Building a meditation garden


On Sunday the community was licking stamps and stuffing envelopes, sending out the New Year card and Hilltop to the network of friends and supporters across the country and continent. The Christmas Eve Children's Event was well attended, with several clans gathering from all over Northumbria, culminating in Tan Hiriko's candlelit circumambulation. On Boxing Day and Thursday guests began to gather, everyone a different nationality: Thai, Malaysian, Italian, Dutch and even someone from Tottenham, proclaiming that the Northumbrian weather is very "potatoes". (As in "potatoes in mold"which means "cold" in Cockney ryhming slang.)
Those living up here will know that, in fact, the weather has taken a very mild turn. So much so that the ice on Bolam lake has now melted, and the frost covering Harnham hill disappeared.