Home (with my loot)

 After a very long day on Saturday, including a five hour delay in taking off, I finally made it home and went to bed, 24 hours after I had risen. As it turns out, the 3.5 hours I spent sitting on the runway were fortuitous - the entire UK passport machine network had gone down during the day resulting in headline news about the queues at airports, people passing out in line after waiting hours, etc. But by the time I finally arrived though, they had fixed the passport machines and I breezed through. I may even get some compensation for my delay, which would help pay for some of my loot.

Remember, you can click on photos to make them bigger.

This was the loot situation after emptying my suitcases.

It took some time to go through all the bags and packets and impose some order on seven weeks of random collecting.  It's an eclectic mixture to say the least. But before I get to that, here are some pictures of my plane knitting (socks) and my evening knitting (lacy cowl).  And also the quilt blocks that I took to embroider, from a kit I bought in Paducah (still working on these).

I have tried not to photograph things I've already blogged while travelling, and I haven't photographed most of the gifts I brought back for people.

Ghibli chopsticks, a beautiful tea cup and some vegetable cutters for 

adding detail to bento packed lunches

Some of my sumo related purchases: a sumo knitting bag (left), sumo toys from a capsule machine, a postcard of the current Yokuzuna, sumo washi tape, sumo post-its, sumo fabric and a genuine washcloth from a sumo supply store which is exactly what the wrestlers use while they are prepping for fights.

One of the symbols of northern Japan is the Akita Inu dog, so naturally they are featured heavily in every souvenir and gift shop.  I held out for weeks but finally succumbed to a little plushy.

My collection of bag handles for use with my Japanese bagmaking books

Yardage, fat quarters and small collections of Japanese fabric

Stationery: cat and quilt themed plastic folders, sakura post-its, erasers, 'Thank You' sticker seals, parakeet post-its

Furoshiki: Japanese wrapping cloths, and the book on how to tie them

Tenugui: Japanese strips of fabric that can be towels, bandannas, wallhangings etc.

Miscellaneous textiles: hankies (the little haori jacket is also a hankie, printed and folded really cleverly - I don't dare unfold it as I will never get it to look the same again), a bag and scarf from kimono fabric that I was given, some coasters from kimono fabric, a sumo washcloth that should have been in the sumo picture.

Above and below: the mat and tissue cover made from obi fabric that I bought

Various dollshouse stuff: random 1:12 toilet and cupboard from a discount store, miniature drum keychains, miniature school child's backpack, miniature kokeshi doll, tiny Daruma figurine, stickers that look like tiles, a handmade bento box of character sushi, a resin kit to make three desserts which I think may be too big for 1:12 scale.

These are the handmade kokeshi dolls I bought in Naruko Onsen: the shortest one is
about three inches high

These are the two wall hangings I bought from the historic washi paper shop in Tokyo, both printed on washi paper and highlighted with gold.  The pink one is for me, and the storks are for my sister-in-law.

I'm gradually trying to put things away. I'm still feeling quite stunned most of the time from jetlag, and for some reason waking up at 5am every day.  DH had kept the garden alive by watering but it was otherwise untouched, so not surprisingly had grown into a jungle.  We spent a couple of hours yesterday hacking back the overgrowth on hedges, trees, perennials etc.  but there are still hours of weeding, staking, tying in, pruning etc. to do. I have a long 'To Do' list of things to catch up on, mostly boring things like renewing the caravan insurance and getting the windows cleaned. I'm trying to remember how to cook.  It seems really strange to have a house again, instead of just a hotel room, and to have so much space. I still feel like I should put a face mask on whenever I go into a shop or building, after weeks of wearing one. I transferred my trip photos from my laptop to my PC, which counted them for me: 4,152 photos.  What do I even do with that many photos?  I'm sure I can trim down a lot of duplicates and duds, but it will likely still be thousands. Usually I make a scrapbook after a trip, but this would be an Encyclopedia. People want to see some photos from my trip - I need to try to make a shortlist of 30 or so highlights somehow, so that I don't put them into a coma.  Wish me luck.