Ribbon and Bead Scissor Fob

This week the Friday afternoon stitch group worked on a little scissor fob project.  This is the original ribbon and bead project I made from a kit a long time ago.

I had a second kit in other colors that I hadn’t stitched and I wanted to make up.  I also had other ribbons and beads and necessary materials and knew how quick it was to work up, so I thought Alicia and Miwako would like to make one also. Miwako worked on hers until she had to leave to go to Kung Fu practice. She took the project home to finish, so I’ll take a picture next week.  Alicia finished hers.

 

Next week they will work on the holder for the scissors.  Here is the second one I made, including a close up of the beaded edging.

Everyone Knows My Name

I was at the Haruki grocery store, looking at vegetables, when I hear a chorus of “Hello, Pamela San” coming from the back of the store. I recognized my greeters as third year Outdoor Life students from Ted’s classes, but I don’t know all of their names.  They all know my name.  Probably all of the people working in the store do also because this happens often.

I try to always be on my best behavior because I know I can’t be anonymous anywhere here. There aren’t many foreigners in this town so I am recognizable.   I’ve had people say to me things like “Where were you going the other day?  I was on the bus and saw you walking on Eki Mai Dori.” I never know when someone will see me somewhere.

I’m not so careful about what I say.  When Ted and I are out, I tend to say in English whatever I think because there is no one else around who can understand me.  Not that I would say anything that shouldn’t be overheard, you understand……

It hasn’t snowed in a couple of days, so the street workers don’t have to be removing new snow all day long. Yesterday, I saw them making our street wider.  The street we live on was barely wide enough for one car and over my head on both sides, like a skinny tunnel. To make the street wider, a machine shaves the snow from the side of the street and shoots it into a big dump truck, kind of like a big snow cone machine. A truck is filled in a very short amount of time and is replaced by another truck.  (These pictures were taken from my kitchen window with the zoom).

 

I still don’t know where they take all the snow that is picked up.  Last year someone told me it gets hauled and dumped near the railroad tracks, but I haven’t confirmed that.

Luckily, It Was Our Day to Shovel

There are 16 apartments and two entrance ways to our apartment building.  Someone made up a schedule so that each apartment is assigned to shovel the entrances and a path out first thing in the morning every 16 days. A big machine from the university pushes the snow back from the main part of the parking lot and each car owner shovels out his or her car.  It’s not unusual for it to snow six or eight inches or more overnight, which is a lot of work to shovel first thing in the morning.  Yesterday it was our day to shovel and it didn’t snow overnight! We didn’t have to get dressed and go out in the dark and cold to shovel.  It was our lucky day.

I’ve finished the netted fringe on one side of the shawl and will be working on the other side today.  No progress on the silk gauze cat to show.

Purple Panache

This burnt velvet beaded shawl project was a class with Deanna Powell at the Chicago National EGA Seminar. I had finished a short bit of the netted fringe and a small amount of the embellishment beading on the shawl in the class.  This is one of my New Year’s Resolution projects.

 

Here are the beads used in the netted fringe: #11 seed beads, 3mm bicone Swarovski jet AB, 4 mm Czech fire polished AB, iris 2 cut beads, 4 mm bicone Swarovski amethyst AB, 7 mm AB teardrop, and #15 seed beads. The thread is a Japanese made thread called SoNo.

 

I’ve done a bit more on the silk gauze cat.  There is a counting mistake and I’m trying to decide if I will take it out or just go with it.  It is difficult to unstitch on the silk gauze.

The Oldest People

I’ve always been interested in those who are named the oldest people in the world.  The Guinness Book of World Records keeps track and designates a new person to be THE oldest when the previous oldest person dies, as happened recently.  American Besse Cooper was 116 years old when she died in December. She attributed her longevity with minding her own business and not eating junk food.

The current oldest person had already been designated the oldest living man and he is from Japan.  His name is Jiroemon Kimura and he was born April 19, 1897, which means he turned 115 last April! He is one of only six men ever to live past 114 years.  He credits his long life with eating a healthy diet and small portions.  He lives in Kyoto with his son’s widow and his grandson’s widow.

The three oldest living supercentarians (people age 110 or older) are Japanese and the third oldest lives in Hokkaido. Her name is Hatsue Ono  and she was born October 31, 1898.     

Okinawans are known for living a long time and there have been studies and books about it.  Apparently genetics play a role, but it is also due to the diet and life style of the people of Okinawa.  I want to read and learn more about the Okinawa Way.

I have been thinking about this more recently.  How much of longevity is in our control and how much is in the genes we are born with?  Some people are mentally and physically able to take care of themselves in their 90’s and other people have memory and physical health issues from a much younger age. Which would be worse, having an alert mind and a failing body, or good physical health and not know what is going on any more?  I always hate to hear about a stitcher who can no longer see to stitch.  I can’t imagine what I’ll do when I can no longer see to stitch. 

So far, I’m not having any vision problems and I hope that continues.  I’m working on this little silk gauze cat project. With good light and a black cloth under the piece I’m able to see to stitch without magnification.   I think I might have made a counting mistake already though.  After I have a cup of coffee, I’ll see.

 

Good Girls and Boys

Back in December I gave the students in my English class the writing assignment of writing a letter to Santa Claus, telling him how they had been good girls and boys and what gifts they would like to receive. Each person read his or her letter aloud in class.

According to the letters, they had all been very good this year. They studied and did their homework; worked part time jobs to help pay expenses; brushed teeth every day;  learned a dance; began the study of education examination; helped mother cook; smiled and greeted everyone they met; trained and competed in their sports and activities; kept in good health; won the rugby inter-college tournament; among other things. I believe what they wrote.  They really were good this year.

They asked Santa for a variety of things: warm gloves, rugby shoes, a pet which is a dog if possible, lots of chocolate, a new rucksack; a boyfriend, skiwear, two kilos off (because she was going to her hometown to meet old friends and wanted to be thin), a kitten with the color of black, a car and a used one is okay, the peaceful world.  One asked for Santa's autograph, if he doesn't mind.

When they came back to class after New Year’s, I asked if Santa brought what they asked for and they said no!  Santa must not know where Hokkaido is.  Rudolph, please help!

Stitching

I worked off and on for a few days on a cross stitch dragonfly that may turn into an ornament someday, but it just wasn’t holding my attention.  I put it away and next, I pulled out a beaded necklace kit from some long past trip to Hobby Lobby, that I had already started. I bought it because I wanted to learn how to encase the cabochon bead but once I started working on it, I wasn’t so interested in the finished project, so it was put away unfinished.  It didn’t take all that long to finish it.  I’ll save the directions in case I want to cover a big bead like this again.

 

Now I have pulled out this little project – silk thread on 40 count silk gauze.  In the US I had a magnifier but I rarely used it so I didn’t bring it to Japan.  We’ll see how it goes, I might wish I had it.

The Hula New Year Party

Yesterday my hula group met at the “most famous sushi restaurant” in our town for the annual New Year Party. As with everything else here, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen until it did. I thought I should probably dress up a bit, but I also knew it could be a sitting on the floor kind of traditional restaurant, so I had to take that into account.  I ended up wearing plaid pants, a white shirt, a black sweater and slip on shoes.  As it turned out we did have to take off our shoes but there were low chairs to sit on.

 

Having just been in Okinawa, I recognized the shisa in the corner of the room.

 

Four people didn’t get to come to the party. One has the flu, one had a minor surgery, and the other two might also be sick, but I couldn’t understand why they weren’t there. Two months ago the one who has the flu told me everyone in Japan gets a flu shot and that she couldn’t believe I wouldn’t get one too.  If you can get the flu after getting the shot, why get the shot?

The people who drove to the party drank ginger ale or tea, the rest of us had beer.

 

The meal was a set menu and there was a lot of food.

 

Everyone was amazed that I could eat with chop sticks and that I could eat raw fish.  Now really, if I couldn’t use chop sticks, wouldn’t I be very thin? 

First, there was a little salad with a dollop of mashed potatoes on the side.

 

Next was a shallow dish of vinegar with crab, salmon, cucumber, and several kinds of sea weed.

Seafood au gratin came next. I don’t usually like creamy rich things but this was very delicious.

 This was an egg custard dish that I didn’t eat.  The waitress told me there was no meat in it, but the person sitting next to me said it contained tori niku (chicken), so I gave it to someone else at the table.  I don’t like to take any chances with meat.

We had a delicious miso soup, but I forgot to take a picture of it. You’d think all of that would be enough, but there was more to come.  When I showed this picture to Ted, he thought this was a platter for the table, but no, this plate of sushi was mine and every other person had one just like it.

 

The ending was two pieces of pineapple and a perfect strawberry.

 

All during the meal, everyone was talking non-stop and all at once, so I didn’t understand much.  One topic was about coloring your hair and using mascara for touch ups around your face and along your part when grey hair starts growing in. I’ve learned a few tricks for trying to understand what is being said.  There are a lot of foreign words, like mascara, that are used in Japanese. When I hear “mashta” (---mashita), I know it is past tense of something, even if I don’t recognize the verb.  Then, there are words that are used often, like snow.  It’s hard not to talk about the snow here – there’s just so much of it!

Mid-way through the meal, there was a little competition for a gift bag.  People of all ages play a rock paper scissors kind of game for everything here.

 

One person won and received the bag, but then everyone got a gift bag.  Like I said I never really know what is going on. My bag had a strawberry dish scrubber, a man’s handkerchief, and a package of dark chocolate cocoa.

 

After being at the restaurant several hours, we all left and walked to another restaurant several blocks away and had coffee and more talking.   It was a fun party, but I have to tell you, I was tired when I got home.

Matching Earrings

This week we finished our bracelets and Miwako and Alicia made matching earrings.  I worked on another stitching project while they made the earrings.

Alicia and Miwako

my bracelet

Beaded Bracelets

Last week, Miwako, Alicia, and I met and worked on making beaded bracelets.

 

I took a beaded bracelet class at a Carolinas EGA region meeting several years ago taught by Diane Stavola.  The project was such that it could be taken back to the chapter and taught. As far as I know, it wasn’t used as a program in my chapter, but I still had the instructions.  I didn’t have the exact materials called for, so it’s not the same bracelet, but it is similar. The bracelet can be made start to finish in a couple of hours.  Alicia had to leave to go to a meeting with a little more to do.  I broke a needle inside a bead and need to fix that, but I expect we will both complete our bracelets this week.

Miwako proudly went home with her finished bracelet.

 

 

This week we are going to work on matching earrings.

Now I Have Three

The dancers in my hula group wear different matching skirts each week and they all seem to have at least a dozen skirts each.  For the most part, I’m of the opinion that less is better so I have not asked about the skirt schedule.  I had two skirts, both given to me and it was okay with me that I didn’t match everyone else.

My classmates thought otherwise and made me a gift of a new white skirt last week.  Maybe they thought I felt bad about not matching.  It was very nice of them to make sure I am matching everyone else.  Now I am all set – the first week is white skirt, the last week is tan skirt, and the other weeks are flowered skirts.

 

They seemed surprised that I knew about bringing omeyage back from my vacation. Japanese people always bring back little gifts, usually food. If you forget to buy omeyage, you can always get it at the airport.  Most people on the plane will be carrying omeyage bags and I don’t think it counts toward your carryon luggage.  Anyway, this is what I brought for the hula group, little tarts made from the purple Okinawan sweet potatoes.