Friday 25 December 2009

Wednesday 23 December 2009

quiet heat..

love the way you can heat a room and boil ya kettle at the same time ; )

Tuesday 22 December 2009

winter solstice

with yoga nidra and temple food, very peaceful evening ☆

Monday 21 December 2009

Thursday 17 December 2009

big dump of snow...

ahh finally i am happy, something wonderful about cold white fluff falling from the sky..

Sunday 13 December 2009

an old well.....

you can see where the chinese character for well came from...

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Tuesday 1 December 2009

waiting for snow...

doing a lot of yoga....and other stuff....things you do while waiting...

Sunday 29 November 2009

if only...

my mind were as clear and calm as this lake..

Tuesday 17 November 2009

talk about colour..!

and 3d effect, these leaves were springing off the wall, parts looking like very bushy brows..

Sunday 8 November 2009

last day...

for this year at the beach...nice fun waves to finish with...was a little chilly though..

Saturday 7 November 2009

Friday 6 November 2009

looking at mt. zao..

from the top of dragon mountain.... ; ) the mountain that presides over yamagata city...

Monday 2 November 2009

sweets in hot water..

a kind of sugar cracker filled with bean powder which disolves into the hot water making it like a sweet soup....anyways it was very good!

Sunday 1 November 2009

purple daikon....

that turns pink when you put vinegar on it!!!! talk about colourful food!!

Friday 30 October 2009

giangantic chrysanthemum

in city hall, they are all over the place right now, huge!!

Thursday 29 October 2009

kindergarten halloween....

they were trying their hardest to make scarey faces...

Wednesday 28 October 2009

more scariness...

some dead and dried, mumified, creature on the altar in the temple...what and why? anyone know??? oh and lots of swords were on the walls....again, anyone know why?

Tuesday 27 October 2009

mountain round the back....

of the temple...past the scarey looking stone man with sword...

Sunday 25 October 2009

Saturday 24 October 2009

temple tucked away...

2hours walk from the road up up and up where the bears live, i got my first smell of bear! i've never smelt one before but you sure know it when you do!!

Wednesday 21 October 2009

lama in town...

it's not everyday one meets a lama from nepal in yamagata....

Monday 19 October 2009

just love the names..

this is the mountain spirit shrine on dragon mountain..!

Friday 16 October 2009

up a mountain to relax....

and you can just see the tiny dark square in the middle, that's the highest building in yamagata city, 24 stories...

Thursday 15 October 2009

how i felt..

for some reason this seemed to sum up exactly how i felt today... burning the rice fields...actually smelt pretty good!

Wednesday 14 October 2009

temple of the sun and moon...


a direct decendent from india the home of hatha (sun and moon) yoga.... look another elephant!!

Tuesday 13 October 2009

elephants on shrines...

and very happy looking elephants at that...anyone know why a small number of japanese shrines and temples feature elephants, remanents of the culture that buddhism entered this country from...or did ganesh come too?

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Tuesday 6 October 2009

calorific....

plum tart, it's the most fattening things i have, perhaps, ever made.....also absolutely delicious ; )

Monday 5 October 2009

made bread..

ooh did it take a long time, but it was worth it...yum!!!

Sunday 4 October 2009

special full moon day ...

not only is it a rest day from yoga practice today....but you can see the full moon in the east....
and the sun in the west...at the same time...awe inspiringly beautiful...

Saturday 3 October 2009

moon viewing day..

it's official on the japanese calender....view the moon and eat sticky rice cake balls, did that and tried to grab the moon too ; )

Saturday 26 September 2009

japanese sweets..

never tire of the variety of shapes and sizes of sweets here ; )