Concert of the Bees

Hello from Niino! This is one of the villages we teach English in.
The weather is warming and the flowers are blooming.

This is pretty much how I feel about it:

My handsome artist husband and I took a little trip to Iida last weekend to eat a Japanese potluck with our friends Eric and Mai. Eric has been studying the traditional Japanese instrument, the Koto, for about three years. He gave a beautuful performance after dinner, playing songs about Spring.

One song was called, "The Shape of Spring." Here's one of my ideas for the shape of spring:

This is the time to sit on the "pink carpet" made by fallen flower petals, drink sake and pretend that we aren't overworked and under appreciated... okay, not us: Mikel and I are enjoying our jobs and we are appreciated by our coworkers. But in general, people are WAY overworked here. If we drive by the school at 9pm, we can expect to see the teachers' room light on.
When I stand under a cherry tree, all I can hear is a concert performed by bees who are perhaps as busy as my coworkers.

Craft Land calls my name when I am at school all day! After school today I will be able to work on my newest jewelry-making technique: felted beads. I love it! I finally bought pre-dyed wool at a craft store in Iida and I am addicted. I am interested in making plant-like shapes to compliment my already organic jewelry. I can't wait to see how the texture of wool contrasts my other materials. I don't have any wool incorporated into jewelry yet, but here is a pair of recently made earrings:

I think they have a good mix of the spooky cuteness that I see everywhere in Japan.
Mikel and I listened to a good Studio 360 (an NPR podcast) about just this kind of cuteness.
Enjoy!