Influenza

Influenza has struck our city, and friends and neighbor children are toppling like dominoes. Four kids get influenza in one class and that grade is canceled for a week. And the next week some other class is infected and that class goes down. And parents have to stay home, partly to care for the ill, partly because if it is Swine flu the companies have a policy that workers must stay home a week if any family member is stricken. This makes for a lot of absences. I mean, SOMEONE in the family is sure to bring home some virus and then mom and day are banned from the workplace for a week, and then pretty soon some other member of the family gets it and everyone takes a week off again!

Usually there are about 20 kids from my neighborhood walking to school every morning but last week there were a whole 7. Some of the kids had influenza. Some of the kids' grades were cancelled. Some of the kids were just staying home for prevention purposes. And those that do go to school wear masks all day and gargle with green tea at breaks... (Not such a great picture but all the girls going to school in their group are wearing masks.)

All last week I was saying

"Let me get through the weekend Lord! I do not want to miss my guests!"

And I did make it. Yeah. I wonder how much longer I can hold out.

Connecting again

I had a nice weekend with my friends from the States. Yoko and her husband and daughter made it to Nikko on Saturday despite train schedule changes and missed connections. On my side, a few of the plans I'd made got mixed up but I guess the purpose was to catch up on each other and past friends so it was a good two days.

Yoko was my roommate in college and we lived together on the International floor of the dorm. I had gone to Japan on the overseas program and was studying Japanese when I moved onto the floor and Yoko helped me with my Japanese homework. I can still remember asking Yoko to check my writing assignment (in Japanese) and she not having the slightest idea of what I was trying to say. Sigh... I might have given up Japanese altogether back then if she hadn't helped me.

This weekend we laughed about dorm life memories; the girls' side of the floor buying men's trunks and dyeing them pink to give to the boys' side of the floor for Valentine's day. Drinking plum wine in the evenings (hoping to build up our alcohol tolerance) though neither of us were drinkers. We both remember those days as REALLY good ones!

Yoko married an American boy immediately after college (we were all in the same year in college) and I took off for Japan and later married Tetsu. So our lives have been somewhat mirrored. Yoko living in the States these 30 plus years. Me living in Japan for nearly as long. It was interesting to compare stories of child raising and nowadays parent care (or lack of it since we both don't get back to our parents' homes but once or twice a year). Since Yoko had gone college in the States I asked for any advice she might have for my kids who are trying to do the same thing now.

While chatting we did a lot of driving around which may have been uncomfortable. There was no way 5 of us were going to fit in one of our small cars and so we moved around in two cars; womenfolk in one car so that we could chat, menfolk in the other car with more leg room. Unfortunately, Tetsu and Yoko's husband didn't really have a common language so lots of shoulder shrugging and smiling.

I think it is true that the people that come into our lives shape us sometimes ever so slightly, sometimes hugely. Yoko is one of the people who influenced me greatly and helped bring me to where I am today. In the past, we have been Christmas card friends (but her daughter reads my blog! Hi Sarah!) but I hope we'll be better about keeping in touch now that we've touched bases again.

Utsunomiya by night

More night pictures. Tetsu took me out to dinner at a fancy restaurant a couple of nights ago just because... I guess there wasn't an occasion. He just thought I'd like to see the night sights of the city. I suggested we go look at the sights and then go eat our usual noodles but he insisted on a fancy dinner. Wow! And it's not even my birthday or an anniversary or anything!

And this was the fancy dinner, scrumptious morsels Japanese style. Mmm so good! And this is the scenery from the restaurant. The restaurant is at the top of the 15 floor prefecture building that was unveiled last year and though I drive by the new building fairly often I'd never been to the top. It was fun to walk around the whole floor and try to locate landmarks that we frequent.

Utsunomiya (the city next to our Nikko) is not very big but it looks pretty metropolitan by night.

My friend Mrs. Komatsu sent me a picture of the shawl that she made. And she made it from the directions on my blog!! Wow! Does that make me feel good! When I posted I thought

"What a lot of rigamarole to take all these pictures and draw out all the directions when no one will ever really make this."

(But I was also writing it all down so that someday I can come back and have the directions at hand... in case I misplace my paper copy... which I often do). And then I was in such a hurry that I didn't even have time to check and see if the instructions were correct. Mrs. Komatsu called to say that she'd seen my blog and all the pictures and then downloaded it all and enlarged the pictures and made it all by herself!! That really makes me feel good!

Beautiful shawl, Mrs. Komatsu and I love the fringe and the scallops you added!!!

This is going to be a quicky post because I'm having guests today!!! Special guests! Friends I haven't seen in nearly 25 years! My college roommate and her husband and daughter are coming up to Nikko today so we are getting together to have a chatathon. I need to get my sewing room cleaned up (they want to see some of my quilts!), clean out the car etc. etc. I'd better go check and make sure the camera battery is recharged too!

Fall? Winter?

Winter is approaching. Tetsu and I got out our down jackets this week and I am back to wearing layers upon layers. In the mornings we wake up to LEAVES! Living next to a forest has some disadvantages (but not many! I love my forest!)

Tetsu complains about all the leaf raking that he has to do but I point out that he doesn't really have to do it since I don't mind the leaves. And then in the next breath he is saying what a small fulfillment it is to clear an area of the leaves in a short period of time. Our yard is tiny so he goes on to clear the road too and does a very good job! Doesn't he look happy?

And here is the cleared driveway. In a few hours it is covered with leaves again.

The cats are keeping warm by making a cat ball. Four cats. Vel will get a heating pad pretty soon and I've already started giving Mi a hot water bottle. (I pamper my cats. It's not really that cold yet.)

Mi is very noisy and trills like a bird all the time and wants to be with the rest of the family. Since she has to be watched closely when with the other cats she lives basically alone. And my! What a racket she puts up on the other side of the door... I keep reminding myself that we are looking after her health, have resolved the unwanted kitten problem, give her food and warmth and love. Too bad if she thinks she deserves company all the time too...

IGADS! Is that paper piecing? (Did you know that IGADS stands for "I've Got All Day Syndrome"?) ...meaning I start something and the whole day is gone with not much to show for it. Yes, I wanted to make a certain wall hanging for my friend (Mrs. N. ...Shhh....) so I pulled out an old pattern and have been struggling away. I hope to get that done this week...

And I bought yarn! So Tetsu's vest will be next on the docket.

Bullying

Today I have a serious topic to share with you. I asked my friend Rumi-san who is an English teacher, to share some of her ideas about bullying with you.

Bullying is a huge problem in Japan. The English word "bullying" doesn't cover the realm of types of bullying that children and adolescents and even adults experience in Japan. It occurs most commonly in Jr. high school but I have known grown men who have experienced it in their workplace. The situation of being ignored by the whole class or office, of being left by the wayside (a window desk) with nothing to do and no acknowledgement of existence… In schools there are insidious messages passed around; exclusion in games; vandalism to property. Another unheard of word in English is "a fear of going to school/work" and many children will refuse to go to school in order to avoid bullying. This is a sensitive problem because Japan has the highest rate of suicides in the world so parents and educators are fearful of adding more pressure to a child's life. Being an adolescent is hard for anyone. Being one who has been cut off from others must be devastating.

The other side of the problem is the bully who deals with a whole set of other pressures in his/or her life. The pressures to succeed which builds as the examination months loom closer. Parents dedicate their lives and finances towards getting the child into a good high school. Society looks sidelong at which school so-and-so is accepted into. Surely the poor teenager feels pressure even when mom brings in a hot cup of cocoa in the middle of the night in the last days of cramming.

"If I DON'T get in everyone will think I let them down. Everyone will know I failed."

The pressure there is enormous and maybe understandable when they lash out at others. (picture from the Internet)

This is a problem that I have long wondered about. It seems so easy to say "Just stop it" but it has never been that easy…

Bullying

I have been teaching adolescent children for a long time and over the years I come into contact with a subtle type of bullying among them. Most recently two junior high school girls, who have been coming to my house to study English, had an incident. They have been coming to English for two years together and I thought that they were very close and good friends. True, their English level was somewhat different, but gradually the one girl improved.

And now the girls are facing their high school entrance exams.

From August, I noticed that one girl, S, seemed irritated during class. She is very smart and was getting high scores on all her tests. The other girl, K, was gaining confidence in English and seemed very happy with her progress. Then suddenly at the last lesson in August, K quietly told me that she was going to quit English. I asked her why but she wouldn't answer. She just kept smiling and said she planned go to another cram school. It was such a surprise! She had always tried very hard; she seemed to enjoy the lesson very much and had a good relationship with me. I couldn't understand what was behind the sudden announcement.

Not long after, it came to my attention (through a different student) that S had sent K a text message that went like this;

"I have to pass the high school entrance exam no matter what and I need to get higher scores in English. You are holding me back and I don't think we should study together anymore. Please quit A-sensei's English lesson for my sake."

Teenagers can be so cruel. I had intended to suggest to the girls that they should study separately from September anyway but K had already quit. Later I learned that S and her friends are bullying K at school.

Children have their own relationships and it is inevitable that there will be trouble between them. Sometime situations resolve themselves. Sometimes the relationships remain broken. Sometimes someone else needs to step in. Should adults just wait and watch?

I felt very irritated being part of these two girls' problems. I wanted to do or say something to help their relationship but I don't think a direct accusation to S and a request for her to refrain from bullying is the answer. I think that would cause the bullying to continue on a deeper, more secretive level.

I have considered calling K and suggesting to her to come back for private lessons. However I don't think she would return so easily. I think she would worry about what S would do if she found out. K isn't strong enough to fight back and she spends her school life trying not to make waves. Students like her are afraid to take any action that might stimulate a peer's resentment.

Once bullying begins, a negative spiral is set in motion and the person being bullied is afraid. If they were able to stand up for themselves or to say "no" firmly, then the bully might desist or at least realize that the actions and attitudes are wrong. As it is, it is easy for bullying to accelerate because the opponent is passive.

In my students' case I know that S (the bully) has been frustrated for the past few months. She quarrels with her father more than usual and the stress of studying for exams has taken a toll on her emotional health. Even though she was studying hard, her test scores and grades were going down and this resulted in her being impatient with herself and others.

I wish I had recognized these symptoms earlier. If the bully's emotional health is more stable and there is less stress, then concordantly the bully's need for control might be relaxed. Ideally, the bully would be able to restore her relationships. Considering the situation, I decided to pay more attention to S and concentrate on her needs rather than on the other girl who is no longer within my circle of influence.

One month has passed since K quit, and S's frustration seems to be decreasing. Her attitude towards studying has relaxed and now I am waiting for the right time to suggest that she speak with K. I hope she would then be able to approach K and say

"Why don't you give A-sensei a call. She says she can teach you privately and you were doing so well before."

Mrs. Nakazawa

This weekend my friend Mrs. Nakazawa (she made Mi the bara-bara cat box) took some of her friends out to lunch. We met in the city and then Mrs. Nakazawa drove us out to a far off town and a farther off, very fancy French restaurant! So classy and so much fun to spend the day with friends.



Mrs. Nakazawa is amazing! She talks a mile a minute and smiles constantly. She seems to do everything and has more energy than anyone I know. She takes food to shut-ins (because she's used to cooking for her family anyway). She learned to use the computer so that she could be a sometimes secretary to a sight-challenged friend. She is active in her church. On Saturday she had boxes of ingredients lined up on her table to use in her baking marathon for the YMCA bazaar this week (she was planning on making nearly 30 loaves of banana, persimmon and fruit bread). And of course she takes care of cats and cat lovers like me.

I'm afraid the French restaurant was so elegant and the food was so posh that I didn't think it appropriate to bring out my camera and take pictures at every dish served but I did get a picture of the four of us as we were leaving.

The occasion was a farewell luncheon for Marlene who will be joining her husband in Hong Kong next year, and all four of us are connected through YMCA (where Tetsu used to work) but Marlene and I have a 20 year long friendship, Rumi-san and I meet a couple times a month for English, and Mrs. Nakazawa and I have our cat loving connections.

After a lovely lunch and much conversation, we all headed back to the city where Mrs. Nakazawa presented each of us with some wonderful tea cups made by an artist friend. Look carefully. Can you see the tiny kitties painted on the cups? Such a special, loving, generous friend I have.

Mrs. Nakazawa is taking care of her ailing 18 year old kitty this week. Thank you Mrs. Nakazawa, and much love to you and to Mick.

Nikko at night

Last night Tetsu and I went up to the Nikko shrines and temples for the city's light festival. Last year Tetsu had taken me to a small park to see the lights against the autumn leaves but this year he suggested we go up to the historical part of Nikko. It was certainly worth the trip!

"Wow, this is a lot more stupendous than last year's park."

"I should think so. Nikko's shrines and temples are registered as a World Heritage site."

There are so many temples and shrines up in Nikko that I can't keep the names straight and in some cases have trouble telling the difference between which is the shrine and which is the temple. No matter. They are all beautiful and the grounds are surrounded by towering ceder trees and cobbled roads. Last night it was slightly drizzling but not enough to use an umbrella and the mist made the area seem all the more ethereal. My small digital camera doesn't do any of the scenery justice but maybe you'll get an idea of the beauty of the place.

Some of the colors may look confusing but if you look carefully you can see the reflection of trees and stone pagodas in the temple pond.

Nikko is one of the more famous places in Japan and most children will have a school trip to Nikko once in their lifetime. Sometimes you can hardly see the grounds because of all of the kids and their chattering and excitement takes away a bit from the spiritual atmosphere. Last night was a quiet way to enjoy the natural and man-made beauty of Nikko.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Well we are finished here in Japan. This year I got dressed up as a witch for the kindergarten and the nursery school and was asked to come to a preschool (babies!) event too. My outfit gets used everyday for a week and now it goes back in the box until next year... This is a picture from 2004. My outfit doesn't change... only me...

And yesterday was the kindergarten bazaar which I didn't attend after all. There were two quilts this year, one that our group made and one that the kindergarten mothers made (which I never saw in person.) Mrs. Furui sent pictures to me last night of the raffle in progress and the winners.

And the winner of the Crazy Lady Quilter quilt (my group's) was one of the former kindergarten teachers!!! Yeah! Ai-sensei's son is now going to the kindergarten so she is really one of the kindergarten mothers but we all know her as Ai-sensei (teacher). It is so nice when someone everyone knows wins the raffle quilt. What fun!

This morning we brought Mi into the living room with the rest of the cats and paid close attention to their introductions. Mi doesn't seem to mind the other kitties in the least. The other cats were interested but they've seen Mi through the cat cage and in the cat enclosure so no spitting and growling. I guess if Mi is willing to stay on my lap while she is in the living room she can join us occasionally. Such a good natured kitty. I'm sure she would be a great cuddler if we could let her have contact with the other cats...

I need to go to a yarn store and get started on Tetsu's Christmas present. I haven't found a great pattern yet though I've been visiting Ravelry, a knit and crochet site. I'd better get a move on. Only two months to get something done!

Persimmon bread again

Yesterday I had a bunch of persimmons sitting on the counter getting soft so I quickly made up a batch of persimmon bread.

I checked. I posted about persimmon bread last year so if you want the recipe look here. It is one of the old standbys for autumn and one of Tetsu's favorite desserts. I need to go to the wholesale store and buy some more walnuts. I had to use almonds instead which was just as tasty but chopped almonds gave it a different texture.

My wholesale store is very strange. I think they cater to restaurants and bakeries. The people in the office have zero customer service awareness. Years ago someone had told me that there was a wholesale "store" for baking goods and I went past it a few times before I figured out that this was the place. Just an old warehouse with an old linoleum floor and metal doors leading to an office. The office had a few ladies peering over their computers but hardly anyone even looked up when I first went in. Nothing that makes this place look like they are selling anything. I asked if this was the place that sold walnuts and one lady sighed and started to go into the warehouse part of the building.

"Wait! Do you sell raisins? Chocolate chips? Almonds? Butter? What all do you sell?"

I figured out that they sold all that stuff but no price list etc. Just say what you want and someone will go into the back and bring out a bag. You have to buy by the kilo and they aren't going ask for any extra information like do I want chopped almonds or sliced almonds etc.

Lady you asked for almonds so here you are. If you wanted sliced almonds you should have said so. That's a different bag. (But I didn't know you had sliced almonds too...)

I one time got up enough courage to ask if I could go back into their warehouse.

Suit yourself. Close the door on the way out.

My exploring showed they sell cake pans and cookie cutters too and peaches by the gallon and canned bamboo shoots. I don't know what one would do with bamboo shoots in a baking place.

I'll make a stop this week again and brace myself for a big bill. (I make a lot of granola and go through a lot of nuts, coconut, and raisins.)

As soon as my bananas get mushy I'm going to make Nancy's Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze. Yum sounds good. I wish Tetsu would stop eating all my bananas.

Stinkbugs

This morning Tetsu went to work a little irritated. Not really irritated at me, but irritated because he was late and in the long run I guess irritated because I didn't check his clothes. I should have checked his clothes for THIS. (picture from the Internet)

Do you know what this is? I never saw one when I lived in the States and I don't think I ever saw one until I lived next to the forest. This is a stinkbug and he and his fellow stinkbugs live up to their name! We all know when a stinkbug has gotten into the house and the cats will bat at one a couple times, wrinkle their noses and bound off in the opposite direction.

I have put on a shirt, 30 minutes later or so smelled the distinctive stinkbug smell, and suddenly feel something crawling up my arm. And other people will notice the smell too (but the bugs are so common everyone thinks one has gotten in the house) and I will innocently pretend that it is not me who is stinking.

Right now we are in the stinkbug season. They must live in the forest and come up to our veranda and sun themselves on my laundry. This morning Tetsu put on his shirt (remember I dry my laundry outside) and a few seconds later he had taken everything off and was doing an Indian dance and shaking his clothes out. About 7 stinkbugs plopped to the floor and I scurried around gathering them up and putting them back outside. They will probably make their way back to my laundry today.

So Tetsu was late for work and irritated. At the stinkbugs. Not at me. I "sthink".

Not a puppy!

A couple of days ago my neighbor telephoned me for some advice. This is the same neighbor that Mi was going back and forth to visit. The same neighbor whom I had spent some time discussing the care and training of cats, the same neighbor that in the end couldn't make the decision to adopt Mi.

"Tanya, I need some advice... My daughter brought home a puppy yesterday. I don't know how to take care of a puppy. What should I do?"

I spent some time talking with her and making suggestions (though I haven't raised a puppy since I was a child). And I said I'd come over the next morning to visit their new family member.

Yesterday I ran into the mother in front of their house and she told me a little about how it was going with the puppy. Not well. She was very frazzled but said that her daughter was so adamant about keeping the puppy that it was probably there to stay. Ah yes, the daughter. When Mi came back from being spayed, my neighbor and her daughter had come over to adopt the kitty and the girl had been so happy to cuddle Mi and listen to her purr. She REALLY wanted to take Mi home.

This is no storybook little girl with apple blossom skin. My neighbor's daughter is a lanky teenager with orange hair, sloppy clothing and heavy makeup. I have known her since she was a baby and she used to come for English. For all her bravado she is still fairly congenial to me and will smile and greet me on the street (more than some of my very serious students will do!) I like the girl very much and watching her with the kitty and seeing her eyes sparkle made me think that the girl needed the kitty as much as the kitty needed the girl. At one point the daughter got irritated with her mother's wishy-washiness and blurted out

"Are we going to adopt this cat or not? That's what we came for!"

But they ended up not adopting Mi.

Yesterday the neighbor invited me into her house to see the puppy and maybe give her some more advice. We went upstairs to the daughter's room. The whole room was COVERED with taped down newspaper! On top of the newspaper were maybe 20 potty training sheets flown here and there. The puppy had not figured out what potty training sheets were for and so we stepped around puddles and piles until we got to the sleeping teenager in the middle of it all (not really on the bed... sort of scrunched onto her futon on the floor) and of course the puppy was jumping on everybody and everything and making a real mess everywhere!

I don't know, but I don't think this is the correct way to potty train a puppy. I suggested buying a cage or fenced in area and focusing on praise for correct potty habits and confinement for misses. The mother was half holding her head and kept saying over and over

"I've never done this before... I had no idea puppies were like this!"

I went home half-smiling to myself. I think the teenage daughter took matters into her own hands when mom wouldn't make a decision about the kitty. I don't want to be mean but I think mom would have had an easier time adopting my kitty.

Oh well, good all around. The neighbor girl got a puppy. The puppy got a new home. And I got Mi.

Wordless Wednesdays (sort of)

Wordless Wednesdays.

Well, not completely. I can barely let a day go by with out rambling about something.

I did two more machine quilting patterns from Leah Day's 365 project. I'm not happy with either unfortunately.

The blue one is called Spirals (obviously) but I had trouble keeping my spirals even and I got lost a couple of times so the angles are cut off.

The gray one, called Pebbles in a Stream, I really like the texture (and the colors). I think this could make a wonderful fill in for a small quilt but I definitely need to make this larger! What I was thinking when I made this so small! Pebbles? Those aren't pebbles in there, those are grains of sand! I don't know what it is about machine quilting that makes me get smaller and smaller until my fingers are doing all the work rather than my arms and wrists.

Gotta go!

Hugs and Kisses Quilt

Many of you wanted to know about the embroidery that I've been doing so I thought I'd give a few details here.

In January, Lorraine in Australia visited Japan and showed my quilting group her beautiful quilt called Fairy something... by Hugs and Kisses (Sorry I forgot the name.) It was just stupendous work and as much detail as I've seen in any quilt in a long time. We were absolutely floored at the beauty and skill and more than a little surprised to hear how the technique is done... by using colored pencils. A few weeks later, Lorraine sent the group the whole set (fabric and all) of the Hugs and Kisses' series, Neenie's Garden.

Well now, this is a lot of work and maybe too much work for just one of us (though Lorraine could do it). So our group decided we would give this a try (not too confident about our ability) and if the combined efforts were good we would make this quilt as 2010's kindergarten bazaar quilt. At least we had enough time to ponder and consult each other.

During the summer a couple of us spent hot days iron transferring the designs and then we used the colored pencils that Lorraine had also sent (and the sealer and the threads). To be honest, the coloring wasn't that interesting, sort of a color by number sort of process with not too much room for individuality, but between 4 or 5 of us we had all the blocks colored in a few hours.

The next step was to seal the colors in with normal textile sealer (that my friends said could even be easily bought in Japan so I suppose you might find it in the tole painting section of the crafts shop). We were pretty liberal with the sealer and the colors ran a bit. We should have followed the directions to seal one color at a time, let dry and seal the next color (6 times? Sorry, we don't have THAT much time). A weave/web backing (also provided in the kit) was applied to the back of the blocks and the next step has been the embroidery. That's where I am now.

The threads used are very sturdy and silky and seem stronger than normal embroidery floss. Here again, I am just following the instructions so there isn't a lot of creativity but I do better with repetitive work than I do with inspiration and originality. This is just my cup of tea.

The next step is to sew the blocks together with a lot of added trim and frills. I'm not sure our group is up to that either. We are sort of playing it by ear...

The pencils that Lorraine sent are Derwent Studio pencils (from England?) And the thread is called Presencia Finca #16 (the instructions say that DMC can also be used.

There is still a lot of work to do on this quilt. For some reason Mrs. Furui handed me ALL the blocks that still need to be embroidered and ALL the thread! Do you think she is hinting that I should commit myself to embroidery for the next couple months?

Blog safety

When my kids were little we told them that in case of any disaster or confusion (we have earthquakes and typhoons) that they were supposed to go to the elementary school until Tetsu or I appeared. We never needed to use those precautions but the whole family knew that in case of emergency that was the place to meet.

Yesterday morning I posted and then went off for the rest of the day. When I got back home and turned on my computer the window flashed "Your blog has been deleted". Sigh, as opposed to Panic. Two days before the same thing had happened and I'd really been upset then (as some of you know because I g-mailed you). But again? I checked the g-mail box and sure enough Callie and Allie had noticed I had disappeared and were trying to help me. And within a few minutes Mrs. Ochiai my computer whiz friend was calling to say my blog was gone and WHAT HAD I DONE? (pushed the wrong button?) I hadn't done anything but Blogger is doing something...

Again within a matter of minutes my blog was back none the worse, but it did make me think...

Okay. What happens if I lose my blog, or any of us lose our blogs? I vaguely remember reading about one blogger who really did completely lose her blog (she called it hacking but I don't know what that means). Two main concerns arise. First, if I regularly visit a blog and it disappears, how do I find that person again? Maybe by g-mail (Callie and Allie's solution but they have my g-mail address because I've answered their comments. And that g-mail reply box gets emptied regularly.) If that doesn't work how do we get in touch with people? It's not like we can call up each other on the phone and ask "how are you?"

Does anyone have any idea about making a meeting point in case of emergencies? I mean I could say "You can contact me through so-and-so if I disappear." But if the blog is gone it does no good to post something like that on a sidebar. And we all have different blog friends so how is anyone going to know that one of us might be in touch with one blogger rather than another?

The other concern if a blog disappears is that one loses a lot of family or quilting history that has been organized with text and pictures. When it all adds up, that's a lot of work and effort that may go poof. My friend Mrs. Ochiai suggested last night that every month I hit the Save As button in Files and make a desk top folder (and then regularly transfer that to a CD). I'm already using Blurb's Booksmart to make blog books but I'm way behind on that project and have two years worth of blogging that are still floating around cyberspace. Still, after this week's twice scares I'm going to spend a bit more time protecting my blog...

So all is well again. Blogger is a free treat (Hi Meggie!) but it is not risk free.

Blogger, I don't want to visit the emergency room with a heart attack so please give me some notice!

Embroidering

I'm doing a very little sewing. Well, I'm doing back stitch embroidery which is taking up a lot of time but it is relaxing and enjoyable.

These are a couple blocks from the Hugs and Kisses pattern that Lorraine sent my quilting group earlier this year. Over the months we've colored in the design and sealed the colors in and now we are working on the embroidery part. The stitching around the design really adds a lot to the blocks and they are beginning to shine! (Oops. I see I missed a part.) I think we still have 8 to go or something but since this is for NEXT year's quilt I guess we are ahead of schedule.

The days are getting cold and the cats congregate in front of the heater and on my lap. Here is a rare picture of Velvet joining part of the group. (Let's see... Four cats there. Mi is in her cat enclosure. Where is Cleo?) Vel rarely can stand to be in the same room with Toi and Patora (he tolerates Chip and Cleo) but he must have been unusually cold or lonely yesterday to stay with the rest of the gang.

Don't I look grubby embroidering away surrounded by cats? Vel does not make for a sturdy sewing table. I hope my stitches are straight.

Cat names

I really let out an SOS yesterday didn't I? Between Meggie and myself we figured out Blogger was having issues. Being on the same side of the world we were both trying to and unable to use Blogger and somehow contacted each other. I think the rest of you were still in the middle of the night. Within about an hour Blogger was back and working.

I have a complicated story today. Now it is funny to me but at the time it wasn't.

Our new kitty, Mi was almost named Tama. Tama is another normal name for a Japanese cat and means ball, such as in a yarn ball or maybe a cat curled up in a ball. Everywhere you go, you meet Japanese cats called Tama.

When we picked up our kitty and took her to be spayed, my vet said she was about a year old and had already had a litter of kittens. We left the then un-named Mi at the vets and he said he would spay her that evening.

Around 7:30 I got a call from the vet. That alone made me wary. Something else has gone wrong (that morning we'd found out Mi was a Feline Aids carrier).

"Tanya, your kitty has kou-gan." A Japanese word I don't know.

"Oh no. Cancer?" (gan means cancer in Japanese).

"NO! Not gan. Kou-gan."

"Sensei, (Doctor) I don't know that word. I don't understand."

"Kou-gan! Kou-gan! You know. Balls! Like in boys' b-lls!" (My poor vet trying to be professional with a foreigner with a limited vocabulary.)

"Doctor, I don't think I understand. This morning you told us that the kitty had had kittens."

"Yes, she did. I'm doing surgery and I find she has kou-gan (test-cles) alongside the uterus."

"What?! I've never heard of such a thing. Does that happen often?"

"NO! That's what I'm saying! This cat is a hermaphrodite! (I didn't know that word either) I've never seen one before!"

"Oh dear... What should I do?"

"Do? DO? There's nothing to do! I'm in the middle of surgery. I just needed to let you know so that I can proceed."

And he hung up. Talk about my head spinning. What was he talking about?

When Tetsu got home I was still wringing my hands.

"Tetsu, Tetsu. The vet called and said that the kitty is a hermaphrodite. He... She... I don't know... It has b-lls!"

Tetsu, calmly hanging up his jacket says,

"Does it matter? I mean, the cat is in there to take all that stuff out anyway. So what."

Oh. That's right.

When I went to pick up the kitty the next day the vet very conscientiously showed me the uterus and the test-cles that he'd removed and was preserving in a jar. And pictures. He'd taken pictures during the operation for proof. Good thing I have a strong stomach.

So the kitty came home none the worse for having a little extra surgery. And then we started thinking about names. And Tetsu comes up with Tama. Balls.

"That's terrible! Poor kitty! She doesn't want to go through life being reminded of that." (We'd agreed that she is a she.)

So Tetsu relented and named her Mi.

Mi and Tetsu are very happy together. Don't you think my life has some interesting twists and turns?

I hope I don't get censored for this post.

Handywoman

I am not the handyman in our family but there are some times when I can't get Tetsu to do something and end up doing it myself. Yesterday was one of those days.

We have lived in our house for 17 years. Besides cat wear and tear, just living in this house for that long a time means that things are going downhill but Tetsu doesn't really want to get involved in repairs. In general, Japanese do not do a lot of do-it-yourself work around the house and Tetsu doesn't believe that one can really re-wallpaper or re-tile something etc.

"Sure you can! You just have to have the right tools and a little motivation."

Well, he doesn't have the right tools except for a hammer and saw, and Tetsu doesn't have a lot of motivation either. I have suggested hiring someone but he isn't too thrilled with that idea either. Too expensive. So we live in our house with holes and stuffing hanging out.

We have carpet going up the stairs and over the years everyone bounds up 9 steps, makes a sharp turn at the middle landing and bounds up another 3 steps. Same going back down. And everyone must make their turn at the SAME spot because the carpet wore out just there. The carpet wore out, the padding wore out, the lining wore out. We were down to bare wood!

"Tetsu, can't we fix this carpet somehow? Don't you think it is about time we re-carpeted the upstairs?"

"Do you know how much that would cost? Not while we're putting kids through school."

So the hole kept getting bigger and bigger. I threw a mat over the hole. I grumbled to friends (sorry Tetsu) that my husband didn't mind living in a threadbare house.

The other day one of my friends called to say that she was renovating her house and they had torn up the carpeting in her hallway. It still looked pretty good and she remembered my grumbling so did I want any of it.

Gulp. Well... I didn't think Tetsu would be too pleased with another job to do and one that didn't involve hammering and sawing. Could I do it myself? On Wednesday I went over to my friend's to look at the carpet pieces and had the carpenters there chop off a piece, along with the under padding, for me to take home. Yesterday I got to work.

What a breeze! Why have we been waiting 5 years to fix the carpet? Of course it was a small area but with an Exacto knife and hot bond I had a cushiony carpet on the landing and no hole! The carpet match wasn't bad either! Of course not many people see the landing but it makes me smile to have the hole gone.

This morning Tetsu noticed my handwork and was amazed at the results.

"Great work, Tanya! I didn't think it could be done!"

I have more carpet holes but since the cats are actively widening them I think they don't need my attention right away. But when they do, I'll know I can do it!

Dentists

I missed posting yesterday. Wednesdays have me running in circles. I think I should adopt many of your blogs' Wordless Wednesdays. I never get to the computer anyway.

Recently I've been going to the dentist. Sigh. I don't have great faith in Japanese dentists but to be truthful most of the dentists I've gone to have been pretty good. So why don't I think highly of them?

Just by reputation; talking to people who have had both American and Japanese dental care, hearing stories from friends whose children (and my own) have gone to the States and the American dentists shuddered to see what Japanese dentists had done, seeing some of the results of Japanese dental care (decaying children's teeth, gold rims on front teeth, very fake looking crowns) I have a feeling dental technology is higher in the States. I remember once I went to a Japanese dentist and noticed a diploma on his wall that said he'd been trained in periodontics. Oh good, I thought, an up-to-date dentist. But a closer look at his diploma showed that he'd taken a one week course and been certified! Hmmm.

The interesting thing is that two summers ago one of the reasons Takumi came back to Japan was to go to the dentist. The reason? It costs too much in the States and he even has dental insurance! He said the dentist he'd been going to was so horrified at his mouth and wanted to schedule so much dental work that it was just easier and cheaper to come back to Japan and get what absolutely needed to be done, done.

And now we have the same dilemma with Leiya. She needs dental work done. She hasn't been to the dentist since she was in high school. But even when she had dental work two years ago we were floored by the costs and couldn't afford the after care that she needed. Leiya no longer has dental insurance. Recently we've been talking about Leiya coming back to Japan this winter vacation just so that she can go to the Japanese dentist. This is a conundrum. I think the kids would get better dental care in the States. We can't afford the care so they come back to Japan. Very strange.

My most recent dental work has been to have silver fillings replaced with white ceramic ones. My dentist very kindly informed me that insurance policies changed and ceramic work will be covered by our insurance. Okay. That sounds good. For each new filling and dental work I've been paying about $20. Yep. It is a lot cheaper for the kids to fly back to Japan...

Tetsu also went to the dentist last month when he chipped a tooth. He hasn't been to the dentist in over 15 years!!! You'd think there would be some major work to do or some cleaning or plaque removal or something. Nope. The dentist happily fixed the one tooth and told Tetsu to come back if anything ever hurt. Even Tetsu was surprised.

Japanese medical care may not be as advanced at American (but that's not really true. Some of the Japanese hospitals have amazing technology... just not easily accessible to everyone) but at the very least everyone can afford it. It is a quandary.

Japanese lesson 102

Okay. I'm giving you a Japanese lesson today.

Japan has a whole vocabulary of words that are based on onomatopoeia, words that sound like what they are trying to describe. In a way, it is a very simple way to learn Japanese. Learn a sound that is similar to what you are trying to describe, such as pitter in English, and then a repetition of the sound will give you a word; pitter-patter to describe rain or the scampering of feet or something.

Japanese is FILLED with words like this!!! For example, what do you think "bara-bara" means?

Of course first learning what the sound is in Japanese is the challenge because many sounds do not sound at all the same to foreign ears. Roosters crow "Koke-ko-ko~~" not "Cockadoodledo~". Dogs say "Wan-wan" rather than "Bow-wow." When I go to the doctor's and say I have a headache, he wants to know if it is "Gan-gan" (splitting) or "Zukin-zukin" (throbbing). Food can be "saku-saku" (crunchy) or "fuwa-fuwa" (soft and fluffy) or "atsu-atsu" (steaming hot).

So, did you guess what "bara-bara" means? Here is a hint.

The cat box is now "bara-bara" (scattered, loose, DESTROYED!)

That's the end of the cat box.

Autumn quilts

I'm taking the easy way out this morning and posting pictures of some of the quilts that are up on my walls. I've posted all of these before... last year or the year before. I can't remember.

Here is a stained glass quilt, pattern sent to me by my friend Noriko-san who specializes in this type of patchwork. I think she sent me the hand dyed fabrics too. Noriko-san's work is all done by machine but when I did this I couldn't figure out how to machine applique it so I did it all by hand. (I've since figured it out.) This quilt goes up in the autumn in my house.

And here is a small Halloween quilt (the only one I have!) This pattern was also sent to me by Noriko-san when she was first starting out paper piecing. Paper piecing hadn't hit Japan yet and Noriko-san figured it out by looking at books. She came and gave me a mini-lesson and I understood the theory and the process WHILE SHE WAS HERE! After she went home I couldn't remember anything and try as I might I could not get the fabric to go in the right direction or the pieces I sewed on turned out too short or something. It got to the point that the paper I was working on had been sewn and re sewn so many times that it was shredding beneath my fingers so I did this whole dang thing by making templates (before the pattern disintegrated before my eyes) and then hand piecing. HAND PIECING THOSE MINUSCULE PIECES! I was so glad when I finished this. I had visions of throwing the whole thing in the garbage can!



I have since learned to paper piece properly.

A free Saturday?

Yesterday morning Tetsu put the finishing touches on his cat enclosure. It now has a three story compartment, one of which lets in a lot of sun. It has a cat shelf so that kitties can walk along the length and sit here and there. And it has a sliding door so that the cat box can be removed for easy cleaning and so that Mi can join us in the yard easily.















After all the care to Mi, Tetsu felt obligated to clean up Choco's area a bit too. Tetsu and I scrubbed and moved all the decking and removed the moldy roof. We've also hopefully ended Choco's recreation of digging holes in the area. She had mud everywhere! We worked until early afternoon when I petered out and said I wanted to do something else with my free Saturday.

So... We went up to Nikko, the tourist part (we live in Nikko but are in the country part). I wanted a look at the Nikko carvings and so we wandered around the town checking out the shops. Tetsu commented that there were more foreigners up in Nikko than Japanese.

Nikko craftsmen carved the very intricate carvings in the Nikko Toshogu shrine and since then the city has become famous for the beautiful carvings in soft wood. We were surprised at the different types of carvings nowadays. Some are exorbitantly expensive (the laquerware) some are very simple cuts in wood, and some of the younger craftsmen are combining Nikko carving with tole painting. All were lovely and I found what I was looking for. (last picture from the Internet)

Binding the quilt

Thursday I made it to my patchwork group gathering (I'd forgotten two weeks ago) and together we put the finishing touches on the bazaar quilt. Mrs. Furui and I had sewn the binding to the quilt a la Sharon Schambler style (using glue!) and that meant that we all could sit around the quilt and hand sew the binding down. The job was finished in a snap.

I love the way we are all peering down at our work. Makes me feel like I really belong to a quilting bee!

And don't you like the way I am such a pro at peering over my glasses like the little ol' lady I am?

Bazaar quilt finished!

I would like to formally introduce the core of our quilt group.

Clockwise. Me on the far left. Mrs. Ochiai, she's the computer and electronics whiz (and is always willing to start a new project with me. It takes her a little time to finish some of them...) Sensitive and sweet Mrs. Harada, who used to be Mrs. Furui's neighbor but moved away and now drives 4 hours one way to join us monthly. Mrs. Furui, the brain behind all our creativity and the hostess by default since she has the largest, most central house. You know her by her intricate handwork. And Mrs. Yamaguchi, who grows younger each year. She started her patchwork career when she lived a few years in the States and willingly takes on extra patchwork homework.

We are already working on NEXT year's bazaar quilt! What an industrious bunch of quilters. (By the way, on our quilt label we call ourselves the Crazy Lady Quilters group.)

Y-kun again

Remember Y-kun? He is still coming to English. Still bringing me presents (two large green pumpkins yesterday!) Still causing great annoyance to the other boys in the class.

I almost never meet Y-kun's family. They drop him off and pick him up without ever getting out of the car. They send him with vegetables for me but unlike the other mothers and fathers, they don't wait in the driveway for him nor talk with the other parents. The one time I met his mother she seemed very frustrated by Y-kun and life in general. They must know when English starts and ends because they come to pick him up at the right time but often, like last night, Y-kun turns up at my front door more than an hour before class time. I sometimes wonder if he is such a handful that his family just wants him to be SOMEWHERE so that they can take a break from him.

I don't really mind. It is a little disturbing to think that he might get left on my doorstep when I'm not home but class starts at 6:15 so there's very little chance that I might still be out and about. And I don't want his family to think that I object to Y-kun in particular so when he comes in the door I figure out things for him to do before the other boys come. He actually wants me to play games with him but I don't feel that obligated so I usually say that I have to clean or cook and if he wants to help me by all means do so.

Y-kun is really a smart child and yesterday at the mention of cleaning, he raced to the laundry room to bring out the vacuum cleaner. I don't know why he knew where the vacuum cleaner was. I don't think I've ever shown him but he must have noticed it on his forages around the house (remember he gets into cupboards). So he happily vacuumed for me, scaring cats and knocking things off the tables in the process.

And then we started cooking...

Well, I directed, Y-kun cooked and I took pictures.

Last night's menu was Nira-tama. Nira are a type of green onion or chives and we live in the nira countryside.

First I cut up pork slices and cooked them in a little oil. Y-kun got out bowls and sieves (he knew exactly what to do himself) and washed beansprouts.









Next I cut up the nira into finger length widths but Y-kun felt I was too haphazard about the cutting and wanted to chop some up smaller. "Bang, bang, bang" with the knife. I was a bit alarmed and wondered if his family would sue me if he lost a finger while helping me cook. No injuries and he was very pleased with himself.

Y-kun added the beansprouts and nira to the pork and cooked them all down (with long chopsticks you notice!)






And then he broke three eggs into a bowl (no shells got in there either!) and whipped them up for me using chopsticks.







The eggs were added to the pork and vegetable mixture and left to set (and brown a bit) and then we added oyster sauce flavoring from a bottle (soy sauce works just as well).

And finally we transferred it all to a serving bowl and sampled our creation.

"GOOD!!" with two thumbs up from Y-kun.

I wish I could show you his expression but since I don't have his family's permission to post his picture I'm fuzzing this one out a bit. You get the idea though. He was one happy boy!

Y-kun does so much better on a one-on-one relationship. A few minutes later he was back to arguing and fighting with the other boys...

I can see a budding chef in these pictures, can't you?

Blog therapy?

Well, here's an open question to blog friends. What do you think about blogging?

Yesterday I was talking to some friends about blogging. A couple of the ladies enjoy reading blogs on a daily basis. Another lady keeps a blog of her own but doesn't give comment access. And you all know how I do it.

Actually we were talking about moods and the ups and downs of life and one friend mentioned feeling melancholy maybe because she is a "certain age". She asked for advice on how to pass through this stage. And another friend suggested blogging, saying the process of writing your thoughts down, putting them in order, going back and re-reading, all that gives insight and helps untangle a jumble of emotions.

That's an interesting idea. It's true that I have thought of journaling in that way and I suppose blogging is similar but I'm not sure I blog because I want to know myself any better...

I was a little annoyed a few days ago when watching an interview with a well-known Hollywood actress and she was asked if she kept a blog.

"No. I don't have those kinds of problems. Why would I want to make my private life public and get therapy from a bunch of strangers? I prefer to pay for professional therapy."

It made me feel like she thought bloggers were people with a bundle of psychological problems who were too cheap to get help elsewhere! Well! I may be cheap but I didn't realize I was doing public therapy!

Do you prefer keeping a blog or blog reading? Is the comment aspect important? Without blogging would we be any less "put together?"

I guess for me blogging is a way of exchanging information and ideas. It is a way to make friendships but to be honest, I really like to see WHO is commenting (you know that little profile picture) because my brain connects better with who I have heard from before and with their blog etc. I know there are many of you who don't post pictures of yourself but I sometimes get confused. I like writing my blog the most (that seems so self centered) and I enjoy reading blogs too but get weighed down with commenting sometimes. On the other hand, I like receiving comments because it feels a little like walking down to the mailbox and finding a letter inside (and THAT rarely happens anymore!!!) so I do put in effort to comment and answer comments. I often relate blog stories and blog comments to Tetsu and we talk about differences in thinking, culture, and experience. Blogging feels like an open window and I look forward to finding jewels of wisdom and creativity through other bloggers and blog readers.

And how about you?

Mrs. Furui's baby quilt

Yesterday I spent some time at Mrs. Furui's house and together we put the binding on the bazaar quilt. Mrs. Furui's sewing machine is broken and I wanted to leave the quilt at her house anyway so that the other ladies can sew down the binding on Thursday (I will be late), so I took my sewing machine and walking foot with me.

With nothing new to show of the bazaar quilt, here is another beautiful quilt that Mrs. Furui has been making, this time for her sister who wanted to make this for someone else but ran into some health issues so Mrs. Furui has made the whole thing. Isn't this a gorgeous baby quilt? And again, doesn't Mrs. Furui do fantastic hand quilting? This is still in the making and a lovely quilted pattern will be added to the border this week.

This fabric is from Hobbyra Hobbyre which I think is a Japanese brand. They seem to specialize in pink florals and the fabric is lovely but very expensive. Mrs. Furui and I were looking over one of their catalogs and she noticed that for a baby quilt kit, the material costs were about $150. And if you wanted to order a finished quilt from them they were asking $1300! For a baby quilt! That seems like a lot but if it is all hand done and you figure in all the time I guess that's what it comes to. I can't think of anyone who would spend that amount of money... For an antique quilt... maybe. But for a baby gift? Hmmm.

Well, I hope Mrs. Furui's sister will take her out to lunch in exchange for making this beautiful heirloom!

Comic books

I really can't give an unbiased opinion but today I'm going to tell you about what is taking up a lot of storage space in my closets.

What do you think about comic books?

Japan has a "manga" (comic books) and "anime" (animation and cartoons) culture that I'm afraid I don't understand at all but it seems to be different from the Western counterparts.

When I was in college there were a few Japanese foreign students who received care packages from home regularly. The boys especially looked forward to these packages because their mothers would send them comic books. COMIC BOOKS?! How juvenile! I couldn't believe that these 20 year old, young men and women who would be shaping the future of Japan were pouring over comic books completely forgetting that they were mature adults. Talk about looking down on people. My nose was as long as an elephant's.

And then I came to Japan and spent a few months in Tokyo and other large cities where I had to make use of the public transportation system. Wherever I went businessmen would be hanging onto subways straps and scrunched into train car corners and would be absorbed in their comic books. And heaven forbid, when I took a glance at their reading material, some of the subject matter could make my face burn. My image of comic books grew even less favorable.

Comic books are not the flimsy things Superman and Batman graced in America. They are BOOKS. Or in some cases there are numerous comic series in a very large heavy book that seems to come out weekly (I think). There are love story comic books, adventure comic books, science fiction comic books, mystery comic books. There are comic books about history, about sports, about cooking, about teachers. I have lady friends who look forward to monthly comic books and follow a series.

Tetsu was never much into comic books (thank goodness!) but Takumi and Leiya turned on to them fairly early in their elementary school days. I remember a first grade teacher encouraged comic books as a viable source of reading practice though I was trying to steer my kids towards library books. I did break down and buy a set of Bible comic books in hopes of inspiring a little more interest in Sunday school though.

When Leiya hit jr. high I can remember her being very uninterested in Japanese Social Studies and my friends suggested I get her started on history comic books. They swore that their kids learned a lot more history through the comic books than they did through the dull, very confusing text books. I can't remember if that strategy worked to raise Leiya's grades in Social Studies.

Tetsu was no help at all in encouraging other reading material because as the kids grew older he'd bring them presents of comic books in a series that he knew they liked. SLAM DUNK was a favorite one about basketball. YAWARA was about a girl judo champion. He occasionally brought home the whole comic set meaning that he'd lug home 30 books at a time reassuring me that these would be classics someday. The kids were ecstatic.

When Takumi graduated from high school and left for the States he told me I could throw out anything and everything in his room EXCEPT for the comic books.

"I don't know why. I just don't want to lose those."

and so they have languished in his closet for these 6 years. Each of these special plastic boxes holds 30 comic books and Leiya has another whole closet full that she didn't want thrown out either. And just to defend my kids, Marlene, my American friend with two college age kids in the States, said that her children gave her the same message.

"DON'T THROW OUT THE COMIC BOOKS!"

So this is why I don't have any more storage space than I do. Comic books abound!

Cold weather and an introduction

The weather is beautiful today but it is cold.

Yesterday I spent ALL DAY cleaning the upstairs even getting to closets and drawers. It is so easy to let a normally unused room turn into a storage area so I dumped lots of stuff. Old textbooks. Bags of stuff and fluff that I was thinking I'd make into another cat cushion. I won't. The fluff and stuff just gravitates to one side or another in the cushion and is impossible to wash. Sorry. My good intentions of saving crumbs and thread ends and batting scraps has ended. I save too much other stuff and the closets are overflowing. It feels good to have rooms looking nice. I wish I'd learn and keep it that way.

I even brought down the small kerosene heater so you know we are really getting into cold weather. And I bought some long underwear (we call them "baba shirts", "granny shirts") because I am still a Southern California girl and do not like cold weather.

Tetsu has named the kitty. It has become "Mi" which is a pretty normal name for a cat in Japan.

Tetsu thinks our other cats' names are too fancy. Cleo, Patora, Velvet, Chip, Toi. Well, Toi is Japanese of sorts but Tetsu thinks of this kitty as pure Japanese so it is Mi (pronounced me).


"Nice to meet you."

My dumb cat

I have a cat lover friend whom I've know for years. I met her through Tetsu's work and we found we both had a love for cats. Like our family, her kitty Mick, always is featured on her New Year's cards and though we don't see each other often our first question is always about the health of our cats.

After Tetsu and I picked up our new kitty, I was talking to my vet about how to care for all the strays that end up in my yard and my feelings of coping with an ever growing population of cats.

"You should talk with Mrs. Nakazawa. Here, let me call her for you now." and he did.

Since then Mrs. Nakazawa has been involved with my cat situation and a couple of days ago I went over to visit with her and she gave me a present.

(a ceramic tile built into Mrs. Nakazawa's table →)

Mrs. Nakazawa has only one cat, Mick, who is 18 years old! But 6 or 7 years ago she decided that she will be the neighborhood cat lady and cheerfully goes about catching cats and kittens, having them neutered and releasing them into her yard. (She has a big yard!) From there she feeds them and makes sure they get flea medicine and she brushes each one in turn. Sometimes she finds homes for the kittens, sometimes they find their own homes and since they are clean, have learned to trust humans and are relaxed, they turn into wonderful pets. In her yard, Mrs. Nakazawa has a feeding station and also "cat houses" that she has designed to keep feline visitors warm and dry. At the moment there are only 4 visitors in her yard but she said a few years ago there were there were nearly 20 feline friends!

So, Mrs. Nakazawa's present to me (actually to the new kitty) is a cat house! She makes them from Styrofoam boxes that she gets from the local co-op. The lid is taped closed, a door is cut into the side, a pet sheet is placed inside (to absorb moisture) and then a warm piece of fleece is added. The whole box is wrapped in plastic (to keep the kitty from using it as a scratching post) and then a vinyl curtain is put over the door to keep cat body warmth in. Mrs. Nakazawa has made many a cat happy with her cat houses.

BUT........!!!

Our new kitty does not appreciate the thought and effort that went into its new house. I excitedly showed the kitty the box and left thinking that at least one of my concerns had been solved. 15 minutes later I came back and this PIRANHA was attacking the house and leaving bits and pieces all over the floor! DUMB CAT!!!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!! THAT IS HOW YOU ARE GOING TO STAY WARM THIS WINTER!"

Well, the kitty doesn't completely hate its house, I think it just felt it needed a personal touch; a bit of decoration that declared it was her own. She is still decorating (and making the house a bit drafty) but she does go inside and make use of it.

I'm a little embarrassed to post these pictures and let Mrs. Nakazawa see what all her efforts have come to.

And this kitty still doesn't have a name. "Piranha" doesn't seem to fit this sweet face.

Cell phone bags

Yesterday's typhoon passed quickly with no more damage to our area than lots of leaves and branches and chestnuts all over the road. By afternoon the rain had stopped and the wind never developed into anything threatening (in our part of Japan. A couple tornadoes in other parts).

I spent the morning sewing and then did some errands in the afternoon.

Besides doing my quilting I spent a short amount of time up in the sewing room making some cell phone bags.

BrendaLou sent me some bag making patterns after I commented about them on her blog. She said she had been teaching some young girls how to make these bags and since I'm always looking for easy patterns that I might make with a couple kids, I asked if she'd be doing a tutorial. No tutorial but she offered to send me the pattern printed out on interfacing. And what a fun pattern! Little printed greetings on it like "Smile" and "Have a beautiful day," etc. BrendaLou sent enough for I think 9 bags so that I can teach quite a few children. I had to try it out yesterday and made one for myself and one for a cat lover friend.

The black and white bag is made from a Japanese hand towel called a tenugui. These are found all over Japan and are long rectangles of cotton cloth. They get tied around people's heads, are hung around the neck, are used as rags etc. Sometimes the weave is very loose so they can't really be used in patchwork but this one that I had around the house was of good quality and just the right length. The cell phone pattern calls for a long piece of fabric that can be folded over a couple of times to make inside pockets.

I also pulled out the last of my Laurel Burch fabric to make a bright colored cell phone case for a cat lover friend. More about her tomorrow.

Thank you so much BrendaLou! The pattern is wonderful and the cellphone bag is a delight to make!

Typhoon 18

Typhoon 18 has hit Japan's main island and is headed this way. Every year around this time we get a parade of typhoons that approach Japan and Taiwan and either go north (towards us) or west (towards Taiwan and China). Last year all the typhoons faded away before they reached mainland Japan but this one has "landed" and is now crossing Japan.

I suppose typhoons could be described as hurricanes. They are characterized by wind and rain and come off the Pacific, and they tear up trees and blow down buildings. Rivers flood, even streets and towns flood and sometimes people must be evacuated from their homes.

The area that I live in hasn't had major typhoon damage in decades but there have been casualties with people being swept away after bridges fail or underpasses fill with back water. Our house is backed by a large forest so we become concerned when the cedar and pine trees start swaying dangerously. There have been a couple times that we chose to camp out in the living room rather than worry about a tree that might blow down and fall through the bedroom window. Never happened yet though one year a huge tree fell just a few yards from us blocking the road for many hours.

I worry mostly about my pear farming friends. The pear season is at its peak now and the whole year's efforts can easily be blown away for the farmers. I'm sure they have been up all night trying to harvest what is ripe enough, stabilizing what still must stay on the trees another couple weeks.

Schools and kindergartens have been cancelled all over the city today and people have battened down their garden furniture and flower pots. I was supposed to have three ladies come this morning for English but I'm assuming they aren't going to be able to come. Tetsu slept on the sofa all night, keeping an eye on the news and he left early this morning to help make decisions about whether the convalescent day center was going to be able to provide regular services today.

For me, I have started a pot of soup. It seems like a soup sort of day. Choco and all the cats are in the house. Choco is especially happy.

"Oh good! Which cat will play with me?"

The cats all walk around Choco gingerly but have accepted a noisy, slightly dirty dog amidst them. I've got a lot of quilting still to do and that is probably all that is on my agenda today. I'm happy that I changed over our summer clothes to winter clothes yesterday morning. As soon as typhoon season passes Japan gets it's cold front so the sweaters will soon be put into use. Looking at this picture reminds me that I need to start thinking about knitting a sweater or vest for Tetsu's Christmas present this year.

Bazaar quilt

This week I have the bazaar quilt and have to put a few more quilting stitches in. I think since I'm the only one with a walking foot that I am going to get the job of putting on the binding too. First to finish quilting.

Every year the kindergarten quilting group (about 6 of us... None of us have any children in the kindergarten. We are all getting to be grandparent age!) amaze ourselves by turning out a beautiful quilt. There haven't been too many that we didn't like and I think we are going on our 15th year. This year we were inspired by our visitor/friend Lorraine from Australia who showed us her beautiful button hole stitch applique back in January. We also had loads of leaders/enders so we made use of those. The quilting has been limited to just stitch in the ditch and some crosshatching in the squares but I think it is enough.

The kindergarten bazaar will be held on October 31st and the quilt will be handed over to the current kindergarten mothers to be included in their raffle (we assume this will be the first prize but you never know.) The younger mothers make coasters and bags and cushions and baby quilts etc. and there end up being quite a lot of raffle prizes.

For a couple years I went around selling tickets to English students and friends who had nothing to do with the kindergarten just thinking of this as a money raising project that would benefit the kindergarten. But somewhere along the line we realized that what the kindergarten mothers and children and teachers and everyone involved enjoyed most, was seeing WHO got the quilt. To be able to call out a name of someone everyone knew (it is a small kindergarten) to see the surprised looks and watch the hurried cell phone calls letting others know this year's winner, that was the really exciting part. The idea that

"Well, I didn't win the quilt but I'm so glad so-and-so did."

I think once we realized that we weren't out just for fundraising we stopped selling raffle tickets outside the kindergarten and this has become a "family" event. I'm sure more money could be raised if the raffling period was longer than the few hours on the bazaar day, or if more people were asked to buy tickets. Even some of you wonderful blog friends have asked if it is possible to buy raffle tickets, but for now this is a kindergarten bazaar event.

And each year all of us in the group think

"Maybe I'll buy a few more tickets than last year in hopes that I win it!"

But none of us ever do... You never know. This may be the first.