365 -The Month of May

I don't know how I stumbled on the 365 - photo a day idea but it is one of the best things I have done ever!!

This is a mosaic I have made from the May highlights.

The stories of my month in both Beijing and UK (1 week)

Rufus balancing a basket, 

modelling the new PTA apron design 

keeping neighbourhood watch. 

Buying a house in Suffolk

Remembering dear Uncle Ralph who died

Welcoming my son Jesper and friends to Beijing

 Mum in hospital with a broken leg

An unexpected sail home from Holland when ash grounded planes

A crane upending in a neighbours garden

making soup with Cathy

delicious desserts

beautiful blossoms

Fun with my 365 Bj group

They say a picture paints a thousand words and this mosaic certainly paints a few hundred!

I feel like an advocate for starting 365 groups on Flickr.

You just don't know how much fun life can be with 365!

How many of you can guarantee you can smile or laugh within a minute of opening your computer?

This is what 365 can do for you.

Let me tell you a story..... 

about how I went about it and then see if you want to try it for yourself.

Back in February 2010 I came across a 365 group, probably on Flickr. 

I googled '365' and found all sorts of groups doing just this. Some huge. 

I wanted something intimate with people I knew - but what I didn't know was who would want to join me. 

Well I knew my eldest daughter Astrid would and she was the first member but who else?

So I decided not to try guess - just send the same email to all friends and family in my address book.

There were challenges for people - 

anyone in China would need a VPN site to circumvent the great firewall of China!! 

Some people would need coaxing to get started in Flickr 

and many needed encouraging to make time.

I wanted as few rules as possible, not wanting to scare anyone off

Take one photo a day

for one year

starting February 14th 2010 (The start of the Year of the Tiger)

Don't use photos taken previously

don't post more than one for any day

Retrospective posting is ok (not more than 6 uploaded per day)

If you miss some days no worries - either take 2 on the following day or miss 

Add the date to your photo in the title or description

Have fun

 This is not a competition

 Comment on others photos

Optional : make a mosaic at the end of the month with all the photos together in one.

Maybe I just have the most incredibly funny and insightful, creative friends ever (yes they are really)

But we have so much fun with comments, 

 themes for the week and silliness

but also artiness, 

 technique sharing 

and general looking out for each other 

(when someone doesn't post for a few days everyone else is concerned are they ok)

The common denominator is me

I know everyone

but they may or may not know anyone else.

 It doesn't matter 

because we are like one tribe, family, bunch ... 
whatever you want to call it ...

It is just the best.

We are spread over the world -

USA, UK, Denmark, China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam

The great thing is with all these time zones, someone is always posting

whatever time of night or day you look.

35 people signed up to join the group and maybe 18 post regularly

with about 10 diehards who have one for everyday.

 It all works.

 Even if you only post 5 a month , 

I guarantee it is 60 photos more than you would have had at the end of the year.

It is a bit like meditation...

the first few times seem hard... 

What if it's 9pm and I have forgotten to take one?

Just the snap the film you were watching on TV - or in my case Rufus again!

The practice of not missing a day makes it all ok. 

Afterall I am not trying to sell these photos.

 But I love what they mean to me.

That is what I remind everyone 

at the end of the day 

you are doing this for yourself...

not to win praise or prizes

If you would like to see more of what we have been doing go here: 365 -year of the tiger

If you need help setting a group up just let me know.

I have a passion for this and would love to help

P.S. Just double click on a thumbnail if you want to read the comments

On the road again ...

Once you realize that the road is the goal

and that you are always on the road, 

not to reach a goal, 

but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, 

life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, 

in itself an ecstasy.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1897-1981

Today is the last day of April and I have been busy creating a mosaic of my photo a day for April.

Back in February I encouraged my friends to join with me to create a 365 Flickr group and take a photo each day.

With a little bit of trial and error we have managed to surpass our wildest dreams and had such fun on the way.

You can check out our 365 group here

We are spread out in the USA, UK, Thailand, Denmark, China, Vietnam and this is such a great way of staying connected.

I am just in love with my iPhone and the possibilities its brings, but any camera and a Flickr account are all you need to get started.

Because we love to keep it interesting, we have lots of mini themes going on such as : Floating, Fresh and Books we've read are a few of the recent ones.

Here's to enjoying the journey and having a few photos to remind me of where I've been  - because the way my memory is going I'll need this to remember what I did last week!

Technical info:

To make a square mosaic go here

To make the heart or circle go here

Be warned a 365 group is addictive!!

Blooming Beijing

'Loveliest of Trees'

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

A.E Houseman

 

We have waited so long for these small buds to open

Now they have blossomed

These pink beauties are starting to break out

This year has the most amazing magnolias on show

Hope the wind stays away so we can enjoy them a while yet.

Car Boot Sale - Beijing style

 Yesterday we held a car boot sale at school and it is the funniest crowd of shoppers we get- both from the local chinese village next to the school and the expat parents from the school community.

It is a win - win situation since much of the money goes to charities and people get a chance to declutter, whether they are moving or just overloaded!

Ian busy selling...

One happy customer

The easy rider bike was an attraction

600rmb ok?...

Hats were popular 

So were crowns

Looking good in Ted Baker, vintage 1999

Loading up the left overs for the charity store

A Mosaic for March

Back in February I invited all my friends and family 

to help me form a 365 group on Flickr.

29 brave souls did and now we have a diverse group of people 

who share the photos they have taken. 

Some religiously take one everyday and some just when they remember.

 It doesn't matter which - 

we all have many more photos of our lives than last year 

and we are having so much fun.

At the end of the month we have a tradition now of making a mosaic with all that month's photos. 

Mine is shown above.

Go to mosaic maker to have a try for yourself.

If you want to see more of our month go to

365 - Year of the Tiger 

I cannot imagine life without this group now - totally unadulterated entertainment.

Don't take my word for it - try it with your friends!

Treasures from the Dirt Market

Anyone who loves flea markets and things chinese should definitely add a visit to Beijing's Dirt Market as one of the 100 places they shop at before they die.

I must have been there 100 times since I moved to Beijing 

and I hope I will be back a few more times before I leave.

Sometimes visitors to our house wonder at how 

I could find a place for more treasure... 

well nothing like having a problem to help me find a solution!

Yesterday I was back there again.

I love to go with friends who see new things

and cause me to stop in new places and thereby find new treasures, unseen before.

Taking a camera is a good solution for me - as it helps me to snap a shot instead of a 'bargain'!

From the collection above I only purchased 2 categories- clocks and ceramic pots!

I had no problem resisting the wide eyed dragon! But the little red hen alarm clock was very tempting.

I wish I had come home with the Mao plates - but it's good to have something to go back for.

These 'Ming' miniatures were irresistible. Less than 2 inches high and beautifully glazed, I succumbed to buying more than I am willing to admit to in print. 

Maybe they will be there next time but I have learnt that life is ephemeral here in China and never take things for granted!

Pan Jia Yuan, also known as 'The Dirt Market', is only open on Saturdays and Sundays from 7am till 4pm. Located on the south east corner of the 3rd Ring Road, it is well known and easy to get to. It is popular with locals and tourists alike and if it's made in China there is likely to be some version of it here. Be prepared for some haggling especially if you are not local. But as long as you don't believe it's an antique and never pay more than you think it's worth - then you are a winner.

The Road

Monday morning

felt like

I was in another landscape

like a grim, post-apocalypse world

where only my dog and I

 were left to wander 

the desolate, ochre coloured surroundings.

~

Sand storms change everything 

from the light 

to my mood.

One thing 

would have brightened me up ...

Viggo Mortensen coming towards me

but that was the movie 

and this is real life.

~

Rufus 

you'll have to be my hero for the day.

Post script: Tuesday saw the winds blow away the silty air and we got blue sky for a while.

March 20 - Yellow, yellow, completely yellow

Woke up this morning to find we had a sand storm blowing and everything 

outside was bathed in an eerie yellow light here in Beijing.

P.S. No photoshopping /funny filters or iphone apps involved 

in the production of this photo.

P.P.S. Blog title a reference to a favourite blog of mine!

Quilting in Beijing

What a week we had together. 

Five friends from Copenhagen - reunited in Beijing.

By day we saw the sights 

and 

by night we sewed.

We each finished our quilt tops.

 Chinese coins was the design we all worked on.

Each of our quilts uses a little fabric from the other four.

The white Buddha in my garden 

served as a beautiful model for the quilts.

Hope they bring some colour to your day.

Time Out in Beijing with friends

Four fabulous friends from Copenhagen come to visit me in Beijing for a week and this is a glimpse of some of the fun we had....

The Temple of Heaven

The Great Wall at Mutianyu in the snow

798 - The contemporary art district

Getting in line with the sculptures

Buying art at PanjiaYuan - also known as the dirt market

and finding time to quilt every evening together .... tomorrow's post!

An Ode to Fabulous Fabric

Just wanted to share with you 

a bit of the fun i had today

 at my favourite place in Beijing - 

Mu Xi Yuan  ( the wholesale fabric market).

Those of you who have been here before 

will know that i LOVE this place. 

Covers a huge area, 

 is dirty, 

disorganised,

 piled high with bolts  

and endless possibilities

Oh the decisions to be made....

That is Phuong top left and me bottom right and my favourite fabric guy in Beijing helping us.

i would have bought the whole bolt of this amazing fabric (below)

if only

 i could think of how to justify it

so i bought 3 yards and 

then went back and bought 5 more 

and may just decide to go back and

 buy the rest.

Does a fabric ever have this effect on you?

Some of the softest satinised cottons

ready to be turned into 

tiny outfits for my granddaughter

who is expected to appear

in June

in Texas ... 

and could very well be appearing on this blog 

in just a matter of months

wearing one of these very fabrics.

There will never be a time 

when I won't need 

to buy fabric -

 that's one thing I know for sure.

The first day of March

We woke up to 2 inches of soft snow 

No good for riding the bike......

so Rufus and I enjoyed, what I hope is, the last snow fall of the winter.