A Few Purchases

One of my favorite things about being here in Japan are the wonderful Japanese things I can buy for the house. The base has annual bazaars that are amazing. This past bazaar happened to be the day after Jim left, so I felt a little sorry for myself and made a few purchases. Here is my new obi hanger and obi, hanging in our stairway. Obis are pieces of thick, ornate fabric used to tie around the waist of women wearing kimonos.



Here is the new bench in our entryway - actually from Indonesia, not Japan, but still very cool and useful.



And here is our new hibachi - an antique iron pot that held smoldering ash (this one is small, so it was used for warming hands, not cooking). I, however, have changed it into a slipper-holder!



I thought I would share our count down calendar, too. The flag above is a service flag, meant to hang in the front window of a home where someone is serving in our nation's wars. We thought it wouldn't be wise to show "Hey - this house is without a husband!!" - even though we are living in such a safe place! So instead, our flag hangs in our kitchen. The kids love crossing of the days - right now, we are counting down until we leave for VA.