Random pictures

I made my brother's day by sewing him up some bean bags.  He and Colin have made a couple bean bag boards and my brother had tried sewing a bean bag himself which was not too successful.  Hey, as long as I'm here, I'm the resident seamstress and already I've repaired a sofa cushion.  Bean bags are NOT difficult for me.  

Voila!  10 bean bags and their boards.  This seems to be a popular local game these days.

Here is Colin helping prepare green beans for dinner.  A seat on the counter, pull a bean from the bag, snip off the ends and cut the bean up into the sieve.  Hey!  At least he's helping, right?

You will not believe that I went swimming at the city park pool!  And after all my complaining about not liking swimming!  But it seemed like something was missing from my day and I noticed that the city pool was open a couple of hours a day for lap swimming.  It was different from swimming in our Japanese park pool, that's for sure. 

The city pool is cheap $2 a time compared to Japanese single use which is $10 (but Tetsu and I are members so we get to use it for a lot less). 

Guests bring their own lock if they want to secure a locker (but I didn't know that so I just stuffed all my clothes back in my bag and kept it by the poolside).  In Japan the lockers have keys that you have to wear on your wrist at all times. 

The city pool had lanes (so nice!) so I could swim back and forth by myself and not have to dodge people playing and walking in the pool as I do in Japan.  Oh, and the city pool had a shallow and a deep end while the Japanese pool is just shallow for all the walkers.  I have never seen a deep end of a pool in Japan... not in the school pools, not in recreational pools.  So Tetsu wouldn't have been able to enjoy the California pool as there is no place to walk in it and he doesn't swim. 

The one lifeguard was a part time student where in Japan there are usually 3 or 4 full time employed lifeguards (for a smaller pool but maybe more people). 

And in the locker rooms there are nice signs that say "All swimmers must wear swimsuits when using the shower".  See... I wouldn't have known that if the sign hadn't been there!  I would have stripped and walked around the locker room and shower area naked (which is the norm in Japan) and somebody might have called the police!  So all was good.  I don't know if I'll get the uncontrollable urge to go back and swim laps again....

Julie asked how my mother had enjoyed my fabric cards.  Well, every time I show them to her she is delighted and wants to know where they came from.  She doesn't seem to remember that most of them have been in her casita awhile.  The only one she doesn't particularly like is the wisteria one because she doesn't like the 'bug' on it.

"It is a bee, and by the way you are holding it on it's side...  See it is hanging wisteria."

BUT!!!  You will notice that there are only six cards there and I have sent out seven.  Yes, one is missing!  June's card with the socks has never arrived, according to Marcy who would have noticed it because it was in a transparent envelope.  Now I asked specifically at the post office if the card would go through being in the transparent envelope and they said yes but it hasn't made an appearance yet though the July owl card has. 

Back to McKenna!