I have been waging war on the kitchen ceiling, polyfiller and spatula at the ready. The job would be so much easier if I could levitate. This would save having to climb up a stepladder and twist half-upside down so I can smooth away miniature potholes which bring something of a lunar texture to our temple of culinary experimentation. The house acts like a magnet for moths. There was a large, fat orange-brown one flitting round earlier, and snoozing on the ceiling is a particularly beautiful moth which looks like a Spanish lace fan. No wonder so many have been hanging out in our house--the bats are out in full force tonight. I've been photographing a few things in the garden, and have also begun weeding around the grove--which is badly overgrown with mare's tail. I've yet to find anything which can kill off mare's tail without destroying the soil for years to come. Anyway, the good news is that my Lady's Mantle has re-established itself under the contorted hazel-...

Gurdjieff 's sacred dances as portrayed in the film based on his book,  Meetings with Remarkable Men   An essay about Thomas Joseph Walton (AKA West Cheshire Lad or simply "T" ) which mentions the influence of Gurdjieff's philosophy on his own can be read here: http://hubpages.com/hub/West-Cheshire-Lad This also includes previously unshared quotes from Divine Will: The Infinite Influence of All and Everything plus some illustrations which you won't have seen elsewhere.

By West Cheshire Lad AKA Thomas Joseph Walton The Universe is in a perfect harmony of Oneness, vibrating in a perfect rhythm and harmony of timeless movement, perfect in this timeless movement, a sameness in its perfection. This sameness or Oneness is not influenced in the receptor in its Oneness or Sameness, influence occurs in the receptors according to their vibrating energy and nucleus, influenced by the Great Transmitter, all puppets that manifest in the countless diversities. Each receptor is influenced and governed by the vibrating force field from the Universal Law, the Great Transmitter. Brain intelligence has little or no say in this influence. This sense of influence is positively expressed in all creation, influencing evolution, devolution, behaviour pattern etc. It is said some artists can perceive many colours of green etc, in nature’s herbage, an influence far above others in that field; also the smells, odours and aromas are not picked up by the same people. Each r...

by Peter Hurd, Treasurer for Riverside Writers .

A pleasant weekend; Cat arrived, limp with a heavy cold but happy that her studies and exams are over for the summer. She carried off some of the books I'd piled up, having had another major clear out of works which I have no desire to read again. Some books can be returned to indefinitely over years, decades even. Others are a once-only experience. I can't see the purpose of storing objects which attract more dust than interest. I'm in the process of making more space in the front bedroom as this is to become "my" room. My office will probably be in there eventually, plus more space for my painting and needlecrafts, plus (more importantly) a dedicated meditation area. I already have ideas for the decor but first I need to find new homes for that "really useful stuff" which all homes collect, like DIY tools and half-empty tins of paint. How many DIY tools are in your home, and how often do you actually use them? And when you come to use them, isn...

by Thomas Joseph Walton AKA West Cheshire Lad Hark! ‘Tis for me the stormcock’s striking note! Sentinel on poplar bough, bugler o’er castle moat! My carol: - the wild shout of challenging mistle thrush, Piercing trumpet call shrill o’er hawthorn bush. Farewell! My heart pangs of a bygone day, Of many happy hours, years in a flowered bouquet Embraced in years to the perfumed rose. Ah, so short the day, my sweet repose. Call again, O wind on summer plain! Your whispering byways I will travel again. Come! Drink again the breath of wild thyme, Awakened to your peaceful beauty, joy sublime. Entranced, I gaze on lofty rocky crag, Silhouette of the battle-scarred old warrior stag. I’ll take the walk on pastures green again, To feel the breath, the beating of your rain. Alas, - the visions that flash before my faded eye Of birds on wing, as feathery clouds float by. What bliss I found, my childhood days to roam Along your leafy lanes, your fields of furrowed loam. When ...

Known by his closest circle as Tom, or simply “T”, Thomas Joseph Walton would have seemed an unassuming man even to most people. He served in the Merchant Navy. Before retirement, he was employed (as far as I understand) as a diver by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. He married his childhood sweetheart, Vera, and together they had two daughters and two sons. He self-published a collection of his poetry, West Cheshire Lad , (1973; 1974) plus an earlier collection titled Poems and Prose (1967). Using the pseudonym of West Cheshire Lad , he also self-published a treatise on his philosophy, which he called Divine Will: The Infinite Influence of All and Everything . Only fifty of these were printed for private circulation. However, copies are available for public viewing at the National Library of Scotland: http://discover.nls.uk/default.ashx?q=West+Cheshire+Lad&searchtype=1&cx=004988112283334510717%3Alqhse3e39qi&ie=UTF-8 His philosophy was heavily influenced by th...