nei tian? what day is it??

Is today Wednesday? Thursday? Oh, yeah... it's Thursday. OK, so HI! Has it really been almost a week since I last checked in?

It's been a week of fantastic finds for Bamboo Village Press! I'd sold my last 2 single pitchers last week, and had none left! Now I've found some new ones, in several different sizes and styles, so I have 7 in stock and ready for etching. Yay! Also, I found these pretty little bottles, just the right size for table cream, or oil and vinegar bottles. I'm looking forward to figuring out which characters they want on them.

The most exciting news, though, is that I got my Gocco Printer delivered yesterday!!! It's a big ole press - with the largest dimensions available - 8.5 x 11. I've been taking notes on ideas and starting some sketches. So far, I only have ink for printing on paper, but soon I'll be getting some fabric ink, and that's when the fun is really going to begin! I haven't even taken it out of the box yet! My crafting room is such a disaster right now, I have to wait for the temp to be below 90 so I can get in there and clean up so the little guy can emerge. Can't wait!

I'm happy to say that I finally located all my letters and journals from China. I'm going to start posting a bit more about life there, (thanks for the question, Morrgan!), so it's helpful tobe able to look back at what was prominent in my experience at the time.

Meanwhile, my husband had a chance to call Zhang Lin's family and learn more about her situation. I have to say, it gets to be a more dismal story with every call we make. I'm just thankful to have a chance to help. Turns out, her uncle was one of the many, many thousands of parents who have had to face the decision to put a child (daughter) up for adoption. Can you imagine? My heart just breaks for him, and truly, for his wife. He said that he knew she'd been adopted... wouldn't it be incredible that, through this whole Bamboo Village thing, we learned that their daughter is living here in the US? Or in fact, anywhere that her adoptive parents might one day see this post and learn more about their daughter's family in China??? It's not difficult to imagine.

Wow, you know, things are just never simple... the story is always so much broader than you can imagine. I thought we'd just be telling you stories of Lin and perhaps her grandparents, but as we get to know her and her family, we'll have a lot to share with you. This should shed a lot of light on rural life in China! Could be really impactful!!

ps: lots of new photos on flickr