The Story of Rose - One of Us now

Connections are important to people.

We are a social primate and connections are important to us.  Actually, oftentimes they are the difference between Life and Death.

(Oh I say, things have taken an uncharacteristically dramatic & serious tone for a change) 

So, when another Sentient Being enters my little World, I believe He/She/It has come to me for a reason.

In truth, it isn't (can't) always be positive so let's not get overly gushy or all Rainbow & Fairies about this.

Incidentally, if it isn't a positive experience I learn what I need to & ditch it (or keep it at arm's length) - I will learn from it but I ain't letting it mess with my mojo.

This is a system that includes inter-species connections.  When One gets 'in', I commit to it.

Except Flies, still gonna punch a fly if it sits on me more than twice.

You get 2 sits, Fly, then *POW*!

Flies notwithstanding, this is why I simply do not understand when people get pets and yet, clearly never really commit to them.

...... It gets worse.

How do you walk away from an living being, that has been in your house, has sat with you, trusted you enough to snuggle up to you?

I mean, essentially fly-tipping something with a beating heart, that feels hunger, pain, fear ...... and love.

Gotta tell you, I think there is a special place in H-E- (double hockey-sticks) for those people.

************************

We were not recruiting.
HR (& the not so 'H' part of the Team) were happy with the status quo.  The balance of faces, feet, tails were at a happy equilibrium.

And then, I had to go and respond to a request for help on the Bin Kitty Collective FB page, didn't I?

Just for a few days I assured Trousers.  Promise.

The thing has been just dumped.

We have a spare room.

We have to help.

It'll be fine.

4 weeks later, She is still here.

There was strong, and understandable, resistance from the Largest Member of the Household.
Someone had to, just for show at least, be the Sensible Measured One.

But, the truth is, there were forces at work here bigger than all of us.

Firstly, it is clear, She chose Us.  

The connection she made with the Smallest Biped of the House was astonishing.  

He came with me, when we went to rescue Her, & all the way home had His hand on Her carrier chatting away, giving Her the heads up on other creatures of the House She was going to meet.

What they liked. "Ollie likes to shout"
What they did.  "Bea likes to sleep"
"Don't worry, you have a family now."

"Errrrrrrr, sweetheart, She isn't staying. We will find Her her own family, ok?"

"Yup" (He knew, even then, didn't He?)

  Secondly, the rest of the Crew gave Her the thumbs-up too.

CREW MEMBER #1
The 70kg Dog after 2 days of
"Want to look. Want to look. 

*shaking with effort of restraint* 

REALLY want to look. Mustn't chase. 

*OUCH!* 

She hit me! Didn't anyone else see Her just hit me?!?!"

CREW MEMBER #2

The stripy Sighthound.
Supposedly with an un-override-able genetic disposition to Seek, Chase & Destroy all that is small and furry (but who has lived for past 10 years with 3 cats and a parrot) ..... was:


"And who is this?"

*OUCH!* 

"She hit me!
Meh.  Over it"

CREW MEMBER #3

Incy-wincy cat.
Looks like a Pixie.

Super-relaxed. Snuggles in the winter, sunbathes in the Summer - that's his thing.
Unleashes the 7 Levels of HELL and turns to a Teeny-Weeny Hell Creature of Fury and Violence when another cat comes in the garden.

"OK, so here's my plan:
1) I will glare at her 24/7 through the window for 7 days. Yup, sideways ears, small, serious eyes, the whole thing.
2) then, I will make scary sounds at her for the 1st 30 minutes of when we actually meet.

and then, 

3) I shall go and sunbathe."

And here is the Most Important Bit of All: 
* In our house, we talk alot about how families are made with a special kind of magic.

* That there are lots of different ways that Families are made.  And all Families are different.

* But all made with the same magic.

We believe, heck, we are PROOF, that those that are meant to be a Family, will always find each other.

So, here She is.
She is one of Us now.

"We all share the same Moon" - the Chinese Moon Festival

I do love a festival.

And my 2nd favourite Chinese Festival approaches:

The Moon Festival 

See, this is what I mean about digging the Eurasian thing - I get to do alllllll the festivals.

* Halloween

* Christmas

* Chinese New Year (my #1 Chinese festival), 

* even Tihar (Nepalese festival, that on one of the days celebrates the Dog - what's NOT to love about THAT one???!!! for crying out loud, just look at these Nepali police dogs)

.......I am all over ALL of them.

The Legend

There are a few variations on the legends surrounding the Moon Fairy.  You should know that there is also a rabbit, on the moon but I don't know really how the rabbit fits with it all.

Doesn't matter.  I'm happy to accept the rabbit. And am not one to get hung up on semantics.  Just as well considering  what we are talking about here.

So, here is the Moon Fairy:

Moon Fairy, Chang'e

 Her name is Chang'e.

And here's the story that my Mum told me.

A long time ago, in China, a strange thing happened one morning.

Instead of one sun coming up, suddenly......
... there were ten.

As you can imagine, this was exceedingly problematic.  

It was too hot, the crops wouldn't grow, they were all being burnt up.  The ground was scorched and there was not enough water.  

The people and the animals started to die.

Hou'Yi was a very skillful archer.  The best in all the land and he had an idea to save China.

He would shoot down nine of the 10 suns.

Which he did.

And everyone was greatly relieved and relievedly grateful - which, I guess, not being scorched up by 10 suns will do.

As a reward for his great service, the Heavenly Queen gave Hou'Yi a magic pill (some people say that it was an elixir but my Mum told me a pill so I am going with pill).

This pill was a Pill of Immortality.

Thing is Hou'Yi had his head turned by all the fame and gratitude and, as it happens, was not such a nice guy.

I don't have the details 'Not Very Nice Person' is enough I feel.

So much so that his Wife felt that it would NOT be a good idea that this guy lived forever.  So she went to find where he had hidden the Pill.

She found it but, almost instantly Hou'Yi discovered her.  She quickly hid it in her mouth but was so frightened by him shouting and questioning her, that she accidentally swallowed it!

Hou'Yi was furious & started to chase her.  Chang'e was terrified and ran away as fast as she could.  She ran and ran and ran ............................................ and ran and ran.  

She was so terrified that, when she got trapped, she jumped out the window ....................................................................................

..................................................................................................

...........................................................................................but instead of falling to the ground, she started to float. 

Up, Up Up Up Up she floated, with Hou'Yi still on the ground trying to shoot her down with arrows.

She floated all the way to the Moon & that is where she lives now, still.  With a rabbit.

How we celebrate Moon Festival

Well, if we were at home in Hong Kong, we'd go out with our Moon Festival Lanterns and look at the moon, with our family and friends.

Last night, my Dad messaged me that he and Mum were going to my PorPor's (maternal grandmother) for Moon Festival dinner, because Moon Festival is about gathering with family & those that we love.

There are some traditional things that get eaten at this time & the most well known would be the 

Moon Cake.

The egg yolk inside is
supposed to represent the Moon

Between you & me .... YUCK!

I am not into Moon Cake but, both The Trousers and The Boy love them!!

My favorite thing, hands down are the LANTERNS

Some of last year's lanterns

Our garden, last Moon Festival

Moon Festival is a time for gathering, as I say, with family & loved ones.  For those that cannot be with family, we can all look at the beautiful moon and think of them.

Short video about Mid-Autumn Festival (makes me cry a little but, look out for the rabbit!!!)

We are all under the same moon.

Ancient Chinese Poem: 

"The Moon was rising from the sea & 

all the people were sharing this moment"

This year, we will be meet with good friends & take the kids down to a beach here in Dubai in the evening.

We will have a picnic, enjoy a few homemade lanterns & looking at the Moon at her most beautiful.

As expats, there seems to be an extra-poignant aspect to it, being away from those we love, we will look at the Moon and think of those far away, that we miss at these times.

Happy Moon Festival, everyone.

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HA!!
You didn't believe me about the Rabbit, did you!?

He is the Jade Rabbit & HE is the one that makes the Immortality Potion/Pills.  On the Moon.

Holiday (Summer) 2013 - Being A One again

And so, I am nearing the end of the Just Me Time phase of the trip.

The Trousers has returned to a Ramadan(y) Dubai, The Grub is having a blast, building priceless memories with the grandparents in Wales and ....

I am loving the freedom of being a One again. For a bit.

Just a bit because, well because, I miss being a One of Three.

Honestly, I am revelling in being the master of my own destiny, not constantly having to think 3 steps ahead - relating to the Entertainment Of, Nutritional Needs Of or Appropriate Clothing Requirements Of, anyone other than myself.

It goes like this:
Bugger, I only brought one pair of jeans.  Idiot.
Ah well, I'll manage.
I, I...I am mildly inconvenienced but I am not a bad mother.

See how it works?  I am inconvenienced but I am free of guilt.

I am able to keep irregular eating habits - don't worry about breakfast, I can tough it out till we get to the Greasy Spoon.  Where, why yes, I WILL have chips for breakfast!

oh, pfffft, stop judging me, this is the Just About Me Time, remember?

A few days of misbehaviour (with regards to nutritional intake or liquids inbibed) will be negated by uninterrupted sleep (whooooo-hooooooooo there's nothing snoring next to me) and a few well-timed glasses of water, bananas & apples.

Being a One again, for a while, is good.

Once the noise and distractions of Everyday Life subsides it is good to know that your Original One is still there & can function.

But, on balance, I very much miss The Chosen One, who I told "whilst there are times that I wish you would go away, I prefer wishing you were going away when you
a) aren't &
b) are right there"

Beautiful, eh?  Romantic, I thought.

Admit it, I've moved you.  You are moved.

And as for the NotVery Little One, I miss the chatterings, I miss the  best cuddles the world has ever known, I miss M'Boy's smile and his neverending UpForAnythingness.

Being A One, for a while, IS fun, but I think it is more important than that.
I feel it helps One be a Better One of Three.

And in my world, Three IS the magic number.

Perhaps you'd like to meet Us?

Thought you might like to have an idea as to who we are - what better than to provide a visual? (please stop watching so much Star Trek, Pants)

TaaaaaaDaaaaaaa, here we are......

 

 

To clarify, Daddy (Trousers) is not YouKnowWho.

(calm down, Conspiracy Theorists. THAT guy def did come to a sticky end with Eva Braun in that bunker. Or DID he?).

 

Hair depiction of the 3 humans fairly accurate - ranging from 'Long' to 'Some' to, well, 'No Hair'.

Also featured are most, but not all, of our animal family members.  He was keen to include them.  Even the dead ones.

 

Yeah, the dead ones.  Last year was a tough year, we lost 4 of our family last year.

*  STANLEY, Greyhound, old old old age.  He came with us from the UK to Dubai & had a wonderful 8 years here.

 

*  GLORIA, Great Dane. Sadly, she was only about 3 yrs old, max. She was really sick when she came to live with us & we knew we'd only have a few months but we were determined for her to have a real home & know nice things like grass & love & cuddles before she left this earth.

*  IVY (not pictured), cat, 4 years old , handreared by Me since 1 hr old.  Presumed killed, shot.  Can't talk about it really.  Will do sometime. Not now.

 

*  TONY, Pekinese (Peke), 4 yrs old. Accident, hit by a car when he escaped from the house.  Despite weighing no more than about 3 kgs (when wet), he was a shocking car-chaser.  He also Esteem Issues (as in EXTREMELY high estimation of himself & DID believe he was indestructible.  Sadly, he was wrong.)

 

Survivors:
PAT is the African Grey Parrot.

OLLIE, the brindle Lurcher
BLANCHE, Harlequin Great Dane
Chopsticks, a TOY rat.

Not appearing due to lack of space:
MING, the black Devon Rex (cat)
LEAH (DIAMONDS MISS SNIPPET), my horse

 

BTW, this is also Us.
The resemblance is uncanny, I feel