and it's the year of the monkey!

it's Rain Dragon in her monkey costume! do you see the 2016? 

 Lunar New Year is over and the Year of the Monkey has already settled in, but I am late (as usual) getting my greeting out. But I have a good excuse! After three months of 4 hours of nightly sleep, I finally finished the new novel (art, revision and all--at least I hope so!). Now it's all in the hands of the people at the publisher--who, because of my late-ness, have to work doubly hard to get the book out. 

So, to thank them (and give myself a little break from the computer and desk) I made sweet-luck candied citrus peels again! This, of course, was inspired by my yearly delivery of delicious oranges by one my favorite librarians Mary Wong.  But, of course, she sent her oranges at right time--pre-lunar new year...so I planned ahead!

Yes, I cut and froze all those orange peels! So, when I was finally able to make them, I had bags and bags waiting.

It was well worth it:

yum!

Because, this year, I truly meant it when I sent them as a thank you to the people working on my book. I am super, super proud of "When the Sea Turned to Silver" (now out in October instead of September because of the lateness of yours truly) but it really put me through the wringer...and my publisher, too!

Here's to a sweet year for all of us!

on my desk monday

Hope you had a great holiday! Ours was quite enjoyed, as evidenced by what is on my desk today:

Even though the house is now in shambles, it was built with a great deal of care. This year, instead of just being a critic, Rain Dragon was quite an active participant.   She helped with the construction:

(one marshmallow for the house, one marshmallow for my mouth)

to the decorating:

(it needs more jellybeans, more, more, more)

and, of course,  the finishing touch:

yes, now it is finished!

topping off christmas

Every year, I have this idea that we will create the most picturesque, Pinterest-worthy Christmas. So far, it's never quite happened. This year is no exception.

However, this year, we were determined to have a Christmas tree topper. The tops of all my trees of Christmas past have been bald because I've never gotten it together to make something to my liking. But a million years ago, when Rain Dragon was still a secret, I met the incredible artist Salley Mavor and got her book, Pocketful of Posies as well as her crafting book Felt Wee Folk.

So using that as an inspiration, the Sasquatch and I began making our little family. Here we are bald and as wizards:

Salley uses acorns for hats, but it's not acorn season! 

But in the end, we opted for hair and being Muggles:

Of course, we had to do this at night while Rain Dragon was sleeping and only finished this morning, so she got a Christmas Eve Morning surprise:

But the tree is fully decorated for Christmas!

Happy Holidays, all!! Wishing you a merry and joyous season!!!

tree!

Oh my, it's Christmas Eve tomorrow!

I'm deep in my novel, which, unfortunately, makes me extremely absent-minded. So the days to the holidays have just slipped by and I haven't done half of what I wanted to do. Sigh!

But we did get a tree! We cut our own again, like last year! This time, Rain Dragon was quite excited:

And wanted to us to take all of them:

But we finally decided on one and let the Sasquatch do his manly duty:

And let Rain Dragon do her perceived one:

all the ornaments on the bottom of the tree, toddler-height!

I was tempted just to leave the tree decorated this way!

on my desk monday

I've sent out Christmas cards! Of course, I just sent them out on Saturday, so people it's a toss-up on whether people will actually get them before Christmas. Still, aren't you impressed?

Though, I guess I really shouldn't be that proud. The only reason I was able to get this together was because Rain Dragon's pre-school had what I think was the smartest fundraiser ever--they had a professional photo shoot/holiday card package that parents could sign up for. It made things so convenient that even the most disorganized and absent-minded of parents (yours truly!) were able to get their cards done. But, pretend to be impressed anyway, okay? Think of it as my Christmas present!

on my desk monday

It's almost Chinese New Year and I'm squeaking these in! Yes, I got holiday cards made!

And not only am I sending out holiday greeting, I'm also fulfilling one of my resolutions from last year which was to finally send out thank you card to all those who contributed to Rain Dragon's amazing 100 wish quilt. Those are sooooo long and embarrassingly overdue (only over a year or so late, la la la) but at least I can start the new year with a clear conscience!

this sweet year

So, it was that time of the year again, the time when I let out my crafting and baking enthusiasm out and and attempt to make edible thank you gifts for publishing folk for doing all the things they do that make my books, well, books.

I thought with Chinese New Year as my new deadline, I'd have plenty of time. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out that way. It seems as Rain Dragon gets into toddlerhood she is even more time-consuming than as a baby. In a good way, of course, but it did make time for additional projects slim. In the end, both Sasquatch and his sister had to help out (okay, maybe they made everything and I helped out. sigh).

But, we made yummy things! Over Christmas, we received a fruit basket with an enormous  amount of oranges. Thanks to Martha Stewart, we made those oranges (as well as some lemons and grapefruit) into candied citrus peels:

I thought this was an appropriate gift for the Lunar New Year, as oranges are lucky in Chinese culture.

And just in case candied citrus peels weren't everyone's cup of tea, I we made some lucky red thumbprint cookies to send along:

I'm particularly proud of the packaging. My gingerbread baking was very useful for all the labels:

 as well as  my holiday card, too:

Hope it's sweet year for everyone!

on my desk monday

I meant it when I said I was using Chinese New Year as my holiday deadline! The Sasquatch and I are making gingerbread cookies now:

All I needed to do was shift the theme a bit:

on my desk monday

On my desk are an assortment of lovely holiday cards from friends and family which have shamed me. Despite my best intentions, I didn't even make Christmas cards, much less send any. But there's always Chinese New Year, right?

post for posterity

It was the first Christmas at our house! Please excuse this indulgence as I post this for posterity:

Our living room was clean for the first time in 8 months:

Menus for the dinner were planned:

Dinner was served (we were very proud!):

But no family pictures were taken...we forgot! Next year!

critique

The creation of a masterpiece:

Ah! My creation! My masterpiece! What will my public think?

hmm, how can I say this?

I like what you did with the roof pattern,

and the taste and texture is not bad...

but if you remove some of this...

and maybe add something...

Ah! Voila! See, much better, no?

new home for the holidays

It's almost Christmas! This our first Christmas in our new house in our new locale. We've been traveling so much that it still feels new. But we are settling in, putting out little roots and starting new traditions.  This year, for the the first time ever, we cut our own Christmas tree:

Rain Dragon was a little confused (and cold):

But we invested in some non-breakable ornaments:

 and she got into the holiday spirit:

So we've decked the new halls:

And now our home is (mostly) ready for the holidays! Hope yours is, too!

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's Chinese New Year! I hope everyone drew a dragon yesterday to welcome in the New Year!

I had every intention of getting greeting cards made this time. In a bag of hand-me-downs from Luke and Ranida, there was this beautiful Chinese silk snowsuit--perfect for Rain Dragon's first Chinese New Year.  So even though it was a little large, on our first snow day we bundled her in it and let her see the snow:

These were the photos I meant to use for our cards! But didn't get around to actually designing, printing or sending them. Sigh.  But, we wish you a Happy Chinese New Year, anyway!

even brighter

This is a look of awe:

Because it was Rain Dragon's first time seeing this house:

Yes, it's the bright house even brighter! We are going to miss this after we move, we might have to come back just to see it.