Saturday, August 4, 2012

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Video update (may)

The seedling convoy, building and testing the slide, planting the blueberries, making the tunnel. 30 mins long - roughly edited. (click on large if you have the bandwidth) Next installment - the flood ! [ sorry ! link down with mobile me, will upload again soon ! ]

Thursday, May 17, 2012




first update in ages 
we have been back in kamaishi Cosmos for a month now
all a few Kgs plumper from Saeko-sans wonderful cooking
and the childrens permaculture park is starting to take shape
lots of spring rain blessing the plants we have in the ground 
and generally hindering all other outdoor progress
allowing us to brew bread and bake beer 
mmmm

1000 seedlings on a 4ton truck . leaving chiba
arriving safely
handled with love and affection
the fine art of greywater management
we will plant apricots over the cafe greywter , good on alkaline (dishwater) soils 
mike collects willow cuttings for his living willow sculpture architecture thingie
aina-chan directs the job
and fixes up all mikes mistakes
free wood for the oven from the local wood mill . the offcuts arriive in a bundle 
and are sliced up like a roll cake ... the skinny bits of wood are perfect for the bread oven .
Emi-chan fires the oven for pizza 
emi-chan fires david
pizza !

 fine loaf

yoshiros finest
meanwhile these strange creatures keep appearing in the garden 
 i have heard that permaculture gardens attract a myriad of wildlife
popping up all over the show
 red bellied gecko
 pregnant ? just eating too much like all of us here at cosmos
meanwhile , inside we are painting a flying carp kite for childrens day . Emu-chan kawaii

wild icecream , stern nieces
all the important things
An-chan and mike painting a mud and grass seed mix on the spiral tumble in hole thing .
100 blueberries arrive for the blueberry wonder jungle maze
the deck going on the upside down tree house fellow
a view of the new deck from the old deck

 keita and yochan tickle the armpits of the big fellow
and the first is floor nearly done
thorough testing by our in house stunt clown
keita does all the work

yoshiro tests the structure
 beds made
and it arrives !
a fine slice of slide ...
still thinks its a tree ... fresh from the forest . japanese cedar

though it was a set of stairs for a few days 
thorough testing by inhouse chief of child antics , Aina

night sliding' . Naho-chan and aina
we think thats an OK
mike's playing with rainbows
and petting mud and seed on the roll around helix hole
for a perfectly formed trip over the round bound down dip 
 now with fire !
emu-chan , aa-chan , mimi making signs for the new hangout joint under the deck
emu-chan of hamadaraka
"happy faces in full bloom"
break for lunch
anchan and yoshiko skin the trees
the love shack
emu and an

aachan
and mimi document everything
you should get one of these large rakes . they are excellent
kita-san begins to sculpt the storytelling throne
and all is coming along wonderfully . big party planned for the next day
and it starts raining. and raining. and raining...
and now we have a lake park
the beds set sail

keita goes after the beds
aina goes to save keita

2 days later ... ummm ... still underwater 
nothing for it but to bake beer and wait it out

may take a while

everything looks like this around here at this time
it lifts the spirits !

giant tulips . or tiny people ...
the story telling throne in the foreground , the sun and moon theme from otoosans shrine
laying in the sheet mulch over the greywater system . enter the seedlings
aina directs the papa
phil testing the tunnel
before its installed

anchan taking a bath with the cherry blossom fairy
now putting the finishing touches on the underdeck kids bar and hangout - kodomo shotengai
yoshiro and debi loitering outside waiting for opening time
aina diects the proceedings
the service is impeccable
without fault !

nori sings at the opening
nori-san arigatou
phil's extra special crazy gourd selection
aina directs the gourds
 other bits and pieces
 maiko and otoosan papa make the safety rails for the first floor slide launcher

saeko-san teaches us about wild vegetables ... 'sansai'
the brown one is tsukushi,  an ancient plant that propagates via spores , not seeds







they make it to the table thus




yoshiko studies wild veggies from other local experts as well

 the roll about cascade dimple trench in the evening light 
 yocchan does the 'really happy about the big bit of driftwood safely on the truck' dance

the excitement of dinnertime

after dinner chuckles , miki , papa and friend
bar yoshiro . good .
bring on the good times , anchan rocks and debichin blurs

nomisugi

see you soon xxx