Ginko nuts

Do you know what these are? These are ginko tree nuts! We have a lovely ginko tree at the entance to our neighborhood and it has been turning lovely colors of pale green to yellow to brown and now it is bare of all leaves. Did you know that ginko trees come in male and female? The female tree smells!

On the bare branches of the female ginko tree are little pods and the pods have been falling into the street where I am a crosswalk guard. Someone told me that inside the fleshy pods were the nuts that are so delicious when used in stir fry dishes and Chinese custards, so.... I wanted to go natrual and decided to gather up some pods and see if I could really use the nuts.

"Don't!" someone warned me. "Those pods are smelly. Just go to the supermarket and buy some already de-podded nuts."

But no, I wanted to do it the organic way so I picked up about a dozen pods and peeled off the fleshy part. PEEWHEW!!! Smelly is right!!! Throw away that pair of workman gloves! I peeled the rest of the ginko pods by stepping on them with my shoes. When I took my shoes off in the entryway the cats found my smelly shoes intruiging.

Next I washed the nuts that were inside the pods and ended up with a kitchen that smelled like a stink bomb had gone off. These things are deadly!

Finally I put the nuts into a paper envelope and popped them in the microwave. The smell is only in the pods so no more smell and the hard shells burst in the microwave so that I could get the green meat on the inside. With my 12 nuts I made Chinese custard with chicken, vegetables and eggs. Delicious!

But maybe next time I'll buy my nuts at the supermarket. This was a lot of work for 12 nuts...

Thoughts

Thank you for your thoughts. I'm on the mend and up and about again.

So what have I been thinking about the past three days? Not too much. Worrying about things that weren't getting done, reading old books and as you know contemplating the blessings of having a good husband.

Just before I came down with my cold my neighbor informed me that she and her husband had gotten divorced. This was a big surprise to me because they had seemed like such a happy family; mom, dad, two children, a cat and three dogs. My neighbor told me about some of the reasons and in some ways they seemed valid. It must be absolute hell to live continually in a situation where love has been replaced with disdain and contempt.

For years divorce in Japan was unheard of. Families married, not young people. Marriages were arranged (and in many cases still are by the way!) and the newly married couple learned to love each other. A bride was officially given to her husband's family and daughter-in-law and parents-in-laws lived together. When I first came to Japan I wondered about this situation. Often it didn't look like love was in a marriage but rather a weary acceptance on both sides. It was difficult for women to go back to work after having children so even if a woman wanted to get out of an unhappy situation there was no way for her to support herself. Children were considered the husband's family's "property" so a woman who wished for a divorce had to leave her children behind too.

This has changed though and now divorce is prevalent everywhere. Most women have to work anyway these days to help pay off the home loans and children's education and in general Japanese women are becoming very independent and vocal. However, there is still the men's society and the women's society in Japan and couples don't seem to do much together once children are born. Everyone works long hours, children are shuffled to different after school lessons, and I don't think there are many chatty dinners over the dinner table with mom, dad and the kids. This was true in my family too and yes, Tetsu and I had some ups and downs in the past too. What I'm saying is that the divorce rate is rising in Japan though it isn't as high as it is in the States.

Although I was surprised at my neighbor's admission about her marriage, thinking about it I realize that there were signs. The 6th grade boy is no longer cheerful when he comes to English. He has a "I couldn't care less" attitude towards everything (I thought it was the pre-teen rebelliousness.) He rides in with his mother and sister from a new apartment and is often late going to school as is his sister. She can no longer ride her bicycle to school with her friends because she might make them all late so I've seen her making the lonely ride by herself. And even the animal situation has declined. The dogs bark long into the night, lonely I'm sure with no children around. I've found one dog roaming the neighborhood twice, he doesn't get a regular walk anymore. The cat sits meowing by the front door waiting for someone to come home and feed it.

So sad for all concerned. There's certainly nothing I can do or say to help this once cheerful family. I'm more grateful than ever for what I have and I pray that Takumi and Leiya will someday be able to make and maintain their own happy families.

Angels watching over me...

I am hanging in there... What do you think these three are saying?

Under the weather

I have been down and out the past two days so no pictures to show nor events to record. A mild cold caught me and I've been sleeping away ever since. Not so great for my schedule. I really had lots I needed to get done... But lazing about has been nice too.

Tetsu is a natural born nurturer. He's not around much during our normal days but when I get under the weather he comes through with flying colors! His presence is comforting and he works like a beaver so that I feel guilty for all that I don't do and don't get done for him. Yesterday he spent most of the morning when I was sleeping, cleaning the upstairs. Yes, I knew the laundry room was getting out of hand but I didn't realize he'd have to work an hour or more folding clothes, stacking Christmas boxes and putting the whole room back together! And this morning, Tetsu's worked an hour or so vacuuming, cleaning Choco's cage, shaking out sofa covers and in general making the downstairs nice. Tetsu has always been someone who can fix something that is broken, who cheerfully does the dirty work, and he has old-fashioned ideas of "men-work" and "women-work" which I guess doesn't include vacuuming and folding laundry.

28 years ago I finally accepted Tetsu's proposal of marriage the night he stayed at my apartment until 2:00 AM un-thawing the pipes that had frozen. We lived in icy Morioka where the temperatures plummeted in the winter and I would wake up in the mornings with a layer of ice on the bathwater (bathwater is reheated for multiple usage). We had dated for over a year and Tetsu had already introduced the topic of marriage but I just couldn't see me living out my life in Japan, not to mention that I didn't really speak Japanese all that well and Tetsu's English was nil. International marriage? Very impractical idea.

However, in late January after an all day date Tetsu took me back to my frozen apartment where I found that the pipes had frozen. Being a Southern California girl I had absolutely no idea how to go about de-frosting them but Tetsu took over and spent an hour or more wrapping the outdoor pipes in towels and pouring hot water over them (probably had to break the ice in the bathtub to get the water to begin with!) There I was, in the warm apartment and Tetsu outside in the frozen night air cheerfully taking care of me. That night it struck me that I'd found somebody I'd be safe with for the rest of my life even if it did mean I'd be living in Japan. I was good for him (I made him laugh) and he was good for me. But I think I got the better deal.

Even though it sounds very old fashioned, Tetsu is still cheerfully taking care of me. I don't know about how much I make him laugh but he says I'm good for him and I know he's the best for me!

Sorry. When I'm sick I get all gushy and nostalgic.

Messes

I'm off in a few minutes for the kindergarten so just a quick picture or two here.

Sigh. Well, so much for the Christmas tree. Toi is the culprit. He loves those hanging ornaments. Chip was overjoyed at the mess on the floor. There is now a blank spot on the table and I've put the decorations back in their box. It must be hard for cats to realize the stuff mouse hanging from the cat tree and the stuffed snowman on the Christmas tree are different.

And as for more messes. This is what Choco has done. It is so cold outside but she does not appreciate my thoughtfulness and instead ripped her cushion to shreds. Dumb dog is now sitting in front of her kennel complaining that she's cold. I'm not giving her another cushion.

Batiks

I have a treasure! The Calico Quilter from It's the Cat's House, I just live here sent me a package of batiks! She was having a giveaway on her blog and was generously offering three prizes, a book on Baby Quilts, a mini-Jacob's Ladder quilt and 5 fat quarters of batiks! All three prizes were lovely but I really loved the batiks! Batiks are not popular yet in Japan and so I don't think I've ever seen any being sold, at least not in the fabric stores around me. I really want to make a batik and hand-dyed quilt someday and I've had ideas in my head for ages (quilting ideas are like that) but first I needed to collect some batiks, soooo...

A couple of California summers ago my sister-in-law conned my brother into driving us to a few quilt shops. Marcy (SIL) does not quilt but she was willing to wander the quilt shops with me. Of course my brother has even less interest in fabric but dear brother gave up his day off and chauffeured us up and down the freeways of Southern California with Google maps in hand. We hit 5 quilt stores that day and while I drooled and hyperventilated, Marcy made suggestions, and my brother stood by the shop doors or sat on the car fender and smoked cigarettes.

With all this family support, I really couldn't go into my normal shopping mode which is to look a long time, ponder prices, color combinations, and project plans, decide that it is all too confusing, put everything back in the racks and leave the store empty handed. This drives everyone crazy and with my brother sacrificing his time and gasoline I decided on the outset of the day that at every one of the quilt shops I would buy three fat quarters of batiks (for the someday quilt). Oh what a wonderful day!!! After 5 quilt shops I came home riding on a cloud and had a wonderful selections of batiks.

I've used some of my summer batiks for a Wonky quilt for Leiya, and I gave a few away to some Japanese friends who fell in love with them. My batik stash has been somewhat depleted but now with the Calico Quilter's beautiful assortment my mind is starting to get into gear again. I just love the colors and the leaf patterns on these!

Thank you Calico Quilter!

Prayer quilt in blue

On Sunday I got the okay sign to make a Prayer and Square quilt for one of our church members who will be facing surgery and we would like to present it to the congregation for prayers next Sunday. Since I had a couple flimsies in the drawer I thought I would chose one of those, safety pin baste it, and then put on a binding this week. However the flimsies in the drawer were sort of flowery and in pink hues. The prayer recipient is a man. Yeah... I guess I can get a new flimsy made quickly...

I put aside my knitting (I've finished the vest back!) and yesterday after morning teaching I spent about three hours in my sewing room. I was horrified to see that the sewing room calendar is still turned to August! Do you mean I haven't really used that room since the summer? I'll have to check my back blog posts and see if I've done any quilting at all this year!

Yes, I have lots of blue and green fabrics and I quickly made my strips and sewed them together. Really once I get started I hum along at a very satisfying pace and before my afternoon class I had the flimsy made up. Well, I'm back at square one for basting and putting on the binding but I think I can still get this made up for Sunday worship.

I have a feeling that the prayer recipient visits my blog occasionally (he likes cats) but he knows we are praying for him and part of the Prayer and Square policy is to always get permission from the person to make them a prayer quilt, so this is not supposed to be a surprise. On Sunday the church members will tie the threads into the quilt and with each knot they will say a prayer. And I have had the privilege of praying for this dear man while upstairs in my sewing room.