It’s summer. The tiny yellow flowers of the forsythia in our garden are long gone. They have now turned into lush green leafy branches! They can bring a refreshing feeling into the house.
This arrangement is placed at our entrance foyer…a light and cheery welcome as one comes in!
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
I found some pine branches that fell off a tree. It looked like they had been there for a while because the pine needles were in showing different stages of discolouration as it started to dry up.
I took the branches apart, re-assembled and mounted them on a board to create a relief arrangement.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
As the weather becomes warmer, the lupins start to bloom here in Atlantic Canada. They are beautiful and, happily, they are all over the place!
A typical Halifax roadside scene in the summer.
It is wonderful to see the purples and pinks amid the refreshing green. We try to bring this freshness into our ikebana arrangement, using the lupins from our yard. This arrangement is a floor position arrangement, i.e. it is meant to be viewed from above.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
Finally!
The shop will reopen on June 20th, Saturday.
New store hours are: Mon-Sat, 1:00-5:00 pm. We’ll try that for now and see how it goes.
Blade sharpening service will also re-start. Knives will be picked up and returned on Tuesdays.
We will have a hand sanitizer bottle at the door and we ask all customers to use it as they enter.
We are excited to reconnect with the community! See you!
To all who loved our masks, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
After over 3000 masks in more than 200 patterns, it is time to wind down the mask-making activity. Our masks will not completely disappear. They will still be available online and in our shop for a while. But we are slowing down the pace.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, masks were scarce and hard to find. We believed that face masks could help. We were not scientific folk; our belief in the good of face masks was not from any rigorous, evidence-based study. But we came from Japan…and in Japan, when one caught a cold, it was normal to wear a mask in consideration of others. It wasn’t to protect oneself; it was to protect the community from oneself. So, we made masks with our little home sewing machine. We sold our masks “at cost”. It was our own little way of helping our community battle this pandemic. And the next two months turned out to be one of the busiest times for us just keeping up with demand we actually had not expected!
But now, the big stores seem to have face masks available already….even the dollar store has them for sale. Time for us small players to step back and let the big boys fill the need. Besides, we are getting ready to re-open our shop really soon!
Things seem to be looking better for us here in Nova Scotia but please stay vigilant. Let’s keep washing our hands frequently! Stay safe. We are all in this together.
Updated October 2nd, 2020
As of October 1st, 2020, we have officially ended our mask-making activity.
We thank you for loving our masks.
In the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Propeller Beer opened its Quinpool location. Another great addition to our vibrant community!
Image is a screenshot from @propellerbeer Instagram post.
Here is our little welcome ikebana for Propeller Beer! A crystal container with light blue hydrangeas to evoke the pleasure of that first gulp of ice cold beer after a long day!
Apologies for the belated welcome. We are happy to have you in the Quinpool neighbourhood!
An arrangement using no kenzan, using 2 flower containers connecting as one unit.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
Do you know shiki ita (敷板)?
It is a flat wooden (usually lacquered) base platform used by ikebana practitioners to create and extend space that otherwise could not be fully expressed by the flower container alone.
Normally it is a supporting actor to the usual main characters of flowers/branches and container. Sometimes, it can also provided necessary contrast against backgrounds that have similar hue with the flower container.
In this arrangement, we flip the usual roles and use the shiki ita as “main character”. There is no flower container in the usual sense to steal the show!
Notice also that instead of the shiki ita delineating the boundaries, the arrangement extends its space outside of it.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
I was thinking of using things found in the house for an ikebana arrangement.
This colourful mug from Mexico caught my eye. It was a gift from our Mexican friends. Such bright and vivid colours are not normally seen in Japanese-style pottery. It was refreshing! To me, it spoke of the vibrance and gaiety of the Mexican culture.
The other piece of pottery is a shallow bowl made by Danielle Sawada of Thrown Together Pottery from Truro NS. It has been with us for over 10 years now! The Mexican mug, by the way, sits atop a candle.
Here is the whole arrangement.
I hope you like it. —Miyako
We have Japanese fabric. We have a sewing machine. We have time.
So we made face masks!
These are cloth masks hand-made with cotton fabric from Japan. They are not N95 or surgical/medical-grade masks. Please use in tandem with continued physical distancing and frequent & proper hand-washing.
The Proper Way To Wear A Face Mask
The proper way to put on a mask is with the pleats facing down. If the pleats are facing up, they become like pockets and will collect stuff you don't like rather than letting them flow down. So remember, pleats must face down!
The Proper Way To Handle Face Masks
The area in front of your nose and mouth is potentially contaminated. Once the mask is on your face, you must assume it is contaminated already. Touching the mask and then touching other things (including your face) increases risk of transmission. If a used mask is placed on any surface, then that surface needs to be cleaned.
While wearing the mask… Do not touch the mask.
When removing the mask…Touch only the sides or the straps and take off while moving away from your face.
After removing the mask…Do not put on any surface. Put directly in washer and wash with detergent.
Are Cloth Masks Effective? (Added on Apr 6, 2020)
Cloth masks are not N95 or surgical masks. They do not provide adequate protection to the wearer against incoming virus. They are not meant to replace proper physical distancing and hand-washing. We have to be very clear about this.
There is a danger of the cloth mask giving the wearer a false sense of security, which could lead them to abandon/ignore physical distancing and good hygiene. This should not happen.
Cloth masks hardly protects the wearer but rather protects the people around the wearer. The mask provides a barrier to contain droplets (from speaking, coughing, sneezing) coming from the wearer and prevents potential transmission from wearer to others.
“A non-medical mask can reduce the chance of your respiratory droplets coming into contact with others or landing on surfaces….The science is not certain but we need to do everything that we can and it seems a sensible thing to do.”
From CBC News (posted Apr 6, 2020)
Canada’s top doctor says non-medical masks can help stop the spread of COVID-19
So in an ideal situation, everyone in the community wears a mask when they go out, thus protecting each other from transmission. The cloth mask is an extra layer of protection for the community. Physical distancing and frequent/proper hand-washing should be continued, mask or no mask.
“Let’s put on a mask!” Illustration by @hidekiccan (from Twitter)
Our masks are 5.00 CAD each. We are selling them basically at cost. It is our way of helping our community. They can be purchased from our online shop (while supply lasts!). Take care, stay safe. We are all in this together.
