The Way My "Garden" Grows

The Cherry Blossoms on base today were AMAZING. Alicia was right! They were "nothing" on Sunday. Wow. The sad, sad truth is that I didn't have a memory card in my camera. Maybe I'll catch some tomorrow.

We did school.  Finished another missionary biography. I'm going to start one next where they live a long and happy life.

Several of us met to finalize plans on the upcoming Women's retreat. Everyone has such great ideas. This is going to be wonderful. Do be praying for the worship leader and I...we want anointing....God's words for us for this time.

Today was absolutely beautiful...and the wind was manageable. Wow - the DIRT all over our windows, on our patio and anything left outside, is amazing  from yesterday's wind storm.

Four days without talking to Michael.

We got a new-to-us oven. It's my new trick. If you don't want to clean an appliance, call FMO out on a service call. LOL  The man told me that I need to call FMO and ask for a transformer because it will work better. Evidently, they aren't standard here. WE didn't have one.

I weeded the front yard and started watering.

I've been bringing my plants in every  night and when we get terrible wind....Look at what I have now....

A strawberry!!!! Maybe we'll get more than one! Now I'm obsessing about CROWS.

Teeny tiny broccoli on all three plants...

But my lettuce....good grief. I have no clue what THAT is. I thought it said lettuce...but I'm not so sure now...and it's crowding out my LETTUCE....I was so dreaming of fresh salads...lots of green leaf lettuce under the monster plant. I can't decide if I should uproot it and plant my lettuce or leave it and see what it grows into. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Cool Field Trip

What a blast! Last night Twyla invited the kids and I to go with her to Star Bright Glass. Jim had found this place. It's a glass making/blowing factory. They'd been told that during Golden Week, you could bring kids in and he'd teach them to blow glass - at a discount.  It wasn't cheap - but it was GREAT fun.

Nolan, Stacia,  and Zander chose to come. We were able to ride in one car. Several had a turn. We went to lunch and came back and finished.

Very hot oven

Red hot - 1000*  hot glass...water, paper and sparks everywhere....

"Stacia" made a glass float.

Zander's Turn - he loved helping

Zander was a bit worried that the man misunderstood that he wanted to make a CUP.

Zander (Alexander) was thrilled when the gentlemen asked if his name was Alexander. He said that this technique was created 2,000 years ago by a Roman named Alexander.

We headed for lunch. Note: if there are tentacles in your roll, it's best to beware.

Nolan takes a shot at glass blowing

The gentleman told Nolan that the double line he got was "unusual". This will be a pretty cup too.

The only bummer is that we couldn't bring these home. We'll have to go back on Friday.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Much To do on Monday

I'm not sure where to begin telling today's adventures, but this is how it all ended.

It started early with school, really early so we could play. Michael, sorry to have missed you. Day four is sure to be the charm.

Twyla and boys met at our home at 9:30. We headed to Star Bright Glass in Hachinohe. That deserves its own post.  I DID  learn the way to Hachinohe...go out the subdivision, turns right and don't stop until the road T's. Relief to know how to get there without paying tolls. LOL We got home about 2:00 or so.  In the midst of a dust storm. It was so bad, I couldn't see the lane next to me to turn into our subdivision. This is after it settled down. Usually you can see across the fields, to a Japanese neighborhood and mountains. Yes, I did hang laundry before we left home. ::snort::

Back at home we finished school.

At Stacia's prompting, we went to visit the ponies. This photo ears the "amusing site - Japan" label.

The day was gorgeous. Much more wind here than Hachinohe...but it WAS very warm (60's I'm guessing). Spring must be here.

We found a safe way to the pond...a way that is "farmer approved". He stopped me again and reminded me to come fishing. He spreads his hands very big and tells me there are bass in the pond. He says we don't need a license.

Stacia quite happily pointed out the "bam boooo" or "baaaa boo"....

The Wind was WHISTLING and it was so fun to sit, while the boys made boats and the threw stones and watch the wind on the water, whist visiting with Arielle.

Farmer was quite concerned about Stacia's nose. He asked about it (and I understood what he meant). I pantomimed swinging and falling flat on her face. This made him laugh.

Stacia asked if I had some "dippin treats". This seemed to scream for an impromptu tea time. I "happened" to have all the treats from the Big Cake Bakery by Liberty Park.

We headed  to base for Jared and Arielle to be at Human Video Practice. (Michael, trying to get the video to load from yesterday).

The youngers and I ran to Stars and Stripes, the post office, the library and then crashed at Rick and Renee's. What a treat to have somewhere to crash when I'm in between events on base.

We received a box of books and an unexpected (to the kids) treat. Thanks, Beth.

I'd forgotten that Arielle LOVES Shells and White Cheddar. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Zander's Deployment Goal

Zander reads book 8 of the "Sam books". After the first read, I'd explained that when you see a "!" you should show STRONG feeling. ::snort:: I heard him reading and grabbed the camera.  Michael, he is  working hard on his deployment goal.

He'd reached a spot in the 100 Easy Lessons where he needed to build confidence and not keep checking a lesson off a day. These books are easier than where he is in Easy Lessons but I predict in a couple of weeks these books will match what he's learning in 100 Easy Lessons. Meanwhile, he continues to feel success with each new book....even if he isn't going to a new lesson every day.
Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Saturday - More blossoms and Festival Food

We decided to drive by our other favorite, nearby park - Swan Park - after we left Liberty Park.  We found lots of promise of Cherry Blossoms here too. We are going to HAVE to find time to visit parks this week. LOL

Zander ate most the food at the first park. There were food booths here too. I'm not sure if this is common in the spring/summer or if it is because of Golden Week. I suspect the later. We bought more yakitori - cooked this time and they gave me this. I haven't a clue what it is. I tried it. First, they patted their stomach. Then they patted the skin under their upper arms. I asked if it were fish, pork or cow...no....it's something that starts with a C.....it was free, we tried it. We're still not sure what it was. *See note below.

Jared Tastes Japanese Mystery Food

As we looked for a picnic spot, Jared remembered visiting the park with Nate and that there was a nice gazebo in the middle of the Water Lily park. When we'd visited before, it was all covered in snow, but we could tell what it was from the signs.

These were GREAT. Sort of a corn bread outing covering cheese.....corn dog without the dog. LOL

Misawa is beautiful in the spring......

*Kim reports the mystery food is konnyaku. (WHICH IS WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE!) It is made from a bulb of a plant called devil's tongue. Another word for the flour is "konjak". It has no taste. It comes in many different forms - some look like noodles. And no calories.  (THIS did taste - sort salty/fishy - but it was marinating in something...).

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Giant Cake

We've driven by this many times... I most usually comment...."We need to check that spot out sometime."

I pulled in today. It helps if the one making the comment is also the driver. ::snort:: WOW. Great selection of pastries, cakes, breads. She makes it all there in the shop. She also had a darling 5 yo.  I think we've found another favorite. Japanese bakeries are AMAZING. She's cheaper than my favorite bread bakery. LOL

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Saturday - Part 1 Liberty Park

We had a fantastic day! We decided not to deal with the traffic at Hirosaki castle during Golden Week. Instead we went back to liberty park.....

The trees around here as so CLOSE to blooming....

Zander picked Dandelions for me and his sisters

Got to the park and realized Stacia had a "foot in both countries"

This is a great "Third Culture Kid" photo

We hadn't been to Liberty Park since Nate was here...and there was snow on the ground then. It was a bit windy.......but very pretty. This week is Golden Week in Japan. I'll write more about that later. We knew there would be more people than usual....but neither park felt crowded. There were lanterns among the trees.

We plan to go back one evening soon and see the trees and lanterns. Another plus to this being Golden week was that there were booths of Festival food at each park. We had a new experience. I asked for the yakitori and the man gave it to us "raw". I said, "Um....can you cook it?" He dipped it in sauce and started to put it in the container. I pantomimed and pointed to the grill.  He briefly threw them on.....and there you have it...we had chicken sushi. Ugh. I bought one of these drinks to try. We like to try new things. I asked, "Oishi desu ka?" (Is this delicious?) and the honestly made a face and said, "No." ::snort:: We tried one anyway.  As we sat there the gentlemen came  up to show us how to open the bottle. He seemed to be saying that we should  punch the blue cap through the top. I did....

It exploded. Everywhere. They ran to bring towels and such to clean it up. I was covered in soda...the table was covered....It seems you punch the cap in it and HOLD IT DOWN for a bit, I'd slowly punctured it...and didn't have it firmly held down. LOL As we cleaned it up we knocked the yakitori over...the sauce and all....we were cleaning it up when Stacia started crying. The lady from the booth and I both looked at Stacia. She was COVERED in yakitori sauce! It was in her hair, running down her face. The lady was so sweet, wiping her face and telling her "Daijobu" and "Kawai" and other  terms of endearment.  What a mess.

The bottle has a cool shape and a marble in the neck....tasted like carbonated cough syrup.

Windy and the kids had headed to the beach when we headed to the park...but the beach was too windy. The kids were happy to find them at the end of our walk. They were happy to play. Love this big field.

What a wonderful young man, Nolan is becoming. I keep forgetting he's 11.

I'm so glad we decided to stay home and then decided to go check out some of our favorite spots.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...