Trick or Treat Blog Hop - the Letter O

Happy Halloween!  Jo at Serendipidous Stitching  has organized this blog hop.  Each blog participant will post a halloween stitched piece and give one letter of the puzzle.  If you hop around all the blogs and collect all the letters, you will find out what the Mystery Phrase is.  Go to Serendipidous Stitching and leave a comment with the phrase for a chance to win a prize!  My letter in this phrase is  

To find out the next letter in this phrase go to Gwen at Guava Gems.  

And now, for my stitched Halloween pieces:  

Come back tomorrow for my Monday Morning Star Count (on Tuesday!)

Weaving Class

The stitch group went to Yutori in Shizuoka for a weaving class.  Three of us wove (past tense of weave?) today and three will weave next time.  It was really fun!  I'm going to make my piece into a bag.  I already have ideas for the lining and finishing.  I'll post a picture of the finished bag as soon as I can.

The Cost of Gasoline

I don't have a car or drive in Japan, so I don't usually pay attention to how much gasoline costs, but I snapped a picture as I was walking and got to thinking about it.  

Regular gasoline is 130 yen per liter.  I think that is about $4.75 (USD) per gallon. Expensive, isn't it?  How much is gasoline where you live?

The Sweet Smell of Autumn in Japan

Recently, as I was walking, I started smelling something sweet and wonderful, but couldn't identify what it was.  The smell traveled, so I didn't see the tree at first.  Many houses have this tree in their back yards or walled gardens.  I don't remember seeing or smelling this in Hokkaido.  

It is the kinmokusei tree. I don't know the transation in English, but I think it is some type of olive tree.  I hope it lasts a long time!

2016 Smalls Stitch A Long - Tiny Tree Mitten Ornament

This is a Cross Eyed Cricket chart.  I used two strands of DMC floss over two threads on 28 count fabric, except for the pine needles, which were done with two strands of Krienik blending thread.  I like the sparkle.  

Linking up with Stitching Lotus, the hostess of this SAL.

Work In Progress Wednesday - Dragonflies and a Heart

I finished the dragonflies on the sashiko piece and put it aside to finish into something later.  

I picked up the heart ornament again and completed the eyelets and continued working on the tiny four sided stitches. I like this white on white design.

Stitch Group - More on the Biscornu

I am so thankful these ladies let me stitch with them. They are so good to me!

They are almost finished with their biscornu pieces and will put them together next time. I was having so much fun Sunday that I almost for got to take pictures.  Here are a few from the end of our afternoon as we enjoyed tea and treats.  

Next week we are going to Shizuoka City to take the weaving class together.  I can hardly wait.

Monday Morning Star Count - 50 Purple Hexagons

My concentration hasn't been great lately, so I spent most of my stitching time on these easy to baste cotton hexagons.  I can't seem to read a chart or count without making many mistakes, so this is the perfect stitching for me right now.

Linking up with Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches.

Chiaki Matsuse Exhibition

One of my students told me that his neighbor, who is an artist had an exhibition at a nearby museum.  I had walked by the Verkehr Museum before but hadn't thought about going previously.  

It turned out to be even better than I anticipated.  The admission fee was only 400 yen, and there was a lot to see besides the Chiaki Matsuse Exhibition.  Photography was allowed on the first floor but not the second.  

Center of museum

In case of emergency, such as earthquake or tsunami

Here are photos of the Chiaki Matsuse Exhibition.  There is so much texture and detail in these pictures of Mt. Fuji.

Here are photos of other exhibits on the first floor. 

My town

My apartment is in this photo

The museum is open 9:00 - 4:30 Tuesday - Sunday.  If you are in the area, it's well worth seeing.

Is 18 the New 20?

The definition of adult in Japan has been 20 since it was set as the age of majority in 1876 by Decrees of the Cabinet, but this year the voting age was changed to 18.   In July, for the first time, 18 and 19 year olds were able to vote in Japan.  

According to recent articles in the Japan Times and Mainichi Japan, the Japanese government is considering a revision to the Civil Code to lower the age of majority from 20 to 18 allowing teens to make more of their own legal decisions without parental consent. About 200 laws which have age provisions would be affected. If enacted, there may be a three year grace period to allow the public to become aquainted with the new laws. 

Some laws that could be revised include:

The Nationality Law, which requires a child of a Japanese parent and a foreign parent to  declare citizenship under one of the countries before age 22. The revision would allow 18 and 19 year olds to declare without parental consent and the deadline for declaring at age 20.  

Age to marry, which is currently 18 or 19 for males and 16-19 for females with parental consent.  This could be changed to 18 for both genders without parental consent.  

Horse Racing Act, which currently prohibits the purchase of betting tickets by minors, could change to allow 18 and 19 year olds to gamble. 

Other laws such as those involving alcohol and tobacco, may remain at age 20 and not be lowered to 18.  

What are the laws in your country? How old must one be to purchase alcohol or vote or marry?

I am in the 1%

After my cancer surgery two years ago, I felt very lucky.  My doctor told me that 99% of people with my cancer at my stage (endometrial, stage 1) never had another problem with cancer.  He said I would heal from my surgery and go on with life.  

I had the recommended check ups and blood tests every other month.  When the tumor markers started going up, I had additional tests and found out I had cancer again.  After this surgery the pathology report said it was stage 3 and my doctor recommended six months of chemotherapy. I have an excellent doctor and I have complete confidence and trust in him.  After having some time to heal from the surgery and for the doctor to determine the drug dosage, today is scheduled to be day one of the first of 8 three week cycles (assuming yesterday's blood tests were good).   I'll take pills morning and night for two weeks, then have one week off before starting again. 

The drug I'm getting is oral not intravenous, so I think that will be easier for me.   There are many possible side effects, but a lot of them are only experienced by a low percentage of people taking the drug.  Hair loss is not one of the side effects, although some people experience hair thinning.  All in all, I don't think it will be as bad as it could have been.  I'm feeling very positive.  This is just a temporary situation.

I feel extremely fortunate to have so many people wishing me well.   I am very happy to have many friends, old and new, near and far, cheering for me.  Thank you for all your email and comments on this blog, cards and food, everything! I appreciate you all more than you know.