welcome Ukraine

Good evening to the Ukraine. Great to see you back again. I think it is almost as cold here in the UK, as it is where you are? I have stayed in teh hotel Ukraine in Moscow, but that is as close as I have been to you. My Husband has lots of colleagues with you. x

Hay there the Philippines

I would like to welcome the Philippines to our Blogget family. x

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

I hope you are all warm my friends? It is so cold here? I went out last night at midnight, as you do, to take out my wheelie bin, for the bin  man today. The ice was an inch thick on the lid of the bin. The  sky was silenced by the frozen air! As though the stars had received Botox?

Came into my cosy house and locked the doors, to go to bed, put on my radio and listen to the sounds of the seventies on Radio Gold! Received texts from my poor friend who had been trying to get home from Wales by train, it took him twelve hours, as the floods had caused a landslide, so he had to use the bus for a couple of hours and another train so what should have took him six hours, took twelve. His poor guide dog would be fed up! So quarter to two, he text to say he was home safe.

I reflected on my day. I had started wrapping the Christmas presents. Trying so hard, to keep the paper the right way, as now days, the paper, is the same feel on the white side, as on the patterned side and I have been  known, to send gifts with the white side shown, as have  I been known, to write cards with a pen that had no ink. I am the kind of person, who if could see, would still probably do such a stupid thing though. Well last night, I did half smile, as after feeling very proud of myself for getting so many gifts wrapped, my teen announced, that I had used tape, that had in big bold, black writing, “Fragile!” written on it. Oh, well, hopefully, they will not be  broken?

 Our tree comes tomorrow. I would have loved to have a  family day, where we went to pick our tree like sighted people, but instead, I had to pick up a plastic phone, and use a plastic card to pay and hope that they will send me a real tree,  and not a plastic one?

I did tell her on the phone, that I would blog her company if it was bald? Ha.

So that comes tomorrow. We will have it in our conservatory. It is blooming freezing in there, so it should last? I ordered lights too and a pot for it. So a day in there cleaning for me and I hope to get the outside decs up too, tomorrow.

Will try to get back here, but not easy right now so much on my mind, I can’t untangle the wiring to make sense! Take care my Bloggets and know I am here for you all. x

2 HEARTS THAT BEAT AS 1

TWO HEARTS THAT BEAT AS ONE

By Fiona Cummings

 

Our souls met after so long

Our hearts beat as one

Our love was allowed to carry on

We danced to the rhythm of our song

My lips found yours

A kiss of life

You removed the rusty imbedded knife

You lifted me up so I could  believe

You gave me the air so I could breathe

You showed me the light

In you I found God

You gave me the strength to fight

You made tasks easy that was so hard

I love you so very much

I long for your diamond touch

A precious stone is what you are

You and I have travelled so far

To find our answer of pure admiration

From me to you I give you devotion

Blissful love is our emotion

Forever together

Hand in hand

We will discover a forbidden land

CHANGE BY FIONA CUMMINGS

CHANGE

By Fiona Cummings

 

How many times can I die

When will my eyes ever run dry

I lye looking at the ceiling

Wishing I could tear out this awful feeling

Forget my painful past

How long will this ache last

So many people ask me why

How can I tell them I want to run free

If only I could fly

But my wings are damaged

I can only look at the sky

I got my dream of a golden carriage

Then bitter swords stabbed the cart wheels

I hope no one ever learns  how this feels

A never ending ring of fire

That chases me with desire

No more I can inspire

There is no life left to admire

A field of daffodils

Green hills

Gone are the thrills

Of a blissful time

A bare wall

Where ivey wishes to clime

A stem of thorns

Where there once was roses

A steamy window

I look out as if in hypnosis

In the mirror I look to see cuts and burns

Another story I do learn

Happiness I do yearn

But this can’t be

Even though this is what I  need

My broken heart will bleed

I have to admit defeat

 And be an expert on the word deceit

I hoped my life was complete

Perhaps  another time another place

From rags to the finest lace

From copper to gold

I would be bought, not sold

My life would be something told

To make people feel like they belong

To make the tone deaf sing a song

To want to carry on

A CHANGE

dear Bloggets, sorry I have not wrote any blogs for a couple of days, I will I hope, be back next week? My lovely friends and kind people have asked me not to stop writing, I will try to be back, but with totally different reads. Till then be happy. With love, Fiona

CLOSE CALL

Well, I am back from the torture chamber of the dentist. My Black beauty worked well going there, and we were ready for the rain, well, I was, BB was begging to stay in.  Teen has been off school, silly boy over exercised yesterday. Got in from seeing his posh friend in the town, where he had a Cappuccino with her in a coffee bar. He said it was lovely to spend time with some classy company? Hahahaha. He obviously has not been out with me for a while?

So she is a posh girl, who apparently talks like the queen and goes to a private school.

Well, when he got home, more exercise was in order, he is obsessed with his body. His so called six pack! So sit ups again. The last time he  over did them, he was really ill too. So all night he was shivering and in agony. Well this morning, I did not know if it was the awful stomach bug going around, so I could not risk him going to school. He was in a bad way, but cruel Mum, told him, he could have a sleep in, but not all day and he must do loads of  revision.

Well that was then? It is tea time, he is still in pain, but he is going to school tomorrow, no matter what.

I am chilling after my ordeal to the dentist. I brushed the wet leafy trees and found all the puddles. It is so cold and so very dull and has never stopped raining since  Saturday. BB, did really well again getting there. When we got there, she was great in the waiting room. I sat and people listened. It was interesting, The radio was all about Burma and the difficulties they

                are having there, then there was a live broadcast from a café in Burma, a group there, doing a cover version of Oasis inBurminese/English? OMG? It was not what you needed to hear whilst waiting for the dentist? People behind me, were arguing over how much they were having to pay for their teeth repairs? Haha. By their voices, they could afford sigaretts though?

Then there  was a lady, I think? Very deep voice.  If she wasn’t drunk I will eat my rain coat.

It was so funny, she stuttered some words, the receptionist obviously did not know what she was talking about? In the end, it was established, that she would have to consult with her diary, to see if she could fit the dentist in to her busy schedual? Hahahahaha. I’m not being awful, well, perhaps I am, but I think she would have to work her times around the pub closing times?

Then there was toilet gate! Well it was surprising how many people needed  to use the loo, unless they were brushing their teeth, but the toilets were out of order, so they had to use the accessable toilet, now I have never heard a disabled toilet called an accessable toilet? I mean, what does that mean, the other toilets you have to clime over a wall and walk through a ring of fire to get to? If one  kind of toilet is accessable, what is the other one, inaccessible?

       Then my name was called, I swear my Black beauty knows my name, as for half an hour, she lay so very still, in her puddle of rain water, then when my name was shouted by the sweet dentist lady/twelve year old girl, ha, BB, stood up and walked to her. I have to leave her behind the reception, with the lady  there. She loves her and my BB, is so cute and calm, she lays there, unlike Long chops, who would be almost sitting on her knee, answering the phone?   

Then time to go home, Oh that was awful? It was raining so hard and I really got disoriented. Before I knew it, I again for the second time in BB’s life, we were in the middle of the road. God knows why she does it? It was sooooooooooo scary. A car came behind me and I knew by the sound I was too close to it? Then as I moved to the right, a car came towards me. Oh, God it was terrifying?

 So I just walked quick until I found a kerb, but the street went on and on. As I realised, we were going down a side street, Oh, God, what am I like, I found a step, and made sure there was a hedge on my right and continued in the right direction. I  was exhausted though, as It really freaks you out when you learn how close I could have got to death? I mean, the blooming cars did not slow down,  I wouldn’t care, but I passed some women standing at the bus stop? Wouldn’t you think, that one of them would have shouted, “Hoy, loony, you’re going to get yourself killed? But no.  

So when I did get home, I just wanted a hug and a cup of tea. But I made the tea and just shook inside  instead!

Now my friend has gone home from my home town, I really miss her. For a month I have been on my own and this weekend she comes and so does my Brother in law, haha. Like the busses that all turn up together? My Bro in law, is great we get on so well. Well friends, what do I have to talk about this week to you?  

Oh, my first marriage, ha, God, that will be a tough one? Yep, may start off by arranged marriages, as I often feel like that is what mine was, either that or a nightmare? Ha.

 

Hub away on Wednesday, if trains will be on? He is in Parliament. Sleep well tonight and I really hope you are all warm and dry? I think the UK people, will soon develop flippers to swim in. x

EVENING FRANCE?

France, good to see you again in our family? My Hub coming to France three times next year, I am hoping to come with him. x

A RIB TICKLING MONDAY

Happy Monday my friends. I hope your weekend was a calm and surprising one? I hope  you smiled at least once? If not, I have some more absolutely rib tickling eye watering belly aching jokes for you below!

Well, Ok, Some pretty average ones, but I bet you smile? Even those who normally would not smile, in fear of cracking their faces? Haha.

I need to smile today, as I have the blooming dentist again later. So I hope my Black beauty will succeed the challenge and I hope I will find it in my heart and mind, to find the courage to get myself there?

Hub working from home today, but if I get lost, haha, no point in phoning him, can you imagine that phone call?

“Hi, I’m lost!”

“Oh, where are you?”

“Em, lost?”

“Hang in there, I will come looking for you?”

Ten minutes later, he calls my mobile, well I am here, where are you?

“I’m here!”

“What is around you?”

“Well how the  heck do I know?” Hahaha. Let’s hope all will be well? Sure it will be……

More floods in the UK. Thank God, so far, we are alright, but just a mile away, not so good.

 

I was shocked at how un Christmasy, if there is such a word, well, there is in Fifi land, our town was at the weekend. My old home town of Newcastle, was the best at Christmas. I swear, there is nowhere better at Christmas, than Northumberland Street, in Newcastle. The atmosphere there was always so good. The cobbled streets, mixed in with the pedestrian wide roads, was always a pleasure at Christmas, but only if you had someone to go with, as on our own there, was impossible. We used to have a stunning enormous shop window, that had the best display of moving puppets that told stories through loud speakers outside the shop window. The music was great, there would be a story told and everyone, young and old, would line up to see the amazing window. There would be bears on skis, or manikin children, moving on chair lifts, or reindeers pulling Santa Clause in his sleigh. The music was   always great too. There also would be brilliant buskers and choirs singing in coffee shops. The lights, I’m told, were beautiful too!

In our new home town, there was a young singer singing seventies songs, he was apparently eighteen, sounded like an old drunk, about sixty and that was the only singer/so called music, we heard in town yesterday, and nothing else we heard, smelled or  were told about, apart from in the soap shop, there was on the wall, a humungous spider with a glitter head and  lovely diamante web around him. That sounded lovely, but so bare was everything else?

Well until later my Bloggets, some jokes for you.

Two ducks are staying in a hotel. They are about to make love and then they realize they don’t have any condoms. So one of the ducks rings room service to ask for some condoms.
The woman on the phone says, ''OK sir, would you like to put them on your bill?''
''No,'' he says, ''I'll suffocate!''

A man walks into a bar and orders a beer.
There are some peanuts in a bowl on the counter.
They start talking to the man.
“Hey, you’re looking pretty hot tonight,” they say.
The man thinks it’s a bit weird that peanuts are talking to him. But he feels pretty good about being told he looks hot.
He decides to play pool and goes over to the change machine to get some coins.
As he is getting the money, the machine says: “You suck at pool, bro. Why do you even bother? In fact, you suck at life.”
The man doesn’t feel good anymore. He thinks: “Man, something strange is going on in this bar. Maybe I’m hallucinating.”
So he goes up to the bar again and he says to the bartender: “What’s up with this bar tonight? First the peanuts starts talking to me and telling me I’m hot and now the change machine is telling me I suck! What’s going on?!”
“Well,” says the bartender. “The peanuts are complimentary and the change machine is out of order.”

POEM OFF TO THE DENTIST BY FIONA CUMMINGS

Poem off to the dentist

By Fiona Cummings

Off to the dentist to sit in the chair of pain

Opening wide again,

What makes anyone want to do such a job

Do they enjoy me having a good sob

They must get off on the sounds of screams

How do they sleep and have sweet sunny dreams

All that drilling

Can’t be so thrilling

They don’t get oil or gold

They yank out teeth of old

The music that plays in their rooms

I mean, is it a party, should they have balloons

What is it with the X-rays, when they have to run out of the torture zone

Leaving us in there all  alone

You  don’t even get happy  gas anymore

Just a needle that makes you pass out on the floor

Oh God help me today

These words I pray

Lord place your hand over my face

Damaged  teeth you can replace

A mouthful of beaming pearly whites please

I beg you on bended knees

I  will be a good little girl from now on and eat no sweets

No more treats

Just tell my dentist I don’t need to be there

No need for her kind gentle care

Or for her to hurt like mad

And make me feel so blooming bad

Ok, I will spoil her day

But all my dental fears will go away

 

HAY, TURKEY!

Oh I am sitting here, Goodness knows how this blog will turn out, as I had the cardinal sin last night. Red wine. I never drink red wine, in fact, I normally don’t drink at all, but my lovely friend Julie came yesterday from my old home town and she brought some red wine, well, it would be rude? Haha. I really liked it actually? But I am suffering today. Julie and I had a walk around to our local church fare. I introduced her to my funny Welsh friend, who as ever and always was great and on form with his genuine friendliness. His wife Who is also Julie and his pretty daughter. There were other friends there too, Kevin and his sweet little girl and my dear coffee cup friend who is great and she introduced me to her Bo. No wonder she is so much in love with him, he is a honey pot. I am so happy for her, as she is such a nice person. I bought some lovely cakes from the cake stall, some homemade honey, sweets and did some raffles as well as guess the weight of the cake. Julie and I had a laugh all afternoon,  talking about life, catching up with our girly chats,  I am so glad  we have stayed as close as we were, after our move, as  we are miles apart now, but in our hearts as close and the nice thing is, Hub and Teen both think the world of her, this is nice when a friend is cared for by all the family.

We walked in the pouring rain, to the fantastic Chinese restaurant. It was great, with a capital G!

What a welcome we received by the owner. He is the most adorable person. He was telling us he did all the refurbishment on his own. And it is so lovely inside. The  quality of the place is so good.

The food, is the best, but the service, is amazing. You are made to feel, like you are the only one there, an yet it was very busy.

They really do treat you like royalty and it is not that deer either.

We were there a couple of hours at least sitting enjoying the food, chat and atmosphere! Then the walk home again in the rain started. We laughed and joked walking back and it was a lovely ending to a lovely day.

Today, we went into the town and hit the Christmas shops. We went into the soap shop, with its lovely classical music and it’s amazing fragrances. Oh, I could have spent all day there.  I bought loads, almost £40 I spent on soaps.

I am a clean girl! Well my friends will be at Christmas?

They had some fantastic soaps, little cupcakes and slices of cakes with candles in and Christmas soaps with father Christmas and Rudolf on as well as soaps with snowmen on and beautiful embossed flowers. But the smell is so good?

I bought a box of sugar mice, that look like white chocolate, but they are soaps for a friend, you could get glasses with what looks like trifles in, or fruit.

We went into the chocolatier, too, OMG, I embarrassed my Hub, so he had to walk out, well, I did not think I did anything wrong, so we were looking at what  was there and  Julie told me there was a chocolate Santa and snowman. I just said, now stick up for me  here? “Oh no I can get those at Asda/Wal-Mart?” Well I wasn’t to know that the shop keeper was looking at me and was not impressed? My Hub, just turned on his heels and walked out muttering, “Oh, my God?!” He waited outside for us with a red face. I bought some nice things chocolate dogs and elephants and a bell as well as chocolate drinks and robins.

Over a hot Chocolate somewhere else, my friend said it was funny to see Hub storm out,  As I asked him what the trouble was, he replied

“Well it was like going into a class handbag shop, with their stunning leather bags and saying, “Oo? I can get these much cheaper at Asda? He said, they were class, not your average  chocolate figures? “Well, not my fault I was with snobs? Hahaha.

We then went into M&S. Oh, there was loads in there, I again spent a fortune and got all my gifts, I bought a friend, some lovely red leather gloves. I always think, red is such a lovely gift at Christmas? I bought tins of chocolate robins and ginger bread men, Christmas  puddings and so on, all in the same tin. I  bought fudge and a beautiful diary, as well as a calendar and more.

We went to my pasty shop and bought some lovely food for tea, sad goodbyes to Julie, she caught her train and we our bus. We had a lovely weekend, with a beautiful friend.  Makes a nice change and makes us really appreciate our times out.

Teen out  in town now, meeting with a so called posh girl, from a private school…..God help us?

Nice to see that Turkey, is the latest family members. Over the weekend, they have joined us.

Have a lovely time for the rest of the day and I will talk tomorrow, hopefully with a better head.

x

REALLY LOOKING FORWARD

My friend is coming tomorrow, I can't wait. I am sure I will have a lot to chat about on Sunday afternoon, when she has  left? Tomorrow we are going to the church Christmas fare and out for a lovely meal in the evening. Sunday, we are hitting the shops in the town, so get some bigger gifts. So must go and make her tiny bedroom look as nice as possible! I just want to wish you a wonderful weekend? Thank you again for reading, America, bless you all, as you are almost catching up with my home friends in the UK, and Germany, it's so good to see you coming back as a steady viewer. Going to do my work, then chat to my friend on the phone, always look forward to that. Just will pass on this silly joke....
A man visits his aunty in a rest home. When he arrives, she’s asleep, so he sits down in a chair in her room and flips through a few magazines, and munches on some almonds which are sitting in a bowl on the table.
Eventually, his aunty wakes up, and the man realizes he has absent-mindedly finished the entire bowl of almonds.
"I'm so sorry, aunty, I've eaten all of your almonds!"
"That's okay, dearie," the aunty replies. "After I've sucked the chocolate off, I don't really like eating the almonds anyway”.
Haha. Yack?

An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."
"What are you talking about?" the son screams.
"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her," and he hangs up.
Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like hell they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.
The old man hangs up his phone, too, and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "they're coming for Thanksgiving. Now what do we tell them for Christmas?" 

WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND

THANK YOU TO THE GOOD OLD BBC NEWS FOR SOME OF THIS BLOG

It’s kicking on two in the morning and I feel like sleeping like I feel like poking my eyes out. I would love  to be able to never go to sleep again? There again, the other day after having no sleep for a month, I had a day dream about sleeping, but would have to be in a place of peace and calm. My Hub is talking about me becoming a Buddhist? Hahaha. Naha, don’t like the shaven heads and the orange frocks? After spending time in Thailand, he said that the temples had the most amazing calm atmosphere.

Funny thing, when my teen was a little boy of about eight, I heard this odd sound coming from his room. I went in and he said in a very distant voice,

“Mum, please go away,  I am meditating?” As I kneeled down to him, he was sitting in the position of the Buddha?

Buddhism

 

Buddhism is a tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development. Buddhists strive for a deep insight into the true nature of life and do not worship gods or deities.

Picture this, immaculate buildings,  beautiful countryside of green hills and a pet dog, running water and happy figures.

Buddhism has six realms into which a soul can be reborn. From most to least pleasant, these are:

·         Heaven, the home of the gods (devas): this is a realm of enjoyment inhabited by blissful, long-lived beings. It is subdivided by later sources into 26 levels of increasing happiness

·         The realm of humanity: although humans suffer, this is considered the most fortunate state because humans have the greatest chance of enlightenment? So does this mean, this is as good as we get?

·         The realm of the Titans or angry gods (assures): these are warlike beings who are at the mercy of angry impulses

·         The realm of the hungry ghosts (pretas): these unhappy beings are bound to the fringes of human existence, unable to leave because of particularly strong attachments. They are unable to satisfy their craving, symbolised by their depiction with huge bellies and tiny mouths! Now then, this is more me?

·         The animal realm: this is undesirable because animals are exploited by human beings, and do not have the necessary self-awareness to achieve liberation? My poor BB and LC?

·         Hell realms: people here are horribly tortured in many creative ways, but not for ever  only until their bad karma is worked off. Well  then where do they,  go?

·         The Wheel of Life

·         The realms, or states of reincarnation, of the Buddhist universe are depicted in a diagram known as the Bhavachakra, the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Becoming.

·         The wheel itself is a circle, symbolising the endless cycle of existence and suffering.

·         In the middle of the Wheel are the Three Fires of greed, ignorance and hatred, represented by a rooster, a pig and a snake. These are the cause of all suffering and are shown linked together, biting each other's tails! “Stupid me did not know roosters had tails? They reinforce each other.

·         In the next circle out, souls are shown ascending and descending according to their karma.

·         The next ring out is composed of six segments showing the six realms: gods, humans and Titans above and hungry ghosts, animals and those tortured in hell below.

·         The outer ring shows twelve segments called nidanas, illustrating the Buddhist teaching of dependent origination, the chain of causes of suffering (explained in the following section).

·         The wheel is held by Yama, the Lord of Death, who symbolises the impermanence of everything. The beings he holds are trapped in eternal suffering by their ignorance of the nature of the universe.

So now I get it, the Wheel of Life (Bhavachakra) we just go round and round? I guess that is why I am a dizzy blonde?

Buddhism has no creator god to explain the origin of the universe. Instead, it teaches that everything depends on everything else: present events are caused by past events and become the cause of future events.  So, now we are talking? I really do agree with that! Hence the  saying. “What goes around, comes around?” Kama?

Origin of the festival

In early Buddhism, the time around what has now become Dharma Day (the eighth lunar month in the traditional Indian calendar) marked the beginning of the rainy season.

At this point, the Buddha and his monks and nuns would suspend their nomadic lifestyle for three months. They would shelter together until the monsoon season was over, and use this time as a period of further meditation and reflection.

At the end of this time, they would resume their travelling, passing on the Buddha's teachings to those who were interested.

Dharma Day is now seen as a chance to express gratitude that the Buddha, and other enlightened teachers, have shared their knowledge with others.

Dharma Day celebrations

Dharma Day is celebrated with readings from the Buddhist scriptures, and is an opportunity to reflect deeply on their content.

If an individual practices Buddhism within a monastic tradition, Dharma Day is, wherever possible, celebrated in a temple, Buddhist centre or monastery in the presence of monks or nuns.

 

Kathina

The Kathina festival, which originated 2,500 years ago, celebrates the largest alms-giving ceremony of the Buddhist year.

It occurs at the end of the Vassa, or monsoon, period, in October and November. During the Vassa period, normally nomadic Buddhist monks will have remained in one place for three months, and the Kathina celebration marks the time for them to move on. The festival also celebrates the offerings of cloth that are given to the monks upon their leaving by the lay people.

The offering can take place up to one month following the end of the Vassa period, from 19th October to 16 November, and is celebrated by Buddhists.

History

According to the scriptures, a group of thirty monks were journeying together with the intention of spending the Vassa period with the Lord Buddha, but the Vassa began before they reached their destination and so they had to stop. The monks were upset that they were unable to be with Buddha, who later heard of their plight. As a reward Buddha gave some cloth, which he had acquired as a gift from one of the lay community, to the monks and told them to sew a robe and then bestow it upon one of their company. The Buddha said that there was nothing as uplifting as generosity and sharing, and so the monks set about sewing a new set of robes. They used a frame, called a Kathina, on which to spread the cloth as they were making it.

The Festival

Lay supporters now continue this tradition at the end of the Vassa. The cloth giving is a gift of the followers of Buddhism, and therefore no monk is allowed to request or organise the festival.

The cloth, according to Buddha, must be offered to the whole Shanghai community, who will then decide among themselves who receives the gift.

Buddhist families take joy in offering cloth to their teachers. About three metres of cloth is all that is needed, but very often other items are offered as well. On the day of the festival, people begin to arrive at the monastery and begin by sharing a meal. At about 1 o clock, they will formally offer the cloth and other gifts.

Two monks will be presented with the cloth on behalf of the whole Shanghai community. These monks will then formally announce the member of the community who will receive the cloth once it has been made up.

The monks will spend much of the night preparing and cutting the cloth, and finally sewing it together to form a robe.

The formal Sangha act (Sangha Karma) of presenting the cloth to the chosen monk may take place much later in the evening, when it is ceremonially presented to the nominated monk.

I really like that side of the religion. Eating and sharing, sounds perfect!

A recent Vietnamese Buddhist festival of Chua Huong at the Perfume Pagoda, a  festival takes place in the first lunar month each year in the spectacular landscape of the Huong Son, the Mountain of Perfumes.

From the town of the Doc, 43 miles (70km) south-west of Hanoi, pilgrims from all over Vietnam gather to row upstream on a tributary of the Yen River past the jagged Karst mountains. A steep track, worn smooth by countless feet, leads to the summit destination of Huong Tich, the Perfume Pagoda. Those that have made the pilgrimage chant prayers and seek blessings at the many shrines cut into the wet rock of the cave.

Now we are really talking, that sounds so beautiful and reminds people I am sure, how thankful we should be for this wonderful world. How beautiful must the scenery  be?

As I really believe, take a little of every religion, and we would have a perfect land and existance?

This is a very beautiful religion though, don’t you think?

 

 

 

THE FUTURE IS DOTS

Implant lets the blind read Braille with their eyes

New Scientist

Blind people could soon be able to read street signs using an implant that translates the alphabet into Braille and beams an image of the Braille directly to visual neurons at the back of the eye.

The implant is a modified version of a class of devices called retinal prostheses, which are used to restore partial sight to people with retinitis pigmentosa. A degenerative eye disease that kills the photoreceptor cells in the retina, RP tends to affect people in early adulthood and can lead to blindness, but leaves intact the neurons that carry visual signals to the brain.

Prostheses such as the Argus II, manufactured by Second Sight in Sylmar, California, convert video from a camera mounted on a pair of glasses into electronic signals "displayed" on a 10-by-6 grid of electrodes implanted over a person's retina. This gives users a pixelated view of the world, allowing them to distinguish light and dark regions and even detect features such as doorways.

But deciphering letters and words with the prosthesis is slow because of its low resolution. To make this more practical, Thomas Lauritzen of Second Sight and colleagues have come up with a modified version of the Argus II that presents the user with Braille. Since Braille represents letters and numbers as dots in a 3-by-2 grid, it can be displayed using the electrode array of existing Argus implants.

The modified implant was tried out on a Braille-reading volunteer who already uses the Argus II. Tested on single letters and words of up to four letters, transmitted in Braille to the retinal implant, he correctly identified the letters 89 per cent of the time and words 60 to 80 per cent of the time. Longer words should actually be easier to read, Lauritzen predicts, because getting an individual letter wrong creates less confusion than when the word is short.

The user was able to read at a rate of at least one letter per second. By contrast, the pixellated letters of the conventional version of Argus can take wearers tens of seconds to decipher, so whole words can take minutes.

No Braille substitute

The modified system is not intended to replace standard Braille texts: a typical Braille user can read 800 letters per minute by touch. Where the system comes into its own is in situations when no Braille version of a text is available. It could be most useful for reading text in public places, for example, notices and street signs. There are approximately 65,000 people in the US and Europe with severe enough RP to benefit from the prosthesis, says Brian Mech, Second Sight's vice-president of business development.

Once the system has been properly tested, the team intends to provide the Braille functionality as a separate mode in the Argus II. In Braille mode, the device would bypass the video processing unit and instead use text-recognition software to identify signs and convert them on the fly into images of Braille. Although it wasn't used in the recent study, software exists that can find and read about 90 per cent of signs, Lauritzen says. "It's already good enough, and it will undoubtedly improve with time."

"Second Sight have done amazing work for years," says Patrick Degenerate at Newcastle University in the UK. But the test of any prosthesis is whether it restores abilities to the user. The problem with today's visual prostheses is their low resolution, he says.

Sound feedback?

Packing more electrodes into the same space is not currently possible because electrolytic effects make them degrade if they are too close together. "Over time the electrodes will fall apart," says Degenerate. Making the most of the low resolution and using the grid to display Braille is a good idea, he says, but other options should also be explored. If text-recognition software is already so good, then "why not use that to provide auditory feedback rather than Braille?", he asks.

"Anything that potentially leads to new ways to realize vision is very welcome," says Pete Osborne, chief Braille officer at the Royal National Institute of Blind People in London. Visual prosthetics in general are not trying to replicate sight, he says, and the challenge is to find the best alternative. Besides, Braille was developed as a means of reading by touch. "Will it translate to a visual medium? The proof will be in the pudding."

My opinion friends

Well, in plain English, this is a machine that is warn like a pair  of glasses, that will read print, then turn the print into Braille, so your brain sees the dots. So I will have to learn Brail first then I will be Ok. I hope if this is developed, in time, it will read print and I will see the print directly, rather than translate it  into Braille, as I remember letters from when I could see. I so miss reading Christmas cards and birthday cards. I miss writing poems on paper, I could be so artistic with my poetry. Writing curvy writing, showing my personality and character through pen to paper, at the same time, it would be so nice to be able to see a sign and get it translated through  Braille. But how would I learn Braille? By touch? Well if I was to do that, Why would I need the glasses? I guess I could read letters that came through the door and understand where the delivery man has put my guide dog  food in the garden, or like another time, in the wheelie bin? Now I have to wait till Teen comes in reads it and then thank God that the box has not got stolen or it has not got wet as it has been left in the elements!

I could read cans of food, who Christmas gifts were from under the tree and when I receive square boxes in the mail, from on line shopping, I won’t have to open them to see what it was, like today, I received four boxes from Amazon, and did not have a clue what anything was, until I began the process of opening the boxes, trying to make the gifts not look second hand? I could not ask teen as one of the things was for him, one for a friend and two for Hub. If I could have the above technology, I would read the writing and wrap, then my hour would have been free today.

If I had my bad gean replaced, I would be able to see smiles on people’s faces and would have been able to read to my teen when he was a baby and see the stage when we go to the theatre. But anything that will help is welcome!

So my Hub talked to three newspapers today about something that is just a trial, will it ever happen? Do blind people with RP want it? I have retinitis pigment tosa, and would like anything that could make life nicer and easier, but would rather money was spent on genetics. So just need an injection that will kill the bad gean and give me sight please?

   

WOW, I HAVE AN AMAZING BLOG FOR YOU TOMORROW?

WHAT I HAVE TO WRITE ABOUT TOMORROW, WILL BLOW YOU AWAY?

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS ONE?

Okay, after the rather serious blog I posted earlier today, a refreshing light blog for your lunch time, if you are in the UK., if anywhere else in the world, just  a smile I hope for you?

You may have been reading about my Husbands missing kindle? When  he was in the  States a couple of weeks ago, he rather stupidly left his kindle in his room, I’m not surprised, as he had a heck of a couple of weeks and was getting more emails to untangle with regards to his further travel to Thailand. The maid came to his room and he had to leave in  a hurry, as he was also running late for his flight back to the U.K, for the few days he had before Thailand.

He contacted the hotel to let them know he had left his kindle. After a colleague refused to collect it for him and bring it to Thailand as she also was travelling there.

The hotel said they would send it to the UK.

Well I have had a nightmare with customs. Phoning them getting told I had to send this and that, spending ages on the phone, emailing them and copying my Hub into the mail as well as his P.A at work. Proving his form of transport and details of dates and times, his schedule and then getting told I had to prove it was his and not a  gift, then prove purchase though the kindle was a couple of years old and another phone call where I lost the plot and spoke to someone of higher authority, who yesterday said they would post it in the afternoon and we would receive it today. My Husband was rather pleased as he spends hours in airports and travelling, so his kindle is his sleep. His rest.

Well he opened his box with his kindle in as the post delivered it today. You are not going to believe this one?

It was a torn hard backed book!!!!!!

Does the maid have his kindle? Oh, well, let’s hope she has his taste in literature?

A duck goes into a furniture store and says 'got any duck food?'
The guy at the counter says, 'sorry, we don't sell duck food'.
The little duck walks out.
The next day, same duck, same guy. 'Got any duck food?'
'Sorry little duck, I told you yesterday, no duck food here. '
The duck walks out.
Next day, again, 'got any duck food?'
The guy says 'No! we don't sell duck food! and if you come in here again I'm going to nail your feet to the floor!'
The duck walks out. next day, duck walks in. 'Got any nails? '
The guy says 'what?... no'.
'...got any duck food?'