moving moving

we have been in our car for the past couple of weeks driving up and down and down and up CA.  Wow the weather was beautiful for most of it, with crisp blue skies and lots of fall colors.  We're so excited to be in one place this week, with just a bit of packing to do for the move into our little yellow house.

happenings

//  ojai cactii 
//  the 400 year old Oak tree in Westlake that was cut down ~ R.I.P.  
//  roasting eggplants for a curry

have a great weekend !

that time of year

goodbye flowers from Ben's high school, and a picnic with sparklers // another summer week gone by.

 

end of spring 花

pretty in purple =

ペオニー

what a find last week !  ペオニー !  I tried to find them again yesterday at a couple of flower shops, but unfortunately the season's done.

contrast

more kansai.
we visited the largest slum in all of Japan, called 'airin.' can you spot which photo was taken in that neighborhood? eye opening for us having lived in (spotless clean, orderly, polite) japan such a long time.

parkdaze cont.

I know I only post sakura photos recently... but it was such a beautiful couple of weeks!  Seeing the cherry trees now, you wouldn't believe they're the same~ they're completely full of lush bright green leaves. 

さよなら　さくら / goodbye sakura

 

before the rain

heavenly blooms

white sakura from m.d. on Vimeo.

parkdaze

the sakura at this park in kirishima over the weekend hit

f u l l   b l o o m.

sakura sunset from m.d. on Vimeo.

when the sunshine makes the blooms burst, you know . . . it's hanami time !

flowers on film

I'm happy to have some color in my life, thanks to little signs of spring.  *good riddance winter!* 

The green character is someone we see every day without fail;  on posters and ads . . . he's all over kagoshima city ~ it's ぐりぶ.  He's green (gurin) and he's a pig (buta,) so put those together and it's "Guribuu." He's the mascot for the 2011 flower fair in our city.  What would our city be without a cute mascot!?

きろ花, butter lupine

there are no words to describe these flowers, 

the smell alone would make you fall in love

♣ happy Saint Patrick's Day ♣

from our trip out to the Cosmo fields last fall . . .

mystery 花

Our first year living here, I fell in love with these flowers that I found in late March down south in Ibusuki.  I can't remember the name of them now.  Does anyone know?  One thing I remember about them was how fragrant they were... like a super sweet ~ flowery ~ perfume.  I have to try and find them again this year.  I can't believe it sometimes that this is our last spring living in Japan . . .

さくら さくら

Last week we had a couple of mild~ish days that we took advantage of by strolling along the river... the ume and sakura have some pretty blossoms, and the camelia are still going strong (and they're so pretty even fallen, which I've noticed is happening more and more as it warms up.)

Over the weekend, I had a chat with our landlady from our balcony, so she promptly brought over the little sakura cake that manju is eyeing in the second shot.  yummy!

Can you tell I cut my hair?  I was getting really bored with it, so I cut about 6 inches off and have bangs again :D  . . . Also I wanted to show off my Goldpfeil bag from the 80's that I found for 500yen!

citrus, plum, and oil tanks

on saturday, only a week after snow, the sun came out and it was in the 60's.  it was so nice to strip off the layers, and I even went sock-less! wow!  I've been dreaming of this for a few weeks now.  we drove some country roads near kiire where we used to live and I soaked up as much of the sun as I could.  the first signs of spring are showing up, with うめ (plum) trees just starting to bloom, and ポンカン (ponkan) trees full of fruit; we are so happy the warm is near.

the oil tanks are a kiire landmark you might remember.  and the oil drums were across from the farm we were strolling at; found next to an abandoned van... and refrigerator.  oh japan! and your mysterious dumping areas : (