Of peaches and potties

One of the first "culture shocks" I experience every year going back to America happens soon after landing at the airport. Inevitably, after sitting in an airplane for a few hours with the fasten seat belt sign on, standing in lines for immigration, customs and baggage claim, mother nature calls and we all need a quick trip to the restroom.

I understand that airport restrooms are not necessarily the best representative of American potties, I do find that they are pretty much standard for a public restroom in America. After entering the stall and getting situated, the shock happens. The gaps. The cracks between the doors and the door jams in each unit. I can sometimes fit a whole finger through those gaps! If I can see the people outside of the stall, they can see me. Not that they are looking, right? But still!

The average public Japanese potty stall is more like a broom closet. There are almost never any spaces between the door and the stall, no gaping cracks through which to look out or in. Its a private little haven.

I'm not saying they are necessarily any cleaner - heaven knows Japan has more than its fair share of dirty potties. No judgement call here on which country is better or worse. Just a little observation on my part. I wonder what public potties are like in other countries. Just don't get me started on my experiences in China....

Oh! But this was probably the most shocking thing I've seen in any public restroom anywhere. The morning we were leaving to come back to Japan, at the little regional airport in my parents' hometown. Situated right over the sinks, at first glance I thought it was some new-fangled hand dryer. Not! I've never seen this one before. Sure just the fact that it was there in the first place was surprising enough, but even more so the fact that it was nearly halfway full. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever blogged about public potty gaps before...

Okay! Back to our regularly scheduled programing.

I've been relaxing this past week. Reading, scrapping, cleaning and cooking. I just happened to stumble upon a lovely little kit called Peachy Keen at Sweet Shoppe Designs and thought I would use it to scrap my photos of our days in the orchard.

Last May, there was an eclipse. Do you remember? Well it was big news here, and since it was pretty much a once in a lifetime event (unless I live to be 150) we had to take a few photos. Last week the ladies known as ViVa Artistry came out with their huge Celestial Collection and not surprisingly there are some beautiful, funky papers and elements that I thought would be perfect to scrap my eclipse photo.

This last page is photos of my babes just a few weeks ago. My parents and I took a day-trip drive up over a gorgeous Colorado mountain. We always have lunch at our favorite little hummingbird restaurant. What happy memories. And Sherwood Studio's From the Ashes was perfect for these photos. Julie - the designer of Sherwood Studio - also lives in Colorado so she knows exactly what tones and textures go with Colorado nature pictures. You should definitely check out her shop!

As always, thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the web. Please come again soon!