Bali heat and Swedish cool

It was incredibly hot at yoga on Saturday afternoon - even though it's now well into Autumn, it felt  like it was hotter than the heights of Summer! Richard was helping me into Marichyasana C (nearly got it back now after 3 years of that pose lost in the wilderness!) Anyway, I told him I was going to Dena's workshop in Bali in October and he grinned and said - well, this is the temperature it'll be there! I, of course smiled like I already knew that (not!) But it's good to know now, so I'm mentally prepared ... :)

Went and saw the (subtitled) Swedish film of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' - first book of Stieg Larsson's wonderful Millenium series. It was such a wonderful film - really brought the book even more to life. And it was really true to the book too ... Lovely to see that icy brooding Swedish landscape. And the 2 actors who played Lisbeth and Blomquist were just wonderful. They've merged with whatever pictures I had in my head (from the books) of those characters now. Can't wait to see the other two films - they've all been made ... Highly recommended!

I'm still struggling with the cough from hell! I was on antibiotics, came off them on Sunday or Monday, but by last Wednesday evening I had a temperature and it was back onto them.  I actually saw my 'coughing' doctor (!) on Wednesday afternoon (an appointment I'd made months ago which fell due at a fortuitous moment!) and he again said that the IV-IG infusions was the best/most effect/only(?!) treatment. Basically he repeated that if I get a bad cough or cold or similar, it is very likely to get to my chest and start a whole coughing cycle that can go on for 2-4 months (huge sigh!) This is what happened at the end of February ... I'm feeling pretty good again now, with another 5 days of antibiotics ahead of me. But - last time I only lasted about 3 days off antibiotics! Oh well - I know I had this a year ago and it did go away - just have to hang onto that thought!

Loong weekend ...

Enjoying the long Easter break ... Today I went to my friend Helen's place and we did yoga on the verandah of their lovely old Queenslander home. Actually I nearly didn't go - I felt pretty tired this morning (after a very strong yoga practice at the shala yesterday afternoon!) but I knew that I'd feel differently if I went, and so it was ... ! There was a really lovely climber flowering beside me - flowers a beautiful dusty pink. Apparently it's an allamanda called something like Gypsy Rose - I'm only familiar with the 'common' yellow one. Must look out for it - I'd really like it in my garden. I can just see the spot, by the front door.

One of the things I've been doing this weekend is looking at the mess I've let my garden get into, and making a start on clearing away some of the weeds etc! The weather is finally a bit more 'clement' - ie. temperature down to an acceptable level for working in the garden. I have some plans to make a few changes, get someone in to cut down some very rampant growth, etc etc. Autumn/winter is a nice time for playing in the garden!

I've also been cruising the internet getting ideas for places to stay in Bali. The week of the workshop I'm booked into the place where the workshop is, but I'm arriving in Bali 2-3 days before it starts, and don't want to pay those sorts of prices when I don't have to. I'm just gathering some ideas/names at the moment. My whole flight is actually booked (and paid for!) which seems pretty surreal! I'm not leaving till the end of September for goodness sake! This is all way earlier/more organised than I usually am ... :) Still puts a smile on my face though!

Also went out with a friend on Friday to see the 3D Alice in Wonderland - Johnny Depp! I love those Tim Burton movies.

Holiday anticipation :)

Well, even though I'm still fighting off an awful cough,  I've felt incredibly galvanised these past few days! The thought of a week-long ashtanga workshop has really got me thinking about what I need to do to improve my practice before October. Apart from anything else,  I'm definitely going to start doing a version of pigeon-pose (hip-opener) a lot!  (ed: had to change this - I had mistakenly written 'kapotasana' which is a pose from the intermediate Ashtanga series that I seriously doubt I'll ever encounter in this lifetime!!) My left hip has got quite stiff these past few weeks/months and I need to put some extra work in there. (Made a start on this in class today!) I also need to 'retrieve' Marichyasana B ... I haven't been able to do it for a couple of years, since I had that big break from practice when I was sick/in hospital. That's one reason I need to get my left hip sorted out!

And then there's my new year's resolution of jump-backs. I'd stopped working on that when I damaged my shoulder (probably attempting jump-backs) ... Need to get back into that too.

Today I went into a travel agent to find out about prices etc. Amazingly, the flights between Bali and Singapore are all booked up already for that date in October - so I'm going to go via Bangkok instead. And of course I've laid my hands on a Lonely Planet guide to Bali!

 And finally the weather is calming down here - I may even be able to get out into the garden and repair the damage done by neglect (!) Due, I hasten to add to a cocktail of incredibly hot weather, alternating with extremely heavy storms, combined with me being too unwell (cold/bronchitis) to face doing anything on the rare day when conditions permitted ... excuses, excuses, I know!!

Just booked Dena's workshop in Bali!

I'm so excited - and a little bit scared! I've just booked to do Dena's Ashtanga workshop in Bali at the beginning of October ... wowwww!! It's for a week starting the 2nd October, in Ubud.

Ooh, it's all starting to feel real - the big 2010 overseas trip! After Bali I'm flying to London where I'll base myself with my sister who lives there. As well as spending time with Judy, I have lots of friends and family around the UK and Ireland to visit. And I'll also be spending 7-10 days with my friend Wendi in southern Portugal (though we may go to Morocco too!) I'll be away around 6 weeks ... (hooray for long service leave I say!) I had originally planned to go to London first (in September) and then do the Bali workshop on my way home. But I discovered that my plans didn't coincide with Judy's plans - she and her husband will be away on holiday for most of September! So I just swapped the times around - learning to be flexible ‹grin›

And ... a bit scared? Well, I guess it's just who knows what will happen between now and then ... :) I  remember the last time I booked a big yoga workshop in advance, I came back from India (to go to it in Sydney) with giardia and there was no way I could go! And having been sick, I know nothing is for sure! But still - I feel like I'm investing in the future!

February news (sort of!)

Seems like a long time since I wrote anything here. I came back from the wedding, and straight into a real firestorm at work. The normal pre-first semester start hecticness, added to the extra intensity of a big software upgrade, followed by difficult to solve database problems ... All of this got us very behind in the work that needs doing before the start of Semester 1. Ended up having to work overtime today (Saturday) to try and catch up. At least it was 'official', so we are getting paid overtime.

I've also managed to damage some muscle deep behind my shoulders (cannot remember its name  my osteopath told me!) a few days ago. And how did I do this? By practicing/trying to do jump-backs! (One of my new year's resolutions!) Sadly I've been forbidden to do any yoga (or go to the gym) until after I've seen the osteopath again next Wednesday. She did give me some exercises to do to try and strengthen those muscles, which I am obediently doing!

And for my upcoming overseas trip (in around September/October), I'm just waiting/hoping for an ashtanga workshop to appear in Bali or Thailand that I can go to on my way back from Europe, before going ahead and firming up dates and booking flights.  Although, knowing my past experience of trying to organise everything, I should probably not hold my breath waiting for everything to line up!

The Wedding (part 2)

Where has the week gone I wonder?! I've been incredibly busy at work and I guess I've just been coming home and collapsing, with no thought of blogging or anything!!

So, I promised myself (and any readers who might be interested, though I know it's not really that exciting reading about a wedding of two people you don't know!) that I'd write about the wedding, just to keep the memories in my head, or on paper/somewhere! Just to get everyone straight with who's who: Jo and Emma were the ones getting married. Jo is my nephew - one of two children my sister Vivien had, before she died of cancer back in the late 80s, when the boys were around 6 and 4. John is their father. He re-married several years later to Gina who had two sons herself, slightly older than my 2 nephews. And her mother is a 3rd grandmother to them! So it's all a nice extended family - normal these days!


The ceremony was actually held in the beautiful house of Jo's other grandmother (John's mother) in the late afternoon. This picture shows John in the room before most people started arriving. Emma walked down the aisle to a Scottish piper playing Scotland the Brave on the bagpipes (just outside on the verandah)!! It was quite thrilling actually (this is my Scottish roots coming out!) although amusing because Emma's parents are Latvian - no Scottish there! It's all coming from the other side of the family! My mother is/was Scottish, and my sister Vivien was born in Scotland.

- John adjusting Bim's bowtie (one of his stepsons)



- The bride and groom

After the ceremony we all mingled on the verandah and in the garden, drinking delicious French champagne ... Then Peter, my other nephew/Jo's brother, gave the best man's speech. I found it highly amusing that he had his notes for his speech on his iPhone and was reading them from there!!

After many many wedding photos we all moved off to Catalina, a restaurant on the harbour at Rose Bay. The whole restaurant had been taken over for the reception. This photo (below) is a bit misty but I think it's really lovely - Jo and Emma entering the restaurant through a shower of rose petals!

We ate a delicious meal (I had a wonderful fish dish followed by creme brulee - my absolute favourite dessert!) and ate wedding cake, had more speeches and danced to a great jazz band. It was a really lovely evening - beautiful day in total. And Vivien was remembered and talked about by her children, John and us all, and we all knew how proud she would have been of her boys!

The Wedding (part 1)!

Can't remember if I mentioned the big family wedding that was happening in early January. My nephew Jo and Emma's wedding happened in Sydney on Friday before last - I went down for a long weekend for it and it was a really beautiful wedding on a lovely summer Sydney day. But I've been so busy at work last week I haven't had time to blog. Although I did find time to upload photos to Facebook and Flickr in the evenings. And then I've spent most of today making this iPhoto slideshow of photos from the wedding (mine and a couple of other people's) - and then uploading it to YouTube! First time I've done that ... Mostly as a present for Jo and Emma, although no doubt a lot of friends and family will be interested to see it too.



Now it's late and I have to go to bed ... but I will blog more about the wedding (before I forget things!) in the next few days ... :)