Samye Ling Tea Party 2011

People travel hundreds of miles to attend Samye Ling's Annual tea Party as so do I, indulge in cream cake, sandwiches, nibbles and meet new and old Dharma friends and teachers.


Samye Ling Tea Party

Akong Rinpoche with Sherab Palden.

The cake.

Finishing touches being made to Sherab's birthday cake.

Uncle Sherab makes the first cut.

Marion and Edie cut the cake along with all those present born in August.

Sherab's tribute book as presented to him by Akong Rinpoche.
A new book, put together as a tribute for the Tibetan Thangka painting master, Sherab Palden Beru, on the special occasion of his 100th birthday celebrations that was held at the Annual Tea Party, 14th August 2011, of the Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Scotland.

This beautifully illustrated book was recently complied at the request of Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche. Within there is a brief biography, tributes from friends and students, and many illustrations of some of his works, a number of which have never been published before.
This can be viewed and ordered by clicking this link.

Smooth Newt North Fife

Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris). This one is a female, I found her lanquid on the road and removed her to the garden near the pond where she was probably born.
Our most widespread newt, is found throughout Britain and is the only newt species to be found in Ireland. It can grow to 10cm and is most often found in ponds during the breeding season between February and June. The Smooth Newt is brown, the female being relatively plain whilst the male is spotty and develops a continuous wavy crest along its back in the breeding season. The belly of both sexes is yellow to orange with black spots and the spots on the throat provide a good way of telling this species apart from Palmate Newts (which have no spots on their throat). Outside the breeding season newts come onto land and live in damp places; they are most frequently encountered underneath logs and debris at this phase in their annual cycle. Newts found in these circumstances are sometimes confused with lizards but lizards are quick and active and have scaly rather than smooth skin.

Newts eat small invertebrates either on land or in the water. Like frogs and toads they have a tadpole stage; a newt tadpole is called an eft. Unlike frogs and toads, the tadpoles of newts develop their front legs before their back legs. Newt efts breathe through external feathery gills which sprout from behind the head. Spawn is laid as individual eggs each of which is carefully wrapped in a leaf of pond weed by the female newt.

The Smooth Newt, like the Common Frog is often found in garden ponds, frequently arriving of its own accord. Like the frog its tadpoles will be eaten by fish if they are present. Garden ponds have become extremely important for this species especially as ponds in the wider countryside have become fewer and more polluted.

Smooth Newts are protected by law in Great Britain against being sold or traded in any way. In Northern Ireland they are fully protected thus prohibiting killing, injuring, capturing, disturbance, possession or trade.

Tayview 4th & 5th August 2011

Tayview 4th August, always the same but different.

Tayview 5th August.

River Tay sunset.

Ford Model T

Driving towards Edinburgh I came across this Ford Model T, the second this year. (The first.) Nearly 90 years old these cars, the first mass produced on production lines that presaged present methods of car manufacture, of their time time cheap, cheerful, coloured black and in many forms. This is a Sedan version.

Slowing down to 30 miles per hour as one should.

Climbing the hill.

Well it beat me to the roundabout and shot off in the direction of Bathgate.

the Book of Answers

Along with a group of friends this weekend we had enormous fun consulting this publication, sometimes sharing the question, other times not but all seeing the revealed the answer which led to much humorous speculation and further questioning. Worth having.

This previously self-published book has been an inspiration to thousands since its first publication, for within its pages lies the answers to all the questions of daily life.

HOW TO USE THE BOOK OF ANSWERS

1.HOLD THE CLOSED BOOK IN YOUR HAND, ON YOUR LAP OR ON A TABLE.
2.TAKE TEN OR FIFTEEN SECONDS TO CONCENTRATE ON YOUR QUESTION.
QUESTIONS SHOULD BE PHRASED IN THE FOLLOWING STYLE:
‘IS THE JOB I’M APPLYING FOR THE RIGHT ONE?’ OR,
‘SHOULD I TRAVEL THIS WEEKEND?’
3.WHILE VISUALIZING OR SPEAKING YOUR QUESTION (ONE QUESTION AT A TIME), PLACE ONE HAND PALM DOWN ON THE BOOK’S FRONT COVER AND STROKE THE EDGE OF THE PAGES, BACK TO FRONT.
4.WHEN YOU SENSE THE TIME IS RIGHT, SIMPLY OPEN THE BOOK AND THERE WILL BE YOUR ANSWER.
5.REPEAT THE PROCESS FOR AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU HAVE.

With a solution on every page, The Book of Answers is intriguing, inspiring and enormous fun to use. It’s also the perfect gift book. Over 700 pages.
RRP: £10.00
Price: £7.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery.
Treat yourself and others and buy here. The Book Of Answers

Bird's-foot Trefoil and Red Clover

Bird's-foot trefoil with red clover just two more of the wayside flowers by the road to Newburgh North Fife. Incidentally Red clover has a wide use in natural medicines. To look deeper.

Bird's-foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, common name, Eggs and Bacon.

Tayview 3rd and 4th August 2011

Tayview yesterday evening low water exposing the sand banks around Mugdrum Island.

Tayview today 4th August, gentle rain with warmth and refreshingly pleasant to be in.

Ragwort

Roadside Ragwort. There are ragwort plants dotted about in North Fife, across the road, in the garden, in some fields, a sprinkling of yellow clumps.

It is known that there are at least thirty species of invertebrates which are totally dependent on ragwort as a food source. There are many other species which require its nectar and pollen. As a common plant which is a good nectar source it is often a major and important resource for many declining species. Lost of habitat in general is a major problem for UK wildlife. Moth numbers have declined by over a third over the last 30 years and a major cause of this is habitat loss. This has knock on effects on other creatures such as bats and birds which use the insects as food. When I kept bees it would have been in the nectar mix.

Ragwort Flowers.
Common ragwort contains compounds that are poisonous to most vertebrates .These are pyrrolizidine alkaloids . These substances occur in other plants as well. In fact they occur in 3% of the world's flora. Inside the plants, they occur in a non-toxic form, but after the plant has been eaten it is first changed by the intestines and then broken down by the liver. Both these processes are necessary for toxicity. (This is also why it is not dangerous for humans to handle ragwort.) The breakdown products formed in the liver are toxic. Contrary to what is often thought by the general public, the alkaloids do not accumulate inside the body of an animal. The fact is that they are excreted in about 24 to 48 hours. It is the damage that is caused to liver cells that can, if sufficient ragwort is consumed at each dose, be cumulative to the point of death occurring.

The question then is how much needs to be consumed for an animal to be poisoned. Again research provides the answer. It has been found that is lies between 5 % and 25% of body weight for horses and cattle. For goats the figure is much higher, between 125% and 404%.
This and loads of thorough information Click here

Great Willow-herb

Great Willow-herb, Epilobium hirsutum is a flowering plant belonging to the willowherb genus Epilobium in the family Onagraceae. It is commonly known as the great willowherb, great hairy willowherb or hairy willowherb. Local names include codlins-and-cream, apple-pie and cherry-pie. Erect and and softly-downy found along stream and riversides, pond edges, marshes and in this case near a ditch on the roadside to Newburgh North Fife. Sometimes it grows around my pond, this year not. Along with Rosebay Willow-herb it is the food plant for the Elephant Hawk moth, a most beautiful moth and one of my favourites.

Large Elephant Hawk Moth captured for the photograph and then released.

Smooth Sowthistle

Another delightful wayside flower.

Smooth Sowthisle.
Smooth sow-thistle is a native annual or overwintering weed common on arable land on most soils throughout the UK. It is also found on wasteland, roadsides and in gardens. Smooth sow-thistle is a pioneer species that colonises disturbed ground but it prefers nutrient rich soils. Bare soil exposed by rabbits, burning or human activity offers favourable conditions for smooth sow-thistle emergence. Smooth sow-thistle is recorded up to 1,250 ft in the UK. It has a broad tolerance of climatic variation.

Sowthistle Flowers.

Knapweed

Knapweed, another of the attractive wild flowers which decorate the roadside to Newburgh, North Fife.

Common Knapweed, Daisy family - Asteraceae.
Knapweed is also known as Black or Lesser Knapweed. The word ‘knap’ means ‘knob’ – ‘knobweed’. The scientific name probably derives from Greek mythology in which the centaur (half man-half horse) Chiron was said to have used the plant for its healing powers. The purple-magenta flowers project, thistle-like, from a flower head that resembles a small bristly pineapple and gives the plant its alternative name of Hardhead. The plants where once used as a poultice on wounds and has been also used in traditional fabric dyeing. Despite its purple flower, yellow is the most typical colour of dye that it produces.
This plant prefers soils of low to moderate fertility and is found in a variety of habitats including pastures, meadows, rock outcrops, waste land, river banks, road verges and particularly in ungrazed limestone grassland. Is found on moist and dry grassland, very sandy soil and very acidic soil.

Common Knapweed Flowers.