karin's quilt pouches

I stayed up late at night--
not all night but until two this morning.

I finished sewing these three pouches.

I'm afraid I've done them too quickly and carelessly.



The meeting I was going to attend today was cancelled.
As the rain stopped, I went for a walk in the neighborhood.

( kuri-flowers )




( ume )


( tsuyu-kusa )


( ajisai, hydrangea )

photos from Ms. A (2)

These are the photos of Spitzkoppe
which is in the northern center of the Namib Desert.

There are a lot of strange rock mountains
in Spitzkoppe, Ms.A wrote to me.

She climbed one of those rock mountains
and saw innumerable stars in the sky
lying in her bed on the rock.

It was the most beautiful night sky
she had ever seen, she wrote to me.

photos from Ms. A (1)

Ms. A, my friend in Niigata, came home
from a faraway country, Namibia.
Namibia is a country in Southern Africa.

Ms. A went to that country, walked around the desert
and thought of life--how to live.

"Everything in the desert inspired courage in me,"
Ms. A wrote to me.

I've just received five photos she took in Namibia.











Ms.A, in the middle, with two local guides

a pleasant Saturday

Yesterday Mrs. M told me to go for a drive in her own car.
I enjoyed the drive very much.

I met her at a station near Tokyo Station.
She came driving her large foreign-made car.

"Where shall we go? Any place will be OK,"she said.
We had not decided where to go beforehand.

"Oh, I'd like to go as far as we can! I'd like to see the sea,"
I said.

"How about driving to Inubosaki in Chiba?"she said.
"It's wonderful!. I've never been there yet," I said.

It was a long pleasant drive.

We climbed the steep and narrow spiral stairs
to the observatory of Inubosaki-Todai.

It was a cloudy day yesterday.
The sea and the sky merged together.

I enjoyed the smell of the sea.
The boundless sea made me fresh.

After leaving each other,I took a train on Chuo Line.
I was bold to talk to a German lady who sat next to me.

She looked as old as I am.
She was a college teacher of German.
We enjoyed talking a lot in English.

She said it was her first experience that she was spoken to
by a Japanese in a train.

She said she also had a wonderful time.
She said, "Let's enjoy our life!"

She recommended me to read the following book.
I think I will read it.

The book is--'tuesdays with Morrie' written by
Mitch Albom, published by Anchor Books.

I had a pleasant Saturday.
Thank you, Mrs. M-san.

postcard from Namibia

I attended the Harmonica Circle in the morning.

I just cleaned the living room of koharu's house
before nobody came home.

koharu's new homeroom teacher was coming
to koharu's home around four o'clock..

I came back to my apartment as soon as koharu's
mother came home.

On the way back I went to a farmer's field.
I saw his cornfield and potato filed.
All plants were growing.

When I arrived at my apartment I found a postcard
from Namibia.
One of my young friends wrote to me in Namibia.
Do you know where Namibia is?

Oh, you thought of me when you were in a faraway
country, A-san!

I'm so happy to receive your postcard, A-san.
I feel greatly encouraged by your postcard.
Thank you, A-san.









( dunes in Namibia )