Computer Tote

 I was asked to make this tote for a friend.  She provided this lovely brocade-type cloth from Senegal.  It about 9 inches wide, so I had to sew two lengths together then fashion the bag.  I added the pocket on front, no charge :-).  It's enclosed with a magnet flap.  The handles are sturdy woven cotton, triple stitched in place. The lining is a black/white knit piece I had, just waiting for a new home.  Finally, the side and bottom were stitched closed with home-made black bias tape.

Celebration Quilt

The pattern is called Celebration from the FabShopHop of 2012.  This top is not finished yet and I'll add another blue border all around, then send it out to have it quilted. 

This is a closeup of the side borders which are made of six rows of 3.5" squares.  The top and bottom have just two rows in the yellow and blue as the pattern was long enough, but not wide enough. 

http://www.fabshophop.com/

2015 Dawns

January 1st started out nice and sunny with snow forecast in the afternoon.  Nah, we thought, it's too nice outside.  However, along about 3:00 pm, the snow started coming down fast and furious, blowing horizontally.   It lasted a couple of hours and amounted to about a couple of centimeters, all powder, so on the 2nd it was really easy to sweep the deck and stairs.  

Now at 4:00 p.m. on the second,  it is snowing furiously again.  At this rate we could be snowed in in no time-- nah, not likely.

Sara decided she wanted her hair cut again today, two years after the last time.  I cut 12 inches and we will donate it again to Locks of Love that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments.

She is holding the cut hair just below the white rubber band, though it looks still attached.  

Every New Year I take a photo of all the scrap fabrics I've saved to throw away--pieces that are too small to use or I just don't want to see anymore.  This batch filled a 30 litre garbage bag. There comes a time when quilting that fabric pieces can be too small to use...

The Gillespie Family

 We had the privilege of having the Gillespie family from Ohio visit Japan during the first two weeks of December.  They were here two years ago; however, the two oldest of nine children were not able to come this time because of college. There are two girls and seven boys, and all of them play stringed instruments, and third son plays the penny whistle. 

Here the sons are playing a classical Christmas song while the daughter is playing the piano off screen.  The youngest is seven and is seated playing the cello.  This was performed at a nursing home near our church where two of our members are now residents.

Here the family is at our church on a Tuesday night singing in Japanese, accompanied on guitar.   There were a total of 49 people in this special service with  about 30 visitors, many for the first time.  PTL.

A trio of Christmas hymns ending with Hark the Herald  Angels Sing

This photo is the family all dressed in red singing at the Kansai Bible School annual Christmas program on December 5th. 

  Everyone is playing Pachelbel's Canon in G, with piano,  It's become one of my new favorite pieces of classical music.

This is another nursing home near our church.  The last photo is the family sitting with the residents, who really got a big kick out of it.

The family performed at least three nursing homes and several churches while here.  It is such a blessing to see this family serving God with their talents and willing to travel half-way around the world to share the gospel in song with the Japanese.  May God continue to bless the Gillespie Family.

Machi-san gets baptised

Machi recently got saved and has been taking new believer's Bible studies.  When Henry told her at a recent lesson about baptism, she said she wanted to do that right away.  So he showed her our baptismal pool and we then prepared to do it the following Sunday.

Explaining that baptism is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Please pray for her spiritual growth and for regular church attendance.  Her job sometimes does not permit coming on Sunday.

Skirt Central

The last two days or so I've been making some little girl skirts for a soon-to-be two year old.  I found the basic pattern at this website.  Since the little lady is still little, I used just two tiers.  All of these are about 21 inches in the waist and 13-15 inches long with elastic at the waist.
http://indietutes.blogspot.jp/2008/11/tiered-skirt-aka-twirl-skirt.html

This Japanese print is on quilted fabric.  Very warm for winter.

This little skirt used to belong to my Teresa when she was a teen.  She had a 25 inch waist, so I just removed the side panels and adjusted the width and reattached.  Teresa had the fish patches on the original.  This is lined with a green fleece and buttons down the front. 

These two are different brown shades in corduroy.

The print here is pink bows on navy blue.  This is lined with a blue knit fabric. 

Wreath Making

I made these pine cone wreaths with the intent to sell them at a local flea market.  However, a typhoon interrupted those plans, so now there's five of these that will need a home.  Probably two will go on my door at Christmas, the others...?

The pine cones are mostly from red pine trees that are abundant around here.  I used a clear spray on each of them to preserve the color; then added the embellishments, some of which can be changed out for other colors.  These measure approximately 48 cm across, or about 17 inches across--a good size for a front door.  There is a padded hanger on the back ready for displaying.

This fall one's foliage can be easily removed and replaced with any other colors according to your seasonal taste.

The Christmas one here has the bow permanently attached while the poinsettia and ivy can be removed. 

These flowers and ivy can also be removed and changed out.

This Christmas-themed one is basically permanent.

The blue balls and red acorns are permanent while the ivy can be removed.

Lunar Eclipse 2014

This night--October 8 in Japan--we saw a beautiful lunar eclipse.  It started in the East outside our back door about 6:30 pm or so  and slowly moved over the treetops. At 9:00 pm the earth was moving the other direction.

About 7:10 pm in the East. The earth nearly covers the moon.

The shadow appeared to move from bottom to top. Here it appeared to be an orange-ish color.

At about 8:45 pm the shadow was about half way passed the moon

Now the shadow appears to move left to right.

We could see the surface of the moon very clearly with powerful binoculars we have, but my camera is not as good.

 

One of God's Creations

This big, beautiful black and orange butterfly was flitting around the purple flowers (name I don't know, sorry)  two days ago, and it was so focused on getting that nectar, I was able to shoot this short video.  Look at those long legs and proboscus!  Simply stunning to watch.

Honeybees

There are several large sunflowers in the yard.  Honeybees have been recorded collecting the nectar starting from the center of the flower and going around in a circle.  I was wondering why the center had these perfect circles in them.  I think these three are the same flower a day or two apart.  The bee's legs are full of the yellow stuff.  They got a little miffed when I zoomed in the lens and got close enough to disturb them.  After eating the nectar, the seeds are exposed.  When the seeds get harvested and dried, the birds will be happy come winter. Another wonder of God's creation.

Thunderstorm!

It rarely thunders here in Kita Kobe.  However, today  (8/16/14) it is pouring down rain and the thunder is right overhead (at about 10:45 a.m.).  During this month of August we have had the oddest weather in our 23+ years here.  While it is usually hot and muggy in August through early September, so far it has rained, sometimes heavily, for 12 out of 16 days.  Something is going on.  Perhaps it is all that "global warming" or "climate change" that's making the weather do odd things. Or not.  :-)  Perhaps it is called "weather."

Have a grand day!

Tyhoon #11

While we get the rain from a typhoon out at sea, it is rare that we get a typhoon passing over us.  The last one was 10 years ago or so.  Today  is Sunday, and we held church as usual.  There we just seven of us, Henry being the only male; Sara was the only child.  The rest were older women.   We decided to hold an early afternoon service and we were finished by 1:45.  Then everyone went home, except us, since we were already here  ;-)

It rained heavily throughout the morning and then the wind started blowing hard, driving the rain sometimes horizontal.  There was not as much damage as could have been.  However, there was lots of water and the yard flooded by the blackberry bush, as well as standing water in the parking lot. That is not unusual in heavy rain.  It means there's also water under the building.  :-(

The parking lot

Water running down from neighbor's upper field

Blackberry bush area

A new creek formed down a hill out back

The flooded creek which normally is just a trickle

An embankment slid into the open ditch below a nearby rice field, causing the water to run over the road.

After the storm passed about 2:30 pm, I went out to check the garden.  This recently-tilled ground was so soft, my boots sunk and I stepped out of one.  Ach! Fortunately the ground where the plants are growing was firm enough to stand on.  The foot prints are still there, though.

Himeji Castle

We took a trip to see what we could see of Himeji Castle.  It's been under renovation since 2010, as part of the upkeep of this World Heritage Site.  I personally think it is the most beautiful of the castles I've seen here.  When we got near the place, this is what we saw:

The building has been wrapped with its image on cloth for the last four years, so to see this beautiful building now was breathtaking.  The previous roof was black tile; now it looks white because of the new plaster added.  The public cannot go into this part of the castle until 3/27/15, but we did tour some of the West Bailey.  It is one long corridor with rooms off of it that wraps around part of the grounds.  The displays tell the history of Himeji castle.

This is another view from inside the castle walls.  It is such a beautiful place and to think that the original has been around since the early 1600's when there were no heavy-duty machines to lift all the rocks in place.  It is a marvel to man's ingenuity.

July 2014 update

We took the Rokko Mountain Ropeway up from Arima.  The view was breathtaking over pristine cedar forests.  It took about 12 minutes to go just over 2 miles.

July 25 we went to Kyoto for the day.  This is a view of the pagoda at the East Temple. 

We went again to the Kodai Yuzen-en and hand-painted some gifts.  Henry did this bag for our visitor from Yap, Hannah.

We then went to see the Nijo Castle in Kyoto and spoted this grey heron on the grounds.  

The castle boasts of wood floors that make sound when walked on--called the Nightengale floor.  The squeak is really pretty to listen to; its purpose was to warn people of someone entering the house who wasn't supposed to be there after hours.  This photo is from underneath an outdoor deck around the house.  It uses metal pieces wedged between the beam and floor to make the sound.

This is a beautiful red pine on the castle grounds.

Another view of the pagoda from the opposite direction.

Our neighbor gave us a big sack of potatoes.  This was one of the most unusual shaped things I've ever seen.