Indian Summer - Bracclesham Bay

What better way to enjoy this amazing Indian Summer than to head down to the coast!  Unfortunately I wasn't the only one who had that idea, and the journey took rather longer than anticipated.  At times it was tempting to turn aside and head back closer to home, but oh boy! was I glad I kept going.

When I arrived at my destination, the tiny car park at Bracclesham Bay was full.  I took my place in the queue and the car park attendant came over and assured me there were families about to leave.  Then when a car left and I was about to go and park, she came and asked me if I would mind the car behind having the space as the man was due to go out on a boat for a dive and was afraid he would miss his boat.  Now of course, if I had had my wits about me and thought quickly, I could have bargained for some advantage ... he could have my space if he would pay my car park fee!  Regrettably I didn't think of that until after I'd politely pulled aside and let him through.  Oh well.

At last I was able to park up and take my place on the beach.  I call it a beach - when the tide is in (as it was by the time I got there), it's more of a shingle bank.  I've been to Bracclesham Bay many, many times, and never seen it as busy as it was today, in October!  So strange, having such a hot, sunny day so late in the year - but I'm not complaining, you understand.  Back in May I was out in Lanzarote and went swimming there - never expected the sea off our south coast to be warmer than the waters lapping the shores of the Canaries. I floated and swam to my heart's content, until my fingers went crinkly, then sat and enjoyed the sunshine and the delight of people all around me making the most of this bounty.  Gorgeous!

October!

What amazing weather for October!

My drive to work takes me along one of those roads that has a canopy of trees overhanging it, and when the golden autumn sunshine slants through, it looks beautiful.  This week there has been the added beauty of early-morning mist, and I particularly noticed a large and intricate cobweb adding artistry to the scene.  Each day I've passed it, I thought how lovely it would be to stop and take a photo ... but it's a busy road and work was waiting.  Not today, however!  Today the dawn was too exquisite to resist.  I pulled on my walking boots, picked up the camera and headed out into the misty sunrise.

I liked the pattern of these palm fronds against the pale morning sky

This pampas grass seemed to glisten 

Over Barossa Common I found plenty of cobwebs festooning the heathland, and the mist shrouding the hills somehow brought a sense of tranquility.

cobweb tree

Old Dean Community Fun Day

By the time I'd turned it upside down and trowelled on the icing, I convinced myself the coffee & walnut cake looked acceptable enough to donate to St Martin's refreshments stall at the Old Dean Community Fun Day today, along with the gluten-free/dairy-free fruit cake.  The chocolate sponge cake is for Vicky's birthday.

Cake-wreck

I do a fair bit of gluten-free baking, successfully adapting recipes, but this time I followed the recipe faithfully as I hadn't tried making  a coffe & walnut cake before.  Here's the very sad result!  It was supposed to be for the Community Fun Day tomorrow (I've volunteered to help with the refreshments).  Do you think anyone will notice if I just fill up the well with coffee icing?

Arundel Arts Festival

On occasions when we've driven past Arundel and seen the castle on the skyline, a friend and I have commented it would be nice to visit one day.  A few weeks ago I googled and noticed there is an Arts Festival in the town in August, where the whole town becomes an Art Gallery.  An opportunity too good to miss!

I drove us down on Saturday.  We arrived about 10 am and left the car in the Norfolk Arms car park (where we'd booked overnight accommodation), had a coffee in a coffee shop and then strolled up the hill to the castle. I took lots of photos but I think these two are probably my favourites.

In the afternoon we went from house to house on the Art Gallery trail - people in the town open their homes to visitors and display the entries in the various competition categories: photography, sculpture, prints, jewellery, ceramics ... a very enjoyable experience altogether.

Besides the artwork, there are plenty of other festival happenings over the course of the 10 days, including free music concerts in the town square and elsewhere.  So much to do and to see, I think we may well go back next year.

Where in the world?

A friend rang yesterday feeling a bit jaded and wanting to be taken away from it all for a day.  I did some research and chose an inspirational place to visit.  Take a close look at the photo and see if you can work out where we went.

If you thought we jetted off to see the Sistine Chapel in Rome, it would be entirely understandable.  In fact we only went as far as the south coast of England.  In a suburb of Worthing called Goring-by-Sea in the English Martyrs Catholic Church there is the only known reproduction of Michelangelo's famous work.

Magic Summer Live

There were some magic moments at the Magic Summer Live concert, but sadly not enough for me to feel it was worth the price of the 'VIP' ticket.  My discontent began on the way in to the grounds of Hatfield House, when the car park marshalls and stewards didn't seem to be particularly interested or informed on the parking arrangements.  Even before the music began, I passed a group of concert-goers complaining it was the worst concert they'd ever been to in terms of organisation. Then there was the weather.  For a supposedly summer's day, it couldn't have been much worse!  The sky is deceptive in the first photo - notice rather the multi-coloured mushrooms.  Occasionally there was a little ray of sunshine in between the cloudbursts, but mostly it was wet, windy and increasingly cold as the afternoon gave way to evening.

It should have been a wonderful experience - the line-up was fantastic:  Wonderland, The Pierce's, The Overtones, Rumer, The Lighthouse Family, Sir Elton John OBE, along with the cast of some of the current West End Theatre productions:  We Will Rock You, Wicked, Mamma Mia and so on.  There were two stages, with a staggered programme so that the excerpts from musicals on one stage interspersed the groups playing on the other.  Sadly even the quality of the music couldn't outweigh the disappointment of finding that the VIP seating was at a vast distance from the main stage and out of sight of the West End stage.

But don't take my word for it, here's a link to a review by Backstage Pass

Ignore the blue sky - notice instead the umbrellas 

Even this camera couldn't quite capture a good shot of Sir Elton John

I liked this couple dancing. Yeah, I'm a romantic at heart

This gorgeous little girl, captivated by Rumer

Rumer 

The Pierce's

The Overtones

The Overtones - in a moment of sunshine

Wonderland

Wonderland

Old Dean Common

This evening I went for a walk over the common and was delighted to see a young male roe deer.  He was grazing about fifty feet away, glancing up to look at me now and then to check I wasn't a threat.  I stood still and watched a while, until he decided it was time to go and sprang neatly over the wire fence, quickly vanishing from sight in the woods.

The wire fences around the common are a new feature to contain the cattle that have been introduced as an environmental measure. http://odcog.org/whatsnew.aspx  I saw them last time I went for an evening walk over the common.  I could hear something large moving towards me but at first I didn't know what it was as it was obscured from view by shrubs and trees.  Then the lead bullock caught sight of me at the same time I saw him.  Curiously, solemnly, we stood and looked at each other until the other bullocks caught up with him.  They also spared a glance my way before lowering their heads to the lush green grass in the clearing.  Surrounded by his herd, the lead bullock also lowered his head and began to graze, moving forward step by step as he did so.

I enjoyed both of these encounters with grazing animals.

Last weekend I had a lovely stay with my daughter in Bradley Stoke (near Bristol).  This juvenile blackbird is a regular visitor to her garden - it appears to have some sort of deformity, or possibly a tumour on the neck, but nonetheless seems able to feed and to fly normally.

No Tool like an Old Tool

The bees love these poppies

Thirty six years ago I was getting ready to leave home to move into the Halls of Residence at the place I studied as an Undergraduate.  I bought a load of kitchen equipment, including a potato peeler.  It was my faithful tool until I had to retire it last week when it finally fell apart in my hands.  Now I'm trying to find a replacement, and it's not proving easy.  Here is the one  I bought from the shop I always think of as 'the expensive kitchenware shop'.  It happened to be very cheap, only £1.99, but it looked of a similar design: stainless steel, with a swivel blade.  

Sadly that handle isn't as ergonomically designed as my original tool - the poor finish on the edge of the metal means it cuts into your hand as you're peeling.  As the saying goes, there's no tool like an old tool.  I'm still in the market for a decent peeler, so if you see one, let me know.

Changing the subject, at St Martin's cafe today it was a pleasant distraction sitting outside in the sun watching the bees busy on the poppies.

On my knees in front of the loo

So Bank Holiday weekend rolls around and I decide to spend some of my time on my knees in front of the loo.  No, I wasn't 'paying homage to the toilet god' as I think the euphemism goes.  I was doing a bit of DIY plumbing. For some time the cistern has had an intermittent fault where occasionally it fails to fill, instead the water continues running straight through.  I do like things to work properly and it was getting boring, having to keep taking the lid off and filling the cistern manually.  It was time to tackle the problem.  My friend talked me through what I needed to do.  In the end he needed to finish the job for me, tightening the nut and helping ensure the connections weren't leaking afterwards, but I felt a sense of accomplishment nonetheless.

De Vere Venues: New Place, Shirrell Heath, Southampton

This weekend I'm enjoying an Easter retreat at a delightful hotel near Southampton.  It caters to lone travellers as well as families, and my single bedroom is spacious and comfortable.  The staff are friendly and helpful - when I discovered the pillows were luxurious goose down, I asked if I could have them swapped for non-allergenic pillows and within a very short space of time, the duty manager appeared with crisp new pillows.

The photo above is looking out from the main house (the old mansion).  Below is a photo of the carving on the newel post.

The Atrium, Camberley

What does the model's expression say to you?

This advertising poster amuses me.  The expression on the model's face looks like she's totally fed up about something - her experience of The Atrium, perhaps?

April Moon

Beautiful Glowing Golden Moon Tonight!

Music for Health Annual Seminar: Sunday 10th April @ Field Place, Worthing

As one of the newest Local Directors, this was my first time.  I didn’t know what to expect.  With the seminar not due to start until 1 pm, my friend and I arrived in Worthing around 10 am.  We scoped out the destination and then drove onto Worthing seafront to make the most of the beautiful summery weather.  I liked the idea of arriving at the seminar with sand between my toes and salt in my hair – of bringing that fresh energy that wild swimming invigorates us with - but my swimming costume didn’t come out of the bag once I saw how far out the tide was! 

Where's the sea gone?

  Instead we walked along the promenade into town and found the Salvation Army setting up outside Costa’s.   We bought coffee and sat in the shade enjoying the music for spiritual health, and just as I might encourage others to do, I sang along lustily to the hymns and choruses I knew.

Salvation Army in Worthing 

Field Place is an 18^th Century Manor House set in eight acres of well-kept grounds.  We arrived a little before one and strolled through gardens in their spring colours, busy with the sounds of birds and bumble bees. 

Lunch was a cordial affair, a chance to put names to faces as I met other Local Directors.  We munched our way through the grand banquet spread before us, the buzz of small talk overlaid with the strains of music played by Sally Whitaker on her full-sized harp.  From time to time my gaze would wander to the intriguing collection of small gift boxes on a card table near the stage.  What could they be?

The full programme included guest speakers such as Sue Mason, an Activity Manager, who confirmed the benefits of the Music for Health workshops for her residents.  Angus Ewing provided Neuro-Linguistic Programming tips on ‘anchoring’ ourselves in the positive, on creating an inner resource we can draw on when we’re facing doubts or fears.  Cathy Steinman from Age Concern shared her passion for ‘enabling’ people – not doing for them what they can do for themselves.  For example if an elderly neighbour needs shopping, much as it might be easier and more convenient to do it for them, Cathy would encourage us to go the extra mile and support our neighbour to participate in the shopping trip as this is potentially of much greater benefit.  In between the guest speakers, MfH Local Directors shared their talents and Helen demonstrated how to use our props with panache.

It was a lot to pack into one afternoon.  At last, revived and fortified with a final plate session followed by tea and cakes, the mystery of the gift boxes was revealed – there was one for everyone, a small but luminous gift of a mechanical torch to remind us not to hide our light under a bushel.   Thank you, Helen, David and all my fellow Music for Health team for welcoming me into the family.

Jesus and Buddha: The Common Ground

Tulips in bloom in my garden

Today I was invited to join the Woking Friends for a workshop on the topic of Jesus and Buddha: The Common Ground.  It was facilitated by Geoff and Bev Hunt, a married couple who live the topic.  Geoff is, amongst other things, a Professor of Philosophy and a Buddhist Chaplain.  Bev is a non-stipendiary Anglican Minister.

The workshop was divided into 5 sessions:

1. Love for Enemies
2. Materialism (wordliness)
3. Judging/Criticizing Others
4. Worry
5. Love

For each session, Geoff had chosen some relevant teachings of the Buddha and Bev had chosen relevant Gospel passages.  Below I've provided links to the online Bible Gateway if you want to read the Gospel passage, and quoted the Buddha teachings in full (as I don't know of a single unified online source of the Buddha's teachings).

1.  Love for Enemies

Gospel readings:  Luke 6: 27-36 

Dhammapada Bks 1, 10, 17 

Buddha said ...

3.  "He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who harbour such thoughts do not still their hatred.

4.  "He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me."  Those who do not harbour such thoughts still their hatred.

5.  Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world.  By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased.  This is a law eternal.

129.  All tremble at violence; all fear death.  Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.

133.  Speak not harshly to anyone, for those thus spoken to might retort.  Indeed, angry speech hurts, and retaliation may overtake you.

134.  If, like a broken gong, you silence yourself, you have approached Nibbana, for vindictiveness is no longer in you.

221.  One should give up anger, renounce pride, and overcome all fetters.  Suffering never befalls him who clings not to mind and body and is detached.

223.  Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth.

224.  Speak the truth; yield not to anger; when asked, give even if you only have a little.  By these three means can one reach the presence of the gods.

After Geoff and Bev had read the passages aloud, they invited those present to discuss them.  I found myself drawn to the Buddhist teachings as they were new to me.  Once I'd explored the novelty, I focused on the last sentence:  By these three means can one reach the presence of the gods.  Aloud I commented that there seemed to be an unwritten assumption that that would be one's goal.  From there my thoughts went to the foundational lesson of  'A Course in Miracles':  What is unreal does not exist, what is real cannot be threatened.  Therein lies the peace of God.   I shared with the group the idea that 'reaching the presence of the gods' was perhaps another way of speaking of the peace that 'transcends all understanding'  (Philippians 4:7)

2)  Materialism  (worldliness)

Gospel reading: Luke 12: 15 - 21 

Khuddakapatha 8.9

The Buddha says ...

'Let the wise man do righteousness:  a treasure that others cannot share, which no thief can steal; a treasure which does not pass away'.

Udanavarga 1.20-21

'Truly, it is the law of humanity that though one accumulates hundreds of thousands of worldly goods, one still succumbs to the spell of death.  All hoardings will be dispersed, whatever rises will be cast down, all encounters must end in separation, life must finally end in death'.

In this session it was the Gospel reading that caught my attention, the parable of the rich man who built bigger barns to store his surplus grain, to whom God said, "You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you..."  Jesus closes the parable with the warning to his listeners:  "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."  Recently I bought a new fridge-freezer.  There was nothing wrong with the old one, it worked perfectly well, but I told myself I needed a bigger one to store up the extra food I planned to cook so that I could have a stock of ready meals against the times when I might not choose to cook a meal from scratch.  No sooner had the new fridge-freezer taken its place in the kitchen than the washing machine died!

3)  Judging/Criticizing Others

Gospel reading: Luke 6: 37 - 42 

Udanavarga 27:1

The Buddha said...

The faults of others are easier to see than one's own; the faults of others are easily seen, for they are sifted like chaff, but one's own faults are hard to see.  This is like the cheat who hides his dice and shows the dice of his opponent, calling attention to the other's shortcomings, continually thinking of accusing him.

Dh vv 50, 51

The Buddha said ...

'Do not remark on the faults of others, but see what you yourself have left undone.  Then overlook the faults of others'.

'Like beautiful flowers that have colour but no scent are the eloquent but empty sayings of the man who does not act according to his words'.

This session generated a lot of discussion.  I put forward the suggestion that when we look into the world, it is like looking into a mirror that allows ourselves to adjust our image - if we see something we don't like 'out there', it offers the opportunity to observe an attitude of our own heart and adjust accordingly.  As we talked about those who judge, criticize and condemn others harshly, I offered the phrase that it's like beating up the reflection you see in the mirror.  

One participant told an amusing tale - she works as an office cleaner, going in at the end of the day when everyone has gone home.  She polishes the desks.  One day one of the staff members had spent some considerable time sharpening pencils over his computer, leaving the fragments for her to deal with.  She declined to do so (struggling inwardly at the same time), certain it was the wrong thing to do, and smiling to herself at the thought of him having to clear it up himself when he next came in.  I imagined my own reaction in such a situation, and amused myself with the idea I would have wanted to leave a comment for him:  

Keep practicing and you may make it to the Tate Modern!

4)  Worry 

Gospel reading:  Matthew 6: 25 - 34

Majjhima nikaya 27

The Buddha teaches ...

'On returning from his almsround, after his meal he sits down, folding his legs crosswise, setting his body erect, and establishing mindfulness before him.  Abandoning longing for the world, he dwells with a mind free from longing ... Abandoning worry and remorse, he dwells free from agitation with a mind inwardly peaceful..

Dh 90-93

The Buddha teaches ...

90.  The fever of craving does not exist for him who has completed the journey, who is sorrowless and wholly set free, and has broken all ties.

91.  The mindful ones exert themselves.  They are not attached to any home; like swans that abandon the lake, they leave home after home behind.

92.  Those who do not accumulate and are wise regarding food, whose object is Emptying, the Unconditioned Freedom - their track cannot be traced, like that of birds in the air.

Bev and Geoff gave us a chance to talk amongst ourselves in small groups.  I was with two other women and we talked about the difference between the freedom a Monk might have from considerations that a Mother has to deal with. 

5) Love

Gospel reading:  Matthew 22: 36 - 38

Sutta Nipata 149-50

The Buddha says ...

'Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings.

Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world: above, below and across without any obstruction, without any hatred, without any enmity.

We closed with a few moments of silence.  I found it a thoroughly engaging, interesting, energising workshop and very much enjoyed the company in which I found myself.  Many thanks to Geoff, Bev, and to Woking Friends for hosting the afternoon.

If life hands you an odd sock, make a sock puppet

On Saturday at around 3 am I was admitted as a 'Voluntary Patient to the ARC2 Ward at the Noel Lavin Unit in Guildford, there being no spare beds at the Wingfield Ward, the local Mental Health Inpatient facility where I've spent some time in the past.  I've put 'Voluntary Patient' in inverted commas because I wasn't offered another option.  Over the past few weeks I've been working out my notice at my current employment and preparing for a new venture into self-employment.  I've been coping well with the pressures, but a few lingering self-doubts led to me taking a couple of decisions which Vicky and David interpreted as relapse indicators: I'd phoned my daughter after midnight Thursday night - something I've never done before as she is generally in bed before midnight - and I'd walked barefoot to my son's house (a couple of miles) and woken him at 6 am Friday morning.  He wasn't amused.  They expressed their concern by taking me to the local Accident & Emergency hospital for a psych assessment.  I went willingly as I understood their need to 'do something' about their concerns, and I was confident that a psych assessment would find me perfectly sane.  We spent 11 hours sitting in waiting rooms Friday, then they were tasked to deliver me to the ARC2 ward where I was given a bed in a room with another patient peacefully snoring the night away.

Whilst I was there, we had some glorious summery weather - here's a view from the ARC2 Lounge taken on Wednesday 23rd, looking towards Guildford Cathedral as the sun sets.

Same view the next morning after the thick mist has begun to clear to the extent you can see the buildings nearby but not the Cathedral.

I attended a couple of the therapy groups, including one on Mindfulness.  On the wall of the Therapy Lounge was this piece of artwork/wisdom on coping with feelings.

The Strongest Link

Is Compassion the strongest link?

My current employment is in the voluntary sector working on the Community Innovations Team, a Hampshire County-wide initiative aiming through early intervention and prevention to reduce the number and severity of hospital admissions for elderly people, and to assist them to retain their independence for longer.

My role has been to identify and map the existing services and activities for older people in the area and to communicate with the Social Worker, Occupational Therapist and Community Support Worker to ensure they are able to signpost their clients appropriately.

I share an office with the Dial-a-Ride drivers and their co-ordinator.  Today one of the Dial-a-Ride drivers asked if anyone happened to have a spare shopping trolley - one of his regular passengers, an elderly lady, had recently had a fall and broken her arm and was now struggling to carry her shopping. I suggested we might find one for her through the Freecycle website, and promptly posted a 'Wanted' ad.  Towards the end of the day, I checked my mail and discovered a Freecycler had responded, offering a shopping trolley his parents no longer needed.  I picked it up on my way home from work and dropped it off at a colleague's home - I'm not going into the office tomorrow, and she had agreed to take it in and give it to the Dial-a-Ride driver who would deliver it to the passenger.

This evening I was watching the quiz show, "The Weakest Link", and the contestants banked a nice pot of money with an unbroken chain of 9 correct answers.  (In fact they could have banked even more as the next two answers were also correct).

It occurred to me that the story of the shopping trolley was a little similar - a chain of people each putting their small willingness and ability into the pot in order to bring a little joy into an elderly lady's life when she receives a timely gift  from the friendly Dial-a-Ride drivers who treat their customers like extended family.

Postscript:  After writing this blog post, I read the 'Word for Today' which concluded:

Leon Nacson says, 'Always anticipate the best outcome for yourself and others, because when what you expect is just more of the same, that's what you get!' Remember, '...Faith is being sure of what... we do not see' (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). So even when you can't 'see' it, trust God to work on your behalf, to arrange for you to be in the right place at the right time, and for others to go out of their way to help you - and watch God work.