My Tiny Balmy Balcony

  Noco had a lesson of the Japanese flower arrangement at school. On that day, the used flowers were taken home. I put them in a slim glass bottle that used to be a dressing container.😄   "Where are sugary peas??" "We heard pink flowers are their sign, didn't we?" "These flowers seem to give out sweet odours..." (cow family around the flowers of pink sweet pea) A friend of this family went out to look for the special peas. (okapi and pansies) "Is this pink flower the sign?" "Something smells nice here, too. I feel like I've eaten heartily!" 😊 "Wait a second... The sweet pea might be a vegetable to taste its fragrance?!" I have never bought cut flowers for myself. So I'm looking forward to Noco's flower arrangement day.🤗 Also,  it may be nice to get flowers to enjoy their scents. Pleasant scents can be nutrition for our mind!

    I'm enjoying aromas of essential oils carefreely. Because I found the way that we don't need any hassles when we use them. It's safe, inexpensive and easy! (original image: Charlotte May) One item gave me a hint. I noticed it (an aroma therapy product) at a shop by chance. It is named an 'aroma dish,'  and looks like a small wooden pillar with a hollowed top.  Then, I thought an ordinary small wood piece would be used as well...🙄 Unfortunately, my life is not surrounded with tiny pieces of wood. But, I remembered one thing that is very familiar to me. It's a small plank attached to KAMABOKO! ('KAMABOKO' is a cake of processed fish paste.) This wooden plate is detached and usually thrown away. (like this...) (⇓) I was thinking that it's too good for a only one use.😉 Because this small board is safe enough to be used with a food. Also, it's tough! Then, I tried to use this KAMABOKO plank with essential oils. As an 'aroma dish!'  (...

   (original image: Mouse23) In summer, it is hot and humid in Tokyo. Sometimes bad smells reach my nose strongly. This situation makes me depressed very much... But I found a solution to this problem last summer!!🤗 Using essential oils of fragrant plants. Some bottles of them  (that I bought a long time ago) were sleeping on the shelf. Because I wasn't using them these years. But they cannot be kept forever without spoiled. So, I tried to use a few drops of them in the washroom. After that, relaxing aroma was waiting whenever I walked through the place. The scent was faint, but it perfectly beats bad smells away.💪 Only such a change made me happy! At the same time, we might be breathing deeply when we are surrounded with nice aroma. (On the contrary,  bad smells would make us economize on breaths unconsciously.) So, it also seems to be good for our body, not only for our mind.😉 (original image: irakudryavtseva)   I love the fragrances of lavender, rosemary...

  (original image: Thitaree Sawettatat) My schleich animals have been put away in the closet for a long time.   Recently I found them. But sadly, they look unclean. This mature polar bear has brown spots!😲 (👇) The cub is also colored.🥺 (But, we can't see it clearly in this photo.) I decided to wash them. (It looks feeling good!) Using diluted some liquid soap and a (very)  soft tooth brush. I rinsed them with cold water. Then they turned out ... ... like this! They are not perfectly white. But, it is OK because they don't look dirty at all. Also,  the color of wild polar bears are actually cream. This is the right color for them.🤗 I washed other larger animals, too. Now small animals  are waiting their turns! (original image: cocoparisienne) "Ice Bear SENPAI!" "You're so cool!!" (two meerkats beside a mint tree) Their lovely brown spots weren't washed out, and remained intact.😉

  (Feb. 3, 2022) This red apple color (both outside and inside) pansy is named 'hime-ringo.' 'Hime' is a 'princess' and 'ringo' is an 'apple' in Japanese. What a lovely name!🥰 'Hime-ringo' means a 'crabapple,' though... I think this name reminds us two pretty images. A 'lively little princess' and a ’one-bite-size apple!’