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Cotton & Indigo Trust
I am taking a step sideways at Oyama Senmaida and moving from a workshop teacher to a participant in the Cotton and Indigo Trust. For the next 9 months, I’ll be part of a group growing cotton and indigo, processing fiber, spinning, weaving and dyeing. Historically, the Awa area produced cotton, silk, ramie, and all…
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Osaka Expo
After months of negative reports on the nightly news and in online forums, my expectations were low for the Expo. But the World’s Fair romantic in me was still excited to go see what was there. Osaka 2025 did not disappoint. Yes, there were crowds but they were manageable. Yes, the food was too expensive…
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Gankoyama
Our hilly neighborhood has a lot of named peaks: Futatsuyama, Tomisan, Iyogatake, Hitoboneyama. The peaks are low, but the list is long. Tod has spent years researching them and getting to the top of as many as possible. One of them, Gankoyama, is within walking distance of home but finding the trailhead has been elusive.…
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Project 2025 Bingo – Game Over
It’s been a hundred days. Here’s where we end on this bingo card: Did we win? Or did we lose? The 14 red stamps are things implemented and in progress. The 3 light red stamps indicate places where the card’s wording was a little off. For example, it turned out not to be “Abolish” the…
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Pre-summer calendar
As usual, spring has renewed my energy and I have quite a schedule of activities in the next two months. In fact, I had to draw up a calendar on paper so Tod can keep track of me. Plus there are guests coming, woodworking projects, more botanical color making and my own art, never-ending garden…
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Early morning bird situation
I stepped outside with my coffee this morning, hoping to take in the fresh air and sunrise. I ended up in a situation that escalated quickly. Fritter was way over by the blueberries, gaze focussed on the netting. There was a trapped treasure: a bird, a juvenile hiyodori, flitted from side to side of the…
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Yoga with Technical Difficulties
This morning I came into the yoga space six minutes before class but instead of starting Zoom at the click of a link, I was presented with a laptop that had suffered a power outage yesterday. It was off. The old thing takes its time booting up, so I quickly thought through the options for…
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Mad for madder
Madder is one of the few botanical sources of deep red. In its various forms it has been used to color military uniforms, fine clothing, and even the red sun at the center of the Japanese flag was once colored with madder. The red color comes from anthraquinone compounds in the roots. Of course I…
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Spring Petal Colors
There are so many flowers blooming right now. Of course I decided to see if I could make color with them. I had some successes and some failures. YAMABUKI (Japanese Kerria) was a success. A bright yellow, as hoped. These are from the Kawasaki’s bush that flowered abundantly this year. BUGLEWEED produced a palid purple-grey.…
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56 and 59
It’s right between my birthday and Tod’s so we celebrated by hosting a small dinner with neighborhood friends. We ate, drank, and were merry. We enjoyed a special wine from Naomi on the patio in the absolutely perfect weather. Hitomi and Kengo attempted to set up the fancy telescope. Tod roasted a lamb shoulder that…
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