I don’t have much to show for knitting this week.
- My Hedera socks are coming along nicely, I’m almost down to the heels now, and as I’m knitting them both at once I’ll be wearing them pretty soon!
- The Hemlock Ring blanket that I’m working on is a joy to knit in the still-cold evenings. It’s warm and cosy to have on my lap, and requires almost no concentration at all!
Instead, I thought I’d fill you in on a couple of other things I’ve been up to.
I had just the best day last Saturday – here’s what I did:
- My day started with a Laura Mercier makeover (not something that I do often!) The makeup artist put a LOT more makeup on me than I would normally wear, but she did have some really good ideas. I swear that they use four times as many products as you would yourself just in the hope that you buy something!
- Afterwards, I went to stock up on a few essential oils, and discovered that the store’s massage therapist was offering a massive discount on aromatherapy massages. I must point out that this kind of spontaneous self-indulgence is really not the norm for me, but I managed to overcome that obstacle, and had a massage straight away!
- After that I met Steve, and we had a lovely lunch together at a French restaurent next to the river Thames (photo above). It was the most fabulously sunny, warm spring day, and the river was full of rowers and canoeists. Wine was drunk, and our noses turned a little pink (in the sun, you understand…).
- Oh, and that blue bag in the chair may just indicate a little retail therapy on the pretty frock front…
- …but I should probably point out that the pushchair is nothing to do with me. Honest.
In other news, the yoga foundation course that I’m on ends soon, and I’ve been trying to decide which teacher training course to sign up to. Turns out it’s a bit of a minefield.
- There is a UK governing body of yoga who claim that any training course not accredited by them is not ‘proper’ training. And then there are interational yoga schools, such as the Sivananda centres, who have been training teachers for forty years and have no desire to be accredited by the British Wheel.
- The Sivananda training really appeals to me; it’s the type of yoga that I love practising the most. But I need to figure out whether doing their training might inhibit the possibility of teaching in the UK. If you have any experience of this area, I’d really love to hear your views!

I don’t have any experience in this, but will you keep posting about it? In my experience, people usually know what they want in their heart of hearts – if you want to do the Sivananda training, it’s probably best to follow that route…
ah, you are a litle ahead of us in the spring department….as for yoga teacher training, i’d approach this one based on what i wanted to do. if i wanted to teach at a school that only hired teachers with a specific accreditation, i’d get that. otherwise, i’d follow my interests in a purer way. the school i study at teaches the iyengar method. none of the teachers have gotten the officical iyengar accredation, but it really doesn’tmatter at all (i also study at the iyengar inst. in ny, the teaching is exactly the same, and the student is happy!)
I know exactly the spot you were sitting in! Lovely. I’ve been powerwalking (or trying to) past there every Sunday for a few weeks now in training for doing a marathon in May. Glad you were able to make the most of the weather while it lasted!
that sounds like a positively wonderful way to spend a day!
best of luck in finding a well-suited teaching school for your endeavors.
What a lovely day you had – shopping, lunch with hubby – what more could a gal want? (other than a bit of knitting time that is)
Glad the knitting is coming along nicely and that does sound like a fabulous Saturday. Thank you for your lovely comments and for putting my cushions in your go look at section :o)
What a perfect day! Shopping , makeover, massage and lunch out! Wow that’s like my dream day out…
Really looking forward to seeing your blanket. Its a design that keeps climbing higher up my to do list
your sunday sound fabulous- and it looks so springy over at the themes ( lol when i saw the photo i wondered what the pushchair is about ;))
xo
That sounds like a very good day out!
I taught myself the basics of yoga from a Sivananda book. I’ve done various odds and ends of different styles since then in a variety of classes but the book still holds up well in comparison. I have more experience of martial arts – there are always lots of organisations that want to be the national organisation. I’m a bit sceptical of the “big, national organisation” for an art that’s so devolved – I suspect yoga is the same.
That sounds like a perfect Saturday to me!
Ha ha, I wondered about the pram too…
Sounds like a fabulous day! Sometimes you have to treat yourself to a bit of body pampering stuff (I might have had a pedicure yesterday!) and followed by lunch with your husby – mmm perfect!
Sounds like a spectacular day!
That does sound and looks like a wonderful way to spend Saturday!
I think you and Steve go to some lovely spots on the river. Some of the picnics and so on – just lovely!
What I wouldn’t give to have a makeover. Maybe I’ll explore it. It sounds like fun.
I think your tag-line says it all!
Can’t help much on the yoga front though I would say that I would be looking for a body which is open and shows integrity in its governance arrangements.
That sounds like a perfect day. Well, after taking off some of the foundation.:) Regarding the yoga situation, I would find out what my teachers and mentors had done, then try to to stay true to my own practice…
Great picture, just like in a movie.
Are there laws about yoga teaching in the UK? Here in the U.S., there are not. We have a voluntary national certification group, but it’s just that…voluntary. If there aren’t any laws governing it in the UK…do what you want to. I don’t know how it is where you are, but over here, most students don’t know or care about certification (which can be unfortunate, actually).