Illustration Friday : Superstition

In Japan the numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky because they sound similiar to the words for death and suffering.
In hospitals they apparently sometimes don't have the 4th floor or 9th floor (like in over in the West they often miss out the 13th floor). I've never been to hospital in Japan so I can't confirm this...

Anyway, I've always been a little scared of the numbers 4 and 9 (4 is more scary because in parts of China they too avoid it too).

You have to be careful not to send someone a bunch of flowers containing 4 roses, for example. It's easy when you're in Japan because the shops would not supply 4 only, but no one knows about it in England, so I have to be on the look out. Not that my English friends care... I know it's just a superstition, but I still feel I have to be careful.

When I discovered that 13 and 666 are unlucky over here I was a bit older so was not so concerned. But 4 and 9 have haunted me since I was very little...

Illustration Friday : Scale

Correct use of a scale is VERY important when cooking and baking...
I find digital scales quite unreliable, and the one I have only measures in units of 25g.
So what do I do if I need 40g or 85g!?

But actually, the most confusing thing about cooking from various recipe books is that a "cup" means different things in different countries... A US cup vs an Australian cup vs a Japanese cup. Luckily UK recipes hardly ever refer to ingredients in "cup"s...

My picture this week is painted - am experimenting with different styles.

Illustration Friday : Hats

I love hats.

I love dressing up too.

This bear has lots of hats for his dressing up games.

Which is your favourite hat?