Second Day of the Chinese New Year

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For Chinese, the second day of the Chinese New Year is almost as important as the New Year’s Day.

During this festive period, homes are usually decorated with flowers and fruits.

Peach blossoms symbolize growth, prosperity, long life and romance. Because they are associated with romance, peach blossoms are popular with singles who decorate them in the hope of finding love in the coming year.

Here are two photos, one showing the peach blossom tree while the other the flowers.

Hope you like them :-)

Spring is in the Air

4 February is Li Chun – the start of the season of Spring in the Chinese Lunar calendar.

A lot of people might not know that, actually our Lunar New Year starts on Li Chun Day or Lunar New Year will only be considered as Officially Arrived after Li Chun Day.

Li Chun Day is a day to mark the start of a New Lunar Year and also, to mark the Arrival of the Spring Season.

Usually after Li Chun Day, most of the plants will start to grow again, snowing will slowly cease and accumulated ice will start to melt etc.

One sign of Spring is the blossoming of flowers. Here are some peach blossoms seen at night. Night is about to phase out and turn into day. What a wonderful sight! PS Picture taken by my classmate YM Chan in Japan.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Yellow

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It was the Spring of 2013 that we went to see the rapeseed flowers of Luoping in China. We were blessed to be there at the right time. There were just endless fields of yellow flowers. Without a doubt, the sight of these yellow flowers were just uplifting . . . .  we were full of  joy! PS For those who are interested, please visit my previous posts on the subject.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Minimalist (Canola Flowers)

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I have always loved the yellow color.

To me, they represent hope and joy.

How joyous it is to gaze at a field of yellows flowers, while they sway gently in the wind.

The picture is taken in Luoping, China in one of those  trips to Guizhou and Yunnan.

I could forever gazing into these yellow flowers, without even lifting my eyes off.

Thank God for creating such flowers!

The Rain that Shattered the Lotus in Ritsurin Garden, Japan

This post contains 11 photos of beautiful lotus flowers.

We were travelling with the wind.

At the start of our trip, the hurricane Neoguri was ahead of us. We flew over and past the super typhoon.

When we landed at Shikoku, the hurricane has got up with us and was heading further north towards Osaka and Tokyo.

When the hurricane past us by, the weather was unsettled – we had some heavy down pours when we reached the Ritsurin Gardens.

The down pour continued as we walked into the garden. There were still people strolling the gardens while upholding their umbrellas.

I was thinking of taking some beautiful pictures of the lotus. The rain has shattered my dreams – many of the lotus flowers were deformed by the rain.

Many of the flowers have petals pointing downwards to the ground or fallen to the ground – so where have all the good flowers gone?

We could see rain drops trickling down the petals and the stalks.

There was no use of zooming in on the flowers as many of the flowers were not intact.

However, this did not deter me from taking pictures of the flowers – it was a sea of lotus which I have never seen before.

I like the mix of the pink flowers and the green leaves.

The extent of the lotus pads were so extensive that they just filled my lenses.

Yes, we may not have a bright day when flowers bloom and robins sing, but who cares, God has given me  another perspective – a totally different view of the lotus pond, battered lotus which still retained their beautiful colors and together with the buds and the leaves, they were just magnificent.

It was like a sea of flowers.

Who wouldn’t want to have sunny days when everything go smoothly, but I must be grateful that the Lord has allowed me another beautiful day.

The sky did clear up when I walked past the Monet’s Japanese bridge ( only I like to see it that way) and that I did take good photos of the bridge in the garden  which will remain in my mind forever!

Maybe, I will come back another time, another weather!

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Spring (Views along the Annecy Watercourse, France)

Annecy is definitely one of the places I like to visit during Spring.

I like the Annecy lake in Spring with  placid waters and flowers or grass along the lake shore. However, the river course flowing from the lake with pastel color houses on the banks is my favorite.

The weather in Spring is a little bit cool, but crowds of people have come out enjoying the walk along the river banks; crossing the little bridges here and there.

Like other visitors, we walked along the river bank, intoxicated by what we saw.

Maybe there are no space for flowers along the river side walks – they are mainly planted in pots or planters.

The river just flowed along, passing weirs and water gates, and underneath bridges.

Colorful flowers in planters alongside the river bank or hang from houses were a common sight.

While the pastel color houses are themselves attractive, their reflection in water is just equally fascinating.

Walking up and down the river, I took this series of photos.

Maybe, the place would be more beautiful if they have not formulated the water course as a waterway.

But nevertheless, it still is stunningly beautiful.

It is a medieval town which I have no hesitation to visit again!

 

Orchids

We bought a lot of orchids of different colors, sizes, patterns for the Chinese New Year.

Now the festive season has gone and the orchids, after blooming for a couple of months, have all withered.

In replacement, we bought some white ones.

These flowers have extra large petals.

They are just so lovely!