Preparing for Departure

 

Hi everyone and welcome to the very first entry of my blog. This is more of a test run than an informative ikebana post. I hope to have more of those when I'm taking lessons in Tokyo.

For a while it didn't look like I was going to be able to handle a blog but I'm very lucky to be surrounded by smart and kind people, who did not give up on me and now I'm taking my first, tentative steps into this medium.

I want to acknowledge and thank Christopher James for helping me by setting up the blog and showing me how to use it. He has been very patient with me and generous with his time. I also want to thank my sister, Lucy, who has been, for years, systematically dragging me, kicking and screaming into the technological age. And where would I be without my brother-in-law, Peter who is our computer technician and the one we all run to with any computer related problems. And he solves them!

Warren and Dennis also contributed by installing simple photography software and have promised to teach me to use it.

And last but, by no means, least my long suffering ikebana husband who has supported and encouraged me in every aspect of my life. He is my 'rock' but don't tell him I said so.

As you can imagine, I've been very busy preparing for departure. Apart from spending every spare minute with my precious grandchildren, I must ensure that my precious plants survive. I have a half acre of high maintenance garden that I'm trying to prepare for my absence by weeding, pruning and laying lucern hay as mulch. I'm only half done. This incessant heat is making it impossible for me to finish.

I'm including a couple of photographs, again, as a test run. They are of the Strelitzia nicolai (tropical bird of paradise) and Strelitzia Reginae. I am very proud of them because I grew the plants and these are the first flowers.

I will be arriving in Tokyo on 17th March and will be posting on the blog soon after. For those of who might be interested, check in periodically and I would love to hear from you.

Strelitzia nicolai (tropical bird of paradise)

Strelitzia Reginae with branches that have a natural orange fungus growing on them