Stitch Group Sunday

We met on Sunday and continued working on our candlewicking projects. Candlewicking is a type of embroidery using colonial knots to make the design. Each stitcher decided on her design and after some practice was ready to start stitching that design. I usually stitch in hand (without a hoop or frame), but it is important to keep the fabric stretched when doing this technique, so I am using a hoop.

We talk about many things, sometimes serious, sometimes silly. One of the topics Sunday was the song "Killing Me Softly", which was used in a Nescafe commericial in 1972. What did Nescafe do to that song?

We found a real version of the song with Roberta Flack singing. Much better!

I really enjoy this group and feel very fortunate to be a part of it!

Tea Time

Monday Morning Star Count - 18 Rows

I attached another row of twelve hexagon flowers for a total of 18 rows. One is folded over the laundry pole so you can only see 17. The newest one is on the bottom.

 

Flea Market Find

 A few days ago, I went to the grocery store early and there was a little flea market in the parking lot.  I walked around and looked.  Most of the offerings were clothes and children's items. 

One woman's blue tarp was full of sewing items. It looked like she was clearing out her mother or grandmother's house. It was obvious that she had no idea what the items were worth or even what they would cost new. Nothing was prepriced, so I had to ask about each item, pointing and saying ikura desu ka? She would look at whatever it was, sometimes picking it up and giving me a price, that I considered too high. There were hundreds of packages of needles, buttons, embroidery floss, etc. I invited her to give me a deal for zenbu, all of a set of things, like the embroidery thread. She counted them and told me the price, with no discount. I did find and buy one little wooden cabinet thing with some stuff inside and it was 500 yen, which I considered a good deal. I can clean it up a bit.

I'm curious about how much of her stuff she sold.

Nanokaichi Jin'ya

To get here, get off the train at the Joshu-Nanokaichi Station and walk just a few blocks. There isn't a lot to see, but it was worth the stop.  

Here is what the JCastle website says about it:

Nanokaichi-jin'ya was the centre of the small fief in Kanraku County established by Maeda Toshitaka, the fifth son of Maeda Toshiie, in 1616. The domain was worth 10,000 koku and was awarded to Maeda Toshitaka for his meritorious service at the Siege of Ôsaka, and his descendents ruled the domain over twelve generations for the rest of its existence (until 1871). In 1664 the fiefdom was valued at 12,036 koku, and by 1684 this had risen to 13,135 koku, presumably owing to the development of the land rather than any territorial expansion. Nanokaichi-jin'ya served the domain rather than a castle because of its small size and because of its financial dependency upon the Maeda Clan of Kaga Domain. 

In the 1830s Nanokaichi Domain was ravaged by the Tenpō Famines. In 1842 Nanokaichi-jin'ya was gutted by a large fire and the main residence had to be rebuilt; the surviving portion of the goten dates to 1843. It was around this time that the domain also established its Hankō ('Samurai School'), called Seikikan (成器館). After the Boshin War, in which Nanokaichi Domain participated on the side of the Restorationists during the Aizu Campaign, Seikikan was redesignated as the domain's Bunbu Gakkō (School of Literary and Military Science). The Bunbu Gakkō, and the fact that the jin'ya reverted to government control in 1871, is probably why the jin'ya site became Tomioka High School in 1897.

Shizuoka Governor Will Resign After Insulting Vegetable Sellers

 

At the New Civil Servant Induction Ceremony into the prefectural government last week, Governor Heita Kawakatsu, the governor of my prefecture - Shizuoka, said the civil servants were intelligent people, "unlike those who sell vegetables, take care of cows or create things." As a result of that statement, the next day he told reporters he will step down after the June prefectural assembly. Ironically, he also told the new civil servants "to remain honest, watch their language, and that it was important to be compassionate and stick to your beliefs".  

He has a reputation for making such gaffes since he first became governor of the prefecture in 2009. Last month, he was criticized for ranking regions within Shizuoka Prefecture based on how "cultured" they are. 

If only the politicians in the US would resign after saying stupid things...

Scissors on the Bus

 

This is another Strange Crime in Japan story. 

Police in Fukuoka City have arrested a 42 year old man after he cut a high school girl's skirt with a pair of scissors when they were on a bus. Company employee Daisuke Iwamoto is accused of cutting a piece of the 15 year old girl's school uniform while she was sleeping in the seat beside him. The girl didn't realize her skirt had been cut until after she got off the bus. Surveillance camera footage revealed Iwamoto as the person sitting next to the girl. Police said Iwamoto has admitted to the accusation and quote him as saying, "I was curious about the fabric and material used in the skirt worn by the girl sitting next to me, so I snipped off a piece with the scissors I had with me."  

Is this creepy or what?

Work In Progress Wednesday

New Start - mitten ornament

 

International Pandas - outlining progress

Spring Bride progress

Stitch Group Candlewicking progress

Yonenomiya Sengen Shrine Spring Festival

A week ago Saturday, three of my friends and I met in Fuji City, planning to take a walk and see the cherry blossoms.  As it turned out, it was too early to see many cherry blossoms, but we still took a walk along the river, ate lunch, and visited the local shrine. 

While at the shrine, we saw a poster for the next weekend's festival, and three of us made plans to attend.

This past Saturday, after drinking coffee and having some dessert, we walked to the Yonenomiya Sengen Shrine.

This was a delightful local festival.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!

There were more trees in bloom after just a week.

There was a stage set up for the entertainment. The first one we saw was a young woman playing the shamisen (traditional Japanese instrument) and singing.

I don't know what to call the next one.  There were two boys, maybe 12 years old or so, who danced and painted paper on the floor.

The plastic put up to protect the stage area made it hard to see what they were doing, so I went around the side to take a picture.

When they finished painting the plastic was removed and they dance with fans.

With some behind the scenes help, the painting was raised.

One of the boys put on a horse mask and they sprinkled cherry blossoms around.

Next, six junior high school looking students sang and did sign language.

My favorite of the entertainment was the taiko drums. This is something I would like to learn to do.

After that, we decided to go home. The festival was such a friendly local event.