A little family history.

 I was brought up in a military family. Dad and Mom were both in the Air Force when they married back in 1952. Dad enlisted in WWII and served 26 years. Then he became a lawyer. My oldest brother, Joe, graduated from Annapolis in 1975 and served 6 years. At my Dad's funeral in 1994, my four brothers were there. Only Donald, in the wheelchair, did not serve. Tom and Bob were both Navy. I find it amusing that my brothers decided on the Navy and not the Air Force. 🤔 Mom's Dad served in the Army, I believe. (that's his gravestone). Henry's Dad served in the Cavalry back in the day. He actually rode horses. 🐎. Now our youngest son serves in the Army Reserves. Thank you all.

Joe graduated in 1975 from Annapolis

Tom, Donald, Bobby, Joe and his daughter Stephanie

   Dad's funeral was full military honors.  The Honor Guard came from the Air Force Academy.

Mom's Dad, Francis Flynn's grave in North Dakota

Henry's Dad, Francis Nash Ward, was in the Cavalry 

 Son, Joseph, in the Reserves

The Bird on my Car

 Thursday this little bird had a fascination with our two vehicles.  It would cling to the rubber and look in the mirror and make a mess in the process.  Then it would hop on the mirror and make a mess there also.  It would fly from van to car and back and fly away when I came out the door to clean up his droppings.  All through the day it did the same thing and I cleaned up after it several times.  To prevent this, hopefully, I turned the mirrors in toward the car.  Well, the bird would just hop on the mirror as before, so it did not help much.  Wonder what it's thinking.

On Friday I was sitting in the dining room with my back to the sliding glass door and I hear a tap, tap, tap on the window.  Lo and behold, it was the same bird on the deck tapping the glass. Must have a thing for windows and mirrors.  It could be a female Daurian Redstart which is a winter bird in our area.   The male has a black face and wings with that white patch.  I will have to get some more pictures.

Circus Land Update

 The newest housing development has about 9-10 homes started in the first block.  The one below is the first house as you enter.  I like the design and colors.  It's probably a 3BR with Living Dining Kitchen Bath downstairs.

This sign announces a model house is open in Rena Fujiwaradai, a 200 house Big Project.  I guess it will take about 5-7 years to complete.  New prospects for church!

Fall Photos 2017

 In and around where we live the leaves are all falling when the wind blows. The colors are so pretty.  The air is much cooler and the house will need a heater downstairs soon.  Winter is coming.

What happens when a Fire Extinguisher goes off

 On Sunday a little one year old boy was crawling around during Children's Church as I was teaching his older brothers.  Mom was in there too.  He got hold of the extinguisher next to the fridge there through the door on the right (the red sign points to it).  He pulled the pin out and his mom gave it to me.  I put it in the closet.

 On Monday morning at breakfast time, I gave Henry the pin.  He got out the extinguisher and put the pin in its place.  We sat down to eat our oatmeal and the thing starts spewing pink powder all over the place.  I told Henry to take it outside, quickly!!  This is what the floor looked like.  Dust was in the air for hours.   Outside I took a photo of the dust going under the deck and toward the West side of the house.  It was a cloud of pink.  It got on the deck and finally stopped.  The cleanup will go on for a few days.  Already the floor has been vacumned and mopped twice.

This is the trail Henry left as he took it outside.  He set in on the newly seeded grace and I told him to place it on the brick sidewalk at the bottom of the deck steps.  This got swept up later in the day.  Then it rained on Wednesday and washed most of what was left away.

Kimono

One advantage of being a quilter and living in Japan is that several ladies over the years have given me kimono just because they don't want it and thought I could use it in quilts.  I have quite a collection and need to start making quilts or refashioning these into dresses or skirts.

This latest one is from one of my English students.  It is the prettiest one yet.  The embroidery is so beautiful.  It is a heavy kimono.  The under lining is red as is the obi belt that goes around the waist.  The design is of  cranes, I believe, a favorite of Japanese.  The sleeves are long, therefore, this style is worn by single women.  Can't imagine what this cost originally, but thank you, Mrs. Fuji, for your generous gift.  

Typhoon Lan

Typhoon Lan came by Japan on August 22-24, 2017.  It mostly stayed out at sea, but it was huge and we had lots of rain and wind for a couple of days.  It was recorded at winds over 100 mph at times.  The aftermath was that the creeks and rivers were filled and running fast.  These photos were taken within a kilometer of our place on the 23rd.  

Latest Quilts

Big block quilt about 80 inches square

The back is made of summer cotton Japanese prints

Pink I Spy quilt for a new baby girl Anna

The back is two animal panels.

Kibou-ken Ramen

This is one of the best Ramen restaurants around and it is not much to look at, nothing fancy.  My guess is that it is family owned and been there for many years.  Maybe 20 people can fit inside.  The price is about 1,000 yen per person depending on what you get.  The gyoza is terrific as a side dish.  It is located on the Arima-kaido about a kilometer from Okaba-eki heading north, I think, toward Sanda. 

This is a JA gas station across the street. 

Hatacho historic meeting place

Hatacho where we live is a farming community.  At the center is a community place where there are old farm equipment pieces on display outside.  I'd never been there before today.  The equipment is generally wood-made and hand operated.  I thought the bamboo buildings they are needing to be rebuilt with new bamboo.  :-)  

Water pump 

Plowing equipment

Rice harvesting, separating equipment. 

This is an old-style building that was transported piece by piece  from another location. It has a thatched roof and the interior has high ceiling and beautiful wood beams and tatami floors. It belonged to a famous writer I believe.