Japanese Cranes and Other Live Animals on Vacation

Kushiro and that area in Eastern Hokkaido is known as the home of the Red Crown Crane. These birds have been on the endangered list since 1970.  There are about 2750 living, with about 1000 of them in Japan.  This species is the largest of the cranes, measuring about five feet tall with a wing-span of seven to eight feet.  Winter is the main time to observe them, so we were very excited to see about a dozen of them in a field.

 

I’m fascinated by these birds and made this beaded purse a couple of years ago. (Not vacation related, but I like to add something stitched when I can to any post.)

 

We saw several herds of Ezo Shika (Ezo Deer).  They seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them.

 

There were some very large horses on several of the farms we passed.

 

 

A few ducks were in a lake.

 

 

We saw a cute cat in a cage near an observation area.

 

Ted saved me from this scary bear.

Starting a New "Small"

I’m participating in the Smalls Stitch-A-Long this year and so far have been able to complete mine in time to post about it on the last Wednesday of each month.  I want to continue to be able to post a completed small each month, so I’ve already started mine for May.

Can you guess what it will be?  Check back at the end of the month to see it finished!

Vacation Stitching and Omiyage

Ted and I took a four day Golden Week trip in Hokkaido.  We drove to Kushiro on the east coast and spent two nights, then spent the next night in Kitana, stopping at Sounkyo Gorge and Asahikawa on the way home.  I took a lot of pictures and as soon as I sort them, I’ll post about our trip.

I didn’t have much time for stitching, but I did bring two projects.  I started an ornament, but put in an extra stitch, so I’ll have to do some unstitching before I can continue. 

I also started working on this beautiful Zweigart tablecloth.  Originally it was to be a Christmas tablecloth, but Ted pointed out that a Christmas tablecloth could only be used a short time each year.  He thought it would be better to stitch an all purpose motif that could be used year round, and I agreed.  Blue is my favorite color, so here is what I’ve accomplished so far. (Thank you Rose and Mike!)

 

In Japan, when you go on a trip, you bring back presents (usually edible) for the people you know.  Omiyage is a part of Japanese culture.  Sweets and other little foods from the area you visit are individually wrapped in a larger package that is also wrapped, so the larger package can be shared. We had to think about how many people were in the groups, so we could decide what to buy and make sure we had enough for everyone. Omiyage is no simple matter! This is what we brought back.

 

I hope to get my pictures and stories organized in the next few days so I can tell you all about the trip!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Starting the Queen's Jewels and the Hussif

I’ve started the Queen’s jewels.  I’ve decided to do the best I can with placement, but if they aren’t exactly right, I’m not going to take them out repeatedly and mess up the silk threads underneath. I’m going to try to do each little section in one sitting, but not to hurry with the beads.

 

Right now, I am more excited about starting the crazy quilt hussif.  Usually I don’t make a drawing.  I make it up as I go along.  I did make a little sketch and like what I’ve made so unless I find something doesn’t work, I’ll continue to use my plan.  I want it to be very colorful and have pulled out some pretty fabrics. I started piecing the first section, but have a long way to go! 

 

This is going to be fun!  Linking up with Pintangle.  I can hardly wait to see everyone else’s hussif start.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - 110 Rope Stitch

This is a new one for me and I think it will be very useful.  I tried perle # 5 (lavender), Impressions (green), perle# 8 (red/orange), and two strands cotton floss (yellow).

 

Linking up with Take a Stitch Tuesday at Sharon B’s Pintangle blog.

 

Monday Morning Star Count - 332

I made eight flowers this week for a total of 332. I might have the number of flowers I need for the quilt. I have fifty-something flowers to start putting together for the final strip. We'll see if it's enough!

 

I’m linking up with Jessica at Life Under Quilts. 

Japanese Class Pinwheel

Last week after class, we had our second little stitching project – a pinwheel with a yo-yo as decoration. (If one is going to be a stitcher, one needs little toolie things.)  We stitched a yo-yo, then attached it to the pinwheel fabric with a button.  The two pieces of fabric were gathered around two cardboard circles.  The two circles get stitched together with a ribbon in between for a hanger.  Pins are pushed in at the seam, between the cardboard.

 

Three stitchers finished at our afternoon session and the one who had to leave early finished later in the day at home, emailing me the photo.  I think our next project will be a felt needlebook……

Nature Watching

Ted is teaching a nature watching class this semester.  Here are some photos from a field trip last week.

Kanji Lessons

We are starting to learn kanji in my Japanese class.  While I would love to be able to read, I can’t imagine ever being able to do so!  Muzukashi desu! Here is the beginning book we are using. Looks kind of cute, but don’t let that fool you – it is difficult!

Twelve Months to the Double Nickel - May Edition

I’ve been a coffee drinker for a long time.  Lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of coffee.  I really like coffee and haven’t had any ill effects from the amount I drink, but as with anything, too much of a good thing, probably isn’t a good thing.  This month I want to cut back on the caffeine, so I’m going to limit my coffee drinking to two cups a day.  We’ll see how it goes.

 

I’ve been doing pretty well on my other baby step habits and plan to continue with them.   It's good that Ted is walking and doing situps with me.  I got this idea from the blog Zen Habits.  He had a good post recently that explains what I’m calling the baby steps to change and you can read it here.