People and Places

Now then dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog, regular readers may have observed the lack of blog posts recently. Rest assured dear readers that the blog will continue in a new format called People and Places whereby the tired old blog is given a makeover so standby for the new version of Wear and Dao, coming soon to a tablet near you.
(to be continued)

Monday mixed day

Monday began rather wet dear readers of Wear and Dao,  so the proposed trip to Cragside for more books in the D.I Ryan series by J.L Ross including "Cragside" and several others, was postponed until tomorrow when the weather forecast is fine and no rain ...

So, today your old blogger and his kind caring friend stopped indoors for a while whilst the rain persisted only venturing out for some potatoes to make chips for lunch with a goose egg each and baked beans which was delicious and nutritious of course and rather filling.

In the afternoon we set out for Bishop Auckland to the Vodaphone team who sold the friend an updated phone recently and gave her old phone to the old blogger in order to transfer the data. Mission accomplished we returned to Stanhope in time for tea (leek, potato and butter bean soup).

Tomorrow is another day so who knows where we'll go and for what? Rest assured however folks that we'll be going somewhere or other and enjoying the life of being retired  ... it's a nice life indeed when Monday is no different to any other day.

Cyprus in winter for 3 weeks and Devon and Cornwall for a week or so is possible ... let's see how those plans work out shall we dear readers!

Sunday philosophy

Today dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog Bill the philosopher arrived for lunch prepared by the kind caring friend and chef de cuisine and your old blogger, plus Alan well known in Northeast England and Cumbria for his work on community-based action and social enterprise  and well known on Facebook too. Bill had never met him before today so it was an opportunity for them both to find out about each other not to mention philosophy and psychology, the Meaning of Life and the Nature of Reality, while the chef prepared a delicious, nutritious meal of chick pea curry with poppadoms and pitta bread, followed by a trifle.

As you can see dear readers Sunday really is a day for deep thinking ... not unlike the Christians who go to church religiously on a Sunday, except of course that philosophers question everything!

After a good session of discussing philosophy over a cup of tea Bill departed whilst Alan stayed for more philosophy and psychology before heading home to Sherburn, Durham.

Tomorrow is another day and who knows who will arrive or where we'll go, but books still need sorting out and more bought for the library of A Place to Be now based inn a different house ... anyway A Place to Be is where you are obviously, and each human being the centre of their own universe which is tricky since logic infers billions of human beings are creating their own worlds.

Another option is a trip out to a National Trust place such as Cragside near Rothbury in Northumberland. .. let's see what tomorrow brings shall we dear readers?

Friday Fun

Yesterday dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog was another day that started sunny and became showery later. Before all that an oxygen nurse was awaited at about 11a.m to check the breathing problems of your old breathless blogger. Prior to that he called into the Stanhope Travel Agents in search of winter holidays. As it turned out the first choice of Tavira via Faro was eliminated due to travel restrictions to Portugal and Spain to visit Santiago de Compostela also!

This left Albania, Cyprus and Greece as main choices for warm weather winter holidays  ... and Greece the favourite since your old adventurous blogging friend visited there many times: Corfu, Athens, and Crete for example, not to mention Santorini with its black volcanic Sandy beaches and Ios famous for its naturist beaches, halfway to Crete. So which would you choose dear readers?  Crete appeals to your blogger whilst his kind caring friend prefers not to change flights, though finds the hotel accommodation not to her taste even though a direct flight sounds preferable.

A light lunch of cheese on toast was taken with the imminent  arrival of the specialist nurse on the cards . After being pronounced as good as expected and a further appointment being made to check oxygen requirements we decided to visit the vodaphone store in an attempt to keep up to date with the younger generation and be able to do face to face calls with friends and family .......maybe !

Then to a local school to mix with an even younger generation and pick up grandchildren to take them out for a promised supper . Yet more face to face contact dear readers and a pleasure to see the excitment at greeting us.
Rise at Barnard Castle was the agreed venue for supper , the old blogger and younger child having cheesy tomatoe pizza and the grandmother and older child sharing a rather large sandwich with accompaniments.  No meal at Rise would be complete of course without one of their many types of pastry , chocolate and raspberry tart and lemon tarts being chosen.

Then back to the childrens' home for further babysitting which saw your old blogger assisting with a 3D jigsaw; who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks !

Tomorrow dear readers, Bill the philosopher and Alan founder member of A Place to Be plus maybe Peter another founder member and teacher of Mindfulness making 5 for lunch (vegetarian chick pea curry and rice) which is nice for a sunny Sunday ... philosophers all round exploring the Nature of Reality and the Meaning of Life and enjoying a delicious nutritious lunch.

Thursday in the Sun

Today dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog, dawned warm and sunny at 23°! Which was rather hot outside on the bench awaiting delivery of a bookcase from the British Heart Foundation in Bishop Auckland. Of course as regular readers will know by now a library at A Place to Be is always in need of good books of a philosophical, psychological nature or enlightening books of any kind although my kind caring friend has suggested that the bathroom and her bed are no place to store them.

Your old blogger enjoyed the freedom that his mobility scooter gave him today and visited several shops as well as the hub to meet up with friends always willing to share philosophical discourse. And for the second course a wonderful omelette made with a goose egg purchased from the local greengrocer made with my own fair hands dear readers as my friend was out for lunch with June another member of the Wheels to Meals team.

A visit in the afternoon from the Angel of Stanhope turned into a bit of a tea party  or should I say cream tea party , with talk of old Wills saying that all the world's a stage with each of us playing a part and the less than kind and caring nurse pondering which of us was the mad hatter ? An enjoyable time dear readers was had by all with the Angel of Stanhope leaving to complete her 10000 steps for the day and your old blogger and friend setting to to fill the shelves of the new bookcase . Not a bad life eh ? Tomorrow a visit from a specialist pulmonary nurse is on the agenda and later picking up the grandchildren with another nurse and a visit to Rise for artisan bread and a healthy supper , and perchance a cake or two .

Wednesday in Corbridge

A bright and beautiful morning in Stanhope dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog sees your old blogger in summer attire  having a short walk from the centre of the village having purchased a gift of a plant for a Polish flower who had invited your old blogger and friend to her house in Corbridge .

Being aware of our capacity to take wrong roads despite hints from Google, Siri , and online maps we decided to make our way on a route we were told would take 32 minutes an hour and a quarter early . The journey across the moors went smoothly dear readers and until we had travelled over Corbridge
all was well , several errors later and the kind help of a stranger who turned out to be the neighbour and friend of our hostess saw us arriving early, perplexing our hostess who had kindly arranged a get together for your old blogger with friends he had first met in Hexham some time ago and had hoped that they would arrive prior to your blogger so as to complete the surprise .

A wonderful gathering it was indeed , discussions of a philosophical nature interspersed with a wonderful meal of smoked haddock risotto with roasted vegetables and trifle for desert . Let's just say dear readers that having had his fill your old blogger took time for a short siesta in the beautiful garden his hostess and husband had spent so much time and effort to make following the grand conversion of a house that will hopefully serve as a happy loving home for themselves and their two boys.

Tomorrow there are plans for a lunch between the kind caring friend and June now organising Wheels to Meals. Meanwhile a team from the Red Cross charity shop in Bishop Auckland are scheduled to arrive with a bookcase for the house ... books being somewhat of an obsession for your bibliophile old blogger!  In the afternoon Gillian the Angel of Stanhope arrives for afternoon tea of fruit scones with jam and clotted cream

Temperatures are set to soar so sitting outside the house is a pleasure. .. Do pop round if you fancy a cuppa .. that is if you're near Stanhope in Weardale, Northeast England dear readers.

Tuesday Solstice ...

Another lovely sunny day in Stanhope dear readers of Wear and Dao,  with a trip to the George and Dragon in Heighington with Wheels to Meals, not as a driver or organiser this time but a customer.  Due to the need to get back early we chose to use the car , many might say we missed out as there are those who enjoy the experience of stopping to pick up grandpa's and grannies from all sorts of crooks and crannies as all part of the social experience.

A long time has passed dear readers since your old blogger last drove the bus and the carer enjoyed her role as passenger assistant and many of those who used to travel with us have taken this life's final journey and others have found other means to combat isolation by choosing to live with others in care home settings.
 
Life goes on dear readers with or without us and new members of Wheels to Meals were evident and appeared to enjoy the experience as they surely should have given the fine menu , your old blogger enjoyed vegetarian lasagne with chips and salad , others near by had fish and chips , scampi and chips and liver and bacon . No meal is complete without dessert dear readers and desserts they were a plenty , Apple pie with custard or ice-cream , chocolate gateau,  banana pie and my own choice Eton mess ! With kindness offered by John a new volunteer driver and Gillian the Stanhope Angel and passenger assistant I'm sure the new members will go on many further outings and grow to enjoy them as much as the old crew once did.

Prior to the Heighington trip we called into the travel agents in Stanhope to ascertain the optimal place to spend a few weeks in the sun in winter. It seems Spain and Portugal are still insisting on all the covid nonsense so Greece looks the best option and Crete to be precise.

Tomorrow we go to Corbridge to visit Marta in her new house and have lunch, philosophy and psychology for the day. Still, that's tomorrow which may never arrive ... who on earth knows the future for sure?   All we have is here and now (Wear and Dao! ), the past has passed and anyway is usually written by the winners and the future is contingent on how we live in the present moment. ..

Thats the Power of Now dear readers of Wear and Dao.

Monday in Bishop Auckland

Monday 20th June 2022 started warm and sunny and got warmer and sunnier as the day progressed dear readers of Wear and Dao.  Tomorrow's the longest day and shortest night of the year in the northern hemisphere ... the summer solstice.

The day began early as usual, with coffee at 5 and breakfast of porage and toast as the blogger and his kind carer and dear friend planned their day, involving a trip to Bishop Auckland to find book cases at the Red Cross Shop, then to her dear daughter nearby. Returning via the shops for essential supplies, lunch was served of pasta and mayonnaise with peas, sweet corn and smoked salmon as we prepared to sit outside in the sun. A philosopher friend arrived on the off chance of finding us in and sat with us discussing questions philosophical from the Bom perspective ... Bom being the pre-Buddhist religion. Of course Buddhism is well known, Bom less so, so the Dalai Lama is often quoted as the philosopher par-excellence with his simple message "Just be kind, whatever religion (or none) you adhere to".

After lunch shorts and sandals were donned for suntanning then calls made to Age UK re the attendance allowance for the somewhat disabled old blogger. . without success. Supper of scrambled goose egg on toast proved light and nutritious before an early night around 8 ready for coffee at 5.

Tomorrow's the summer solstice and a trip with Wheels to Meals at Heighington near Darlington with old friends arriving for lunch about 12 noon.

Sunday Beamish Brass Bands

Well well dear readers of Wear and Dao , having decided to visit Beamish just for the chance of a ride on the Carousel guess what your old blogger and his kind nurse friend were met with ( The clue is in the title ) yes , a brass band competition , split into three parts with only 1 entry in parts 1 and 3 . The kind judge to ensure the audience did not believe it was a given that the only entry would pick up the trophy gave  a masterful critique both pointing out a few errors and congratulating the band for coming first .

Having waited a goodly time to hear God save the queen , the well known hymn Praise my soul the King of heaven and a stirring marching piece that got your old blogger tapping his feet on the mobility scooter; your old blogger decided to miss the spectacle of 9 further bands in section two in favour of a delicious Sunday Nut Roast Dinner. Believe it or not dear readers the traditional sweet of ice cream was not taken for fear of breaking the mobility scooter following the huge lunch and in Any case her indoors needed exercise not extra calories and so we walked , well when I say we I mean she , up the hill to the shop where goodies where purchased including 2 cakes, one for our friend and neighbour Jules and the other for us ... a rich fruit cake.

Supper at home is pasta sauce from yesterday and dessert fruit cake and ice cream.

Tomorrow there's not much going on except paperwork (passport renewal for her and driving licence renewal for your old blogger).

Such is life in Stanhope dear readers  ... not a bad life at all I'd say!
And so life unfolds as Summer heads for Autumn then Winter when 3 weeks in Tavira is planned ...

Saturday Sojourn

Today dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog, after the usual strong black coffee to spark the engine and porage to fill the tummy plus toast with marmalade and more coffe, your slightly disabled old blogger and his kind caring friend prepared for the arrival of Bill our philosopher friend coming for lunch at 1 with the old  blogger doing the cooking for a change - pasta bolognese with garlic bread by the way - while the kind caring friend had a rest.

The meal was pronounced to be delicious and nutritious and the dessert of tinned peaches with ice cream also. After a cuppa Bill and your old blogger set off in the mobility scooter to buy some goose eggs and other things, whilst greeting friends and neighbours to discuss issues of the day.

Bill departed around 4 having shared the Meaning of Life and the Nature of Reality yet again ... it's a rhetorical question anyway.What's your definition by the way dear readers?

Tomorrow a trip to Beamish Museum is planned with the weather forecast fine and sunny and lots of historical context to put our philosophical and psychological viewpoint in its rightful place.

Thursday at the coast ...

Well well dear readers of Wear and Dao,  what a day yesterday turned out to be. We arrived at Holy Island with the causeway open all day until 1430 so the day to look about the place. After a cup of tea and snack at one of the many eateries we headed up towards the castle and looked round there, then went on to Bamburgh Castle rather Bamburgh itself for lunch at the rather posh Lord Crewe Hotel where we had dressed crab, salad and hand cut chips.

Returning home to Stanhope via the coastal route took just a couple of hours and we were rather knackered to be honest and sun burnt too!

Today the plan was to drive over to Rothbury and Cragside again with a warm and sunny forecast and enjoy the rhodedendrons again, this time with the mobility scooter to assist the kind caring friend who can walk without pushing your old blogger about in a wheelchair.

As usual a delicious, nutritious lunch was on the menu(cheese and onion pasty with baked beans for the old blogger and tuna wrap plus salad for the kind caring friend, and books and other gifts were purchased. Tomorrow Bill the philosopher and friend is coming for lunch to explore more philosophy, the Meaning of Life and The Nature of Reality etc etc ... Let's see how that goes, with pasta Bolognese on the menu!

Wednesday Waiting

Yesterday, Wednesday 15th June 2022 dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog,  we waited patiently for the mobility scooter to charge its battery before testing it out around Stanhope greeting friends and strangers as we went.

Paul a mystic friend who spent many years in South America possibly dabbling with ayahuasca a psycho-active brew used ceremonially and embraced by many folks for its properties of opening the 3rd eye to see other worlds called in to enquire how things were going since the poor health of the old blogger had occurred.

Along the path of Stanhope a small group of strangers stopped to chat and it soon became apparent that one was Scottish and she recently lived near Findhorn, the coastal village on the Moray Firth and well known new age community. We wandered around the village of Stanhope in the warm sun enjoying the weather as summer starts to bring higher temperatures. Naturally summer soon moves into autumn then winter, when a holiday in Tavira is planned for the warmer weather and the memories of times spent in Tavira during the Camino de Santiago de Compostela days.

Today dear readers we are wandering along the coast of Northumberland to Holy Island in the summer warm weather to explore the fascinating coastline and soak up some vitamin D from the Sun!
Such is the life of retirees with sufficient funds to enjoy life notwithstanding the rather poor health.

Tuesday Scooter!

Well well dear readers of Wear and Dao,  today the mobility scooter arrived to free the caring nurse and friend from all the wheelchair pushing, or some of it at least. We waited in at lunchtime (fried potatoes, duck eggs, tomato, spinach and baked beans) for the Care International couriers to deliver the scooter. Exciting times eh?

Naturally the early morning, after coffee, porage and sourdough toast with butter and marmite/bramble and apple jam, was spent exercising the legs and reading the philosophy book bought at Bishop Auckland a few weeks ago. As regular readers of the blog will know, philosophy and psychology are the twin obsessions of the would-be philosopher and seeker of the Meaning of Life and the Nature of Reality, both still being sought.

After the scooter couriers departed we headed off to Crook to finalise the sale of the Retreat House to our neighbour with our solicitor,  then to Lidl for shopping and home for supper of smoked salmon and cream cheese. And more philosophy of course!

Such is  the relaxed life of retired folks ... why not try it for yourselves dear readers of Wear andDao, the long running blog?!
Tomorrow is another day ... Wednesday actually the 15th day of the sixth month of 2022, so let's see how that turns out shall we?

Monday memories .

And onto Monday dear readers of Wear and Dao ... Having spent Sunday at the home of Earl Grey on the Northumberland coast and a walk along the cliff tops Monday morning arrived late at least for your old bloggers friend who slept until 6. Your old blogger had of course risen earlier being more accustomed to the mild meandering that resulted in the friend having a long rest.

Earl Grey dear readers was once Prime Minister of Great Britain and a wealthy aristocrat who resided at Howick Hall in Northumberland and doubtless fraternised with the other aristocrats living nearby such as Lord Armsrong of Cragside and Sir Charles Trevelyan of Wallington Hall. Earl Grey gave his name to the jasmine scented tea we drink today and sired many children one of whom was born by another mother and accepted into the family by Lady Grey who also carries the name of a tea by the way dear readers. The rite of passage for the older children was to walk in the dark from the house to the sea, a feat repeated by your old blogger and his kind compassionate friend yesterday after enjoying the gardens and the delicious lunch of soup and smoked salmon with cream cheese sandwiches. Prior to lunch at 1O we drank Earl Grey tea with a warm fruit scone with clotted cream and bramble and apple jam to share so as not to spoil the lunch later. The afternoon walk included a visit to the church and a chat with the vicar Barry and his wife Helen to discuss religious issues then the long walk to the sea which quite wiped us out by the time we returned to the car! Let's just say we slept soundly last night and awoke refreshed  ...

Now looking forward to the arrival of the old blogger's daughters due to arrive at one for lunch of lasagne salad and new potatoes with roulade and fresh strawberries for dessert and maybe a walk afterwards though not as long as yesterday's one!

Tomorrow we expect the new mobility scooter, but that's not today dear long suffering readers of Wear and Dao the blog  ...

A Full Weekend

Good morning dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog!  Saturday this weekend in June of 2022 begins a long weekend for your old blogger and his kind caring friend and other friends and family, though it's not an actual Bank Holiday weekend.

The end of last week saw a visit to a place near the MetroCentre in Gateshead in search of a mobility scooter which was duly found and purchased and to be delivered on Monday, the same day that your old blogger entertains his two daughters for lunch in Stanhope.

On Friday it was Cragside again to see the rhodedendrons at their best with Lord Armstrong the brilliant engineer and wealthy plutocrat, elevated to his peerage by Queen Victoria to entertain her friends and his own of course and provide employment for all the servants required to keep the show on the road.

Today it's Saturday again and a trip to South Shields to see the kind caring friend's Mother for lunch. Tomorrow Bill the philosopher arrives for lunch, bringing us back to the Monday with the two Daughters and the arrival of the mobility scooter  ...

Tuesday in Yorkshire

Yesterday dear readers of Wear and Dao, we drove South on the A1 then West over to Yorkshire to discover a new National Trust venue to visit, East Riddlestone Hall, on a gorgeous warm sunny day. The joys of retirement again ... a 2 hour + drive via Bolton village to Keithly and East Riddlestone Hall, bought and remodelled by a prosperous wool merchant during the English Civil War between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, epitomized by King Charles who lost his head to an axe through his neck and Oliver Cromwell leader of the Republicans or Parliamentarians and insurrectionists.

Now clearly this caused problems since the wealthy wool merchant hedged his bets since the outcome of the Civil War was by no means assured!  Anyway that's history for you folks and taking sides too. Personally your old blogger was never a royalist and in fact spent some years as a communist before studying Buddhism and meditating with different Buddhist sects before trying Daoism then took up J. Krishnamurti's philosophy to avoid any gurus or organised religion of any kind ... how to sum up my philosophy here and now? Well dear readers you could do worse than follow the Dalai  Lama's simple teaching: Just be kind to all you meet ... that's it ... how simple Life can be ...

On Monday afternoon  we went to find a mobility scooter to make life easier for the kind caring friend and found one perfectly suited to both our needs ... such is Life in Stanhope in the Sun! 

Monday Drizzle

Today, Monday, dawns drizzly and looks set to drizzle all day, refreshing the greenery of Mother Nature. It's one of the joys of living in a temperate climate dear readers of Wear and Dao ... anyhow, if we require a holiday in the Sun, we can fly off to the Sahara, Turkey, Tenerife, Greece etc.
Here in Great Britain the farmers love the occasional drizzly day, though not the thunderstorms that flatten the corn and from the music of the  fledgling  trying their wings outside it appears that drizzle is not going to hinder them.

There's not much planned for today although obviously it doesnt follow that nothing will occur and the opportunity to read brings its own rewards. Tomorrow we plan to drive to Wensleydale to a National Trust place  ... more later maybe dear readers of Wear and Dao.

Weekend Wondering

On a rather cold weekend dear readers of Wear and Dao your old blogger with chauffeur in tow decided to join with others in Durham City market place. Not as you might think to toast the Queen on the occasion of her platinum anniversary but to voice our dismay that her prime minister was still on his throne.  

Using the excellent park and ride system we had time to have coffee , a browse amongst one or two book shops and a visit to the indoor market to buy some excellant cheeses before onto the market square in time for an early lunch of fish chips and mushy peas. The view of the square from the fish shop allowed us to observe a rather over enthusiastic police presence which soon dispersed allowing the demonstrators to take their place.

The cold winds blowing in the square , not least from the mouth  of the first speaker soon took its toll on your old bloggers friend and whilst the second speaker at least had some helpful points for the audience to ponder it was decided to seek climates warmer . And so back to Stanhope were the Sun decided to warm up the air allowing a picnic supper on the newly acquired seats and table and conversations with passing locals.

And so to today, Sunday, dear readers of Wear and Dao, when our philosopher friend Bill arrived for lunch to discuss The Meaning of Life and The Nature of Reality yet again ... Tomorrow nothing much is planned and Tuesday maybe a drive to Yorkshire for more National Trust fun in the sun! 

Friday Bank Holiday Fun

Good morning dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog still enjoying the company of friends sharing philosophical insights into the Nature of Reality  and the Meaning of Life. Yesterday was a relaxing day with nothing much planned except relaxing before today's demo against Johnson in Durham Market Place at midday. It's hard to understand how on earth the awful PM survives in the job when anyone with half a brain sees he's serving the plutocracy and not the common people. Like Tony Blair of "New Labour" infamy of course.

Anyway dear readers, this is politics and not strictly speaking philosophy and yesterday we set off early to Bishop Auckland to see our W eardale friend, magistrate and confirmed royalist as well as vocal opponent of injustice and our unlikely MP Richard Holden. As it happens Anita's Pop-up- royal tea shop was fully booked so instead we went over the way to the coffee shop opposite then to see Gordon at his amazing 2nd hand bookshop where we found five hardbacks for just £60 to add to the library ...

Nearby was our dear friend Tom from Weardale, who trained at Durham University in theology and spent a few years vicaring in the Church of England before losing his faith in God and becoming an atheist. Now he owns the Pineapple Fine Art shop in Bishop Auckland!

What a life we lead eh dear readers? The life of retirees is not bad in this country where pensions are paid and this life sustained in the brief lives we spend on earth between births and deaths. Still, that's all philosophy dear readers and as said many times here on Wear and Dao it basically boils down to being kind to all we meet and usually finding kindness in return. Life's an echo chamber you see, what you emit returns!

Thursday Fun in the Sun

Today was glorious dear readers of Wear and Dao,  as the kind caring friend  and your ancient blogger set off early on the Bank Holiday with 2 grandchildren aboard. Dan aged 9 and Harvey 8 ,to visit the local outdoor museum of Beamish.

Of course at 63 and 71 we two were living history to them! We rode the trams and buses, checked out the places of historical interest and generally had fun in the Sun before the Bank Holiday queues built up.

Apart from the old fashioned fun fair the ice cream and the sweet shop the most amusing thing for the boys was attempting to help your old blogger disembark from the wheelchair,luckily the cobbled streets of the old pit village and the 1930-s  main street proved too much for them.

As usual there were many offers of help to push your old blogger up the steeper parts of the museum,  a sign perhaps that kindness still lives on in today's world.

Naturally there were gift shops for pocket money which was spent along the way plus the main gift shop at the entry and exit, keeping Beamish going ...
Having arrived early we left early too, before the Bank Holiday queues went crazy! Back home tired and happy, Dan and Harvey were delighted to see their Mam and tell her their adventures. As for their father, well, being self-employed means a weekend is a luxury and Bank Holidays virtually unknown.

Tomorrow's another day free to do what we like, but you'll have to wait to hear that story dear readers of Wear and Dao! 

Thursday at Beamish Museum Again

Yesterday at Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery was quite a surprise dear readers of Wear and Dao as we arrived there to discover visitors were not welcome in contrast to the Theravadan Buddists from Harnham! Not only were visitors not met with joy and happiness but a distinct lack of occupants were observed , 2 practitioners , a rather anxious workman and a lady from the village happy at being allowed to weed the verges in the knowledge that her husband's ashes were nearby in the monastery. It appears dear readers that Buddist minds are not exempt from the mysterious illness that has infiltrated the world.

Luckily  the Community Shop and Cafe nearby was open for business ... delicious soup plus dessert of sticky toffee pudding with custard for the kind caring friend  and rhubarb crumble and custard for your old blogger! Of course the Community hub being built on togetherness and kindness the portion sizes were far too big for my friend and your kind caring blogger was called on to help with the sticky toffee pudding . The wonderful pudding resulted in a wonderful snooze for ye Olde blogger, lucky are we that have chauffeurs! .

Today we head over to Beamish Museum with the grandchildren for fun in the Sun and Showers. .. what a blessed life we old folks live eh?

Wednesday Worshipping

Good morning dear readers of Wear and Dao the blog!

Today we head across the border from England to Scotland and Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery for a visit to see the ornate style of Mahayana Buddhism, rather rich for my taste dear readers ... I prefer the simple style of Theravadan Buddhists  like Harnham.

However whatever style of Buddhism we choose all Buddhists see HHDL The Dalai Lama as leader ... except for a weird sect prominent hereabouts denying the authority of His Holiness.

So why you may ask dear readers does your old blogger and his kind caring nurse choose to set off on a rather dull damp Wednesday to a monastery some way away . Perhaps to seek , perhaps to honour, perhaps to remember or perhaps dear readers to continue to live this Life as fully as one or two can .
Namaste dear readers !