Psalm 65:9-10

Thou dost visit the earth, and cause it to overflow;

Thou dost greatly enrich it;

The stream of God is full of water;

Thou dost prepare their grain, for thus Thou dost prepare the earth.

Thou dost water its furrows abundantly;

Thou dost settle its ridges;

Thou dost soften it with showers;

Thou dost bless its growth.

Psalm 65:9-10

Sewing machines

My friends, Mrs. Nakazawa and Rumi-san came to do patchwork yesterday. They are both very gung-ho quilters.... when they are at my house! When they get home they slow down a bit and don't get very much done. They seem to find the atmosphere at my house (lots of quilts and cats and coffee) conducive to quilting.

Let's see... Mrs. Nakazawa is working on a large cat quilt, two Bible quilts (embroidery blocks this month), and a flower quilt. Rumi-san is working on a small applique wall hanging, the Bible quilt and the same flower quilt. And both these ladies talk about their NEXT projects! True quilters at heart... but not with enough time.

One problem is that neither friend has a workable sewing machine. Rumi-san HAS one but she hasn't used it for 30 years. She is ready to toss it and buy a new one. Mrs. Nakazawa just wants to buy one. I've been asking Rumi-san to bring her sewing machine so that I could see if it is salvageable or not but it has been hidden away in some closet. Yesterday she finally hauled it out and carried it to my house.


"That's a nice sturdy case it's in. Let's see what it looks like."

Rumi-san and I wrestled (literally) with her Singer sewing machine case for a few minutes.

"How do you get into this thing?!"

We came within inches of breaking the whole case but finally figured out there were hinges and different places to push and pull (sort of like getting into one of those Chinese puzzle boxes) that allowed the case to slide off the machine.

"I don't suppose you have the instructions for threading the machine."

"Oh no. Those were lost long ago. I used this machine for about two years when my daughter was in kindergarten and it's been put away since then... I thought since you do so much sewing that you would automatically know how to thread it."

Thank you for the compliment but I'll need to spend some time "playing" with the machine.

"Does the thread go this way? That way? Around here?"

I now appreciate the new machines that have a numbered pathway right on the machine itself for the many people who lose that instruction book. After awhile I got it right but then I was stalled by the bobbin case. No matter what I did, that bobbin wouldn't move. I got out screwdrivers, lint brushes, machine oil and took that baby apart!

The end of the story is that I think some belt in the machine has disintegrated because I never did get any action out of the bobbin case.

"Rumi-san. I think you are going to have to buy a new machine. Take it in to the repair shop and they might be able to fix it, but if you are seriously planning to use a sewing machine then wouldn't you like one with thread cutters and automatic needle threaders?"

Rumi-san was actually overjoyed with that pronouncement and Mrs. Nakazawa was already making plans to buy identical sewing machines so that they can learn together.

"Tanya, pick one out for us."

"WHAT!?"

That is a major responsibility especially since I will also be responsible for keeping their sewing machines in use. I certainly don't want them buying a sewing machine and then have it retire to a closet for 30 years again!

Yesterday both ladies used MY sewing machine to machine applique their flower petals.

"Ooh... Look how that free-motion foot works!"


So now I'm combing the Internet for sewing machine product information.

Anyone have any advice? I've always used a Brother sewing machine... not specified for quilting. Janome is big in Japan. Juki is more expensive but available. But I think my friends are thinking about around $500 at the most... Easy to use but able to do free-motion quilting. No embroidery.

Who knows... I might need an identical machine myself just so that I can teach them!

Trinkets

Last week three boys out of five from my Thursday night English class were absent. They are all 6th graders and their class went on a school excursion to Tokyo.

All schools in Japan arrange school excursions for the graduating classes. Most people in Japan have visited Nikko, the city where I live, at least once in their lives just because it is a main school excursion location with shrines, temples and hiking courses. However the schools in this area take their students to Kyoto (famous for temples), Hiroshima (famous for the peace park and atomic bomb museum) and Tokyo (famous for the Imperial grounds and surrounding metropolis.)

The school excursions are all overnight trips, with a whole tourist business developed around busing hundreds of students at a time to various places, feeding them and providing them sleeping facilities. Elementary students will have a two day-one night trip, Jr. high students go to places farther away for a two or three day trip, and depending on the high school, sometimes the excursion will be international travel! (think of the cost involved for the parents!)

My sixth graders went off to Tokyo on a bright sunny day and after a bus ride of a couple hours, arrived at a famous temple area. After touring that town they were bused to the Imperial grounds for a walk around the area and then they visited a TV studio. In the evening they took a buffet dinner cruise around Tokyo Bay. A dinner cruise! For 6th graders!!! I'd sure like to go on a dinner cruise!

The next day the students were taken to Tokyo Sky Tree! Sky Tree just opened last month and is the tallest broadcasting tower in the world. The waiting list to enter and ride to the top observation deck is booked for months! Yet somehow the school was able to make reservations for their 6th graders. Parents and people like me were drooling to think that 35 lucky children from our little town were going to get to go to the top of Sky Tree. Does the school need any extra chaperones?

My students seemed happy to have made the trip to Tokyo but they weren't as excited as I expected them to be. The greatest impression on them was the fun they had in the bus and playing UNO and other card games at night in the hotel...

But the children brought me and the other two 5th graders in our class, trinkets from the school excursion.

A little Maneki Neko (welcoming cat) bell, a cell phone strap that says "Traffic Safety" (someone was very clever to remember that I am also the crosswalk guard), another cell phone strap and a badge of some samurai (but no one knew who he was), a can of cookies from the TV studio and a post card of Sky Tree.

I am honored to think the boys remembered me during their school trip! I connected some of the cell phone straps and the bell to my crosswalk uniform this morning.

I want to go on a school trip!

mirror/sink/cabinet

Our bathroom mirror/sink/cabinet broke last night. I put something down too hard in the cabinet and it came off the wall. That goes to show how (non) sturdy that cabinet was! Tetsu was in the middle of a sports show on TV and I hated to pull him away and have to explain how I managed to break the cabinet, but then again, how long could I stand there holding it up with one hand while I desperately removed make-up and lotions and toothbrushes and shavers from the little shelves.

(Our cabinet in better days with stuff in the shelves.)

And even with all the stuff off of the cabinet, I still stood there foolishly trying to think up a good way to remove myself from the situation without the whole caboodle coming crashing to the floor.

"Hmmm. I could stay here for another 30 minutes until the TV program is finished... but Tetsu will be asleep on the sofa by then."

With a lot of acrobatic maneuvering I finally grabbed a roller mop within reaching distance (still holding the cabinet up against the wall) and then proceeded to figure out how it could be used as a prop. Roller mops roll around the sink. After wedging the mop handle against the towel rack and praying that the whole thing didn't slip while I was out of range, I toodled into the living room and nonchalantly mentioned to Tetsu that the bathroom mirror/sink/cabinet was broken and could he come and look at it.

Tetsu jumped to his feet and came to have a look.

"How did that happen?"

"I put something down too hard?"

"Well, it's been getting shakey for awhile now. It was bound to happen."

Good-bye to the sports show. The two of us removed light bulbs and poked around with screwdrivers and pliers.

"Well, it can't be fixed tonight. I'll see if I can buy some butterfly screws tomorrow."

Tetsu TIED the cabinet to the laundry pole. I sure hope he can get it fixed soon. I spent a lot of time this morning looking for my contact lenses, toothbrush, hairbrush and make-up amongst the stuff I'd piled on the washing machine, towel rack, hamper and even stairway.

A non-sturdy cabinet is better than no cabinet at all.

Hide and seek

Tuesday is trash day so I emptied the wastebaskets in the morning.

"Now to put them back and get on with the vacuuming."

Whoops!

I guess I'll put the wastebaskets away later. Chip is playing hide-and-seek.

"You can't see me. I can see you."

The simple joys of being a cat.

Smiles in the morning

Tetsu came home in a bad mood last night. Annoyances at work. This morning on our walk he was fuming and ranting about the dumb things people do and how he has to light into people to get the job done right. And then he ends up the big bad wolf that nobody likes to work with (well, he just bit everyone's heads off).

Our weekday morning breakfast is granola and instant coffee. Because Tetsu was so grumpy I decorated his coffee a bit. That brought a smile to his face.

"It is amazing to me that I can't get along with anyone else but that you and I make a pretty good couple. These little things really make me feel loved."

Thank you. I try.

"...but the coffee tastes the same."

Next time I'll grind the coffee...

A face

It was a rainy weekend and any plans that Tetsu and I had got thrown out the window. For the most part we stayed at home and watched TV and napped. BORING!!! (I know... I should have gone upstairs and sewed but the sofa was so inviting.) We did stop in to see Tetsu's mother.

My poor mother-in-law. She has to deal with the challenges of independent living, poor health and a daughter-in-law sneaking up on her wielding a camera. She didn't actually tell me to stop yesterday (sometimes she does) and I took advantage of her good mood.

So what does her face tell you about her? I have heard the saying that up until age 40 your face is what God has given you but from 40 on, your face is what you make it... And I don't mean make-up! I mean that the smile wrinkles are there because the person smiles a lot or the worry lines are there because the person worries a lot. The extra rolls of flab may be due to too much overeating, the sparkle in the eye because of a curiosity about life.

When Tetsu's mother was young, she was a fiery oldest daughter that wasn't about to behave properly. She has related stories of getting her first hair permanent and being locked in the house by her father for weeks. She refused to marry the man her father had chosen and ran away from home to live at an aunt's house. Somewhere along the line she ended up in China during the war and was severely injured which disabled her for life and this has colored her world negatively. She hates her pronounced limp and shys away from meeting people or going out. Tetsu says his father often did the community and school tasks that the woman in a family would normally do just because his mother disliked having to socialize.

In Tetsu's youth, his parents were quite well off and Tetsu's mother acted and was treated like a pampered lady but not long before Tetsu's father died, the business went under and the "lady" was left with debts and bitterness. And none of her children turned out wealthy enough to keep her comfortable so now she shamefully lives alone in minimum surroundings. And to be truthful, her negativeness has kept all her children at a safe distance so that is why we "visit".

Tetsu likes me to come with him when he goes to visit his mother. When he visits her alone, he comes home angry and stressed out. He claims she is more cheerful when I am there, maybe making an effort to think of happier things. Though we have had our disagreements I think Obaachan and I both try hard not to let the carefully balanced relationship between us teeter. I know I am careful about what I say with Obaachan and she seems to try and keep her conversations light with me. Tetsu and I visit and assure her that we appreciate her efforts to live alone, we are awed by her mental clarity (she is SO sharp about SO much!), we sympathize with the great physical suffering she goes through daily (so many aches and pains).

For all that, I think my mother-in-law is quite a beautiful lady for 88 and her face is etched with good memories and bad.

Love your neighbor

Yesterday I was shopping in the town when I noticed an older lady standing in front of me at the cash register. Ah, I know her. She lives in our neighborhood somewhere and often rides her bicycle to the local supermarket. Did she ride all the way into town? The lady noticed me too and we nodded to each other. When I was leaving, I went over and asked if she had come to town on bicycle or if she was with someone.

"No. I rode my bicycle to the bus stop and took the bus into town today."

"Well, I'm headed back home, why don't I give you a ride back if you are finished with your errands."

The lady was quite surprised especially since we didn't even know each others' names. After a few protests saying it would cause me too much trouble, she accepted my offer and the two of us drove back to the neighborhood and to where she'd left her bicycle. We had a nice conversation and I feel like I have a new friend!

************

I am still plugging away at my BOM embroidery but every time I pick up the needle I realize how much finer work it is compared to quilting or piecing. I STRUGGLE to see those stitches and NOW I remember my resolution not to do any more embroidery!

My friends Mrs. Nakazawa and Rumi-san are making a New Testament sampler quilt. And for the center block I set them to embroidering their favorite Bible verse. Mrs. Nakazawa chose "Love your neighbor as yourself." And Mrs. Nakazawa is planning to make TWO New Testament quilts so that means TWO embroidery blocks. But the last time Mrs. Nakazawa came for patchwork she mentioned that she was having trouble seeing and was scheduled for cataract surgery.

Mrs. Nakazawa has put her half finished embroidery block on hold until she can see better. That's ONE block. Hey, I can see just fine and I STILL have trouble with embroidery. I doubt that fine needlework is good for Mrs. Nakazawa right now, so......


I did her second block for her. She's been working on the same verse with a different kitty (Mrs. Nakazawa is my kitty mentor) so I hope she'll be able to use this one. The embroidery design is from Red Brolly and there are so many cute kitties on the website, it was hard to pick!

5:00 am scenery

Choco and I got started early this morning again. 5:00 am.

The sun had just come up but the fog hadn't completely lifted.


The rice fields were glittering as was the stream. You can see we get a lot of water around here. So quenching to my Southern California eyes.

Choco and I checked out the forest.

"Are you coming, Mom?"


Speaking of checking out things. While I took this picture Choco heard tweeting in the wheat field and took a romp. I could hear a rustle-rustle-rustle and occasionally see a black head bounce through the stalks.

"Choco come back!!! Ding-dang-dog! The farmers don't want you in their fields!"


Flowers along the roadside and on the field edges.


Poppies are abundant!


And I was ever so pleased to capture a heron flying past the morning sun!

What time is it?

I was at the kindergarten yesterday.

In the five year old class there is one boy, T-kun, who has some social challenges but is actually an extremely bright boy. He sometimes gets focused on something else and isn't happy about coming to English time and on those days he will sit in the corner sobbing silently but usually he enjoys English and waves his hand, blurting out answers and wanting to do it all. While many of the 5 year olds sort of sit and absorb by chance whatever English I am trying to teach, T-kun most often plays an active, noisy role in my class.

This month I've been teaching numbers.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
Eight, nine, ten, eleven... twelve!"

Okay, if they can count to twelve, I can bring out the wooden clock and see how far they can get with time. I realize that many of these 5 year olds can't even tell time in Japanese let alone attempt a stab at English, but since they learned to count to twelve...

"The little hand is on ONE. And the big hand is on TWELVE. It's ONE O'CLOCK. See, when the hand is on TWELVE we say O'CLOCK. That's the easy part. But you've got to remember what number the little hand is pointing at."

"This is ONE O'CLOCK. And with the little hand pointing at two, it is TWO O'CLOCK. What time is it if the little hand is pointing at THREE?"

I had a whole bunch of children waving their hands at me wanting to give the answer. Same with 4:00, 5:00 and 6:00. But by 7:00, the hands started to thin. Not that many kids can count post 6. T-kun sat counting on his fingers, then frantically waving his hand. Ah, T-kun can probably answer the 12:00. I let him wave and called on other children. 8:00, 9:00, even the little autistic boy knows 10. He could answer 10:00 with help. 11:00. That's a hard one. T-kun was still waving his hand but I called on another waving child. Finally 12:00...

"T-kun. What time is it now? The little hand and the big hand are pointing at TWELVE."

And T-kun confidently answered,

"It's O'CLOCK O'CLOCK!"

It's what? The kindergarten teacher and I looked at each other puzzled.

"It's... OHHHhhh!!!"

T-kun was really thinking very logically. I DID say that when the hand is pointing at TWELVE we say O'CLOCK, so O'CLOCK O'CLOCK is a wonderful answer! I sure praised him for his thinking skills and of course taught him that in this case the time was TWELVE O'CLOCK.

I love seeing the world through children's eyes.

Scrap User's System

Although I like working on planned quilts with a designed pattern, a few years ago I found Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User System and I started cutting scraps into 2 inch squares.

Then I started cutting 2 and a half inch squares.

Then 2 inch and 2 and a half inch strips.

Then 3 and a half inch strips.

Then strings.

That ends up with a lot of baskets and bins with pre cut fabric but none of them going anywhere.

Oh I have made some quilts with my Scrap User System. A Pineapple Blossom quilt, a star quilt, a few baby quilts, a couple donation quilts, a few prayer quilts. I'm definitely happy to have a way to use my scraps. But the baskets and bins do start to overflow after a bit of time...

This week, just to keep the 2 and a half inch strip basket at bay I started one of Bonnie's Scrappy Trip Around the World quilts. Very nice! And while I'm at it I just keep putting together 2 inch squares and have a whole set of new blocks started too. Hmm. These look like I could use them together.

No great plans but I AM sewing.

Thing-a-ma-bob

The other day I got a surprise package in the mail from Lorraine!

"From Lorraine? But this package was sent from Japan."

How I laughed when I opened it! This is a patchwork piecing board. You know...

For my first few years of doing patchwork I traced my template patterns on a piece of sandpaper from Tetsu's tool box. (The sandpaper keeps the fabric from slipping, right?) Somewhere along the line I saw a sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bob in a quilt store but since Tetsu's sandpaper served the purpose I passed over that purchase. Tetsu knew I really wanted a pretty sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bob so he designed and constructed one for me! A fancy two sided board connected by hinges! I could open it up to trace templates and close it up and use it as a mini-ironing board WITHOUT scratching my table. My sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bob has served me well for probably 20 years.

A couple of years ago my sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bob broke at the hinges and that meant I now had a HALF of a sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bob by my chair downstairs and another HALF upstairs in the sewing room. (I had to be careful about scratching the table though). But when a person has TWO things (or thing-a-ma-bobs) a person is less likely to keep track of where she has laid down the first thing. (I am forever losing my glasses because I have more than one pair.) So I am often running upstairs and back downstairs looking for one of my sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bobs.

While Lorraine was visiting she offered to piece a couple small stars for my close-to-being-finished Star Within a Star quilt.

"Great! Let me get one of my sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bobs for you."

That's right! I couldn't find either one. I ran up and down those stairs looking in various places while Lorraine patiently waited. I finally gave up my search and Lorraine traced around templates with the fabric slipping every which way. But thanks to her last two stars, my Star Within a Star quilt has been made into a flimsy!

Obviously Lorraine felt that as a quilter doing hand piecing now and then, I REALLY needed a new sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bob and she had her daughter-in-law send me one! It is a beauty! Big, soft grey flannel on one side, sandpaper on the other, and a mole grip on the sandpaper side so that it won't slip while I'm ironing. And I have heard that the grip can also be used to mark applique pieces so that will be a new technique I am wanting to try out.

My new sandpaper/ironing board thing-a-ma-bob is big enough that it will be hard to lose and because I have only ONE it will be treasured!

Thank you Lorraine!

Tsuruga Castle

More of the weekend.

Driving along... not really having a plan in mind... Tetsu and I came across the Fukushima (Aizuwakamatsu) Tsuruga Castle. That sounds interesting. Let's go see what that's all about.

In Japanese history there were samurai lords and clans that built castles and ruled the countryside engaging in battles, directing the peasants and farmers. In many cities, the stone castle walls can still be seen, usually turned into city parks and cultural areas. A few cities have rebuilt the castles and allow people inside and up to the top battlements.


Like many castles, Tsurugajo (castle) is surrounded by a moat.

Moat and me.

My samurai.

The castle has been turned into a very well cared for museum filled with artifacts and implements, explanations (in English...) and things for people to enjoy. Here is Tetsu sitting at a lord's place overseeing his castle.


Oh my! I want to be a lady in waiting! The kimono was just set in the alcove with an invitation for anyone to try it on. I felt a little silly posing while people passed by on all sides but if was fun for me and fun for people bowing to me and playing along with the scenario.

From the top of the castle looking down on the city.

And the castle itself.

As we were leaving a samurai warrior recruited me. Do I make a better warrior or lady in waiting?