Wow, It's Almost June!!

Sorry for the silence these last few months.  I knew they would fly by.  Last March we were talking about all that was on the calendar for the next few months.  We had a home leave trip planned for April for two weeks.  The following week I was helping decorate for another wedding at our church.  Four days after that we had guests arriving.  They left today and now in two more weeks our oldest daughter and son-in-law come for a two week visit.  We blinked and the time has flown by.  Soon, too soon, it will be the end of June and we will have only two more months in Japan.  

I'm trying to take it all in.  There are goodbye lunches, dinners and picnics being held every weekend it seems.  All the while there is still uncertainty about what happens once we get home.  We are just trying to take things one day and a time.  What good does it do to worry too much about it. God always seems to have another plan.  It's usually superior to our own anyway.  

Here are a few photos from our recent months.

We went on a couple of hikes around our house.  It's an entirely different kind of beauty in comparison to Japan.  But, everywhere you look, there is something gorgeous.  

This is the only part of the garden that looked good.  So much work to do when we return!

Do you remember this place?  It's been awhile hasn't it?

I came back to help this lovely lady get married.  I was sweet and simple, but still took a lot of work.  What a blessing to be able to contribute to this special occasion.  

Our guests arrived soon after and we hit the ground running.  They are from Malaysia and she was one of our foreign exchange students that we hosted several years ago.  We hadn't seen each other in 12 years.  The sensei really gave us some special treatment and took us to his favorite lunch place.  

Last Friday I got a message asking if I wanted to go with my photography group to the fish market early in the morning. My company was so excited so we headed out at about 5:30 am. This was definitely not my normal environment for photography but it was very fun and quite a learning experience.   

He's using the longest knife I have ever seen. 

They went off and did their own thing in Kyoto and Osaka for a few days.  Such great kids and so helpful and considerate.  When they returned, we visited the Aquarium.  My husband hadn't been there yet either.  Along with it was the Fuji Antarctic Exploration Vessel that was in commission for 18 years.  

With that I'm going to swim off and go eat some Mexican food.  Yes, we have one good Mexican restaurant here.  Basically it's a bar with about 4 tables, but that's beside the point.  Until next time. . . 

The Shift

There is a shift in the air.  Expat life is mostly fun and amazing as you have probably noticed. What I don't mention often is when it's frustrating or downright difficult. Expat life is full of goodbyes.  It seems like many we have met or gotten close to have left or are leaving before we do.  Thankfully there are a few close friends that will be here till after we leave.  We are in a season of goodbyes.  Matane means "see ya later".  A Matane party is a goodbye party.  They are bittersweet.

I have one young friend leaving at the beginning of April.  She asked me and "S" to take pictures of her and her daughter in kimonos.  "S" is a much more experienced photographer than I am.  It was super fun to watch how she works a portrait shoot and especially how she handles a toddler.  I don't think I want to do portrait photography, but I really did enjoy it.  Although I felt inadequate and was sure nothing was going to turn out.  I thought I'd show you some of my favorites.  As you can tell, I prefer more candid shots.  This little one looks just like her daddy.

There were also amazing Ume trees (plums) blooming, so I got a few pictures of those while I was there.  This is our last Spring in Japan and I want to savor every moment of it. Ken and I will be traveling to Kyoto and Hiroshima at the end of March which should be beautiful this time of year.  

This week I went to another Matane party for my two young friends that are leaving.  It was a Karaoke party with toddlers!  It was really fun and again, I took my camera. Oh yeah, there were Moms there too.  

 I can't even get enough of this cuteness!

Goodbyes are hard.  I treasure these sweet friends.  Thankfully, I will see some of them again because we will be moving from California to Texas when we return.  Many are going to the same place.  If you've followed me here long enough you'll realize that this means we will be selling our beautiful home and relocating.  That is a hard one.  But, no matter how we plan our days, they don't usually end up the way we think.  God has much better plans than we can ever dream of.  So we are trusting in His direction one step at a time.  

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to proper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

Takayama Weekend

Since it's almost the end of August, maybe I should catch you up a little on July? What do you think? We had the wonderful privilege of being invited to Takayama by our Japanese sensei (teacher) and her husband.  He is an lead architect for his firm and the company recently restored an old style Japanese home.  They use it mainly for business groups.  It was rebuilt very modern inside and the details were stunning.  I may have to do this in two posts because we got to do some fun sightseeing as well.  

 A river runs through it.  ;-)

We got there barely in time to visit the morning market.  

This little lady mixes up the spices to your request.  I admit that I haven't tried mine yet.  

I'm pretty sure that the bright red is chili powder.  

 This sweet family was getting a custom mix.

Busy holiday shoppers.

I couldn't believe how this guy was parked.  Parking is a premium in Japan.  He evidently wanted to park close to home and hopefully had some assistance.  If you look closely you will see that he is straddling a narrow, but deep drainage canal.  

This is the front of the "villa" we stayed in. 

Most shops, restaurants, and some homes have these curtains that hang in the doorways. They are called Noren and are used sort of like screens.  Here's some information on them.

 My favorite part was the back garden.

This was our bedroom.  We had singles, but all the rooms did, so it was fine. 

It is used for company events so it makes sense.

On the other side of our beds was this desk that was the length of the room.  It was down low, but there was space for your legs.  It was a nice workspace.  Great for putting on makeup with that natural light coming in.  ;-)

One of my other favorite spots was the back of the house where you could sit and enjoy the garden view.  The floors were designed to look like faux wood grain. 

 This is the main eating/lounging area.  Fortunately under this table is an area for your feet.  That was a relief to us Westerners.  You can see on the left the cut through to the kitchen.  You make tea in the middle of the table and underneath those boxes are heating units for grilling, I believe.

More gorgeous floor details.  Faux wood surrounding real wood.

Another friend joined us for the weekend and we ate some delicious meals.

 The front entry of the home. These walls were concrete with a gorgeous wood floor.

 The detail on this piece was amazing.  The glass had been "etched" somehow with fabric from an obi.  It was hung with a hand forged piece of iron on a concrete wall.  You can see some other fiber in the glass on the right of the wall.

 Here was another hand forged shelf in a little alcove.  

The flower was a little spent, but the idea was fabulous!

 The walls on the left were new, the ones on the right were original.

Very difficult to photograph all the amazing details of this house.

Kitchen

I actually got a picture of the streets of Takayama when they were empty.  It was later in the evening and everyone was probably eating dinner or had gone home.  It's lined with traditional style houses that are mainly used as shops and restaurants now.

Night!