i went to my friend's house for dinner with a salad dressing as a small gift

wrapped with chiyogami and mizuhiki cord.
it was fun and also easy!

mizuhiki is usually used to decorate envelopes made of washi.
these envelopes are presented to others to convey well wishing and to express thanks,
gratitude and condolence.

we can also use them for gift wrap.
i just updated my etsy shop and i've listed mizuhiki cord.
maybe you can try and decorate some gift with mizuhiki!

july 2012

Still raining here and
it rained very hard last night and the doorbell that water seeping in tripped the circuit breaker.
(I figured it out this morning though)
my son was excited in the dark rooms with candles but in the washroom...
anyway
we never realise how blessed we are
until you loose something...
that's what i thought in the dark room
when all the lights went down.

colors in June

i don't like rain much but love the colors in June
what we do in the weekends is

wake up early and

go to farmer's market

to get fresh summer vegetables,fruits

and flowers

i miss farmers markets in Vancouver

where  i used to buy peach corns, cranberry bread,

crepes, golden plums...

i really miss them and the extreamly beautiful weather in summer time

hope you are enjoying your own summer !!
have a great weekend!

digging for bamboo shoots

a friend of mine took us to a mountain to dig for bamboo shoots

it was a fun and you can tell

by the picture my son drew

i went to take these after i picked him up from preschool

sakura at sunset

don't you love the colors??

one warm Saturday afternoon

weather was just lovely

and we drove along coast

and had some lunch at a cafe

what a nice day

a happy morning

a happy morning starts with strawberry pancakes !

my sister sent us 7lbs of strawberries

and made some strawberry confiture this morning.

smells so sweet in the kitchen

new season

all i planted are doing great so far

and starts to feel like spring is around corner

i live in an apartment facing south but

doesn't get much sunshine in the afternoon

(lots of sunshine mostly in the morning)

even in the grocery stores

we see full of flowers and plants

every time i go there

seems like i forget to buy vegetables

and buy plants instead...

happy birthday

celebrating his birthday with my friend
she brought lots of balloons she made

(took 'til two midnight after work... many thanks to her)

he was so excited

decorating rooms with balloons and

decorating the cake with whipped cream & strawberries.

it was a really really

great time

it's still cold here and can' t believe that we still need winter clothes.
we've been a little sick for the past two weeks

and it was really nice to walk around the park this weekend

to know that the spring is just around the corner.
don't you love the coral color of Japanese plum?

btw, my son turned 5 on Friday and we've been decorating every meal

with candles and sing happy birthday.

a lovely morning

windy and cold winter here these days

a lovely moment with sunshine on Saturday morning

he was wearing my hat and gloves

and was ready to go outside to play,

swinging rocking chair

while i was spending some time with needlework

patching the tear on his pants,

practicing hiragana by himself (this was really good to see)

"oni" mask with socks & pajama thrown on the floor,

mini emboidery cushion from my friend,

learning alphabet with cookies

hope you are having a lovely morning too

what is your concern?

2012

happy new year !!!
we woke up a little late on the first morning of 2012
and we took a very nice bath with yuzu citrons
then ate "ozoni"
i spent 2hrs to cook "osechi" for new year dishes last night
very quickly,
which means no need to cook today and hopefully tommorow!
enough food to eat already so...
have some quiet and peaceful time tonight ,
hoping all of you will have a wonderful year :)