Special Kakigori

Kakigori is a summertime treat in Japan.  It is usually made with shaved ice and a sweet flavored liquid, like a snow cone in the US. At the festivals there are always kakigori booths with red or blue or other bright colored syrups. The stitchers planned a non-stitching outing so we could enjoy some special kakigori.  

The kakigori shop we went to was like an old fashioned sweet shop. It was a good sized shop, but there were only a few others there when we were (middle of the afternoon on Tuesday).  With all the dishes and cups and chairs, it looked like they could accommodate quite a few dessert eaters.  

Here is the menu.  I ordered the one on the far right - sweet smashed beans and chunks of chewy rice.  

It took a little while for the shop keeper to shave all the ice so we had time to visit.  

It was so good! The perfect thing to eat on a summer day. 

This is the front of the shop.  

A good time was had by all.

Work In Progress Wednesday - Time to Stitch

It's really nice having more time to stitch.  

This week I worked on Mary, but I'm not happy with what I've done with the pearls around her stole.  They have to be taken off and redone.

I also worked on the blue block and the purple block.  

On the pansy stumpwork piece, I made two purple petals.  I still need to make three more petals for the two pansies.

I didn't make any stitching progress on this project, but I did try to press it and got out the instruction book to read how to get started on it again.

Tell me, what are you working on this week?

Beady Panda Start

I bought this bead panda fob kit last year. Even though I have a lot of other things to work on, I started working on this. (Does anyone else start new projects when there are a hundred started already?) I almost have the top half done.  The directions are in Japanese, but the diagrams are great, so it's okay to be illiterate.

Monday Morning Star Count - Hexie Tree Gifts and Week 15

This week I attached the gifts under the Hexie Tree.  The bottom of the gifts are stitched down and the tops are attached with snaps so they can be opened.  These are what I'm asking Santa for this year.

Week 15 of the temperature quilt 

August 6 - 12

90, 80, 87, 96, 86, 81, 86 

Hot!

Sarah at Sarah Did It!  is hosting a link up on Wednesdays for those making a temperature hexagon quilt.  Check it out and think about joining in.  You can start at any time. 

This is my temperature/color (Fahrenheit) scheme: 

100 + Brown 

90-99 Red  

80-89 Orange 

70-79 Yellow  

60-69 Green  

50-59 Blue 

40-49 Purple 

30-39 Pink 

20-29 White 

10-19 Black

Progress on my Crazy Bag

I really like stitching on this.  Can you tell?

The Alphabet Club - Y

Another catch up and another skipped letter - no letter "X", so I'm moving on to "Y".  Two Japanese words that are kind of similar as far as this post goes are yameru (to stop doing or abandon), and yasumu (to take a break).  I never really abandon a stitching project, but there are definitely long breaks when I stop working on some.  

I'll start with the projects in my 17 in 2017 that I have not worked on yet this year.  

Midnight Mystery Quilt - This mystery was in 2015 and I haven't worked on it since November of that year.

Silk Ribbon Baltimore Album - I last worked on this when I lived in Hokkaido.

Pansy Stumpwork - not sure, but this class might have been in about 2010 in Raleigh, NC.

Miniature Chair Cushion - I took this class in the mid-1990's in Indianapolis and have worked on it from time to time since then. It measures a little over an inch square.

Paisley Purse - I think I took this class in 2009, but I'm not sure.

RSN Japanese Rice Fields - started in 2014 and not worked on since.

EGA Drawn Thread - started in 1997 and not worked on since.

Then there are some UFO's that I had to go hunting for.  

ANG Band Sampler - This was a year long ANG chapter project,  started in 2006.  I didn't get very far. Now I'm thinking this might be finished into a strap for my crazy quilt bag.  We'll see.

Hexie wall hanging - my plan was nine blocks, four with hexies and five with stitched pictures.  I didn't get started on the stitcheries after doing the hexagon flower blocks in matching fabrics.  This was started in Hokkaido a few years ago.

Hardanger - I think there must be a counting mistake.  Enough said.

Another Hardanger start

Counted cross stich on plastic canvas.  This is really old.

Cat on 40 count silk gauze.  I should finish this.

This was an applique class I took at the Houston International Quilt Show with Karen Kay Buckley in 2002.  It looks like I didn't do anything after the class.

I think this was a class at the Paducah Quilt Show, but I can't remember when or who the teacher was.  Really old.

I have more projects, but these look to be the oldest and most abandoned. Do you have any projects that you have taken a break from (or even abandoned)?

Linking up with Chiara at the Grey Tail.  Check out the posts of other Alphabet Club members!

Fire Ants in Japan

Fire ants have been in the Japanese news quite a lot recently.  It seems that they were not known to be in Japan before this year.  In late May, the first fire ants in Japan were found in a shipping container from China in the port of Kobe. In early July fire ants were found in the port of Tokyo in a container from Hong Kong.  Also in July, over 700 fire ants were found in a crack in the asphalt at the Port of Yokohama. So far, fire ants have been found in Tokyo and six other prefectures.  Their sting can cause a severe allergic reaction that can lead to death. 

I knew about fire ants when I lived in the US, had them in my yard, and had been bitten by them.  I tried to avoid their big dirt mounds and being bitten, but I didn't know they were so dangerous. I don't know if we had the Red Imported Fire Ants, but it's possible.

After the ants were found in Nagoya, the Japan Sumo Association issued an official fire ant warning to wrestlers competing in the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in that city last month. Competitors were warned to keep their shoes on when walking to training rooms.

Last week the Japanese government began searching for fire ants at 68 ports that regularly receive shipping containers from other countries.  This is serious business.  

Do you live where there is a fire ant problem?