Lost thimble

Ding-Dang-Dung-it. I have lost my thimble. And that means I'm sitting here with "the Monster in the Living room" and am not able to sew a stitch. And I even have quilting time!! Nothing is more frustrating.

My thimbles get lost regularly. Mi is the culprit. I keep my scissors and thread and thimbles in a cup on a table (cat tree) by my sewing chair. I am smart enough to know that if I leave the thimbles and spools ON the cat tree then the cats will consider them play toys. So I have always kept them in a cup. Easier to reach, easier to put away, I don't have to bother with opening a sewing box etc.

Mi is still a kitten at heart. She can turn ANYTHING into a toy and Tetsu and I have great fun watching her antics. Jump, turn, somersault, bat, spin, twist, lunge etc. etc. But she discovered that she can pull things out of the cup and onto the floor go the spools, the needles (dangerous!) the scissors (deadly!) and the thimbles... And if I don't go thundering into the room at the sound of falling thimbles then Mi and other cats will start a game of "bat the thimble under the furniture." And THAT means I go crawling around on my hands and knees with a flashlight reclaiming my thimbles.

Well, Mi was at play again and I have located ONE thimble but the other is no where to be found. I use one on the left hand and one on the right hand when I quilt with a hoop so I need BOTH. You'd think I would have more than two thimbles being a longtime, fairly prolific quilter but I have searched my drawers and my sewing box (I do own one) and nary an extra thimble to be found.

I guess I'll have to go to the next town this weekend and buy three or four thimbles. And I guess I'll get out my sewing box and start using it regularly again... Mi has enough toys. I'm not giving her any more thimbles.

Walking to school

I have been on the job as a crosswalk guard for a month now. My uniform seams have been taken in and buttons relocated. From May I've been wearing a SKIRT! (and stockings... boo).

The children coming to the elementary school pull from a wide area, some of it farming. School policy asks that all children walk to and from school and there are no school buses provided. Some of the children walk more than an hour though the closest neighborhood is about 10 minutes away. On rainy days parents occasionally drive their children to school but that is frowned upon and considered spoiling. The main road is fairly busy but most of the children walk along the farmers' roads that wind between the rice fields and through forests.

At the beginning of the year the school assigns students into groups of 5 to 10 and the fifth or sixth grader in the group is given the role of leader. He makes sure everyone arrives safely and at times is responsible for carrying a first grader's heavy load or holding hands with a reluctant younger student. Some of the leaders take their roles very seriously and have all the kids line up behind them military style! Can you see the line of students in the distance making their way to the school from the residential area?

On Monday mornings the children carry lots of bags filled with toothbrushes, indoor shoes, lunch duty uniforms, library books etc. not to mention the required leather randosel (backpack). The kids in sports lug equipment, the kids in band carry instruments. Everyone looks very tired when they finally arrive at school on Monday mornings. (But they all look very fit. Not an overweight child in the bunch.)

Here is a picture of the school though you can't see the gymnasium behind the main building. In the foreground you can see the final group of students arriving at school with their randosel slung on their backs (one girl was carrying it on her front) and the yellow randosel covers that let drivers know that these are first graders. The yellow hats are a requirement too. Yellow berets for girls and yellow caps for boys.

This is the school where both Takumi and Leiya attended and I have fond memories of their school days. I hope the kids do too.

Sorry about this...

Talk about stupid posts...

Yesterday I cleaned the cat litter box. (One of four.) And I got to wondering if litter boxes are different. Most of my cats in America were always outdoor cats so even though I've loved a lot of cats in my lifetime I'd never even heard of such a thing as a litter box.

After I came to Japan my mother had cats and she insisted they be indoor cats and so provided them with a litter box. Disgusting! All the crunchy grey sand that got scattered everywhere and then she discovered litter box liners that were supposed to make cleaning easier (gather up the bag and dump it?) but I thought the cat was making a bigger mess! I tried buying my mother's cats a mat for putting in front of the litter box but they jumped over that and just spread sand further.

Now I'm in Japan with my 6 Japanese indoor cats. Let me tell you, I have tried as many types of litter boxes and litter "sand" as you can imagine. And I'm not truly satisfied by any but right now my solution is adequate.

I suppose even in America cats have "clumping" sand. I don't like this type. The clumps are nice for the first couple days but gradually all I get is damp smelly sand.

So I gave up on that type and tried chips. Wood chips, pulp chips and paper etc. The cats don't like the paper/pulp chips. I don't know if it is nice or not because the cats avoided the litter box. You can guess what a problem I had then!

There are sub types of pulp chips too, some with charcoal mixed in, some with green tea or bamboo but for some reason or another (some are too expensive!) they have all gone to the wayside.

Right now the litter boxes that the cats and I are both happy with are the pellet litter variety. These lovely little white pellets allow the cats to dig and do and then be easily scooped out. Instead of trying to remove clumps, there is a mat in a drawer that absorbs moisture probably made of the same stuff that disposable diapers are made from. With at least 4 cats using this box I have to change the mat every four days (at about 50 cents a mat!) but it is an easy job and less messy than other systems. The pellets do tend to get out of the box but the paw wiping mat is as unpopular with my cats as it was with my mother's so I've resigned myself to sweeping up. Not as messy as sand at least.

And yes, I have tried covered litter boxes but the cats don't like to be trapped inside when another cat comes to investigate so the covers that once adorned the litter boxes are banned to the storage area.

Didn't know one could write so much about litter boxes did you? I hope you realize how I've tried to be delicate in my vocabulary when writing this...

By the way. I took a picture of instructions on how to use a Japanese toilet when I was visiting one the other day. Explicit.

"FACE THIS WAY"

"SQUAT LOW AND FORWARD"

"CHECK FOR CLEANLINESS AFTERWARDS".

I wonder if the cats would obey if I put up signs...

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

Japan celebrates Mother's Day too (people often ask me if Mother's Day is celebrated in the States) and yesterday Tetsu and I went to visit his mother. She is reluctant to go out but I had bought her some undershirts that I hope she'll find utilitarian. I know Tetsu isn't going to go looking in the ladies' section of the store for something for her and I guessed she wouldn't ask the home helper who does shopping for her weekly to buy underclothes. Most of things we buy her she will want returned but she seemed happy to get some fresh things. I hope I picked the right size... I would love to buy her what she really WANTS or NEEDS if she'd just tell me, but she seems to think that unless money is exchanged that she can't ask for help. It is frustrating for Tetsu and me.

We had a nice chat though and reminisced about old times when she got her first vacuum cleaner and washing machine etc. She told tales about sprinkling wet tea leaves over the tatami floor mats and then getting down on her hands and knees DAILY to wipe the mats. She laughed to remember tying the washing machine to the wall because it jumped and "walked" across the room unless tied down.

Tetsu reminded her of the time she worked her fingers raw and red to hand wash our first baby's hospital laundry and how she would shed tears over the towels and sheets covered in Mercurochrome and stains. We have had our differences but I will forever be grateful for the love she showed to me during that very difficult time.

This is a dumb picture of me (taken last year) but you can see that Obaachan has had some trials adjusting to a foreign daughter-in-law!

A morning walk

Tetsu and I just got back from a LONG walk around our area/neighborhood/district. We started out at 6:00 with Choco and did our normal 40 minute route. It is a very nice day so Tetsu suggested that we go home, get some money, stop at the convenience store, and walk to a nearby temple that is famous for its wisteria tree.

That's another 45 minute walk each way but if Tetsu's game then I am too. Here are a couple of the sights.

Japan is famous for its little police boxes that dot the streets and corners in the city. There are also police residences and this is our neighborhood police box/residence. The policeman works at the front desk during the day answering calls, giving directions to lost drivers, acting as a lost and found station. And he also goes out on patrol (sometimes on his bicycle) and sees that the children are getting to and from school safely, collects stolen bicycles that people leave by the wayside, and responds to calls. While he is out his wife carries on life in the house but she is responsible for relaying calls while he is out or taking messages.

Tetsu and I got to the temple but the wisteria wasn't really blooming yet and so we made a detour to the new sports and city office facility built last year. This picture is for Takumi and Leiya so that they can see how things are changing in our area. Tetsu and I ate our convenience store breakfast on the front steps.

And this week has been rice planting week so the farmers and their families are all out with tractors in the flooded fields. We came across a grandma and her grand daughter helping while the menfolk ran their planting combines in the far off field.

Logged 16,751 steps on my pedometer and it is still only 9:00 am. A good way to start the day but we may take a nap before evening...

Basting Thread

A couple weeks ago when Lorraine was visiting, she mentioned her surprise at the thread our quilt group was using to baste our quilt. Because I was never a quilter in the States I wasn't really aware that the thread that Japanese quilters use was different, but in the back of my mind I had thought that maybe I'd never seen it in America. I may be wrong.


Japanese basting thread comes in assorted colors but it doesn't come on a spool. It is sold in craft shops and even dollar shops (well, 100 yen shops) as a couple of skeins to a package and it is all looped together and twisted into a very long hoop. The first thing we do when starting a new package of basting thread is to tie two pieces of leftover cloth (selveges work great for this) at opposite ends of the hoop and then cut through all the threads at one point. Voila. Basting thread is now all the same length (and managable!) and by pulling a thread from the BETWEEN the two cloth ties, the basting thread doesn't get tangled.

Again, I'm not so sure what other people use to baste with but Japanese basting thread is a very flimsy cotton which glides through fabics easily and breaks cleanly when sharply tugged. Scissors aren't really needed to cut the thread after a section is basted. Just a long back stitch, a sharp pull and the thread will break. This is also VERY handy when REMOVING basting threads from a quilt as a tug will free the threads of any knots and if the thread should happen to be sewn in, it will break easily without cutting into fingers and hands.

I know there are wonderful modern products like bonding spray and curved safety pins, even fusing paper for applique but more often than not I'll reach for Japanese basting thread especially because it is so cheap. When hand quilting with a hoop, Japanese basting thread is a must!

Dog quilt

I finished the little dog quilt I was making for my friend, Mrs. K, and delivered it to her yesterday. (She wasn't home but I hung it on her front door.)

I had a good time planning this and "drawing" with the sewing machine. I really like the freedom of machine quilting and the small size made the whole thing easy to maneuver.

Some of that stitching is supposed to be wind blowing through the tree and around the border, after the initial applique prints I quilted in dog paw prints. What's the difference between cat paw prints and dog paw prints? I don't know but I tried to make the toes a little more oval for dog prints. I'll have to check out my animals' feet a bit further...

I remember Mix as usually sleeping by or in his doghouse in Mrs. K's backyard. And Mrs. K took Mix for a walk most mornings or afternoons so I hope the paw prints will remind her of the good strolls they had together.

Carp and Cats

Golden Week is over in Japan. In many parts of the world it is still May 5th so I'd better hurry and post a picture of Japanese flying carp in honor of Boy's Day. Not as many flying as I've seen some years.

And here are a few animal pictures. Toi back from an exhausting exploration of the forest. I am letting him out regularly now and so far always comes back after an hour.

Here is Patora in a box on the veranda. She is in ecstasy about having a BOX that is in a sunny, warm place and she chirps and purrs and turns somersaults in the box.

I forgot to close the left-over batting drawer and Velvet discovered that it makes a nice soft nest.

Too many cats. I don't know where the other three are right now...

'Twas brillig...

Yesterday Tetsu had a day off and we took off in the morning to enjoy a day out. With all the cars backed up in traffic (40 kilometer traffic jam on the expressways!) you can bet we stayed pretty much at home.

First stop was Denny's for breakfast. Someone once wanted to know what is served at Denny's so I snapped a picture of the morning breakfast menu. Normal things like pancakes, bacon and eggs, toast (not huge portions but serviceable).

But there were also un-Denny like things on the Japanese breakfast menu such as fermented beans, grilled fish, udon noodles. I opted for some cheese toast and vegetable soup (normal soup but there were some bamboo shoots in it too) and Tetsu went Japanese style with rice, miso soup, fermented beans(see how sticky they are on his chopsticks!) and bacon and eggs. And lots of coffee.

And after that we went to the movie theater and saw Alice in Wonderland... Johnny Depp style. That was sort of fun. We saw it with Japanese voice over because I'd heard that trying to read those subtitles while watching the 3-D screen can be tiring on the eyes (for Tetsu). I can manage listening to the Japanese without getting headaches better than he can read the subtitles.

Alice in Wonderland brought back memories of my father who was a great Lewis Carroll fan. Although my father wasn't "fatherly" in many senses of the word, I do remember sitting together with him in his chair when I was 4 or 5 and listening to him read Alice in Wonderland (no picture books. The whole shebang from start to finish. AND Alice in the Lookinglass.) I loved to hear him recite the Jabberwocky to me in his rolling voice and just to please my father I memorized the Jabberwocky too. Yesterday while watching the movie I found myself going through the poem and wondering what my father would have thought of Johnny Depp's portrayal of the Mad Hatter.

...And the mome raths outgrabe.

Oops

The pool has been super, super crowded the last couple of days. Golden Week visitors with lots of children and families. Our normal group of middle-age oldies ought to just take a leave of absence until Thursday... Not much swimming or pool walking getting done.

The pool that I go to is really very nice. It is a big wooden building with huge windows that look out on the forest It also has a very large bathing area and in another part of the building down a long corridor (separate fee) is a hot spa area with a lovely out door bathing area. There are overnight rooms, restaurants, and access to a huge park and play area. I can see why families are coming in droves! New part time staff are manning the reception area to handle all these Golden Week visitors.

Sunday night I had just finished up in the pool and bath and had changed clothes when a couple of young mothers and three or four children came into the locker room everyone having a jolly time.

"Hurry up you guys! Daddy's waiting for us so quickly take your bath."

No pool for this group, I thought. These must be one time overnight visitors who didn't bring along swim suits. They might have even been hoping for the outdoor spa but by the looks of the crowds of people trying to go down the corridor maybe the staff routed them to the pool bathing area.

All the kids and moms got down to their birthday suits and headed for the door. THE WRONG DOOR!

"STOP!"

I planted myself in front of the pool door with my arms spread out barring the way. One little child acted like a I was a mean foreign devil out to eat her.

"This is the pool door. Not the bath door. Go the other direction!"

"But the lady at the desk said to use the left door."

"The lady at the desk is wrong. Believe me, you do not want to make an appearance at that very crowded swimming pool wearing... nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure. And if you stand here long enough, someone is surely going to come barging through this door and you will give the whole pool a nice view."

I was hanging onto the door handle by then.

"Oh... Well, thank you for helping us."

They found their way to the bath and I let go of the door handle.

About that time the desk lady came in.

"Oh no. I made a mistake and told those last people to go in the left door. Did they go through this door?"

(Lady, if they had you would be hearing screams by now.)

The middle-age oldies in the swimming pool missed a good thing.

Cleaning

A chore that I don't remember doing as a child but that I have to do regularly is changing over winter clothes to summer clothes and vice versa. This is probably because it never got REALLY cold in Southern California and we didn't have the down jackets, the long underwear, the bulky sweaters etc. Another reason is because maybe there was always closet space whereas in Japan we are really limited.

This morning I've been cleaning out my closet, sorting and packing winter things away. I'm disgusted to find that there is so much stuff that can be tossed. Why do I keep all this?

Things that got dumped include some of our old dirty coats that were being saved for dog walking. Now our NOW dirty coats can take their place.

Then there are the jeans that Leiya "gave" to me because she didn't like them or they were too small or something. Well, if they are too small for her they are too small for me and besides I don't like the way my stomach overflows the low waistbands. Out they go. (Wait a minute. Lori had a jeans rug... I may salvage the old jeans after all.)

I've got clothing given to me because I'm bigger than other people and friends thought to pass their things along. Sometimes there are treasures, but sometimes I look only so-so. Why am I cluttering my closets with things that OTHER people don't want?

And I've got things I like but when I think back the last time I wore them Takumi or Leiya were in kindergarten. That's at LEAST 15 years ago. There's only so much to say for being frugal!

Then there are the wimpy things that have lost their shape. Out, out, out with you all!

Now my closets have spring and summer things in them and I feel a little guilty. And frumpy. I'm going to go buy me some pretty delicates today just refresh my underside too!

Tomorrow I'll tackle Tetsu's side of the closet...

Inari sushi

The other day someone asked me what might be a good Japanese dish to serve at a party they were having in Canada. I had to give this some thought.

So what was my advice to my blogger friend?

It depends whether there is a Japanese supermarket nearby her.

Assuming you have access to a Japanese supermarket. How about trying Inari-sushi?

The Japanese word, sushi includes the character for celebration. And at parties, gatherings and celebrations sushi is largely featured.


The easiest thing to do is buy some packaged sushi mix.







Just dump the mix into cooked rice (it has to be sticky rice) and stir. Voila! Sushi is made. From there you get to decide what to do with it. (You can see from the package above that you could just decorate the vinegared rice with sweet egg omelet, shrip, seaweed etc.)


While you are at the Japanese supermarket you need to buy Inari pouches.







These are really thin slices of deep fried tofu and of course one can buy the tofu, cook them up youself and make Inari pouches but believe me, it is easier to buy ready made pouches. They are very soft and sweet and combined with the vinegared rice are really very delicious.


All that is left to do is put a small ball of your vinegared rice into the Inari pouch and lunch is ready!






Inari sushi is a favorite among children and they are sold ready made in any convenience store or supermaket as a grab and go food. I used to get ambitious and make these for my children's picnic lunches whenever the school had family sporting events. They are great finger food and mothers will make boxes and boxes of them, enough to feed an army!

Good Morning!

Every morning I wake up and this is what I see...

For one, I see very little when I don't have my contacts in. Sometimes a cat nose practically touching mine. Certainly pillow case patterns with lots of color. I don't even see the alarm clock very well and I grope around for that and bring it into focus too. From my position on the floor (Japanese futon you know) and looking up, every morning this quilt blurrily greets me.

This is a braid quilt and I remember spending a lot of time setting out the scraps to make the colors and gradations fade just right. One strip is trying to be blue, one strip green, two are pink strips I think, two are trying to be brown or yellow. I remember holding a piece of red cellophane up to my face trying to wash out the colors and concentrate only on the gradations and color values.

I made this before my machine piecing days and I sewed the pieces by hand and shifted them around here and there. When auditioning all the colors and scraps I made a lot more pieces that didn't get used in this quilt and so they now sit in a box... I wonder if I'll ever make anything from them. No label as usual... sigh. I must have made this back when the kids were in kindergarten.

With a few of the pieces I did rouse enough creativity to make a cover for my Bible. It is looking pretty worn these days so maybe I should use my extra pieces and fashion another one...

Good morning, world! You are beautiful, blurry and all!