Golden Week

And what a Golden Week it was! These are the carp flags that fly over most if the houses here this time of year to celebrate Boy's Day (now called Children's Day). Some houses have 7 or 8 flying out front and in a stiff wind they wriggle just like live carp do ... very pretty. Also, celebrated this week was the former Emperor's birthday which is now called Green Day and several other holidays which I cannot remember off the top of my head right now.

This was one of three week long holiday celebrations that we have here. The others being Oban (celebration of the dead) and New Years. I think the Japanese do it right ... no onesies and twosies ... no, they go for the whole week. And to make it even better the cherry blossoms chose this week to bloom. No small deal after the freak blizzard we had one night last week which set them back a day or two I am sure.

So this post is a bit picture heavy but that is what this time of year is all about ... the beauty.

And then we had a huge rain storm and the petals piled up like snow ... but still amazing.

As she walks past me

A veil of cherry blossoms

Covers her dark hair.

'Tis the Season

Here in Japan the flower viewing season is already in full swing despite the fact that there is still snow on the ground in some areas and the average daily high hovers near 50F. This little plant is the first of the season so far and is called "zazen-so" for it's resemblance to a monk sitting in meditation. The little "hut" is a beautiful red plum colour and the little golden monk sits inside shedding pollen like a mad man. The viewing of various flowers is a long standing tradition in Japan with the most famous and the most attended being the arrival of the cherry blossoms ... second only to the turning of the maple leaves in the fall. In a few weeks the cherry blossoms will arrive and the transformation is nothing short of astounding. I will head out to Hirosaki Castle for a Cherry Blossom Viewing Party with my friends ... pictures to follow. It is such a huge deal here that the head of the Japanese Meteorological Society made a public appearance this year to very publicly bow and apologize for his inaccuracy in predicting the cherry blossoms arrival this spring. Sounds silly I know but every corporation/company/office/social group/family will have a party and prime areas are booked in advance for optimum viewing. This is big business here so his mistake was not looked upon lightly.

Next on the viewing agenda is the skunk cabbages. They reach their peak on the first day of cherry blossom viewing. We will head up into the Hakkoda mountains and spend the day among them. Then down into the valley for a small cherry blossom party that evening to start things off for the 3 days of prime viewing.

On the needles I am just about to finish up a shawl that I am knitting for myself out of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a beautiful mossy green. My only complaint with this very soft yarn is that it seems a bit hairy. I have hope that it will wash up nicely and I will put a picture of it up next week. I am also still knitting red wool socks for the Daughter for her rowing adventure. An endless task that is really starting to put me off of socks ... and so I am starting a pretty pair of socks for a friend of mine for her birthday ... no pictures till the birthday girl gets them as she is one of the few who reads this post. But I am hoping this will re-inspire me to do more socks. Maybe if I could just get away from reds .... hmmm.

And as winter has yet to leave us completely:

Making tea for you

The plum tree in the garden

Holds blossoms of snow.

Not dead yet ...

Ok ... so the sweater is finished! (pics to follow in a day or so) I love how it turned out. The cables look great and the colour is perfect. Had the husband try it on and it hangs like a dishrag ... what happened there? So ... it has now been blocked and is drying in front of the living room heater ... oh ye gods!!! ... I hope this fixes the problem. Of course when he commented on it I acted like "Duh! It still needs to be blocked and then it will be fine!" I really really hope I don't end up eating those words.

I am leaving for a trip to the States on Saturday. Things that need to be done there are that the lambs that remain need to be sheared and the boys sent off. Shearing is a back breaking process that my friend Slick very kindly does for me. A year or so ago he helped me with a ram I had named Buck ... a creature that I can freely admit I hated with every fiber of my being and who has since caused me to come up with the idea of a new ram every year for one purpose and one purpose only ... ok, well that and food for the table. He felt the same about me and all humans near as I can tell. He would have gladly killed me and any other person stupid enough to get in the pen with him ... his own starvation not withstanding. I cannot say I miss him much. But he had an amazing fleece. Here is a before and after:

As you can see it took a while ... but I am sure he felt much better when all was said and done. And Slick and Delores have my undying friendship for being brave enough to do this for me.

I will post some shearing pics when I get home ... with the lambs it is not nearly so dramatic. But I do have to add that they really don't think much of the process overall.

On the needles now is the second sock of a pair that I started in December and then lost complete interest in. It won't take long and then I am planning on starting a pair of Norwegian mittens and possibly finishing a shawl that I started in October that was set aside in my Christmas knitting frenzy.

We are prepping for Spring here after one of the strangest winters ever ... for the first time in recorded history ( and here in Japan that is nothing to sneeze at) they have had a snowless winter in Tokyo. Here, we didn't even break the 24 inch measure ... and that in a place where we routinely get 15-18 feet. But, in another month we should see the glorious cherry blossoms and bright blue skies ... it will be beautiful! But today it is windy, which is normal, with a screaming north wind ... perhaps tomorrow will be better.

I can see the trees

Through my window ... yearning

To follow the wind.