Superbowl dinner

My husband is a HUGE football fan.  He used to have a day off on Superbowl Day ( it's Monday morning here in Japan), but as increasing responsibility at work set in, it became a kind of luxury to have a whole day for just one sports event.  After we came back again to japan from USA (oh, happy 5 years of watching the game on Sunday evening), he decided to have a "time-shift" strategy.

We record the live broadcast on HDD, and have a Superbowl evening on MONDAY after he comes home.  He never enjoys a game if he already knew the result - so he has to be very careful, very, very careful to shut out all the news on every media.  Thanks to a rather minor popularity of the sports in Japan, it's not impossible to keep it away but difficult enough because of the size of the event.  It's a no-no to visit Yahoo! or any news page on the internet, accidentally flip the channel on TV to evening news.

And I, as a BIG football and a cooking fan, prepare a meal honoring the teams and the city where the game is hosted.  It's great to look up history and recipes, spending hours in front of my computer.  Love internet.

This year, though, it is a challenge to decide what to have.  If it were the Patriots, Cream-type clam chowder is a no-doubt choice, or if it were the Cowboys, I would have ordered chili meat online and bought the biggest bag of tortilla chips I can find.  Ravens? Crab cakes.  49ers?  Great excuse to try making a sour bread starter.  Saints?  Mufellettas and Po-Boys.  Gumbo, Jambalaya… I can celebrate a whole week.  But, oh, Seattle vs. Denver?  In New Jersey?

My plan after some research is ..
1. Campbell Tomato Soup (which I always have on hand for our "earthquake / typhoon care bag") representing the State of New Jersey
2. Salmon vs Rainbow Trout (both grilled) representing the teams, salmon for Seattle and trout for Denver
3. Coors Beer for my husband
4. Welch grape juice for me and my daughter
Veggies, bread and desert is not decided yet.  Corn hush, plain dinner roll and apple sauce, perhaps?

Yeah, I don't deny.  A bit depressed.

Go, please, Texans, next season.  Give me a chance to bake Kolaches.

Change, and Forward

OK.  No excuse for my neglect for this blog.  It was not so bad as I was afraid, a little less than three months hiatus, but nonetheless.  Just I deeply regret about it.
(See my choice of words is probably being influenced by the book I'm listening on Audible right now? It's New Spring, the prequel of the Wheel of Time novels by Robert Jordan.  And you see what I have finished listening before that?  Yes, Mistborn trilogy and the sequel, by Brandon Sanderson.  My life is simple enough.)

It occurred to me this time of last year, too.  There, I find a problem, small but recognizable situation which requires some attention.

I need to change, re-organize rather, the way I spend my time on the internet.  Not only on the internet, I know.  The way I spend my time, period.

These 4 week or so, I've been busy taking care of the end-of-the-term paperworks at my teaching job and long ignored houseworks, like choosing and installing a sofa to our living room.  And at the same time, been working on starting my new project as, kind of, a designer.  It's not that I'm hoping to make money as an artist or a designer anytime soon, but I think it's about time to give  my inner artist a place to express herself.

It's time, to start.
To go forward.

But this blog is my home.  I'm not closing it nor abandoning it.
Mom just need to go out for a work some time, you know.

And the workplace is still under construction. I hope I can invite you all to my new office (blush) soon.

At home now? I'm working on my daughter's jeans.


She outgrew the hems I made. Today, I found out that I just can't roll those out and let her wear. It's just too obvious. "If it just can't be hidden, show it." is the basic strategy for a flaw. Decorative patches are the way to go. How?

Connecting

Inspired by my friend's recent endeavor for an "old but new for me" world, I decided that I'd follow my inner voice.

Spin some cotton.

With a spindle.

I am not a spindle enthusiast.  It's just a storage and work space limitation.  And I'm not a perfectionist nor an "all by myself" kind of person. I mean, I don't aim having a shirt-worth of yarn. Spindle spinning will give me a good-enough experience and a whole new sight to store-bought cotton yarns.

I just want to try.  Try to find out what my ancestors' ancestors did.  While trying, I'd be able to connect to my ancestors.. not to the housewives, but to the girls who learned the skill from their mothers so that they could keep their own family dressed comfortably.  Beginners' lucks and mistakes shouldn't be so different even after a few thousand years.

For the first step, I made this today.


It's made with a chopstick (leftover from the New Year dinner), and a couple of coins.  I'm not sure which came first to my country, spinning wheels or coins.



5 yen coin has a hole which fits to a 5mm knitting needle, too.  I used a chopstick rather than a knitting needle because I don't want any dent on my needles.  I just pushed the coins from the tapered tip (sharpened beforehand with a pencil sharpener) hard enough to go as far as possible.  Friction, I love you.

My teacher is Stephenie Gaustad.  The video is on my iPad (named Iris, because she has Retina display). Check.

Now, I need some cotton fiber.  That part would not be so hard.  Oh, I feel IT.
If I don't come back, tell all the sheep in the world that I loved them.

Peace on Earth

What a year it was.

After the earthquake and the successive nuclear power plant disaster, I found much of my belief  destroyed, too.
The people I believed to be professional look like not so.
The people I believed who know what they were doing, actually didn't.
My knowledge and understanding about what happened was limited.  I knew that and wasn't surprised nor disappointed by that.  But that's a pain nonetheless.

At the same time, I heard and saw mindful, wise, and effective moves made by many people, too.
I received a lot of love and caring words from my friends all over the world.
And I learned a lot, though I still have only so limited understanding about the technology and scientific background of all the stuff I take for granted.


I am OK.
My country is OK.

And I will not stop believing the good nature, of people I meet, people I hear of.
I will not stop believing that scientific mind can achieve a lot of great thing.

I believe in, the better angels of our nature.

Peace and Love, and A Happy New Year, to all my friends.

Chica

Thanksgiving 2011

My husband is on the road (in India, to be exact).  We made a small but good Thanksgiving dinner for just mother and daughter.


A huge piece of chicken thigh (boneless but skin-on, over 12oz., just enough for us two), marinated in basil dressing for 30 minutes, and spent just 15 minutes in the 190C (I aimed 375F) oven side by side with broccoli.
Green salad with canned corn tossed with soy sauce dressing (mighty good stuff, store-bought).  My daughter's favorite salad right now.
I had two pieces of still slightly warm blue sweet potato bread as a side (well, one as a side and one with espresso coffee after the meal).  She, not so adventurous for food, doesn't even touch that thing.  She had one slice of raisin bread from neighborhood bakery.
I had a glass of Diet Pepsi and she had a glass of Hojicha (roasted tea).
No TV, no music, we just talked about her excursion to the Imperial Palace Park (to "find autumn". Cute, teachers.) today.

After dinner, I knit the last part of baby surprise jacket for my friend's newborn daughter.  Will be another post.

An evening, quiet and satisfying.  That's what I'm thankful to have.

Wish all my friends' Thanksgiving weekend be good and satisfying.

New, or Just-found friend

At this age of 42, I am just diagnosed with migraine.

Three weeks ago, I had a strange vision.  A part of my sight was mosaicked... and it didn't go whatever I do; see only with one eye (both left and right), close my eyes, cover my eyes with hands.  Scary.  Am I having a stroke?  Or is this the first symptom of something horrible, and am I gonna lose my sight?..
After 20 minutes or so, the mosaic slowly moved toward left side of my sight and went out.  I was left with mild fuzziness in my head.  No headache.  No blackout.  OK.

The next day, I visited a local general hospital and after a brief session at info/admission counter, I was squeezed in the pretty long waiting line at (the only one at the hospital, works only once in a week) neurologist's office. She asked how it started, how it gone, how I felt during and after it, and worried about the possibility that a blood clot in my brain giving pressure on my optic nerve.  She almost sent me to a larger hospital for a quick MRI in case I am in the danger of stroke or cerebral hemorrhage, and asked me once again how "the strange mosaic" looked, to fix a letter explaining my symptoms.
Me:"It didn't go even when I close my eyes, and look only with one eye, both left and right..."
Dr.:"Oh, even when you close your eyes?  (RELIEF)  It's just a migraine."
Me:"Migraine? But I didn't have any headache, bad or light."
Dr.:"Must've been only the premonitory symptom."

So, I got a CT-scan on that day and an MRI on the next week, cleared for any life-threatening disease.
Dr.:It's not so common you start having a migraine in your 40's. It means your blood vessels are young and flexible.  Congrat's!
Me:... Is there any possibilities that I have had it all the time and didn't notice?
Dr.:Oh, yes.  You might have been taking it as a part of your PMS.
Me:Hmmm. So, what can I do about it?  I mean, am I going to have severe headaches from now on?
Dr.:We can't predict that. But if you do, there are good medicines, just to treat your pain or to work on your nerves.  See, MIGRAINE IS LIKE YOUR BODY TYPE, RATHER THAN A DISEASE.  Let's just deal with the pain, and wait for the day it ceases when your arteriosclerosis goes far enough.  Ha-ha!
Me:Er, ... yes, thank you.


So, I got prescribed two three-day (expected) headache sessions worth of pain-killer (loxoprofen) to see how it works and how often I need it.
So far, I only need one dose, three times, which means my headache is not so severe. SO FAR.

Good side? I finished this when I was waiting for the appointment.

Pattern; LionBrand free pattern, on the back of the label.
Yarn;LionBrand Sock-Ease in Cotton Candy
Needles;JP #1 bamboo DPNs

And made a great chunk of this;

Pattern;Joanna's Poncho by Laura L. Green.  I tweaked a bit to fit to my daughter and her school bag.
Yarn;Hamanaka Wanpaku Dennis in my stash.  Color choice and arrangement was done by my daughter, our house artist. On the collar, a ball of fancy and soft yarn is knit on to stop the itchiness.
Needles; JP #6 (3.9 mm)bamboo circular needles

Note; My daughter loves it. And I made it in time for chilly mornings-but-not-so-cold-daytime autumn days.  Phew.  But, you know, I can't tell if one or two of my headache was caused by the intense knitting session for this poncho.  Boy, I need a Shiatsu.

2nd Anniversary

I realized that it's two years since I bought my Kindle, when I got an E-mail noticing me of the release of YarnHarlot's new book.
(OK, I think I should use "publish" for the word "release", but Kindle book looks more like music downloads than real book.  Hmm.)

I accidentally arranged my "library" in "Oldest 1st" order, and there was the first download, anti-dramatic "Kindle's User's Guide, 1st Ed.", with the date Oct. 19, 2009.

Thank you Kindle.  My reading is not faster nor more in quantity  because of you but I feel more relaxed to buy English books and read it.

Now I'm reading a story about growers of giant pumpkins.  It's the season, right?

Speaking of the season, it's officially sock season for us knitters. Yeah, I agree, it's sock knitting season all through the year, but, hey, it's this cool weather that knitters and Muggles appreciate the magic nature of hand-knit socks... warm, comforting, handy, soothing and at the same time, beautifully complicated if knitter chooses to make it so.

So, I made this.

Pattern; The one on the label of the yarn.  This.
Yarn; LionBrand Sock-Ease, in CottonCandy.
Needles; JP #1 bamboo DPNs, my go-to sock knitting needles.

These are for my mother.  I used about 2/3 balls, and the leftover will make a great legwarmer for my daughter.

Healthy egoism

Here's my new partner. Yes. My bike.

(The one next to mine is my daughter's.)

Thousands, no, tens or hundreds of thousands of mothers who have small children in Japan does her daily running-around on bikes like this, on busy streets like.... (I tried to find a good pic on the net to show how our neighborhood street looks like, but failed. I think this movie comes close enough. First 20 second or so is inside the Kyoto Univ. campus, but after that the camera comes out on the streets.)

When we came back to Japan, my daughter was already 4 years old, weighed about 15 kg (33 lb). Before Japanese kids grow up to that size, they are usually well adapted to be carried around on mom's bikes. My daughter was not. And I was not fully confident about the safety, me myself have not ever be carried on my mother's bicycle, neither. And my neighborhood has everything within 15 minutes' walk. Grocery stores, post office, banks, doctor's office, kindergarten, play parks, subway & railway station, bus stops, you name it.

So, I happily postponed purchasing my bicycle "until the time comes."

My daughter appealed to me again and again how faster and happier she can go to the kindergarten if only I buy a bike with big carrier on the back and carry her. Like her friends' mothers do.

I just kept saying no. I wasn't sure I can safely give a big girl like her a ride. All these walking to and back from the kindergarten makes our legs stronger, and we can have a lot of fun along the way, like poking the ice on a very cold winter day, like doing word games (almost always shiritori).

Now, the time has come.

My daughter wished for a bicycle last Christmas, and the wish came true. Her bike had those small supportive wheels, and her riding speed didn't go too far faster than my walking/light jogging. This summer, she suddenly decided to get rid of the support (I am very sure it's related to witnessing her friend's riding technique.) and had achieved it. Now she rides faster, farther and oftener. I needed some technological support to keep on safely chasing her around.

I went to a good bicycle shop (on foot, of course) and talked with the bike-loving guy there for almost half an hour. We agreed that;

1) I don't need a child-carrier. (I waited for two full years just to avoid that.)

2) I don't need an electric bike. (It's just too heavy to put up on the upper rack at the apartment bike space.)

3) I ride inside Kyoto city area, which has busy streets and lots of narrow streets crossing each other, that I need a bike that stops and starts easily, hence, smaller wheels.

4) I like it "sporty". (More than a quarter on my "follow" list on twitter are pro bike racers.)

5) I have a good supportive bike store (which I was in at the moment) very close by.

His recommendation, and my choice, is Pulmino made by Gios. (HP doesn't have it listed on their "bikes" page. Maybe it's only for exports to Asia.) My first Italian vehicle in my life.

I needed a front carrier basket, but they didn't have a matching blue one. I would have plain metal one but then, my artist daughter said firmly, "NO, mom, this green one is much, much cuter."

We tried it on my light blue bike, and surprisingly, the color went along so pretty.

Thank goodness, for her artistic sense.

And, she named my bike, too. It's a boy, and his name is Gino.

I'm so happy she has good linguistic sense, too.

Nice'n'slow

These couple of months, I'm trying to lose some weight, not really so successfully. Maybe I set my target too far away, to achieve too slowly (lose 8 kg = 17.6 lb until next spring, means, one kilogram per month). Maybe I'm taking the way too ineffective (No meal replacements, No fasting, No non-anything like non-carb/non-oil diet).

Or, maybe it's my life.

I have a six-year old, healthy and active girl to whom I want to show that "Life is good." It's very important to eat right, and, eat with joy. It's OK to have ice cream. It's perfectly OK to have doughnuts. Unless you're having too much of them (sigh.)

So far, my daughter is picking up good eating habit (fresh fruits after the bath) and good shopper's literacy ("Mom, I'll have this yogurt 'cause it says 4.2g of protein, which is the most in this shelf."). Doing oh-so good. As of today, she's about 21 kg and 113 cm (46.3 lb and 44.5 in). Right in the middle of the growth chart.

As her parents, my husband and I want her to keep on growing, keep on putting healthy weight. I heard some of her classmates at kindergarten talking of "getting too heavy on thighs" and it's so unhealthy of a six-year old. We want to and need to set a good model for her.

Problem is, we are both overweight.

My husband is doing pretty good. He walks to a farther train station, about 3 kilometers, most of weekdays. On weekends, he goes to driving range and once a month, goes out to golf. Or takes that active six-year-old to a nearby playground. He eats less carbs than his feeling wants. He has lost more than 6 kg since January. It's about halfway to his target weight.

Me? Uh. Lost mere 1kg in 2.5 month. It's still a long, long way to my target weight.

I bought a new pair of walking/running shoes. I never say "No" to my daughter when she wants to go to playground as long as we don't have any weather/air-pollution condition to stop us. I am keeping this policy for about a year already, but the major change recently is, I don't take my knitting to the playground any more. I do stretch, light exercise and jog instead. This seriously affects my productivity (.. or not really..), but I feel my metabolism is getting improved. Just feeling. It doesn't show, oh boy, it's so frustrating.

I eat smaller than before. Just I don't cut anything. I eat three times a day, and when I feel too hot, I even eat popsicles. Every time we eat, I talk with my daughter about what food does for us. Some food, like chicken breast and lean beef, make us muscle-er. Some, like doughnut, make us happy and energized. But they could make us chubby if we eat them too much.

I would try walking and jogging more if I don't need to take her with me everywhere I go (Summer break!). I would try harder diet regimen if I don't need to eat with her. And I would lose weight more effectively.

But, without her, I wouldn't have tried to live healthier, to live longer.

I feel OK not so successful about weight problem right now. It's not the number shown on the scales today. It's about my health twenty years later.

Because if my daughter becomes a mother at the same age as me, I'll be seventy years old when I hold my first grandchild. I'll have to be a very healthy old-ish lady to have lots of fun.

About the productivity, I would be able to knit more if I live longer.

Living through

My husband's grandmother, Chiyoka oba-chan, (Gramma Chiyoka) passed away two weeks ago.

She lived a long life - Survived the Great Kanto Earthquake, lost her husband in the World War II, lost a son by an accident during climbing. Had three sons (lost one), six grandchildren (three boys, three girls) and four great-grandchildren (two boys, two girls).

I only met pretty long after she moved in to live with her third (youngest) son (my father-in-law). Only she and I were in the "could you pass me the soy sauce?" league when the family have deep-fried fish for dinner (the other family members likes Worcestershire sauce over soy.)

The funeral was a sad but peaceful one. Families, relatives, friends gathered together and remembered a great lady. All the people there remembered her saying "Thank you." a lot, her smile, and her good appetite. (I remember her happily eating "just a half" of a slice of toast AFTER eating whole bowl of ra-men noodle for lunch. I think she was 85 years old or so at the time.)

We miss her so much.

Before going to her funeral, I finished this pair of non-toe socks.

Pattern; Falling in Love by Anni Design (link is to Ravelry page)

Yarn; Patons Purple Heather 4ply, originally was in my mom's stash

Needles; KnitPicks Harmony DPNs US 1 1/2 (2.5mm)

What are these? Socks without toes? Leg warmers with heels? or Ankle warmers? Anyway, these are Christmas present #1 of 2010. For one of my friends at PTA. The room where our paper works and meetings happen is on the ground floor of the kindergarten chapel (built 80 years ago and made of wood). It is easy to imagine how cold it would be once the summer heat is gone. And I somewhat can't wait that weather.

After that, I casted on Ishbel by Ysolda Teague (in Whimsical Little Knits, which was sent as a part of Janet's care package - Thanks again, Janet!) with light grey lace weight. This yarn was in my mom's stash, too (- hey, I'm doing good on stash-busting!).

This Ishbel shawl is a personal prayer for Gramma Chiyoka. While I knit it, I think of her.

When I grow up...

When my daughter (5 years old) is asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?", she answers "A professional baseball player." These days however, she says she thinks it would be very nice if she can marry to one of her classmates (I'll keep it anonymous). But another girl in her class wants to marry him, too. Uh-oh.

The other day, on the way home from the kindergarten, my daughter said,

"Mom, I want to be an angel. I want to help the God's work."

(We talk in Japanese, by the way. )

Since Christmas, she must have been thinking a lot about angels.

So I answered, "Well, my dear, I'm afraid it's going to be really hard for me and Dad to see you if you become an angel. We are going to miss our little girl so much."

Daughter; "Hmm."

Me; "Besides, there are a lot of other ways to help the God, by making people happy, by doing your job."

Daughter; "Hmm. ... A-ha! Like a soccer player?"

Me; "Soccer player? .... Y.. Yeah, exactly! You can make the team supporter very happy when you win a game."

Apparently, she is thinking a lot about her job opportunity.

Anyway, it looks that the last thing she wants to be when she grow up is an office worker who is bound to her own cubicle/desk only.

Mission; kotatsu

kotatsu completed
Originally uploaded by O'Chica

About 3 weeks ago, my daughter, born and spent her first 4 years of life in Texas, was watching TV and asked me, "Mom, what is this stuff?" On the screen was a kotatsu. We have one, but have not been using it as its original form - I mean, it was just a square coffee table for us these years.

I had thrown away both of kotatsu futons (shiki-futon and kake-futon, mattress and blanket, that is) before we move to Japan (yes, I took them to Texas). My daughter and I picked up a set (happened to be the most inexpensive one in the shopping catalogue - good eye, girl!) and it was delivered yesterday.
It's not really cold enough for a kotatsu yet, but we just HAVE to get it ready NOW.

This morning, I cleaned up the living room floor and got it. A basket of Unshu (Satsuma) oranges is essential. Lots of coloring and drawing, snacking, TV-watching, knitting, reading, card games and not-so-intended naps are going to happen here this winter.

On not using a dryer

We have a washing machine. But not a laundry dryer.

We have small ACs for our living/dining room and each of two bedrooms. And we turn them on only when we think we need to adjust the room temperature or humidity. OF COURSE we turn them off when we go out, even just for a grocery shopping. They are not a central AC for the whole house which keeps on working even while the house is empty and waiting for a new buyer.

Now, after staying in southeast Texas for 5 years, I know that would sound somewhat pre-historic or uncivilized for a lot of Americans. I understand that.

When we moved to the US, I learned it's not allowed to dry my laundry outside (like on the balcony) at our apartment. I learned we are basically only supposed to adjust the thermostat and toggle cool/warm switch on our AC, only from time to time. We bought a washer and a dryer at BEST BUY, and found out the temperature comfortable for both me (who like it warmer) and my husband (who like it cooler). We got used to it.

I have read about a Japanese lady who married to an American and was living in New Mexico (or Arizona. Somewhere in the Southwest.), who couldn't dare to use "excess and meaningless energy" for drying their laundry and tried drying bed linens in their backyard. I understood her way of thinking, but couldn't agree her with "Americans are wrong, Japanese are right about saving energy" kind of implication she was trying to make.

Yes, saving energy is very important and urgent issue for us all. I don't deny that. But, there are reasons for any "common" way of life. That Japanese lady finally admitted that not using a dryer makes bed sheets so hard (because of the hard water they have from the tap) almost unable to sleep on, and gave up. I really think it's necessary to use a dryer in snowy winter of Northern countries to keep the family healthy. I know for a fact that turning the AC off in southeast Texas in summer temperature (which starts in March and doesn't end even in October) can be a serious health threats for elders and infants.

In Japan, energy is expensive. We try to use less energy not because it saves the earth. We do it just to save money.

I have my September bill for electricity (charges for 8/11~9/9, the second most usage in this year) here. We used 372 kWh and owe 8,145 yen (about 90 US$) to them. I tried to figure out how much we would pay if we were in Texas, and visited Entergy web site. They have "A typical residential bill calculation, using 1000 kWh of electricity usage." Ha. We are not even on a same ground. (FYI, the model bill says the price is $86.47. Roughly speaking, the same cost for three times more usage.)

While thinking about this, my trusty washer told me the load is done with a lovely melody (I guess it's a phrase from some famous Classic music. Please don't ask me further.) I got my damp laundry out and brought them to the balcony, hung them on the clothes line (bar, actually) to make this scene;

We have restrictions for the laundry drying on the balcony in the apartment rules, not to let the laundries seen from outside nor to hang mattresses/rugs on the fence. Otherwise, we would buy one of these and hang our laundries as high as possible.

Like my husband's maternal grandmother (may her soul in peace), we like to hang our laundry as close as to the sun, "so it will dry quickly." My husband says she believed that the closer, the quicker.

Even though he laughs off her "not-so-scientific" reasoning, his laugh is a very warm one. We believe in the antiseptic power of the sunshine. The belief takes the form of a knowledge about ultraviolet, but I'd say it's a primitive awe we have to the sun. I think it's the way we worship the sun in everyday life.

The same kind of awe to the air itself can be the reason we turn off AC and let breezes in.

So, call us uncivilized. In the sense we haven't lost our indigenous, primitive eyes to the nature, we are.

Gardening without a garden

This year, I got a pretty large plant pot, a bag of gardening soil, and a cherry tomato seedling from nearby home center. Later, I got a bag of fertilizer which says "for tomatoes", too.

Today, I harvested eight tomatoes as the last crop and cut down all the vines, packed them in a plastic bag and put out as garbage. The tree was tired and lost almost all the leaves. I could have saved several green fruits still on the vines by waiting a week or so more, but Typhoon No. 9 (No, our lovely Meteorological Agency doesn't name them. We just give them numbers. An international meeting give them Asian names, but we, ordinary Japanese never recognize a typhoon with name.) was coming closer - or so I figured that I didn't want to take a risk.

I explained my daughter that I was going to cut down the tomato tree while she was helping me harvesting. "No, I don't wanna say good-bye." "But, look, the leaves are almost gone. It's about time, honey."

She went inside. I was sure she was watching me using my pruning scissors, and lost her interest after a few minutes.

It's OK. What I have done today was an act of killing. It's not something she has to learn to do it herself yet.

We live in an apartment in the city. It's not completely unaffordable, but very expensive to have a "real" garden in my neighborhood. I dream of having apple trees or citrus trees that I can cook with their fruits in my own backyard. I set a table under the tree, sit and knit and sip iced tea from a tall glass.... Just a dream. Instead, I spread a rug on the veranda/balcony/whatever the word that describes my little outside space which hold clothesline and plant pots, sip lukewarm coffee from my mug. Sometimes I knit.

And think of the next plant or seed I get from the home center.

This summer, I got 209 cherry tomatoes from my tree. And thankfully killed it. The typhoon took the eastern-most course that we didn't have any strong wind. Just rain.

beauty beuty

beauty beuty
Originally uploaded by O'Chica

I think I'm having a sort of whiplash (in Yarn Harlot's way of description).
I can't gather up enough mental energy (which is not so much) to knit a sock.

Instead, I'm eating tomatoes. Off the vines on my balcony, and even though I counted 119 so far from my crop, I'm buying bigger (means regular) ones at stores every week.

Since I learned that the cold of the fridge kills the sweetness of tomatoes (from Alton Brown, my master), I have been eating only the room temperature tomatoes happily. This summer, I eat my cherry tomatoes and "fresh from the farm" ones (which is not so hard to find in Kyoto) this way. But not always.
Did you know you can turn mediocre tomatoes to "fruits" kind? Try this;
1. Peel off the skin. Use hot water method or freezer method, whichever you like. I like hot water.
2. Cut them in quarters or leave them whole, and put in a container/bowl.
3. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of honey per one tomato.
4. Put on the lid/plastic wrap and store it in the fridge, like, 3 hours or longer.
5. Voila! COLD and SWEET tomato.

And I found out tomatoes let me get enough energy to knit garter stitch baby projects.

Pattern; Bootees by Elizabeth Zimmermann, in The Opinionated Knitter
Yarn; Ski Yarn Cocoty, colorway 3 for the body and 5 for the ties
Needles; KnitPicks Harmony 24 inch circulars, US 3

Pattern; BSJ by Elizabeth Zimmerman, in The Opinionated Knitter
Yarn; Ski Yarn Cocoty, colorway 1, 3, 5
Needles; KnitPicks Harmony 24 inch circulars

The catch is, they have different recipients. I was not fast enough to make a set for each, so I kinda divided a set. Maybe I did it right, not to make them feel overwhelmed to receive a complete set of handknit garment from "just a mom of their child's classmate" - they both know how to knit, but not knitters, you know... They are not going to fully understand that they gave me a huge favor to let me knit something for their babies.

The cotton yarn I used is organic, and it was a joy to touch its mercerized (hey, I spelled this word correctly for the first time without dictionary!) smoothness. I love it. They come in small balls, which is very suitable for a baby project. I hope they keep this line in next summer, too.

I'll drop out of this month's SKA challenge. Although I don't feel too good to break this year's resolution, it's just getting too much right now. I'm just overwhelmed over 1000 unread posts. We are having a month's break in August anyway. I'll be back in September.

10 %

On the second&last day of a weekend trip to onsen, in the big outside bath tub stretching out my arms, I had that usual mixed thoughts.  

• It was a good trip - good food, nice room, fun family time together and quiet time alone.
• Where did my sock knitting mojo go?  I ended up knitting 40 cm of garter stitch scarf.
• It's OK. variegated + double stranded + garter stitch = therapeutic. Was true with cotton yarn.
• Ah, good minimalism beauty.  Just me, and bath tub.  Even though it seems like a huge illusion that one can live in a room like ryokan (hotel), can I tidy up my house a little better?
• Oh, I got to do a bigger laundry tomorrow.
• Oh, big grocery shopping today.
• Yeah, I want to try cooking pork like yesterday's dinner.  Just steamed on cabbage leaves?  Salt and, pepper?
• Ah, foot bath.  Can I  have one at home?  Will a couple of ordinary pails work?

Mind bogglers. 

I love&enjoy staying at hotels, visiting and staying at families, seeing or eating local specialties, but that doesn't make me write "interested; travel" on my "profile" page.  I, basically, don't like traveling.  Travel itself is fun, but I usually overwhelmed by getting ready and wrapping up.

I have a love/hate feeling with those almost lifelessly tidied rooms.  I love them, but it reminds me that I am seriously challenged in keeping a tidy, clean house.  At home, I constantly step on laundries, catalogues and paper bags.  I am afraid my daughter has already picked up my bad habit because I constantly step on her toys, too.  I hate myself telling my daughter to watch her steps, instead of cleaning the floor.

What is my problem?  I do have a big clean-up day from time to time.  What happens is I get tired and throw out the work 50-to-80% completed.  It looks a little better, and I talk myself into being satisfied.  Then, the same "decay process" starts right after that.  I try to keep the stuff go back to where it belongs, but hey, who can do it perfectly?

While I was in the hot (really hot) tub, thinking about going home later in the day and feeling sort of depressed, I suddenly remembered what Brian Wansink said in his book, "Mindless Eating".

"People want to eat the same amount as the day before.  If you eat 30% more than the day before, you'll feel heavy. And you'll feel guilty.  If you eat 30% less, you notice it.  You'll feel hungry.  And want to eat more to compensate the loss.  When you want to achieve a success on diet, keep the change in less than 10%.  Doing so, you will not notice the hunger.  Eating better becomes your habit."

(No, it doesn't go exactly as this.  I don't remember word by word and I got that book from Audible that I can't reach it for reference so easily. )

My point is, I got an idea that this concept may be true to the endless household work as well as appetite.  Like belly fat, untidiness piles up day by day, without noticing that I'm a little lazier than yesterday.  Or, like eating only 1000 kcal a day, I'll notice how "too good" I am if I do a big clean-up one morning, that I'll spoil myself to say OK to the second DVD of the afternoon. 

Can I do a little, less than 10%, better/more housework every day?  

It may be my another clever excuse for not doing a big clean-up.  But I believe (hope, wish, whatever) it's worth trying.  Last night, I made a new file on Clover Diary.  It's titled "10%".  I'll keep track on my "plus" or "minus" of what I did outside everyday shopping, cooking, laundry.

Yesterday's "10%"; Getting flowers and fill abandoned empty pots.  Starting rug project on huge needles with used clothes.

Today's ; Cleaning the corner of bath room, to de-mold.  

Small step, but I'm going forward.

Closed.

Kyoto city now has it's first swine flu (novel H1N1 flu, officially?) case.  A boy (10), who has not been out of the city for more than a week, was confirmed to have it.  That means, the virus is here in Kyoto area for a while.  Now all the high schools in the city, along with some elementary schools and kindergartens, which includes the one my daughter goes, are closed for one week.  We have talked about the possibility several times with her since the epidemic in North America hit the news.  I am not panicked, nor my daughter.  Just a little disappointed not to see her friends, and a little excited to have more TV time.

I just hope a quick recovery of the boy.  New strain or not, influenza is a nasty disease.

Officials recommend using use-it & toss-it type face masks when going out.  HA!  They're sold out.  It's OK.  I've made several of this.

Baah.

It's made of soft cotton double gauze.  They say it's not effective to catch sneezes and coughs, just works to some degree to prevent touching nose/mouth with unwashed hands.  I don't really care how much it works.  I simply like the idea of  having cute pink sheep close to me.

Tell the truth, I never liked and still don't wearing these kind of masks.  My daughter tried it, like, for 10 seconds and gave it away to her "friends" (toys, stuffed animals, dollies). 

Well, we'll just wash our hands more often.

Today, it's raining outside.  This maybe good for the purpose of restricting young children from going out & spread the virus, and is a bad, bad news to mothers who have over-energized and bored school-goers.

We (my daughter and I) are planning a little baking.  I am planning a little organizing on toys, too, but my daughter is not so keen on it.  Anyway, it's not so bad to have more mother-and-daughter time (yeah, it's a new mantra for me now).

Baah.

Making errors

In the last post, I wrote my mother "doesn't care" about discoloration of the angora yarn.  What I really meant was,  that she "doesn't mind" it.  

I'm not a native English speaker.  After those many years of English classes at schools and 5 years in The Woodlands, I'm not scared of being spoken in English.  I can buy things (mostly yarns and knitting books) online/in person in English with no problem.  Still, I feel I'm making improper, if not totally wrong, choice of words all the time.

I don't feel good about it, but I don't care.

On Ravelry, I see a lot of Japanese members make a statement that they are not good at English, being sorry for their poor English, blah, blah, blah. 

I was like that, too, in my first month or two in the USA.  Now I force myself not to be apologetic about my English skills.  That doesn't make any good.  If the reader of my comment and this blog or the person I'm talking with finds out any incorrect/wrong choice of words, phrases etc., they will help me to make my point clear if they really want to talk with me.  Or so I believe.  I don't want to waste my time and their precious time in an empty (and often poor) apology.  I don't want to become an expert of saying "I'm sorry".  I want to become good at making myself understood in English.

Everybody knows that there are a lot of people whose first language is not English.  English speakers are not mean nor narrow-minded.  Imperfect English is OK.  Wrong English makes yourself misunderstood, and that's it.  In many cases, you can correct the misunderstanding later if you don't give up making yourself understood and learn to speak better.  Knitting and speaking English looks similar, thinking of that.  Knitting is easier because you can frog a whole project and make a fresh start.  

I joined Knitters in Japan group in Ravelry because I need knitting friends I can talk with about Japanese yarns and all.
I don't participate in the Japanese Knitters Ravelry group, where they communicate only in Japanese.  Not for now.  Because I feel more comfortable in English than in Japanese when it comes to knitting.   And because I'm a snobby, stubborn little girl who's scared of being told so in her first language.

Blogging and Twittering in English takes more time than in Japanese to me, of course, but I enjoy it more.  Maybe it's because being aware of speaking imperfectly makes me feel easier to admit my fault in English.  Perhaps English speaking O'Chica is a better person than Japanese speaking O'Chica. 

On Christmas Day

We found out that Santa brought my daughter a scooter, ate one cookie (we didn't serve him milk - I'm lactose intolerant... uh, ahem, I believe Santa is.)

And then, I found another package.   It was,

a music box from my husband and daughter, for me.

I cried.

guilt-free

My husband's new iron set - a.k.a an indulgence to yarn buying. We both know well not to attack each other on buying reasonable amount of good tools. Reasonable, is a tricky word, and we know that well, too. On the course of rationalization to each other, I got some knowledge of the shape of golf clubs and my husband knows unneccesarily well about knitting needles.