More villages!

Look at this lovely village! I wish I could claim this as my own, but alas it was made by my friend Mrs. Ochiai. I showed a picture of her hard at work on it last Friday and this is the end result! Isn't that fantastic?! As I say, these aren't very difficult but even so I think her first attempt is way beyond our expectations!

Mrs. Ochiai got her village cut and placed and sandwiched at my house and then she went home to do the quilting. She said it took her two days to do this. What a great idea! Look at all the houses she put in the border! I've got to try this! (Which means I'll be making another village...)

Mrs. Ochiai occasionally comes to my house either to teach me things on the computer (or fix whatever I've managed to mess up in the computer) or to sew together. She loves Choco but isn't very fond of my cats (they love her!) The last time Mrs. Ochiai visited we spent most of the day looking at websites and blogs and I showed her things I had discovered and new techniques etc. She was especially impressed by the quilting that can be done on the sewing machine and so she went home to practice on her domestic machine. I'd say her practice paid off if she can do all this lovely quilting on her village!

Doesn't this make you want to try this? How much of showing on the blog how this is done is violation of the book author's copyright? Anyway, here is the book so see if you can find it because it has some wonderful examples in it. I'll try to get back to showing how this done at a later date!

Stars

I had a busy day yesterday and didn't get home until evening. Teaching at the nursery school and at a friend's house and then again in the evening so I never got to the computer.

My head though was spinning all day with ideas of things I wanted to make and try. I think it is the challenge of creating something rather than the actual finished product that I like.

"Can I really do this? Is this really a time saver or a new technique?"

Last night at 8:30 I was upstairs trying out Patti's stars at Quilting is My Passion, and I made four. You really should go to her blog and see the beautiful quilt she is making. I don't know why I'm even showing my feeble attempt. Patti's instructions were very easy BUT I was reminded again at what a complete dunce I am with numbers and measuring. There really must be some gene missing in my DNA. How difficult is it to make 3 1/2 inch cuts in a square. How many times did I measure and re-measure and count out the inch lines in my rotary mat? And yet, twice I mis-cut and ruined some very good fabric. Once I can understand, but twice? Makes me think I should leave all cutting to someone else and just dedicate myself to sewing seams.


Here are my colors. I ignored Patti's advice and am not doing this in two colors which I'm not sure was a good idea or not. Calico Cat had sent me all those gorgeous bright patterns on black fabric and I decided those would be nice against some bright fabrics of my own but I don't know if you can really see the stars in there. I'll work on this a while longer hopefully adding some red and pink fabric and see where this leads me. No real plans for giving this to someone but hopefully it will grow into something nice.

Mother's Day!

Thank you for the compliments on yesterday's village. I think I'll write more about making that later.

Today is already Mother's Day in Japan and though probably a lot of us are going to do this, I thought I'd tell you about my mother.

Mom is 86 this year and in pretty good health. She lives with/next to my brother's family in her own apartment. Up until two years ago she was still driving around and volunteering at a neighborhood school but these days I think she mostly spends reading library books. I wrote a lot about her last July when I was in the States and I'll probably be saturating you with tales of her when I'm in California next month so I'm skipping anecdotes about her today.

One of the best Mother's Day presents I ever gave my mother was a book called "Grandmother". It is a book with lovely little country style illustrations and questions on different topics with blank spaces so that memories can be recorded. My mother and I wrote letters back and forth to each other for most of the 30 years that I've been in Japan and both of us have always been teased that we could write volumes if given a chance. In this little book, although there were only three or four lines given for each question, my mother got on the computer and typed out her answers and then pasted pages and pages into the book!

One of her entries for the page about her own mother was:

I was blessed with a dear, loving mother whom my father brought over to the U.S. from Japan in 1917... Her name was Taka Iwanaga before she was married. She was Japanese, as was my father. She was born there, lived with her family for a time in Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan. Then she moved to Kamakura where her family lived near the Ohki household.

She had studied English at a Methodist school, Aoyama Jo-Gakuin, and so was attracted to the opportunity my father offered her to marry him and live in America. So off they came on their honeymoon--which never ended, for my mother never returned to Japan during her lifetime.

It makes me smile to read about my mother's childhood memories and so see how her positive and cheerful personality shines through her writing. Not a mention of hard times though I'm sure that during the war years being a second generation Japanese must have had its hardships. I'm also grateful to her for recording her good memories about my father and their courtship and marriage though nearly 25 years later their marriage ended in divorce. Some sections of the book there are pages for photographs and for recipe cards etc. and Mom made copies of some of her favorite photographs from her childhood, from my own and all in all my family history on her side is written down in this little book.

Two months after I sent her the book she returned it to me with this handwritten note.

July 1, 2002

Dear Tani and family,

So many hours of pleasure I have had completing this beautiful book you sent me for Mother's Day this year.

I can't thank you enough for giving me this opportunity to reflect on my life so far of 80 years!

Much love,
Mother/Grandmother

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !

Villages

Yesterday my friend Mrs. Ochiai came over and the two of us made some village collages. I made one earlier this year which Mrs. Ochiai really liked so she asked me to teach her. It is not so much teaching/learning as just doing! I also had wanted to make another village collage and try putting sky and some trees into my picture and I also wanted to see how the finished product looked with borders so yesterday with those goals in mind, Mrs. Ochiai and I went to work.

The two of us cut and placed fabric randomly with very little said between us. Lots of concentration! Occasionally, Mrs. Ochiai would look up and say,

"Tanya, this doesn't look anything like a village."

but I assured her that it would once she got to the roof and window stage. And what do you think? That's a pretty good village isn't it!? By early afternoon (time out for lunch) both of us had our villages sandwiched and Mrs. Ochiai took hers home to quilt. She's probably working away at her sewing machine right now!

After Mrs. Ochiai left, I just couldn't stop and by 7:00 last night I'd finished the machine quilting and started playing around with borders. Then this morning I got my borders on and my village is completed!

That was fast and easy and a LOT of FUN!!

Escape artist

Yesterday I pondered small miracles and God's blessings that we don't realized. When made me reflect on such a deep and meaningful subject? Choco got out!

Last year I was writing about Houdini Choco and how she was escaping regularly. She would slip her collar and I would tighten it further. When that didn't work I went out and bought a harness but the harness lasted 10 minutes and she was out of it. I thought we'd have to lock her in a kennel but we "solved" the problem by putting two strong leather collars on her, one that she is hooked up to and one that acts as a "stopper" so that she won't be able to pull the other one off.

I don't know why (my carelessness?) but yesterday Choco managed to slip her collar. I was teaching a new group of first graders and I had closed one of the window shades just because Choco barks so much at the kids when she sees them. She does not like children. Just by "chance" (nothing is by chance in my book) I'd left the other shade open. With only 15 minutes left of class a streak of white outside the window caught the corner of my eye. It was dark out already so I thought I must have been mistaken. Another streak going in the opposite direction.

"Oh no! Choco's loose!"

What to do? She was out of sight by the time I got to the front door but I started yelling at her and she came streaking back but this was a big game for her. She was not about to be caught! A major problem. Do I leave 7 children in my house (all new kids) and go out chasing my dog, or do I hope Choco will come back on her own after she's had a run around the fields. She could get hit by a car (all that streaking and it was dark!) or lost. More than that, even if she came home I had parents who would be arriving soon to pick up their kids and another class that would be coming in the front door. I'm very leery of Choco around people because she can be ferocious if she thinks someone is not right.

I left the kids, got in the car and honked the horn quite a lot from the driveway. My neighbor (who has complained about Choco's barking!) peered out the window at me probably thinking,

"Now I've got to deal with the dumb dog's owner who is yelling and honking her horn!"

The miracle is that Choco came back! She didn't disappear. She didn't get hit by a car. She happily jumped in the car! I went back to my students who were excited but none of them had come outside to see the ruckus (and maybe get bit). Parents started arriving a few minutes later and no one (but my neighbor) ever guessed of the excitement a few minutes before.

Thank you Lord for your blessings and miracles!

Here is Choco this morning and here is the offending collar. How much smaller can I tighten this thing without choking her? I'm just trying to keep her safe!

Edible nature

This post isn't probably going to help anyone's cooking skills but I thought I'd show you what we've been eating recently.

In early spring the forests are filled with a wealth of edible shoots and sprouts but I'm afraid I have no knowlege whatsoever about what one should eat and what one should avoid. However many Japanese make it a hobby to go into the woods seeking out greenery that can be brought home and served at the dinner table. A few of my friends enjoy this treasure hunting and they will bring me the fruits of their search or cook it up for me to sample. Here are just a few of the natural foods that we've enjoyed the past couple weeks.

That bump back there behind the poles is a bamboo shoot. That is probably already too big to even think about eating but these little bumps can be seen every morning in the bamboo forest and by the evening they have grown an amazing number of inches. My kitchen has been overflowing with bamboo shoots already and they are somewhat of a pain to cook up but I do know what to do when someone hands one to me. After cooking the shoots last week I cut them up and made bamboo shoot tempura and bamboo shoot rice.

One neighbor brought me a bag of greenery last week which turned out to be shoots from a tree. The neighbor even took me into the forest to show me which tree was edible but I doubt that I'm going to go back there hunting for my own food. The tree shoots also got made into tempura alongside the bamboo shoot tempura.

A wonderful delicacy is fuki which I've never seen in the States though I can imagine that one might find them in the wetter parts of the States. (Any of you in Oregon and Washington ever seen this plant?) The stalk of the plant is eaten while the leaves are thrown away and it tastes sort of like a very soft celery... This is also best served simmered in soy sauce. And this morning someone brought me a plate of fern shoots and lightly fried Japanese pepper bush shoots. I remember my Japanese teacher's wife in Portland would go into the forest hunting for fern shoots and we students thought she was off her rocker.

I sometimes think all this knowledge of forest botany might come in handy if I was lost on a deserted Japanese island but since I have generous neighbors I'll depend on them for my very NATURAL food and the rest I'll get at the supermarket.

Cleaning floors

Here is a pic of Tetsu waxing the floor yesterday. Yes, he is down on his hands and knees. When he's not helping me this is how I do it too. We do not own a mop though I guess I have seen them in the stores (you know the fiber ones, never seen the sponge ones.)

When I first came to Japan and wanted to be of service to the church I attended I started by helping clean weekly. Most Japanese churches are very small and the cleaning is done in turns by the members (which reminds me, tomorrow is my turn at church this month.) We would move all the pews to one side and then get down on our hands and knees with a rag and wipe down the sanctuary floor. And I wasn't even very good at that. To show you how pitiful I was at rag and bucket work, I had to have someone teach me how to wring a rag! Did you know there is a right and a wrong way? I can remember industriously wiping the church floor and trying to wring out my rag and some lady clucked her tongue and showed me the correct way to do it. (If you are right handed you hold the rag in your left hand with the wrist facing upwards, grab the rag with the right hand, also wrist facing upwards and twist in opposite directions.) I don't know why this still sticks in my head. Probably because I felt so idiotic that I didn't know how to wring a rag and I still don't know if I'm the only dummy or if this is a skill that is not taught to American kids... My mother has never been considered a great housekeeper...

Even children at the elementary schools clean the classrooms in the same way and they do a sort of run while pushing a rag on the floor in front of them. I don't think kids help out and do this at home very much but it is a common way to start or end the school day (I can't remember if it is done before or after classes.) The gymnasium will be cleaned this way as will the tatami mats after judo or kendo (sword fighting) practice. Picture from the Internet

And here is a link to a post I wrote about rags and how they are made-up in Japan. Yep, this is what we used yesterday too!

Small projects

I'm taking a quick break from waxing the downstairs floors. This job just has to be done twice a year and our dirty carpets need to be taken up in early May anyway. I used to pay my kids to move furniture and help (I even paid some neighbor kids once!) but Tetsu said he'd help me and that means he does all the work and I just direct. Nice for me! We've finished the first coat of wax and are letting it sit for 30 minutes before applying the next coat.

As you may have noticed I do not have anything quilty going on on this blog recently. I listed up my projects and I know I am working on:

The Wonky Word Love quilt but that came to a stop until I decide how to quilt it. I also need to buy backing material and I can probably do that more cheaply in the States.

I put away the feathered star quilt and that will be reinstated after the trip to the States and hopefully I'll find some fantastic fabric that catches my eye while I'm there.

I am finished with step three of Bonnie's Orange Crush but since I don't even know if I'm doing it orange or not, I am stalled on fabric there too.

I am FOREVER working on the 365 Challenge (less than two months to go!) and I might as well buy backing for that when I'm in the States too. I no longer take pictures of this project because it doesn't fit on the wall anymore so it is just sitting in heaps.

I have finished block three of Lynette's Noah's Ark and that is now put aside until I'm back from the States. I guess most of my quilting life depends on when I get back from the States.

I put in a vine applique on the bazaar quilt in place of the flying geese and I hope it will meet with approval when I show my friends next week.

I made up a little pin that I may or may not use but I had to see if I could make it or not. This is another easy project and I guess if done in white these bobbles are supposed to be lily of the valley flowers. I've made them exactly the same way but larger and with wire in the stems and they come out trying to look like tulips (they stand upright then). Again I was working with left over kimono fabric but I suppose my choice of color could have been a bit more springy...

Well, I guess the living room is back together and thanks to Tetsu the floor looks shiny again. The way Choco scrabbles around though it is sure to get marked up again quickly!

Children's Day

A couple of weeks ago Tetsu took me off on another jaunt so that I could take pictures and introduce blog friends to another custom of Japan. Today is May 5th and it is a national holiday in honor of Boys' Day sometimes called Children's Day.

For the past couple weeks as Boys' Day drew closer, the farm houses in the countryside have been sporting these colorful carp banners called "Koinobori" and I love seeing the fluttering carp against the light green of the rice fields and the blue sky. It is worth going out into the countryside if you're in Japan at this time of year because in the cities and residential areas of Japan there is just not enough space to fly these.

Tetsu and I (and Choco) found our way to a city which was having a koinobori festival and the park boasts of having the largest number of flying carp in the world. I think it was even recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records. According to the posters around the park there are over 5000 koinobori that fly along the riverside and span the river and it was a beautiful site! It looked like some of the koinobori had been made by local boy scout groups, kindergartens and schools because many of them were hand painted.

Japanese families will fly koinobori to celebrate the birth of a boy in the family and the carp swimming upstream are supposed to depict good health and the strength to overcome difficulties in life. As more and more young families move to the big cities only the older people are left at the farm houses so koinobori isn't as common a site as I remember it when I first came to Japan, but it is fun to drive along and here and there spot the banners in the distance. Actually I think I wrote all this last year so this is old news to some of you but new pictures!

And here is my koinobori tapestry that hangs in the entryway. (I showed this last year too.) For Girls' Day (March 3rd) there is a Doll festival and this is my Japanese doll tapestry that I also made years and years ago.

Happy Children's Day!

Clothes

I guess it is unanimous. I have no fashion sense, I am a miser and I'm wishy-washy.

A few weeks ago I went with my VERY GOOD FRIEND, Marlene around Tokyo. I emphasize the good friend part because you might get the impression that she is a bit critical of me but in truth she is a very frank as well as being very loving. She has set me straight many times in our 20 years of friendship. Anyway, while in Tokyo Marlene turned to me and said,

"What are you wearing to Leiya's graduation?"

"Wearing? I hadn't thought about it yet. Do I have to wear something special?"

"Tanya, if you think you're going to go in jeans you are nuts. This is a major event. You have to get dressed up for this."

"Well, I've got that pant suit outfit..."

Marlene let out a groan. I think when Leiya was graduating from kindergarten I needed to get dressed up and I consulted Marlene. She in turn rallied around and got her friends to raid their closets and I went to graduation looking pretty good. In someone else's dress. When entrance ceremony came around I went back to Marlene. She was somewhat miffed.

"Would you go out and buy your own clothes instead of depending on other people's closets!"

That made sense so I did. I bought myself the pant suit. Which I like. Which when I modeled for Leiya I remember she said I looked like a bus driver. So I've always thought of it as my bus driver outfit, but I've worn it to loads of kindergarten graduation ceremonies (as a teacher) since then. Even to a couple of weddings! But how many years have I worn the thing? Marlene looked at me exasperatedly.

"Ok. Let's see if we can find you something nice to wear today."

"Today I am not in Tokyo to buy myself clothes. I'll go shopping later back home."

"Tanya, you know you'll just end up wasting time browsing. You'll either buy something at the local department store that is expensive or you'll decide you don't want to spend the money and you won't buy anything. Just look now and you might find something in Tokyo for less."

So we looked, and I found something. Not that I was overjoyed to be buying it because even at nearly half price it was still too expensive in my book. Also because it was TOO nice! I am not an elegant person and this was very elegant (to me. Marlene declared it simple but formal.) I hemmed and hawed about buying it for loads of reasons but Marlene convinced me and the simple, elegant outfit became mine. Yeah! Shopping is done! Now I don't have to think about it until graduation day!

"Tanya, What shoes are you going to wear with this?"

"Shoes?!? Shoes!?! I have black pumps that I wear for every single formal occasion I've been to for the past 15 years."

"You absolutely have no fashion sense. You cannot wear black shoes at the end of May. You have to look springy! You're not going to a funeral you know! Let's go look for some shoes."

I did not want to look at shoes. I do not like shoes. I have bunions and my feet are extremely ugly and it is very hard to find shoes that are comfortable. I pride myself in having only 5 pairs of shoes and that include beach sandals and the black pumps. Still, we hit a few shoe stores but I finally showed Marlene my ugly feet and she agreed that shoe shopping might be more of a challenge than she had bargained for.

"Tanya. You're going to need a bag."

"I have my wonderful WHITE bag and it is very springy." Case closed.

"That is a tote bag. You cannot use that with your elegant outfit. You need something small and just as elegant."

"AAGGHH!! I do not want to spend all this money on myself! I have a lot of stuff I carry around and these little pocket purses are just not going to do it for me! My camera wouldn't fit in some of these things!"

So we did NOT buy any shoes or a bag that day. A couple weeks later I wore my simple, elegant outfit (with black pumps) to the kindergarten entrance ceremony. I felt I needed to get a sense of the me in this outfit that looked like it belonged to someone else. I even put aside my big white tote bag and carried a small patchwork bag that I thought was just perfect. Small, same general color. Tanya, you are getting more fashionable by the minute! A number of my friends were surprised that I could even get that dressed up but when I proudly told them that THIS was the outfit I was planning to wear at Leiya's graduation even my patchwork friends frowned and said,

"Umm. You need to think about a different bag. Patchwork doesn't go with that outfit."

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! My friends are ganging up on me!

Friday I showed my outfit to my neighbor, Mrs. Yano, who laughed at me.

"Nope. You really need something besides the black pumps. You need matching shoes and handbag! Let's go shopping together."

Yesterday we went shopping but I was grumbling the whole time.

"I do not want to spend this money. What a waste. Who is going to look at me anyway? What does it matter what color shoes I wear or bag I carry or what outfit I wear? Why do I need a tiny handbag that nothing will fit into?"

Grumble, grumble, pout, pout. Mrs. Yano just took over.

"Just find some shoes that you can walk in. I'll tell you if they look okay. Then we'll worry about the bag. AND STOP LOOKING AT THE PRICE TAGS ON EVERYTHING!!!"

So I found some shoes that were suitable. And I dilly dallied between a minuscule handbag that would only hold a handkerchief and a semi-large bag that I might find another purpose for someday. I was ready to come home empty handed and do this another day alone but I sensed that I was wearing my friendship pretty thin if I backed out now. The practical bag came home with us.

So NOW I am set but it does seem strange to me that since I'm not the one graduating that I have to get all dressed up. A nice hippy skirt and dangle earrings and that's my idea of fancy...

Thank you Marlene and Mrs. Yano! Tetsu won't recognize who's standing next to him!

Cat antics

My cats are driving me crazy! I'm not sure which cat it is or maybe if it is all three of them, but every day SOME cat is messing up my house. I know that Choco will overturn waste baskets and check out the kitchen counters if I let her run free, but the cats I had more faith in. Not so!

I am smart enough to know if I'm serving fish for dinner to never take my eyes off of it until it has been completely consumed. This is a house with three cats! But would you worry about broccoli? About asparagus? Cleo absolutely loves green cooked vegetables (which I remember when he runs out of the kitchen with a broccoli flower in his mouth!)

How about potato chips and crackers? I'm pretty sure Patora is the culprit but I have no proof. As soon as she senses Tetsu asleep on the sofa Patora starts checking out the snack drawer (which she can open!) How can a cat know that an unopened box or bag has something delicious inside? Yesterday I found three bags of pop-corn all over the kitchen when I came downstairs from sewing. A mother had brought them over so that I could give them to the English kids but Patora got to them before the kids. I ate all three bags myself for lunch (no sense letting good pop corn go to waste.) Another cat (I don't know which one) likes sweet things so any boxed or packaged cookies get ransacked. Japanese sweet bean paste also seems to be a favorite so any of those left overnight rarely find their way to human stomachs.

The cats may be in league with Choco because more often than not when Tetsu and I find stuff half eaten by the cats, the rest of it is given to Choco (except the pop corn.) I wonder if they plot these things out at night while we're sleeping.

"Everyone's asleep. You get that cookie box out of the cupboard and leave half for me and I won't bark and wake up Mom."

And unfortunately, the cats' antics are not limited to the kitchen. I found this mess the other day which I am not at all happy about. This is part of our paper window shade in the Japanese room. Cats are notorious in their love of tearing Japanese paper window shades to shreds, but my cats have always pretty much left the windows alone. Recently though, one of the English kids accidentally punched a small hole in one of the shades and I was meaning to patch it up with extra paper (a common repair job) but I procrastinated and the small hole was discovered by a cat and he/she must have decided to make a bigger peephole. I don't know which cat this is but Velvet likes to sleep by this window so he's the major suspect.

Don't my feline family members look sweet and innocent? I've got Velvet on my lap right now purring away as if to say,

"Calm down. You know we love you."

Boys' Day decorations

Let's see... Today is May 2nd in Japan and we have just a couple more days until Boys' Day so maybe I'll show a couple Boys' Day decorations.

Today this is what I ran across at the kindergarten in honor of Boys' Day. Doesn't this seem like an easy craft? It looks like these were made of long envelopes and then painted with fish markings. Very effective and so nice when all of the carp are tacked up on the wall together.

Though many people outside of Japan have heard of or seen the Boys' Day carp decorations, I don't think that the indoor Boys' Day decorations are as well known. This is a replica of a Japanese samurai helmet and I think is made of heavy iron. It usually will sit in the special alcove of a Japanese room during this season and is elaborately embellished with brocade and tooled metal fittings. Often sitting next to the helmet will be a small archery set or a sword and the whole thing is displayed in hope that the boys in the family will grow up to be healthy and strong.

Sometimes you can see whole sets of armor too but even the smaller helmet with all the laquer and gold will dominate the room when it is displayed. Actually I think the flying carp are more popular and both are quite evident in the department stores right now.

I guess if I had my preference I'd prefer having Boys' Day carp flying outside my window than a samurai helmet sitting in my living room but I'm a bit of a pacifist anyway.

Haori sewing

I've torn up another kimono.

I found a picture of Tetsu's aunt wearing this kimono jacket back at Tetsu and my engagement ceremony nearly 30 years ago! I don't know why Tetsu's aunt was wearing it since it was his mother's, but I guess since it was a special occasion, the aunt felt she needed to wear something elaborate and Tetsu's mother loaned it to her for the night.

Anyway, I took the plunge and started ripping this beautiful "haori" (kimono jacket) apart and found many interesting things (well, to me). As with all kimonos, this was completely hand sewn and made in panels with barely any cutting whatsoever. I realized right away that this haori was pure silk (gulp) and it was extremely slippery and difficult to cut and sew . There was a silk lining (such a delicate woven pattern on it) but it was stained and not very usable. When I got to the underside of the fabric I realized that there was another lining sewn onto the black fabric. When I say sewn, I mean really sewn! Like every two inches the lining was basted down in precise rows and the stitches were all tied individually so that I couldn't just pull them out like regular basting! I had to cut each of the hundreds of individual knots... a long process. The more I worked the more I realized how much sewing had been involved with making this jacket by some long ago seamstress and here I was desecrating all her work!

Finally I was down to the cutting and sewing stage but by now I realized there was no turning back. The kimono fabric is called "shibori" which means "gathered", and it is an exquisite Japanese textile technique involving tying minuscule knots in a carefully choreographed design and then dying the fabric. Sort of like tie-dye (remember we used to do that with handkerchiefs and rubber bands) but millions of times more detailed and complicated. After the dying and drying process, the knots are untied and the fabric is stretched back to its original width (but there is still some contraction so that must be why the lining is necessary.) It was interesting to stumble across a couple of the tied knots still gathered in the fabric that must have been overlooked when the fabric was being stretched... another reminder of all the fine work that went into the making of the fabric and haori. And another neat thing I found was there was a whole block of fabric that had been hidden away to the eye where the original untied silk remained so you could see the pattern on the pure black part too. I fiddled around and was able to used this untied portion in the final product I was making.

Sort of a anti-climatic finish for this post, but here you have my finished vest. Same pattern as the one I made up a couple months ago in purple. I am very pleased with it and feel very elegant in it. I went over to Tetsu's mother's yesterday and modeled it for her and it brought back many memories for her of when she bought it, what places she'd worn it etc. I wondered if it might make her sad to see its final state (she said it was very expensive and here I am wearing it with jeans!) but she seemed happy and we got in an afternoon of reminiscing so that made her day.

Blogging Rules

I've been thinking about how life gets more complicated as more technology develops. It should be the other way! All these neat gadgets are supposed to be time savers and make life easier aren't they? Right now I'm talking about the computer and blogging in general and I have a feeling I'm not the only one who gets pulled to the computer screen for longer blocks of time every day.

I first started blogging a little more than two years ago when surfing Internet and stumbling upon Bonnie's Quiltville Scrap User's System. I noticed a few comments and a couple of links and I followed those until I came upon the blogging world. I lurked around for a couple months but I was afraid of the big scary world out there and the imagined evil lurking behind the screen.

BUT... I ran across a marvelous quilt on Quilting Bebbs' blog and I posed a question and decided blogging manners and rules included revealing myself to Anne. She responded and I was hooked! Wow! I was communicating with someone in England!!! It reminded me of my days trying to stay in touch with a pen pal but SO MUCH FASTER. Computers, Internet and especially blogging are so great! Pretty soon I was commenting on other blogs and people were following links back to me until I belonged to my own little blogging community. And I've been happy ever since!

But notice that the minute I connected with another blogger, that I started following blogging rules (made up by myself) and I religiously answered e-mails that came in to me and visited the blogger. And once I hooked up to Bloglines then I could subscribe to every blog visitors' blog and comment there too! But I guess this is an old story. What I'm getting at is that the computer world has made communicating so fast and easy and such a time saver but I end up sitting here reading and writing and commenting and making new friends until I get swamped. And it's no fault but my own! And I love doing it! But sewing and housekeeping get ignored though thankfully I haven't been delinquent with my job yet. (That day could come!)

It's very interesting that some bloggers use their first name, some an alias, some a full name, some show pictures of themselves some don't and some even have their mailing address posted on their blog! I decided that I didn't mind posting my full name and my picture but I'll only post pictures of friends and family if I get permission (if I've gotten your permission once, my "rule" says I have it until you tell me to stop!) Some of my non-blogging friends think I could be tracked by the information I've posted on my blog, but really, who is going to hunt me down in the back woods of Japan? And why? I'm a housewife with no children at home who quilts. No great ransom material there.

An interesting situation came up a couple weeks ago when someone I didn't know contacted me asking if I had the mailing address of another blogger because they wanted to do something nice for the blogger. I had the address and was ready to e-mail it off when I said,

"Wait. What are the blogging rules about this?"

It makes me a little sad that I can't just assume that what is said is what really is. I wondered if I'd have the same qualms giving out an address of someone if I was stopped on the street by a stranger. You know,

"Where does so-and-so live?" "Oh, see the purple house second from the left? That's her house."

But the blogging world? I ended up going to the blogger and asking if I could reveal her mailing address (she said yes) and then passing the information along.

What about you? What are your "rules" for blogging?

Um...Here I am practically fresh out of bed, no make-up and making my morning blog hop before I start house cleaning chores etc. MY blogging rule says it's okay not to be spruced up to enter the blogging world. This is the real ME friends, and this is where I am at when I'm visiting with you!

Cat pocket tissue cover

This is so simple that it is hardly worth writing down, but I might forget myself someday so at least I'll have instructions on the blog.

Choose two fabrics (one for lining, one for the cover) I just cut width of fabric from both and I figure I can make four covers. I cut the strip 5 1/2".

Make a template. I just eye-balled the cat part of it. Sort of like a Mt. Fuji on one side and then clip out ears. I did this on paper first and then decided it was worth making a plastic template so I could make more. I doubt that this needs to be exact. I think my Mt. Fuji is about 1 1/4" high.

If you're making a template then from the "base" of Mt. Fuji you need 8 " length.

Trace top and bottom lines (these will be sewing lines) on the back side of the fabric. (I know, the picture is lousy but I did trace those lines from the template.)

Sew along lines, (top and bottom) back stitching at the points and corners of the cat's ears. I used fairly small stitches because my sewing distance was so small.

Clip corners and turn. Press.

With right side together fold the "cat" part to center and then fold the bottom part on top of that. The folds should overlap and the piece should be a bit more than 3 1/2" wide now. Let's say it should fit the tissue packet you're going to use.

Sew along both edges, clip corners and turn.

Add beads for eyes and embroider whiskers. (I didn't do any fancy hiding of knots here but some of you embroidery people know how to do that better than I.)

Push in the tissue and there you have it!

Mifumi Kindergarten

Last week I went in to the kindergarten a little early and wandered around the kindergarten grounds. The kids are still getting used to their new classes and the teachers have a job getting them round up to do indoor activities. A lot of playing in the mud, stringing flower petals (like a lei) and collecting bugs.

Mifumi Kindergarten has a very relaxed attitude towards educating children in academics and I think this is unusual in Japan. As with most of Japan, children enter full day kindergarten when they are three, though some families hold off until the child is four (and then it's hard to find a spot open!) During the day there are walks in the forest, a lot of art and crafts, singing, exercises, story time etc. The children bring their lunches, and kindergarten's daily program lasts until 2:00 and if requested the kindergarten will keep children until 5:00. I know, it seems a long time to be away from mom for these little three year-olds, but it is part of learning to get along in groups and being cooperative and this is very important in Japan.

Many kindergartens, especially in the major cities, have very intense preparation courses for elementary school. The kids are drilled in Chinese characters, use of abacus, even the proper way to take tests. I don't think too much of that type of education but a day of playing in the sun, and being with friends is better than sitting in front of a TV or playing computer games so kindergarten is an important part of life for both the children and the mothers. Since the society is one in which the fathers don't have much time to spend at home and since there is no such thing as baby sitters the only way mothers can have any social life is to make friends with other kindergarten mothers. There are loads of mothers' circles associated with the kindergarten, chorus, patchwork, kimono wearing, tea ceremony, cooking classes etc.

Here is a picture of one of the "skills" taught at the kindergarten. Unicycle riding! There are lots of unicycles on the grounds and the children who have learned to ride them are quite proud of themselves and as I walked around many of them called out to me,

"Tanya-sensei! Look at me!." "No, look at ME!"

I was looking at the teacher and I thought this pretty good that she was pedaling away along with the kids. That's one skill I don't think any teacher in the States would find necessary but I admire her for taking the plunge to learn how. (I wonder how many plunges she took before she got to this level of ability.)

Here's another skill valued at Mifumi. The ability to climb trees! Now, that's important! (And I'm not being sarcastic. I think the back to nature attitude is a great one!)

And lastly, a picture of Takumi when he was in Mifumi. Can you imagine what he's doing so diligently? I know, the picture isn't too great, but just before graduating from kindergarten every year the children are taught how to sharpen a pencil... Their one time holding a pencil while they are in this kindergarten. And those kids are NOT using a pencil sharpener. The 5 year-olds are given some pencils and an Exacto knife and they practice shaving the pencil to a point! I need to join that lesson because I don't think I can sharpen a pencil with an Exacto knife! I've never heard of any lost fingers in all the years that I've taught at Mifumi Kindergarten so I guess the kids know what they are doing!

Mistake

Sorry. Tetsu informed me that what we were looking at yesterday was "Shibazakura" (not sakura soh) which I've now checked again and find that it is called "Moss Pink" also referred to "Cherry Shrubs". Goes to show you I don't know my Japanese nor my flowers.

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..." Juliet

"A Shibazakura by any other name would still be breathtaking..." Tanya

Sakura soh

Today Tetsu took me off on a "date" this morning. He's been doing this lately, taking me to places a couple hours away to enjoy the beautiful spring scenery and we realize how many interesting and lovely places are actually quite near to us. In all the years we've lived here we've never gone sightseeing and so now why this sudden activity?

"Well, you've got to show your blog friends something besides cats and dogs, quilts and rice fields so I thought you might take some nice pictures."

Ah, so that's why I've done more jaunting about than usual! Anyway, please enjoy while it lasts (next month gas prices are going up so we'll probably have to curtail our travels a bit.)

This morning's trip was supposed to be a surprise for me until we got lost and I had to start being navigator and follow the map. Just a couple of hours away from us boasts the largest "sakura soh" park on mainland Japan and this week it is in full bloom. I checked Google and sakura soh is called Siebold Primrose or Japanese Primrose in English and it is named sakura soh (cherry blossom grass) because the tiny flowers look like cherry blossoms. The gradations were wonderful and such a carpet of color spread out on the rolling hills. Loads and loads of people coming by the busloads but we got there early enough to find parking and take Choco with us on a long walk. I took at least 20 pictures but I guess they are all about the same so I'll just share a few.

As we walked around it was a bit difficult to stay out of the way of other people trying to snap pictures without walking into their picture (and vice versa I'm sure). I have no qualms at all about asking if someone would like me to take their pictures for them so I was photographer for 3 or 4 people. I offered to take a picture of a family with a little boy and just as they lined up to be snapped the little boy ran off yelling,

"Mommy, mommy! Look! There's a dandelion!"

I thought that was hilarious that with all these millions of sakura soh surrounding him the little boy should be so happy to find a dandelion!

"Even grasses have cherry blossom flowers in Japan, the country of cherry blossoms"

Japanese poet, Issei Kobayashi's haiku about sakura soh.

Dentists

Last week Leiya announced that she had to have her wisdom teeth taken out. AAARRGGHH!!! I knew this was going to happen and I wasn't too thrilled about it. Another brick in the wall emphasizing the differences between Japanese and American culture.

Before Leiya went to America three years ago I took her to the dentist to have her teeth checked. After Takumi went to the States one of the first times he visited the dentist he was told that his teeth weren't in such good shape even though I've always made sure he had dental care. He ended up paying quite a lot of money to have his teeth fixed. This has happened to other friends who send their kids to the States. Whatever the Japanese dentist thinks is adequate care, the American dentist has always been horrified and I've heard numerous stories of paying out a fortune once in the States.

Sooooo... foreseeing all this, not only did we have the Japanese dentist take extra care with Leiya's teeth before she went to the States, I also asked if she could have her wisdom teeth removed. I didn't want to have problems with them while she was in the States. No. The dentist would not do that. He wasn't equipped to perform surgery on teeth that had not yet made an appearance and if I really felt it was necessary he would refer me to the major hospital in the next city. I really felt it was necessary, so we made an appointment and took Leiya in.

"Sorry Mrs. Watanabe. We do not recommend wisdom teeth removal for your daughter." (Hint, hint. What kind of a mother are you that you would want to inflict pain upon your child when she has no teeth problems.)