Patterns

To celebrate the Chinese new year I made paper lanterns and painted fu characters which we hung upside down around the house to encourage the arrival of luck into our apartment. We could use some extra luck this year to see us through so many big transitions - but then everybody needs extra luck all of the time don't they? My Dad always says that luck is when opportunity meets preparedness. I like that. It reminds me to keep an open mind and always be open to opportunities that way I'll feel lucky!

This is the silk sumac we finally bought a while back after visiting numerous carpet shops over the past few months. As I said in the previous post buying a carpet is emotional and not for the feignt of heart. You wouldn't think it is such a big deal but it actually seems to involve a lot of ceremony. The carpet is from Iran and I think the motif of animals is related to fertility and/or abundance. I am not sure what the other motifs mean but I like the symmetry of it (which is off slightly if you look closely with little color variations and things) and the colors are growing on me. At first I felt it was too red - I really love lots and lots of color - but this is growing on me and eventually when we are finally "home" it will be nice to put it with other things we love and artwork and our own furniture.