Year of the Wood Dragon

3 months ago

The rabbit year went well for my garden. I focused on propagation lol!

Here comes the dragon in early Feb. Dragon is supposed to be good for changes, new ideas, new ways of doing things, energy to avoid procrastination, and get inspiration. Those who step up and take the initiative will get recognition and praise. If you have an idea its a good time to try it this year.

I went to the Huntington in San Marino to see how the pruning is going. Roses look strong and healthy. The Love Song standards in the adjacent garden are huge! Shrubs in the Antique rose garden next to newly remodeled tea room are flowering and happy. I love pruning time.

The new Japanese house on the hill is wonderful and the flowering trees in the garden of flowing fragrance Chinese garden are beginning. That lovely garden gets better every year as the plants mature.

I drove down San Gabriel Blvd. to the big market. They were decorating with dragons of all colors and on the hour pops and sparkles go off up front over the registers from hanging firecracker decorations. There are so many pretty gift baskets on display and treats of all kinds in lovely red and gold containers. I like the sweet nut candy assortments, the sesame candies hard and soft, crispy cookies and coconut pandan flavored sweets. I love pandan. If you havent tried it, its like vanilla because its gentle and floral. You can smell it with the taste. Most treats give a green color because pandan is from a green leaf extract. I saw beautiful sweet rice treats molded like fish in lovely colors. Another thing this year is the golden carriage. A wheeled carriage full of golden coins was another theme in decorations and gifts. Good year to bring some golden roses into your home.

Everybody have a prosperous and happy Dragon year ahead. Try out a fun idea and let the inspiration take you to new places.

Featured Answer

Feiy (PNWZ8b/9a)

2 months ago

Simply put. It is determined by the Sexagenary cycle. 10 heavenly stems represent the five agents(fire, water, wood, metal, earth) with yin and yang each, and 12 earthly branches represent the Chinese zodiac. This year is the year of JiaChen(甲辰). Jia belongs to yang wood and Chen means dragon, so it is wood dragon year.

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Comments (13)

bart bart
3 months ago
Thank you for this post, kitty-so full of joy. And thank you for the good wishes; may they extend to you yourself as well.
kittymoonbeam thanked bart bart
BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
3 months ago
Thanks for the Year of the Dragon good wishes! I will have to check out the market at San `Gabriel next time I ’visit The Huntington.
kittymoonbeam thanked BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)
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Teresa, I never post here. Rudeness seems to be the M.O. I was raised way better. i did a refresh on my very small galley kitchen. Repainted the cabinets, new hardware, ended up replacing the floor (big leak and mold) in that awful trendy grey wood look tile, and non stone (I used a lighter shade of wood look tile) counters. New appliances (cheap and black). No backsplash (what are those actually for anyway) other than the counter material going up about three inches. All together way less than $10,000. And my "art" comes from generic places too lol. DIYer is so not me. I am good at using my phone. I have an EXCELLENT handyman. Through Home Advisor. I also have used Handy for putting furniture together. i also lived in a very dysfunctional kitchen before my divorce. Raised seven children and entertained for all twenty five years. Parties of well over one hundred. In a very ordinary 1800 sq ft home. I miss every bit of that. I am glad you went ahead with YOUR plan. I hope to see photos soon!
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I have a zillion questions: You say this was a farmhouse, however, the amount of decoration and detail is really typical (at least in the US) of a home that is more expensive than what was built on a farm in the 1870s. The walls and ceilings look like inexpensive cuts of timber - they are not fancy paneling. Yet the door frames ceiling ornamentation and gingerbread-like ornamentation looks more detailed than what you find in a farmhouse and perhaps was added on less than 153 years ago? I bring this up wondering if someone went a bit bonkers with woodwork add-ons in here and whether or not you like them. I'm all about preservation. I'm just wondering how much and what parts of this you want to preserve. What do the other rooms in the house look like? Are they paneled with the same wood but painted over or were the constructed with another wall type? What are the shuttered doors in the parlor that are behind the table on the right wall? Are they a doorway, do the go to a covered window? They look newer to me than the rest of the room. I wonder if there is some other light source from behind them? Also, what is the opening to the right of the fireplace with the flag? Is there a window back there, a hallway? I'd also call in 3 different wood refinishing contractors for quotes. Even if you end up not having the $ to hire someone to do the job, you may find that at least one of them will give you a very good education as to what you are dealing with and what is possible.
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stillanntn6b
3 months ago
good for changes, new ideas, new ways of doing things, energy to avoid procrastination, and get inspiration.

Most excellent, thank you.
kittymoonbeam thanked stillanntn6b
Melissa Northern Italy zone 8
3 months ago
It sounds great, even inspiring. I'm ready for change! Thanks for this lovely account, Kitty, from the other side, almost, of the globe.
kittymoonbeam thanked Melissa Northern Italy zone 8
sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
3 months ago
I definitely need the energy to avoid procrastination lol. I procrastinated some things last year and now my back is paying for it today lol.
kittymoonbeam thanked sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
stillanntn6b
3 months ago
Proposed: we grow rose seeds out and the ones that grow without chemicals, without fungicides and smell good and bloom well.....we register it under the name Procrastination Rose.
kittymoonbeam thanked stillanntn6b
kittymoonbeam
Original Author
3 months ago
last modified: 3 months ago
I like that procrastination rose! Every time I walk by it makes me think......

The big Chinese markets are Great Wall on San Gabriel south of the 10 by Garvey and SG superstore at Valley and San Gabriel. Continue East on Valley a few streets to a yummy place called China Bistro. Always people here having a great dinner. Not too fancy and everything is super fresh. Also if you like dim sum, try Bistro 1968 also on San Gabriel Bl. in that area across from the convenience store. So many good places to eat in San Gabriel. If you get it to go you can eat at the tables by the entrance fountain at the Huntington. Oh yes, also SG Superstore has a nice food court area very reasonable at the front if you want to take a lunch. Always find something fun at that big marketplace.
susan9santabarbara
3 months ago
The San Gabriel Valley is so special! I spent the first 32 years of my life in Pasadena.
socks
2 months ago
As for the roses looking good, mine are as well altho' I'm very lazy about getting them fed. Last summer they were pretty good, but the previous few summers of drought, they languished near the end of summers, slammed by thrips and not enough water. I'm expecting another pretty spring and summer ahead because of our rain.

Glad you had a nice day in SGV. I'm especially a fan of the cactus garden at the Huntington. Happy New Year, Kitty, and all here.
jerijen
2 months ago
Blessings of the New Year to all in this space! (Does anyone know why it is the WOOD Dragon??
fig_insanity Z7b E TN
2 months ago
Jeri, I may be off base here, but I know there are air dragons, sea dragons, fire dragons, so I assume there's a wood (of the woods?) dragon as well. Do they all get a turn? Lots and lots of dragons...
jerijen
2 months ago
Well, thank you! Now I know more than I did!

Year of the Wood Dragon

Feiy (PNWZ8b/9a)

Comments (13)

bart bart

BenT (NorCal 9B Sunset 14)

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