Good Evening Dear Friends!

Honey Gatherers of the Mind *

Good Morning My Dear Friends!

Welcome to the study at Myrtle House on a quite damp and drab looking Wednesday; a bit of a blip in the otherwise clear-skied month of Janus we have come to know and love so well! I thought it was high time I brought you up to speed on events, happenings, thoughts and whimsies and simply invite you to pull up a chair, pour some tea and for us to spend a wee while immersed in each others company.

I've been attending to my lessons quite a bit recently; trying to ram stuff into the rapidly smoothing folds of my failing cerebellum and gain more comprehension of things I half understand as well as revisiting stuff of my school days with fresh eyes and perhaps a little more dedication than before.  This process is undoubtedly helped by the profusion of excellent television programmes recently which allow even a dimwit like myself some access to the fascinating areas of life which we live in but don't always acknowledge or appreciate fully. As is often the case in these matters, a relatively simple statement in one area of knowledge exposes one's complete ignorance of another; rectify this and yet another little anomaly pops up, allowing one to travel down another path in pursuit of the ever-elusive esotericness and, as I find often and most gratifyingly, "the reward is the journey itself" (Lao Tse) 

It is all a question of beauty and quality; if you've ever had the misfortune to hear or read my thoughts on the marvelous "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M Pirsig you'll know that this concept is a major facet of my raison d'être and recently I have found myself truly appreciating for the first time the absolute beauty of Mathematics.  I have been interested and intrigued by the seemingly obscure and logic-defying quantum world for a long time but my ignorance of the basic language of science - i.e. Mathematics - has hindered my understanding and it was while writing copious pages of notes on the fantastic "Wonders of the Universe" programmes by Dr Brian Cox ( yes, I probably do need to get out more) that I realised that I really had to get back to basics and "do my sums"! 

So, with the help of a marvelously mathematical and delightfully dear friend, I am slowly reinstating all the stuff I have forgotten - or never bothered to learn - from schooldays and am amazed by the sheer beauty of it all! 

I  experience real delight in actually using Pythagorus Theorem - y'know, all that "the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square on the other two sides" business  - something I have remembered from my time at the Grammar School but never truly understood or valued.** Even if there is compelling evidence that the theorem was around some 1200 years before our friend Pyth was born, it's still a cracker!

You must forgive my zeal; I am newly converted and positively evangelical - ah well, at least it seems to be a positive thing and so I am able to say with pride tempered by modesty that I am  carrying on with my nude ear's revolution to have at least one positive thought per day, a task which is proving much easier than I initially though it would be; it's quite entrancing just how rapidly these little bunnies of beneficence breed given the correct conditions, this being, of course, a positive and open frame of mind.

A similar ethos is also being applied to my writing; I am flogging my wares around the various marketplaces available and, despite little interest as of yet, I intend to keep at it.  I read in one of the trade magazines of one person who, receiving her first rejection letter from a publisher, was thrilled as she now considered herself a real writer; an attitude I admire and understand only too well.  It is also my intention to put aside some time for the long over-due development of the Myrtle House site which I find to my shame hasn't been updated since August last year! It will hopefully soon be used, as initially intended, as a publishing base for my work and that of other like-minded folk and you will be able to spend your hard earned spondulicks on my scribblings should you so desire.  Much of the neglect has been down to the fact that I've spent more time trying to develop my counselling site; my experiences there will undoubtedly prove to be of benefit.

A small wet nose on my knee tells me that my allotted span at the keyboard is nearly up; I must ablute and lead the Famous Sally Dog (for it is she!) on one of her matutinal micturating meanders, although a quick glance through the study window doesn't fill yours truly with the joys of Spring . . . ah well, needs must as they say!

I do hope you've enjoyed today's offering and that the sums haven't put you off; may today and the rest of the week be simply laden with love and laughter for you all.  Please feel free to drop me a line about this blog or anything else in fact and don't forget to pop in for a brew next time you are passing.

'til next time

Be Seeing You !

ॐ

*Our treasure lies in the beehive of our knowledge. We are perpetually on the way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind. 

Friedrich Nietzsche

**For those of you unfamiliar or terrified of the concept it goes a little like this: If you want to know how long the hypotenuse on the triangle up there is, you look at the other two sides and square them.  So the side that is 3cm long (we'll call it "a") becomes 3x3= 9cm; the other side ("b") becomes 4x4 = 16 cm, so we add these together and we get 25cm. 

If we then use P's theorem which says that a² + b² = c² we can work out that the hypotenuse squared ("c" x "c") must equal 25cm, so that we can work out which number times itself equals 25 (this is called finding the square root and you can do it either in your head for simple numbers or use a calculator) and so c=5

The Last Post ...

Good Morning My Dear Friends!

Welcome to the Last Post of the year; it has certainly been a good length of time since last we spoke and I offer no explanation for this other than to say it has been totally unavoidable and due to a whole series of events which are so breathtakingly tiresome as to not warrant mentioning further! Suffice it to say, there have been significant upheavals in both my personal and professional life; one knock-on of this is that this particular message is without the usual photographic accompaniment, this is due to being composed (with much eye squinting) on my iPhone !

Nonetheless, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of you an extremely wonderful, prosperous and happy 2012 and to reflect that, although this year has had some significant downsides it has also had many positives, not least the preserving and persevering love from family and friends which, as Lou Reed said " ... made me forget myself; I thought I was someone else, someone good".

So as this year ends and I ponder the coming 366 dawns I am determined to try and carry that love and its positivity forward; I have made some simple resolutions, all of which are SMART - you know: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Limited - and all of which I hope will benefit myself and those around me ... We shall see!

I'm not going to say much more; I have to brave the elements to pop out for some comestibles for a quiet NYE supper and so must get my act together. One final thing, I do hope this blog reads as the others; formatting is somewhat tricky at this scale - no, absolutely nothing to do with my age and failing eyesight, as if!

So all of my love and best wishes and

'til next time

Be Seeing You!


ॐ

Good Morning Dear Friends!

Shorter days, longer shadows . . .

Good Afternoon Dear Friends!

Welcome to the study at Myrtle House at just a shadow before 3 pm . . . following a rather damp and drizzly morning, a splendidly sunny day is gracing proceedings, albeit with a decidedly autumnal feel and so soon despite the sunshine, flames will lap and lick at coals and the scent of ginger and orange oil will float through the air and suffuse the later afternoon with the spice and promise of the coming seasonal occurrences . . . and so here I sit with tea at my hand and write to you, wherever you may be, which is not here.

Living in the Victorian Quarter in autumn is a very sensual experience nasally; I'm sure I have mentioned before about the wonderful fragrance of the local Santus mint ball factory which wafts gracefully around the environs . . . this Sal and I usually pick up on our way to the Parish Church Gardens - one of our daily constitutionals - it walks with us, protecting us from unpleasant odours, until it hands us over to the waiting arms of the Allgates Brewery, whose warm hoppy mash wraps us in invisible fleecy cotton wool until the gardens are behind us and the familiar figure of Uncle Joe is encountered waiting patiently at the stepped exit to the gardens, with the backdrop of railways behind him . . . all very À la recherche du temps perdu ! This morning our walk took us along the streets of the Old Duchess' childhood and through the still lovely Mesnes ( pronounced mains!) Park where the photograph above was captured in the Pagett Rose Garden . . . I do feel I am so fortunate to live in Myrtle House; so close to the centre of the town and yet so peaceful  and only a few minutes away from access to the local countryside . . .

So what has been happening since last we met? Well, the counselling practice I mentioned before is officially up and running - you can see details of it at our website here which is, I hasten to add, still in it's early days and not yet as swish as it could be, but the practice itself is really quite sweet - we're deeply involved in the process of putting together all the promotional literature etc which seems to take an age but we will I'm sure get there eventually.  We are located in a little backwater just off Wigan Lane - the website has a map and directions - far enough away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to be a sort of little oasis of calm and serenity . . . you can expect a few photographs of the interior to follow shortly; I may even pop one or two in this post if I can get them back from the chemist in time . . . that was a joke for my older readers naturally! 

Meanwhile the year turns and all things autumnal come to pass at a rate which seems swifter each year - before you know it Halloween will be upon us, then Bonfire Night and then it's a swift slide in the snow to Christmas . . . oh hum where does the time go?  When thoughts like this invade my bonce I try to remember to slow down and stop if possible; and to taste and savour each moment and live in it rather than speed ahead and miss the now . . . not always easy but often very profitable . . . I think the world of retail is very much to blame for this chronological confusion with its propensity to advertise Halloween in September, Christmas in October and Easter eggs in November - madness! Even though I can buy lovely German Christmas biscuits and enjoy them now - which I do, of course - it still feels somehow wrong; unseasonal maybe, like winter strawberries . . .

And so with those musings I shall put down my pen figuratively speaking, take up my cup and head to the kitchen for a refill  . . . the choice of activities awaiting me could be a good read by the fire or, as has been haunting my mind over the past few days, a hour or so in the company of the delightfully sweet and batty Margaret Rutherford  - there was only ever one Miss Marple and it was she!

I hope you all are happy and glad to feel the pulse in your veins; may the rest of your weekend be filled to the brim with love and happiness, and may there be enough to slop over into the saucer of the week ahead.

'til next time

Be Seeing You !

ॐ

In Memorium

Steve Jobs  1955 - 2011

I'd just like to add my voice to the many millions around the world who are mourning the loss of a very talented individual.  I didn't know him or ever meet him but I am, as you know, an Apple fan - though much to old and staid to be a fan-boy!

I use an iPhone4 and this blog is being written on a MacBook Air - the ease of use and sheer joy which these objects bring into my life would be reason enough, in my book, to want to remember him. I have never enjoyed interfacing with technology as much.

I know that, if you aren't a card-carrying member of the crew like me, you may wonder what all the fuss is about; well, that's fair enough.  As I wrote in the early hours when I heard the news, let's just remember that a family have lost someone today, as have many families around the world.  I'm choosing to remember them all but think of one in particular.

'til next time

Be Seeing You !

ॐ

Painting: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather, and exposing them to the critics . . .

Good Morning Dear Friends . . .

And welcome to the study at Myrtle House, just slightly before breakfast, on a quite unseasonable first day of October from where, I am glad to say, three white rabbits - the usual suspects - clad somewhat bizarrely in bermuda shorts, send their familiar monthly welcoming greet!

What a bizarre few days we have had: whether the little summer of St Luke (October 18th) beginning slightly early or perhaps, in a more Mediterranean frame of mind, Veranillo del Membrillo or the summer of the quince as they call it in Spain,  it has certainly been welcome; definitely a season of Magosotos rather than mist and mellow fruitfulness!

I have spent these glorious dog days not basking and topping up my non-existent tan, but being heavily involved in a rather exciting and yet terrifying project; along with a good friend - and excellent counsellor and hypnotherapist - I have decided to take the leap into the unknown and set up a private practice!  Now whilst this sounds like something off Young Doctors or some other antipodean drivel, it in fact involved a long slog around lots of unsuitable premises until one was found that fitted the bill as closely as time and money would allow - I had in fact used this place in a previous life to edit and shoot film, bizarrely enough!  Since then it's been one long giddy social whirl of undercoat, and overcoats and gloss and emulsion and lamps and chairs and - well, I'm exhausted and probably need counselling but we are more or less ready . . . in between all this I've been putting together a simple web site - with much guidance and head-shaking from the kindly Sam @Gecko  with the result that we should be launched onto an unsuspecting world on or around October the 10th - eek!

I shan't pre-empt the launch by hinting at anything as mundane as the name and address of the practice but can reveal that it will act as an affiliation of practitioners and will provide facilities for other therapists seeking space to practice, so if you're one of them keep your eyes peeled too !

Sal has been a tad grumpy as her walks have been relegated whilst the dreadful but necessaries on the practice have been completed; to be honest though the heat does not sit too well with her where walks are concerned and so early mornings and evenings fit the bill much better . . . this does not stop her sitting at home in grumpiness, very kindly opening and shredding my mail for me . . . I sometimes, in a bout of forensic activity, manage to read some of it too.  Still, today is a Saturday and other than a bout of retail therapy later, it is a day to chill and relax ( note: not chillax  - whatever that may be!) and dismiss my already very forgettable and deplorable painting skills until at least tomorrow; the front door does need another coat, ah me . . .

With all this swirling around my bounce there has been little space for the old writing compartment of my life and less for wondering what can possibly be happening on the Isle of Jura with my prize winning story . . . today is the official 7 monthaversary of the announcement of my winning this coveted prize - surely, as gestations go, that is long enough? I could have walked, caught and individually flayed the deer population of the island (c 5000) and used their pelts as a cover for a limited edition version publication in less time . . . call me impatient but I'm impatient! I can feel an (other) email coming on !

However, that will probably wait until I have breakfasted and had a matutinal meander with my micturating mammal - mate before the the sun gets too high in the sky . . .  Have a delightful day and a wonderful weekend filled, once again, with sunshine and love.

"til next time

Be Seeing You! 

ॐ