Going bonkers in Honkers...

Last Sunday it was my birthday and it was a kind of non-event.  The husband was neck deep in work and due to the lunar new year the post was delayed so no packages to open... But I did get a ton of birthday emails and messages, and my lovely family Skyped me and they all sang Happy Birthday, and I made myself a delicious birthday dinner and got to do some crafting (and watched Catfish - oh my!) so it was a pretty good day all in all.

Then, as a birthday treat to myself I escaped to Hong Kong for two nights!  I may have mentioned this before but I seriously adore Hong Kong.  It was sunny and warm and the sky was blue and the air almost clear (a rare occurrence).  I got my hair cut for the first time in months and months (what a difference!) and had my nails painted a very bright hue and I looked at lots of pretty things.  It was a lovely indulgence, I am a very lucky lady.

Here are some of my favourite shots from the trip (you'll find more on my Flickr, soon) - I especially love the one below of a gorgeous kid walking by some transparent lunar new year decorations.  Kind of looks like she has a shiny pink aura bursting from her, don't you think?

A Korean new year road trip!

Last week we set off on our first Korean road trip!  We emerged unscathed, we didn't get lost (thank goodness for GPS), we didn't encounter too much new year traffic (leaving Seoul two days before everyone else and arriving back two days before everyone else proved a very wise move) and we saw some beautifully breathtaking sights.

Actually, I should say we almost emerged unscathed and we almost didn't get lost...there was one incident involving a side road which led to a dead end in a tiny village with tiny roads, with a very worried Korean lady who though we might reverse into her house, and some very tricky manouvering (which resulted in some rather large dents in the car)...

Anyway, we went to Daegu and Namhae and Sangjogam Park and Daedunsan and Daejon.  There were bright lights and big cities, dinosaurs (not real) and dinosaur footprints (real), mountain peaks and swaying bridges.  And new year festivities to see - children in traditional costume, kite flying, family gatherings, grave tending, and the busiest, most surprisingly festive road side service centers.  Korea really is a wonderfully beautiful country, even cloaked in the greys and browns of winter.  What a privilege to have a new country to explore!

Death by Doxie

Just Elfi, looking adorable.  That is all.

Happy New Year (again)!

Right now we are in the midst of perhaps the years biggest holiday in Asia - the Lunar New Year. So, happy new year, once again!  If your new year's resolutions fell down in January, now's your chance to start afresh, again!  And if you are celebrating the new year, I wish you a happy, healthy, shiny Year of the Rabbit!

Right now we should also be well in to our Korean road trip, and hopefully we are having a wonderful time.  Hopefully we aren't stuck in the years biggest traffic jam (everyone heads back to their home town to celebrate the new year...)

These gorgeous little daffodils are a new year gift from our gardeners, who are the sweetest ladies (and very talented to boot!).  I adore these bight sunny flowers, they make me realise that this bitter winter is going to end at some point.  Oh yes it is!

Win stuff! Hurrah!

To celebrate Good Things* 50 awesome followers (hurrah!) and also because it's my birthday soon (double hurrah!) I'm running my first ever blog giveaway during February!

Here's what you can win: 

A copy of Jenny Hart's really great book 'Embroidered Effects' which is full of lovely stitches to use and projects to make; a cheery orange 'prize ribbon' rosette brooch (made by me); and a hand embroidered (also by me!) 'sun burst' 5" hoop art.  And one or two other little crafty surprises.  Cool, huh?

And here's how you can enter: 

First up, you'll get one entry if you are a follower of my blog (via Blogger / Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs) and you leave a comment below.  And just in case you are the lucky winner, please make sure there is some way for me to contact you via your comment (you might link to your blog or your twitter).

If you want additional entries, you can get them by telling people about my giveaway and letting me know that you've spread the word in a comment below.  If you tweet it, include @ejorpin in your tweet so I know about it.

Other information you might want to know:

I'll be drawing a winner via random.org's third-party draw service.  The winner will be chosen entirely by chance (though of course you can increase your chances by increasing your number of entries).

Entries will close on the 28 February and (all going to plan!) I'll conduct the draw and notify the winner shortly after that.

If you have any questions at all, please do contact me.  Have fun and good luck!