Blind dog walking

Poor little Couscous had one of her eyes removed due to glaucoma earlier this year and the other one just stopped working soon after so she is as blind as can be. However..she is both as tough as an old boot and fearless...so off she trots. She seems to navigate using the tips of her ears and some Yoda like powers that still allow her to see off the other dogs from her food or her patch of warm bed with kungfu flying snap precision.

Having skirted the horse droppings she sets off to locate the edge of the track where all of the really interesting smells lurk.

And sadly this weekend she was very poorly and we thought she wasn't going to make it but on Monday morning in spite of having a bad heart condition the vet operated and removed her uterus which was badly infected and now she is asleep beside me as I type.

Tata decided that as the Queen was away she'd squeeze herself into the bed of privilege and steal a few zzzzs

Note long nails..she might be small, elderly and with teeth a few..but it is still a feat of extreme danger and skill to try to trim them..she can't see but she certainly knows if the clippers approach...and knows exactly where your fingers are.

This is Couscous when she was young and far more beautiful

Introducing pup Scrabble to the resident gnome. I don't know what she said but it obviously shook him up a bit.

Relaxing with Singing Bowls

Had a wonderful relaxing evening last night with my lovely friend Margaret...as she is a member of the swishest spa in Midhurst, she quite often invites me along to enjoy the facilities...I'm usually too busy and rushed off my feet to take her up on the kind offers but last night I could not refuse.... 

Me and Marge before I went completely grey...

The lovely old Hotel and Spa The Spread Eagle, Midhurst

(Photo from the Booking.com website)                 

http://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/spread-eagle-and-spa.en.html?aid=311076;label=spread-eagle-and-spa-o3ExxsNgJojlr3KZeDZ_*AS10600803900:pl:ta:p1:p2:ac:ap1t1:neg;ws=&gclid=CPvF86iQxLoCFRDItAodMCEAXw

We swam in heated waters, sighed with delight as the weight of  the day evaporated in the sauna ..hot bottoms sitting on cool slats of fragrant white spruce. Then when we couldn't take the heat we slipped into the wet steam of the adjacent steam room where the timber was replaced with smooth marble...all rounded of with a most bubblicious soak in a very lively jacuzzi. Big fluffy turquoise towels cuddled us dry after using the luxury products in the shower and then off to a meditation and concert with singing Tibetan bowls. 

The man asking them to sing was long time student of the art and buddhist scholar Andrew Lyddon. With grace and gentleness he stroked and rang the bowls, never letting the notes die on the air before starting another singing. The big gong that stood behind him as he worked produced the most extraordinary sounds I think I have ever heard with huge depths and complex yet subtle layers of sound that rumbled and danced filling Cowdray Hall with  harmonic intricacies that held and focused ones attention..incredible.

We were told that each singing bowl has its own unique sound that connects to an individual chakra and resonates with that chakra bringing healing and balance. They are used throughout the world to produce music, meditation, healing and well-being. Andrew explained before he started that the silence between the pause in his working the bowls was as important and as rich as the tones they produced..little did he know that the concert was to be held on the same evening as the local church would have its bell ringing session. It was quietly
amusing to hear his incredibly sophisticated and refined music mingling with the deeply familiar domestic tones of the clanging peals that echoed forth from the church bell tower. A rather lovely contrast of sounds but all part of the same patina of life in Midhurst that Halloween evening.

I have left these images small as they are so dreadfully out of focus..not sure what happened there!!

The bowls are played by striking the rim of the bowl with a padded mallet. They can also be played by the friction of rubbing a wood, plastic, or leather wrapped mallet around the rim of the bowl to emphasize the harmonic overtones and a continuous 'singing' sound. Rather similar to the principle of raising a single note from a wine glass but infinitely richer. Lying on the red mat is the smaller of the two gongs used by Andrew. 

We were told how any proceeds from the meeting would go towards completing the new Tibetan Temple being created in Barnet 

The Tibetan Yung Drung Bon Study Centre, UK

http://www.yungdrungbon.com/Guide%20to%20Lama%20Khemsar%20Rinpoches%20Centre%20v1.pdf

I just found this link on youtube so you might like to have a look at Andrew Lydden running a work shop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq7288J5Ozg

A muddy walk as autumn brews a storm for the weekend

One

last cheeky little October raspberry in a pot..

 As I stomped through the mud in my wellies..I couldn't help  but think what wonderful colour swatches lay around my feet.

And then I started noticing how many foot prints and other various prints there were embedded in the grey glistening mud.

Dogs leap into the puddles after their battered old tennis balls..

Bicycles leave their snaking patterns.

Birds have been waddling through the sticky mud. I would LOVE to see some pictures of ducks or geese fat feet in the mud. They are so iconic and strangely humorous...

All wonderful colours whether bright or dull.

The muddy track then gives way to this little lane.

The great ash tree is loosing her leaves..thank goodness as I still have clear memories of the big storm that caused such devastation as the trees were all covered in leaves that caught the wind like sails.

If you search the top branches of the stump of a tree on the right you'll see an owl house given to me one birthday and lashed aloft by my brother.

My first performance..of a few poems

Well...I have never done anything like this before..exposing your words and inner images is like laying your new born out on the rocks..but it seemed to go well and as I scooped the mewling babe back into my arms to hide away under my shawl... I got a very pleasant tingle..

walking the asbos and some very handy wild bird food

When I first saw this strip planted up with sunflowers and millet or maybe it's sorghum..I thought it was for the wild birds to help them through winter...and maybe it is..but having now read up a bit about these seed laden grasses it is also used for providing a wind break and cover for game birds..hmm I've been picking a few armfuls so at least some of it will hang in reach of the lively little folk that inhabit the garden.

Millet and sorghum were grown 3,000 years ago as an early crop for animals and probably for people. They are poisonous in the early stages so I guess trial and fatal error revealed the better periods.

This is the field at the back of the house..standing looking back toward the buildings..you can just see the rooftops across the way. The crop of wheat has been cut and the the stubble provides a great expanse for the dogs to run.

 And run and leap they do..especially Scrabble who is like a serious drug addict when it comes to balls...

This is Tata..very short legs!! but like a little lioness when she stands over her prey..the dead ball...

 Scrabble is willing me to stop messing with the camera and throw the darn ball....

Tata too....

The paddock is totally over grown hence my ruminations about getting a few sheep..but it would have to be for life....couldn't send them for slaughter. I can hear the mocking laughter and cries of rural derision..but I've been a veggie for the past 45 or so years..and just can't get excited about eating meat.not the proper four legs and a tail variety any way..My parents had a small holding and they used to send stock off to market but I'm too soft when it comes to the fairness of it all..and the trust they place in the hand that feeds them. I know..I'm a wuz !! On a lighter note....I love these amazing trees..but just look at the size of the hogweed!!

Some silly little tomato plants decided to come late..I'll see if I can nurse them through the winter.