Dharma quote

Dharma Quote of the Week Lochen Gyurme Dechen, nephew of the great accomplished master Tangtong Gyalpo, sang this song, a prayer of the Six Doctrines, calledThe Rain of Great Bliss: Nama Shri Jnana Daki Nigupta-ye! Lady of the celestial realms, compassionate one, Chief of wisdom dakinis, Niguma, When I, your child, pray fervently to you, In your expanse free from formulations, please think of me. Lady who reveals the sacred circle of great secrets, Bestow now the empowerment of the four joys! Lady who opens the door to the unborn state, Clear away now my negative acts and obscurations with the purification practice! Lady who emits fire from the short Ah, Burn now my soiled aggregates and sense elements! Lady who draws great bliss from the syllable Ham, Bestow now coemergent wisdom! Lady who reveals the natural experience of illusion, Destroy now my attachment to the reality of anger and desire! Lady who emanates and transforms during lucid dreams, Lady who makes spontaneous luminosity arise, Dispel now the darkness of my stupidity! Lady who leads above at the time of departure, Guide me now to the celestial realms! Lady who overcomes the appearances of delusion in the intermediate state, Grant me now the invincible body of enlightenment's perfect rapture. This prayer was sung by the religious teacher Gyurme Dechen. --from Timeless Rapture: Inspired Verse of the Shangpa Masters compiled by Jamgon Kongtrul, trans. & ed. by Ngawang Zangpo, a Tsadra Foundation Series book, published by Snow Lion Publications

garden art??

or true tinny-ville? it's in the eye of the beholder.

all about poppies

I've got enough knitted on the poppy sweater that i can put up a photo. first is a photo of the poppy vest from a Kaffe Fasset (or is that 2 t at the end?) So i'm using the poppies on a knit-in-the-round sweater pattern, in which i'll have to make 3 steek cuts.... but i ain't a'skeered as Pam Harris would say... and she's totally fearless! and i decided to do duplicate stitch for the center of the poppy rather than deal with carrying that much more yarn across the back. the dup. st. should be a little less a pain in the ass than weaving in all those extra ends. anyway, i think i'll like this sweater a lot!

2 and 1/2 weeks til we leave and if we are very very lucky, we will fly into Athens on a day when there are no strikes going on. it seems there have been riots and protests which include strikes that shut down the airports, ferries and taxis. the horrid state of the economy in Greece has prompted the government to want to institute some "fixes" which are highly unpopular with the public, leading to the protests. Usually the strikes don't last more than a day, and often only a few hours. their economic problems can evidently be blamed on graft and corruption and greed in the government and large institutions.... sound familiar? but i won't go into that rant now!

just another monday

though it is significant in that today i finished my part of the tax return... which was no strain since i'm so close to completely retired that the amount of fiber/yarn i've sold is quite small because i just haven't been dyeing very much... because i'm so almost retired, so most of the time i've spent in my dye studio is because i just want to put some color on white fiber. and only when i want to. and i do love that feeling of freedom. and now that it is tuesday... it is just 3 weeks til i leave for Crete. we'll be there for easter again, which is very interesting because of all the ritual that goes on and also because of the wonderful feasting and gatherings of families and friends which i do hope we'll be part of again!!

here's some of the fiber i've dyed recently which will go to Northwest Wools this week. the yarn is merino/bamboo and is fabulous sock yarn. the other is blue faced leicester wool and tussah silk which has become my most favorite fiber to spin! it almost spins itself... so soft and shiny... ummmm! i just can't quit! and besides, a little walkin' around money is a good thing.