Category: TIME

Chinese New Year (12 February 2021) – Year of the Metal Ox

New Year 2021

Chinese New Year (12 February 2021) – Year of the Metal Ox


Year of the Metal Ox, photo by PH Morton

 

Xin Nian Kuaile

  • Under the metal ox, those born in the year of the Rooster, Monkey and Tiger will be especially lucky ones this year.
  • Lucky Colours for 2021 is the stoplight: Yellow (Money and prosperity), Red (Business) and Green (networking and making connections).

 

Guzheng (Ancient Chinese Musical Instrument)

Musical Instrument

Guzheng (Ancient Chinese Musical Instrument)


Guzheng.   Attribution : © Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com

The Guzheng or zheng is some kind of zither.

The strings are plucked to play it, not strum like a guitar.

As such ancient guzheng players used to wear tortoiseshell or ivory as fingerpicks.

If you are an avid viewer of Chinese historical costume dramas, you would have seen a guzheng being played by either or both the male and the female leads or even anyone in the cast.

The sound of the guzheng is atmospherically and ethereally old china.

It is so powerful that it is used in some fantasy historical dramas as some sort of weapon of destruction.  Love it.

Though, a version of guzheng can also be found in other Asian countries such as gayageum in Korea, koto in Japan, yatga in Mongolia, etc.

5 December

Christmas Month

 


5 December

Wintry weather, Photo by PH Morton

 

“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?”
– Bob Hope

 


Happy Birthday:-

 

 


Commemorating:

  • The birth of Christina Rossetti on this day in 1830.

 

 

 

สุขสันต์วันคริสมาส
S̄uk̄h s̄ạnt̒ wạn kh ri s̄mās̄

 

 

 

Moon Day Today

Photo by PH Morton

Anniversary

 

Moon Day Today

20 July 2019

Yes it is Moon Day today.

Global Granary is celebrating such an auspicious anniversary today.

It is the 50th anniversary of the very first moon landing.

It is also 50 years since that iconic and inspirational quote Neil Armstrong:

“That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”


I read a copy of the speech which would have been given by the then United States of America’s president, Richard Nixon, should Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did not come back.

It was very poignant.

It says that their sacrifice was a step forward for mankind.

Autumn is here!

Autumn leaf, photo by PH Morton

Autumn is here!

Yesterday was the last day of the summer. We have had a glorious one this year.

And today, it is the first day of autumn, which is heralded by a great pouring of cold rain, almost all day long.

As autumn progresses there will be a lot of falling leaves from various shades of orange, brown and red.

UK parks, gardens, roads, and open spaces will be garland with these beautiful leaves that would be gloriously aesthetic at first but would soon enough turn into a slippery sorry mess.

Autumn though has a charm of its own.  It is harvest time.  Time to bring in the harvest from the garden.