Happy Birthday to my Brother in Law who is 40 this week

My Brother in Law, Martin, is 40 tomorrow and I have sent him what I think is a most appropriate card. I love to write messages to my family and friends when their birthday comes up and usually I talk about what has happened between us and to them in the previous year since their last birthday. Sometimes quotes come to mind which make me think of them but more often than not the message is personal.

If you sometimes struggle to find the right quote or comment when you send birthday greetings, just take a look at the list below for some inspiration of what to say to someone about to pass the BIG FOUR-O!

Enjoy!

Life begins at 40 - but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times.
Helen Rowland

At the age of 20, we don't care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at 40, we discover that it wasn't thinking of us at all.
Author Unknown

Age is opportunity no less than youth itself.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This wine is forty years old. It certainly doesn't show its age.
Latin: Hoc vinum Falernum annorum quadragenta est. Bene aetatem fert.
Cicero

Every man over forty is a scoundrel.
George Bernard Shaw

The first forty years of life give us the text: the next thirty supply the commentary.
Arthur Schopenhauer

Life begins at forty.
W. B. Pitkin

At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgement.
Benjamin Franklin

Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.
George William Curtis

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.
Victor Hugo

The I just woke up face of your 30's is the all day long face of your 40's.
Libby Reid

What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.
Voltaire

Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Jack Benny

Women are most fascinating between the ages of 35 and 40 after they have won a few races and know how to pace themselves. Since few women ever pass 40, maximum fascination can continue indefinitely.
Christian Dior

Age is a high price to pay for maturity.
Tom Stoppard

Women deserve to have more than twelve years between the ages of twenty eight and forty
James Thurber

The lovely thing about being forty is that you can appreciate twenty-five-year-old men.
Colleen McCullough

When I passed forty I dropped pretense, 'cause men like women who got some sense.
Maya Angelou

You've heard of the three ages of man - youth, middle age, and 'you're looking wonderful'.
Francis Cardinal Spellman

Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.
Bob Hope

At middle age the soul should be opening up like a rose, not closing up like a cabbage.
John Andrew Holmes

Middle age is when you still believe you'll feel better in the morning.
Bob Hope

Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed.
Charles Schulz

Middle age is the time when a man is always thinking that in a week or two he will feel as good as ever
Don Marquis

Middle age is having a choice between two temptations and choosing the one that'll get you home earlier.
Dan Bennett

The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left.
Jerry M. Wright

The best years of a woman's life - the ten years between 39 and 40.
Author Unknown

35 is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.
Oscar Wilde

To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am.
Bernard M. Baruch

To be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Be wise with speed; a fool at forty is a fool indeed.
Edward Young


And below is a message for my BIL - Have fun young man!!

Valentine's Day is coming......here are some quotes.

With Valentine's Day less than a week away many of you may be racking your brains thinking about how to convey your true love and what to write in your cards. So here are some quotes which you might find useful.......Happy Valentine's!

"Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds."
-Shakespeare

"If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand."
-Unknown

"You don't marry someone you can live with - you marry the person who you cannot live without."
-Unknown

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction."
-Saint-Exupery

"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."
-Ingrid Bergman

"I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love."
-Henry Ward Beecher

"True love is like ghosts, which everybody talks about and few have seen."
-La Rochefoucauld

"Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all."
-St. Augustine

"To love another person is to see the face of God."
-Les Miserables

"Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition."
-Alexander Smith

"Sympathy constitutes friendship; but in love there is a sort of antipathy, or opposing passion. Each strives to be the other, and both together make up one whole."
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"The richest love is that which submits to the arbitration of time."
-Lawrence Durrell

“Very small degree of hope is sufficient to cause the birth of love."
-Stendhal

"There is no remedy for love but to love more."
-Thoreau

"Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it."
-Dr. Karl Menninger

"To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best."
-William M. Thackeray

"If you love someone, let them go. If they return to you, it was meant to be. If they don't, their love was never yours to begin with..."
-Unknown

"True love never dies for it is lust that fades away. Love bonds for a lifetime but lust just pushes away."
-Alicia Barnhart

"Some love lasts a lifetime. True love lasts forever."
-Unknown

"If love is great, and there are no greater things, then what I feel for you must be the greatest."
-Unknown

"The Eskimos have 52 words for snow because it is so special to them; there ought to be as many for love!"
-Margaret Atwood

"Love is like playing the piano. First you must learn to play by the rules, then you must forget the rules and play from your heart."
-Unknown

"Within you, I lose myself. Without you, I find myself wanting to be lost again."
-Unknown

Happy New Year!

May your life be filled with blessings and joy!

Kung Hei Fa Choy!

Greetings for CNY

Traditionally Chinese New Year greetings are short and to the point. They use a play on words and are often only four characters long. The meaning of these greetings, whilst they have a literal translation into English, do not always make a logical saying and can somtimes appear to be just random words. Therefore, even though the meaning of Chinese sayings in Chinese makes perfect sense, in English they can often only be understood with explanation. Here are a couple of examples:

Let us start with the commonly used greeting which is "Happy New Year"



Literally translated this means 'Congratulations get rich'. Of course metaphorically, it means 'Wishing you prosperity' and is used as a CNY greeting.

There are many words and greetings which on the surface appear to say one thing whilst having a deeper hidden meaning. Let us look at another example:



When literally translated, this saying means 'ten thousand things according to your will'. Metaphorically, it means 'May your wishes come true'. The character 'maan' is the word for ten thousand, which is a Chinese unit. 'See' is the word for things or happenings. 'Yuu' means 'according to' and 'yi' can be put together with other characters to mean different things but in this case it's understood to mean 'what you want'.

And one of the most common characters you will see around and about during Chinese New Year - Fook


Fook can literally be translated as 'Blessed'. But it does have deeper significance which can only be expressed in English through combining several words, such as 'good luck', 'being fortunate', and 'auspiciousness'. That's why you often see this single character used on many things, especially during Chinese New Year, where this character is stuck on doors, printed on red packets (lei see envelopes) and many other things.

Here are some more with the literal translations attached:

龍馬精神
lung ma jing sung
(meaning Spirit of dragon and horse)


心想事成
Sam seung sih sihng
(meaning accomplish that in your heart)

恭賀新禧
gong ho san hei
Congratulations on new blessings

大吉大利
daai gat daai lei
Much luck and much prosperity

五福臨門
ng fuk lam mun
five happinesses bestowed on your household

出入平安
chut yap ping on
leave and enter in peace and safety

年年有餘
nin nin yau yue
every year have bounty in excess

for children:

快高長大
faai gou jeung dai
quickly grow taller and become bigger

添丁發財
tim dang fat choi
add more (male) heirs, and become prosperous

招財進寶
jiu choi jun bou
seek wealth welcome in the precious

生意興隆
sang yi hing lung
let the business be popular and prosperous

盤滿砵滿
pun mun but mun
basins full and bowls full (of wealth)

笑口常開
siu hau seong hoi
laughing mouths opening frequently

天天向上
tin tin heung seung
daily heading upwards!


Wishing you prosperity, may all your wishes come true and may you be truly blessed.

Happy New Year!!

Chinese New Year - 15 days of celebration!

As you may know Chinese New Year is the most important festival to Chinese people and lasts over a period of 15 days. Each day has a significance and a tradition attached to it; from eating with family, gift giving, staying at home, being kind to dogs, praying in temples and ending with lanterns.

The first day of the Lunar New Year is "the welcoming of the gods of the heavens and earth." Many people abstain from eating meat on the first day of the new year because it is believed that this will ensure long and happy lives for them.

On the second day, people pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.

The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to pay respect to their parents-in-law.

The fifth day is called Po Woo. On that day people stay home to welcome the God of Wealth. No one visits family and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck.

On the sixth to the 10th day, people visit their relatives and friends freely. They also visit the temples to pray for good fortune and health.


The seventh day of the New Year is the day for farmers to display their produce. These farmers make a drink from seven types of vegetables to celebrate the occasion. The seventh day is also considered the birthday of human beings. Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.

On the eighth day the Fujian people have another family reunion dinner, and at midnight they pray to Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.

The ninth day is to make offerings to the Jade Emperor.

During the 10th to 12th days friends and relatives should be invited for dinner. After so much rich food, on the 13th day people usually have simple rice congee and mustard greens (choi sum) to cleanse their system.

On the 14th day preparations begin for the celebration of the Lantern Festival which is then held on the 15th night.

And so it is..........the 15 days of Chinese New Year!

Lunar New Year Approaches..........And so does the Jade Rabbit!

I'm back!!

After the madness of Christmas and New Year has now passed we can look ahead to the celebrations for Chinese New Year. Over the next few posts we will be looking at different aspects of the festival and the related traditions.



So let us begin..........Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most.



2011 is the year of the Jade Rabbit. The official date of the Lunar celebration is February 3rd although Lunar festivities last for 15 days.

People born under the sign of the rabbit are traditionally thought to be gentle, sensitive, modest, and merciful and have a strong memory.
They like to communicate with others in a humorous manner.
They cannot bear dull life, so they are good at creating romantic or interesting situations but they lack meditative abilities and often sink money into ideas that may cause failures in their career.
People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious.
They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste.
Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky.
They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind.
Rabbit people seldom lose their temper.
They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract.
They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise.

Chinese New Year gifts:
Exchanging of gifts is a prominent tradition followed by the Chinese community all over the world. Parents and relatives living far from home are sent greeting cards, gifts, lucky charms, and new clothes as gifts for New Year. Children will receive new clothes from their parents and elders. The popular Chinese New Year gifts for children can include the following:
Storybooks, Shoes, Clothes, Decorative items, Board games, Bags, Colour pencils, Toys, Dolls, Teddy bears.

Adult gifts might range from useful household things to luxury items. Couples will often exchange clothes, perfume, jewellery sets, pendants, rings, chimes, Chinese antique pieces, and household appliances.

Gifts for friends and siblings might include things of decorations, makeup, books, pens, and food baskets.



In the next post we will look at the festival itself...........

It's snowing and only 6 more sleeps until Christmas Day!

Snow is falling in Europe and the US and this year and the odds for a White Christmas in the UK are the lowest they have been for decades. However, there seems to be a bit of a dispute arising! See the article from Martin Wainwright from The Guardian UK, below:

Bookies braced for storm over 'white Christmas'Definition of the white stuff likely to be trigger for gambling rows as odds slip on new falls for 25th




Does this holly bear new snow, or old, melting, snow? Bookies could face many betting arguments in the new year.

Lawyers could be busy in the new year if disputes arise between bookies and punters over defining a "white Christmas". The phrase made famous by Bing Crosby will be pored over if the day itself bears out the forecasts: that much of Britain will be snowbound but seeing no fresh falls. Payouts in almost all "mass betting" offers on seasonal snow are based on the odds of the white stuff actually coming down, rather than just lying around from previous showers.

Graham Sharpe, of William Hill, said yesterday: "The market would be killed off if you could win a bet just because there's some slush from four days ago."

But Britain's whiteness, seemingly sealed in by sub-zero temperatures next week, does threaten to put the issue into a different league. Wind flurries and "snow" that is really thick frost falling from trees, could complicate things.

The weather has led to bookies being "inundated" with "white Christmas" bets; William Hill has taken more than 10,000. The firm's spokesman, Rupert Adams, said today that the pressure had tilted Scotland's main cities into odds-on for snow falling, with evens for Birmingham and Manchester, and London at 5/4 against. "If it snows on every city we bet on, there's a real chance the infamous industry 'million pound payout' will happen."

Undoubtedly, two-thirds or more of the UK will be "white". For falling snow, Metcheck offers 10% for London and 30% as far north as Aberdeen.

Snow's always been good for litigation. Most famously there were largely unresolved rows over whether flakes did fall on a series of 20th century cricket matches in "flaming June".

Come on William Hill - where's your Christmas spirit!!

Just Brilliant!!

P.S. Thank you to my lovely friend Tim Lynch for the fab photo of the robin at the top of this post!