Rose Cottage

  As January comes to a close, we are finishing our first blog challenge for 2025. It's been fun visiting each other's blogs, giving us a kaleidoscopic view of each other's worlds. New recipes, creations projects and inspires abound!  As this challenge ends, new opportunities beckon. One SiStar blogger has even set up a Pinterest board, inviting us to post favorite articles!  Emily, Mary, Josh n me Yesterday my son and granddaughter Emily came to town and we had a quick and sweet visit! Emily turns 21 tomorrow, so i passed on her gift. We stopped by Mary's work for 'a hug' (in facilities, at our nearby Uni)  In February I'm looking forward to our next space Reset (my Atelier/ Library and closets are next on the list!) and delving back into my  ᏣᎳᎩ Studies. I'll be blogging about that journey again - stay tuned! Connected I am taking a couple of my friend Cindy's creative workshops, combining Soul Collage ™  Mixed Media, and Intentional Creativity ™!...

  恭喜发财 - gong xi fa cai   Blessings in the year of the Wood Snake! May you be blessed as we move forward, shedding old skins and finding new opportunities! Blessing tree The year of the dragon (just ended) asked us to evolve, grow up and let go of old patterns. Three next several days (through February 3) seat the new energies.  In the year of the Snake, we enter young adulthood and can thrive with the strength to accomplish our goals.  Snake medicine invites us to explore and exemplify : Wisdom and intelligence. This is a time to seek knowledge and understanding Caution and prudence - plan your actions and reevaluate.  Mystery and intuition - pay attention! Resourcefulness and adaptability. Tenacious and diligent Transformation and renewal.  The Snake's ability to shed its outgrown skin is a wonderful example of letting go of that which no longer serves! And let what's underneath some! Protection and healing.   Gong xi fa cai   In Asian As...

  ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ  ᎢᏤ  ᎠᏕᏘᏱᏍᎬᎢ   U-li-he-lis-di  i-tse  a-de-ti-yi-s-gv-i (happy New Year!) We've crossed the Threshold into 2025, and near the end of the month, will greet the Asian Year of the Snake (January 29). This is a great time to create 'physical  and metaphorical space for fresh Chi / energy and fortune' by clearing out old, stressed and stagnant energy from the year past.  I'm participating in the January Ultimate Blog Challenge  - always inspiring!  Buddha's Playhouse In Karen Kingston's book " Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui ," she suggests asking yourself these questions as you're clearing: Does (an object) lift my energy when I look at or think about it? Do I absolutely LOVE it? Is it generally useful? When the answer to any of these is, 'No,' it's time to move it out of our space! In her 18 day guide to making way for the new year, my friend Gwynne Warner writes, "It's absolutely fine to delegate this, it just needs...

 Gong Xi Fa Cai! Blessings this year of the Dragon If you've followed my blogs for long, you'll know I love holidays, ceremony rituals! Am annual favorite for over a decade is cleaning and preparing for the Asian of lunar new year. My friend Gwynne is a Feng Shui practioner, and has lovely tips on her  blog  for celebrating Chinese New Year, including:  'Roll 88 cases, or 88, or 8 single oranges one by one through your front door (& every exterior door that enters your home) and across your threshold, as well as real coins, ingots, gold chocolate coins into your home & business to symbolize filling them with abundance of good luck & prosperity. Then share the fruit with friends & neighbors.' Rolling oranges and coins Here's a citrus 'money tree' from a decade ago in the Galloway House -  there's an old Chinese legend of a tree with branches of coins & gold, - when you shake it, the gold falls like rain from heaven! This year I have a ...

 Gong Hay Fat Choi! Good wishes on the year of the Rabbit! We had a lovely celebration with over a thousand people at a local market and event center.  In addition to performances - a Lion Dance, Tai Chi demonstration, and  dragon puppet; there were stories and crafts for children, and history of Asian presence in our area.  In the late 1800s, the towns around us had a Chinese laundry, and the local paper reported several gatherings for the Lunar New year. Celebrating with family and friends was the heart of the festivities - and we certainly did. Lion dance at Mac Market One of my favorite personal activities is rolling Oranges! The words for 'tangerine' and that for 'wealth' sound similar, and the color reminds us of that of coins. My friend and Feng Shui practioner Gwynne loves celebrating Lunar New Years, and offers several practices: -   'Roll 88 cases, or 88, or 8 single oranges one by one through your front door (& every exterior door that enters...

   The Rabbit year is an especially favorable & mild one, following the more exciting year of the Tiger!  I'm a Tiger, & my Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes says:  "A happier year for the Tiger. Some good news is forthcoming, love & business affairs look rosy. There are still some obstacles, but (s)he will surmount them with little difficulty, & will be quite content with (her) achievements." This is also a good year for those born in Oxen and Snake years -  so welcome!   In general, a Rabbit year brings   "A congenial time in which diplomacy, international relations & politics fare well. We will act with discretion & make reasonable concessions without too much difficulty. Money can be made without too much labor, our life style will be more languid & leisurely. A temperate year with an unhurried pace."   My grandkids enjoy rolling oranges across the doorstep - I  look forward to doing that in Rose Cottage! Another ...

 Feng Shui has long been an interest of mine.  Literally meaning 'wind and water,' we are invited to tune into our natural environment and notice our place in it.  As practioner Amanda Gibby Peters reminds us, our homes are always talking to us - are we listening? Here's her podcast on loving up your front door .  Beautiful brooms As the Lunar New Year approaches, there are still several things we can do in preparation to welcome the year of the Rabbit.  Shui holds that our front door offers opportunity for Chi (engy) to enter, and luck find us.  Take some time to clear & bless the entrance or 'Mouth of Chi' by clearing clutter by your front door, sweeping the steps & porch, making sure the door can open, street numbers are visible, & washing the door - or painting it!  Add a bit of salt and lemon or orange essential oil to the water - or peel from fresh citrus to the water, and wash away troubles experienced in the old year.  Shake o...