Himeji Castle

We took a trip to see what we could see of Himeji Castle.  It's been under renovation since 2010, as part of the upkeep of this World Heritage Site.  I personally think it is the most beautiful of the castles I've seen here.  When we got near the place, this is what we saw:

The building has been wrapped with its image on cloth for the last four years, so to see this beautiful building now was breathtaking.  The previous roof was black tile; now it looks white because of the new plaster added.  The public cannot go into this part of the castle until 3/27/15, but we did tour some of the West Bailey.  It is one long corridor with rooms off of it that wraps around part of the grounds.  The displays tell the history of Himeji castle.

This is another view from inside the castle walls.  It is such a beautiful place and to think that the original has been around since the early 1600's when there were no heavy-duty machines to lift all the rocks in place.  It is a marvel to man's ingenuity.

July 2014 update

We took the Rokko Mountain Ropeway up from Arima.  The view was breathtaking over pristine cedar forests.  It took about 12 minutes to go just over 2 miles.

July 25 we went to Kyoto for the day.  This is a view of the pagoda at the East Temple. 

We went again to the Kodai Yuzen-en and hand-painted some gifts.  Henry did this bag for our visitor from Yap, Hannah.

We then went to see the Nijo Castle in Kyoto and spoted this grey heron on the grounds.  

The castle boasts of wood floors that make sound when walked on--called the Nightengale floor.  The squeak is really pretty to listen to; its purpose was to warn people of someone entering the house who wasn't supposed to be there after hours.  This photo is from underneath an outdoor deck around the house.  It uses metal pieces wedged between the beam and floor to make the sound.

This is a beautiful red pine on the castle grounds.

Another view of the pagoda from the opposite direction.

Our neighbor gave us a big sack of potatoes.  This was one of the most unusual shaped things I've ever seen.

Sand Museum in Tottori

We took another trip to the Japan Sea town of Tottori.  It has huge sand dunes and this museum of sand sculpture.  Amazing what the artisans did with just some sand and water.  It's all indoors except a couple of exhibits, and very detailed.  This exhibit highlights Russian history.

The masses getting baptized with explanation below 

Russian palace/Kremlin

Russian astronaut Yuri----

 

Stacking dolls

Lunch==veggies and rice

Yakisoba-type dish

The latest bag

I was asked if I could make a patchwork tote bag using pinks.  This is what I came up with.

Front measures about 39cm x 19cm with 60cm handles.  The handles, sides and bottom are a pink bow on dark blue print.

The back side.  The pink strip is just a bow embellishment from a Moda Marble fabric.

I added one side pocket with two slots for keys or a cell phone maybe. The background there is in my sewing room. 

The interior is a pink floral print.  

Should I do this again, I will add additional pockets in the interior and possibly an outside zipper pocket and a button enclosure at the top.  As it is, the person wants this to carry her two Teacup Poodles in, so pockets on the inside are not necessary.

Blackberries - the bush

Highlighting our 12-year-old blackberry bushes.  First, these are thornless.  These are easy to grow and easy to propagate.

We have  two stakes about 10 feet apart with three rows of wire stretched between them.  The plants are placed about 3-4 feet apart.  The plants grow long, thin branches which we anchor onto the wires with twist ties.  When they get long enough to touch the ground from any height, you can bury the tip of the branch about 4-6 inches in the dirt and it will root and become a new plant after a minimum of six weeks.  Then you can cut it from the mother branch.  It can be dug up and planted in another area if needed.   You can also cut the long branches and it will form side-branches and fill in the bush.

The flowers are in a clump and are a light pink.  Once fruit appears, place a net over the bush so the birds don't eat the fruit.  It first is red, then turns dark and is easily pulled off when ripe.   Lots of seeds in the berries. We use a standard fruit plant fertilizer.  Water well in dry weather.  It flowers in May/June and fruit is ripe in July/August.

Fruit grown on branches this year will not produce again and need to be cut down to the ground after harvesting is over.  That gets a little tricky when tracing the branch entangled with others.  New growth this year will produce fruit next year.

The bush from one end. It does not need a wide space, but enough to get around the entire bush.  The deck makes it a bit tight, but do-able.   Lots of new growth extending beyond the stake.

The flowers will be blackberries in July.  Last year there was a multitude of growth as you can see it's bushy on the left and right, while the mid-section is a bit sparse.  This is normal growth.  Many new plants/canes were started last year.

This particular plant is at least 8-9 years old.  Old canes are cut to the ground after harvesting, so the base gets thick.

The thick canes are new growth for next year's fruit.

More information can be found at these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackberries
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/fruit/blackberry/

This won't happen again...

...at least in  the lifetimes of Henry and me.  I was never that good with numbers except balancing a checkbook.  :-)

On May 18th, I turned 60....drum roll....OK, that's enough.  Henry turned 60 in January.

On  May 16th, Stephen turned 30.

Up to June 10th, Sara will be 15, she turns 16 on the 11th.

So here's the deal...Currently, we are twice Stephen's age and he is half our age.  In turn, Stephen is twice Sara's age and she is half his age.  And we are four times Sara's age and she is 1/4 our age.
Spiffy, huh?

To celebrate this momentous three weeks, here's the newest of the iris in the garden--a beautiful deep purple with crinkly petals.

More garden images.

The sprout in the back left and in the center (with the remainder of last year's growth) are the beginnings of  Emperor Dahlia.  These grow to nine feet and bloom in November (maybe).  I  transplanted the root there in the center of the photo, as it was right next to the AC unit on the left.  

From my kitchen door, I see columbine, iris and red basil.  The blackberry bush is to the left. 

This bed is next to the Dahlia and next to the deck coming out of the church room.  The flowers in front left are called Shiran or bletilla striatta; a type of lily, I think. They are perennial and spread easily. 

This is a neighbor's lavendar and white iris, although it looks blue here.  I hope he'll share  some rhizomes  :-) 

My happy pinwheel--large and small spinning in opposite directions.  

Spring Garden images

May is my favorite month, not just because I'll be turning 60 here in a few days.  Flowers, birds, insects abound with life and it is so good to just watch and listen.  
The first iris to bloom on May 1.

This is a bearded iris that is actually lavender, but the camera makes it look bluish.  Pretty in either case.

These are a dense ground cover called ajuga or carpet bugle; it has a purple flower and is perennial.

Tulip in two colors 

Hubby bought a roto tiller for a great price. Here he's trying it out.

Hyogo Flower Park

We went to the Hyogo-ken Flower Park about an hour West of here.  The thousands and thousands of tulips were just gorgeous--some 460 varieties set out in the ground or in pots.  There was not one weed to be seen in the entire place!  Many of the tulips were planted with pansies.  My garden won't ever look like this.  Spring has come to Kobe. 

This is called a sausage tree--very odd fruit. 

Banana tree with flowers

Pitcher Plant