A Delightful Gift

Yesterday morning I received a parcel from Jenni in Australia.  I knew what it was immediately, see "blogger bearing gifts" and opened the parcel in great anticipation.  This is what I found:

As well as sending me a gorgeous kimono Jenni had included some lovely handmade items and the kimono was in its original wrapping.  This is lovely Japanese paper which has a fibrous texture and seems to have threads through it.  I want to do something with the paper but don't know just what yet.
The kimono was much more lovely than I expected.  Jenni's photo on her blog (which is actually a better photo than mine for showing the whole kimono) led me to expect a turquoise and cream or grey fabric but it is actually much more silver in colour, really lovely.

I've taken a few photos to try and show you the fabric and also the amazingly neat handstitching:

The kimono is unlined and a lightweight fabric and I'm going to wear it as a summer robe for a while and really enjoy it.  I now need to keep my side of the bargain and parcel up some goodies for Jenni in exchange for the kimono.  I'm sending some of the fabric I bought in Tokyo and some other surprises, so watch out for the postman Jenni.  Isn't blogging great?  I cannot imagine this swap happening in any other way, thanks Jenni.

I recently bought this book in my quest to learn more about Japan and Japanese culture. 

 I'll share some gems from it when I've read it but at the moment I'm catching up with my reading of Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilts novels, far more suitable for a hot summer's day.