Food and drinks etc...

Japan's weather is so weird.  This year in particular but actually every year I'm surprised by the SUDDEN changing of the seasons.  One day we have the air-conditioning on and I'm wearing shorts and a tank top and the next day I'm in fluffy socks and a sweatshirt!  That's my attire for today (though I hear it is going to get hot again next week).  Being from Southern California there was such a subtle change in seasons that I wasn't even aware of it when I was a child, but this morning I'm cold!  Humans are hard to please!  Too hot or too cold, we (at least I) are never satisfied!

But the weather has changed enough so that farmers are beginning to harvest their rice fields.  The countryside is turning yellow though not into gold and oranges yet...

M-san brought me a bag of her family's first rice harvest of this year!

This week was again a quiet one and we stayed close to home  (well, this picture was taken when we were out a food court) and I did odd jobs around the house while Tetsu got out with a neighborhood gardening crew to help elderly neighbors with their enwieldly weeds.  Tetsu is looking forward to being able to sit back and relax in his garden after the hot summer which kept us indoors...

My lunch at the food court.  Octopus balls!  And they are delicious!!

Maybe more appetizing to some folks, a sandwich lunch I had when I went out with friends.

I debated for awhile about offering to make a wedding veil for my vet/friend who is getting married this November.  She and I have become very close since John came into our lives because she comes over once a week, mostly to speak in English but also to talk about John and any problems he's given us.  I have heard about her courtship with her husband (already registered at the city hall) though I haven't met him yet.  ANYWAY, she's asked for advice about numerous things and when she was giving me details about looking for a wedding dress (to rent in Japan, not to buy) I hesitatingly asked if it would be stepping out of my place to make her a veil...  I still happened to have the netting left over from Leiya's veil and I spent months making more tatting lace in the same pattern as Leiya's just because I like to tat.  So I figured I probably could make a veil... but a young bride probably wants to pick out something gorgeous (even if it is only to rent) rather than have something handmade...  I really dithered on this offer...  Should I or shouldn't I?  I showed my friend the materials and lace I had in a box and gave her the option of refusing before I even started but she seemed pleased so I went ahead and made it and gave it to her this week.  It isn't as long as Leiya's, and it is pretty simple now that I look at it.  Made by your own mother is one thing and Leiya was very forgiving but I kept saying to the friend "Now, if it doesn't match the wedding dress you picked out don't hesitate to return it.  Don't feel obligated."  We'll see...  The wedding is a closed one for family only so I'll only see photos someday but there you have it...

My vet brought John back on this day after I'd dropped him off in the morning for a shampoo and trim.  He's been looking pretty shaggy and snarled but of course he won't let us brush him...  Still he follows me around everywhere and when I am at home he rarely lets me out of his sight.

And here he is all sweet smelling and shiny!

My most recent loose sketch of the Japanese sweet shop where I stand at the crosswalk in the mornings.  

I sometimes have to remind myself why I am sketching/painting/scribbling every day.  I do it in hopes of getting better at drawing but there are days when I have to challenge myself to find something to paint...  A Japanese painting style I've become interested in teaches that focusing the heart into the painting is important... and then I wonder again if I'm just making a habit of it all and just filling up space in my bullet journal or on paper...  

I guess I'll stop thinking and go enjoy some matcha latte.