Monday Morning Star Count - Week 7

Year Four of the temperature quilt  

Week 7 

June 7 - 13 

79, 81, 86, 88, 86, 86, 73

I am reporting the high temperature each day.  My Year Four temperature/color (Fahrenheit) scheme remains the same: 

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  

You can see my finished Year One Quilt here.

Abenomasks

Photo from the internet

This week (June 17th to be exact), I received my Abenomasks. If you are not in Japan, you might be wondering "What are Abenomasks?"

"Abe" refers to Japan's Prime Minister Abe, "no" is the possessive in Japanese (like   's   in English), and masks are, well, masks. This may also be something like the prime minister's economic policy, which is refered to as "Abenomics".

Prime Minister Abe 

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone wanted masks, but they were in short supply.  The Prime Minister announced every household would receive two washable, reusable masks from the Japanese government. It sounded like a great plan a few months ago.  The government said the plan was reasonable in that it would help reduce the demand for disposable masks and ease public anxiety.

Many people complained about the cost (46.6 billion yen) and the small size and that two per household doesn't work for families.  In addition, they took so long to be delivered that people made their own masks and now, masks are back on the store shelves, so the timing was a little off. I'm not complaining, although I don't think I will wear them. They are kind of small and they are thick (five layers), so I think too hot for summertime. I'm planning to put mine in my scrapbook as a souvenir of 2020, the Year of the Pandemic.

Edamame

My friend gave me some edamame.  People around me are very generous and share things, so I am frequently the recipient of something delicious.

As you may know, I don't like to cook, but these beans are very easy to prepare.  After boiling them in salt water about five minutes, the beans are ready to pop out of the pods and eat!

Yum!

Friday Finish - Butterfly Coaster

This is the little cross stitch kit I've been working on.

Throw Back Thursday - June 18th

I enjoyed looking back on my blog last month and decided to try it again. 

On June 18, 2019, I posted about eating Indian food with a friend.

 In 2018, June 18th was a Monday, with a report on the temperature quilt.

 

In 2017, I wrote about the next week's gubanatorial election.

June 18, 2016 was a photo post showing pictures of bird reflections in the stream near my apartment.

The June 18, 2015 post was about scary birds and a cute boy catching bugs.

June 18, 2014 was Work In Progress Wednesday.  That week, I was working on a cross stitch table cloth, a blackwork alphabet piece, and my crazy quilt hussif.

On June 18, 2013, I posted about the progress I was making on a bag that became my slipper carrying bag.

 My June 18, 2012 post was about walking to the garden to water and do some weeding.

Looking back reminds me that in my ordinary life, there are extraordinary experiences. I'm thankful every day.

Work In Progress Wednesday - More on the Bear and the Sampler and Something New

I worked on the flapper bear a little more.

This is my progress on the new sampler project.

I started this small Lizzie Kate cross stitch and was able to stitch it all in two days.  I still need to add a tiny charm, then finish finish it.

600,000 Japanese Drivers Return Licenses in 2019

To prevent driving accidents involving senior drivers, Japan encourages the voluntary return of drivers' licenses.  In 1998,  the government introduced a system to return licenses.  Last year, 601,022 people in Japan returned their licenses, which was the highest number in any year.  Of those, 350,428 or 58% were people 75 or older. Currently about 30% of all license holders are 65 years or older.

In April 2019, an 87 year old retired high-ranking government official killed a mother and her three year old child when he suddenly accelerated while driving near Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo.  This brought a lot of media attention to the issues involving elderly drivers, which may have been the reason behind so many people returning their licenses last year.  

Since 1997, Japan has had a law requiring drivers age 75 and older to display the Koreisha mark 高齢者マーク (elderly car mark) to indicate  aged person at the wheel.  A person age 70 and over should display the symbol if their age could affect their driving. This is the current required mark:

Are accidents involving elderly drivers a problem where you live? Is there an age limit for driving in your country? Do you think there should be? 

(I do not have a drivers license in Japan.)

Monday Morning Star Count - Week 6

Year Four of the temperature quilt  

Week 6 

May 31 - June 6

73, 66, 79, 82, 81, 82, 81

I am reporting the high temperature each day.  My Year Four temperature/color (Fahrenheit) scheme remains the same: 

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  

You can see my finished Year One Quilt here.

Sumo Wrestlers Save Woman From Drowning

Sakaigawa Stable, Tokyo

Wednesday morning about 5 am, a woman in her 30's fell from a bridge over the Kenaga River in Tokyo.  A man nearby heard the woman scream and called police.  Before the police arrived, the stable master of the Sakaigawa stable next to the river, who also heard her scream, ran out with 20 sumo wrestlers to save her. The wrestlers were able to pull her up over the river wall and carry her to the ambulance.  She was taken to the hospital with no serious injuries. How amazing is that?  If you are going to fall in the river, it's good to do it near a sumo stable where giant men can pull you out.

Illiterate and Dangerous

I've been opening the window in my classroom for quite awhile.  The other day one of my students pointed out a sticker on the handle with four kanji, that I couldn't read.  He told me it says open only in an emergency!  Maybe coronavirus is an emergency that justifies opening the window to get some fresh air. Or maybe I'm dangerous because I can't read.

Friday Finish - June Ornament

This ornament is part of a free chart from The Snowflower Diaries. I have stitched it over one, with one strand of the called for DMC floss on 28 count linen.  The backing is kimono fabric.

Rhyme Times

Recently A.Word.A.Day had a week of words that had some kind of repetition in the word.  I thought it was interesting, so I'm sharing.  

Artsy-fartsy, noun: pretentiously artistic or sophisticated.  

Flim-flam, noun: nonsense or deception; verb: to deceive or to swindle.

Hobnob, verb: to associate socially, especially with people of higher status. 

Lardy-dardy, adjective: pretentious, affected, dandyish. 

Razzle-dazzle, noun: noisy excitement, showy display or extravagant actions, especially when executed in an effort to distract or confuse. 

Can you think of any others?

Work in Progress Wednesday - Small Cross Stitch

A little more on the cross stitch kit.

I started a new sampler project. I received the fabric, chart and thread from friends as a gift. The fabric is 36 count and a beautiful color called Arctic and the thread is DMC 312.  The chart is Sneek by Long Dog Samplers. There are 12 pages to the chart, so this will be a long term project.

I also started working on another cross stitch ornament. I stitched this chart last year as a gift.

2019 Birth and Death Statistics in Japan

Japanese baby picture from the internet

Last year was the record low for new babies in Japan. In 2019, the number of babies born in Japan was 865,234 down 53,166 from 2018. The number of newborns has been declining since the peak of about 2.7 million in 1949. One government official reported that factors behind decreasing number of children in Japan include economic instability among young people and difficulties balancing work and child-rearing. Another statistic - the average age of first time mothers in Japan is 30.7 years. 

The number of deaths in Japan in 2019 was 1,381,098, the highest number since the end of World War II. The top three causes of death in Japan are cancer (27.3% of all deaths), heart disease (15.0%) and ailments associated with old age (8.8%).  Suicide accounted for 1.4% of total deaths last year, which is lower than the previous year. The only prefecture with more births than deaths last year was Okinawa. 

I don't know how these figures compare with other countries. What is the situation in your country?

Monday Morning Star Count - Week 5

Year Four of the temperature quilt  

Week 5 

May 24 - 30 

77, 77, 73, 77, 77, 77, 79

I am reporting the high temperature each day.  My Year Four temperature/color (Fahrenheit) scheme remains the same: 

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  

You can see my finished Year One Quilt here.

American Hair Pins

The weather is warming up here.When it's hot, I like to pin my hair up off my neck. The bobby pins I had were stretched out and not in good shape, so I needed to buy some. There were a few different kinds hanging in the store, but these caught my eye.

American Pin? They were only 100 yen, so I bought them. (Just so you know, the others were not labeled Japanese Pin). 

The packaging is very Japanese.  The pins are wrapped in plastic, then put a little plastic box for keeping, then in the plastic display packaging.  

The pins are a little smaller than I'm used to, so it takes more pins to keep my hair in a bun, but they are good.  And, for 100 yen, I can't complain.

The People's Choice SAL - Dragonflies

Jo at Serendipidous Stitching is hosting a Stitch A Long the first Saturday of the month, with the topics chosen by her readers.  This month's topic is Dragonflies. I have stitched a few of these.