As promised here are some of the other activities from this fall: (warning another image heavy post)
In October I went to the Northwest Tea Festival in Seattle. There were a lot of tea enthusiasts and presentations and tea tastings. While in Seattle we visited a few of the tea shops as well.
I was also lucky enough to be invited to a few private tea tastings as well
The annual Aki Masturi was also held at a local Buddhist temple where ikebana was on display, tea was served and sale of local ceramics
Christy sensei came for koshukai (more detail on that in another post).
I attended another kimono dressing workshop with a teacher that uses only himo, no clips, no elastic. I felt more secure and everything stayed in place for all day. So now I am getting rid of all of my clips and elastic.
The kumihimo (braided ties for obijime, for example) will be rescheduled to November 30th, but I tried it on my own with my kit for the workshop. I am getting hooked on it. Can’t wait for the workshop.
And last weekend was Robiraki, the opening of the winter hearth. There were 3 seatings in my little 4.5 mat room. Sweet zenzai for the sweets, koicha and usucha. Now is the time for the warmth of the ro in the tea room. Thank you to Karla who assisted with the preparations and helped the younger students get dressed in kimono.
Whew! that’s a lot of photos. And we are not done yet. Please look at the right sidebar to see other activities for the rest of the year.