October days

For a change I can say that I've had a busy two weeks.  The weather has turned almost cold but there are still more sunny days than rainy.  Typhoon season is supposed to be over and the countryside is changing to fall colors.  We get some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

Early morning with the moon over the mountains.

Evening skies from our bedroom window.

October is the month for cultural and sports activities and I've been busy with both.

Early this month I took part in a kimchi making class with Nikko City's International Association.  Each fall one of the participants, this year a friend from Korea, teaches a class on cooking from the country featured.  The actual event this year will be next month with a group of children and their parents, but since we will be helping out with the event, most of the members of the association joined in a trial run and we made two types of kimchi.  The afternoon was a great success though the community center where we were having our class asked us to keep our doors closed the next time around as kimchi can really stink up a building!  Tetsu was overjoyed with the delicious kimchi that I brought home and we finished it off quickly.  

I had to attend a meeting with Nikko's mayor because I'm the vice president of the Traffic Safety Committee.  I never really know what I'm doing at these meetings (I had to give a short speech in an official capacity this week) but I stay very close to the president and try to look serious.  (You don't know how much I pray for the president's continued good health.  I certainly don't want to ever step into his shoes!!!)

Taiga-kun's robot quilt has gotten to the flimsy stage!  Yeah!  I sewed the 30 robots together and then spent all day sandwiching and basting to get this ready for quilting.  Originally I had thought I'd hand quilt (stitch-in-the-ditch) this over the winter months but after struggling with it on another day I gave up that idea and ripped out all the quilting I'd done around one robot and put the quilt on the sewing machine.  I have a feeling that maybe the background fabric (the black) is a bit too heavy and I was having difficulty pushing my needle through all the layers.  Even Tetsu commented as he watched me take a stitch at a time, that I didn't look like I was enjoying the process...  I decided that rather than risk getting tendonitis I'd use the sewing machine...  Things don't go perfectly with machine quilting either but I doubt that Taiga-kun will notice or mind.

Marlene and I went out to lunch together and did some shopping at a department store though I only came home with Mister Donuts...

Apple season has started and we go to the neighborhood orchard to buy bags of apples every couple of weeks.  Japanese apples are so sweet and crisp!

On Saturday the elementary school had their Sports Day and because I'm the crosswalk guard, I was invited to that event.  The kids really get into all the relay races and the cheerleaders squad (which is NOTHING like cheerleaders in America.  It is all very strict with slow deliberate movements...  They did have pom-poms though...)  Red Team (Aka-gumi) and White Team (Shiro-gumi) and each side roots for the opposing team as well as their own. 

Tug-o-war was much the same as in the States though this event was children against parents with teachers and custodian coming to help the children's team at the end.

Yesterday I was back at the City Hall to attend a three hour seminar of CPR.  This is required of all the crosswalk guards every two years and we were given instruction and did hands-on work with the fire department.  It was very interesting though I do hope that I'll never have to use any of the skills I've gained.

Today I spent ALL DAY making cookies for an elementary school fair that we are having on Saturday.  I made nearly 300 cookies in my little oven that bakes only 24 cookies at a time (these are rather small cookies).  

They are nothing fancy but everyone likes "real American cookies".  (Japanese don't do much baking at home so baked goods are few and far between.)

Leiya seems to be busy too.  She said she took the boys to Ohio for a couple of days early this month and got to visit with old high school and college friends.

And that's about it for the past two weeks.  Stay healthy!