On the run

Where do the days go?

They just seem to fly by.

Sunday, one of my former cub scouts had his Eagle Court of Honor. I tell my cubs, if they ever make it to eagle scout, let me know and I will make them a neckerchief slide.

Lately, most have had to be mailed off over the seas because few foreign families stay in Tokyo for all the student's school years.

This time, the eagle was for someone I have known from a very young age.
I do not keep a stash of these slides, but carve them one-by-one with that Scout in mind.

When his board of review was complete, I began to whittle his eagle out of a piece of hinoki, one of my favorite woods to work with.

At the start of last week, I still had the details and painting to finish up. Rushing when working with sharp tools is not very smart and I had already nicked my finger twice. I had to laugh because a long time ago, a fellow scouter made the comment that if it didn't have blood on it, it wasn't an authentic "Fukuda". Well, good thing I still had the paint to go....

Sunday I was able to present the slide to a fine young man and wish him well as he goes off to the states to college. It was a joyous occasion as there were many of my former scouting friends returning to Tokyo for the occasion.

The other big cut into my "free" time was adding rows to the next baby quilt.

Now 35" x 40", I will have to look through my stash to find something for a border. I am thinking of a one-inch inner border first. I have also found the red behind the letter Q has a problem so this will probably need a wash with some color-catchers. I had thought I had eliminated all of that red from my stash and this one was OK. Oops!

Meanwhile, the school year is nearing an end with extra activities thrown in, Scout camp is coming up and I need to gather my stuff and plan that week, and upon returning from that activity, I have a date with family in the states ... now set in dates but still without a plan for a dog, bird, and plant sitter. These things are beginning to look like "deadlines" and that is something I try to avoid at all costs (the worst being lack of sleep while I worry) ... the very reason I tend to cross my bridges before I get to them and build a few more just in case....

(Speaking of bridges, I need to find time to mark and cut enough pieces to take along on my trip for handwork as there are at least three more babies on the way at my school). I have been making baby quilts large enough to go on a bunk bed but lately I find I just can't keep up. If I make one crib sized, it may not be used very long. Looking at the quilts my mother made for her grand kids, the first one was crib sized and got a year and  half of use until the crib was taken over by #2. I made larger quilts after the first one was not big enough for a bunk bed, but I really don't know how the quilts will be used. I'm thinking an I-Spy quilt on the back of a sofa might be more useful regardless of size, to toss over a lap or a sleeping child.

OK, back to work!!!!