2018 Smalls Stitch A Long - October

This cross stitch cookie ornament is designed by Lesley Rudnicki of Hillside Samplings.

I'm linking up with Heather, at Stitching Lotus, the hostess of this stitch a long.

Most Common Surnames in Japan

The Meiji Yasuda Insurance Company surveyed 6.55 million customers.  The top results showed 1,940,000 individuals in Japan have the surname Sato, 1,820,000 have the name Suzuki, 1,430,000 have the name Takahashi, 1,330,000 the name Tanaka, and in fifth place, 1,190,000 have the name Watanabe.  The last time this survey was conducted was in 2013, with the top three most common names being the same as this year's survey.  

I have several sets of students with the same family names.  I never call my students by their first names, so I distinguish them by the departments they work in. 

According the the 2010 US Census the top five surnames in the United States were Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown, and Jones.  Both my first name and my last name are common in the US, with my first name, Pamela, ranking 37th, according to Mongabaydotcom. 

Is your name common or rare?  Does this ever cause problems for you?

Work in Progress Wednesday - Cathedral Window Mug Rug

I started a new butterfly bag and worked on it a bit this week.  

My main project this week has been a new one - new technique and new project.  After reading about Queenie's Cathedral Window project, and seeing images and tutorials on the internet, I decided it was time to give it a try. With four 7x7 inch pieces of muslin and four 2x2 inch pieces of cotton print, I made this 6.25x6.25 inch thing to put my coffee cup on.  It's a little wonky, but it's okay.  

I think I have the hang of it and my next CW project will be better.

The Adventure Fail

Occasionally, I don't end up where I intended to go.  I had a big idea to go to Nokogiriyama in Chiba to see the Big Stone Buddha at Nihonji Temple.  I left home at 5:30 am, took the train from my town to Atami, changed trains to Yokohama, changed trains to Kurihama, took a bus to Kurihama Port, where I got on the ferry.  So far so good.

When I got off the ferry, I expected to walk 10 minutes to the ropeway that would take me up the mountain.

I walked to the ropeway, only to find out it wasn't running!  At that point my only option was to walk up the mountain, which I attempted to do.

I got lost, and wandered around for a couple of hours.  Finally I walked down the mountain, and rode the ferry, bus, and trains back the way I came.  I didn't see the Daibutsu or the Temple.  Maybe I will go back another day, when hopefully the ropeway will be running.

Monday Morning Star Count - A New Project and Week 24

Here is the start of my new project ---

Year Two of the temperature quilt  

Week 24 

October 7 - 13 

88, 72, 75, 79, 70, 70, 63

Sarah at Sarah Did It! is continuing to host us on Wednesdays, so please check out the temperatures around the world.  Feel free to join in! 

I am reporting the high temperature each day.  My Year Two 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  

Princess Ayako to Marry, Empress Turns 84

Princess Ayako, 28, the third daughter of the late Prince Takamado (cousin of the the Emperor) and Princess Hisako, will marry commoner Kei Moriya October 29th.  He is a 32 year old employee at the shipping firm Nippon Yusen K.K. Female members of the Imperial family lose their royal status after marriage. She will receive 106,750,000 yen from the state after she marries in order to maintain her dignity after losing royal status. 

The amount is set depending on the status of the imperial family member and the money is exempted from income tax. Princess Ayako's older sister, Noriko Senge, received the same amount when she married Kunimaro Senge, a senior priest of a Shinto shrine in 2014.  

Sayako Kuroda, the daughter of the Emperor and Empress, received 150 million yen when she married Tokyo metropolitan government employee Yoshiki Kuroda in 2005.

In other Imperial Family news, the Empress celebrated her 84th birthday yesterday. You can read her interview on the Imperial Family of Japan blog. This is her last birthday as Empress, her husband will abdicate on April 30, 2019.  I thought it was interesting that one of the things she wants to do after retirement is read several P. G. Wodehouse "Jeeves" books.  I love the Jeeves books. Empress Michiko and I could be friends.

Saturday Lunch and Shopping

Last Saturday I met three friends for lunch at a restaurant near my new apartment. We all had butternut squash soup.  One person had the hamburg plate,  one had the spare ribs plate, and two of us had seafood plates. 

It was good to catch up with each other and the food was very delicious. After lunch they helped me with some shopping for my apartment.  I am so thankful for my friends here!

The Neighborhood Shrine

While walking around I happened upon this little shrine.  I wonder what they are celebrating.

The Autumn Festival at Work

Every October the place where I work holds an Autumn Festival for the employees. You can see the last time I attended here. The festival is held in the gymnasium with lots of tables.  

There were three entertainment groups, then the prize drawings at the end. The first one was the traditional Japanese drums, which was my favorite. 

Next, was belly dancing. 

After that was Brazilian dancing.  The costumes were pretty skimpy - high heels and feathers. 

Finally the prize drawings.  When we entered we received a two part numbered ticket, one part went in the box and the other to hold on to. There were a lot of nice (expensive) prizes.  My friend was a winner! 

It was a great social event. I saw many of my students and I had a really good time.