Today is the last day of Chinese New Year celebrations. It is also the Lantern Festival aka “little New Year” which is on the 15th day of the first Lunar month.
At the Chinese Lantern installation at Chiswick Park, we saw the whole series of Chinese Horoscope animals …
The Tiger
The Cow
The Rat
Of course, The Monkey!
They all look rather petrified.
Mummy said she remembered as a child she and her sisters had lanterns every Chinese new year. Like Halloween, the kids would walk around the neighbourhood streets with their candlelit lanterns.
So she bought us each our lanterns – to hang – not quite outside the door as they would be blown all over the place, but by the window. 
It is supposed to ward off evil spirits. Boo!
May’s comment: Lanterns used to be a status symbol and eventually they became simply decorative and synonymous with Chinese New Year and Chinatowns. When we were children, we had lanterns made in shapes of animals – usually in red. On the day of the Lantern Festival, which is the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations, we would walk around with our candlelit lanterns – very pretty and a fond childhood memory.
