Archive for June 2010

30 June 2010

red & orange (& blue)


The tomato plants have started growing like crazy lately! We've even been able to pick a few red and orange cherry tomatoes. I've never liked cherry tomatoes before, but I love the taste of these ones.


Unfortunately, the insects like my garden just as much as I do, and the caterpillars in particular have descended like a plague of locusts, annihilating entire nasturtium and arugula plants and happily destroying basil plant after basil plant. There's also something out there that loves eating my tomato plant leaves. It's pretty gutting, and while I try to be zen about it, it totally makes me want to cry in ways that are very embarrassing, or at the very least to smash the caterpillars I do catch in a fury of blind vengeance for destroying all my hard work (though I don't, because smashed caterpillars are disgusting).


Above: the last of the strawberries.

Despite the bugs and the recent rain, the garden is still my favorite place in the apartment, and I am capable of spending way too much time sitting outside (armed with a mosquito coil) listening to audiobooks and knitting:

Above: Right now I'm one sleeve and one front side away from finishing this cardigan, because nothing makes you think of heavy wool and sweaters more than a muggy Japanese summer! Pretty yarn is courtesy of my stepfather, as atonement for destroying my much-loved hand-knitted Owls sweater in the dryer this January.

Possibly somewhat over-ambitiously, I am hoping to knit six sweaters by December 31st (including the mostly-finished Vivian cardigan I started way back in December and then put down.) Last year I made four sweaters, two of which were fit to be worn in public, so I'm hoping to improve on that track record this time around. Fortunately, Iain doesn't seem to mind stepping over the multitude of yarn balls that find their way all around the apartment. I try to make up for both the mess and my occasionally (OK, constantly) missing details while we watch TV due to knitting by making him stuff too:

... although who knows when he'll actually want to wear this. It is *miserably* hot right now, which is why I am writing about wool rather than doing anything so disgusting as actually touching it.

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27 June 2010

ajisai in kamakura



It's hydrangea season all of a sudden, so there are ajisai everywhere now. They're not as striking as sakura - or maybe I'm just more used to them since they're more common back home - but they do make our morning drives to work that much prettier. Last weekend, we went to Kamakura, where the ajisai are supposed to be particularly nice, with some of Iain's students - the same women who took us out on our nature walk a few weeks ago, plus one of my students (who's married to one of Iain's students) and their super-cute son.

Kamakura does indeed have some beautiful ajisai. Unfortunately, everyone else in Japan was also there, which means said ajisai were often obscured by the hoards of zoom-lens-wielding flower enthusiasts.



Crowds aside, it was still nice to get out of Numazu for a bit (something we rarely do) even if the hoards of people quickly reminded us of just how much we love our city and it's comparative quiet.


Above: As you can see, I only have "slightly good luck" at the moment. Also, I am more than a little alarmed that I have to stay vigilant against arranged marriages.


Above: I often claim I didn't play with Barbies as a kid, but that's only because my dad brought us back the far cuter Licca dolls from his business trips to Japan instead. So this photo is for Maggie - check it out, she has way cooler hair now.




It was nice to go to Kamakura, and to have a fun day out with some of our students, who are so nice to show us around and explain things to us; some of Iain's students in particular are fairly low level and I can't imagine how exhausting it must be for them to keep us in the loop using English, but I really enjoyed getting to hang out with them outside of work. I have my doubts about going anywhere just to see seasonal flowers framed by some very specific view, though - there are some places in particular that have become such famous backdrops for the flowers that the stampede of photographers (to me, at least) obliterates whatever it was that made the view beautiful in the first place, especially since you all emerge with identical photos. Meanwhile, on Saturday when we went up to Kanuki, there were ajisai everywhere and not a zoom lens (or another person) in sight - so much nicer!

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26 June 2010

kanuki in the mist


The rainy season so far has been less about rain than it has about humidity, which envelopes our apartment in a heavy fug but which makes makes the weather outside actually really nice, at least when the weekend rolls around and you don't have to worry about keeping your work clothes looking nice. I posted photos of Kanuki mountain back in April, but it's even more beautiful when it's covered in rainy-season mist. It's still just as deserted, too, which makes hiking there pretty amazing.



Does this bathroom look like an owl to you too?

Kanuki as seen from the banks of the Kanogawa.


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21 June 2010

in which i finally figure out how to upload video


Above: it's Genki! *

Japanese stationary stores are much cooler than American stationary stores, and the seasonal greeting cards (for pretty much every occasion and currently blooming flower imaginable) are no exception:

Above: Happy Ninetieth Birthday, Grandma Tokuda! When I was a kid, my grandmother wrote the best letters; one of my favorites is of her describing a firefly-filled summer trip she and her family took to Japan (by boat!) when she was about eight years old.

Check out what happens when you push the button:


Above: So much cooler than an e-card. Also, also check out: uploaded video without youtube! Finally!

* The family dog when I was a kid. He was basically a bastard, but I still have a lot of fond memories of him and his bastardly ways. And yes, I know you're snickering at the name if you speak Japanese and therefore know that 'genki' (ie, 'healthy, energetic') is the standard response to "How are you?" but, Iain has a HUMAN student named Genki, so, it's not just my family!

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20 June 2010

happy birthday dad!!


above*: this is how I remember much of my childhood. The archetypal "dad" in my head always wears a baseball hat and has a mustache.

Today is both my dad's birthday AND Father's Day, which means twice as many exclamation points when I say YAY FOR DAD!! My dad is awesome. I am grateful every day for having such a kind, adventure-having, amazing-salad-making, Homer-Simpson-quoting Dad, who I don't get to see nearly enough but who I miss terribly all the time. Happy Birthday/Father's Day Dad!

Also, a very happy and heartfelt Father's Day to all the other dads I know, like my stepfather John (good luck on your sailboat race!!), all of my uncles and of course my grandfather Monty. I don't see any of you nearly enough either, but I think of you all often and with lots of love. Happy Father's Day!!

* Apologies for the quality of the photo, which prevent you from taking in the full detail of my cereal-bowl haircut or being able to figure out which team my dad was supporting: while talking to my mom on video chat, I asked her to hold up a photo, so what you're seeing now is a screen shot of a Skype chat.

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13 June 2010

Kanogawa Epic Cycle Run!


Every weekday morning begins for me with a drive alongside the Kanogawa River and the Numazu mountains to a factory, where I teach everyday and where Iain teaches three days a week. Since both of us love the drive, we decided to take our bikes out today on more or less the same route so we could enjoy it a little more. (As a side note, I did not know the term "cycle run" until I went to Scotland and Iain's sister suggested taking one; at the time, I thought she meant something along the lines of, riding your bike for a bit and then going for a jog, possibly while holding the bike, because I am a genius.) 



All week, my students have been issuing ominous warning about the rainy season beginning on Monday, so now seemed like a good time to go for it, particularly as the clouds overhead in most of these pictures seem to be proving my students right.



There are really nice bike paths along most of the river, so, aside from one detour that involved Iain having to heroically push our bikes up a steep, unpathed hill, it was a really nice, flat ride. We drove through farms of all sizes:




... and lots of rice paddies that are just starting to turn green:




Above: on a work morning, that white van is us! 

It was really nice to take our time and to just be able to take in a bit more of the scenery we rattle past at 50 km/hour every morning. You can spend a lot more time admiring the Numazu Alps...


...or noticing quirky details that you'd never otherwise see, like this weary (bored? sleepy?) looking statue:



...or just plain weird things, like this sizeable bridge to ... nowhere:



Most disturbingly, though, were these creepy plastic doll heads that wandered straight out of a horror movie to guard some dude's vegetable patch:


Above: Come play with us FOREVER, Iain and Mikka.

Seriously, if we promise to stay away from your eggplants, will you take your creepy serial killer trophy heads down?


Fortunately, not 10 meters away was the world's best antidote to the horrors of the Children of the Eggplant:


DUCKLINGS! So, so many ducklings in mud. Awesome.

Three hours and some seriously sore legs later, we are home, where, like clockwork, the rain began about an hour ago. 



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10 June 2010

japan through a holga!


I love Holga cameras, even if I sometimes guiltily suspect that the dreamy vignetted style of the resulting photographs means you can slack off from behind the camera, as the photos look amazing no matter what you do. At any rate, after Yuka told me about the cheap film processing here, I asked my mom to send me my much-loved Holga (thanks Mom!), which had been languishing unused for two years now. It just seemed prohibitively expensive to bring it along to Europe or Vietnam, though now - having gotten back first few rolls - I wish I had, because Holgas = awesome. 


A shrine in Shimoda, which reminds me that I never got around to finishing writing about Shimoda! Next post, I swear. Also, it turns out Fuji Provia slide film produces really vivid colors while still being a bit dark and moody, which I like a lot. 


An exceptionally nasty dog that tried to eat me, in Numazu.


Kite surfing! 


Over the next few days, you can see bigger copies of these and more at my photoblog, which I am trying to be better about maintaining.

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08 June 2010

citric acid and saran wrap


 above: (yes, that's an old copy from New English File Elementary mopping up the kelly green)

A couple weeks ago, I got it into my head that it would be an awesome idea to start trying to hand-paint my own yarn. I love variegated yarns, mostly because I have a very finite attention span while knitting and the changes in color keep me from getting bored; also, I love any activity that requires one to commandeer the kitchen (sorry, Iain) and make a huge mess. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea, even if the last time I dyed anything was ten years ago and I walked around with purple hands for a few days afterwards.


above: the impressively sculptural tower of saran wrap in the middle is so I can neatly wrap up the yarn afterwards.

I've been intrigued by the possibility of making your own natural dyes ever since I watched an old lady in Laos dye a skein of silk red with a handful of crushed nutshells. But it turns out, natural dying is a pretty big (and not as safe as you might think) undertaking to set up in a tiny, temporary kitchen, so, after a quick foray around the internet, I decided to go with acid dyes instead, as they seem relatively low-impact and not terrible for your health, provided you don't snort the dye powder, which is why I am wearing this incredibly fetching dust mask below:



Above: ...and now it's on the internet to be preserved forever and ever! 

So last week I dyed two small skeins to get a feel for the whole process. Sexy mask aside, the painting (pictured above) is definitely fun, creative, and well worth the prep-time. I did go a little overboard on the variegation the first time around, but at least I learned what not to do next time. 



Above: hooray for the 100 yen shop for selling me cheap dyeing utensils. 

After painting, I steamed the yarn in the saran wrap for 30 minutes before rinsing it out. The green skein, above, was a bit too neon for my taste, so I put it back in the dye pot with some dark green dye in hopes of muting the color a bit. 


Afterwards, the green washed out quite a bit - I'm not sure if it's because the green skein is silk (whereas the red was wool) or because of that last-minute decision to over-dye the whole thing darker, or what. But at least it won't stop traffic now and there's a chance someone might want to wear it. 


The red skein came out much more vividly - a bit too vivid and with too many changes in color for my personal tastes. Still, it was a lot of fun - I can't wait to do it again! 

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