Skating

Tetsu absolutely loves our new floors.  He has taken great interest in pushing the furniture to the sides of the room and admiring the stretch of wood in front of him.  He has also taken up skating.

Every morning Tetsu grabs two rags from the cupboard and then skates around the house rubbing at imaginary spots with his toe, glorying in how much dust and grime he can pick up in one sweep.  The rags get pushed under a chair until he comes home and then he brings them out and skates around in the evenings too.

Our new floors always look great!

I wonder how long the novelty will last...  I wonder how long Tetsu will stay with his new hobby.

October Works in Progress

I spent an hour or two up in the sewing room working on that Bull's Eye quilt... Can somebody think of another name for this...  Those blocks are no longer bull's eyes.  

Unfortunately there were so many other things that needed to get done yesterday that I stopped after I'd gotten a vague idea of what this quilt is someday going to look like.  I really need a couple of days to hide away with the sewing machine and at least get this to flimsy stage. My turn-out of quilts hasn't been very good this year...  (Blame it on Mr. U.)

I cut all the pretty bull's eyes that I'd made into quarters!  And then I've sewn them to four patch blocks.  And the next step will to make up the two sets of blocks (lighter and darker) and sew them together.  But alas, this was as far as I got before I headed back downstairs to do some grocery shopping and some cooking, and in the evening, some knitting.

Knitting?!

We are nearly in November and someone reminded me that I usually make Tetsu a Christmas sweater or vest.  Was I going to make one this year?  I checked a few pattern books and the Internet.  I planned to visit the yarn store but before that I checked my closets and found a very large bag of yarn.  Now where did that come from?  One of my Japanese friends must have given me their left-over yarn but I don't even remember who it was nor when.  I may never even have looked inside the bag just received it and pushed it into the closet.  Well, lo and behold, there are a whole 12 skeins of some very pretty green yarn...  Surely that is enough to knit Tetsu a vest.  (Then again, maybe not as he is fairly large...  I hate not knowing if I have enough yarn.)  Well, I might as well make a start as otherwise the bag will sit in the closet another year (and I'll just be buying more yarn, which will probably lead to more left-over skeins...  That's why the yarn piles up around here.)

But the cold evenings are just right for some quiet knitting and I enjoyed the rhythm of the knitting needles.  Whether I have enough yarn or not, I guess I won't know until I'm a bit farther along.

Or I could just make a few cat coasters...

It doesn't look like much now...

Though my house is still in shambles, I saw Mr. U today for the first time in two weeks.  There are two reasons for this...  One, there was a death in his family this week and two, the next stage of our renovations wasn't ready yet.

Sometime at the beginning of September Tetsu and I made some changes in the original renovation plans and decided to forgo some things in order to do other things.  And we made the big decision to have our kitchen redone!  Originally we hadn't planned to have anything major done in the kitchen (because I don't much like cooking anyway) but we did want to get the stained, molding, chipping linoleum floor changed.  And Mr. U informed us that to put in wood floors the whole counter and sink section had to be taken out.  And if we were going to go THAT far, then we decided to have the whole sink/counter/stove taken out and replaced.  And that's the part we've been waiting for.

It was ordered... and Mr. U was ready to install it...  The old standing cupboard had been taken out weeks ago leaving me with condiments and utensils and pots and pans all in different boxes around the house. The floor was HALF laid...waiting for the busy day when the old counter would come out, new floor would get laid and the new counter put in... but no new counter.  The factory is backlogged and there was nothing Mr. U could do until a delivery was made.  So there I've been, my kitchen spread out in numerous rooms, with me stepping over appliances and boxes that line the kitchen floor.

And then Mr. U has been dealing with the passing of his brother, which not only is probably upsetting but also, because of various superstitions, entails that carpenters and construction workers , (and I suppose fishermen and many other sorts of somewhat dangerous jobs) do not work during the mourning period.  Mr. U has never really SAID that that was the reason he couldn't come but Tetsu explained it as a pretty common practice among the older generation of carpenters...

But today, period of mourning or not, the kitchen factory wanted to make the delivery.  FINALLY my kitchen is ready to be installed!  So Mr. U came early and supervised the unloading of the truck... to my front yard!  My kitchen, all in Styrofoam and boxes is going to sit in the yard for the next four days!  Until Mr. U's family circumstances are completely settled.

Unfortunately the weather forecast is RAIN for this weekend...  Mr. U wrapped up the pile of boxes securely in a couple of tarps before he headed off home.

Wilds of Nikko

So there we were enjoying the warm, sunny, autumn day... when Choco perked up her ears and whimpered a bit.

I heard the rustling too and looked over in the direction that Choco was pointing.  (She is part Pointer, you know.)

"Rustle, rustle, rustle."

Squirrels in the forest?  I pointed my camera with the telescopic lens towards the end of the forest.  And pretty soon...

A monkey is out there rustling those trees!  And before long, he plopped onto the pasture fence and walked towards us!

Nikko is famous for its monkeys, the most internationally famous set being the "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" monkeys.  Wild monkeys will occasionally burst from the woods and steal tourists backpacks and bags of snacks, and I have seen monkeys on the mountain roads but there aren't any monkeys in the part of Nikko where I live.

This handsome monkey paid not the least bit of attention to us humans (and one dog) lounging near the pasture and I slowly got to my feet and tip-toed towards him.  He would glance at me and I would stop with my camera pointed at him.  He would look away and I would advance a few more steps.

At one point I decided not to try my luck and just concentrated on focusing the camera while the monkey enjoyed a lunch of autumn berries.

 There are a lot of berries still in the woods!  The monkeys don't have to go far to look.

Pretty soon another, younger monkey came to sit in a tree by the pasture and I spent awhile photographing him too.

 Finally the original monkey jumped down from the fence and sauntered across the prairie.

At which point the younger monkey joined him and then a third monkey scurried out from the forest and caught up to the other two.

The monkey family of three, headed across the prairie nary giving Tetsu and Choco and me a glance.  And when I turned around, delighted with my impromptu photography shoot, there was Choco locked in Tetsu's judo hold.

"I watched you sneak up on that monkey and thought if he decided to come at you I would let Choco go and chase him away!"

Can you imagine what would have happened if Choco had been set loose?  The monkeys would have gotten away but Choco would have gotten lost in the wilds of Nikko.

Wild monkeys were the highlight of the day!

A rare siting

On Saturday, Tetsu and I had some free time so we started off early, early in the morning with Choco and went up to the upper lake and mountain area of Nikko.  It is about a 45 minute drive for us, up a famous wind-y road.  A few weeks ago I had planned to take some friends up the road to the lake but at the bottom of the mountain, confronted by heavy fog, I chickened out.  That road is not for the faint-hearted!

But this day was a fine autumn day and as expected, the cars were already lining up to get to the beautiful fall scenery at the top of the mountain.  It is unfortunate that all the most beautiful places are always overcrowded (with people like us) who want to see the beautiful places.

I know... I've taken this picture every time we go up to the lake.  This is Lake Chuzenji.  We have hiked around the lake and ridden a ferry on the lake, and just relaxed by the side of the lake.  In a couple more weeks the scenic road up to this point will be closed for the winter season, so we get up there to take a yearly picture when we can.

 The mountain sides were a riot of color!

That is our local Mt. Nantai in the background. 

At first I didn't even notice all the people pointing their cameras into the distance.  What is out there?

 Mt. Fuji!  It is not often that we get such a clear view of Mt. Fuji and it is something to get excited about!

A great photo chance for the photographers.  People were stopping their cars and leaving them in the middle of the road just to take a quick snapshot.

 Oh well, here's another view.  We never know when we'll see Mt. Fuji again.

On down the mountain we stopped at a dairy farm to just enjoy the warm temperature and the fall trees.  Choco and Tetsu took a nap, while I wandered around taking pictures.

"Nothing going on around here today.  What a lazy day.  No surprises."

"But wait!  What's that?!"

Brass Band concert

I have a line-up of photos from this weekend.  I guess we'll go one event at a time.

Thursday night Yuma-kun was complaining about the extra brass band club practice that he has been having.  Yuma-kun has been playing the trumpet from this year and Jr. high school club activities are time consuming.

"You could come to my band performance tomorrow if you like."

Well, that was short notice and I pointed out that I had no idea where his Jr. high school is.  And Yuma-kun didn't know what time he was going to be on stage anyway.  I mumbled something about probably being busy.

But the next morning, having a bit of sewing time to myself, I got to thinking that it is not often that a Jr. high school boy will even INVITE a person to his Jr. high school.  I know that MY son absolutely HATED having me make an appearance at the school, even for things like PTA meetings and classroom presentations.  It was like I was the boogeyman!

"Do not, under any circumstances, wave at me or even think about speaking to me in English."

So Yuma-kun's inviting me was quite a compliment and as I didn't really have anything else planned for the afternoon... if it was the afternoon when this event was even scheduled.

I called the school and found out that the whole day was devoted to cultural day and that the band was scheduled to perform at 1:30.  And thanks to trusty Google Maps I even managed to figure out how to get to the school (through many rice fields and past a few forests and farming communities.)

I got to the school while the students were still at lunch but I located the gymnasium and browsed through the many exhibits on display.  And who should be one of the first students to come barreling into the gymnasium to get ready for the performance?  Yuma-kun!

"Yuma!  Hey, Yuma!  Over here."

He stopped dead in his tracks.

"You came?"

"Yep, and I'm just admiring your calligraphy exhibit.  Come stand in front of it so that I can take your picture."

Never would my own son have allowed me to take his picture at school...

Here is Yuma-kun all decked out in his band dudes.  That pumpkin accessory is from my cupboard from the night before.  Yuma-kun thought he needed something to spruce up his looks and set him apart from the rest of the band members.  Well...  it IS coming on Halloween... and yeah, the orange shows up well with his black outfit.  Yuma-kun's calligraphy is the third from the left on the top row.  Let's see...  The class theme was "Emotion and Celebration".

 Up on stage getting set up.  Ooh...  Getting to be a good looking young man!

And the concert begins!  A lot of band members down there below the stage but the trumpeters got to sit up higher which was good for me.  The band members, boys and girls, wore the same black outfits with neckties.  The Jr. high STUDENTS wear black uniforms all the time anyway (high collar jacket, white shirt or blouse).  That's why there is a sea of black in front of me.

 And there's my not-so-little trumpeter doing a great job!  My eyes are glittering!

Ah yes...  There's my not-so-little trumpeter.  I think he's supposed to be facing the other direction...  That's more like the Yuma-kun I know and love.

"Okay, okay, I'll take a picture with you if you insist."

When did Yuma-kun get taller than me?
 

Halloween festivities

Although we're a little ahead of the calendar, the kindergarten asked me to come in as a witch on Wednesday for Halloween.  I have no idea how this got started in the kindergarten... I probably said something about fun trick-or-treating as a child and the kindergarten principal jumped on the idea and suggested that we do a simple trick-or-treating hour with the children.  A taste of America.  I'm not a great fan of Halloween but I do my part..  Of course there is no actual trick-or-treating on October 31 so this is the only Halloween the kindergarten children will know.  In Japan, what with department store Halloween decorations it seems as if October is synonymous for Halloween as well as for the autumn season.

In past years (I've been at the kindergarten for 20 some years) I have made cookies for the kindergarten's Halloween (which in itself caused some problems because there are always children with allergies) but this year, what with the house renovations and a new oven (oh, I didn't tell you.  I bought a new microwave/oven... so that I could cut down counter space... until now it has been one microwave and one oven) I bowed out of making cookies.  Let's say, I did give it a minor effort, baking a batch of chocolate cookies, WHICH WERE A COMPLETE DISASTER BECAUSE THE COOKIE DOUGH MADE ONE BIG COOKIE SHEET OF COOKIE!!!  I don't think I understand the temperature settings on my oven yet.  And I really don't have the time or energy (or space!) to experiment.

So the kindergarten supplied all the treats and I just came dressed as a witch.

This year the children surprised ME by making paper bag masks!  This was supposed to be a secret (but I was alerted to act surprised) and I was led into the hall with my eyes closed. One hundred some children quietly (but with many giggles) filed into the hall and at the count of three shouted, "BOO!"

This is me being surprised and scared!

After that little performance, the children went around getting treats from teachers and yours truly.  And then they each had their picture taken with the witch.  I am in hundreds and hundreds of kindergarten children's albums from 20 years back.  I'll always be remembered as the Halloween witch at the kindergarten.  (I can think of other things I'd rather be remembered by....)

"BOO!"

Graffiti

I'm not really getting much accomplished sewing wise recently.  I guess I've been helping friends but I don't get many stitches in myself. 

Here is my Pine Burr quilt waiting patiently in my chair.  I get in about 10 minutes of stitching a day which hardly makes a dent in the overall work still to be done.  Good thing that neither of my children are thinking of getting married anytime soon.  (In the back of my mind I've been planning to give this to either Takumi or Leiya if and when they get married...)  By the way...  there's a cat under that quilt.  Cleo's favorite sleeping place.

From the photo can you get an idea of our new keisoudou walls?  Let's see... I think this particular wall was finished by Mr. U so that's why the curves look so uniform and nice.  My wall enhancements are a bit haphazard.  But on the day that this wall got its finishing touches, I was off teaching so Mr. U did it for me.  This wall is in a prominent place in the living room so that was probably good.

I think Mr. U is getting tired of the whole plastering process himself.  I sure am.  It is cold damp work and has to be done in a hurry or else the wall dries before the final enhancements.  We plod along moving furniture, preparing and applying keisodo, wiping down corners, adding enhancements, moving furniture back.  We occasionally bump into each other or I knock over a pail (haven't fallen off a ladder yet though).

But this week we got to the end of the kitchen wall... far back where the refrigerator goes, and just before we moved the refrigerator back, when the keisoudo was still fresh and damp, I handed Mr. U a nail and said,

"Let's sign our names.  We've worked this hard, we ought to leave our names for posterity!"

Mr. U looked at me like I was crazy.  Then burst into laughter!

"I've never heard of such a thing!  And I've done a lot of houses!"

But we both scratched our names into the bottom corner of the kitchen wall which probably will never be seen until someone moves the refrigerator again...  But WE know!

Mr. U's spirits really soared after that small interaction.  He laughed and whistled and called me a plasterer as good as any man.  (Mr. U's ultimate compliment.)

We're not done yet, but little by little I can see progress.

Crochet

Being at the latter half of October I realized I needed to think about a fabric post card for my mother again.  But where is the time? 

When I was cleaning out closets last month I came across a couple of boxes I have carried around with me for at least 25 years, maybe more than 30.  My mother had closed up her own deceased parents' home when I was twelve and boxes had lived in HER closet for many, many years.  And when she grew of an age where she wasn't really cleaning and organizing things I discovered the boxes in one of my summer tossing sprees.

A box of spools of crochet threads... 

A box of a nearly finished crochet tablecloth motif blocks...  These were my grandmother's and she must have used her idle hours doing crochet when she lived in the quiet town of Columbia City, Indiana.

My grandparents were first generation Japanese, immigrating to Indiana where my mother was born and raised.  My mother says she didn't meet any other Japanese until she was in college!  And my grandmother, after marrying and coming to America, never once returned to her country of birth (though my grandfather made the trip when he was in his 80's.)  She became one of the calico dressed, mid-western ladies with long aprons and straw hats...  And I guess she crocheted.

Before I stuffed the two boxes into my closets, I thought to figure out the crochet pattern (the book is included!) and finish the table cloth that my grandmother had been making.  But look.  I've never gotten farther than fingering the motifs every few years or so.

Yesterday I removed ONE motif block and sewed it lightly to a piece of fabric.  And then made a label recognizing my grandmother as the hand crafter.  I have no dates as to when the motifs were made, nor do I know when my grandmother was born.  Still, maybe my mother will be interested in knowing that HER mother had made the little block...  At least one block has been drawn out of the dark closet into the light of day, and if anyone is going to appreciate it, it is probably just my mother and myself.

As I was photographing the box of threads and blocks I checked the date on one of the pattern books.  1938.  Whether that was the date the blocks were made or not I have no way of knowing.

Maybe in another 20 years I'll want to stop wrestling with the quilting hoop and like my grandmother sit quietly with a crochet hook.  Or maybe Leiya will someday rescue the boxes from MY closet.  Until then... back into the closet... minus the one block.

Behind

Mr. U is already mixing his Keisoudo (plaster) and I will spend the day at his side "helping".  We had agreed that my helping would bring down the cost a bit so that is why I've been an apprentice ever since Mr. U started on the walls.   This has been going on for at least a month and our walls are looking good!  But it also means that there is very little time to do other things.  I'm afraid I've completely ignored the comment box and blog visiting.  I can barely get a post written daily (which is my priority) and then I don't get back to the computer until the end of the day when Tetsu is home. 

THIS MEANS THAT THE E-MAILS ARE PILING UP!

And though I am usually behind in answering comments (and e-mails) my intentions are always there...  But I'm going to have to give it up and apologize that I'm not going to get to the last month worth's of comments and probably won't get to the box for a couple more weeks.  There's always some excuse...  guests, traveling, a quilt deadline, but anyway I'm just not having enough computer time.  I will blog visit when I can (second in the priority line) but whether I'll get around to commenting myself I don't know.

As blog friends I'm really sorry, but this is the way things are going for me right now. 

Oops, Mr. U has got his ladders set up so I'd better get to work!