Let's Play With Garbage!

Lets Play with Garbage!

OK, I have finally gone 'public' with my new little creation. 

It's all about having fun with the kids, but at no major expense to the environment.

Have a look at the site and do get in touch if you have any awesome suggestions!

Thanks.

The abandoned garden

It's amazing what happens when you let all the mundane things in life take over.

I haven't had half a chance to look after our flowers and plants since the last post. The flowers are drying out, it's too hot to hope that they will look after themselves and I am just watching them die.

However, this will change and soon!! The survivors are doing well...

This year's Anthurium...pink!!

Morning glory! 

Hello!

At the lake! Huge flower - what is it?

Everyone has these outside their house...they grow well, easy to flower and very colourful...but what is it?!

Sunflowers!

Even with a rainy season here, I shall not be beaten!

And to think I was SO excited when the seeds sprouted......

But, now that the flowers are out....YAY!

Monday

Pre-typhoon, cloudy Tuesday morning

Pre-typhoon, rainy Tuesday afternoon

Wednesday morning in post typhoon sunshine!

Thursday!

The pots of sunflowers are growing well (large & small seeds) and my sunflower patch....well, I shall have to wait and see. Yesterday, they were fine...

Pre-Typhoon

Post-typhoon

But, today, not so! These little critters were on there today chomping away....

Caterpillars

Can you see the kemushi peeking out??

And, last week, I caught the old kemushi having a go at a leaf...It's a wonder these have survived at all! The garden is so enclosed that it's a delight for woodlice, ants, mozzies and so on...eeek!

.....A few days later and I think the typhoons have passed!

The sunflowers at the front are blooming nicely and the ones at the back are actually bending and stretching towards the sun! Let's hope they flower as that was where last year's sun(non)flower was.....

My neighbour wasn't convinced about planting seeds in pots.....!!!

Oh, how I love the sunflower!!!!!

A feather in your (shower) cap

OK, so I don't write a post (been too busy) for ages and I come back with THIS>!>!>!

small size

regular size, just like a shower cap!!

But, it is great!

Ian discovered these the other day just in the 100yen store. It is eco friendly, saves on the old cling film etc, but, in short, it is basically A SHOWER CAP!!

It does the job and does it well AND protects the environment so who are we to complain!!!

Annular Solar Eclipse / 金環日食

Like an eager kid, I prepared my personal cardboard pinhole! -  Fortunately, in true 'Lee' style, it was Hello Kitty packaging!!

The day began sunny enough - this was at 0640, when I woke so fast thinking I had missed it! Seriously, I don't get out of bed that fast for work... 

 It quickly clouded over, allowing us (kind of) to look at the sky, but not give us a great view of the sun and moon together.

But then, here and there, little breaks in the cloud provided the answer to my prayers!

The moon in action!!

If you look closely enough...

Reflection on the rice field...Er, you had to be there!

Through the power lines!

Through the funny glasses

Eighteen years ago, I witnessed the full eclipse in Cornwall, England. The whole place went dark for five minutes and the cows went to sleep and the birds stopped singing. This morning, it was more of a sight to behold than a sound not to hear. We didn't have glasses (didn't know about the eclipse until the last minute!), so, I made the pinhole, but it wasn't bright enough for shadows. Our neighbours and some fellow dog walkers shared their specs with us and we were lucky to share in this unique moment in history.

Animal Walk Tokyo!

This year, the money went to help the animals at SALA (Save animals, Love animals) and we were lucky enough to meet some of the dogs staying with SALA right now.

The second AnimalWalkTokyo was a great success (Read about last year's HERE).

The turnout was once again a good one and some similar faces were there too.

Marley

Lucky Marley!

The first creature that caught my eye was an Elbi look-a-like! So I was happy, although again, I wished I could have brought him in! Marley (the 17kg Frenchie) was lucky to bag a ride with mama at the back of her bike!! It gave me more ideas for Elbi, although I should probably limit myself to the pram!!

The walk was a lot quicker than last year even with the inevitable stops for snacks. It was nice to see families and newborns even enjoying the event.

So well behaved!

Maku 7 months old.
A rescue dog from Fukushima, now with Sala.

Hello :)

Marley guarding the donations box

There was tight security - Those funds were precious.

To round of the walk itself, cookies were on sale for 200 yen a pop. They were delicious and each cookie sold would pay for a meal for one of the dogs at SALA.

Catching up with V, left and finally meeting a wonderful animal lover and tireless volunteer, K

To accompany all the chit-chat, the catch ups and the barking, there there was some delightful music form a husband - wife duet (whose performance name I forget....doh! They are at  'What the Dickens?' tonight...). It made for a wonderful morning in the breezy sunshine!

And for me, it is a day out in Tokyo! These days, it's a rare occurrence; it's so far from home and, like Marley, I get tired easily!!

Pooped!

Au naturel - air freshener!

OK, time to share the recipe as it has worked so well and is so yummy and divine and....natural! Happiness!

Stewing in vodka!

Blinging up the bottles!

Take the zest of some lemons (I didn't even use that many) and add to some vodka (again, there wasn't much left....!) and let it sit in an airtight container and stew for a few days.

After that, simply add water to the mix, choose some oils and serve it up in something pretty!



It's the best air freshener ever!

(Scents so far include, lime, lemongrass, rosemary and a mix with lavender and marjoram!)

Note - this could work as an anti mozzie repellent if you add citronella oil!!!

(The mix I made just a few days earlier with the bicarbonate of soda, lemon juice and water with essential oil failed. The lemon juice goes off to quickly if it isn't preserved with alcohol and it was no longer freshening the air. It did make for a good laundry detergent for some smelly shoes, mind!)