Monday Musing ...

Good morning dear readers of Wear and Dao, anyhow we spent the morning awaiting the delivery of a beautifully made Jack and Jill bench comprising two two seats and a table, made and delivered by Cornerstone social enterprise based in Willington near Stanhope in Weardale County Durham,  which specialises in the rehabilitation of ex-prisoners through employing them making furniture such as our new acquisition.

That was yesterday of course, today is Tuesday when your trusty old blogger and his trusty caring nurse and friend head off to Wallington Hall in Northumberland, Northeast England.

No time to waste! Wallington Hall opens at 10 and the National Trust place awaits ... Wallington was well known in Findhorn, Moray Firth where the  New Age folks formed the community dedicated to a new age of enlightened humans with Sir George of Wallington in support of the Caddys and Dorothy MacLean their Canadian supporter of the endeavour created more than 60 years ago. Sir Charles of Wallington was the Socialist MP for a Newcastle constituency and gave away Wallington to the National Trust as a founder member of this wonderful creation donated to the Nation many years ago.

Sunday in the hills

Sunday today dear readers of Wear and Dao. After yesterday's' Saturday by the sea today your blogger and his kind carer and dear friend entertained Bill the philosopher as per usual on a Sunday. A delicious lunch of toad in the hole was prepared by the kind caring chef, followed by ice cream and chocolate croissant. ..

Philosophy ensued yet again and the Meaning of Life and the Nature of Reality were further explored.According to Bill it's all about vibrational frequency causing ripples in the space-time continuum.

Clearly it's increasingly obvious dear readers that many lives are lived at the same time by each and every human being, which may seem bizarre to some but not all of us. Nevertheless the evidence of science and spirituality points to this simple truth. Of course His Holiness the Dalai Lama nailed it years ago when he pointed out that Compassion for all living creatures ensured a happy human and fortuitous rebirth time after time as karma works through the systems of human beings.

Tomorrow morning we await a bench and table made by Cornerstone social enterprise a business with the social purpose to rehabilitate ex-prisoners based in Willington near Stanhope in north east England  ... inspirational work. Tuesday may see a trip to Wallington Hall a regular venue but let's see about that ...

Saturday at the seaside

South Shields on a sunny Saturday is quite delightful, Sunderland also. Today was spent with the kind caring nurse and friend's Mother, 89 years old and still fit.

Just to note at this stage dear readers of Wear and Dao,  that the long awaited two bedroom bungalow in Stanhope has been confirmed as secured, as seen by philosopher Bill who comes tomorrow ... Bill is a mystic by the way.

Back to today, after a drive to Jarrow to meet the mother of the kind caring dear friend, a drive along the seafront from South Shields to Sunderland and Roker, enjoying the ride, before heading for a restaurant to eat with a view of the sea. The food was wonderful ... the mother of the kind caring friend chose jacket potato stuffed with tuna, her daughter chose vegetable soup and a hunk of good bread, whilst your blogger went for cheese pie with Yorkshire pudding, carrots, peas and vegetarian gravy. After all this we went to Minchellas for ice cream ... a feast indeed!

What a life we retired folk lead dear readers of Wear and Dao, if we have sufficient  resources. National Trust places all over the country make life a pleasure.

Friday Fayre

Good evening dear readers of Wear and Dao, today we visited Beamish Museum  in County Durham, northeast England offering reminiscences of the old times in the pit villages, the authentic costumes, transport, photos,  shops etcetera. ...

The fairground was amazing in its authenticity, not least the merry go round which your blogger was helped onto to enjoy the ride remininisent of the 1960s when your old blogger was riding such fayre ground fun ...

Being Friday school trips gathered in coaches to learn lessons from history, including rolling down grassy slopes, making daisy chains and spending their pocket money on sweets and souvenirs etcetera. ..

The food, as usual was wonderful with soup plus home baked bread for starters, panhagerty and veg with delicious ice cream for dessert.

Such is life for retired folks with time to visit such places. Tomorrow it's Jarrow, South Shields by the sea, and maybe fish and chips with more ice cream from Minchellas ... The fair weather  continues as Spring becomes Summer again.

See you here tomorrow dear readers ..

Funerals the in Sun

Today was  a sunny day in Weardale where a funeral took place of a well known and respected member of the community of the Dale. And yesterday was spent discussing the funeral arrangements for your old blogger dear readers of Wear and Dao. The Methodist minister of Stanhope was chosen for the job, since your blogger was christened a Methodist and the daughters needed consulting obviously, since when the time comes they'll be chief mourners.  So much for funerals ...

Yesterday was spent driving to Barnard Castle in Teesdale in search of sourdough bread at the artisan bakery, Rise, after which we drove to Bishop Auckland to see the family of the kind caring nurse carer home from school.

This morning after the funeral we drove over to Hexham, Nortumberland to see friends at the excellent Community Cafe dedicated to the rehabilitation of addicts ... wonderful work indeed!  Then we popped round the corner to see our very good friends Mary and Keith of Gaia the shop selling Eastern style clothing and books. On the way home to Stanhope we fancied an ice cream and called in to Wheelbirks forthe best ice cream for miles around made on site from Jersey cows, then home to Stanhope  ... What better way to spend an afternoon in the Sun.

Tomorrow is free from obligations and a trip to Fountains Abbey in Northshire is looking distinctly possible  ... who knows dear readers of Wear and Dao  ... let's see tomorrow shall we?

More Midweek Fun

Good morning dear readers of Wear and Dao,  and at 5 a.m. the forecast in Stanhope in Weardale, in the Northeast of England is fine and warm as Summertime settles in. The day before yesterday saw another National Trust trip, as your blogger and his kind nurse carer set off for a trip to Cragside in Northumberland via Scotland as we took an accidental diversion via Jedbergh ... you see your blogger thought he knew a short cut to Rothbury off the A68 to Cragside to see the rhodedendrons in bloom, and as happens sometimes the short cut turned into a long cut which meant a mystery trip to Jedbergh. Never mind, we got back to Cragside in time for lunch and a ride along the Lakside Drive before returning to Stanhope in time for tea.

Yesterday was spent on continuing to clear the Retreat House prior to its sale ... mostly books of course!

Today, Thursday, friends arrive for coffee and cake plus philosophy before Gillian, the Angel of Stanhope is due for afternoon tea and scones, plus more philosophical discourse of course ...

What a life we lead in our advancing years dear readers of  Wear and Dao. What better way than to to spend the time left to us than to wander along the ways leading to enlightenment? 

Missing Weekends

Sincere apologies dear readers of Wear and Dao  for the missing blog. It's been a week since May Day already and no blog has been seen all week. Now whilst there is no assumption that this modest attempt to share Philosophical insights from the years wandering the various ways along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela,  nevertheless a few regular readers do request updates. So here we go again! Clearly a return to Spain is highly unlikely in this Life, notwithstanding the desire to wander to Santiago at 80, though a trip by boat or plane is obviously feasible and desirable.  Lourdes and Fatima could certainly offer the miracle needed required!

Hmm, a holiday to Spain, why not? Miracles are unnecessary in reality, since your blogger's whole life this time has been exciting enough to satisfy any human being born with a keen distaste for injustice in any form. Quite frankly dear reader one would think that this distaste was perfectly normal but clearly that's not the case given the state of the World in the last few centuries.

The past week or so has been spent out and about in the Sun, taking the freely available vitD, and enjoying the benefits of retirement, with free access to the National Trust  and a couple of days at Beamish Museum. What a life eh, dear readers of Wear and Dao!  This life so far has been truly blessed by the kindness of friends, family and passing strangers. And what the next life brings is so far unknown dear readers of Wear and Dao, but one thing is clear here ... karma suggests a kind rebirth as a reward or lesson from beyond!