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Christmas 2024
I seem to be starting a tradition of taking Maura to the vet on Christmas. Last year he had an abscess that needed surgery; this year I have avoided that with prompt medical care. Mai-kun from Oyama Senmaida came over on Christmas Eve and got in a roiling fight in the storm drain with Maura.…
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Skeleton of Naya
Thanks to Nagai-san’s hard work over the past couple of days, the barn is cleared, the metal siding removed, almost all the trash taken out, and the interesting stuff put aside. Now we can get to work on the next stages – stabilising it and planning its final form as Tod’s space.
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Naya, the next stage
It’s taken three years but I got the barn cleared out. And “I got” means that I hired a strong young man to do it for me. We are three days into it and there will be a few more days next week, but the bulk of it is done. Nagai-san started at the top…
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Camera Roll
Looking at the world around me and finding interest in the mundane. Let’s start with cats. They are always interesting. The weather is cooling down so they are seeking warm places and changing their daily routines Nature continues to provide beautiful moments. I have played in my studio lots this month. For every project I…
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Cat bite
Friday night my friend from Oyama Senmaida, Mai-kun, trotted over to 555 and tried to enter the cat door. I am sure he wanted a snack and cuddles, but Fritter on the inside of the door was having none of it. They were both growling and angry. I ran outside to send Mai home. He…
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Halloween Cabbages
Since 2002 when we lived in Tokyo, I have presented Tod with a Halloween treat of ornamental cabbages. He’s not big into candy or spooky decorations. We don’t usually find pumpkins for carving around here but ornamental cabbage are seasonal. All the different shapes and colors make a long-lasting planter suited for the mild Chiba…
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Camera Roll
A roundup of little things I’ve observed in the past few weeks – none big enough for their own feature, but worth remembering anyway. Over at Oyama Senmaida, school experiences are back in full swing and I’ve been busy with papermaking and straw craft, but that’s not all. I suggested rearranging things at Gonbei, and…
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Overwhelmingly Messy Studio
Sometimes, I put myself in a situation where I am paralysed by my own diverse interests. Take the studio (please!) as a good example. This table contains a lot of projects in progress to the point where I have piled them up to get the out of the way of other things and then piles…
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Signs of Autumn
The two-meter tall ginger is in full bloom outside the kitchen window. Its scent is intoxicating. Hummingbird hawk-moths visit at dawn and dusk to enjoy the nectar. After a long break for summer, Beryl is enjoying her favorite cozy beanbag in the barn. She’s also crawling under the bed covers to sit on me in…
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Rain, Observed
I took a moment today to sit on the floor in the dining room and look out the window at the rain. It was meditative to observe without any expectation or need to act. I watched the water drip off the channels of our tin roof. Each had a different timing, creating a pattern that…
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