Marie's Web Log

Don't get too excited - it's not Devon, it's North Yorkshire (near Scotch Corner, an area that always seems to get the snow). There has been quite a lot of snow around in Scotland and the North of England, and even London and the South East received a covering. We had a dusting yesterday morning that soon melted, but there may be more on the way. The temperature has "plunged" to - 4, but it does feel colder with the wind. Hundreds of schools have been closed, though I don't think anywhere got more than about 30 cm.

Posted by marie at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Amelia asleep on the train from London, after exhausting herself by howling

Our weekend trip to London for Chinese New Year was a disaster on some fronts. Amelia had two sleepless nights in a row – we don’t really know why. She’s been fine since we came home. On the second night she howled so much I had to take her downstairs. This all led to her being so tired on Sunday (the day we were going up to London to see the festivities) that she deteriorated into a screaming rage just after we got there and we had to take her back to Ian’s brother’s house (they live in Kenley, Surrey, so it’s about a 45 minute train ride each way) without seeing much.

We did see a bit of the Chinese New Year parade. The dancing dragon was particularly impressive, and the people on stilts. Strangely most of the people there - those taking in the parade as well as spectators - were not Chinese. Perhaps this was because (according to one web site I looked at anyway) the fifth day of the Chinese New Year period is the day you're supposed to spend at home waiting for the god of wealth. Which is probably what we should have done.

We did have a lovely time visiting Ian's brother and sister-in-law - apart from Amelia keeping them awake. Not sure how keen they'll be to invite us again!

PS: Happy belated Valentine's Day.

Posted by marie at 05:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy Spring Festival! Or, as it is known in the west, Chinese New Year. Today is the first day of the year of the Green Wood Rooster. The celebration goes on for 15 days and ends on Feb. 24 with the Lantern Festival. Many of the days have different traditions associated with them - on some days you give sweets and money to children, on some days you stay home to await the god of fortune, on other days you go out to visit family and friends.

I always found the concept of a spring festival in January or February (it varies with the lunar calendar) a bit hard to take in Canada. But in this part of England it seems to make sense. Many of the daffodils are fully out now, along with the crocuses, and the weather continues to be mostly mild. I don't think there has been a week yet when I haven't seen a man in shorts or a woman in open-toed shoes. Mind you, a few times I thought they must be a bit nuts!

Unfortunately Amelia has been ill again - she picked up another cold or virus. She seemed to get over this one more quickly. We don't know if this is because we have started giving her regular vitamins, or just that it was a less severe bug. I had a chat with the head of her day care centre, as we think one of the reasons she is picking up so many illnesses is that she doesn't nap for long enough when she's there and then gets tired and rundown. They're going to try adjusting where her little nap space is to see if she can be in a quieter spot so she doesn't wake up so soon, but I don't know if that will work. If not, we might have to see if we can switch her to mornings only. Don't know if that will work either. It's a very delicate balance. I'd be interested to hear from those who have or have had children in some form of day care. How did you deal with these issues?

This weekend, provided everyone is well, we will be going down to London to visit Ian's brother and sister-in-law and also to go to the London Chinatown Chinese New Year's celebration. It's supposed to be a big thing, with dragon dances and dance and opera performances and parades and fireworks, so it should be good.

Happy New Year again to you all. Gong xi fa cai - May you expand your fortune.

Posted by marie at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)