Happy Birthday, Bird Whisperer!

While still in high school and college, Wes' friends gave him the nickname of Bird. While at the Bird Sanctuary in Hong Kong Park recently, Wes had an up-close-and personal encounter with a feathered parrot friend who thought Wes was absolutely his BEST FRIEND ever!

Let me explain that this was a free-flight zone in the aviary. We saw so many birds perched on tree branches. You can imagine that the birds there were quite different (and more colorful) than those we would see here in the US.

Perhaps it was the red shirt Wes was wearing. Perhaps it was the scent of Wes. Perhaps it was just because Wes was Wes, but this one colorful parrot certainly singled him out!

First the parrot landed on the railing next to Wes. (And I started taking pictures.) Then, the bird hopped closer and closer. Up on Wes' shoulder. (More pictures when I should have been paying more attention to Wes' facial cues.) Then, finally when the parrot started going down into Wes' shirt collar I finally snapped to it and heard his pleas coming, "Deb, get this bird OFF of me!!"

Seeing as I am a non-violent sort and also in a bird sanctuary, I stalled. How does one get an exotic bird out of a shirt collar? By this time those close by are starting to give audience to the situation. I know! The umbrella I'm holding might work! I partially opened it and fluttered it near to the bird and that did the trick...the parrot flew to a nearby tree branch.

Relief for Wes. And, as today is his birthday, I wish him all the best with NO birds for Bird like this encounter in the coming year!

Baby Birds (Copycat Challenge #22)

(Yes, yes, I know...these are not baby birds, but they are awfully cute! Perhaps one day Ellie and Carson "Hawk" will be lovebirds themselves! This picture was taken at LCC this past Sunday.)

It has been quite a while since a Copycat Challenge has been posted here on this blog! I am still stitching away on projects from the Blanket Statement book by Vicki Haninger; still determined to make about 40 projects in a year's time which will end in Novemeber of 2010. This time, I tweaked the Hearts and Flowers Sachets pattern found on pages 56 and 57 to use only the bird part without the heart part...I love this sweet bird with the embroidery details. Besides, it was soon STORYTIME season at the library, and I found a way to use the embroidered birds in a flannelboard activity!

Not only did I use the green blanket to make the bird, but also used 9 different colors of felt to make a total of 10 birds. I also made a large felt tree for the birds to hang out in once the flannelboard story was underway. The story/rhyme goes as follows:

One Little Bird

One little bird alone in a tree, (Place a bird in the flannelboard tree)

He was all alone and he didn't want to be!

So he flew away across the sea,

He brought back a friend to live in the tree. (Place another bird in the tree.)

Two little birds, alone in a tree They were all alone and they didn't want to be!

So they flew away across the sea,

They brought back a friend to live in the tree. (Continue to add birds in the tree until al 10 live there, happy as can be!)

Here we have an "action" shot of the story presented live, thanks to co-worker Patricia who took the picture! (The birds were all stitched in China, by the way.)

Snapshots (P*S*C* #25)

These are some of my favorite memories of our trip to Guangzhou and Hong Kong...I am winding down on writing about the journey and didn't want to prepare an online slide show. Yet, I still couldn't ignore these gems. From here on out, think of this as a wordless picture book. Enjoy.

Shopping for Ellie (P*S*C* #25)

Surprisingly, there was not much shopping done on our recent trip to China. Sure, we bought some things for our kids and friends - but not much time was spent in the pursuit of retail goods.

We had heard about a shopping area by the White Swan Hotel and The Victoria Hotel

because of our friends Mary and Chip who had been in this vicinity during their adoption process. (Chinese baby adoptions all must go through the city of Guangzhou.)

Our wonderful student guides, Jack and Susan, escorted us to Shamion Island in Guangzhou for a morning of fun! We did some sight-seeing, a lot of walking, then we capped it off with a little shopping. They wanted to borrow my camera to take pictures of themselves and these are but a couple of the best shots - I love them!

The store catered to outfits for children as well as items related to China --- tea sets, jewelry, silks, scarves, and even the hat with the black braid going down the back. My thoughts were that this may have been a bit non PC, but Susan and Jack loved these hats!

Our salesgirl saw me looking at little Mandarin dresses, and asked all about the baby who would wear the dress. She suggested a pink dress to suit Ellie's complexion, and when I found this one with dragonflies printed on it, a sale was made.

Mary and Chip also recommended we buy "squeaky" shoes for Ellie. The toddlers in China really do wear these and the heels have a squeaker inside so every step is a cute little noise --- maybe cuter for the grandparents than the

parents possibly?

I also selected a two piece printed dress for Ellie to wear when she is older. The skirt has several layers of fabric with tulle netting. If she is a "Princess" type she will adore this dress; if she is a "Rough and Tumble" type she will abhor it. Back home, Anne and Ellie came for a visit. The items were presented to Miss E and a modeling "shoot" followed soon after.

The dress fit Ellie perfectly --- but not for long, I'm afraid. She is nearing her 5 month mark. I'm thinking I should make a doll to wear this dress for her later on. What do you think?

Home Away From Home (*P*S*C* #25)

Welcome to our home away from home during the second part of our stay in Guangzhou! We were moved to this on-campus Foreign Experts building after being in a nearby hotel that was closing due to renovations (much needed). Truly, it felt like we were living in a movie set from one of the old movies with all the palm trees, ceiling fans, cawing birds and tropical humidity. We walked in and out of this gate many times a day. Once through the gate, you can see what our building looked like. There were about 20 dwelling units here with most occupied by visiting teachers from other countries on a long-term assignment. Our next door neighbors were from Japan, across the hall was a man from Germany. Rupert lived downstairs; he was from London. On the east side, we met a fellow American who had lived in the building with his wife and family for the past seven years. We so enjoyed being able to converse in English with these neighbors. We even were invited for dinner one night at the homey apartment of Mark and his wife, Lina.

Here you see the lobby of our building. Charming Chinese girls sat desk and greeted us daily with "Ni Hao" and smiles.

No elevators for residents in this building. We walked these stairs to our third floor apartment daily - and were grateful not to be on the fourth floor. Here we were also greeted by visiting wildlife of the eight-legged variety.

Two balconies were attached to our living quarters - imagine waking up to this view every morning! Add sound effects of exotic cawing birds and you get the whole picture!

Though the cupboards remained bare of dishes and groceries, we did have a kitchen with a refrigerator. We purchased four bowls and two spoons and this was adequate for our needs.

See that box on the upper left corner? It was our true gift in the apartment: air conditioning. The temps were in the 80s and 90s with very high humidity and we so appreciated the coolness provided by this box - and the ceiling fan overhead. The couches, however, were not so comfy.

The apartment had two bedrooms. We were a little relieved to find out that the mosquito nets weren't needed, but just in case they could provide bug protection.

The second balcony had a washing machine and sink. Notice no dryer? This means the clothes were hung out to dry on overhead pipes...which we did take advantage of one time.

I have been asked where exactly Guangzhou is located within China, so I found a map to post here. Guangzhou is in the province of Guangdong and can be found in the lower southwest corner of China. You can see that this is the tropical area of China. Hong Kong is a two hour train trip from here and Taiwan is that island to the right of Guangzhou.

How very very far we felt from our home when we were in China. But, this little apartment was a good place for us to settle in while we were in Guangzhou...and we rather miss it these days.

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Pretty Pagodas (P*S*C* #25)

There's just something so peaceful and pretty about a pagoda. I found myself drawn to finding them as we were out and about in China. Come on along and I'll show you my favorites! The one shown first was on the island of Lamma, just a 25 minute ferry ride away from Hong Kong.

This white pagoda was also on that island at its summit. It just beckoned me to come and rest from our hot, sticky hike.

Certainly the most dramatic of the pagodas was this one spotted from atop the Sky Terrace overlooking the city of Hong Kong. Can't you just imagine it as a meeting place in romantic (Chinese) comedy? Sort of like the Empire State Building in the movie Sleepless in Seattle.

Gotta love a neon pagoda! This was atop the boat we cruised in along the Pearl River in Guangzhou.

Here is a pagoda that was on a vase in our hotel lobby. The vase was about 8 feet tall. And, yes, I did bring along my Blanket Statement book to work on projects while Wes was teaching his classes.

This pagoda was on Baiyun Mountain. We hiked there with our student guide, Jack.

Every day we passed this campus pagoda as it is right smack dab in the middle of the university grounds. Students were always gathering inside, so I tried not to get too close.

Somehow, a pagoda just seems to fit right in to Chinese landscapes.

I think it would be a bit odd to find them here in our neighborhoods. Picture them in your neighborhood...would one fit in?

Perhaps pagodas were my daily visual to soak it all in, store it up in my brain, and remember when we returned to our daily life that there a whole different world out there. I like that.

Pink Suitcase Chronicles #25 to CHINA!

Pink has certainly had the trip of her lifetime --- as have we! We left for China on May 18th and will return today after an overnight delay in Vancouver, Canada. ( I am writing this from the airport.) I have been trying to keep up with a few folks via email, but this is the first time I have access to my blog and can post on the internet. China has restrictions with Google and my personal blog is powered through Google. So, you see, there will be a bit of catching up to do! Where to begin is actually quite a challenge. Do I give a chronological report? No, I don't want to repeat myself to those who were getting emails. Instead, I think these Pink Suitcase Chronicles will focus, rather, on things I observed and learned and took straight to my heart. This was the journey of a lifetime,and I will be processing it all for quite some time. Therefore, this post will focus on what I/we learned as far as dining Chinese-style. (NOT the actual ingested ingredients but how to place them in one's mouth or down one's throat.) What really helped us was having on our private dining room in the hotel we stayed at during the first week - shown here: We learned that the man or host should sit facing the door. Wes is not sitting where he should be! We'd come back from selecting our food items in the dining line, and the waitress would move us to where we should sit by placing our hot tea and chopsticks in the RIGHT places. (No words of English were ever spoken between us and our wait staff. We tried to say "hello" and "thank you" in Chinese as much as we could.)

We learned that using chopsticks is pretty darn tricky! But, by having our own dining room, we could practice, practice, practice.

Wes actually is the better chopstick user of the two of us.

See that little white bowl? That is meant for eating all of the food out of. Do not use the plate for anything but meal waste (bones, wrappers, and stuff you just can't stomach) and the tea cup.

Chopsticks can rest upon the plate in between bites.

Napkins do not come with the table setting. Diners provide their own little packs and pass them out to others.

No need to use a tea strainer! Really! The tea leaves are thrown in there and they expand. The tea starts out light with the first cup, and is quite dark by the time you have your second or third cup. Sometimes only hot water is placed in the pot first, meaning you first rinse out your food bowl and rinse off the chopsticks before continuing - an ancient ritual that is still practiced these days. And the tea water is very, very hot!

The Lazy Susan is the answer for passing food between table members. The bigger the table, the bigger the Lazy Susan..

Dim Sum is the popular eating style in the Cantonese area where we stayed. Small bamboo baskets have 3 or 4 duplicate items inside. Rice dumplings wrap up the "goods" and porridge has many ingredients included inside. Some items defy explanation.

The concept of dessert at the end of the meal is quite different. We were served watermelon slices at the end of nearly every meal, which we quite liked.

All things noted, we tried our best to get it right. Certainly our hosts must have been amused as we tried with foods falling from our chopsticks, items being consumed with bones and figuring out how to remove of them discreetly, and just the way we conducted ourselves in general.

And, by the way, they say forks and knives are difficult for them...