It’s been a few days since I wrote, so I’ll just do a little summary of recent events.

I got some yamamomo fruit from my neighbor.
It’s already yamamomo season!
Yamamomo liqueur is really pretty and tasty, but I don’t drink much these days, so I’ll probably make them into juice or jam.

One of our “in Kamiyama” readers told me about “Mount Everest Donburi” so I tried making it. It was surprisingly (how rude!) tasty.

It was really hot out on Sunday so I skipped the jinzoku fishing event.
I just participated in the evening meal portion of the day.
But, people tell me they didn’t feel so hot, since they were standing in the river the whole time.
Next time I’ll have to participate in the whole day!

Then, later that night, Tanabata Matsuri in Shimobun.

Every year they get bigger and better.
I was really surprised by the beauty of the decorations, as well as the funny and relaxed performance by the Chindon-ya, but what surprised me the most was the number of people who came!!

Apparently over 500 people came. For that many people to come together in Shimobun is a small miracle.

And it seems that all five hundred of them enjoyed their Tanabata night in Shimobun.
It’s remarkable, that Shimobun Power!!

I think I’ll either make this or spicy chicken curry for July’s forestry management day.

Lately at ChanTak, work is progressing on a new outbuilding.
I got the framework from someone, and I’d planned on building it to use as a storage shed, but once I built it, it looked so lovely I felt it would be a waste to just use it for storage. I’m still trying to decide what exactly I want to do with it.

The next day, Keiju Nakajima and his family came over for dinner.
It was a combination of a birthday dinner for me and a celebration of the successful execution of the concert we had here recently. Everyone made some great food, and Keiju played his guitar. It was a very mellow evening.

I lived with Keiju and his family in a 130 year-old house on the top of a mountain for my first four years in Kamiyama.
Now we live seperately but they are still an important part of my family.

It’s nice to have friends living in the same town, with just a bit of distance between.