So school began yesterday and I went back to work as a crosswalk guard. I was a bit concerned about how I was going to manage that with my bum hip but Tetsu offered yesterday to accompany me and he even stuck around to collect trash along the streets where the children walk so he was "keeping an eye on me" to make sure I didn't fall over or anything. I find if I limit myself to just standing at the crosswalk and making the few steps into the intersection with my flag, that I'm not putting too much stress on my leg. Today Tetsu dropped me off at the crosswalk and then came back an hour later to pick me up. It looks like I'm going to be able to continue my job without taking sickness leave! Yeah!
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Mrs N. contacted me yesterday so ask if she could bring her latest projects over for some advice as she is getting cabin sickness just being at home for months and months. She finished her grandson's quilt and is already started on the applique project I gave her. She also wants to make NUMEROUS Happy Village quilts for her friends so she kept pulling her fabric and her half-done projects out of her bag to show me and make plans for the next steps. I can hardly keep up with her!
And here is Mrs. N's quilt made for her grandson! He has just graduated from high school and so she didn't want anything flowery or too bright. She has done this ALL BY HAND!!! During Corona she and her husband were living in another prefecture and she didn't have access to her sewing machine. As she wasn't seeing people or going out, she hand pieced all the stars and once back in our prefecture she did stitch-in-the-ditch quilting and some curved stitching on all the solid blocks. It took her two and a half years but it is now done! Congratulations Mrs. N! Her grandson's birthday is next month and she will give it to him then.
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Some sad news this week from my friend's daughter-in-law, letting me know that Lorraine had passed away. Lorraine was my Comrade in the Quarry friend who was with me when Japan had the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. We had been visiting a rock quarry underground when the earthquake struck and we spent the next aftershock filled days together until she could finally return to her son's family who lived in another prefecture and whom she'd been visiting from Australia.
In recent years Lorraine has been cared for in an assisted living home and she no longer wrote to me herself, but her daughter-in-law sometimes emailed me pictures and told me how Lorraine was, and I think she also read my blog posts to her sporadically. Lorraine became a wonderful friend to me all these years and she was an avid quilter and so able to adapt to anything... even an earthquake disaster with me! This was the blog post I wrote of that day so many years ago... Earthquake experience! And this was another one showing what our house was like that day... Earthquake damage...
Lorraine visited Japan a couple times after the year of the earthquake and she always made the trip to Nikko to spend time with me. Her face flashes into my mind whenever we even experience a gentle earth tremor and it probably always will.
I have been a reader of your blog many years, sometimes sporadically but I do remember your earthquake adventure while in the underground quarry and so sorry to hear that your friend in that adventure died. I do hope your hip gets better soon and I hope your doctor will give you a cortisone shot in that hip to make it better. It helps mine the few times it has gotten bad enough that it needed it.
ReplyDeleteSorry for you loss of your friend.
ReplyDeleteI remember what you wrote about the earthquake and that you and your friend were inside the mountain. A memory for life I am sure.
Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. I remember hearing about the earthquake and then waiting to get a blog post from you, hoping that you were okay. Then when I read about you and Lorraine's adventure underground during the quake, I was amazed and delighted to hear that you were okay. Again, sorry to hear of Lorraine's passing and thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMrs, N's quilt for her grandson is just wonderful - and I am in awe of her diligence in making it by hand, too. Applause, applause!!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear of your friend's death. You and Looraine certainly shared some memorable experiences and you both were fortunate to have met each other in this wide, big world. Cherish the happy meories.
Hugs!
So sorry to hear about Lorraine's passing. I do remember your post about the earthquake and being in the quarry with her. Mrs N's quilt is lovely. I can't imagine piecing that all by hand.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear of your friend's death, but she lives on in your memory and that of her family.
ReplyDeleteOh, so sorry to hear of Lorraine’s passing. I’ve been reading your blog for years and vividly remember your posts about the earthquake. What a wonderful friend and how rich her life must have to travel like she did. Mrs. N’s quilt is beautiful and perfect for a young man. I hope he appreciates her wonderful workmanship.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful handmade quilt! That was a lot of hours donated to her grandson’s gift.
ReplyDeleteSorry that your hip is still bothering you. Arthritis?
I remember yours and Lorraine’s flight out of the earth during that terror. RIP to your dear friend.
So sorry to hear of your friend's passing. I'm sure you will miss her! I've been reading your blog since the day of the earthquake and enjoy hearing about our life in Japan, your family and your quilting.
ReplyDeleteMrs. N's quilt is amaizing!
I am sorry for your loss of your friend, Lorraine. I, too lost a sweet friend last week - someone older than me, but one of my "first friends" when we moved here. I shall miss her, as you shall miss Lorraine.
ReplyDeleteCarry on, is what I say: there are women (and men) younger than us that can benefit from our being. (Not unlike your younger quilter friend.)
Carry on, Tanya.
Sorry to hear about Lorraine's passing and I remember when you posted about the earthquake. I've been reading your blog a long time. I love the star quilt and that's a lucky young man to receive that.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear of Loraine's passing. As I age it seems to be happening to more and more of my friends. May God grant you comfort.
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