Marcy's cats

How about some cat pictures?

Marcy's kitty Maxie, occasionally makes an appearance in the living room, creeping up the hallway from the bedroom where she lives in solitude.  She was a feral kitten taken into a previous owner's home then returned to the shelter when she didn't warm up to the humans in the family.  Marcy had hoped that with lots of love that Maxie, (named after Marcy's mother) would mellow out and relax but it has been four years and the cat trusts no one but Marcy and my brother.  She's not even too fond of my niece and nephew and it goes without saying that she'll have nothing to do with me!

My brother is a big grumpy looking guy who rarely smiles but he will fawn and coo and speak baby talk at Maxie, coaxing her from her hiding places.  Once in a great while, when she doesn't hear voices, she will do a bit of exploring but she would prefer it if my brother would come back to the bedroom so that she can sit on his chest and purr over him.  Each to their own preferences.  She certainly is a gorgeous specimen.  Too bad no one sees her to admire her.

And here is handsome ol' orange Simba.  Simba is a people lover and amuses us all by engaging us in games of Fetch (we throw, he fetches).  He will play with people and dogs alike and has even been accepted by Maxie. Thanks to Simba, Marcy can see how loving and cuddly and sociable cats really can be and he brings a lot of smiles to all of us.

The other day Marcy found a cat feeder at the second hand shop (it was originally a striped white but Kiana painted it orange to match Simba.)  Anything for Marcy's redheaded kitty!

Here is progress on the Ka-Bloom quilt.  A few flowers and a stone path have been added but my pieces are curling... I wonder if they are going to be difficult to iron down when I get to that step...  And while trying to stay cool during the S. California afternoons, we leave the windows open... and all my pieces blow all over the table.  Still a long way to go!

Delighted and excited

Takumi pulled in around noon yesterday with A NEW CAR!!!

A month or so ago when we talked to Takumi on the phone, he said his old car was falling to pieces and he was going to have to replace it.  He wasn't too happy about the idea because he said he didn't know how to go about buying a new car, nor did he have any idea about what he wanted.  Seven or eight years ago when he needed a car he ended up buying my brother's neighbor's and dutifully stopped by monthly to make his minimal car payments.  It was a good deal for everyone because the neighbors had known Takumi since he was a child and trusted him on making the payments and the car itself was rough and well-used to begin with so it endured a few more dents without being too noticeable.  But now there was a new car to think about....

When I arrived and Takumi picked me up at the airport last week, he was very excited to tell me that he'd bought a new car.  VERY EXCITED!  And suddenly he was interested in cars which he's never had an interest in.  He and his roommate (who had worked at a car dealer) researched cars and then went and drove some.  Takumi figured out what he wanted and signed for it and he was just waiting for it to be delivered.

Takumi has stepped into the world of looking under car hoods, talking about steering ratios and boxer engines and he is loving it.  Now, this is a sports car which is a bit impractical for my tastes but hey, he's young and single, has a degree and a steady income.  If he's ever going to own a sports car this is the time!  Takumi pulled up pictures to flash at us on his Smartphone of decorative interior stitching and a dazzling blue body.  He was just chomping to be able to drive his new car.

And yesterday he pulled up looking delighted and excited!

 Yes, definitely a sports car.

 I'm not sure if my lanky son in shorts and a T-shirt matches the sleek, svelte sophistication of a sports car...  YET!

One slight problem, no, let's make that, challenge and world of discovery, Takumi has never driven a stick-shift before.  O...kay......

"Why did you buy a car that you don't know how to drive?"

"It's something to learn.  I've always wanted to drive one.  It seems like FUN!"

As my son took me for a ride it was a bit difficult to restrain from being a backseat driver.

"Whoops!  Um...  Here comes a truck.  The car next to you wants to change lanes.  You're on a hill, PUT ON YOUR EMERGENCY BRAKE!"

You know how you feel when you are on a roller coaster and sort of hang onto anything in front or to the side of you?  That's what I was feeling and doing!
 
My brother and Takumi went out for a spin with my brother instructing him on the fine art of clutch and gear meshing. 

Kiana and Takumi went out in her JEEP so that she could demonstrate her gear changing skills.

My simile was likening driving a stick shift to coordinating your foot and your hands when trying to machine quilt evenly.  It takes practice.

The hill/driveway in front of my brother's house gave extra (unwanted) practice, and I gulped and dived out of the car as it rolled a few inches backwards with my brother and Kiana yelling clutch and braking techniques.

"Mom, don't worry.  I've only been driving this two days, next week when I come to see you I'll be great at this."

I think to myself,

"He is not an irresponsible teenager.  Takumi is a careful young man now able to choose and enjoy a car he likes.  Everyone has their first time learning to drive a stick shift.  I am overjoyed for him."

And I'll be keeping him tighter in my prayers...

Always a mother.

Observation

Oh dear.  I'm not really doing much that is blog worthy....  A visit to the second-hand store...  Eating WAAAYYY too much...  Helping Kiana with a dress that she is making...

Observation...

There is more time in Southern California.  Even though I sleep in an hour longer than I do in Japan (no cats pawing my head in the morning... no dog whining to go out for a walk) it seems that the day goes on for more than 24 hours.  It is true that I'm on carefree vacation time while I'm here and that we all have a fairly free summer schedule, but just going shopping has a different characteristic to it.  When I am in Japan, I have an idea, even earlier in the week, to do such and such on one day and since I'm in the general vicinity, to do other things to economize my time.  I crowd as many errands in my day as I can, trying to make the process smooth and time saving.

"Okay... teaching in the next town over.  Can I take the dog to the vets on the same day?  Is it going to be possible to stop off at the pool on the way home?"

It is only a 30 minute drive to the next town.  A quiet drive along a narrowish road going through a tunnel and past fields.

But here in California, though I offer to fit my non-schedule into Marcy's so that we can save driving time, she will wave me on and say to take my time, or she'll wait for me to come back and we go out together later in the day.  Plans change easily and everything has a spontaneous feel to it.

And distance seems to be no hindrance.  Go to the second-hand store?  There are a few in the town...  but no, we head out down the freeways going through numerous suburbs and cities.  It is not a far drive for Marcy, it is a mere jaunt.  And after we get back, she may just turn around and go pick up one of the kids in the same community, or go in the other direction for 30 minutes to have coffee with a friend. 

(I took the this picture just because I thought the mountain top towers were interesting.)

The evenings are definitely longer as the sun stays bright an hour or two longer in California than in my more northern town of Nikko.  In Japan I am rarely out past 6:00 pm and you can find me settled in bed with a book at 9:30.  Here in Southern Cal, Kiana is ready to sew at 9:00 pm or her boyfriend is stopping over after work (10:30 pm).  Last night we were all still communing in Grandma's house at 11:00 eating, joking, texting, sewing, and I am not the sleepier for it.  (Until this morning...)  Gives me more sewing time.

So here is the progress on the sewing (collaging).  I've added a tree and a cottage to the McKenna quilt...  By the way, it is called Ka-Bloom!  Hopefully by the end of the summer you'll be able to see why.

Reading, animals and some sewing (no, crafting)

The first two days I was here I read through my mother's old Time magazines.  All 52 of them.  They have now gone in the recycling bin and Grandma and I made a trip to the library. 

Grandma doesn't really care what she is reading, but it does keep her occupied.  She will occasionally drop her book and pick up and start reading again at wherever the pages fall open.  So much for keeping track of the plot of the story.

When Grandma isn't reading, she is talking to Sadie...  Grandma's special friend.

Yesterday Marcy and I went to a street festival and though I didn't take any pictures of the festival I came across this very friendly fellow.  Such a amiable face!

But it was his tail that really caught my eye.  A perfect curlicue!

And yes, I am sewing.  I sure don't like this picture of me...  Oh well...  I had brought a Kenna McRyan kit with me which looked so extensive that I knew I'd only have time to do this during vacation weeks.  Here I am preparing pieces.

 Blue and green.  The sky and the ground.

And here is the background foliage.  I am not ironing these down yet.  I'll wait until everything is made so that I can shift things around a bit.

On the docket today is a trip to the new Hobby Lobby in the town!
 

Day 2... fabric and pets

I am crossing things off my list of things to-do...

I got to the DMV yesterday and went through the rigamarole to have my driver's license renewed.  My license photo may be satisfactory (no guarantees though) because the guy taking the photo said I looked dorky in the first picture he took and he retook it.  Maybe I just look naturally dorky...

I have started my early morning walks and I head out towards the local high school at 6:00am.  There seems to be a summer school P.E. class going on and students run the streets while it is still cool in the mornings (and that's why I go walking too.)

Marcy and Kiana and I made a trip to M and L's, the fabric warehouse located a few cities over. On my list of things to buy I had 10 meters of cheap backing material.  Well, instead of buying 10 meters of the same fabric (which would have been smarter so I'd be able to use it in large and small pieces) I ended up finding many pretty suitable backing fabrics.  I chose 4... the top four in the left pile.  That blue striped may turn into the border for the quilt I'm making out of circles... I can't remember what kind of border it might need...

On the right side, I picked up two white batiks and a pink batik that Mrs. Furui asked me to look for.  We need the white for some Christmas blocks that we planning to make and the pink is just for Mrs. Furui's stash.

That fish fabric is not something I'm going to want to use but the minute I saw it I thought, "YUMA-kun!"  He fondles the one fishy looking scrap I have in my home stash and talks about making something fishy someday.  He can have his own meter of fish fabric.

And here are a few pet photos.  Sadie, Grandma's favorite...  Always furry and friendly.

 Scrappy is getting up in years but still playful at dinnertime.

And here is Marcy's special buddy, Simba.  Marcy had never been much of a cat person (though she has one other kitty that won't let me take its picture) but last year Colin convinced her to get a kitten and this guy joined the family.  Last summer he was still peeing around the house and scratching up things and Marcy was threatening to get rid of him.  Well, if she wasn't planning to keep him, then I wasn't planning to become very attached to him either but Simba has mellowed out and Marcy is completely and thoroughly ga-ga over him.

"Tani, I never thought I'd become a cat lady!"

But a cat lady she has become...
 

Day one in California

I have made it to California! 

The flight was uneventful... squeezed in between two other passengers which made sleeping difficult.

Takumi picked me up at LAX and we made a few detours on the way back to my brother's house.

We stopped at an ultra-expensive juice place to buy juices...   Like $7 a bottle for freshly made organic juice!  I will appreciate my daily homemade fruit and vegetable juice when I get back to Japan.  (I don't know if my homemade juice could be called organic though.) 

Here is my first picture of the summer of my son.  A new hairstyle and for some reason he seemed taller...  Maybe I shrunk.

We also stopped for some fancy hamburgers which we ate out at a park looking over the ocean.  It seemed like a very Southern California way to have lunch.

The next stop was at his workplace...  Sorry about all these family pictures but Tetsu is going to enjoy them on my blog (and this will be the flavor of most of my blog posts this month). 

My working son!  I am so proud of him!

A stop off at Takumi's house/apartment...

 And then home to Grandma!

My mother is looking really good and we all congregated in her "casita".  No, my brother is not wheelchair bound...  He just pulled up Grandma's chair for extra seating room.

Anyway, Grandma is enjoying having a couple other members of the family with her though Takumi will only be around on the weekends.  Our summer is starting off just fine!

Next post... California!

I'm off and away in a few hours.  Can't leave without some last minute sewing!

I put a transparent pocket on Tetsu's swim bag for his membership card.  He is always wishing there was a pocket on his bag...  and the last time I went to the States he ended up quitting going to the pool the month I was gone.  Hopefully my last act of sewing before summer will remind him to go to the pool daily.

I also put in a few minutes on a fabric card for my mother.  I know I will be seeing her in half a day but everyone likes to receive mail!  And besides, I was inspired greatly when I went to patchwork on Friday by one of Mrs. S creations.

What do you think these are?   And how do you think they were made?

Mrs. S does felting and she came across this great idea for making felt circles.  She made a "sausage" of colored wool and then kept adding more colorful wool and felting it until she had gotten to the size she liked.  This is where the tricky part comes in.  She partially FROZE her felt sausage and then cut it with her kitchen knife!  Perfect circles!

I asked for two circles (I don't know how she is planning to use the rest) and made a fabric owl for my mother.

It is pretty 3-D with an extra leaf glued on there too.  It will be winging its way (in an envelope) as I fly across the Pacific myself.

And yesterday we went and visited Tetsu's mother before I left and I convinced her to let me take a picture to show Takumi.

See you in America!