The Chinese New Year is coming up. For my sign (the Monkey), this year (of the Pig) has been one for changes, and for clearing the decks in preparation for the coming year (of the Rat) which will bring much good fortune, in business and in love, as long as I am careful with how I spend money. Goody. About the change and clearing of the decks? Oh yes! This year I have a new job, a new state and town, a new house, a new group of friends, a new cat, a new car, several new hobbies, and I am minus a few old habits, also. It has quite definitely been a year of change, and I am quite definitely ready for some (more) good fortune to flow my way! To tell the truth, I suspect that much of it will just be settling into my new routines, and finally getting comfortable.
I am still folding cranes. I found another great origami paper website, Kim’s Crane, from which I ordered several packages of lovely washi.
Washi is supposed to be made from the bark of a particular tree… I have no idea if this is authentic or not. It does have a curiously non-crisp texture, quite unlike the standard origami paper. One can almost bend and mold it like clay, once it gets folded into a three-dimensional shape.
The appeal of the designs is, of course, self-explanatory. Be warned, though, that the package I opened (the one pictured above) has more than half of the sheets in plain solid colors. There are a total of sixteen patterned pieces in this package. Still perfectly worth it, as far as I’m concerned, but buyer beware.
I will string up the cranes in groups of sixteen and hang them on my bulletin board at work. My own horrible cold/flu bug has made the rounds of the office, hitting everyone in my own room and the room down the hall, and has recently invaded our company’s third room around the corner. I need all of the good luck for good health and long life I can get, for this bug to NOT mutate sufficiently that I catch it again!
Here’s a bit of niceness for the end of this year: Carola has decided that my blog makes her day. Thanks, Carola! I am passing this award along to everyone who stops here to comment on my entries, because, let’s face it, that makes my day 
Virtual packages of bubblegum-colored origami paper to you all!
