YEAR OF THE ROOSTER

Hey, did you say, "Year of the ROOSTER?"
That's me.
"I volunteer!!! I am getting tired of hanging out with the hens."

Can you see those numbers at the top? If the year is listed that you were born in, then, great, you are also a ROOSTER.  You are in good company with men! Come along with me.   

If you ever get to China, be prepared. Lanterns are everywhere...I mean everywhere.  You would think it was Mardi Gras or something. Sadly, I have yet to find a perfect ROOSTER lantern....I guess I will have to design  one.  But I do LOVE the Moon Cakes and tea.

This year, Sharon got rather carried away sketching bits and bobs of Chinese culture. Sadly much of the old, traditional culture is being replaced by gigantic sky walk buildings, cities within cities.

 The colorful cards poking out of the sketchbook, are painted by Chinese folk artists. In an unique way, they visually portray stories of old Chinese traditions and ways of living, especially rural life. 

Chinese children are BEAUTIFUL...I wish we ROOSTER'S  had round faces, deep brown/black eyes, inky-black hair, and rosy cheeks.  Heck, why am I complaining, I got feathers to CROW about.  I am okay. I am glad to be ME.

I think that Sharon is infatuated with China and Asia in general. I was scrolling through her older posts. She seems to write about Chinese New Year, every year.  I think she is waiting for her year, 19___, to pop up, then brag about it. No she won't fill in the missing numbers. 

I found this blog (below) and I loved it.  Imagine eating fish eyeballs.  Yup, that is what her family did.

If you want to keep reading, be my guest.  At least it isn't 

Rooster Soup!  

EVERY YEAR WE TAKE AN IMAGINARY TRIP TO ASIA 

TO CELEBRATE CHINESE NEW YEAR--A TRADITION THAT GIVES MUCH HAPPINESS AND JOY TO THE CHINESE CULTURE AND OTHERS. 

THEY INSPIRE US WITH OUR AMERICAN VERSION OF CNY !

CHEF DANIEL PREPARING FRESH FISH FOR OUR FEAST

FISH TASTED AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK....NOTE THE BEAUTIFUL EYEBALLS !

NOW THE CHALLENGE PLACED IN FRONT OF THE AMERICAN GRAND KIDDIES WAS......

TO EAT THE FISH EYEBALL IS A CHINESE TRADITION, ONLY BESTOWED UPON GUESTS OF HONOR.
TWO GK'S DECIDED TO EACH EAT AN EYEBALL, BEING TOLD THAT THEY ARE INDEED, VERY SPECIAL. 

"DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. JUST PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH AND SWALLOW."

THEY DID IT!!! YOU CAN SEE BY THEIR FACES THAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY A DELICIOUS EYEBALL WHEN YOU ARE A GUEST OF HONOR. 

TIME TO STRING LUCKY ORANGES AND LUCKY DOLLARS ON TO STURDY STRING.
A WISH FOR THE YEAR IS WRITTEN ON THE BEAUTIFUL RED AND GOLD JOSS PAPER. 

OUTSIDE WE WENT TO MAKE WISHES AND THROW OUR ORANGES HIGH INTO THE TREES.
AND THERE THEY STILL HANG TODAY.  

WE ALREADY ARE A VERY LUCKY FAMILY !  

THANKS SHARON FOR LETTING ME WRITE THIS YEAR'S CNY POST.  I WILL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR, SAME TIME.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.  

ROOSTER AND SHARON

Sugar and Vitamin C

What did you do in December when family and friends gathered around?

Some go to movies, some go out to eat, others it is shopping, and I imagine that there are those who go for manicures and such delights.

What did we do?  

WE CREATED BIG MESSES !!!

For example, four kiddos and one Grandpa, making MARSHMALLOWS.

Have you ever prepared "homemade" marshmallows? Let's say that the fun part is licking the spoons, as opposed to washing the pan.

Then there is...

Finding an area conducive to FORMING and EMBELLISHING the set marshmallow (it takes at least 6 hours!) was next. Plastic table cloth, move chairs with cushions AWAY, set out plates of powdered cocoa, sprinkles, mint chips, powdered sugar, cookie cutters...nothing MESSY, mind you. 

We started out nice and tidy...??  No dustings of powder sugar on noses and such.

 The marshmallow, after resting in a pan, forms a soft, yummy sheet of mallow heaven.

Squeeeeeez the cookie cutters to maximize number of marshmallows...yes, they got to keep what they made. This became a serious, almost mathematical, equation. 

Okay things are getting interesting...flip flop one's marshmallow into "topping" of choice. Of course one little boy who will remain nameless, THREW, with his baseball arm, his marshmallows into the powdered cocoa...coating everyone and everything with brown freckles.

Creations go into plastic sacks...

No that isn't MUD on her hands,  just a creative mix of cocoa and powder sugar with sprinkles stuck into the mix. 

And on one's face.  

She promises she didn't lick anything !!!

Messy it is, but so much fun licking fingers coated with sprinkles, mint chips and powder sugar.

YUM.

And that is where VITAMIN C comes into the story.

A few days later we visited our local Asian Market...

Upon entering, there was a huge wooden bin of oranges. A sign made note that these oranges were sold with attached leaves!!!

Brilliant orange with glossy green leaves, bumpy skin, and a name I can't spell.

We filled a bag with the oranges with the prettiest leaves.

Chinese New Year is approaching very soon. This year it is the Rooster's turn.  

We were redeemed, after all that sugary fun, we could indulge in VITAMIN C.

And yes the oranges were delicious, in fact SUPER SWEET !!!

WELCOME TO 2017, or YEAR OF THE ROOSTER.

May this particular year bring you inner happiness, connectedness with others and those experiences that bring you contentment and joy. 

And may we in America be aware of those with less,  being supportive of their needs. 

And seek freedom from tyranny about the World. 

smiles: sharon

Santa Lucia to Cotton Candy

Oh, my goodness.  I just checked my blog and Santa Lucia 
popped up!!! Am I really that far behind?

 It is now mid-February, Santa Lucia needs to move down the blog line so that I can share something more current.
So I will start with.....
Tucking Christmas decorations away, we left for China 

to visit our family who recently relocated to Shanghai.
A thousand photos later, amazing experiences, time with grandchildren, and experiencing this gigantic country could fill a book.
But for now let's start easy:

How about food!!!

Does Cotton Candy count?

Observation: If you look closely at this photo you will notice how heavily/warmly people are dressed.  We just happened to be in Shanghai when the cold had dropped to an all time low!!!  Additionally you might observe that despite the colorful display, the background is murky and gray.  Shanghai is second in pollution world wide.  Maybe that is why RED is such a prominent and joyful color and POPS against the gray.

This particular day, we double-triple-bundled up and rode an hour to visit an outdoor park.
Popping out of the car, we first encountered this smiling lady with her colorful cart. 
She was very busy spinning cotton candy.  What? Here?  China?  Winter? 
 Wow this is pretty cool!!

She was super happy to see a tribe of five eager kids, plus adults head her way.  No Mandarin needed.  Just point and smile, hold out some coins for her to choose from, and a balloon of cotton candy lands in your hands and all over one's face. 

Yes, the lady was very generous with her Cotton Candy.

Lulu was the happiest three year old within ten miles.  She made the most of her sticky-licky treat.

Pretending to be a Chinese doll, no brothers were going to get her "stuff."

Cramming it in Lulu style.  

Now this is joy in the simple things.

A peek inside the park, where another lovely lady is joyfully practicing her dance steps. 
More to come, if you love photo-peeking at fantastic destinations.

 For now, farewell Santa Lucia, and hello to new adventures.

Love is the Beauty of the Soul
St. Augustine

Funny Bunnies at the Asian Store

One day, well actually towards the end of Chinese New Year, yes, I know this is a bit late, we dropped by the local Asian market near our home. Market is a bit of an understatement for it is complete with its own Asian bakery, tanks of living fish and Chinese take out.

On the outside of the market, colorful Chinese lanterns had been swaying in the breeze for quite some time, so before they either blew away or were removed, it was time to go inside and see the fancy wrapped Asian candy, Good Luck Bamboo, the tanks of live fish and crates of exotic fruits.

I took the Funny Bunnies who were quite excited to choose candy with strange names and colorful wrappers to the store. 
Come join us?

RED is the color for the day!  Everything has red on it somewhere.  
Funny Bunny was told he could choose one piece of candy....that is like taking me to a bookstore and telling me I can only have ONE book!

Sorry about the "big blur" I was trying to be discreet with my phone camera.  

Lucky Bamboo was next.  Someone with infinite patience trains the stalks of bamboo into intricate patterns, weaves and shapes.  Of course the prerequisite RED has to show up somewhere.  I have had a lot of Lucky Bamboo and it actually  thrives and becomes quite leafy. But being bamboo I would not dare to transplant to the garden, unless I had a real Panda living with us.

Cobras riding piggy back on goldfish...that is a new twist for the year, except that it is the Year of the Snake.  

What we really wanted to see were the HUGE tanks of live fish, crabs and lobsters. One can't help but feel sorry for the cramped conditions AND lurking fate.

You can choose your fish and it will be transferred to the "restaurant" area for you know what.  That is fresh, folks.

Resting under the flying dragon heads were boxes of Dragon fruit !!

It was a happy OUTING as we left with wrapped candy and big bags of Chinese take out....but NO FISH!

Abstract--Chinese Dragons, Oh, NO!

When I was a little girl with pigtails and flyaway bangs, digging my way to China in the vegetable garden, little could I have known (or was it a premonition of things to come) that I would someday visit Asian countries and absorb so many "flavors" of their culture.

When I was a little girl wearing knee worn denim coveralls and dusty shoes, skipping rope, know that I would someday stand face to face with enormous, hissing dragons that slithered about the street. 

When I was a little girl whose world consisted of barns, sliver-prone fences, skipping stones in irrigation ditches know that one day I would stand under an enormous tree in Hong Kong  tossing oranges for Good Luck?

When I was a little girl, my imagination was second to none, but the time came when imagination became reality.

Which leads me to a different type of imagination....the art of manipulating photographs, changing their reality.

At Photo Art Fridays we were given the challenge to create an abstract with a photograph. 

No digging in the family garden...no this meant going to China to get the real experience...and so it is with abstraction.

In homage to Chinese New Year---two abstracts

This brought out the artist in me!

Dragon paper doll.

Don't even ask me how I got from the photo below to those above. 

But I did use Bonnie's textures:  Dropped Petals, Technicolor, Fool's Gold. It was lots of fun even if I can't repeat it.

original (a bit boring)

Drop in at Bonnie's blog to see this week's abstract photographs. There will be plenty of imagination to go around.

Just a reminder that this is the last day to post a hello in the comments to participate in the Painting Gift Away.

The winner will be announced on Monday. Wish I had a painting for everyone who is joining me.  

And now I think it is time to order Chinese Take Out and start celebrating the Year of the Snake....