Take-along-work

Six one-hour train rides equals progress. With the runners in the post, it is back to other take-along work. The signature piano-key border for the Women's Conference hanging had been waiting since the end of January to be completed. The lettering and about half the blocks are quilted in the ditch. The water will get some sashiko stitching in blue, then the border will be quilted and it will be turned into a hanging. My idea is to make a second hanging for next year's Conference that will be a pair to this one and use this after it is completed to advertise for next year, hopefully making the rounds to assorted churches in the area.
In addition, I am back to the x and + blocks. These make it about 172 blocks total. I wish I could see a larger dent in my stash as a result.

Saturday's outing to the Life Safety Learning Center was fun for the kids. They learned how to put out fires using an extinguisher, Saw a movie about what to do in case of an earthquake and tsunami, got all shook-up in a simulator, and crawled through a smoke-filled maze.

The funniest part was the "rain room" where they got to experience a typhoon. Dressed to the nines in rain gear and boots they got blasted with water and wind. Two brave adults gave it a try too. Me? I didn't want to get my camera wet. (my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

The Moms had their cameras at the window as the fake storm kicked in.

The funniest part was that exactly the same weather was going on outside. Every single scout lost his cap at one point or other on the way from the train station and I have never seen so many dead umbrellas within just a few blocks! The trains were stopped because of high wind, causing delay at the meeting point.

Today we are having a second, bigger helping of the same weather. School was called off to get the buses off the highway and home before the blast set in. The view from my window looks about the same as Saturday's view, minus the scouts. Strange time of year for a typhoon.

The magnolia trees on the North side of the street leading to the train station are in bloom but the petals will probably be scattered by tomorrow.

Luckily, the trees on the South side are in the shade and still in bud so there will be something left to enjoy.

The camellias were very late to open and I saw many flower heads rolling down the street even before the storm got going.

And ... Happily tucked inside my little green-house/bedroom, my tiny orchid has two more little flowers and a few more buds coming out. The hummingbird is something I carved out of wood and the wooden flower was carved by a friend at the BSA Jamboree. I thought of painting that bird but since there are no real hummingbirds in Japan, I had no good model. Now I am thinking that the wood is better and he can be any breed he feels like at the time.

One more for the road

The bunnies will now have company on their trip to Oregon. Looking through the scrap box, I came across a few pieces large enough to cut four cats and a printed stripe that would make a nice border. The total size is
18"x 23.5", which could make a small table mat.
I had selected a pretty floral print for the background but the tan cat seemed to be hiding. Maybe that tan floral cat should have been what I changed because his orange eyes don't show so well on the print. The pink floral is on the reverse side.

The Thinsulate batting is also left-over scraps and I could just use safety pins to hold everything in place while I quilted without a hoop, making the whole thing in three days. I am usually a baste and baste again person but on this one, the only basting I did was for sewing the cats together.

My husband looked over these runners and said he wished we could keep them. He seldom pays any attention as to what I am making but had an interest in the rabbits because he was responsible for pulling out reference material for the rabbit in the moon.

Today is the last day in March and it certainly is NOT going out like a lamb! The wind is whistling and rattling the windows. I am off with my Cub Pack to the Tokyo Life Safety Learning Center. We have been instructed to bring a towel for the "rain room" and a handkerchief for the smoke filled maze. I have not been to this particular center but I'm pretty sure we will have an earthquake room and fire extinguisher practice and practice making emergency calls. Maybe some basic first aid too. By the end of the afternoon we will have met many requirements in the handbooks of every age group and be a little more PREPARED.

Runner is up and running

The rabbit runner took a trip outside to catch a bit of sun on my neighbor's gate. After I remove the dog hairs, it will be ready to hop off to Oregon . I have a wee bit of time and am thinking of making a few mug rugs or a doll quilt to send along. The rabbit in the moon helps to fill the puffy area without distracting too much. I use a light thinsulate batting and even with little quilting, it is unlikely to shift. I also added a sleeve along the top of the backing just in case someone might want to use it as other than a table runner. The dark binding helps keep those yukata fabrics organized a bit better. The work on the batik quilt is moving along slowly. I wish I could say that is because of all my tiny even stitches. All the 8-inch blocks are quilted. It seems that one 16-inch block shouldn't take any longer than four of the smaller ones but those seem to be taking three times longer. The little flowers on the border are more fun and I sometimes take a break and work on one or two of those. Maybe I should be quilting small flowers into the big blocks!

Speaking of flowers, the plum tree is finally in bloom. Only five weeks late!

Perhaps Spring is actually on its way.

And the Sweet Daphne we planter for our #3 daughter, (another February birthday) seems to just have been deferring to the "elder" sister's tree. Standing between these two flowering plants, you can shut your eyes and smell that spring is coming.

This picture really doesn't do any justice to these darling little flowers. I need to go out and get a picture when the sun is in the right place. When my orchid flower finished I took it back to my greenhouse/bedroom and today noticed a few more buds developing. The Bella palm is also full of buds and one Christmas cactus is in bloom.

All the buds I see are like promises just waiting to be fulfilled. May your promises, too, burst in glad and joyous bloom, along tomorrow's way!

Runner is hopping along

Cold, gusty, miserable weather has given me a good excuse to work on the batik quilt. At last all the 8" blocks are quilted and I am beginning the 16" ones. Nothing worth a picture... but I got some good advice from my blogging friends as how to quilt those bigger blocks. (Pictures require a certain amount of light coming through the window or a trip into the gusty outdoors).

The runner going to my Grandaughter's school fund-raiser has reaped the benefit of train rides and meetings (and a very cold, rainy, Order of the Arrow weekend. Well, I had to do something while I was drying off and warming up)! The background is now full of waves. The only things left to do are the borders, which will get some geometric design, and the moon, which is a bit large of a space to go without something quilted.

As I have mentioned, when the moon is observed in full here in Japan, one does not see a face but a rabbit pounding mochi. My husband, who has a printer attached to his computer, was kind enough to find me some pictures of that rabbit and I am thinking I will quilt it into this moon with

tan thread.

Now the sun has made an appearance so I am off to hang up the laundry before it hides it's face again. (It has been very shy this past week).

Oh yes, as for the auction quilt, it brought a hefty one million yen! At around 77 yen to the dollar that seems like a pretty good sum even to someone like me that is challenged with numbers higher than ten (well, twenty if it is summer and I can count my toes).

A finish and a new beginning

Well, Here it is, all finished with binding and a hanging sleeve (and two strong women to hold it high)! Yesterday the teem of tireless quilters met to put on the finishing touches.

Although I had trouble warming up to the quilt design, there was no issue with the quilters. What a wonderful group of mothers they are and what a joy to work with! I will miss that part of the activity more than the quilt.

Note, the final step in the project ... removing pet hair!
If I can figure out the links, you can see more of this quilt on Cynthia's bloghttp://aquilterbynight.blogspot.com and Tokyo Jinja http://tokyojinja.com/2012/03/13/the-asij-quilt-summer-breezes-furin-in-the-rock-garden/.



And, as for the new beginning, the plum tree has finally begun to bloom. This flower opened a little on the 11th and now a few more flowers are beginning to peep out. This is the first time that I know of in 47 years it has failed to open on February 15, the birthday of the daughter it celebrates.

My husband, looking at that rather un-impressive bloom, exclaimed we should have planted a more showy variety, maybe a light pink with double petals. Well, I told him, this one is not just for show, but produces plums (actually apricots) that are used in plum wine.

I think there is a bit of a lesson here. I have told the kids, "It isn't so much what you say, but what you do that counts". Actions speak louder than words. In this case, just looking good is fine but doing good is even better.

Could it be that the waiting has made that delicate flower even more precious?

Good things to report.

Friday was another cold rainy day but the Bible quilt class made up for that. The women were just wonderful and put up with my lousy Japanese.
Oh wish I had remembered my camera. We talked about choosing fabrics to go with the feature fabric and selected prints for two blocks, The Garden of Eden and Children of Israel. Then we took out those templates and the women traced and cut the pieces. We laid them out and with everyone' s help, the first block was finished.

While they were working I laid out the feature fabric and cut the two long borders. It was so nice to have space to lay it out and measure four or five times before cutting.

We finished up with a yummy cake our hostess had made. Then I set off to the bus stop in the wind and rain for home where I changed into my Scout uniform and picked up the second set of bags to run off to my pack meeting.

Well, I wasn't exactly running, those bags were very heavy, all kinds of tools and lead fishing weights and a small stove. We donated our pack time to adjusting the weight on each car and explaining how the derby would work Saturday so they would know what to expect. I was pleased with all they accomplished. I got a ride from one parent most of the way home so I didn't have to juggle the heavy bags and an umbrella on the return trip.

After a quakey night with wind howling and rain beating on the roof, I got up early to lug all my stuff to the car. I had one more heavy bag added to the collection so my husband and Nikko came to the car to help me. (The car is parked some distance away). Imagine my dismay to find that one of the doors had not been shut all the way and the battery was dead.) By then it was snowing big blobby wet drops into the standing water from the previous three days. The traffic was moving at a snail's pace and there was no way I could get someone with a jumper cable at that time of day.

I went back to the house and discarded as much as I could to make the load manageable and set off by train. Paul and Nikko came with me to help carry the stuff to the station. If I had arrived at that time by car, there would not have been a place to park but I had plenty of time to help get things set up. Of course, the first thing I did was to get a big paper cut on my thumb. (Now two thumbs out because I burned the other one the night before). Until the race began, I was in the pit with the graphite and wheel tuning department, a very messy job)!

My car was entered in the open competition and I stood at the end of the track calling,"Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty"! Well, that lucky cat must have been better rested than I because she came in first in each heat and won with the all-over best time. My boys had a good showing as well with my new Tiger cub taking all-over fastest and going home with a big trophy and an even bigger smile.

Last year, our Pack race was scheduled for March 11 and the earthquake cancelled that out. Another pack was scheduled two days later which also had to be cancelled. To make it to the district race, we decided to combine efforts. It worked so well we decided to do it again. We invited a Japanese Scout Pack to join as well and it was a lot of fun. We had also combined our rough-cut days giving boys two opportunities to take advantage of the power tools and adult help. The Boy Scouts were holding a merit badge day at the same location and I got a ride back to the train station. The rain has let up a bit.

Tomorrow will be another early rising for some special music at two services. The piece is a-capella and we will stand in a mixed group rather than with parts. I'm so lucky to be one of the two tenors selected as the piece is so beautiful.

Sometime before 3:30 Monday morning, I hope I can get the car battery back up. Next time I lock the door I will have to check the dashboard lights to make certain all the doors are completely shut! Last time this happened it was because the car had been borrowed and that person didn't know there might be an issue. This time I should have known better! Lesson learned.

Next projects

First, I need some take-along work. My #1 Daughter asked me to make something for her daughter's school fund-raiser. Hunting through my fabric, I found this panel with rabbits. I probably bought it several years ago to make a table runner for the rabbit year. Well that year is now gone and it won't be back for 12 more years. I may not even make it another 12 years myself so may as well use it now.

Wednesday's train ride and long District committee meeting provided time to piece a border out of yukata fabrics. Today it is basted and I began to quilt the waves on the trip to and from choir. It may seem strange to see rabbits jumping over the waves. In Japan, when you look at the face of the moon, it is not a face but a rabbit pounding mochi. In the fall during the harvest moon, it is not uncommon to see pictures of rabbits and moons and on the East coast the full moon is rising above the waves. The rabbits just come with it.
I will probably quilt a wave design in the background like I did the dragon unless I can think of something simpler.
The other project I had to get done is my pinewood derby. Each kid gets a block of wood and four wheels to make a car. Tomorrow is my pack meeting and Saturday we will race the cars. I make a car every year and challenge the dads. That way, they will let their kid make his own car and if they want to compete ... I'm the guy to beat!

This poor cat was a hurry-up job and looks like it. I tried to make a maneki nekko, a beckoning cat, ushering in good luck. (the gold piece says "fuku" or good fortune). The block of wood size and shape, and placement of the wheels determines the shape and size of the design. I had to whittle it out yesterday and get it painted today. I really needed another day to get it sanded better and the pen I used for the thin black lines was not as waterproof as it claimed because it ran all over the place when I put on the acrylic varnish. I had to re-paint the white and use a brush to re-paint the lines. Because of the rough texture it was not so neat.

Every year the kids look forward and guess what I will make for my car. I am certain they will not be as critical as I am.

Tomorrow begins my class on Bible quilts. It will be a quilt-as-you-go class with everyone participating to make a quilt . I think it will be for their Church bazaar. I had hoped to have more time to do prep work but it looks as though they will learn to trace patterns and cut for themselves. Maybe that is not so bad to learn from the very start. I bought the focus fabric and a bit if coordinated prints and solids. Two other members will bring some from their stash so it is probably a good thing we will begin everything tomorrow with the whole group. At least they will be entertained by my crummy but serviceable Japanese. I will report the results if they are not too embarrassing.

Now, before I am off to bed, I shall make two piles. One of everything I need for the quilting and one for the pack meeting that follows. Hopefully I grab the right one when I go out. The ladies might have fun with a pinewood derby but the Cubs probably wouldn't care a whole lot for quilting!

it's all over but the shouting

All that is left to do on the auction quilt is to put on the binding and hanging sleeve. My goal this past week was to finish the inside quilting and get the borders sorted out and marked. As I was working (and I am a rather fast quilter) I saw that unless I did more work on the borders than just mark them, we would need more than one day to finish.

This is a big quilt and even with ten people sitting around the edge working, we would not be likely to finish. Meanwhile, my week is so crammed with stuff that I didn't want to even THINK about the possibility of one more days work.

Sunday I came home directly from a late choir practice and worked until after midnight. I had to get up at 3:30 am Monday for rice delivery and returned home about quarter to six. Instead of going back to bed as I often do, I parked myself at the hoop and worked straight through the day, only stopping for a quick dinner in the evening. It was about 12:30 am when I finally felt the remaining work was down to the realm of possibility. Then I packed it up and hit the sack.

I had worked sections, leaving areas between so that everyone would not be working in each others laps. We had a good mix of leftys and rightys so we could pretty well all work together. The first quilter to finish her area went around with a damp cloth removing whatever marking lines remained and removing basting threads. That had been one of my concerns so I was happy to see her doing a very careful check.
I wanted to see the total result and get a picture. Lighting was not great and the binding is yet to be added but you can get a fairly good idea of the results. At the end of the afternoon when we folded the quilt to travel to the next stage for binding, I was pleased to look over the backing and see that, although many hands had done the work, there was not a glaring difference between the stitching in rows done by different people.

Usually when doing a group project I like to choose a non-directional busy print to hide any irregularities. Thus, I was a bit concerned at how visible both front and back the quilting lines would be. I am, therefore, very pleased ... not only with the completion going according to the schedule ... but that many of my worries were for nothing.

NEXT WEEK ... turn the binding, add the sleeve, and remove pet hair! It will get hung in the Early Learning Center until the Gala. (Hopefully no earthquake this year). Tonight I will go to bed early ... or at least on time!

Hina Matsuri

A quick break from quilting ... for Hina Matsuri. This year I brought out the doll case with an assortment of prince and princess dolls. When the kids were young and space was not an issue, we set up an entire tiered display of all the court dolls and their trappings. With only one canine daughter in residence, and considerations of time and space, this small display seemed to fit the occasion a bit better.
Guarded by the dragon runner is the case with an assortment of doll pairs, lacquer, fabric, folded paper, and even piled stones with painted faces and clothing. In front of the vase are two carved Ainu dolls and bobble-headed ojiisan and obaasan.(I have days like that myself).

The traditional peach blossoms are barely any farther opened than those plums outside in the cold. It seems even the local flower shops couldn't coax those flowers out and farther than the weather man.

My A1 chef of a husband began preparing chirashi-zushi the night before
and made enough for me to take to a meeting in the evening. It was a bit sad with family so far away but #2 son called and in the background was the sound of a music box playing the tune of the Hina Matsuri song and the words came to my mind.

My son told us he had gone to his daughter's school and taken the main Hina dolls and explained the customs and read a story to the children. Imagine that! Little kids in far off Washington D.C. learning about Japanese customs. When I was his daughter's age we were tossing stones in a big dirt pile in someones yard saying, "Bombs over Tokyo"! I had no idea what that was all about. The Ozawa Art Gardens had the most beautiful flowers and bonsai trees and everyone was so supportive as Mr. Ozawa kept a low profile and let his wife run the shop so he wouldn't be whisked off to some detention camp. My best friend left her china dolls at my house because she was afraid that her father would smash them along with other dishes and things that said,"made in Japan" on the back.

My husband had similar play but tells stories of kindness between his own father and POWs. I think we both grew up in families where people were valued and relationships were more important than governments.

So... Happy Hina Matsuri little canine daughter. I'll bet Papa slipped you a taste of the leftover sushi. That face is just too hard to resist.

One small finish

Well, it still is the dragon year so this table runner may be a bit tardy but won't look completely out of place. This was a good use for the printed panel and the border makes it big enough to cover a large part of the coffee table. The outer border is what was trimmed from the auction quilt backing.
I was a bit miffed when I went to buy bias for the edge. I took the piece with me to find the best color. The problem is, the fabric store has very poor lighting and no outside windows. I wanted the light blue to match the printed part but when I got home in the natural light, the match was not really as good as I thought. It would be nice if stores that sell fabric has something like an Ott light in a corner of the store where one could take fabric to make matches.
This project has been riding the trains and sitting in meetings for about six weeks. Soon I will begin another panel print runner to donate to my Granddaughter's School fund-raising effort.

The little orchid came down from the third floor to be enjoyed and is now sitting on the hanging tissue box.

Just one tiny flower but considering how cold the greenhouse has been this winter, I would say it is way better than I expected.

Today my quilt group met. I have been working hard on the auction quilt and three of the four rows are quilted. I thought of staying home and working . It was a very cold, rainy, dreary day and in the time it takes to travel there and back, a lot could be accomplished.

My second daughter called in the morning and in, our conversation, urged me to go. I'm glad I did because my very good friend was there. Just seeing her made up for the cold and rain and any time missed on work.

Our hostess for the day brought out this handy little gadget. Well, no moving parts so that might be the wrong term. She had picked it up at the Tokyo Dome show. It seemed like a handy little item and would probably not be difficult to make. The spindle holding the pin cushion is attached with a screw from the bottom.

I could use a handy stand like that but didn't swipe it as she has written her name around the bottom ... plus the date she bought it. It holds six spools of thread but I seldom need so many colors at once. I might add a scissors holder and something to put thread ends in.

And when might I find the time? Don't ask!

Back to the task at hand!!!!

Good day to be inside quilting

This is the view I awoke to from my third floor greenhouse window. Luckily for my orchid, there was a warning and it came inside the night before. The back garden was getting decorated too.

In the foreground, the bamboo stalk from the South side of the house ... at least five meters of it ... is bent to kiss the walkway.

And along the front to the West, the plum tree, planted for out first daughter, which should have been blooming from the 15th, and the Sweet Daphne, which always opens for our third daughter's birthday on the 28th,

are under a blanket of wet snow.

Yesterday's quilting session got a lot of fine work done. Even out least confident quilter made a sizable contribution, gazing at the underside after each row and wondering if her stitches were perfect enough.

Now the quilt is back on my hoop. I need to finish up the center areas and make sure all the borders are marked for next week's activity. There are four rows of chimes. Today I completed the third row to the side borders and am now chugging along on the bottom row.

Indeed, this is a good activity for a snowy day. And those flowers that are under the snow? Well, those two daughters picked their own time to be born regardless of what the doctor said so why should their flowers not do the same?

Where did the week go?

How did it get to be Saturday already? I have no business posting anything, as I have not responded to a single comment during the past week. I haven't been exactly twiddling my thumbs, however. With only four weeks to go, the auction quilt calls.

The wind chimes got in-the-ditch quilting last week. Our plan is to turn the background into a raked gravel garden. At the end of the session we pinned some paper "rocks" in rather empty spots and this week I have been raking the gravel around them. I tried to get a look at the effect by spreading it out on the loft bed but the quilt is much too big to get the total effect on a double bed. I need to have quilting lines marked for the worker-bees on Tuesday and as much of the center areas done so that they can work around the edges. At the same time, I hate to do too much without first checking in with the committee.

This is where living in Tokyo has its "cons". Just as the Scouting group or church group, we are part of a community but we are scattered all over the city. No one is even on the same train line and even if you could get there by car, there is no place to park.

Today our Pack committee had a conference call to sort things out but this would not work very well with quilt designs. My choice is to wait until Tuesday (and possibly get behind) or plug along and hope for the best which is probably what I will do).

Does this look like a Japanese garden to you? (Don't answer that if you need a reply ...)

Gone quilting!

A few minutes of fame (depending on how fast you read)

This morning's issue of the Japan Times had an article about me written by Kris Kosaka. Perhaps it makes me appear a bit more worthy than I truly am. My kids were cheering me on through0ut the day and a dear friend sent me the best picture of all ... her young son reading the article.

Remember that behind every bit of this piece are countless leaders and volunteers, helping and inspiring. And that includes my blogging friends!

Here is a link to the article. www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20120218a1.html

Some things might be worth the wait

This year's Auction quilt has been in progress for some time. Back in the fall, when we began, I found it hard to get excited over a quilt that was basically a copy of another quilter's work. Within a few weeks we had gained permission from the Sensei to use her design for inspiration. Then there was a turning point where the picture of her quilt was put away and we began doing our own thing. This week the borders were put in place and we met to do the basting. Luckily, the Early Learning Center could give us space for the task and tables so we didn't have to crawl around on the floor.

An eager group of moms made quick work of the task at hand, removing threads and cat hair and getting down to the basting. Now the quilt is in my care. We have four weeks to complete the quilting. The wind-chimes and cross strips will get in-the-ditch quilting and for the background we plan an echo-style quilting to resemble a Japanese style raked gravel garden.

We have a wonderful group of worker bees ready and eager. We have added our own combination of fabrics and colors and I think the quilting will be distinctive too. Our first "panic point" was the permission. With some luck and some hard work, it will be finished early enough too hang at the School for a few days before the Gala, avoiding further panic.

And today is the birthday of the canine daughter. Ten years ago in May, I received a phone call from my kids who had gone to Nikko for the day. "Mom, we found this darling puppy abandoned outside the community center". (Me) "I don't want a dog"! "But Mom, you just have to see it to believe what a darling dog it is". (Me) "I can't see it over the phone and I don't want a dog"!

So ... what did they do? They put her in a box and brought her home for me to see. "If you don't like her, I'll take her back", says my #4 daughter. Yeah right! And throw her back on the road! Oh, that poor animal, skinny and caked in dirt! Into the bathroom she went. After several washings she turned out to be white. Sitting on the rug by the garden window with the last of the afternoon sun drying her sparkling fur, someone says,"she needs a name". Since she was found in Nikko and the characters for Nikko are "sun" and "shine", it didn't take long to pick a name. Name it ... and it is yours!
A visit to the vet for puppy shots told us she was about three months old. Counting backwards, that was Valentine's day. Ten years ago! I can't believe someone would abandon this dog on the road. She isn't perfect. She has issues from time to time, but a sweeter, more gentle dog would be hard to find. She faces each day with enthusiasm and loves everyone.

My husband loves to take her shopping and when he comes out of the store finds her surrounded by a fan club, getting affection and praise.

Of course, those fans don't have to worry about tons of white hair covering everything in sight. You have only to look at the first picture following a "shampooch" to see some serious shedding.

So ... Happy Birthday, Nikko. Thanks for ten years of dog hair, crumb pick-up, left-over supervision, and quiet companionship. I guess if I had to choose again, I'd take your quiet non-yappy nature and forgive you for all my stuff you have chewed up.

Scout week is for the birds

Years ago, I began quilting a dragon runner for the bureau in my entry way. Then we moved and the bureau went into storage. The new place has a large coffee table and the "Dragon year" was coming so I thought it might be a good time to finish this runner. Do you think I could find it? It is a complete mystery how anything can hide in a place this small! I found a second panel which has now been re-homed but it took some time to find this creature lurking in a box where it had been shoved to make room for guests.

I had quilted with gold thread around the pattern and at last I began to quilt the waves in the background. I was travelling a long way by train today to meet up with Scouts for a bit of nature study. I should have been able to finish during the train ride ... however ... In the "Silver seats" which are reserved for handicapped, and aged passengers, all but two of the eight seats were taken up by young people (reading, texting, and sleeping). I sat and pulled out my work expecting an hour of progress. The very next stop, two elderly ladies got on. One sat beside me and none of the younger passengers moved. Finally I got up and gave my seat to the other lady. Well, they were probably within a year of my own age but I was in my Scout uniform so I thought I should be setting the example. Next stop, an old man with a cane entered. So much for the example. I am amazed how those young people can manage to sleep, (eyes shut so as not to see those standing), but still jump up and exit when their station arrives.

I took the long way home so the waves are almost done but they could have used that hour trip. I will have to add a border as my coffee table is a lot bigger than the bureau of the earlier plan.

On the wall between my house and the neighbor, I have made a feeder by pounding nails up through a board. Two sides slide down over the wall and I can place apples or oranges on those nails each winter for the birds.

This Mejiro or Japanese White-eye seemed to be saying, "You are going so far to see birds? Whats the matter with right here?"

The group I met in Ueno was made up of Scouts and Cubs and parents from a combination of Tokyo units. We walked up through the park looking at trees, then back down to the pond to check out the birds. There are requirements for identifying "wild animals" in your area but unlike the states where you might see squirrels rabbits, coons, skunks, deer and all kinds of wildlife, in Tokyo, your best bet is birds and the best time is winter when the visiting flocks are in town.

The group was HUGE. I'm glad there are so many kids interested in developing their observation skills. There were at least 30 boys and parents and siblings and leaders doubled the size of the group.

I gave each boy a printout of what we might expect to see and told them how to use the clues to identify the birds. We saw over 20 varieties. The city has not cut back the lotus plants so they were a bit harder to see among the plants. Still, ten was the goal so we did well.

Here is an Eurasian Wigeon.

This was a very aggressive male Shoveler. He was chasing every other male out of the area.

All the while the female scooped up bread crumbs tossed by visitors.

Surprise visit by a turtle. Checking out the sun.

And this immature Black-headed Gull is fetching a ride on a swan boat.

In the trees above the bird-watchers are the people-watchers. There were quite a few bird-watching groups in the area. Many had telescopes and let the kids have a peek. I have a camera with a very good telephoto lens but it is not digital. I have been toying with the idea of getting a digital that can use those lenses. Other than the price, the size and weight are enough to make me wonder if I would use it enough to make it worth buying. Today was a day I wished I had it.

Too bad I didn't get a picture of the real "wild life" ... all those boys! This was a fun way to end Scout week and a group I didn't mind speaking in front of.

Scout Sunday

Scout week begins with Scout Sunday and lasts through Saturday, Scout Sabbath. During this week Scouting will celebrate its 105th anniversary.

When I consider how many times I have raised my hand in the scout sign and pledged to do my duty to God and my country, I felt it was about time I put my body where my mouth is, and volunteered to give the children's message at our two worship services.

This takes a lot of courage on my part because every time I have to speak in front of a group, I want to run as fast as I can in the other direction. "Panic" would be the right word here. In this case, there is nothing like a security blanket. I know I have showed this quilt before but I put it up again because it is very meaningful to me. I felt my friends were there with me offering their support.

I told the kids that the symbol was chosen for several reasons. The three points stand for the three parts of the Scout Oath, duty too God and country, helping other people, and keeping oneself fit in body, mind, and spirit.

Since this is the symbol for North on the mariner's compass, I showed them my compass and how you can figure out all the directions if you know which way is North and how living by the Scout Law, a Scout is able to point the right way in life.

I compared this to the teachings in the Bible and the words of Jesus that show us the path to take and the way to live. All the while, those friends on my quilt were helping me along. When I looked at those children I was reminded of my own kids, two of whom had left me comments while I was sleeping and I had read with such a warm feeling before leaving home. Our children are treasures beyond measure and worth every effort spent in their behalf.

The quilt has signatures from Scouts and Scouters all over the world, I think at least 60 countries and all of the United States.


The emblem is embroidered with a single thread of embroidery cotton.

BSA and The Scout Association of Japan were the most complicated.

The other emblems were selected for their variety.

The center piece is the World Scout Emblem. Quilted around it is "Scouting is a World of Friends".

When I returned home and opened my computer, there was a message from a long-time friend and Scouter. He had written about a picture I had posted on facebook of the NASA Astronaut, Mike Fossum, an Eagle Scout, who had come to Tokyo only a few weeks ago and wanted to meet with Scouts in Tokyo. Many years ago, John Glenn and his crew had come to Tokyo and done the same thing and my friend remembered that ... about Scouts "giving back". My friend is now giving back too and I hope that today I have made a step in that direction as well.

Setsubun

Today is "Setsubun".

Sunday, when I was on my way home from a Cub Scout service project, I noticed this fabric "Oni" in a shop window. Then, on Tuesday, in the same neighbourhood, Amy Katoh's Blue and White shop had a lovely quilted hanging in the window. I didn't have my camera but maybe the decorations will stay up a while and I can get a picture.

Setsubun is not really a holiday but it has come to be applied to the last day of "setsu" called "daikan" ("great cold") or the first day of spring in the ancient solar calendar. I can honestly say that this past week has been very cold so the idea of spring around the corner is quite appealing.

On Setsubun, roasted beans are scattered inside and outside the house chanting "oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi"!

(Out with demons! In with good luck!)

When my kids were little, they said, of course, oniwa (garden) was soto (outside) and fuku was inside, after all, we had a whole house full of Fukudas. These days, along with the little wooden box of beans, you get two oni masks. It is customary for family members to eat the same number of beans as their age. I have not counted the beans but I wonder if two senior citizens eat the right number of beans, there will be enough to throw at the oni.

Another custom is to eat this big rolled sushi (ehomaki) while facing in the lucky direction. This year that is North by northwest.

Papa gets a bite.

Mama gets a bite.





And Nikko eagerly takes part. (with thanks to some samurai who, 450 years ago, ate the same before racing off to and winning some big battle.)

Today was the meeting of my quilt group and a small mystery was solved. I learned that the quilt in the Dome show that was surrounded by crowds with cameras was made by Yamaguchi, Momoe... A famous actress and singer and married to Miura, Tomokazu...also a famous movie star. The quilt was made using her mother's kimono.

I wish I had remembered my camera. My friends are making very creative quilts. As for me, I worked on the conference banner as it is small enough to carry. I quilted the letters but still need to add two more borders. The auction quilt will be ready to begin quilting very soon and if other years are an example, there will be little time for other things once we begin.

Happy Setsubun ... and hurry spring!