A walk in the town

Still no camera. I've contacted students asking them to check their purses but no one has found it. That means that in 20 minutes time I managed to lose my camera somewhere in this small house...

So... What sort of pictures do I have in my files?

I couple weeks ago I took an hour's walk with Choco heading into town a bit. I never got around to posting those pictures so I guess that is the topic for the day. Maybe Takumi and Leiya will enjoy the memories associated with these sites (though neither child reads my blog regularly...)

The first picture is directly behind our house... on the other side of the forest. Everyday Choco and I go walking towards Mr. Nantai. Takumi and Leiya rode their bicycles along this road to the jr. high.


After about 20 minutes of walking Choco takes a drink in a little stream that runs through the fields and past farms. I think this is a man-made stream with water fed by wells and pumps because there are times when it is completely dry and times when it is rushing with water. The farmers have a whole system of directing water from this stream to their rice fields.


These are little ojizou-san that can be found along roadsides and near cemeteries. The day before Choco and I had walked by these ojizou-san and they were still wearing their faded, weathered hats and bibs. But on this day someone must have just re-dressed them for the new year only hours before we passed. They were all brightly decked out!


This is Takumi and Leiya's jr. high school. Let's see... The second or third set of windows from the right... On the second floor. When Takumi was a second year student at this school he tried jumping off of that balcony and landed on his face. You can read about that in this post...

And this is the school where Leiya punched a wall and broke her hand. I have mixed memories about this jr. high school...


And here we are walking over the overpass on the main street. Not so main... Hardly any cars around at all!





And this is where Choco and I were headed... To the post office. This is a brand new post office just built last month. (Takumi and Leiya, you wouldn't recognize the area anymore!)

And a final picture of the gasoline station where Takumi had a part time job for awhile in high school. The school regulations didn't really permit students to have after school jobs but we felt it was a better way for him to spend his time than getting into trouble.

So much for the tour of the town... I had planned to do some sewing today. Or shall I go looking for my camera again?

Lost

Yesterday when I was writing the post about Disney Sea and it actually took quite a while to upload pictures and choose a few and rearrange them in the post. And when I looked up at the clock, I had only 20 minutes to get my house in shape (and myself) for the ladies class which would arrive at 10:00.

I vacuumed, I washed dishes and started laundry, I plumped pillows and brought out snacks. My ladies' class came and we shared what we had done over New Years. And just as they were leaving some other friends that I hadn't seen for awhile, showed up so as one group went out the door another came in.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in such a long time! I want to take pictures!"

No camera.

That's right. No camera... I looked high and low for it all afternoon yesterday. Tetsu helped me look for it last night.

Now... It COULD have gotten knocked to the floor and the cats played with it and now it has disappeared behind or under something (we turned the sofa over...)

It COULD have dropped into one of the ladies' bags and mistakenly been taken home... No phone calls yet saying someone discovered a battered camera in their purse.

It COULD have ended up in some odd place in my frenzied cleaning. Tetsu thinks this is the most likely. I've checked the freezer and inside the washing machine. I've checked under blankets in made up beds. No camera.

You know, if I don't find it soon this is going to affect you all! How can I have a blog if I don't have a camera??!!!

I will keep looking today.

In the meantime here is a picture (that I downloaded with the rest of my Disney Sea pictures yesterday morning) that I snapped right off the Disney Sea waterfront in the evening. Mt. Fuji!!!

I hope this picture will hold you until I find my missing camera.

Surprise!

Guess where Tetsu and I went yesterday!

TOKYO DISNEY SEA!!!


Tetsu's been talking about it for awhile but I couldn't get in the mood... It's too far away. Choco would be out in the yard all day and most of the night in the cold. What are two oldies going to be doing at Disneyland?

When I was a child my family went to Disneyland A LOT! We lived only about 20 minutes away. I got tired of Disneyland!

After Tetsu and I moved to Nikko we took the kids to Tokyo Disneyland quite a few times. As we wandered around the park yesterday Tetsu and I recalled memorable visits. The time we took our dog with us and left her in the pet area. Takumi was 6 or 7 years old and just before closing hours he disappeared in the crowd. As Disneyland staff sent out "lost child" alerts throughout the park, we realized we needed to get the dog out of the pet area before they completely closed up and so Tetsu dashed there first. And there was Takumi, waiting OUTSIDE Disneyland in front of the pet area.

"I knew you wouldn't leave without Shoko (our dog). So I figured this was best place to wait."

Anyway, yesterday Tetsu and I left at 6:30 am and headed for Disney Sea. We arrived around 8:30. Hey, not so far away after all! The park opened at 9:00 and we waited expectantly. We've never been to Disney Sea! What is past those gates?

A volcano!


Oh, too much to describe! Tetsu and I had absolutely no idea of what to see or where to go so we followed the crowds racing here and there to the various park areas. Mermaid Lagoon. Arabian Coast. Mediterranean Harbor, American Waterfront. Lost River Delta. Mysterious Island. Port Discovery.


Of course there was a lot of waiting everywhere but Disneyland does a good job of making the wait interesting with lots of things to look at. And there is the FastPass system which helps a lot.


Although Tetsu and I did feel a little ancient (the only other people there our age were accompanying grandchildren) our hearts were young and there were many, many things that amazed and delighted us!

As evening fell, the lights came on and that made Disney Sea even more magical! We had planned to leave about 6:00 but Disney at night is irresistible and we stayed until nearly 9:00. (Poor Choco!)


I'm afraid this was the only picture of the two of us that I got... and it isn't very good, but I'd better include it as a record of our trip.

There was a wonderful water show near the end of the evening... One that we weren't expecting at all!!! Such beauty made with lights and spotlights and animation, and color, water and fire! Very, very exciting!!


Tetsu and I had a wonderful time and I'd love to visit Disney Sea again!

A leisurely quilt show visit

Yesterday Tetsu and I planned a outing with a few errands. Buy dog and cat food... pick up some new bifocal glasses...talk to the car dealer. Nothing exciting.

But on the way, Tetsu made a detour and dropped me off in front of the cultural center.

"I read in the newspaper this morning that there is a quilt exhibition here today. Why don't you go look at the quilts while I go talk to the car dealer."

"Wow, what a nice surprise. Thank you so much. Call me when you get back near the cultural center and I'll meet you outside."

Once at the small exhibition I was looking around when my cell phone rang.

"Did you find the exhibition? I'll be back in about 30 minutes."

No problem with finding the exhibition. The problem was that my cell phone suddenly announced the there was no more battery power left. "Please recharge your phone."

HOW!?! Not at the cultural center!!!

There are few scenarios that I can think of that can make for a full blown husband and wife disagreement. How many times has he told me to keep my cell phone charged. Here I am on one side of town with a dead cell phone and my husband is expecting to contact me by phone. Once he figured out that my cell phone was dead and he'd have to park his car, (paid parking) and come looking for me in the cultural center, he'd be a very grumpy person and we might as well forget doing the rest of the errands together.

I FLEW out of the exhibition and began running down the street.

"Convenience store..... Convenience store..... Where is there a convenience store when you need one?! They are usually on every corner!"

I ran up to one corner, looked up and down the street, ran to another corner. No convenience store. Should I just go back and stand in front of the culture center and pretend that I spent a leisurely 30 minutes looking at quilts? By now Tetsu might have called to tell me he was heading back. Should I go back into the exhibition and wait there? If he knows I have a dead phone he'll come looking for me there... Keep looking for a convenience store!

I found one! I found the battery corner, and I found the portable recharger for my type of cell phone. I grabbed it and pleaded with the girl at the cash register.

"I need to recharge my cell phone immediately! Is this right and can you show me where my recharge outlet is on my phone? How do I use this!!!???"

There were a few tense moments while I waited for my cell phone to reload.... Yeah!

With a few minutes left, I went back to the quilt exhibition and took some pictures. When Tetsu called to say he was cruising around the back of the culture center, I was able to trip lightly out the back door and meet him on the street.

"Did you have a nice time? Were there some good quilts?"

"Lovely, just lovely."

Warning!!!

KANEKO-SAN!!!! DON'T LOOK AT THIS POST!!!!

Okay. Do you think that will warn her off?

Yesterday was the last day of the holidays. This weekend Tetsu is home and school and work etc. starts for me on Tuesday. This means that my extended sewing time is coming to an end. And when I realized that, I realized that I hadn't made any progress on remaking Mrs. Kaneko's quilt. Here I've been thinking about it for months, putting it off until the holidays and the holidays were almost over with nothing being done.

Be bold! Make that first cut!

And so I did. Gulp!

I wanted to save as much of the original quilt as possible... so I was careful not to cut through any fabric that might be reused.

And this is what has happened to Mrs. Kaneko's quilt. See... I didn't want her to burst into tears.

Okay... okay... Don't panic... Tanya, you are making this a better quilt. It will take time and some thought and effort but it CAN be done.

What does a panicked quilter do? Call her mentor. Mrs. Furui.

In less than 45 minutes I was over at Mrs. Furui's house with the cut out blocks and the left over quilt wreckage... plotting the next step. Mrs. Furui took a picture of me for historical reference.

Okay. The next step... Between the two of us, we decided that it would be best to lap quilt the blocks (they are held together by the long-ago quilting around the blocks) and then put the blocks back together later. And then use a new backing for it all.

As we were discussing, the kindergarten principal came visiting and though she knows nothing about quilting she knows her Bible.

"The Bible says something about sewing old wine skins to new ones... I think you should have left the quilt the way it was."

Too late now! I can't give the quilt back to Mrs. Kaneko in this condition!

Never fear! I WILL make this into a beautiful quilt. (Again.) I left Mrs. Furui 4 blocks to lap quilt for me...

Kimono shirts

A few days someone asked to see the kimono shirt that I was wearing. I have a feeling I wrote about each of the shirts I made back in 2007 but I can't find all the posts so you'll have to read it all here again if you are a long time visitor.

This post about cutting up the black and white kimono is sort of interesting... You can see the original kimono jacket that Tetsu's aunt was wearing at our engagement ceremony. Go check it out and have a laugh!

Kimonos are fantastically expensive things, all hand made. Most are made of silk though winter ones will be made of wool. The simple cotton summer kimonos are called yukata, not kimono. When I say fantastically expensive, I'm talking about hundredS of dollars. Hundreds and hundreds! A kimono is a lifetime purchase, something that will be worn for generations and generations, passed down and cherished.

Except if you have a foreign daughter-in-law... Well, actually very few young women wear kimono nowadays, except for an entrance ceremony or graduation. It is no longer considered everyday wear. Until the year that Tetsu and I were married (not long after his father passed away) Tetsu's mother still wore kimono daily. She said that Tetsu's father didn't like her wearing western clothes.

When Tetsu's mother gave me a box of her old kimono I knew I would never wear them as is and so I chose a few I especially liked, borrowed a sewing book from the library and started cutting and sewing. This is a great act of courage to cut up a kimono!!!!

I have made two shirts and two vests.

One thing about sewing with kimono is that since it is so expensive you want to get the most out of the cloth. Another thing is that the designs are overall and it is nice to leave the fabric in as big a piece as possible to show of the original design. For that reason, my shirts are just long straight, square blocks with similar block sleeves. I liked the overlapping collar just because it reminds me of the original kimono.

Now, these could be said to look like a sack I'd thrown over my head... No form, no body fitting darts and curves. Just straight. Well that is good for hiding extra flab... and the shirts are comfortable. Most people just notice that I'm wearing a remade kimono and will comment on that. I get a lot of comments when I wear my kimono shirts and I know it is not because of my great sewing, nor how fantastic I look in them. It is because this foreigner has cut up an expensive kimono!!!

A couple of other interesting things I've noticed about my kimono shirts is that when I wore them in America not one person commented nor asked about them. I felt very out of place like I was wearing a Halloween costume or something. What I wear in Japan does not always go over so well in the States (and vice versa). So I don't take my kimono shirts with me to the States when I visit anymore.

Another thing about kimono shirts is that I know that they will remain in my closet for the rest of my life. Just like Tetsu's mother wouldn't consider throwing away a kimono (give them to Tanya) I will never be able to throw them away or take them to a recycle shop. They are valuable pieces of attire (whether they look good or not). For that reason, I hesitate to make more... I already have too many clothes in my closet! I don't need another kimono shirt that will live there forever!

Still.... I have some beautiful kimonos that could turn into great kimono shirts... Maybe I'll go take them out of the box and look at them again...

Holiday sewing

We're on the last couple days of New Year's break. I'm spending most of the mornings sewing and putting in an hour or two of correcting someone's thesis. I like to do correcting though it usually takes more time than I expect it will.

Sewing. I started the Crazy Goose Chase! A couple of years ago, Julie of Joe Tulips Quilts, sent me the pattern after I commented on her lovely quilt. The pattern has been on my bookshelf for over a year but I felt it needed undivided attention... like a school holiday. It is a Stack and Whack type of pattern, one that I've never done before, thus the concentration needed. I also was getting frustrated by all the fabric that I have that doesn't get used and thought that this would be a good way to mix and match a large quantity of scrappy fabrics at one time. (Isn't it interesting that we have all this fabric yet, when we want to make something, nothing seems quite perfect? With all the stuff in my drawers why did I have such a job finding 16 dark fabrics and 16 light fabrics? If it isn't dark or light then what is it?!)

I spent Monday and Tuesday choosing fabrics and cutting them out. Gave that roller cutter a workout cutting through 16 fabrics at one time! I need to go buy a new blade this week. Yesterday I began sewing the first blocks. After today's post I'm going upstairs and seeing if I can put together all the "Geese" blocks. Progress report tomorrow.

I also have done my homework on the bazaar quilt and put together all the tree blocks I was supposed to make. Yeah! That's done. And I've been working on stars for the Star Within a Star quilt. I didn't take pictures of those and still have at least 10 more to make. So you see I've been working on crossing things off my list! (The Alabama Beauty is still calling to me...)


And if I find that I have extra time on my hands, there is a BOX of quilting magazines waiting for me! Julia of Sasebo sent me a 50 pound box of quilting magazines!!! Talk about a treasure chest!!! I will spend some time pawing around in the box and looking for border ideas for the Bible quilt that still needs to be remade...

I LOVE the holidays!

Spending New Year's

More on New Year's celebrations.

Traditional Japanese New Year's food consists of lots of decorative dishes that have various meanings associated with them... long life, happiness, good luck. They are all artistically arranged in lacquered boxes... Unfortunately, our family has never much liked the traditional dishes and so I gratefully skip all that preparation and just toast pounded rice cakes and serve with a variety of toppings... Let's see.. From the top there is sweet bean paste, sweet potato paste with chestnuts, sweet, soy bean powder, sweet beans and butter. I guess we like sweet... And to the far left are the toasted rice cakes... Three types... Tetsu and I ate too much.

One day Tetsu and I went to a pottery town (Mashiko and Kasama) and wandered around a pottery festival. We did this last year too but this year didn't buy anything. Instead we spent some time walking (are resting) in a pottery park that I find magical. Selected town artists have built displays in various corners of the park and it is interesting to stumble upon different works as one walks through the forest and park grounds.


Odd little blue pods with sparkling stars twinkling through the forest shadows.


A ceramic wall.


A pottery bookshelf complete with ceramic books.


A ceramic "bus station" with only luggage waiting on the "platform". (Remember... this is all pottery!)

And I love this display of a thousand sparrows sitting on rails.

But the cutest encounter of the day were these sweet little Chihuahuas dressed in kimono. Happy New Year!

Obaachan

Tetsu is back at work today. He had two days off and we did things like go to the hot spa (Tetsu's favorite pastime), visit his mother, go shopping and visit a pottery festival.

Let's start with Tetsu's mother. Obaachan just turned 87 last week and she lives alone in a prefecture apartment. Tetsu's older brother lives in another prefecture and by tradition, she is supposed to be living with his family, but Obaachan prefers to live alone. Tetsu's sister lives nearby and looks in on her quite a lot. Tetsu and I live about 30 minutes away and Tetsu visits weekly. (Me, not so often... twice a month?)

There were times when Obaachan and I tried to live together but that didn't work out too well. I don't take that personally because what old fashioned mother-in-law wants to get used to living with her foreign daughter-in-law. It didn't work out for Obaachan to live with Tetsu's older brother's family or sister either, so it is not just me! This arrangement as been satisfactory for the past 30 years though as Obaachan gets older, I'm not sure how long we can maintain this lifestyle.

Obaachan has meals brought in to her daily and has a care worker who does shopping for her and helps clean up her very small apartment. Obaachan is still pretty capable. Her mental faculties are excellent though she can't see or walk well. Of course, according to Obaachan, she is on her last legs and won't be around next week but she has been saying this for 30 years.

Frankly, Obaachan is not very cheerful and it becomes depressing to be with her for very long... Long tales of the misfortunes in her life and how she has been/is being wronged (by doctors, care workers, her own children.) That is why she is living alone. But occasionally we catch Obaachan on a good day, or coax her into talking of cheerful things. Yesterday when Tetsu and I visited, we brought rice cakes and sweets (which she loves) and she chatted quite awhile with us. Sorry about the pictures... the light was behind us but it was an accomplishment just to get her to pose.

I got her laughing when she noticed the shirt that I was wearing was one of her old kimonos that I had remade.

"I THOUGHT that looked familiar! At least you got it out of a box."

Though I worried that she would be horrified by the desecration of her expensive kimonos she has always been quite pleased to see me wearing them (albeit in a different form).

So, we made Obaachan happy with a New Year's Day visit. A good way to start the year!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the Land of the Rising Sun!

Tetsu and Choco and I have taken our morning walk and eaten our New Year's pounded rice cakes. Although it is a Sunday, the post man has already delivered New Year's post cards (they all come in one lot!) and we've enjoyed looking through them. Some are computer printed, some are hand drawn. 2012 is the year of the dragon so all of them had a dragon illustration on them somewhere (and on the stamp). Sorry, no dragons on our New Year's cards. Only furry animals.

As usual, it was my job to put together a New Year's card this year. The biggest problem is putting all those animals on it! (The people get lost!) There were years when I would send our family picture to the camera shop and have them make cards for me. When they started charging me extra for each picture incorporated in the collage, Mrs. Ochiai stepped in and designed cards for me. One year I threatened not to have animals on the card at all, but relented when someone reminded me that they ARE family. And now I've figured out how to do a basic job myself. (If anyone is interested, everyday in December 2010, I posted past years' New Year cards.)

At the start of January 2012, I have on my list of Quilts to Do:

• Work on remaking the Bible Quilt
• Hand sew more stars for the Star Within a Star Quilt
• Start a Crazy Goose Chase Quilt (first time you heard about that one right? I just thought that one up yesterday)
• Put together the Alabama Beauty

And throughout the year I'll probably be working on more quilts for the Ronald McDonald House. What fun!!

The new year has started! Wishing you joy and peace. Thank you for visiting last year. I hope you'll be back this year too.