Getting ready for Chinese New Year

On Friday my computer conked out. I remembered always to start with the simple things first: power on, check. Change the fuse, check. Take two trains and a walk to a shop I remembered our agent showing me last February. She said, "If you ever have computer problems, go there". I was amazed I even found it almost a year later, but there it was and 20 minutes later I was on my way back home...$480 dollars lighter, with a new power cable. The transformer had gone. Whew! No lasting damage, no photos lost, what a relief! So the havers can continue. We had a quiet week, Les had a conference call Thursday evening, so we didn't eat out as we usually do on a Thursday. On Friday he thought he'd have another one, so we didn't go out then either. I decided to make pizza dough. For some reason it didn't work out. It was too wet and also I think it was too cold for it to rise properly, so I cooked up the toppings and poured them over steak. Pizzaiola sauce!Saturday we did the usual weekly shopping then had a lazy day, reading and later on went for a walk round the local area. All signs of Christmas are now gone and are starting to be replaced with decorations for Chinese New Year which is early this year, on 23 January. Look out for pictures later. Pink cherry blossom and red firecrackers are the popular themes, with lanterns, lions, dragons everywhere. This will be the Year of the Dragon and is an auspicious year for weddings and for babies.
Next week we are heading to Shanghai as Les has some meetings, so I'm going too and will check out the museums and galleries during the day whilst he is at work. I've never been to Shanghai, so I'm looking forward to exploring.