During a Heat Wave

My pick…Pacific Bonsai Museum. We tried to go early but made it there around 1pm. It was only 97 out but the sun was high and hot! Luckily we took a bottle of water with us. My time in Japan is something I cherish and pretty close to one of my top ten favorite memories. I have always wanted to go and live there. Getting a peek of their culture, food, and art is something I try and do often. I miss Japan. I miss their sophistication. I miss their bath houses and the way they bathe. Mark took me to a beautiful Japanese house on a Bainbridge recently. Being back their made me crave the culture even more. When we arrived back home he purchased me a Japanese cookbook that is written by a American who married a Japanese man and went to live in Japan. I will have to look for a Keto friendly recipe from the book. 

The Pacific Bonsai Museum was stunning. Each exhibit was a piece of art. The exhibit pieces always stated the date of origin; which is when the seed was born and began growing. The date of training was marked as well and it signified when it was first put into a container to be cultivated and trained to become a Bonsai. There was also loads of history at this museum. I will definitely go again and spend some time reading each placard, meditate on the words, and reflect on the history shared. The Bonsai Museum was  free except for a suggested donation of $10.  They made it so easy by having a card reader at the end and you could just insert it as many times as you want (each time was 10.00).  At the end you want to give all your money to the museum…I felt that way at least.

Mark and I talked about expanding our hobbies since we are counting the years to empty nesting. When fall comes we definitely feel the emptiness since our youngest likes to be in bed by 8pm. So wineries is one of our new ones in the past two years. Sonoma was a big step into our wine hobby\lessons, tasting, smelling, and pinpointing better quality wines! We are now probably going to take our time to find the perfect wine bar/rack to display the wine makers works of art (I believe each one is truly a work of art- which makes it harder to drink). Our next hobby is creating a bonsai together. I am tempted to use my grandmothers beautiful dogwood tree. It would make a beautiful bonsai! However when Mark and I were in the Redwoods at the Trees of Mystery we came across a cute little Sequoia sapling in the gift shop. We brought him home and have definite plans to train him when he gets established! We are off to a good start with hobbies. Records and reading together are also off and running…