Hanami

As I thought, I didn't get back to blogging until the cherry blossoms were blooming around here.  I guess that's good because I have LOTS of beautiful cherry blossom photos to share, mostly from Tetsu's camera.  And they seem to include a lot of photos of me if you don't mind.

Marlene suggested an afternoon out at a local park with a MacDonald's picnic under the cherry trees.  She cleverly brought lawn chairs for she and me to sit on.  (The menfolk were supposed to sit on a picnic blanket but we found some stone seats for them to sit on.)

There were a lot more people at the park enjoying the cherry trees than there usually are but not so many that we couldn't enjoy the natural surroundings.

There are mountains in the distance there but I'm not sure if that darkness is mountain or cedar pollen or rain clouds as rain was forecast for the evening...

As I am not very mobile still, I settled back in my chair...

...while Tetsu settled back on the picnic blanket...

...and Kohei and Marlene went off on a walk around the park.

Actually I had planned for this, and brought a small sketchbook, pens and paints.  This is my first attempt at outdoor sketching/painting.  If I've done anything before I've sketched outside, taken a photo and applied watercolors once back home but I brought the whole thing this time and wanted to see what I could do before Marlene and Kohei got back!

By the way, I am NOT in a wheelchair!!!  It just looks that way with my big black bag and other bags placed by the legs of my chair!  I am still able to get here and there on my own power but I'm not willing to go very far.

La-di-da.  What can I get down on paper?  

Some ink lines and a little color.

Tetsu went off to take pictures of the blossoms.

The trees are not quite in full bloom but this may still be the prettiest time to go cherry blossom watching, Hanami, in Japanese.

So serious...

We were up on a hill looking at trees to the left and right and below us.

Does it look like I know what I'm doing?  I don't.

A bit more color...  Actually this type of cherry blossom is more white than pink so I didn't want to get too vibrant...

And here comes Tetsu again.

And here is my final sketch.

Marlene and Kohei got back from their walk, the wind was picking up and we all were getting cold so we packed up and headed back to the car.

Cherry blossoms don't last long but that is part of the reason they are so revered in Japan.  The fleeting beauty that has to be appreciated because what is temporary is considered a precious gift.

It was a lovely day and my scibbly hanami sketch is now in my sketchbook forever... thus not temporary and not all that precious...

Getting some sun and some culture

This week Tetsu and I took advantage of a sunny day and went on a daytrip.  Tetsu finds things in the newspaper that he thinks I might like and then we head out and sometimes we get lost, and sometimes we find some really lovely places!  This week was one of the lovely places.

When Tetsu suddenly suggested we go out, I rushed and put together some obentos for us hoping that we could find a park or someplace where we could eat them.  I really had no idea where we were going but we ended up in a little town that has turned itself into an art town with the center of it being an art museum.  Though I'm not up for much walking, the pace of strolling around an art museum was just about right.

The architect of the museum itself was very interesting with the outside walls surrounded by these huge boulders.

That's a pretty sturdy outer wall!

Inside was much like many museums with art behind glass and in frames.  There were seating areas in the different sections and I caught these three friends taking a breather.

Me taking a breather too...  Behind me was an interesting rock garden that we explored.

A lone stone in a sea of sand.

Some pine trees growing out of a rock.

What do you think I was thinking of while I looked at the pretty designs in the rock garden?

"Hmm.  I wonder if I could make a quilting pattern like that with random arcs and squiggles..."

Taking another breather.  These modern chairs were actually very comfortable.

The museum went on forever with some buildings dedicated to Japanese paintings and some to pottery and some to modern oil paintings, and some to sculptures...  There weren't very many people there (or even staff!) and we found an enclosed garden between buildings with tables and chairs and we spread out our obentos.  Let's see...  Onigiri, broccoli and egg salad, ginger pork, pickles, and yellow zucchini.

I had the same obento in smaller portions using an obento box from when the kids were in kindergarten.  It's just the right size for me now!

We had sweet tea and chocolate for dessert and altogether spent about three hours in the town. I was hobbling around pretty badly by the end and Tetsu regretted bringing me out thinking that I might be waylaid to bed the next day but actually with a good night's rest I was in commission again the next morning.

I think this a plum branch...   Cherry blossoms bloom right after the plums...  They are expected to bloom this coming week around where we live... and then maybe we'll get in a cherry blossom viewing outing too.

  

Friends

As the weather warms up a bit here in Japan (maybe only temporarily), I have been out and about a bit with a friend...  

Mrs. N and I went out to celebrate her birthday and she introduced me to a old traditional schoolhouse that is now being used as a cafe.  The waitress asked us if we happened to like cats... me with my cat shirt and Mrs. N with a cat on her Smart Phone cover...

This is what a country, (really back country!) schoolhouse used to look like, without all the cars of course.  As the population decreases in Japan, more and more schools are closing and combining with nearby schools, and schoolhouses are going into disuse.  Even in my town, next year two schools are closing down...  Anyway, someone figured out how to turn this country schoolhouse into a cafe and an art gallery.

The long wooden hallways still gleam.

The classroom with their chalkboards and single desks

Japaese children still use these leather backpacks though they are available in different colors now and many schools still require students to wear these yellow hats when walking to and from school.

I was inspired to paint some of the students who come to my crosswalk every morning.

Mrs. N has just finished up a quilt which I'm sure you recognize as I have already made this quilt twice.  With a few added light fabrics, we squeaked out another quilt for Mrs. N and really made good use of the kit that I had with fabrics and pattern!

Mrs. N always includes a cat in her quilts and she added four corner cats to the center.

Mrs. N has also been making Happy Villages!

Can you spot the cats in these quilts?

She did a great job quilting over some cat fabric here...

Now Mrs. N is asking me to recommend a new cat quilt pattern for her or something that will incorporate cats.  Any suggestions?  I'm having trouble pulling ideas out of my hat!

That said...  I did make up a cute Fat Cat quilt pillow this month.

On a more somber note, yesterday was March 11 in Japan, the anniversery of the Great Tohoku Earthquake.  I sent off an e-mail to my friend, Lorraine's family, telling them that as usual on this day I was thinking of her as she was a solid rock to me in the days after the earthquake.  Lorraine passed away last year but her family still keeps in touch.  My remembrance of that day in my bullet journal with continuous lines with a loosely held bruch pen and some splashes of color..  It looks so chaotic but so was that day...

Family updates and painting

I'm a bit behind here as I'd planned to blog once more in February, but better late than never... 

Actually Leiya didn't send us as many photos of Luka in February and instead we saw a lot of videos and spoke with him in person.  I don't know what March will bring, BUT I'm warning you!  April and May are going to have a lot of Luka photos because....  Leiya and Luka are coming to Japan from the middle of April!!!  Tony will be joining them in May so we are going to have a lot of family outings and together time!  We are very excited but realize how much we are going to have to adjust our living situation to fit in a 2 year old.  Where will everyone sleep?  Where will we get a car seat?  Etc. etc.  It all sounds like great fun!

So here are a couple of Luka photos I got in February.

I do't know why he was wearing his hat in the house (or is that even Luka's hat?)  He is looking more and more like Tony these days.

And Leiya said Luka-kun joined in a library storytime though he was one of the youngest...  

As for Takumi and Julieta, Julieta sent us some videos of snow falling in the town where she works!  That was a great surprise but the mountains near their home were just beautiful after the snowfall!

There are mostly sunny days in their city though.  My beautiful daughter-in-law!

Date nights out and about.

I have been enjoying Skillshare immensely and go from one teacher to another hopefully learning a new skill or technique to use in painting.  I joined another class with Barbara Luel (I'd done a class with her on the rooms of my house) and tried neighborhood scenery.  The lumber factory seen from my sewing room window.

While taking a lettering class with Amy Stewart, I needed a painting to add lettering to and so I tried this from a photo Takumi sent me when they were visiting Idyllwild this month.

I picked up a friend from the nearby train station and enjoyed a day of chatting and good food.  Later I sketched the station from a photo I'd taken while waiting for her to arrive.  And then the added lettering.

And from last week's picnic with obentos, I tried depicting the shrine nearby.  This was my thought out painting...

...and this was my loose style scribble painting.  I really haven't found a style of my own yet...

And finally, Chip sleeping on the window sill...