14th September 2026 - Protect all sentient beings

 

A Boddhisattva.  A creature who protects all sentient beings before she thinks of her own welfare and entering Nirvana.  Or at least that is how I see her role. 

We have a spider in the bathroom, perfectly normal at this time of the year as they seek warmth but Lillie refuses to go into the room because of an innocuous spider, yes we do have another loo ;)

Such fear of Araneae is a fear many of us have.  I think it is because of the innumerable legs and the way they scuttle across a room or up a wall. I remember rescuing my first spider as a child with the old method of a glass and a sheet of strong paper.  I am sure the spider squeaked!

I told the tale the other day to my family about the monk who threw himself down to a mother tiger who was starving and trying to feed her young.  He sacrificed himself for the welfare of the tiger.

The above Boddhisattva sat in the garden in Normanby, you can see the paeony plant by her side, on the other side of the wall is of course the grave yard.  Living next to a grave yard gives you time for thought.  Yes I chatted to the people who came to tend their loved ones graves.  Christiana who lovingly attended her husband's grave, she now has also died.  There is the little baby somewhere in the centre, a stone teddy bear marks the little one's grave.  There is also a baby buried under the East window but it was many years ago.

Traditional burial is becoming less normal now, our ashes thrown to the wind or sea.  In Switzerland the children's great grand parent's graves are no more.  A thirty year rule says the land can be reused.

Enough on dwelling on death.  Matilda has  arrived back from her holiday her feet back on solid English ground.  She has survived hiking, looking quite cheerful in the photos.

My daughter and Andrew are off camping this week, down Weymouth way I think, they will also see Andrew's three adult children. No rain but the weather will be cooler.  They are also to see an old friend who was our neighbour  in Calne on the way, where we once lived.

And to end, not quite on a cheery note.  Though I find Kate Bush's voice slightly peculiar I love her music and songs.  And of course in 'Heathcliff' some of the video was filmed here on the moors.  Wuthering Heights is a strange and haunting story, the moors definitely got to Emily Bronte.  Their often dour aspect making an impression on her young mind and the scorching or perhaps smouldering passion that existed between Heathcliff and Catherine is well shown in this video.  There is something weird about thinking of Emily Bronte creating a story on these upland moors.

 An old favourite  - Aerial - Sea of Honey album