We're almost there ...

Suddenly, like an athlete sensing victory and seeing the finish line, we are almost there. Without your help I'd still be on the starting block....

Watch this space ..

Three Men and a Blog

It's amazing who you meet on your way to achieving a goal or something that puts you outside your comfort zone.

Meet Billy - a 72 -year ex- Serviceman from Northern Ireland, his accent as sharp as a razor and his wit and humour just as steely. With a Northern Ireland man - an Ulsterman - what you see is what you get. Billy - I salute you for your contribution.

Meet Jimmy, an 80-something gentleman from North London, met him on the street one day , said he stared running marathons at 66. Yes that's right 66.

You younger blokes out there, there is hope for us. Jimmy - I salute you for your inspiration.

And finally, meet Mr Pang, an elderly gentleman, mid 80's from Shanghai, who goes by the nickname of Mr Nine O'Clock. The first person I ever spoke to in Mandarin, who kindly offered to coach me. And I told him the time in Chinese at the local Waitrose in North London. Thank you for coaching me. 谢谢您

See you all soon.

Beijing Update

Heading to £2,500....

Many of you will be coming back off holidays, so here's a quick update.

Thanks to generous donations from St. Augustines church, the Green Man, Mike D and Mike B we have passed the £2,000 mark .. a fantastic effort to all who have supported me over the last few months. Thank you.

£500 to go and looking for one company who may want to promote its services/products in China.

Could that be your company?

Sent off my application form today for the Chinese Visa and I have been practising 10 mile walks around Wycombe.

Beijing beckons - ever get nervous before you travel?

Mervyn

Recollections of an Irish Childhood 8

22 November 1963

Friday evening , that time when
Tea was out and father was in
And the coal cracked
and ash wood spat and steamed
And the flames caught my eye
as they danced
in the hearth of that living room in Derry

The valve radio muttered
mysteriously in the corner
Brown and brooding
and beaming news over the air waves

I looked once inside
its sinister side
hiding valves
humming and hawing
not quite tuned

It snatched the news
and spat it out
“ The President has been shot “

I adjusted the woggle of my scarf
I eyed the time
Time for Scouts
shoes polished
hair combed
Shirt pressed

and I dream of long shadowed horses
and a gun-carriaged hearse
and a widow and sons
black and bowed
on a bright Washington winter morn
when the world changed forever

Recollections of an Irish Childhood

click on title above to hear recording

Thoughts from the farmyard in rural Ireland (late 1960s)

The burn would run all night and morning
Gurgling seductively outside my bedroom window
Golden brown and bubbling over the peat-moss moors
Sounds of scratching fowls and swishing cows
Cud-chewing to the milking parlour

A sow scraped and screamed at the runt of the litter
And I with one eye opened, feel the gentle Derry air
Lift the lace curtain and blow in a ‘good morning’
With its sickly smell of sweet manure
And fresh squeezed milk from bloated udder

A clang of creamery cans
A ‘get-out-of-here’ cry to cats
That craved fresh cream
And I awake on my uncle’s farm
Oh sweet, sweet memory

Recollections of an Irish Childhood 3

Thoughts from the woods in rural Ireland (Summer 1964)

There is a green glade where ponies graze
Where late evening sun lies down the bluebells
There is a pool only some of us knew
A dark, dark pool where I used to gaze

Down, down to its muddied edge
and stop and stoop
On well-worn stone

And scoop deep, deep waters
And watch squint-eyed as spiders skim across its mirrored face
And just beside this quiet water child,

Mother River, bosom-brown sits
Her silent flow broken only
By the flip, flop, drop of hungry trout
Casting an eye for the dead-lazy fly.

A startled blackbird screams
Through the undergrowth
And I awake.

First Chinese E-Mail

Isn't learning a wonderful thing, having just turned 55 ,
I have sent and received my first e-mail in Chinese script (Hanyu)

你好, 最进还好吗?
先在我的汉语不太好
墨文

墨文
你好，我 最近很忙。你呢？
你的汉语有进步，继续努力。 祝好
林美婵

After clouds come blue skies
After confusion comes clarity
After learning comes aaah, um, err..more learning

Dedicated to the guys at the Red Lion Pub and restaurant
Bradenham Village , Bucks HP14 4HF Tel: 01494 562212

" A lighthouse of calm in a sea of troubles"