On Monday I led the sangha mediations. I read a piece on bodhichitta from Pema Chödron's writing, then followed it up with a guided chakra meditation I wrote that incorporated nurturing bodhichitta towards ourselves, then sending it out to the world. It had a very nice feel and people said they really got a lot out of it. I rang the bell at all the right times, had the backyard cleaned up (of dog doo) completely, so no embarrassment as we did the walking meditation around the yard, then back inside for the final silent sitting meditation.

I've probably mentioned ad naseum how much I love this house, but especially for events like this. Sitting in silence in the living room, we could hear the soothing sound of the waterfall, evening bird calls, and the various tinklings of the small wind chimes, and the deep voice of the Bar Harbor wind bell (listen @: http://www.northcountrybells.com/index.cfm?id=92192&fuseaction=browse&pageid=28) on the back patio. I'm particularly proud of our Yankee-rigged wind chime. I bought a cheap tubular wind chime at a local craft show last week, but the weight on the bottom was too heavy to blow around and make the chimes ring. We tried various other things, including tinfoil, which worked but kept blowing off, and finally settled on drilling a hole in the upper edge of a used CD and hanging that. It works great.

Made anise biscotti for the "tea hour" after meditation. Bisotti is easy! It turned out well and was scarfed up, even when one of the younger members, unfamiliar with biscotti, dipped his in the hummus. Apparently it was good. My friend from mainland China always brings something interesting; this time it was cubed tofu with sesame oil and cut up 1000 Year Old Eggs. Always wanted to try those. Tasty, and the egg whites look like black jello.

Wrote well, topping 1100 words today powered by a very nice green tea from
Chado.




Finally tracked down some nice Yixing teapots and ordered two. The only one I have is pretty, but bought cheap in Toronto's Chinatown at a touristy place, so the chances of it actually being a Yixing are low, and possibility of lead content something to ponder.

After many, many months of cruising the net I found a site for a shop in Corvallis OR (used to live there). The descriptions of the pots and the photos were encouraging, and the woman who runs it was quick to answer questions by email and very friendly. I informed Doug and the boys that they had just bought my mother's day gift: "Happy Lion" for everyday use: http://www.sensationalteas.com/specialyixing.html

And I bought a signed one for the collection: "Small Cap" http://www.sensationalteas.com/yixingartisan.html

A dangerous site. Many more on my wish list. Now to lay in a stock of good Chinese tea to christen them with. Ti Quanyin is my current favorite, and very well suited to Yixing.

Also got a shipment of very nice Kona coffee, too. The champagne of coffee! Sipping happily as I write. We got hooked when Starbucks briefly carried Kona. It was really, really really freaking good. Doug and I went into serious withdrawal when the source dried up. We've been on a quest ever since, with uniformly disappointing results. But this Koa company's roast is gooooooood stuff.



Ah, hedonism! But hey, it's my version of being a wine connosieur. Once you give up alcohol, there are so many other delights out there to play with, and some are even good for you.

And it's amazing how much better everything feels and tastes after a good work day.