Monday Morning Star Count - Hexagon Tree Quilt and Week 13

Hexagon Tree Quilt - the quilting has begun. I also opened the presents.

Year five of the temperature quilt 

Week 13 

July 25 - 31 

91, 90, 86, 88, 88, 82, 90

I am reporting the high temperature each day.  My Year Five temperature/color scheme remains the same as previous years: 

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 

You can see my finished Year One Quilt here.

Tosen-ji Temple

This temple is close to where I live. 

The statues here are quite large.

I think it is amazing that I can go to shrines and temples and never see anyone. Safest places anywhere.

How Old are Olympians?

 I read an interesting article on the Washington Post website this week. You can read the whole article here. Two thirds of the almost 12,000 Tokyo Olympians were in their 20's. That means about one third were younger or older!  The range in this year's Olympics was two 12 year olds to four 60- somethings. 

I thought this graphic was very interesting. Take a look at it on the WP website or a computer screen if it's hard to see on a smaller gadget.

The youngest ever was a 10 year old Greek gymnast in the very first Olympic Games, who won a bronze medal. The oldest was a 72 year old member of the Swedish shooting team who was the oldest athlete, the oldest medalist, and the oldest gold medalist in Olympic history. 

Gymnastics, Diving, and now Skateboarding have the youngest competitors. Equestrian, Sailing, Shooting, and Archery are among the sports with the oldest competitors. Some Olympic sports have age limits.  Boxers must be between 18 and 40. Mens Soccer players have an age 23 limit, although each team can have three over age players. Divers must be at least 14. Judo is 15 and over. Archery is 16 and over. Taekwondo 17 and over.  Overall Track and Field is 16 and over, but Marathoners and 50k racewalkers must be 20 and over. Since 1997, gymnasts must turn 16 by the year the Olympics are held.

The whole article is extremely interesting.  I recommend reading the whole article - link above.

Friday Finish - Floral Bouquet

 I'm not so happy with this one, but I am happy to have it finished.

Sometimes, done is better than perfect.  On to the next project...

It Is Not An Island

I saw this interesting little place when I was going to the police station last week.  It looks like an island, but it's not.  It's a long skinny penninsula. Maybe people fish here? It's pretty long, maybe people come here to take a walk.  It's a mystery.

Work In Progress Wednesday

Lizzie Kate

Dogwood Afghan - second block

Puppy Love

Temple in Shibukawa Area

This temple is about a mile from my house and I just found it when walking.  I don't know the name of it but it is in the Shibukawa area of town. There were some dark clouds, but it didn't rain that day.

Another interesting place.  Do I find these places or do they find me?

Monday Morning Star Count - Hexie Tree and Week 12

Hexie Tree progress - Sequins and beads to create the look of twinkly lights and a gold star on top of the tree.

Year five of the temperature quilt 

Week 12 

July 18 - 24 

88, 95, 91, 90, 90, 90, 90

I am reporting the high temperature each day.  My Year Five temperature/color scheme remains the same as previous years: 

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 

You can see my finished Year One Quilt here.

Lost Thing

It is getting more and more difficult to send something to the United States. Several weeks ago I mailed a letter to a friend in Indiana, USA. Ordinary envelope, correct address, proper postage.  It went to the US and came back to me in Japan, with a yellow sticker on it that said "not at this address".  I checked my address book and I checked the return address on the last letter she sent me and they all matched.  I put the returned letter in a new envelope with another letter and put the letter in my bag to mail it.  When I got to the post box, I didn't have the letter!  Somehow I lost it on the way.  I hoped the finder would drop it in the mail box, that's what I would do.  

A few days later I received a notice in the mail from the police saying they had something they thought belonged to me - a lost or forgotten thing.  I knew it had to be the letter.  I asked my Japanese friend to call the phone number in the notice and ask them to put the letter in the mailbox.  She called for me and they told her I needed to pick up the item (the letter). It was a 45 minute walk on a hot day to the fourth floor of the big police building (not the little local koban - police box). When I got there, I was the only one needing help and there were eight people working in the lost and found office.  I waited an hour for them to find my letter, which was wrapped up in plastic.  I wrote my name and address on a printed form, they gave me the letter and I walked down the stairs and out of the building.  I was about half a block away and one of the office workers came running after me, saying sorry sorry.  I had to go back because they had given me the wrong form to write my name and address on.  I did it again on the new form and quickly walked away! I put the letter in the post box and hopefully my friend will receive it.  

Lost and found is very serious in Japan.  When someone loses a phone or a wallet, they get the item back intact. It is amazing.  I was surprised that I had to go to the big police department building though to get the letter.  If you found an addressed stamped envelope, would you put it into the post box, or take it to the police station, or leave it where it lay, or something else?  I'm just curious.

Police Station with Lost and Found