Hagoita Flowers

Different shots of the flowers in the tokonoma alcove in the Japanese-style tatami-mat room.

If I had the time and money, I'd love to learn how to do ikebana flower arrangement since I have a place to put the flowers now.

These flowers were chosen by the local florist down the street. I told her what I wanted to do, and she suggested these flowers for the tokonoma alcove for this time of year.

Overall, this small bundle of flowers cost about 800 yen, which was a bit less than 10 dollars.

I hope the summer heat doesn't kill them right off. The florist suggested that I add ice cubes to the water in the vase to help keep the flowers fresh. 

Every morning, I change the water, clean out the vase, add ice cubes and a bit of water, and put the remaining flowers that still look fresh back into the vase. 

This is a wooden, Japanese hagoita paddle used the the Japanese-style badminton game called hanatsuki. This paddle was given to Kyoko when she was a little girl. She has had it ever since. I am glad she didn't throw it away!

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Tropical Factory

Found this flowering bush on the way to work this morning. Kind of makes me feel I'm on a tropical island. 

Once inside the factory grounds of my morning job, I take a shortcut through a small tree grove planted on the grounds. During different times of the year we can see fruit tree blossoms along this path.

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Tokonoma

Our "living room," which I use for the classroom, is  a traditional Japanese-style room with tatami straw mats, paper sliding shoji doors, and a tokonoma alcove where you can place flower vases and hanging scrolls. Can't afford any scrolls right now, but at least I can add some flowers to the tokonoma. The room also has a glass-enclosed sitting area on the south side called a hiroen where you can look out over the flowers, fruit trees, and shrubbery and the surrounding view.

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Beckon

It's 10 minutes to 1:00 a.m. and found Mary already asleep in my futon. I am so afraid that I'll be careless and accidentally step or sit on her!

I guess it's time to go to bed -- otherwise she'll start barking to beckon me to her side. What a spoiled little brat! :-)

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Pillow

Mary enjoying another peaceful afternoon nap under my pillow. Hate to have to wake her up, but need to give her a chance to relieve herself outdoors and to get some exercise.

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sprawling

It's so hot today! We can't afford to have air conditioners installed just yet, so everyone is chilling out the best they can.

Such hot and humid summers must be especially rough on Dale!

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Lion King

After checking all the different smells and scents in the new house, she seems feel at home in our "new" place.

Interesting how the angle and lighting of a shot can even make a dog look a year younger than her real age. 

I love the white fur on her chest -- kind of looks like a Lion's mane.

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.