..."Brackish and Incandescent"...: Around Town for the Holiday

Before we set out for some days around "our Town" of 10 million to celebrate our 7 day holiday...we did some baking in our apartment kitchen. Above Brownie and Potato were helping the Baker produce cinnamon rolls. The above photo displays the sum total of counter space in our kitchen...it's so homey...and close!

Above: One of our New Guys, who we will now call "The Singer" (as he CONSTANTLY is humming or singing a tune from sun up to sun down)...gives a soulful glance up at the camera...after dancing a jig!

Above: Momma did a webcast for a Ladies' Tea back There this week. I had to get up at 4 am and be ready to give my talk by 5:10 AM! This is a view of my "studio"...please note that NO CLUTTER was visible in the camera shot...a special shout out to my set designer "Daddy" and my sole audience member (up at 4 am with me)...Magpie!

Above: We met up with our "Chinese Family" at a special Breakfast Street market. We ate and ate various local delicacies...and enjoyed being pressed in by all the humanity who came to do the same!

Above: The breakfast market is near the massive river here...later that day we took a ferry over the river to the other side for some "shopping"

Above: This flat bread is fried in oil and has sesame seeds and a meat mixture in the middle of the flat bread. The kids were crazy for it!

Below: Some of the other citizens who came out to the little market that day with us! (There appears to be a foreigner in the lower right of the photo...this is a spectacle for all other breakfast diners!)

Above: Fried dumplings - There you call it "pot stickers" - but Here we call them "delicious!"

Below: This pot was steaming and we peeked inside to see the contents...sure enough...two birds hanging from their necks...nearly ready to be served up for some one's breakfast!

Below: Then, we were off to the newly discovered (thanks to our Chinese Family's research) Plant, Fish and Pet market (not fully replacing the bulldozed one I wrote about several days back)...a few shots of the inside for you..

Above: The Bug holds a turtle (or tortoise)...

Above: This is clearly the award winner for best picture of the other New Guy! We'll now call him "The Bruiser"...he is a really wild and crazy cat and runs headlong into EVERYTHING in life...he is rough and tough like no other and constantly is getting banged up or roughing others up...unbelievable the hits this guy takes and he keeps on going...and usually, smiling!

Above: Our Magpie with our Chinese Family at the Pet Market

Above: Brownie and The Singer checking out some goldfish!

Above: Bub showing off his congenial attitude on a shopping day!

Above & Below: Each stall in the Pet market is staffed by some unusual character...usually some scratchy fellow who is gruff and rough...but below, this gathering in the midst of the market, was warm and oh so friendly to our bunch...even welcoming my taking of their picture!

Above: So a funny thing happened while we were at the market. A bicycle rolled up with three kittens in the basket. They were really cute so we picked one up and suddenly a crowd gathered around us (Magpie and I were alone at this point)...the biker asking us, "how much will you pay?"...then just as suddenly, even though we'd said nothing, the man with the bike, put the kitten in a plastic bag, handed in to Magpie and rode off...leaving us holding the "cat in the bag." Shocked...we shuffled off with our newest addition...searching for a vet...

Above: The vet's office we found.

Below: Another funny thing happened...

While Daddy was picking up some fish food and plants for his fish tank, the shop owner told the girls, "I have three kittens, please take one." Try as we might to refuse...the shop owner AND the pleading girls...we took away a little boy kitty, no bigger than a mouse.

I should interject at this point a special comment to my good friend back There, MB,...who I have previously mercilessly teased as a "crazy cat women"...clearly, we in danger of the hidden switch that resides in the brains of 'cat people'...that suddenly gets tripped, and you cannot stop collecting cats...I think we are in very real danger of being rightfully named, "Crazy cat people"

Below, in the towel after his vigorous flea bath...the little boy who hopped a ride home with us on our TWO FREE CAT day at the market...EVERYTHING seems to be coming in TWOS this year for us...!

Above: And the two little babies in the cage...

Above and Below: Our Chinese Family came over last night...is staying through a big dinner party we're hosting tonight for some of the Foster Parents of our kids...but he spent hours last night with each of our girls working on their Chinese pronunciation and intonation...it was amazing...