The day began beautifully. Birds were friendly today without the frantic protective snarl the mothers sometimes give the circling crows. It was gentle, the music of the birds.

wall by window is patched scraps of wood very unsquare

I mowed the lawn, weeded, cleaned up the back alleyway and found some more stones to extend the patio outside my studio. After that I half heartedly dug a ditch but soon grew bored with that and moved on to install the two sheets of plywood in my shed which is now a studio.
My skills with the saw contradict the name and the crazy cuts and screws shot into the wood trying to hit a stud looked like darts on a board in a very drunken pub.
But they are up and painted.
Afterward I cleaned up the studio, myself, the house and made sticky rice that was sticky. Yeah. The Adzuki beans do not give off a delightful aroma in 85 degree heat but I felt that in for a penny. I would fill the kitchen with steam from several pots cooking.

Change Your Mind sign goes up: Buddhist practice

In the evening, my homestay girl spoke one of the few words of English she seems to know: cheese. So we hopped into the car and went to chapters to look at books. I informed myself about the structure of dragons for a project I am working on. Then the cheese stop.

three windows from a mobile home on their sides

Last night when I went to Extra Foods by myself, I dressed up as I am wont to do and got a few items.
A man standing at the service counter who looked not insane, had all of his teeth and wasn’t shaking with palsy stepped forward and said, “You are a very handsome woman. Oh that didn’t come out right. I mean you are a very attractive woman.” I thanked him and after I was back in the car I realized I hadn’t taken the opportunity to practice flirting.
I have never flirted, being a straight forward, straight-laced leo raised in a Protestant home. It is on my list of things to learn: flirting, French, the GPS, how to hook up my printer. Not necessarily in that order.
So today was a full day, a satisfying day in which I am one day closer to having the studio set up, the last of the junk out of the yard, the car packed and off we go.

1946 shed filled with animal leavings and moldy artifacts becomes studio