A quiet time in the countryside

It seems like an age since my grandparents and Kieran came over to visit, since then I've not had much money and have been trying to stablize my finances in time for my parents coming - also the fact that there are no long public holidays from the beginning of May until the end of July meant that I couldn't really go and explore different areas of Japan. I felt that I hadn't been making the most of my time in Japan during this period because I hadn't really been anywhere, or done anything exciting, but you can't do something all the time! Sometimes you just have to wait.

Spring was but a fleeting season, as soon as the cherry blossoms dropped off the trees, leaves quickly started sprouting, and before I knew it, it was becoming hotter and stickier. Since Spring the Rice Fields have steadily being sprouting up in neat little roads, and I've watched with fascination at all the farmers diligently working away to plant the seedlings, the fields looking like swimming pools, saturated with dirty water. At the moment we're going through the 'rainy season' - which, up until recently wasn't so much 'rainy' as it was 'cloudy' - I expected non-stop rain from morning to night! The rain is a bit different here though, it seems a bit heavier and lazier as it falls from the sky! It's certainly much nicer to have some warmer weather, I thought the cold weather would never end!

Summer is almost in full swing here...and it's very very familiar to a year ago....!

Tiny buds of green begin to grow...

In meticulously neat little lines!

Little flourishes of colour attract your attention amidst the masses of green that has grown everywhere

June seems to be the best morning for beautiful mornings and evenings. This was one such morning on my way to work - clear sky and amazing mountains in the background. The evenings are filled with a rich red sun, and glowing orange skies.