Castle Town

Yes, Sakura City is a " Castle Town". In the days of warlords and samurai there was a Sakura Castle.

The central government in "Edo", now Tokyo, sent their officials out to the various areas. In order to insure these official`s loyalty to the Edo government, their familes remained in Edo, hostages? To show how important the officials were , there were very large entourages. Always included in the entourages were "intellectuals". "Intellectuals" in this period were priests. Officials took good care of their priests. Where ever they were stationed the officials built the priests temples or shrines as dwellings.

Another way that Edo insured their official`s loyalty was to move them around. This insured that the officials never became to close or chummy with the locals. When the officials were transferred their entourages went with them. The shrines and temples were left without priests.

If they were kept up, it was by the hands of the locals. Some, of course, fell to ruin.

Here in our small district of less than 70 households, there are two shrines and one temple.The residents have taken care of these over the years. There is a separate roster for each, and when your name comes up on the roster, your group, usually 3 or4 households, is expected to take care of that shrine or temple for that month. This means raking and sweeping the area and making it presentable for anyone who may come to pay their respects to the shrine.

Pictured today is the smallest of the three. Our group of 4 households was responsible for this shrine last month. We went in on the first and the fifteenth to clean up. I think that you can see by the picture that the shrine is well taken care of and loved.

If you stop by my blog, please feel free to leave a comment. I would truely love the feedback.
Thanks for stopping by!
Have a nice day!!

Summer Pickles

It`s SUMMER!!

There are lots and lots of fresh garden grown veggies!! I love to use these veggies for pickles.

cucumber 2
carrot 1
daikon(Japanese radish) 100gr
green, red, yellow, orange peppers 2@
celery 100gr
califlower 100gr
mushrooms 60gr

garlic 2(crushed)
salt 30gr
water 120cc
vinegar 360cc
sugar 70gr
only laurel and rosemary are required but dill, coriander, mustard seed, poppy seed, black pepper can also be used

1. put everything other than veggies in a saucepan and boil...set aside to cool
2. cut veggies into bite size and dump in a saucepan for a few seconds
3. put the veggies in a large jar and pour the cooled liquid from (2) over them
4. put a lid on the jar and refrigerate...usable after 1 day.... best after 2 days... keeps about 1 week to 10 days

Green beans, snow peas, corn, cabbage, onions, many variations are possible. Try them and find your favorites.
This makes a great side dish or addition to a green salad.

Sorting Garbage

Here in our City garbage is sorted before it goes to the curb.
There are six different categories that are sorted ,bagged and taken to the garbage sites.
1.Brown bags...Combustible garbage including kitchen scraps.　Pickup 3 times a week.
2. Blue bags...Landfill garbage...ceramic items, light bulbs, lighters, razor blades, etc. Pickup once a week.
3.Red bags...Cans...Pickup once a week.
4.Green bags..Bottles...Pickup once a week.
5.White bags...Other paper containers including tissue boxes, paperboard boxes,paper bags, etc. Pickup once a week.
6.Yellow bags...Other plastic containers and packages. Pickup once a week.
These six categories all go into city bags that can be bought at markets.
In my kitchen I have cabinets with pull-out hampers for the 6 different types.
Other types of garbage...
*Oversized garbage,which includes bicycles, pots and pans, furniture, bedding, etc. Collected on
a reservation basis for a fee.
*PET Bottles...plastic water bottles, etc. Markets have collection sites.
*Used cooking oil. Pickup once a month at specified sites.
*Used Dry－Cell Batteries...anytime at collection sites.
*Used Florescent lights...At collection sites such as storefronts.

Isn`t garbage a bore!
But it`s for the good of the planet...so I`ll do it!
How `bout you? Are you doing your part?

Remake Coke Crates

Here`s another remake that I`m quite happy with.

I`ve had these two Coke crates for a very long time. When the kids were very little I used the crates as shoe racks. Little shoes fit perfectly into the compartments. But... as we all know, children grow up, right? So eventually, their shoes got to big to store in the Coke crates anymore. For a while, I used them in the kitchen, but I was on the lookout for a better use.

Then a couple of years ago, I decided to do a complete remake on them. One that holds some of my sewing equipment has two shelves and a drawer.The other is now a magazine rack. I really like the new lives I`ve found for the crates.

Whaddaya think?

Have a nice day.