An unusually hot spring
It was 80 degrees yesterday and the magnolias all burst into bloom.
We’re taken by surprise.
Things that gain by being painted
Sei Shonagon lists “Things that gain by being painted: Pines. Autumn fields. Mountain villages and paths. Cranes and deer. A cold winter scene; an unspeakably hot summer scene.”
For Elizabeth, my mother, it was leopards chasing a gazelle. A bicycle race in Italy. A courtyard. Peonies in bloom. Goats.
For years she wanted a show of her work. When she moved to the nursing home I invited her friends to come over and choose something from her work to remember her with. She had her show at last.
Japan 2011: Tsukubai
The tsukubai in my garden
Tsukubai, stone water basins, are an important element in the gardens leading to a Tea house. In Japan we saw them in most every garden. They are used to rinse ones hands before entering the tea house.
What’s interesting to me are the shapes and design of each basin. Also of note is the way they are settled in the landscape. I have a Tsukubai in my garden and I’m studying how to plant around the basin and where to place the various stones.
Many of the Tsukubai in these pictures have moss growing on them, which is very picturesque, but for tea you would have a very clean basin.
