in love with a woman in her 50th which of course can happen, but not only he wants to marry her but also put all his money, shares etc on her name, sell his house, buy an apartment on her name too. All this so that his daughter doesn't get a penny. The stupid innocent guy is convinced that his beloved would give his son his share ! But what would happen if she runs away once she has all his money and he will be on the street ? That's the biggest worry of the two children, of course they don't want to pay a cent for such a "father", which anyway he never had been. The worst thing is, that this woman had done this before with her first husband ! A real soap ! And nobody can convince him to think it over he becomes even more stubborn, love makes blind !

2. For the first time since nearly a year I went to my Yoga class. It was nice to see all the people again and I noticed with pleasure, that I hadn't become rusty at all. It worked quite well.



The room has a metal and glass roof and the rain made a terrible noise, as if it was hail.

3. It was time again to buy cat food for my little monsters, I don't know if it is the winter but they really have a good appetite !



Cookie the parrot was sitting on his cage and tried to eat my camera when I took pictures of him, and then as usual whistled in admiration behind me when I left. Yes, time goes by, in the past it was men who whistled, today it's a parrot.

4. My friend Chantal came for a visit, she was very excited, she will go on a holiday in Dubai ! Her son's friend works there and they can have his apartment while he is in Belgium. She also found somebody to take care of her husband who is still laying in his bed like an empty shell, he has to be fed and washed, he doesn't recognize anything anymore, doesn't speak, he just is like a living corpse after a car accident 7 years ago ! What a terrible burden, but Chantal takes it easy and she really deserves these holidays, as she can never be absent for a couple of days, she always has to find somebody for her husband.

5.



I bought a new panel for the little table which I use as my desk. It is bigger and I have more room. As I am a real zero when it comes to craftsmen skills, Ilona came over and checked the wooden panel and what painting would be needed. By pure coincidence I had bought the right wood, and she will come and paint it for me next week. She is a real genius, she can do everything in a house, from plumbing to paper a room, painting, laying parquet etc etc. She really doesn't need a man !



Nevertheless she asked Mr. G to help her to measure her car, as she needs a car cover to protect it from the rain. The car had been repaired recently but becomes still a little wet inside through the roof. While I tried to find the right one by googeling on Internet.

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WHAT DOES MEDITATION MEAN ?

Letter : "M"

A vintage girl of my painting class went on a "Meditation" trip to Spain. When I go on holidays I lay at the beach and watch people. She in her meditation group, had to decide each morning about what meditation place to choose. First they waited for inspirations to find an adequate place and then they went to the place one had chosen, mostly churches or ruins of churches or graveyards or other romantic places.

I asked her about what they meditated. The answer and explanations were so clear as a pond with moss. Finally I decided to google "Meditation".

According to Wikipedia, the word "meditation" is like the word "sport" in general. All religions and philosophies have their meditation methods. Besides the Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Jewish and New Age meditations you even have an online Meditation. Click on the link and help yourself if you want to be happy, free, finding the Nirvana, the Paradise or only the right way to breath. You can also choose your personal meditation position which goes from laying flat on your back somewhere, or in a Lotus position, with your legs folded under your bottom and your hands upside on your knees. You don't have to lay on a nail bed or standing on your head and ... the advantage is you can meditate everywhere, even as a member in the parliament of your country.



and you are even payed for !



I tried to meditate the easy way, laying in my bed and trying to get in contact with my inner self. My inner self was busy with making a "To do list" and I couldn't get it out of my body to the nowhere sphere. I tried as I had read somewhere about thinking of my body parts to find peace and serenity, but instead I met my inner self again who this time was busy to prepare this text.

But once I managed to really meditate ! I started laying on my back, hands turned to the ceiling, and found myself 2 h later in the same position and had to hop out of my bed and hurry because I had my painting class. So it's recommendable to rather meditate in the evening and not in the morning.

One thing is sure, if you do it correctly it can really help to get rid of stress, anxieties or other troubles.

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

ABC WEDNESDAY is here

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WILD ANIMAL SHELTER

Only 25 km from my home is a beautiful leisure park which is called "Bois des Rêves" which means "Wood of dreams" and it really is such a place. Just besides is a wild animal shelter, where people can bring birds, hedgehogs, rapids and other little wild animals which are injured. It's like a hospital for wild animals. My friend had found a little black bird, and we brought it there.



You have to walk through the woods, no car is allowed there.



It is well hidden between the trees



From far we saw a huge bird enclosure, probably for eagles or other big birds.



This was the entrance to the office of the shelter



There are only volunteers working there.



It is a long and large room and on both sides little cages with the injured animals. Mostly birds.



The little black birdie we brought will be checked by a vet. Behind the yellow grids was a little hedgehog hiding. He had been injured by a car probably.

It was a very interesting place and we certainly will go back and  also visit the leisure park, when the weather is a little better. The day we went there it was very muddy and wet.

MY WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY 7

It's an awful weather here, it rains cats and dogs and when you go out you have to pay attention that you are not "gone with the wind" ! Going out for a walk is impossible, if you do not want to become a fish, so to change a bit my decor and not to sit at my computer or watch TV the whole day, I visited my friends who were  in the same situation.




The two last nights I thought the house would fly away, but fortunately it's still standing without any damages. Of course there are a lot of traffic problems because trees fell on the streets. I drove over to Nicole, helped her a little with the computer, after all this time she has one, she is still in war with it and mixes up Picasa with Google and Firefox with emails etc. She lit the open fire and as it didn't work immediately, she put a lot of logs in,  one over the other with the result that two days later when she called me it was still burning ! Patience is not one of her qualities, just as I.


Charlie waits for the fire to burn

I also went to visit a friend from my painting class, who had a hip surgery and hobbled around with crutches, she was very happy that now she has no pain anymore in her leg. Her husband throws the household, cooks and prepared a coffee for me and then well educated, disappeared into his room  behind the computer to leave us alone between women.

I prefer to go to my friends, because Mr. G's life is like a train schedule. In the afternoon at 3.30 pm sharp he starts with his TV series and squats our living room. The others don't have husbands so there is no problem. Of course it happens that we have our little tea times in my home too and then Mr. G escapes into his office.

On Sunday I brought a plastic cover for cars to Ilona, there is something wrong with the roof of her car, it rained inside and the seats were wet. Until the problem is solved the cover will help.

It rained on my way to her house and also on the way back I could hardly see through this rain curtain.

Thanks to all these chats and discussions I now have enough news and inspirations to feed this blog for the next days !



I think I will hang this over my bed and become a philosophe.