Back in the UK

I am at my Mum's house for the next week before spending the following two and a half with my sister, followed by a few days in London before heading back to Tokyo. My Mum's house seems more like a Country Life editorial each time I visit.

Spot the cat in that last one? As a proud Nana I had printed her some new photos so added them to her brag board.

Still three of me on there so I'm not feeling jealous. Yet.

Patchwork Shoes

Do you remember that Jimmy Nail hit "Crocodile Shoes" in 1994? Probably not, but I do. It has nothing whatsoever to do with these shoes or this post, or this whole blog. but it just popped into my head as I typed "Patchwork Shoes".

I have been having trouble finding suitable summer shoes for Tokyo, in Tokyo. Women's shoes go up to about a UK 6 and I am an 8. Men's shoes are too wide and NOT PRETTY! I want ones with bows on and kittens and stuff.

You rarely see shoes like this in the men's section. So...I went online and found some fairly dull shoes but which came in my size and looked suitable for walking around a city with its thermostat stuck on 'high'. Then I started covering them with the aimless patchwork I started making way back in October last year.

I decided it looked a bit jobby, but it's hard to remove glue and fabric from white shoes without leaving dirty marks (guess how I know that) so I carried on.

Once the glue had dryed I gave them two coats of this spray-on walking shoe waterproofing stuff I had kicking about. I still think they look a tad jobby but they are much more colourful than any other summer shoes I could find in my size. I wore them this week for the first time and they held up well so I shall count that as a success!

Saying "Au Revoir" to the Cats

I know I kid myself that these cats realise I come to see them regularly, but I felt I had to say farewell, since I am going to be away for a month. I'm not sure how many of them noticed though - it was sleep central.

Of course Bruiser had also been asleep but woke up with menaces to make it clear he hated everything, especially me, whether awake or not.

Fortunately the young ginger cat was in a playful mood so armed with a rattling mouse we grouped around the shoe box.

The noise brought some unwanted attention from some of the bigger males. Young Ginger was forced to defend his box.

Having dealt with them things almost came a cropper when he was taken off guard by a surprise side-attack by the mouse.

I did think he was going to make a run for it but then he tackled the situation as only a cat could.

Then his Mum came along and, to his clear irritation, started cleaning his face for him. Mums, eh?

Speaking of which, I am looking forward to a week with my Mum's cat, but Artemis spends all day in the fields killing real mice and leaving their innards on the doorstep before coming back and dropping out for the count for the next 8 hours in front of the aga. I can't blame her for this but she has never been one for playing so I will just have to try and catch her 'awake' long enough for some purry stroking at some point. Plus she has an amazingly small head - never noticed that until I started hanging out with so many other cats.

Gotoku-ji Temple - Home of the Lucky or Beckoning Cat

I am not sure how it took me so long to hear about this place, but having heard about it yesterday, I was there today.

An ordinary temple, you might be thinking.

Pretty, but hardly worth the hour's travel each way when there are other pretty temples nearer central Tokyo.

Well, meow to you with nobs on. You round a corner and....

Yeah, that's roughly two kabillion "maneki neko" figures.

I love how in that last one there is just the one looking the wrong way. The wooden prayer cards (I know there is a proper name for these but it escapes me) are also themed.

You find boards like these at all temples. You write your prayer on the back and then hang it up.

Of course you can buy your boards and cats there. The shop is suitably marked with this sign.

Legend holds that the maneki neko originated back in Edo period. The temple keeper was very poor and had trouble keeping up the temple, but when he found a stray cat he decided to take it home and look after it. A feudal lord from Hikone was travcelling nearby and was sheltering from a storm under a tree when he saw this cat beckoning him to come into the temple. The lord followed the cat and as soon as he had moved the tree was struck by lightning. The lord wanted to thank the cat for saving him and collected enough funds to rebuild and claim the temple as his family temple, which eventually became Gotoku-ji. As time went on, people began to offer maneki neko figurines to the temple as a sign of gratitude when their wishes came true. Now those of us who know cats...

...know they are not generally given to altruism, but maybe this was a special one and this did happen. In any case, it was beautiful to walk around. The whole trip was possibly made worthwhile just by spotting the feet of this incense burner.

The sculptor definitely caught that expression perfectly!