It's Cherry Blossom Time

The cherry trees in the park are in full bloom (mankai) and people are making the most of the short lived beauty of the cherry blossoms. Yesterday on our morning walk in the park I snapped a few shots of the girls with the cherry blossoms. Dixie wasn't being very cooperative and was more interested in what picnicers had left behind! As many people just leave their trash on the ground after these cherry blossom viewing parties I have to be careful that Jazz and Dixie don't pick up and eat anything.

Life is Good

This week has been great - not having to work and doing things I love doing such as being with Jazz and Dixie, walking and gardening. We have been going on two hour walks taking in lunch at the burger shop and afternoon tea and enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms. Tomorrow I will take some better pictures of the cherry trees around here when we go out on our walk - I just have to remember to take the camera so I don't have to rely on my mobile phone!

Sun Lizards Part 2

Today is another gorgeous spring day - we are going for a top of 19 and there is no cold wind today. Seeing as the girls enjoy the sun so much and I'm here at home with them again I put their cushion outside on the balcony in the sun and they soon migrated out there. Dixie was a little too busy though inspecting the new plants I planted yesterday. Most of the things die off in the winter so I had to replant many of the herbs and put in a few new hanging pots for petunias.
I wish I had even just a small garden but I have to make do with the balcony for now.

Fun in the Sun

Jazz and Dixie love lying in sun spots in the apartment and now with the spring sun they are able to soak up some rays every morning. They share a medium sized cushion no problem. This morning I caught them mouthing each other and rolling around together. Their faces look a little scary here but it was all in fun and there was no growling or biting involved.

Happy Easter

I have been quite busy recently and just noticed today that it was a week ago that I last posted and visited friends' blogs. We just wanted to say Happy Easter to everyone. For some reason Japan doesn't celebrate Easter as it does Christmas, Valentine's Day and Halloween but churches around Tokyo are holding their Easter services this weekend. We decorated hard boiled eggs with the children at school and did an indoor egg hunt and egg and spoon race which everyone enjoyed. I also received some Easter eggs from Oz.

Sign Sign Everywhere a Sign !

There are a lot of signs in Japan telling you what to do and what not to do. The four above I have come across while walking around with Jazz and Dixie. They all basically say the same thing - keep your dog on a leash and pick up your dog's poop - in varying degrees of severity.

Good Friends

Jazz and Dixie get on so well it is a joy to be around them. They play together alot and also love to cuddle up to each other. They had a dreaded bath on Sunday and afterwards cuddled up together under their blankets to keep warm. Its usually difficult to get shots like this because as soon as I head for the camera Dixie wakes up and runs off or sticks her nose right on the lens.

Girls Day

Today was Girl's Day (Hinamatsuri - Doll's Festival) here in Japan. It wasn't a national holiday but a day to pray for young girl's growth and happiness. Families with girls may display dolls and peach blossoms such as those above. A traditional set of dolls can be very expensive - some full sets cost more than a million yen. However, since many Japanese live in small houses, a royal couple version (with only the Emperor and the Empress dolls) is popular nowadays. I was given this version in clay by a friend for Jazz and Dixie. There are also many kinds of sweets and festive foods eaten as well. I usually can't resist the gorgeous sweets that look almost too good to eat.

The song for this day is translated as;
Let's light the lanterns
Let's set peach flowers (on the 5th tier from the top)
Five court musicians are playing flutes and drums (third tier from the top)
Today is a joyful Dolls' Festival.

A Loofa Pup with a Good Cause.

Firstly thanks for all the good advice on how to deal with Jazz's aggression. Today I bought some tiny cheese snacks at Three Dogs Bakery and will try to reward her for good interactions with other dogs as well as praise Dixie. Its funny she doesn't snap when she is on the lead walking in the park. While in Three Dogs I found a giant Loofah Dog and just had to buy it with the hope that Jazz and Dixie could share it. When Jazz was small she had a small pink Loofah dog and last year I got her a large purple one as she loves them so much. As you can see both Jazz and Dixie had fun playing with the giant one today. The makers of this toy also donate to the Breast Cancer Foundation so we were also supporting a good cause.