After another failed attempt at getting Trevor’s hair cut, we decided to cut our losses and go look around for a bike trailer. So far this one is the favourite. It is a bit on the pricey side so we are looking at our options. I have been keeping an eye on postings at work to see if anyone is selling these but they are so expensive and useful once you have them that people who have gone through the trouble of buying one keep them for years.

Other than that, I got some digging done and planted a few daylilies between the driveway and the path. Daylilies grow like crazy so, once I am done they should take over in a year or two. I have a lot of landscaping to do, particularly on the far side of the house where we will completely redo the area and perhaps put in a play structure or a sandbox. We will need to fence this part of the yard from the main back yard which I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do fully this year. I still need a good idea for the area in front of the fence because it has been completely taken over by weeds. We are going to put in a door as well so a little path is in order.

On the other hand, with all the other responsibilities I have, I should not be spending more than 3 hours a weekend on it. I will probably put in a bit more time in the spring and do less in the summer.

Nothing much happened this week. I biked to meet up with Chris after his baseball game and it took me hour and fifty minutes. That’s pretty bad considering that I could cover the distance in 45 minutes last year. But, not to worry, the season has just begun and I will get in shape.

Today I spent 5 hours weeding and mulching the front yard. I got about two thirds of it done with the trickiest parts still left to do. We bought nine bags of mulch and I’ve three left. It is crazy how red the red mulch is when you first take it out of the bag. It will be brown in a few weeks so I made a point of capturing it in a picture.

I was all dressed up and ready to go for the Diefenbooker bike race when it started raining. So instead, I will post a few more pictures from Japan.

Hibiya Park is a western style park in a busy business area of Tokyo. Chris and I were relaxing by this fountain watching several dozens of suits have a cigarette break before running off to work.

It was raining at Aichi Expo, but the evergreen mascots were still funny.

Me doing my best wire-fu in the bamboo forest next to the Nara National Museum. (Chris just realised that he’s seen every single movie listed in IMDB.com under category wire-fu, except for one that appears to be a Swedish comedy)

Nara National Museum has an outside display of a traditional Japanese house and garden. Here are some more pictures of it:

This giant tree at Nara Botanical Garden is remarkable because, apart from being a gigantic tree, it had fallen down and then started growing again.

Rice Paddy at the botanical garden

On to the famous Zen temple Ryoanji

Ryoanji Rock Garden was quite an experience. It is difficult to describe since it really depends on the imagination of the viewer rather than its own absolute design. It reminded me of the sea and islands on a steadily windy day.

The moss garden at the same temple.

Funny Trees at the Ryoanji Temple

Blossom Umbrella at the Ryoanji Temple

The last stop on our garden tour of Japan was the Nishi-Oyasiki-Ato Garden adjoining the Himeji Castle. The garden was built in 1992 based on archaeological excavations in the area. The location was the settlement of samurai families during the Edo times. There are nine different gardens, separated by walls that are at the location of the walls separating samurai properties. Each garden represents some essence of the Edo period. In concept this is similar to the Cloisters garden we’ve visited while in New York.

View from the restaurant

Chris and I enjoyed some nice eel in a pretty lunch box and watched the garden animals hang around the waterfall in this area of the garden. The orange spots are the koi fish.