First impression / Eerste indruk

Checking in

Just a quick check in to let you all know I am here and all is well. Photos and stories to follow later!

Even vlug laten weten dat ik hier ben en alles goed is. Foto's en verhalen volgen!

A quick laugh / even lachen

Earlier today this new job in Denmark came up. And as I am leaving tomorrow already, a lot had to be arranged in a very short time. I had quickly called a few people to tell them I would be off again and had promised to send them the contact details of my wherebouts and all that later.
So a little while back I started to write the email with all that info. And only than did I realise that I do not know anything else but the babies mother's first name, her phone number and the town the family lives in. And that is it!
Oh I know why she needs someone like me and we chatted about a few other things, but I completely forgot to ask her all contact info. And I do not know the names of the babies either!
This is so me! I booked plane tickets, figured out how to get to their local trainstation, am half packed to go live with a family I don't even know their last name and exactly where they live. Too funny!!

Eerder vandaag hoorde ik dus ineens van deze nieuwe klus. En omdat ik morgen al vertrek moest ik veel regelen in korte tijd. Ik had snel een paar mensen gebeld om te vertellen dat ik weer weg zou gaan en had beloofd om alle contact en verblijfsinformatie enzo later toe te sturen.
Dus begon ik net een email te schrijven met al die informatie. En pas toen realiseerde ik mij dat ik niets anders wist dan de voornaam van de moeder, haar telefoonnummer en het plaatsje waar het gezin woont. En verder niets!
Oh ik weet wel waarom zij iemand als ik nodig heeft, en we hebben over nog wat andere dingen gekletst, maar ik ben glad vergeten haar het adres te vragen. En de namen van de babies weet ik ook al niet!
Dat is typisch ik! Ik heb vliegtickets geboekt, uitgevogeld hoe ik naar t plaatselijke station kom, ben al half gepakt om bij een gezin te gaan wonen waarvan ik dus niet weet waar zij wonen en hoe ze heten. Lachen!!!

Also finally / ook eindelijk

This last weekend the weather finally was nice enough to do some work in the garden. Did some much needed clearing up. Decided that having a compost heap really made no sense in my situation so I put some earth over it and threw a lot of wild flower seeds on it. That can be my little wildflower patch. Most importantly, I changed what they done with the fence. See, the fence is a fence. It is sturdy, which is what it is supposed to be, right?? But they planted 8 ivy's against them so the fence would be covered in greens fast. No matter how I explained to them I did not care for their ivy and would prefer the stunning plants I already had myself to climb up against them...... it seemed it was not my decision to make. Or so they thought. Yesterday I dug up and threw out 6 of the 8 ivy's they planted and my honeysuckle and parthenocissus are back up there. Added some fertilizer and a prayer, and since then there has been a lovely little drizzle to get them settled back in.

I'm curious to see how all will go now spring is finally here. This time sure is when the garden is most exciting.
However, also finally......... I'll be leaving for work tomorrow. The phone has been ringing off the hook here since before 9 AM about an emergency job. And of course I get a job out of London again. It is getting quite hilarious really that I always seem to end up with the out of London jobs, even for an emergency booking!! Tomorrow I will leave for Denmark for 3 weeks. Very excited about going back to work again. Not sure how much time I will have to post on here though......... As I will be taking care of twins...... and they have a little toddler as well so I will be a busy little bee!



Afgelopen weekend was het weer eindelijk lekker genoeg om in de tuin te werken. Ik heb wat hoognodige opruimdingen gedaan. Heb besloten dat een composthoop in mijn geval niet zoveel zin heeft dus heb ik er aarde overheen gegooid met een hoop wilde bloemen mengsel zaadjes. Dat wordt dan mijn wilde bloemen tuintje. En het allerbelangrijkste: ik heb veranderd wat ze met het nieuwe hek hebben gedaan. Het is stevig, zoals een hek moet zijn natuurlijk. Maar ze hadden er 8 klimoppen tegenaan gezet zodat het hek snel met groen begroeid zou zijn. Het maakte niets uit hoe ik ook aan ze uitlegde dat ik geen belangstelling had voor hun klimop maar gewoon mijn eigen schitterende klimmers terug wilde zetten daar........ deze beslissing was niet aan mij. Dachten ze. Gister heb ik 6 van de 8 klimop planten uitgegraven en mijn kamperfoelie en wilde wingerd teruggezet. Wat mest erbij en een gebedje, en sinds die tijd is er een lekker motregentje dat ze lekker vochtig houdt.

Ik ben benieuwd hoe alles het zal gaan doen nu het eindelijk goed weer wordt. Dit is toch wel de tijd dat de tuin het allerleukste is.
Maar, ook eindelijk......... morgen ga ik weer aan de slag. De telefoon heeft sinds vóór 9 uur vanmorgen niet stilgestaan voor een nood klus. En wat denk je, natuurlijk weer werk buiten Londen. Ik vind het eigenlijk reuze grappig dat ik altijd werk buiten Londen schijn te krijgen, zelfs voor de noodgevallen! Morgen al vertrek ik naar Denemarken voor 3 weken. Heb echt zin om weer aan de slag te gaan. Geen idee of ik veel tijd zal hebben hier te schrijven.......... want ik zal het druk krijgen met de tweeling waar ik daar voor ga zorgen....... en ze hebben ook een peutertje in de rondte rennen dus ik zal het reuze druk krijgen!

Finally / Eindelijk

Yesterday I went to the market (as in an open air street market) to get some fruit 'n veg and I saw the very first fresh strawberries that had not been grown too fast in a greenhouse and therefor are oh so sweet! So this morning I could finally have my favourite breakfast again!

Gister ging in naar de markt om groenten en fruit te halen en zag daar de allereerste aardbeien van de koude grond. Die vind ik veel lekkerder en zoeter! Dus vanochtend kon ik eindelijk mijn lievelings ontbijt weer eten: beschuit met aardbeien!

'Self portrait in yarn and sticks'

Everybody seems to be on some sort of cyber social network these days where you share (lots of) pictures. There is Facebook, Flickr, Hyves and many others. Being the cyberjunkie that I am, I too belong to one of these groups. Of course. And below is my profile picture at Ravelry where we communicate in our own jargon, proudly showing of UFO's (unfinished objects) which may or may not be hibernating and stash (yarn waiting to be knitted up).
Sites like this make the internet so entertaining for me!

Diamonds and gold

It has been well over 10 years ago I saw this big rock amethyst, and where there were a lot of people admiring it, saying what good vibes they were getting from it... all I felt was agression. It took a while for me to make sense out of feeling this. But as Marian Green, my spiritual teacher at that time, pointed out to me, these gems are usuallly blasted out of the earth with dynamite. No wonder I did not pick up anything wonderful or healing from that rock.
Now diamonds and gold have never enticed me to begin with. And Nina will surely get embarrased when I share this with you all, so I'll start with saying she was really small when she said all this okay?? But when she was that small, she loved going through my jewelry box and than she would always say: "Mummy, later, when you are dead, all this will be mine won't it......" Her eyes as shiny as the glittery stuff kept in my box. She obviously loved what I had a lot more than I did. So when Nina turned 18, I gave her my jewelry. All of it.
I am happy to not wear any gold or rocks. Those are treasures that belong to the earth in my view. Wars are fought over diamonds. Rivers are poisoned for the mining of gold. The miners are put at great risk, and too often underpaid. And all that for what.... so I can wear something that will make me look better? That will make me feel more important? To be honest, whenever I see expensive jewelry the only thing I can think is 'that equals two tickets to Singapore or anywhereelseIwouldlovetovisit'.
So this is why a while back now I decided not to get anymore gemstones or precious metals.
I do have some nice pieces of jewelry though, all wood. There is this stunning juniper wood ring with a knot that I just love. And the recent gift of an Hawaian koa wood ring is gorgeous and so thoughtful too. And for my last birthday I received a birch wood dove pendant. Simply stunning. I love the warmth of wood. I love how it is all handmade with so much love and care. And I love how it looks on me. And so must others as I get many compliments.


Okay, now let me nip this in the bud before rumours start...... no, I am not engaged!

A new hero / Een nieuwe held

I have a new hero: Capital "X".
"X", is a hip hop musician, a rapper or rather as calls himself "a raptivist". A few of the songs he has out there are about the death penalty.
A couple of weeks ago, on March 31st to be exact, he started to walk from New Jersey to Austin, Texas in order to raise awareness of the need to abolish the death penalty. Every day he walks is dedicated to a person on death row, or in memory of someone already executed. He talks to random people he meets along the way as well holds speeches at colleges, community centers and wherever they want to listen to what he has to say. He has other activists join him for parts of this walk.
On day 2 of his Walk4Life, his legs were sore, and you know what he did? He got himself a pair of crutches and just kept on walking.
And when he heard the news of the Supreme Court ruling, he said: "I'm gonna keep walking. I'm not going to stop in Texas. I'm gonna go till New Mexico. I'm gonna walk till I have to go on tour in September. Time to make some noise, we only lost this battle, time to win a war!' I mean......he just extended the walk with a few months!
I do so love stubborn people!
Here you can read his blog, or watch his videoblogs.



Ik heb een nieuwe held: Capital "X".
"X", is een hip hop muzikant, een rapper of eigenlijk zoals hij zichzelf noemt "een raptivist". Een paar van de liedjes die hij heeft gemaakt gaan over de doodstraf.
Een paar weken geleden, 31 maart op precies te zijn, is hij begonnen aan een wandeltocht van New Jersey naar Austin in Texas om de aandacht te vestigen op de noodzaak om de doodstraf af te schaffen. Elke dag dat hij loopt is opgedragen aan iemand in de dodencellen, of ter nagedachtenis aan iemdand die is geëxecuteerd. Hij praat met mensen die hij toevallig tegenkomt maar houdt ook toespraken in scholen en buurthuizen en waar men maar wil luisteren naar wat hij te zeggen heeft.
Er zijn andere aktivisten die gedurende gedeeltes van deze tocht met hem meelopen.
Op de tweede dag van zijn Walk4Life had hij pijn in zijn benen, en weet je wat hij deed? Hij haalde een paar krukken en liep door.
En toen hij het nieuws hoorde van de uitspraak van het Hogerechtshof in de VS, zei hij: "Ik loop door. Ik hou niet op in Texas. Ik ga door tot Nieuw Mexico. Ik loop door totdat ik op tournee ga in September. Het is tijd om lawaai te maken, we hebben alleen dit gevecht verloren, het is tijd om een oorlog te winnen!' Ik bedoel, hij heeft gewoon zijn tocht met een paar maanden verlengd!
Ik ben dol op eigenwijze mensen!
Hier kun je zijn blog lezen, of zijn videoblogs bekijken.

Speechless

Todays ruling by the US Supreme Court that the current method of lethal injection is not unconstitutional has left me speechless.
As I have no words of my own, I'll just copy someone elses:

NCADP: BAZE RULING SIDESTEPS THE CRITICAL ISSUES; DEATH PENALTY SYSTEM REMAINS AS FLAWED AS EVER
David Elliot - NCADP Communications Director - April, 16 2008

April 16, 2008 – The U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol sidesteps the critical issues surrounding the death penalty debate in the U.S., the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said today.



“The death penalty system was a flawed public policy before the Supreme Court agreed to review Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol,” said NCADP Executive Director Diann Rust-Tierney. “It was a flawed public policy while the Court debated the protocol. And now that the Court has ruled, it remains as deeply a flawed public policy as ever.”



The relatively narrow scope of the Court’s deliberations did not address basic issues of fairness, bias, ineffective assistance of counsel or innocent people being convicted and sentenced to death, Rust-Tierney said. She noted that the U.S. has gone almost seven months since an execution – the longest period of time without an execution since a 17-month hiatus that stretched from early 1981 into late 1982.



“Now, with the possible resumption of executions, we renew our commitment to discuss the critical issues surrounding the death penalty system,” Rust-Tierney said. “Since the last person was executed – on Sept. 24, 2007 – we have seen a number of remarkable events. Four names have been added to the list of people freed from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged, bringing that number to at least 128. New Jersey has abolished the death penalty. Nebraska has no effective death penalty after its Supreme Court ruled the electric chair unconstitutional. The American Bar Association has called for a nationwide moratorium on executions. And the United Nations, reflecting evolving trends around the globe, has voted for a worldwide moratorium.”



In addition, Rust-Tierney said, California and Tennessee have held state hearings in order to study their respective death penalty systems. Constitutional questions have been raised in New Hampshire and New Mexico and wrongful conviction and DNA lab scandals continue in Texas.



“And that’s just in seven months,” Rust-Tierney noted. “It seems that the more we learn about the death penalty, the more we learn we can live without it.”



Indeed, Rust-Tierney noted Justice Stevens’ concurrence in today’s opinion in which he warned that debate will continue – not just over lethal injection protocols “but also about the justification for the death penalty itself.”

The Shout Out Show

Joy during the Shout Out Show

Texas inmates don't really get to make phone calls. When I say 'don't really' I mean that apart from legal calls they need to make they only get one five minute phone call per 3 months. They have to put in an application for that, so that means that the time in between calls can be even longer than three months.
Death row inmates never go anywhere without an escort team, while they are handcuffed behind their back. This means that they get to make that call while standing (hands cuffed behind their back) and the phone on loudspeaker so everybody can listen in. If the person they are trying to reach is not home; bad luck, try again in three months. They are not allowed to leave messages on answering machines. No wonder a lot of guys in there don't bother. Five minutes is rarely enough to say what you want to say anyway.

Now there is this local radio station and Jim, the guy who runs this is friends with a couple of ladies who have a prison ministry. The guys in Polunsky can receive this radio station. A couple of years ago Jim started to pass on messages concering this prison ministry over the radio, and before he knew it he started to receive requests from people both on the in- and outside to pass on news over the radio. Soon the idea of the Shout Out show was born.
These days every Sunday afternoon and Monday evening friends and family members can phone in to the radio station, and that call is broadcast live so their loved one inside can hear them. You can also send in emails which will than be read out. The guys inside also send in letters with shout outs which are read out, and can be heard either via the local radio or via the internet.
It is a great way to pass on messages fast, and wonderful for the guys to be able to hear the voices of their loved ones.
I think it is a wonderful idea and a lot of guys look forward to every chance to be able to get news from home.
Even though the actual radio station is housed in a tiny tiny room, they always like and need company to help read out shout outs. I had to get over being a bit shy the very first time I was there but now I walk in and say hi to those I know and read out shout outs like I've always done it........
It is a wonderful thing to be part of.


Reading shout outs at the Shout Out Show

Come dancing

How we spent Sunday afternoon in Texas: on The Wet Deck where I learned to dance the Cupid Shuffle.
So not only am I walking again, dancing too!!!

Texas!!!

This is where I'll hang out for a bit!