Sayuri's favourite garden - Karuizawa

My favorite garden was the deep green mossy garden of our previous house in Karuizawa. It was covered with beautiful moss and surrounded by azalea hedges.  Many tall larch trees made the garden like a small reserve for wild animals.  You could see squirrels, pheasants, titmouses and even wild boar.

I thought moss grew without any care but it was quite a job to keep moss beautiful.  They were very sensitive and we needed constant weeding.  Once weeds made their way into moss, it was almost impossible to get rid of them from moss and they made moss die.

When it's autumn, colourful leaves fell on the green carpet of moss like a beautiful picture.

In winter, white snow on the moss was like a playground for small animals and you could enjoy seeing several kinds of small footprints on it in the morning. 

It was only one year but we still have cherished the beautiful memory of our beautiful garden in our lovely house in Karuizawa.

Posted for Sayuri

The Secret Garden - Mary writes to Jane

Dear Jane,

Your letter brought back memories of a time in my childhood which changed my life. When I arrived at Misselthwaite Mannor from India, I was so rude and spoilt girl. At first, I didn’t listen to the housemaid, Matha, but then I began to like her because of her friendly attitude.

One day, I heard from Martha about the secret garden which locked up ten years ago after Mrs. Craven died. When I was watching the robin in the garden and found the door under the leaves when the wind blew the ivy on the wall.

One night I heard the crying noise. I followed the noise and met with Colin. After I came to Misselthwaite Mannor, I could have my garden and also have some friends who are Dickon and Colin. Not only Matha’s friendly attitude changed me, but also these friends made me strong through the gardening physically and mentally.

 Mary

My favorite things to do when it rains

In October, it rained every weekend.  Two big typhoons came to Japan and I couldn’t spend my family time outside.  When it rains, I usually make something by origami paper at home.

Origami is an art of folding paper.  When I was a little child, my grandmother taught me how to fold papers to make bird, box, boat, flowers, etc.  It looked like a magic and I loved the time with my grandmother.

The traditional origami paper is in standard colors with no patterns, but recently there are a lot of origami papers in different types of patterns, like Japanese traditional patterns or modern stylish patterns. 

I also learned there are many blogs introducing ideas how to fold papers to make fancy home decorations.  Then, I started making stars and put them on walls or string them down from the ceiling.  I pick up blue and green papers for summer and replace them to red, green and white for coming winter season.

Now I am preparing a Christmas wreath.  I am going to fold over a hundred origami papers to make flowers, and then put them in a hoop.