Mac Crash!

I just got my mac back.  The video card was bad, but my hard drive also crash and I have lost all of my data...

All gone... notes, yoga figures, pictures, addresses, music, web pages I was working on.. boy what a mess..

Elizabeth's Birthday Week.

Elizabeth’s birthday week began with a trip to Aunt Anne’s in Ohio, with a stop in Kentucky to see Sarah and Kevin in Lexington.
We left Chattanooga around four in the afternoon, and stopped along the way and got coffee and a bite to eat.
We got to Sarah and Kevin's close to 9 p.m.. Eliz was very excited to see Aunty Sarah and Uncle Kevin. She bounded into Sarah's arms. Kevin was still at work, and we did not see him until later on in the evening.

We had a lovely time with Sarah and Kevin. Eliz was given some presents for her birthday which Sarah and Kevin had for her. Eliz was very pleased, and wanted to put them on right away! :) Sarah also had a very early birthday present for me... A lovely tee-shirt of Jimmy Hendrix and a subscription to Rolling Stone. Very nice! Later on in the evening Kevin came home. Eliz really enjoy all of us being together.

The next day we were all up early. Sarah had to head out to work, and we needed to leave for Cincinnati. As we arrived at Anne's house. Nancy and Anne were just returning from walking Linus. They were just outside the house as we pulled up. Eliz was so excited, she could hardly contain herself. We arrive just in time for a lovely brunch (which included some of Anne's freshly baked bread) which Nancy and Anne had put together.

Again Eliz was very lucky. She received more presents for her birthday. Eliz was very happy, and enjoyed all of the attention.

Not long after we had been at Anne's, two of her neighbours came over. They were Sophie and Ben. They were just a little over then Eliz, and they wanted to know if Eliz could 'come out and play.' Eliz was in heaven. She was outside as much as she could get away with. Later on in the day we went shopping, and picked up some pumpkins to decorate our house with. Eliz selected our pumpkins and did a great job of it. I was wearing my new Jimmy Hendrix tee-shirt, and I had any number of comments about it. Very nice. :)

The following day Grandpa and Joyce came down from Eaton Ohio and spent the day with us. We had a lovely lunch then most of us went for a walk. Eliz went to play with her new friends, and I stayed home to mind her. I was able to do a little reading too. The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting. It was very pleasant.

Later in the afternoon Grandpa and Joyce returned home. Nancy was to return home too, but she stayed on for a few more hours. It was lovely to sit around an chat. Finely Nancy and Linus had to return home. We settled down for the evening.

We got up early Monday morning. We had a long trip a head of us. The plan was that we would drive directly home, and not stop in Lexington, as we had on the way up. The trip was a long one, but we had a great CD to listen too. Anne had given Eliz a copy of "Snack Time" by the Bare Naked Ladies. We had a lot of fun listening to that. It really helped the time pass. We got home in the early evening.

As Ebus's birthday week continued we celebrated her birthday on Wednesday. We gave her the presents that we had for her here and had a celebration. In the evening Eliz help Ashley make cupcakes which were to go to school with Eliz the next day. Eliz gave special attention to the icing of the cupcakes. She helped ensure that the icing tasted as it should.

The next day the cupcakes went to school with Eliz. Then at 2:40 P.M. I trundled up to the school, so I could be there when the children awoke from their naps. It is the schools tradition that these type of events happen at there 'snack time,' so as not to disrupt the schools routine. The children were just awake as I arrived. The children were enjoying the cupcakes. The seemed to start with the icing and worked downwards! :) Later after the cupcakes had been consumed, the party favours had been passed out, and "Happy Birthday To You" had been sung we went home.

This was not the end of it. That night, we met Miss Judy at our favourite pizza place, Lupies. On the way there, we stopped at a shop and Ashley picked up a Birthday cake. Eliz did not know this.
We met Judy at Lupies. Judy had a present for Eliz, which Eliz spent dinner playing with. Then we had the cake, and sang "Happy Birthday" while Eliz blew the large candle (shaped in a number 4) out.

All in all, a great time had by all.

A new Yoga website and blog.

17th August, 2008.

A new Yoga website and blog.

I have recently registered as a yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance www.yogaalliance.org/, and as a result of that I decided to start a new website and blog, which I will use for my yoga interests.

I plan to have information on yoga asanas (postures,) various books and maybe some of the philosophy behind Hatha Yoga.

Recently found out that I have scoliosis. Knowing that, I am going to use this site to host information on my progress using Hatha Yoga to help with my Scoliosis. On the blog there is a spot to post comments or, if you want, to ask a question.

The URL is:www.yoga4all.net

Went hiking!

16th August, 2008.
Went hiking! :)

Yesterday, Saturday, Ashley had the idea of going to a park. She had found this great place, so we went for a hike at a nature reserve not too far from Chattanooga (about 10 miles away) on the other side of Lookout Mountain.
The venue was lovely, and the day was just a little overcast. The air had a little bit of the Autumn to it which felt very nice. There were meadows full of flowers, ponds and birds flying about.
We parked after paying an entrance fee ($6.00 for the car) near one of the trails.

The trail took us through a lovely little pine wood, then out into a meadow full of flowers. Most of the flower were a butter yellow and they did not seem to have much of an aroma, but they were a very pretty site. There were grasshoppers jumping all over as we walked by. The occasional buzz of bees and other flying creatures as they whizzed by. As we walked on we came to a small grape arbor which was surrounded by sunflowers. It was nice to feel the soft resistance of the grass under our shoes as we walked along the trails. In some spots the grass was up to our shoulders.

After awhile Eliz decided that we had gone far enough, and we turned about. We returned to the car where we had left the pick-nick brought a with us; we collected the food and went off to the find the spot we had first noticed as a possible to pick-nick. As we arrived there, Ashley noticed in the distance some (two or three) white boxes in a row. They were a few meters apart from one another, and as we looked about we noticed that there were rather a lot of bees here and there.... mostly here. We moved on to look for another spot. Our feet took us back to the pine forest that had been though earlier. We found a nice spot and had our lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwidges, sunflower seed, apples, water, and for Eliz a coke-a-cola. As Eliz calls it “Coke-a-nut!”

After our repast we got back into the car and drove off to see what else there was. The road took us through a swampy area with lots of birds and flying insects. The wind was blowing pleasantly, so you could see the long grass and reeds bend. It was very pleasant. We drove at around 5 mph to take everything in (there was no one else about) when a horse fly flew in Ashley's window (she was driving.) Ash got a little agitated at this event. Apparently Ash has had 'closer' experiences with horsefly's then I. The fly flew out my window, and we drove on. A moment later another (or the same one) flew in my window :) ! Ashley said 'get out' to the horsefly 'you are ruining my bucolic moment with nature!' Then she laughed. The fly flew back out, and we continued driving on. Back in a wooded area and past a meadow with a wishing-well, at least that is how we chose to view it. We stopped and looked about. The well was closed off, but it was nice to look at anyway. Close by there was a wood of bamboo, so we trundled off to see it. You could walk through the bamboo to the center which was a large circle. We stood there for a few minuets then decided it was time to return home. We had had a lovely time.

What a nice way to spend the day.

Trip to the park.

The 7th of August, 2008.

Yesterday, Eliz and I went down to Coolidge Park, which is about 15 minuets from our house. The park is by the river and is of a nice size. There is a wooden Merry-go-round, but that is not what we were aiming for. At the park there is also a large water fountain, which is flat to the ground so that you can approach it. A lot of people do, in fact people bring there swimsuits and run in and out of the water fountain. This is what our plan was, well Eliz's plan anyway.

Recently, well the last few months, Eliz has wanted to go 'down to the fountain' but when we have arrived there, she would not touch the water, much less go into the water. She would just climb the stone statues of animals which surround the periphery of the water fountain.

Well yesterday, after deciding to venture the water fountain again. We hurried to get ready. The morning heats up quite quickly here, and by 10 am we are in the 90's. We generally (well I do anyway) aim to leave the around half past ten, but it is not always posable. Yesterday we left the house around 10:30 and got to the park at ten to eleven.

After we unloaded the stroller of the towel and drinks. I sat down and so did Eliz. I asked her if she wanted to go up to the water and cool her feet. She did not want too... We sat by the fountain (there are some stone steps which people sit on.) After a few minuets I told Eliz that I was going to cool my feet and I got up. It felt very nice to put my feet into the spraying water. After a moment Eliz came up but she would not go into the spray. The fountain is rather big and somewhat loud, so I could see why it might be some what intimidating. As we stood there, children were running about higgledy-piggledy, then Eliz walked over to one of the stone animals and climbed on it a little, then a little water shot from the mouth of the stone animal. Eliz put her hand in the spray. The spray died away, and Eliz got down. After a moment she went up to one of the columns of water and let some of the water spray her gently. Eliz laughed and ran away from the stream. Then after a moment she was back, and into the water laughing, then out again, back in again and now fully immersed in the water from the fountain laughing like a fool!

It was a lot of fun!

Storming in Chattanooga.

Well this is really a test.

Today when I went to pick up Eliz from her pre-school, the sun was shining, the birds were singing. The dogs were barking! Especially the one that likes to chase...

On the return from the school in the space of 15 min. The sky went from sunny to thunder and lightning! We got home just as the rain was starting.


Now, two hours later, it is still thundering, but in the distance.. The temp has dropped to 81F. Feels nice.

The Code-Donkey Blog.

This is the new code-donkey blog. :)