Diary of a Nobody

Well, I've been at this blogging business for a week now and I still have no comments, no followers, no feedback of any sort... Ho hum... I guess I'm too boring...  Oh, nobody loves what I'm doing here....  It sure is sucking up lots of time and I'm feeling a bit like I'm tossing my best efforts into a big black hole, though. Maybe I need to toot my horn a bit more, eh? But, I guess for now it is for my own pleasure. A lack of pressure is probably a good thing though, especially as I get the feel for my own personal style; contemplate why I actually decided to dust off my first effort of 2 ho hum posts written more than 2 years ago; and figure out how I want things to look.

I have thousands and thousands of photos sitting around in digital format and probably as many on old fashioned print form... I was really enjoying time on Flickr as Pine57 until Flickr did a major overhaul in their web design and caused me to flee. I just don't find it as user friendly as it was before, even though it is certainly flashier looking. But, I enjoyed the chit chat of finding others with similar interests via our photography and somehow the new design just isn't as appealing to me as before. So, I've been mulling over branching out a bit and adding more context to my photos by blogging.

I have many hobbies and passions. So, I'll introduce a few here to help myself with some future topics to delve into a bit deeper later on.

First off, I was born on a farm and remain a country girl at heart. I just don't like the big city and apparently the big city knows me for what I am!

Apologies to that shop as I did have to tweak the photo a bit to show the store's name as it truly is. My original photo had a bit of glare on it so it just wasn't as easy to read as it is now. But, no lie, this truly is a shop and brand in Japan! 

 

 

Instead of the fast pace of the city, I prefer to explore the quiet side of Japan. Shizuoka Prefecture is a great place for that as it is home to "quiet hills" as the name means in English and, of course, green tea.

 

 

I love the beautiful fine chinaware that is a part of everyday life in Japan. How about a cup of local green tea at home?

 

 

 

Or, maybe some English tea with a beautiful Noritake cup that mirrors flowers clipped from my own garden?

 

 

 

 

Yes, gardening is another of my pleasures. I started on this little backyard of rocks and rubble 25 years ago and now it has matured enough, with the survival of the fittest plants for this climate, to give me a lot of joy at certain times of the year. At other times of the year, like mid-winter, it is very drab and bleak looking...

 

 

Ok, maybe I exaggerated a bit! We don't get a snowy winter and my maple turns brilliant in December! But, once it's dropped it's leaves, which times quite badly against a Christmas tree, things do get a bit drab.

 

 

 

 

 

I fell in love with David Austin's English roses and planted several varieties. Some have done better in my region of Japan than others did (i.e. they quickly died off).

 

 

Ah, I just love my garden in May when so many things bloom!

 

I love nature, too!

 

I especially love irises in all their various forms. The violet-shaded Chinese orchids go so nice together with them, too!

 

 

June brings the hydrangeas in to bloom in the garden. The wonderful thing about them is that they are native to Japan so really need no special care at all to thrive. I actually have 3 more cuttings that I grew from this deep blue hydrangea.

 

 

I've also got this pinkish hydrangea too.

 

 

 

Well, if you looked closely at the size of my garden in one of the photos above, you'll see that maintaining it is a bit different than an American sized backyard.

 

I have no need for a big noisy lawn mower here! Just push this toy-like mower around and then get on hands and knees and trim the rest with scissors!

 

 

When I was much younger, living in a cramped Japanese apartment, and with small children, I dreamed of having my own home. On the wish list, besides the backyard that could supply beautiful flowers for arranging, I also envisioned having a cat, a sofa, and enough free time to do something homey like quilting. Lucky me, eventually I got it all!

 

 

 

Yes, home is where the heart is.

 

 

 

 

I've never gotten a dryer, though. But, I've lived so many years now without one that I don't miss it at all. Back in the day, I had to hang a lot of cloth diapers on the line no matter what the weather was though.

 

 

 

I am a self taught quilter. I took up the hobby in part to get back to my roots but also to add some homeyness to the sterile white walls in what was then my new home. We didn't have the money to indulge in works of art so I set about creating something to make our new house a home. You'll probably be seeing lots of my handmade quilts in my photos. I use them for accents and change them according to season. I've made way too many Halloween quilts and will write about them one of these days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love decorating for the season. It started off as a way to teach my children about the culture I grew up in and then just sort of took off from there as they have long since grown and flown the coop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love decorating and creating the mood for Christmas too.

 

 

Looking at this, I'll bet you imagine that I have lots of nice presents under the tree. Nope, I don't think anyone in my family has remembered to give me a gift in at least the last 3 Christmases. Maybe it's been longer. Oh, it's just toooooo depressing to think about.... So, moving on....

 

 

I love nature, mountains, forests, backwoods, camping, hiking....

 

Set the mood...

 

 

And eventually, it happens that I get to go out, out, out, into the big beyond where few venture to go.

 

...And, the Mr. gets to enjoy playing with a campfire and cooking rice over the open flame of a charcoal fire!

...And, I get to sit back and enjoy a cup of coffee. Don't worry, I make one for him too!

 

 

 

So, my life here in Japan is lived between two cultures.

 

 I, also, collect a variety of knick-knacks, postcards, stamps... I grew up in a multi-generational home, with lots of family history, so most of the little vintage and antique things that I have here come from my childhood home. They have lots of emotional memories tied to them. But, I keep my eyes open to add a bit of this and that which strikes my fancy too.

 

 

Besides the beauty of nature, I love visiting Japanese temples and shrines. As my husband has said, the people who envisioned them and carried through with the idea were the "rocket scientists of their day".

I hope you enjoy getting to know me. Please, don't hesitate to leave me a comment or become a fan of my new blog!

 

 

Yoroshiku!

Tenugui

My Japanese mother-in-law collected tenugui. In her day, they were often given out as free advertising when a new company opened or to celebrate a landmark. She kept few possessions so the tenugui she collected over the years serve as memories of her and events in her life over the course of many years. I pull them out from time to time just to look at the craftsmanship that went in to the production of them. They are only about 90 cms in length and 30 cms in width, made of 100% cotton, and hand-dyed. With time, I collected my own  in a variety of colors and designs. In the past year or so, I've even purchased some that would scandalize my dear old mother-in-law if she knew what I spent for them!

The world knows of the triple disaster events that happened on March 11, 2011 in Japan. That was exactly 2 months ago today. The M 9 earthquake was felt in every part of Japan. I am fortunate enough not to live close to the epicenter of the quake or tsunami stricken area but that day my home suffered one small rather insignificant bit of damage. The kakejuku (hanging scroll) that had been hanging in our tokunoma (alcove), in our Japanese-style tatami room, swung back and forth so hard that the silk bottom of the scroll ripped apart from the weighted bottom, and was left hanging by a thread. It was an early purchase of mine in Japan in the very early 1980s when I had little money. I was sad to take it down as the design of 2 men traveling down a mountain stream always gave me a peaceful feeling to look at.

For now, I have hung one of my tenugui (Japanese cotton towels) in the place where the far more expensive hanging scroll once was on display. It gives a new look to the space.

I chose a summery patterned one from my collection but I may start hanging others from my mother-in-law's collection from time to time as the mood and season strike me because I like this new look.