The Doldrums

It's true ... like the sailors of old, I have been seriously languishing here. The Daughter headed back to her job and school and as usual that was a real show stopper for me. But the weather has turned, mostly, and so my mood is a bit better. That and I am going to get to go home to Idaho for about 6 weeks. The reason is not the best ... but I am looking past that to the idea of spending some serious time with my friends and my spinning wheel and my knitting.

Here in Japan it has been cool and rainy (60-ish most days) the perfect weather for the hydrangea that are blooming everywhere. They are in the most incredible colours here ... just amazing. And then, this week, out came the sun ... and *poof!* it is in the 80's with a gazzillion percent humidity ... not too good for the hydrangea but a welcome sight for me.

On the needles I have the second of a pair of socks by Sundara called grape hyacinth after the yarn colour. These are beautiful yarns ... absolutely lovely. But as with all socks ... I am not so keen on knitting the second one. But I am plugging on. I did have to change the pattern a bit when it occurred to me that the cabling might not fit into my clogs so well. So I stopped cabling a bit early. But otherwise they are knit as written.

I ordered some other yarn this week as well. From www.mamaespot.com/eshop/ and I can hardly wait to see it. I ordered both of the Brother Amos colourways although it is the Brimstone one that I am after. Both inspired by Brenda Dayne at Cast- On and sure to be great! Not that I need more yarn, mind you, but I could not say no.

Well enough rambling for now ... a slight breeze has come up and I think I'll be sailing off for a bit. But I will post China pictures soon ... that was quite the adventure.

The bee emerges

Drunk with nectar ... stumbles off

To drink again.

Country Roads ...

So the Daughter and I are driving around Lake Towada and she sees a sign ... "Christ's Tomb" that-a-way. And off we go into the Japanese countryside. And when we came to Shingo Village (google it for more info) this is what we found. The grave of Christ where he was buried after dying at the age of 109 and fathering seven daughters. He still has family in the local area and every year there is a festival with dances and songs in what linguists think is ancient Hebrew. How you may ask ... I don't know ... but I bet the Jesuit's were really surprised when they arrived several hundred years ago and found all of this legend already in place. It is a beautiful spot ... quite tranquil.

The way to Lake Towada winds up Oriase Gorge ... An extremely beautiful spot with wonderful trails and amazing scenery at every turn.

I had to hurry to get this post up as I am leaving with the Daughter tomorrow for Beijing. So, pictures to follow on that when we return. Bye .....

And We'll Have Fun, Fun, Fun ...

We are back from Tokyo ... for days and days I know. The Daughter did not remember riding on the Shinkansen (the Bullet Train) when she was younger and so had a great time on the train. It is quite the cultural experience with the trolly girls and the amazing scenery whipping by. I highly recommend it and wish that the U.S. would develop something similar. It is the preferred form of travel here that's for sure. While we were in Tokyo ... but before the Daughters arrival ... we happened on a Temple festival that no one could tell us what it was about. But an amazing number of adult men were dressed in very, very short kimonos and not much else. So we dubbed it "The Naked Butt Festival". And we had huge fun!

There were parades of these men carrying huge golden shrines and dancing all around the Asakusa Temple complex.

And then later we went to the Meiji Shrine which is my favorite place in Tokyo. It is a huge park in the center of the city. But once you are in the heart of the park you would never know that you were anywhere other than in a beautiful forest. And there we saw several weddings and met some enterprising young students who were offering free guided tours in English so that they could practice the language. It was a brilliant day!

This picture shows the largest Tori Gate in Japan. And the Daughter ... of course!

The brides all looked scared to death. But I would be too with several dozen "foreign devils" snapping my picture ... not too mention the other 30 or 40 of their fellow countrymen doing the same picture snapping.

More tomorrow ... a visit to Christ's tomb and some more pictures of northern Japan.

Things Are Not Always Equal

We are well into summer here in northern Japan. You can tell by the 50 degree temps and the pouring rain. But, no complaining here as some places still have snow. As you can see, the snow walls are still about 12-15 feet high in the mountains between here and Aomori City. So a little rain I can deal with. Although at one point today I was sure that it was snowing .... but it turns out that the petals were just blowing off of the mountain cherries in the forest across from my house. Still, for a moment I was prepared for the worst.

I leave tomorrow for Tokyo. Four blissful days to myself with my friend Anna and being joined by the Daughter who is coming home for a bit of the summer. Anna went to the sumo tournament yesterday and had the time of her life she says. We watched it on the television at the Club bar ... but we never saw her ... just a bunch of very large very sweaty men. In strange skirts. With amazing hair. What more could I say?

I will try to take some pictures of the Meiji Shrine (my favorite place in Tokyo) and the kids at Harajuku which is always exciting ... but especially so at the weekend. I will try to get my Chinese visa going at the Chinese Embassy with the help of the Daughter who is studying Chinese. And I will be knitting. On a sweater that I decided at the last minute I will need on my trip to China where I believe they may actually have summer so this may not be the best idea. But it is cotton. So maybe that will help. And I will put pictures up when I get a chance ... no no really, I promise.

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.

Someone's Over-achieving

Found this beauty in the hen house last week. Unbelievable! Someone in the henhouse is setting new records for egg size that's for sure. Not too much other news on the farm front. Sheared the last of my lambs. I need to decide if I want to stay in the wool business or maybe just raise enough meat sheep to eat every year. Oddly enough I can buy wool cheaper than I can raise it but there is no guarantee that that will last. Ahh, decisions decisions.

On the needles are socks for Katie who is now on the men's rowing team at school and spends much of her spare time on the water and wet. So washable wool socks ... and more wool socks ... and ... well you get the picture. And I am starting a pair of Norwegian mittens ... my first foray into stranded knitting. What could possible go wrong.

On the wool front ... I was given some white Lincoln lamb's wool ... there are few things that are more beautiful. So I will wash it today and get it out to dry. No time to get much else done with it but it should still be here I get back. I have several other Lincoln lamb fleeces that are done so I am hoping to make a sweater out of them eventually. It should wear forever!

I head back to Japan on Saturday. I think it will be ok this time. Cold though after what has been the warmest March ever here. I think it might still be flurrying there. But soon it will be cherry blossom season which is amazing ... there is no other way to describe it really. And now that I have broken the code on the digital camera I will be able to post pictures. Later ....

And when I saw

That you would not come again

I barred the door

So none could enter.