None of these things is worth a full blog post, but they paint a picture of life here in this winter-into-spring season. Little bits that I want to remember later.
Yesterday I hauled out my sewing machines for some play time. The serger is acting up (the lower looper won’t stay threaded, so clearly I did it wrong). The machine on the right is one I bought on a whim the day I was in Tokyo for Tod’s company picnic. It’s really smooth and quiet with lovely extra features like automatic thread cutting. It’s a dream to use unlike the one not pictured here, a “good enough” basic Janome, which will be going to the flea market.
I am co-hosting a flea market with Mamiko in April. Right now I am busy getting all our vendors together – 20 booths – and preparing marketing while also decluttering my own things to offer for sale. It’s going to be fun and possibly profitable day.
Tod called me over last night to see this sweet configuration of cats on the sofa. Maura loves a good blanket and Fritter is sitting in his favorite spot.
Beryl found a new spot in the falling apart roofline of the barn. Good views from up there; I know she is loving it. Soon, I will figure out the best way to repair this mess and her perch will go away.
All around us, farmers are preparing their paddies. This one has just had its dikes rebuilt by a machine called an aze-nuri. I have seen a few paddies that have neat and even shovel marks indicating manual repair. Rice farming is a lot of work.
I finally got around to figuring out the coat storage in the doma. This arrangement works nicely to keep things tidy in that corner and provides a place to sit to put on shoes. This is the draft version; I will replace the push pins with proper hooks and the filthy garden box will be a better piece of furniture.
Tod & I found the old road that runs between tour house and the valley towards Nagasa Kaido. We started at the gurgle, and walked all the way down it, trimming back bamboo and branches until we reached a place above the houses at the end of the road. We decided that the neighbors migh be unnerved by a couple of strangers turning up in their backyard. Also there were dogs barking and they didn’t sound friendly at all. The road’s no longer passable – not only is it overgrown but several large trees fell across it. It is still a trail used by animals including deer. I found an antler and brought it home with me.
I dug a couple of trenches for potatoes a few weeks ago but I haven’t planted into them yet. I want a more comprehensive gardening plan of monkey-proof crops – and also a strategy for combatting weeds and Jerusalem artichokes. I’ll get it together soon, or miss out on potato season.
