Bread Baking Day!

YAY! This has become one of my favourite ways to relax on those rare occasions when I have two spare hours in a row. I have started to study the age old art of baking bread. Ok, ok, so I’m not exactly using a stone oven like we did in the fur trade days, but I DO knead it myself:)

In this picture, The bakers. are surrounding one of their successes! The three of them came out to my flat for the day to have a lesson in bread baking. I was being very Pa Ingles that day, and tries to pass on what I had learned through trial and error. They are standing in my kitchen and holding a loaf of basil-rosemary-cheese bread that Jordanna whipped up.

As the day wore on, more people pooped in to see what we had done but none of the bread lasted more than 5 minutes out of the oven. The five avocadoes I had bought that morning had a bit longer life!  Anyway, they didn’t get any bread, but we kept them happy with a glass of wine and a couple of episodes of America’s Next Top Model:)

Unchained Melody

 Pottery Class 2007

Yes, I AM old enough to remember Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze helping to make that song famous all over again, and it inspired me (admittedly 16 years later!) to begin taking pottery lessons. What a great decision THAT turned-out to be!

I am attending classes with a few of my friends…more and more are joining all the time….and we are all learning the fine art of pot crafting. O.k., I DID make a chopstick holder, a couple of cups, three bowls (and a couple of random things that I’m still not convinced weren’t a joke on the part of my teacher) and only one pot, but that is the one featured in the picture and is the direction that I hope to head in when I start honing my skills.

So let me tell you how this works. I get-up at about 7:30 a.m. (on my day off for heaven’s sake!) and start heading for the land of Chigasaki. It’s a mystical sort of place, famous for a Japanese band and LOADS of surfer guys! Anyway, lunch is collected from the convenience store and then it’s a short walk to the toilet factory. That’s right, boys and girls! I attend pottery class in a TOTO toilet factory. It’s funny, but I can actually HEAR all of you out there cracking jokes. You know you are.

The first three times that we went we were directed by an instructor and taught the basics. Now I am pretty much free to do as I please and the instructors just kind of walk around, answer questions, and give basic suggestions. I’m not sure if these instructors of ours actually MAKE toilets, but they can sure whip-up a bowl in no time flat!

I think the best part of all of this pottery stuff is that I get spend a little with some earth between my fingers. This can be explained by saying that I live in the second largest city in Japan, Yokohama, which borders up against Tokyo. This pretty much means that you have to go on an all-day hunt to find some soil. Yes, there ARE lots of parks and stuff, but not like what I got used to growing-up in Canada. So, this bit of handling really does wonders for my soul. It’s a bit of a bonus that I NEVER have to buy another gift for the rest of my life because EVERYONE will be getting original pieces! Haha! Just kidding everyone! I know where my limits are:)

So, Saru’s first piece of advice for all those reading this blog…….Go join some kind of crafty class! Life in the city can get pretty hectic without you even realising it, but using your hands and your brain, I think you’ll find, will be a great way to keep yourself sane:)

Saru