table top remade

I have had an old table lying around which I found on the roadside......the one I lugged home in the typhoon, it is a great table and I saw some potential in it, it just needed a clean up and some oil cloth to cover it and in less than 15 mins I had a very cute new tabletop.

You can get an idea of the scale with my little helper here....

I just took the table measurement to another super craft store Okadaya which has at least 50 types of oil clothes to choose from....an impossible choice for me......got a cheapo staple gun and check it out.......

super dooper!!

legwarmers remade...

When it comes to leg warmers, Japanese women sure know a lot about them. I think Tokyo is the best leg warmer viewing place in the world...in terms of ways to wear them. There are never ending combinations of colours and textures...wonderful :) For the upcoming springs and autumns of the respective hemispheres they are just the ticket under a skirt or dress.......so Im going to get right into it this season.......I found a lovely piece if cord fabric sticking out of bag in someones garbage...ugh, I know, but I'm telling you, there are thousands of bags of clothes that go directly in the rubbish every single day, and its such a shame to see it go in the back of a truck. I dont get in the rubbish up to my elbows but if something is on top and hasnt yet been peed on by a dog, then I take it home.....much to my loved ones disgust...anyway.........This nice fabric happened to be a mans shirt, so I chopped off the arms, keeping the buttons and cuff facing towards to ankles, made a small hem and put in a ring of elastic and check it out!!!

.................and an even bigger bonus as that you can tuck your jeans into them for a nice way to stop your jeans getting stuck in the chain of your bike, even though a rubber band will do....but Tokyo is style city after all!!..........
and yes, the shoes arrangement is considered completely normal riding gear.......

carrot and museli muffins

If you are at all interested in making some very easy and tasty muffins you can try this:

150gm SR Flour
150gm mixed fruit museli (or plain museli or oats and some dried fruits)
180gm grated carrot (or apple, or both...which I did)
60gm brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
100ml melted butter

Mix it all up and put into greased muffin or mini muffin tins and bake at 180C for 12 mins (or so).

I got this basic recipe from a great website which I cant find now but will post later, I changed it a little to suit my tastes.

One bowl cooking, I like it!

blossoms

Every year Japan goes crazy for a few weeks doing hanami or looking at blossoms, the plum blossoms come first, followed by the cherry blossoms. This year has been quite warm in Tokyo, for winter, and it seems the blossoms are a little earlier than usual...which is very nice. The worst things about this season is the crowds that come to see/photograph and get drunk under the trees. We got to the park early in the morning where buses of people started arriving as we were leaving. It really is such a truly pretty thing to witness, and if you can get some quiet whilst doing so, you really can see why people love to see them so much........
I made this picnic lunch, very Japanese. In fact, I found a great Japanese food site called just bento which is one of the best food sites I have found lately. A couple of things in the bento above is from the site. The inarizushi, the brown bag things, are full of rice...my goodness, I usually buy them because they are really yummy and cheap, but I thought I would make them this time...takes about 2 hours........I dont think it tastes any better than the supermarket ones.....but good experience! The bento on the left has small meatballs in sweet and sour sauce, tamagoyaki (egg omlette) with spinach, a kind of blanced spinach salad with sesame seeds, and a stawberry....the bento on the right is simply rice with a cooked fillet of slamon crunbled over the top...a staple for mooch who loves it. I slipped a boiled quails egg in there too but he didnt eat it....and fruits....
Here is a small selection of the amazingly dedicated people shooting the blosoms.....

and here is one early cherry blosom tree. There were a lot of small green birds in this tree so it was so pretty with the pink flowers and small green birds...until the mooch ran under the tree and scared them away....um, sorry to all the photographers......we left shortly after that.....

hello, Im back!!

Hello, its very nice to be back. I just wanted to say hello and I have lots of pictures and things to tell of the things we have been doing for the past TWO months...gosh its seems like a long time to live without a computer these days. I'm so thankful to have one now (thanks to Miss Y and Miss A) and a big thanks to my loved one for setting it all up! Hooray :)

dear internet,

I miss you, it will not be long until I am back and can show you all my great pictures. I miss having you in my life and the connections you provide for me. It is true, I cannot live without you.....today I made a black bird today from an old jumper and I hope you can see it soon. Recycling old clothes into birds and rabbits is my new hobby since I have not been using you very much. The same goes to you, photoshop.....you died along with my computer and your source CD is far away in my Nanas garage....so if I want you back in my life I have to buy a new software or wait..............thank you internet, for keeping me up to date and connected. I will be back soon, maybe another week.......with a nifty small computer that only does internet things......talk soon xxx

words no pictures...

Im still waiting for my computer so just dropping in to say I'm still here and have been collecting lots of photos and drawings for when I'm back online! It seems so far this year a lot of stuff has broken...my camera is going to cost $500 to get fixed...so it wont be getting done, and travel insurance cannot cover it..boo.....my computer has already gone to heaven....and now not one but two hard disk troubles........and also a power transformer problem......the shop that sells these kinds of things is getting used to these two foreigners coming in and putting both their Japanese skills togethere to ask for complicated things.....but we learned a few new words, 'refund', 'repair', 'usb'.....all kinds of useful stuff.....so I hope thats the end of the broken stuff and ready for the new year!!

Winter in Tokyo is amazingly nice. Its cold but very clear on most days. Years back, I was living on the west coast which was buffetted by cold winds and snow and made every winter seem unbearably long ( a little like the Tokyo summer and some of what poor boiling Aussies are currently experiencing)....also, in rural Japan, insulation is not big on the list of qualities in a house....so being here in Tokyo in a house with double glazed windows and a fairly temperate climate makes winter.....enjoyable......but of course spring is so close, plum blossom buds are starting to appear and shops are filling up with all cherry blossom stuff, well, its just next to all the valentines stuff, but once thats over it will be sakura crazed shopping......it really is lovely.

I have been making a lot of stuff, cooking and drawing since I spend no time on blogs at the moment. I have lots of cool stuff which is working out better than planned, finishing off projects which have been sitting there for 12 mths, planning/preparing lots of things to do with the mooch and just enjoying these days and not trying to hurry back to Oz (it will happen soon enough) or to another place or basically act like a chook with its head cut off. I'm trying to buy a little less of everything and reuse or recycle more and think more about what I can do. Write and prepare shopping lists and meal plans and just enjoy being a bit more thrifty. I did see a lady in the supermarket the other day, unwrap all her fruits and veges from the plastic bags they came in and put them into separate new plastic bags...I mean one banana per bag.............it felt like the moment when you see a really tough guy flick his cigartte butt out of the car window on a hot day.......like you really want/need/should say something but the voice of reason stops you for whatever reason.................

hello

I'm here but my computer is not. I will be back soon xxx

photos found!

A little while back last year, I did a great cooking class but managed to leave the memory card out of the camera and needed a cable to retrieve the photos of the event. Well it seems that having the screen on my new camera smashed by little fingers has some up sides......while looking for the warranty I found the cable in the box!! So here are some shots of my great cooking class, all about miso......
some of the ingredients......
peeling a satsuma imo, a kind of potato....
preparing some meat dishes with miso flavourings.....
the final table full of food.....I'm full just looking at this photo! This weekend we will go to the snow. I just had a tutorial about how to put on tire chains, actually pretty simple.....now just the driving in the snow part......as well as my camera getting into trouble my computer also decided to have a seizure, a big one. Luckily I have the skills of a computer nerd, right here at home. After 3 days and nights of him working on it (thankyou darling), there is still no root cause diagnosed, but I am online and I dont need to buy a new computer (hooray) and I'm now working on a new operating system (linux).....kind of fun learning a new way to do things. Now I can see what fast internet in Japan really means :)

so, 2009 huh? welcome :)

We had a lovely trip to Melb for xmas/new year. The smell of Australia is something unique and the feel of the dry air. I always love the first day because everything is so much more intense, the broadness of language, the size and colour of the money, being able to understand everything, the familiarness of my surrounds, the small details that I know so well about my home but not so well about my home in Tokyo. It was comfortable being able to slip into life, like a day had not passed since I left a year ago. Of course, first stop was to see my Mum and then go to get some cafe coffee and breathe in the dry air....I had hoped for summer but it just happened for a couple of days....

we visited friends all over Melb......

played at Rye beach, just days before the large bronze whaler shark was caught.....

caught the free circle tram....

discovered baby chinos....

ate old favourites....

enjoyed simple Aussieness....

explored in rock pools at the beach I grew up...

isnt it so beautiful? Thinking of how Tokyo kids grow up and that they never get to see this kind of space...I realise how lucky I was a kid to have this at my back door....

summer did smile on us, just for a few days......

...and now back to Tokyo.......wishing you a beautiful, happy and inspiring new year xxx Thanks to my family and friends for hosting us at many parties and to stay at your houses, it was wonderful and always too short. I did not get to see everyone but I hope to see you in June when we make another short trip to the city of coffee and clean air.

cheerio and merry christmas...well its a bit late now

I did start this message in mid December and now all of a sudden its almost mid January......I do hope you had a nice round up to the year. I had a great 2008. Japan has been a great place to come back to. Despite the searing summer heat that seemed to last forever, it was really just a couple of motnhs out of a pretty nice year. I was wishing time would pass so I could hurry back to Melbourne for those 3 precious weeks with my family and friends. And, now it passed so fast. And it was wonderful. I am kind of glad qantas does not fly direct to Melb anymore because it means you get to fly into Sydney, and I have to say it is one of the most beautiful entries into any country I have been. The bus transit to domestic, weaving throughout many big airplanes was also pretty exciting for a 2 year old. Coming into the green fields of Melb is also so special...its so small compared to Tokyo. So, all the best for 2009. Thanks for being here with me and being lovely friends and I wish you luck and love.

immediate lightness...

We arrived at the park yesterday afternoon after a long morning of rain and low temperatures. It was still cold but we all needed to get some air.....................across the grass we saw this amazing sight!.....................it was impossible not to go and see what was going on...........

These guys had the most simple tools to make the most huge bubbles...

it was beautiful to see them floating in the breeze and changing shapes until they popped....

this one is caught mid pop....there were a lot of kids squealing with delight as they chased bubbles and popped them with sticks..........I'm not sure if that was the reason why I could not stop laughing. It was like a sudden weight had been lifted, to stand amongst thousands of silent and beautiful bubbles, big and small, with kids squealing, cold tempearatures, and people just standing in wonder (and taking photos)...it was totally bizarre......and totally lovely....

ummm

A very rainy day today.................................

I realise its been a little while since I last posted! I really havent had much to say!...a little unusual for me I know :) the days are counting down until we leave for our Oz holiday and I havent really go that much to do. I think when going to a familiar place there is far less to pack because you know everything about the destination. I also realise how important it is to enjoy the moment you have, like our Tokyo time, because soon it will end or change and I dont want to leave here and feel the whole time I was hoping or feeling like I should be somewhere else. And for the most part I think I have been here in mind and body. I have been thinking a lot about this year, as you do at the end of any year, and reflect that I have done a lot of things and although Ive been a full time mum I have done a lot of stuff in addition to that. I plan to write my yearly wrap up and then take off for a few weeks. I dont intend to blog but I will keep reading my favourite blogs when I get access to a computer - and I will note a list of them too (always a source of inspiration and motivation and sometimes just visual and imaginative delight)!

This huge xmas tree is in the neighbourhood. It is stunning, especially when it gets dark. Illuminations, or thousands of lights and music covering streets, buildings and parks are very popular at this time of year and it is so beautiful and feels magical. I hope soon that the Myer windows will grow into something like these kinds of illuminations because they really feel like Christmas! Sorry for being a bit of a hermit and thanks always for your lovely comments and words :)

help

I love getting moo to help me make dinner.....and he loves the kinds of jobs where he gets to cut or bash or mix and of course, taste. Its a good chance to get him to try some veges and he did eat this sweet potato.

pool rules

morning sun

It is just so lovely at the moment. I want to be outside all the time. Its a bit cold but not freezing, only in the mornings and nights.

natural illumination and ruminations

Look at this ginko tree...it looks like its illuminated...I guess it is, by the sun....there are so many pretty trees in this early winter time....walking under many falling leaves with a gentle breeze would have to be one of life nicest pleasures in Japan. I have some very nice photos taken by my loved one which I will post later........

I sent off my birds.....

and I hoped my coffee beans would last until I got back to Oz but I think I might be a couple of days short. Lucky a new supermarket opened up just nearby that not only sells coffee beans but 5 different types of TIM TAMS!!! Ohhh so exciting :) Do you notice the reflection of the yellow capped jar found almost only on the benches of Aussies?.......I only just noticed it myself......I love preparing for a holiday, getting all the things organised and packed and pressies bought. I must say though, with one morning to myself yesterday, I was ready to finish off my xmas list, but the soon as I got to the shops I had the most underwhelming feeling of not being in the mood to be in the shops...I think its just the very poor exchange rate which makes everything so expensive or maybe self imposed pressure to get the best/cutest/most original Japanese stuffs I dont know.....I did try to get inspired, even hanging out in the beautiful xmas lights section but came home with only the essentials, milk, bread, nothing exciting and nothing off the list.....why does that happen?......so I will try again....next week.....

the end and the beginning...

Nearing the end of the year means time to think about the new year and clean up the remaining things from this year and hopefully pave a clean path for new and exciting things to come. In terms of what I can do as an almost full time mama and keep the brain working I have realised a few things. I cannot do everything. Now, this is not a major realisation for most people who already got to that place but I just got there!! And, it feels like a relief! So, as my main priority is being a mama, which is exactly where I want to be, I need to let go of the anxiety that I have keep doing so much more and more and more on top of being a mama. And this is mostly in the realms of how I can keep my brain moving/my part time self employment. So, to simplify my life I'm shutting down my website and using a blog instead, it far easier and cheaper. I'm no longer going to sell wholesale to shops or do custom cards and stationary. I will still make cards and bits and bobs to sell through my etsy shop and focus mostly on illustration jobs. This seems to be such a simple solution to my self imposed pressure and already feels decluttered in my mind. I have thoroughly enjoyed my custom jobs and selling to stores and it is a thrill to see my cards in lovely shops but living away from Oz and with the current variations in currency it just isn't worth it. I have one last order to ship off to a lovely gallery in QLD and then thats it!! So, with a new year just around the corner and a new blog for illustrations, I am feeling happy. I will maintain this blog for lovely friends, family and readers and of course my 'one second life' photo journal of weird and wacky stuff in Japan.

Thomas Land

It was moo's 2nd birthday today. Amazing how fast 2 years has passed. It seems time is easily quantifiable now we have a living and breathing measure. As planned we went to Thomas Land...home of Thomas the Tank which is located right next to Mt Fuji. Take a look at the day!! I'm am always stunned to see Mt Fuji looking so beautiful and to have such a clear day was a huge treat.

Mt Fuji from Thomas...

The sparkling ice skating rink with Mt Fuji in the background. Thomas Land is part of a greater amusement park with many roller coasters and rides. Only in Japan can you ride a roller coaster with such an amazing view....but we stuck to the kids rides with whistles and beeps.

The whole place was themed for xmas so it made me get even more excited about our trip home....

I really wanted to have a go on this guy as it reminded me of my days a kid when on school holidays my sister and I used to ride the Thunderbolt at Dreamworld and the Corkscrew at seaworld.....

...at the end of a busy morning, mini moo was so tired he could hardly keep his eyes open. It was a preferct place for a young child, not too crowded, very safe and clean and the entry and rides were very reasonable priced even with a poor conversion rate!

Happy Birthday my little treasure, you are the most amazing and special little moo and I love you with all my heart xxx