A happy traveller through life!
Right now living in NW Tasmania with a gorgeous Nurse-Husband, a fool of a Siamese Cat and several chickens.
We love our fairly simple lifestyle of growing a lot of what we eat and enjoying the stunning surrounds of our little patch.
Hello!! Today’s excursion was to Ginkakuji (the silver pavilion) in the rain.
We did stop by a craft market which was held nearby in the grounds of a shrine. All nice and muddy underfoot but it was great to see what people are making and selling here (professional interest from Maureen and myself!!)
Ginkakuji has its origins in 1482!!!
The moss gardens and area surrounding the buildings are gorgeous
The raked sand is fabulous
I did a lap of the garden area with Maureen and used my usual camera, then put that away and did another quick lap with the tablet so I could blog something.
You get a bit of elevation and a decent view.
All so lush and green!
Even a glimpse up through the forest.
It’s still raining here as I sit and type. Got most of our clothes dry and ready for tomorrow. We’ve got a day planned out with friends!
After enjoying seeing the Big Buddha in Nara Park, we slipped down a side road to visit one of the local gardens, Yoshiken Gardens.
It used to be part of a temple but in the late 1800’s it became a privately owned site.
In 1919 ownership was transferred to Nara Prefecture and since 1989 it has been open for public viewing and tea ceremonies.
It’s lovely the way these small areas lay out their garden paths with turns and mysterious steps leading here and there. You feel it’s a much bigger space.
The moss garden area has a detached teahouse.
Inside the teahouse.
Cheeky photo of Maureen!
I am not sure what this seated shelter is for but I like the photo! Thanks Maureen!
It was nice to get away from the throngs of people.
The garden brochure has a boxed serious warning:
Deer may eat your brochure. Please pay attention to deer approaching you.
That amused me.
Some of the small plants growing over rocks and up trees were so sweet.
We rounded off our Nara day by going back to town for lunch and a bit of shopping before heading ‘home’.
It was a long day yesterday so I went to futon instead of blogging!
We took ourselves off earlyish to Nara for the day.
It took about an hour by train – our wonderful landlady gave me instructions on how to get a direct one without mucking about changing.
I used to live in Nara… crazy how tourism has exploded since I first came to live here. Nonetheless, it was so nice to go back.
Gosh…there’s another of those excellent wisteria structures… (Snicker)
Fairly famous five storied pagoda.
And the more famous Nara deer.
The man on the bike ran out of deer bikkies but one chased him anyway. Kinda cracked me up watching tourists sitting down with little sticks trying to scrape the deer poo off their shoes. This country girl just thought it made a change from chook poo.
See?? tourists everywhere!!
These are the massive gates before getting to Todaiji.
Maureen thoroughly enjoying herself.
Me also enjoying myself!
How awesome is this structure? This is the Nandaimon Gate and inside are the two Nio Guardian Kings. All are national treasures.
Super fierce dudes.
We moseyed along and made our entry into Todaiji. Until recently it was the world’s largest wooden building. Keep in mind that the present reconstruction done in 1692 is only at two thirds it’s original size!! Boggles my mind.
You can light incense at the entryway and at the very front of the building.
The hall was first built in 752 to house the Buddha who is seated inside at a massive 15 metres tall!
I don’t think I am improving at selfies but here I am.
Love looking up at the massive doors.
Finally inside.
The scale of this never fails to impress me.
All the stunning flower arrangements! We found out tonight that the 8th was Buddhas birthday. There was a monk chanting the whole time we were there that really added to the atmosphere.
I should have counted how many flower arrangements there were!
Was so happy to go and say hi to my favourite guardian, Komokuten, Guardian of the West.
He probably doesn’t remember me, but I’ve always had a soft spot for this grumpy looking fellow. The detail in the carving is amazing…and again he is quite the impressive size!
More flowers and then looking over to who I assume is the Guardian of the East… I didn’t look up his name.
I guess he is pretty cool to, he just doesn’t strike my fancy like Komokuten.
Anyway I will continue with more on our Nara visit when it’s not after midnight!!
This is Maureen with our accommodation host Mikiko. A really lovely lady whom I have known for a number of years now.
I was lucky enough that she started her own accommodation business so we could stay in such a wonderful location in Kyoto.
Here is a photo of me trying to be contrite after bossing Maureen about on how-to take the photo!!
Today’s plan was to go to a flea market in this location.
Mikiko was most put out when it just wasn’t there! We all love markets so that was a disappointment but all was certainly not lost as Heian Shrine is pretty spectacular.
We decided to go into the garden and despite the cherry blossoms being done, it was such a lovely place to wander through and absorb.
Original street car! This actually went down teramachi st where we are staying!
Structures for Wisteria…hinting strongly to Jeff about constructing me one for ours. He will get bonus Husband Points if he starts it before I get home.
Bit of an image dump… have to go to bed as a longer day planned tomorrow so I am now speed-blogging.
I love how the garden paths curve in and around…always makes you want to keep going to see what is around the next bend.
White wisteria on this very cool and sturdy looking structure that would look excellent beside the chook house…
(Yes I think I am funny)
Right…thats all from The Land of the Rising Sun for tonight!
This morning we got up at 6am (cue my family to collectively faint)
So brekkie was nice and relaxed before setting off to wander the streets and browse shops. Maureen was in heaven finding some great materials
That’s quite the start!!
We popped back home for lunch then decided to jump into real sightseeing – two stops down the local subway line to Nijo Castle.
The site and some buildings have been here for 400 years!!
Super ornate gates!!
A snap looking straight up as I walked through.
This is the main entrance. Always a bit sad that there is a no photos rule (but understandable) The painted sliding doors and ceilings are numerous and magnificent. And the Nightingale floors sing to you as you walk along them. They were constructed in a way to make noise so people couldn’t sneak in with nefarious intentions. They actually sound beautiful.
After enjoying the palace, we took a walk around the grounds. Sadly the weeping cherry blossom trees were past their best but it was all beautiful, regardless.
Love the stone lanterns
The outsized stone block walls!!
And here is Maureen for scale!
We might have missed peak cherry blossom time, but the azaleas are starting in fine style.
We did find a small pretty area of cherry blossoms (cue selfie)
We finished up the day by having dinner with my long term friends, Mari & Koichi. I was shocked to realise it’s been 33 years since we first met! It was fabulous seeing them again. Mari never seems to change, even though she is a grandma now!
I am sitting in our little cosy bnb typing this before heading off to a good night’s sleep.
I meant to blog more before I left but things got hectic with my tooth (all ok for the moment there) and the weirdest rash on my wrist that wouldn’t shift with creams or two lots of antibiotics…so my brain is getting overexcited thinking my arm is going to drop off and I won’t be allowed into Japan. (Cue Jeff eyerolls)
I prettied up my new jeans with this ribbon that I bought in Japan a number of years ago. Mum is still in shock that I got out a needle and thread but I am sure she is proud haha.
So here I am.. showered and post nap in our accommodation.
The trip went fine, just was such a long haul as we went through Kuala Lumpur. The last 6 hour flight wasn’t good for me…got a little over anxious and was crook (more eyerolls … This time from me to myself) so it was a fair exercise in stubbornness to get through customs, out of airport, to train station to get to Kyoto (another hour and a half) then two subway trains and a walk to get here all with a dodgy tummy!!!
I might add I am proud of not getting lost once!
Maureen has been a trouper…shes tired and a bit stiff from sitting so long,but is as happy as a clam as after our nanny naps we went for a walk around the area.
(I suspect you might see a lot more selfies than you would ever normally expect while I am using my tablet. I’ll bring out the big camera when I go proper sightseeing)
Teramachi street is a very old shopping area…and it has the coolest most interesting variety of shops.
It was nice to get out and see a little of the area before grabbing a simple sandwich from a convenience shop for dinner. Didn’t want to push the tummy issue 😅
We’ll find some better food tomorrow
Small shrines are tucked in all along the street
Tomorrow we plan to just explore this area properly rather than dash off on trains to sightsee. Take it a bit easy.
Basket weaving shop!!!!
Well… I certainly need to get myself to bed. I’ll return with more news from Japan when I can! It’s nice to have the connection this time with my own tablet.
Hi. Jeff and I went for a drive yesterday. We ended up at Peggs Beach
There is a small area with a rocky platform
And its marvellous!
The details, colours, textures and patterns are amazing
Its a super photogenic area
We spent quite some time fossicking among the rocks admiring all the different natural artistic areas
Let me update you on my current challenges as you check out the rocks! Looks very much like I need a root canal or say a fond fare-thee-well to my tooth.
I’ve managed to make an appointment with my regular dentist who was kind enough to call me on his lunch break from his conference in Melbourne. That is booked for Monday so there go my plans to spend a nice day with Jeff. (was trying to fit in a few of those before Japan)
Then… I have a telstra issue (which will probably turn out more painful than the root canal) A couple of days ago they suspended my email account – compromised password or something was in danger. I dunno. All I know… sorting it out will be a colossal pain in the lower region of my anatomy
So, I take a deep breath to get in touch with Telstra and make the call. After several failed attempts of their automated system trying to send me an sms to a mobile phone I don’t possess … I get to a real person Part way through… got hung up on Sigh
(These incredible rocks are taking away a little bit of that ‘beating my head on the wall’ frustration)
So I call again. Go through the same rigamarole of failing to get an sms on my phantom phone and got to another person.
Bottom line – without a mobile phone I need to physically go into a Telstra shop with ID to reset my passwords and get my account active again.
I admit I am a fair bit pouty about this as I will scarcely get into basket weaving before having to scarper off – and I was planning on a leisurely time there because its my birthday tomorrow and it would have been a nice thing to do hanging out with the lovely people there. (Jeff sleeping off a nightshift)
Going into Burnie to do annoying boring things like this that wasn’t even my fault has me a bit miffed even though I am well aware its a first world problem and in the words of my Grandpa – “Little apples will grow again”
Given my problematic history with Telstra I have NO confidence that things will be sorted correctly tomorrow, but I have to do something as I need access to email while I am away.
Gosh this is quite the whingy post isn’t it?? I did have visions of swanning about packing and relaxing during this time – nothing that included dentists and telecommunication shops
On the bright side of today… in about 10 minutes I am going to head over to my friends place where I have booked in for a lovely long massage which I am sure will help my poutiness.
I’ll whip up leftovers for dinner so Jeff doesn’t go hungry before work and then maybe play around a bit more with my packing I’d like to shove everything I’ve collected thus far and weigh my pack before I over do things!
What else positive can I share? Oh I had a lovely FaceTime chat to one of my Japanese girlfriends who I am planning on going to stay with towards the end of the trip. So excited to see her and her family again. I’ve yet to meet her youngest daughter and see their new home.
I am currently stocked up on chocolate and lamingtons so I am going to light the fire tonight and possibly eat a lot of junk (haha… poor tooth)(I promise to brush well)
OKies… thats all the rocks and whining from me today
Oh dear. I thought only a few days had slipped by since I wrote a blog post!
I think things might have gotten a bit hectic? Not sure As you can see from above, I did my soap workshop. Great bunch as usual… only 4 this time. Included a husband and wife team which was really lovely! Everyone was super engaged and keen
Wendy chose to colour her entire batch with the lovely natural Brazilian Clay – and sprinkled in some lavender as a mild scrub
Jaimee played about with some embeds (Some for the kids!) and used the delightful lemongrass and exotic lime fragrance
Her husband Carl was keen to go as natural as possible – also went for the clay to colour and used peppermint essential oil for fragrance.
Sefronia also wanted to keep things natural, so used the eucalyptus essential oil and coloured her soap in part with the very subtle French green clay.
Somehow I haven’t gotten around to photographing the demo soaps. Its on my very long To Do list which doesn’t seem to get shorter.
I had my last market out at Rocky Cape. It was pretty slow really which was a shame but it was still a lovely day and venue, and I made more $$ than if I’d stayed in bed, so there’s the bright side 🙂 Tomorrow I am booked in to the dentist (sob) as naturally right before I am supposed to leave the country I am having a tooth issue. I couldn’t get in to my dentist until the 4th but thats WAY too close to take off time so I would be less anxious to get someone to deal with it ASAP. Fingers crossed it won’t be too traumatic.
I do have a massage booked in for tomorrow afternoon with a friend so that will be a much nicer thing to look forward to!
The weather has turned cooler – not sure how many of the tomatoes are going to ripen… BUT! I did get enough to make a small side dish of stuffed tomatoes and they were so good!
My cold is getting better quite smartly which is good. I’ve enjoyed a couple of reasonably quiet days. I did get into town to put all the market $$ safely onto my travel card.
I am planning on popping into basket weaving tomorrow and then on into town to run a couple of errands before having to make up some demo soap for Sundays workshop (Only 3 people but I am not too worried about that.)
I hope your week has been going well
xx
PS if you’ve not done stuffed tomatoes before: Cut and scoop out tomato middles into a bowl and mash up. Mix with chopped herbs of choice (I did oregano, thyme and chives) and added a bit of my garlic salt. Then mixed that in with some breadcrumbs and re filled the tomato shells, added a scrape of butter and a basil leaf. Under the grill for around 5 minutes (until toasty)
Hello! Well, I am home again after quite a busy few days. Maureen and I chose to go up on the Friday and get set up so we didn’t get caught up in the early Saturday morning madness (You all know how not fantastic I am at mornings so that was sensible.)
Jeff drove up too and helped unpack and set up our tents and stayed Friday – we all went out for gourmet pizza and on Saturday morning, he took off to hike up Mt Roland since Sheffield sits almost at its base.
The shed was huge! Our idea of creating a little walk in area for customers worked well combining both our stall areas
You can see how we had some stock at the front then people were able to come in and browse the tables inside the area.
Super excited to use my banner for the first time. I noticed people looking up to read it too over the three days to confirm what it was I was selling (ie soaps not sweets)
I really enjoyed seeing the ‘fruits of my labour’ all out on display.
I had plenty of stock and was able to dive into those clearly marked boxes to top up when the more popular soaps were dwindling on the plate. (The Japanese Honeysuckle, btw, was the clear favourite at this market! It was almost the first one picked up to sniff and its funny watching expressions as that one always seemed to bring on a ‘wow’ look)(Black Raspberry and Vanilla I think was the second most popular)
I even sold 4 of my gift boxed soaps!
Maureen also had a great time and sold a fabulous amount of her aprons! I think she almost sold out of the children’s ones! Her stall is so full of wonderful colourful items. She has some unique materials and they really attracted peoples attention. It was really interesting seeing what people liked and we’ve got ideas for next year (yes we’re keen to do it again)
We were still setting up at the stage of the photos taken here… then after we were set, people just kept coming in so I don’t think I got extra photos when it was all tidied and ready to go… we were in full swing!
Saturday was steady and quite busy. Sunday was even busier! The weather was gorgeous and everyone was out enjoying themselves. At one point Maureen slipped out to see if she could get us a sausage wrapped in bread for lunch- but the line went forever. So we stuck with the snacks we had (ahem… that Maureen brought along because I didn’t think that far)(Her husband Gerry baked us some anzac bikkies and rock cakes! So lucky!) Cousin Jeff’s wife, Alana, turned up to say hello! She heard about our snag dilemma and surprised us by returning with a couple! How nice was that? She said her kids were standing in line for the train so she thought she might as well stand in another line for the sausages! They were SO GOOD.
There was a train for littlies (very cute) and a mid sized train chooffing about the tracks giving people little scenic rides.
I really didn’t get much of a chance to get out and see what was happening beyond the market shed until briefly on Monday when things had quietened down. (We were all about sell sell sell haha)
There was some great machinery out and about – lots of noise, smoke, clanking and whistles. I walked into town each evening and the big steam machines were making their way to the middle of town to top up on water, ready for the next day.
There was a good amount of stalls in the big shed. We knew a couple of people and met a bunch of new nice people too. We did have a couple of challenges. The internet was slow so the payment square Maureen had was a bit testy a lot of the time on the busy days. We were relieved that it wasn’t just us being novices at it but everyone was having issues. Sometimes we’d take the customer outside to try to get a better signal. It was awesome Maureen got set up with it as even though we did take mostly cash, we also did a significant amount of sales using the Square.
The second challenge – dust. Oh my! I breathed a lot of it and it just coated everything. The floor of the shed wasn’t concreted or anything… just a big old dusty area! They tried watering it Sunday morning but were way too late and were kicking up more dust and mud… and customers were already on their way in. Monday morning they got in way earlier and watered it down which made a difference for the monday, but the bulk of the people and dust was on Saturday and Sunday!
I suppose my soaps are, in the long run, self cleaning!
Over all we did really well… lots more $$ to put in our Japan fund so that’s very exciting. I have a heap of stock left over so I have plenty for the Rocky Cape Market and enough to leave at Arty Duck to keep them stocked up too without having to do any frantic soap making to keep up.
I woke with a cold early on the last day which was a bummer… its freshened up today and I am tired and stuffy. I got home early evening Monday after a big pack up session. I didn’t bother unpacking the car until today… put the tent flies out to dry as of course it rained on the last night! I tried to rest but… I don’t think I did and now my eyelids feel hot and heavy.
So glad we went! We’re all keen for next year and even put our names down to snaffle the same spots. I am making promises to myself to get the frantic soap making done BEFORE January next time!
Thanks for all the encouraging words over my 6 week crazy soap making production – it was nice to share what I was doing with you all.
