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Tuesday, January 11

Zen Fun

Z


Well here we are week 26 of ABC Wednesday Round 7. I worked out that this is my 182nd ABC Wednesday contribution and this fun weekly meme is set to continue to Round 8! As Wednesday approaches I do find myself thinking what can I possibly think of next, and in this amazing world we live in, there is always something out there. Ofcourse there are some letters more complicated than others, X in particular but people ALWAYS come up with something and when you visit the ABC Wednesday Blog you will get a taste of the great imagination and creativity we see each week. Although it is known as ABC Wednesday we tend to start posting on a Tuesday due to time differences across the world so her is my Z contribution!

It is only recently I have come across the  Zen philosophy ......as Wikipedia puts it....

Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Japanese word Zen is derived from the Chinese word Chán, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which means "meditation" or "meditative state.
Zen emphasizes experiential Wisdom in the attainment of enlightenment. As such, it de-emphasizes theoretical knowledge in favor of direct realization through meditation and dharma practice. The teachings of Zen include various sources of Mahāyāna thought, including the Prajñāpāramitā literature and the teachings of the Yogācāra and Tathāgatagarbha schools.

The emergence of Zen as a distinct school of Buddhism was first documented in China in the 7th century CE. From China, Zen spread south to Vietnam, and east to Korea and Japan. As a matter of tradition, the establishment of Zen is credited to the Persian [1] or South Indian prince-turned-monk Bodhidharma, who came to China to teach a "special transmission outside scriptures, not founded on words or letters".

Bearing this in mind I thought the following competition was a fun way to illustrate this today! I would also like to make a special mention of one ABC blogger, Gerald who has, like so many others been part of ABC Wednesday since day 1 and writes Haiku and other fantastic poetry! Thanks so much Gerald - Enjoy!
 
ZEN HAIKU FOR COMPUTER USERS


A contest was held to replace the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft error messages with Haiku poetry messages led to the following beauties. ((Formal Haiku poetry has strict construction rules; each poem has only 17 syllables; 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second line, 5 in the third line. They are used to communicate a timeless message, often achieving a wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity.)

A file that big?
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

David J. Liszewski

Everything is gone;
Your life's work has been destroyed.
Squeeze trigger (yes/no)?

David Carlson
 
The web-site you seek
Cannot be located,
but Countless more exist.

Joy Rothke

Errors have occurred.
Look within for where and why.
Lazy programmers.

Charlie Gibbs
 
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

Chass Whittington
 
Program aborting:
Close all you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
 
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.

Margaret Segall
 
If you fancy joining in visit here!

Sunday, January 9

Inspiration!

Frances Summerfield   

Many people, including myself have made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. I attend Slimming World on a Wednesday night and it was there I met Frances. As you can see from the photograph on the left Frances is now very fit as opposed to how she was only a few years ago. (Far left in the photograph). Frances has lost a staggering 10 stone!

Frances like me, enjoys cooking so I am going to share a recipe each week which follows Slimming World guidelines. This week I am using my own Leek & Potato Soup recipe.

4 leeks

6 potatoes

2 vegetable stock cubes

2 laughing cow cheese spread triangles (purple wrappers are the very low fat ones)

Seasoning

Low fat natural yoghurt for stirring in when cooked

 

Steam vegetables & when cooked blitz to required consistency ie some may like more lumps/texture than others. Pour  1 pint of boiling water into a jug, crumble in stock cubes and add cheese triangles and whisk until all is a liquid. Add to leek and potato mixture in pan and stir until thick. Season add yoghurt and serve.

 

I enjoy Slimming World – we have a great laugh! Last week I was nominated to be the person who greets new members as they enter class! Wonder why? lol!

Saturday, January 8

Reasons to be cheerful - 1, 2, 3!

Visiting Chrystal Jigsaw's blog today I saw that she had joined in with a fun project, so I have decided to give it a go. I have always tried to keep my blog positive and to spend time finding reasons to be cheerful sounds a good way to spend a few minutes on a Saturday afternoon, as when we read others reasons it can only make the day a better one, or at least one to spend time being cheerful and therfore grateful.

There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperament.

Henry Van Dyke


1. The sun is shining today! This makes me very cheerful and indeed shortly I will taking my German Shepherd Freida for a walk up the village. Whenever I go for a walk the surroundings lift my spirits as I never fail to enjoy the wonders of the village surroundings North Yorkshire has to be one of the most lovely parts of England. Having said that, it has been one of the worst hit by the recent snow so to see the blue sky and sunshine, and Dan the horse next door enjoying it too could only put a smile on my face.



2. Tonight we are having another family get together, hosted by the other Mrs Nesbitt in my life, my lovely mother in law. The anticipation of such a gathering makes me very cheerful as we always have great fun. My MIL and I are great friends. My own mum is sadly not here anymore, she passed away in 1994 but the time we spent together always make me smile as such memories are fond and happy.



3. The nature I see all around makes me very  appreciative and responsible. To leave out food and scraps and to be rewarded by such regular visits again makes me cheerful. Yes reasons to be cheerful, 1, 2, 3!