Tanabata 2023
Kimono
Constance dressed in her finest Kimono…
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Peace on Earth
…and wrote some wishes…
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Be Kind, be calm, be safe
…on folded paper stars…
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Share
…and hung the stars…
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wish
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whispers of hope
in our trees!
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Tea Party
Then she went inside to share a Tanabata tea with Floradora and Willa.
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New to us Kyusu
Tanabata is the Japanese Star Festival, remembering the story of the celestial Weaver Princess Shokujo (Vega) who fell in love with the Cowherd Kengyu (Altair). They were so happy together that they forgot to perform their tasks. The gods became angry because they had no new clothes and the herds were untended. The lovers were sent up to the stars, and separated forever by the milky way. The princess cried so hard they changed their minds a little bit, and they are allowed to visit each other once a year.
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Tiny Pancakes
In Japan Tanabata is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh month – people write wishes onto slips of paper, and tie them onto bamboo. When the breeze blows, the wishes are wafted up to heaven – perhaps to the happy couple, who would be sympathetic to hopes and dreams.
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tasty
We wrote our wishes onto paper stars to honour the star festival (Japanese custom allows for other decorations)…
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Green tea
…and we have no bamboo in our garden where we could tie the wishes so other trees were decorated. Also, Floradora wanted to wear her Yukata, we wanted to acknowledge the summer festival, and it was an excuse to use our new teapot and eat little pancakes!
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We all wish you a Happy Tanabata…may your wishes be wafted to the heavens, where perhaps a sympathetic ear may be listening!
Click here for more information about this festival.
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Quimper Hittys 
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Thanks!
I thank you for illustrating another culture’s celebrated day. You do this so simply, clearly and elegantly. Once, years ago, I was encouraged to celebrate frequently. I admire your gift in doing so.
We try to be hopeful…I think celebrating things is a way to brighten the day a little!
Precious post. Thank you
what a lovely celebration…the stars, the wishes, the legend and of course Tea and pancakes!! That teapot is very interesting.
Tea and pancakes makes for a perfect celebration in the Quimper Hitty cupboard (in our humble opinions)!
oops I forgot to add it is fun to see one of your feline friends is taking part.
Happy Tanabata. The girls look lovely in kimono and yukata. Don’t know how you manage to dress Constance in her kimono, obi and all. The kyusu is sweet, hope everyone enjoys the tea.
We loved the tea! Constance is very happy to wear her kimono, and we have a page of instructions from our friend in Japan – I only hope I have managed to do it justice, it is quite a process, and little things matter!
she looks like she was dressed by a professional ( many Japanese can no longer put on a kimono without help) and dressing a tiny Hitty in so many layers is difficult. Well done.
Thank you for once again including a link. I learn so much from you
We are glad you enjoy our explorations and happy you can come along to have fun with us!