Snowy Day At The Zoo

A good part of the zoo is closed off in winter, so I didn’t get to see the Hokkaido Bear or the Polar Bears or other large animals.

 

The wolves and the deer were outside.

 

The tropical monkey area was closed outside (they are “tropical”, after all), but they were still on display inside.

 

The reptile house is one of my favorite places at the zoo, summer or winter, although most of them were asleep this trip.

 

There were a few other animals to see inside.

 

Other than the people who work at the zoo, I pretty much had the place to myself. Nice, wasn't it?

Heavenly Wind Concert 2015

Saturday evening, my friend Alicia and I attended the annual Heavenly Wind Gospel Concert.  One of my adult English students is a member of the group.  Alicia and I also attended her concert last year. 

We sat in the second row and could see my student – she was gorgeous, her dance moves were perfectly timed, and her English spectacular.  It was a fabulous concert.

Cameras weren’t allowed, but I did snap this of the stage (without flash) before the concert started.

 

The guest performer was Butch Heyward, with the Harlem JP Choir. Mr. Heyward is a large, older, black musician from New York City – I’d love to know how he got involved with a Japanese Gospel group in Hokkaido.

I thoroughly enjoyed the concert.

Work In Progress Wednesday - Scattering

I added a few more beads to each end and have begun “scattering” across the back.  Here’s the whole thing squinched up on the sofa, and some close ups of a few of the scattered sequins and beads.

 

More next week.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - # 19 Bullion Knot

These were done with Impressions thread.

 

You can join TAST at anytime. Check out Sharon B’s stitch instructions here.

Monday Morning Star Count - The Big Finish!

Two plus years in the making – my quilt is finished!  It is totally hand pieced and hand quilted and measures about 72 inches by 81 inches.  I love the flip edge.

 

I’m just as pleased as I can be with this, can you tell?


Linking up with Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches and Jessica at Life Under Quilts.

Blackwork Stitch A Long - Part 12

I completed five more patterns and am getting close to finishing.  I enjoy blackwork and this project has been very nice to work on.

 

The charts for this project allow for all different sizes and number of fillings.  If you’d like to join us, leave me a comment and link to your Box of Delights post.

Check it out for yourself:

Sheryl at Sewing After Seven

Kim at Wisdom With Needle and Thread

Box of Delights Free Pattern at Blackwork Journey

Yuzu

Yuzu is a small citrus fruit in Asia. It looks like a small ugly grapefruit and tastes (to me) like a mixture of a grapefruit and an orange.

Yuzu popcicles (known as ice candy in Japan) are my favorite. They are sold at Seico Mart.

 

Recently I saw these Yuzu flavored potato snacks and had to try them.  They were good, but I don’t know that I’ll buy them again.

 

If you know about other Yuzu flavored items, please tell me about them!

Top Baby Names in Japan 2015

I’ve written about Japanese baby names before and am writing again this year because I find it so interesting.  Here are the most popular names this year.

Two names can sound the same, but be written with different kanji, or in the case of the top “Sakura” can even be written in hiragana.  I have no idea how people who can read kanji know how to pronounce or how to “spell” names that sound the same but use different kanji, or that sound different and use the same kanji.

Snowless Sapporo

 

I took this photo when I was in Sapporo yesterday.  There are still a few colorful places left.  The snow is late coming this year, I think.  The weather report is calling for snow on Saturday and Sunday, but maybe the report will change before then.

Work in Progress Wednesday - One Side and the Other

This side is getting close.

 

I’m still adding more to this side.

 

I’ll scatter a few beads and sequins across the back after I finish the sides, but not as dense.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - # 18 Half Chevron

I used three strands of floss to do a short seam with this stitch, then added three French knots to each stitch.

Here are full views of each of my four blocks so far.

You can join TAST at anytime. Check out Sharon B’s stitch instructions here.

Monday Morning Star Count - Removing the Last Row of Templates

The ring of hexagons for the flip edge is attached all of the way around and I have started taking out the templates.  After that I’ll trim the excess batting and backing fabric, then flip the edge to stitch it down.

I’m so close!

Linking up with Sarah Did It!

Blackwork SAL - Part 11

I completed three more patterns.

 

The charts for this project allow for all different sizes and number of fillings.  If you’d like to join us, leave me a comment and link to your Box of Delights post.

Check it out for yourself:

Sheryl at Sewing After Seven
Kim at Wisdom With Needle and Thread

Box of Delights FreePattern at Blackwork Journey

How to Make a Paper Tiger Head

From the Asahiyama Zoo

Fresh Fish

Hokkaido is known for fresh fish and I’ve eaten my share since moving here.  My friend gave me this fish that her husband caught.  She told me to pan fry it.

I’m not any kind of cook, but I did pan fry it in a little olive oil and some garlic.

 

 

I’m pleased with how it turned out and it tasted even better than it looks.

 

 

 

Hanging Around

I’ve been doing some fall cleaning, along with rearranging the furniture and the things hanging on the wall.  Today I’m posting about four wall hanging quilts that I've moved around – all were made before moving to Japan.

This quilt was an intro to quilting community class I took when I lived in Indianapolis.  The label says 1995-1999.  I think I probably had the top made (machine pieced) during the class, but it took a while to hand quilt it.

 

This is a friendship sampler quilt. I made doubles of three of the blocks and my then-friend made doubles of three blocks.  We shopped for the fabric together and machine pieced and hand quilted it together.  It was finished in 1997.  Although we are no longer friends, I still like the quilt.

 

This tulip applique wall hanging was a class I took at an Indiana quilt show.  It was hand-quilted and was finished in 2002.

 

This piece was my semester project for a graduate “Creative Process” class at North Carolina State University. The paper that accompanied it was about 15 pages long – a lot went into the process and there is a lot of meaning in this! It was made in 2009.

 

I am linking up with Whims and Fancies, Trunk Full of Quilts post. This link up event is being held 10-18 November. Check it out here to link up your post or see other quilts.