Flu-ridden

Natural Sphinx - near Sallagh Braes

Feeling pretty dire today. There is a virulent flu going around and boy am I smit!
The days are getting shorter now. It's noticeably darker at 7pm. There is a real autumnal feel to the place. Trees are already turning orange and gold.
Work at the Zen Centre is continuing apace although I haven't been down recently. It's strange how committee meetings for this organisation nearly always turn into shouting matches. Perhaps its because it touches the very heart of some people's spirituality or perhaps there just argumentative buggers!
Anyway the next big event is the arrival of Robert Kennedy a zen Jesuit in early December. Looking forward to see how he melds these two spiritualities.
Listening to a fado artiste Mariza - fabulous voice. Some of her songs bring a tear to my eye aswell as alump to my throat together with raising the hair at the back of my neck. Hold that thought!
Gambling wise I've been pretty good. Won back about half my losses so far backing value horses. I'm still prone to impulsive bets though like the £30 I've wagered on ten different scores in some of tonights Champions League matches.
Leave you with something that tickled my funnybone

Season of Mushrooms

Mushroom Family


A week or so ago I continued my journey around the Ulster Way. Starting from the lonesome Starbog Road on a dullish Friday afternoon. I had to lift Tess over stiles at first something she hates. Whenever we came to a wall or stile later on she made sure she jumped over herself!
The Way led across soggy bogland with views over Larne Lough. I had a moment of trepidation in one place when I saw a field of cows and what looked like bulls. We skirted gingerly around this field. None of the bovines paid us the slightest heed.
We passed a soggy boreen on our way to Sallagh Braes. Sallagh overlooks the North Channel and the town of Ballygally. It is a semi-circular cliff-face. Looking down I had the impression of a giant amphitheatre. Smoke rose from a farmer's bonfire. Undulations in the land evoked thoughts of burial mounds and ancient settlements. The area was one of the first settled in Ireland by all accounts. A little further on is Linford Ancient Site - a place which still has to give up its secrets to archaologists.
This is autumn and the fields were filled with mushrooms of all types including the infamous psilocybin or 'magic mushroom'. If I were twenty years younger I might have picked and dried these beauties!
We walked for about three hours passing a natural rock formation dimly reminding me of the sphinx.

Return from the void

Slemish - St.Patrick's erstwhile home

Haven't posted for a while. Since August I've been on holiday in the Alpujarras in southern Spain with family - the first family holiday I've been on since I was a kid. Itwas fun. We rented a small cortijo near Trevelez, the highest village in Spain. Getting there was a bit traumatic though. My sister's partner, Louis, is a bit of a demon driver and we lost him on the way. Unfortunately we had no map and Louis was the man with the knowledge about where we were staying etc. Thank God for mobile phones! After numerous mishaps and a hair-raising drive round switchbacks (driving, of course, on the wrong side of the road!) myself, Liz and Mairead arrived in Bubion at about 2am.
Later we climbed Muracen - Spain's highest mountain with me getting severe sunburn on my ankles.
The final few days of the holiday were spent in busy Benidorm with a visit to World Heritage town Elche or Elx.
Recently been losing substantially playing Texas Hold'em poker on the Betfair site. Lost about £300 in a week. Bought a book about this type of poker but didn't bother to read it before I started! The other players must have thought their day had come!!
Belfast Zen Centre had its first public use of the new facilities at Cathedral Buildings. A trauma group - the Wider Circle used it last Thursday. The place is still pretty bleak although the floors have been sanded. Still needs painting and where are the loos?
Bought a few cups and a teapot for the place as my contribution.