Adventures of January

January is winding up though winter will still be around for awhile.

Tetsu and I had thought about going to an onsen during New Year's but in the end we decided it was too expensive and we waited until the middle of the month before school had started but after most people had gone back to work.  Tetsu found us an onsen in the mountains of Nikko and after entrusting John's care to our vet, and asking a neighbor to come in for the cats, off we went.

Though our part of Nikko has only had a sprinkling of snow once this winter, we were a bit concerned that the mountains of Nikko might have more snow.  As a Southern California girl, if there's snow on the ground that means "No Driving" but Tetsu didn't think he'd have any problems and we headed out.  Though the onsen we were headed to was only a bit over an hour away, sure enough, about 40 minutes into the drive I pointed out snow banks along the road but actually it was quite clear and the roads were dry.  

Still... there was snow that had been snowplowed, around the hotel.

The hotel that we stayed at had a gorgeous lobby yet here and there we could tell that it was past its heyday.  Not too much in the way of decorations (except for the lobby).

The room was wide and we had a picture window view of the opposite mountainside and river running below.  I was thrilled to have the little sitting area where I could spread out my sketchbook and paints and I got to work trying to paint the mountainside.

Before dinner we played a ping-pong for about half an hour, (I don't know why, but traditional onsen always seem to have ping-pong tables available) and then we dressed in our cotton kimonos with jackets and went for a bath.  We made a stop in the lobby again.  You can see how luxurious this place seems.

Dinner was nothing to rave about... a wide buffet of common foods, but it was adequate.  After dinner we went to a family outdoor bath (different times are reserved to guests who want to use it) which was breathtaking.  The night air was icy and the steam from the bath rose around us.

I went to bed that night thinking I'd finish my sketch of the mountainside the next day...  "I'll add a few more trees..."

"Gyaaa!!!"  During the night there was a major snowfall and the scenery had completely changed!!  This was actually a great opportunity to see if I could depict the scene in snowy colors and with less detail.

Breakfast was another buffet meal, and afterwards we went off to the respective outdoor baths for men and women.  The snow around the bath in the light of day was just beautiful!  Actually by the time we were ready to leave that morning, the snow had melted enough that driving was again no problem.  It was a wonderful weekend and made us think about what we like about onsen.

Actually, in a couple more months, Julieta-san and her mother are going to be visiting Japan for a few days and Tetsu and I want to take them to an onsen...  I've already checked to see if Julieta-san's mother is comfortable with public bathing (OKAY!) and so now we are adding up pros and cons of places we've stayed that are not too far from us.  

Onsen, the hot springs, are the most important part of onsen for Tetsu.  A scenic outdoor bath is a must and I like bathing among the decorative boulders rather than just be in a big square bath outside.  Food is something to consider also.  I prefer the separate dishes and meals served to each guest but Tetsu likes buffet style where he can eat a lot!  For Julieta-san and her mother?  I don't know...  buffet-style allows them to pick and choose while a set meal you've either got to eat it (whether you know what it is or not) or leave it...  Onsens with set meals tend to be more pricey as they've got a chef who does a lot of planning and loads of little pieces of decorative pottery are used.  For me, a room at an onsen with a view is always eye candy, and I love to sit and look out at the mountains or river or rice fields or whatever.  Looking out at another hotel is very disappointing...  Little touches like flowers and sometimes even a cookie or two in the rooms is another treat...  A nice giftshop is always fun too though I rarely buy anything in the giftshops...  It is just fun to look through.

So that's how I rate onsen according to our budget...

That's about it for what has been going on in our corner of Japan.

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The big news in Taiga's world is...

...he's learned how to walk!

He is also doing a great job of keeping Leiya on her toes.  Being the mother of two very active boys sometimes makes her want to tear her hair out!

She looks like she's having fun though...

Another bit of big news is....  The Smith family is going to be moving to Colorado!  Tony will be taking a job in a hospital in Denver and so this weekend the family is in Colorado looking for a house or apartment to rent.  This is exciting news for them though Leiya said they were a bit sad to moving farther away from family (in Detroit.... I pointed out she will be moving closer to family in California and Japan).  Still, they have never minded the long road trips back to Michigan to see Tony's parents and grandparents and other family members so I can understand the mixed emotions.

New adventures await!

The first weeks of January 2025

Winter vacation is over and our daily routines have started again...  Not that we had any real change during winter vacation other than to sleep in until 7:00.  We are back waking before the sun is even lightening the skies...  

As with Japanese tradition, Tetsu and I ate a lot of pounded rice cakes, mostly with sweet bean paste, sweet soy powder, and with seaweed and butter.  Nothing in the way of vegetables so I did make a big pot of pork and vegetable soup that we ate for the next three days.  

We realized that just sitting in front of the TV and eating all day wasn't very good for us so we took John out with us and walked to the elementary school picking up trash along the way.  Exercise for us and a good deed done to start the New Year!  

We also got in some pool time and I have decided to put my sports watch to work and see if I can track laps.  Takumi and Julieta gave me this watch a couple of years ago and though I track it for walking I balked at the idea of putting a watch in water (I know... silly.  It's a SPORTS WATCH!) and also could predict that the pool wasn't going to like it either as it has a no jewelry policy.  It (and many places in Japan) also has a no tattoo policy but guests with tattoos, mostly foreigners, get around that by wearing long sleeves or covering the tattoos with large adhesive...  So...  I have been wearing my watch in the pool with a large wrist band covering it, sort of edging around the no jewelry policy...  If they can't see the tattoos it's okay, so if they can't see my watch, maybe it's okay.  No one has said anything to me yet though someone jokingly asked me if I'd gotten a tattoo...

This is not an exciting picture but I have decided to take photos out our bedroom window on the first of  every month to record how the construction of the factory that will be built behind us progresses. 

January 1st, nothing started yet, though since then workers have be doing some deep soil testing.  Stay with me to watch how the landscape changes.

Here is a zoom shot on a prettier day.  We are hoping that though there will be a road passing right behind us, the actual factory will not disrupt our view of Mt. Nantai.  That may be wishful thinking but as far as we understand the construction plans that have been sent to all of us in the neighborhood, the factory should be farther to the south of us... (this photo is towards the north).

Trying to capture the scenery in my bullet journal.

Goodness, I can't think of much else I did during the holidays except take online art classes, so I have an awful lot of sketches and paintings of things that have nothing to do with my daily life.  They are great for learning but not so great for showing...

I have started a new quilt with Stitched In Color.  It is a Scrap Cabin quilt and my goal is to use up the bin of fabric strings I have.  I'm already questioning if I want to make this bigger than the pattern which is for a square quilt.  I sort of like rectangle quilts but that will make for nearly twice the work and I'm not sure I'm up for that...  

M-san however, spent most of her winter days appliqueing and then hand quilting this Hawaiian Quilt piece.  Look at how much detail she put into the quilting!!!!  She seems to find the quilting very relaxing and she certainly does a fantastic job with it!

John has for some reason taken a shine to Tetsu, AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! and will scratch at Tetsu's leg if he wants attention and is very happy to sit on Tetsu's lap.  We have no idea what prompted the change in John's attitude, maybe old age?  but he is very cute and we don't worry QUITE so much about getting bit anymore.

And this is how the above photo turns into a sketch.

And I guess that's about it for the Watanabe family in Japan.  Stay warm and safe!

Happy New Year's!

Wishing you the best from Tetsu and Tanya and the rest of the family!

Winding up the year

2024 is winding up and because we are Japanese (I'M NOT, but I've lived here 47 years!) we are doing end of year cleaning...  To ring in the New Year, everyone wants their house spic and span and despite the cold, windows are being washed, gas range covers are being changed and closets are being purged of all the stuff that got pushed into them during the last 12 months.  Tetsu is still deep in the closet and when I try to help I just seem to annoy him so I'm taking a break to write a blog post.

It snowed yesterday though it didn't stick, and Tetsu has made sure that our tires have been changed over to snow tires.  I think we have food enough to last through the holidays and basically we are sticking close to home...  Influenza is prevalent and we definitely don't want to catch that, so we are back to wearing masks whenever we go out.  The cold has affected us in strange ways such as our cell phones stop working at night until we warm them up.  That shows you how cold our rooms get when we try to sleep without heat!  The battery run clocks have died and so did my car battery.  

One day Tetsu and I went to have a medical check-up at the community center in town.  It is true that in some ways I feel like part of a herd of cattle being moved from station to station to have various tests done, but the whole process was so well organized and well staffed that it was an easy hour.  We turned in our stool samples and were handed a cup to give a urine sample, I was also given a gown and then directed to a station where a nurse took a blood pressure reading and asked questions about medications I was taking etc.  From there I was directed to a curtained off area for an electro-cardiogram test, then an eye exam, a breast ultrasound, a blood test.  I had elected to have a pap smear and so was pointed OUTSIDE to a gynaecology bus while Tetsu went to a barium x-ray bus.  The day's exams were free for Tetsu because he's over 70 and it cost me about $20.  So...  no personal care though you could talk with a nurse if you wanted to, but it was all very efficient.  The results will be mailed to us next month.

Christmas came and went quietly...  I went to church, Tetsu worshipped online as he usually does with our home church in Morioka.  I ordered a Christmas cake, which is a Japanese tradition, and we shared that with the Yamadas when they came over for coffee.  Our gift giving to each other is pretty predictable.  I gave Tetsu socks.  He gave me socks.  Just like last year.  He also gave me handwarmers and ankle warmers (just like last year) and I gave him an assortment of portion coffees (just like last year).  Tetsu bought me shoes (same ones as he bought me last year... he can order them online) and also a BEAUTIFUL towel to use at the swimming pool.  He's bought me a towel a few years ago too but this one is gorgeous (I've already had compliments from my pool friends!)  

One change is that I didn't knit Tetsu anything this year as he no longer wears sweaters and vests and has quite a few neckwarmers, but together we did buy him a new transistor radio... exactly the same as the one he has used for the past 10 years.  We are not much for variety.  I guess we know what we like and so just buy the same thing year after year.

Another reason why Christmas went by so quietly is that it was a normal workday for me.  The school children had school that day so I was at the crosswalk bright and early, and afterwards I had a Traffic Safety meeting at the City Hall.  From the 26th however, winter vacation started and we have been enjoying some sleep-ins on frosty mornings.   

I did some last minute sewing and made my final quilt of the year.  I had brought back all these little triangles from Indiana that were leftover when I was making baby quilts for Leiya and I just wanted to use them up somehow.  

I didn't have much of a plan but made them into small flying geese for a somewhat modern quilt.  I had thought that this was going to be a larger quilt but it is what it is.  

I don't have anyone in mind for this as it was made just to use up fabric...  and I took that aim onto the backing too...

And with that, here is my round up of quilts I made in 2024!  From center left, and actually the quilt above and to the right, these are the baby quilts I made for Leiya to give to her friends.  Those three are the same pattern, just different colors.  On top is a Mexican Star quilt I made for a college friend.  The Wonky Word quilt I made for Takumi.  The strip quilt I made just to practice machine quilting with M-san who made a similar quilt.  She and I also made identical rainbow star quilts to practice machine quilting.  The labyrinth quilt went to Julieta and above that is a mola quilt that I worked on in an air-conditioned room during the summer.  There at the bottom is the last quilt, no name yet, and the Misty Mountains quilt is to go to Leiya someday but I don't trust the post office yet so I'm keeping it safe for her... 11 quilts and a few minor sewing activities like bags, Taiga-kun's Christmas stocking, and a toothbrush rug.  It was a good year for sewing!

Hope you all had a merry Christmas!

December is cold!

A few weeks have gone by and things are quiet again.  The days are REALLY cold and the nights colder!!!  At night I have fleecy pajamas on and a neck warmer and ankle warmers and recently I even wear a knitted hat!  The reason?  Our bedroom, our HOUSE is cold!  We have a kerosene heater going thoughout the day in our main room but the heat doesn't get upstairs and neither of us like to have the air conditioner/heater blowing down on us all night.  I do set an electric mat at our feet that warms up the bed somewhat (though Tetsu doesn't like it on all night) but the greatest warmers are the two cats who cuddle deep with me (not Tetsu!)

Tetsu readying my car for me to go to the crosswalk.

In the morning I throw on some fleece lined pants and a fleece sweatshirt as well as heavy socks and gloves and with my crosswalk guard's overcoat (not warm!) I am ready to face the freezing morning for an hour standing in front of the school... While I get dressed, Tetsu warms up my car and scrapes off ice from the windshield.  A great treat is when I get back from the school Tetsu has a mug of hot, sweet coffee waiting for me!  Heaven! 

Autumn wasn't very colorful this year...  We hardly got any deep oranges and reds though the ginko trees were a beautiful yellow.  This photo is of the ginko tree grove in front of the University hospital where I go every two months.  

At the end of last month, the neighborhood had a mochi (pounded rice) event and old and young came to watch the rice being pounded in a traditional mortar which was then served either with sweet soy powder, or sweet beanpaste, or grated radish.  It was great fun for the observers to shout a rhythmical cheer as the pounder raised the mallet and the turner flipped the steaming hot rice for more even pounding.

Our two old cats find places to stay warm...  Cleo, the darker of the two, is 20 and the winter is getting into his bones...  There have been a couple of days recently when we weren't sure he was going to hold out much longer but he seems to bounce back...

One of my English classes has evolved into a craft class...  We USED have free chatting time and then we'd spend the last 30 minutes reading a chapter of a book together and afterward I'd ask questions, but once we'd finished our last book they opted for more free chatting time and less study.  One friend is VERY good at thinking up different crafts to try and so we've made pompoms and used dried flowers to make wreaths, we've done some hand sewing and some knitting, and one of the last times we were together we did some Japanese paper cutting.  I've really enjoyed this craft before and I'd like to get back to it...

Last week, after a couple of hours at the pool, Tetsu and I were driving home after dark when I noticed at the side of the road an eldery lady  sitting on a divider overlooking a stream.  She obviously shouldn't have been sitting there so I jumped out of the car and ran over to take her to some place safer and find out why she was where she was.  She actually seemed quite chipper even though it was dark out and the temperature was only 40 degrees F. (5 degrees C)!  We put her in our car and asked where she was trying to get to and she seemed to think her destination was just up the street a bit more and to the left.  

"There's nothing up that street except fields and mountains and a tunnel.  Where are you trying to go?" 

She gave the name of a park COMPETELY in the opposite direction in the center of town, nearly 10 miles away!!!  The lady really wanted us to keep going up the street and to the left but we turned around and headed for the nearest police box.  Despite the fact that she was lost (and didn't know it) the lady could give us her name and said she was 87 years old and that she lived with her son.  We asked if she had a cell phone on her and she did so she tried to call her son which wasn't successful though the call must have gone through because he called back a few minutes later.  The lady however couldn't seem to figure out how to use her cell phone so I got on the phone with the son and I gave him the name of the police box that we were headed to.  Once at the police box, the lady was in good hands and she waved happily to us as we drove away while she waited for her son to come and get her.  

This is the FOURTH time Tetsu and I have found some elderly person on the street and taken them or called the police.  (I one time confronted an elderly man walking along the road alone and suggested that I help him, but he politely explained he lived in a house within sight and took off quickly to get away from me...  I may be a bit too enthusiastic about helping elderly people out walking...)

And here is a photo taken moments ago of John ACTUALLY SITTING ON TETSU'S LAP!  Will miracles never cease!  John has mellowed out quite a bit, but he is getting up in years too...  He and Tetsu have become friends (on John's terms) and the two of them are very happy together.

Luka got a chance to participate in a Christmas parade in town and he had a great time!

And Taiga has begun climbing and standing.  The two boys keep Leiya busy but they also seem to have a lot of fun together!

To end, here are a couple of colorful pages in my bullet journal!

More Travels

I have been out and about again!  After all these months of not really going anywhere, I've been out and about twice this month!

A short trip that Tetsu and John and I made, was up to the lake region of Nikko as supposedly the leaves were changing colors...  The news had shown beautiful colors of autumn and Tetsu and I decided to head up the mountain, early in the morning before the crowds came.  We later learned that the day before it had taken traffic 6 hours to get all the way up the mountain but as we started out very early and it was the last day of a three day weekend, it was fairly smooth driving all the way.  Unfortunately, the news stations hadn't been showing recent autumn clips of Nikko, or else they have really good filters on what they show because there really wasn't much color yet!

Off in the distance we did see Mt. Fuji which was a surprise! 

Hiroko-san and me

Then a week later, I took off with my friends to Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, on an over night trip.  We had two purposes for this trip.  One was to see the Toshogu Shrine of the area, and yes, it is the same name as the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko.  Hiroko-san who is a guide in Nikko, had taken us on a tour of Toshogu and we wanted to compare shrines (and Hiroko-san wanted to see how a veteran guide guided).  We also were hoping to see Mt. Fuji because Shizuoka is one of the best places to spot the beautiful mountain...

We got a glimpse of Mt. Fuji from the Bullet Train.  It was covered with an umbrella cloud which is rather rare and we heard about on the news the next day!

Four of us left from Utsunomiya on a Tuesday morning, and one friend joined us near Tokyo and another friend met up with us in Shizuoka. 

There is a folktale in this area, about a celestial maiden who was tricked into performing a dance in order for her to return to the heavens and so we got into the mood by dressing up in maiden clothing and posing before a PHOTOGRAPH of Mt. Fuji.  It was still hiding behind clouds when we arrived in Shizuoka.  This is why a girlfriend trip is so much fun...  We laughed and said how we'd never act so silly if we were on a trip with our husbands!

Sachiko, me, Eiko, Mari, Hiroko and Kaoru.  Alas, one more member of our group couldn't attend as she's been having health problems.  She was with us though as we remembered all the other trips the 7 of us have taken together.

Mt. Fuji was spotted behind the clouds again.

The area was also famous for the thick, bent pine trees that line the coast.

My depiction of the pine trees and coast.

We stayed in an traditional Japanese style hotel and ate loads of seafood and delicious morsels of food!

The next morning we woke up early hoping to see the sun rise over Mt. Fuji, but again it was playing hide-and seek and wasn't out.  Instead, we played around like girls again (not like the 60's to 80's year olds we are!)

As you can see, the shoreline was really rocky, making it hard to walk, but I found a Mt. Fuji rock and watched the sunrise over that!

Mini Mt. Fuji

We visited a small shrine and enjoyed the morning.

We hoped to see Mt. Fuji from a famous look out point but no luck this time either!

But Mt. Fuji could be found in other unexpected places!

Faintly.... very faintly...

And then it was time to meet our guide (who spoke English, German, Korean and Chinese as well as Japanese of course!)  He has been a guide at Kunozan's Tosho Shrine for 20 years.  He had a lot of information to give us but I'm afraid all the high steps wearied us long before our guide was finished explaining everything!

A gorgeous and impressive place!

We said goodbye to Sachiko-san and boarded the Bullet Train to take us back to Tokyo.

And look who came out to see us off!   Beautiful Mt. Fuji!

And those were the photos we took (and pages from my sketchbook once I was home).  We are already talking about where we'd like to go on our next trip!

Back in Nikko... I'm sewing...  Actually doing maintenace work on a quilt whose binding had become threadbare.  M-san comes regularly and I MADE her make a Mexican Star quilt of her own.

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Leiya sends photos to us regularly too...

Taiga-kun is scooting around and keeping everyone in smiles.

I love this photo of Leiya though she says she was dressed up for Halloween...

Tony isn't going to be able to do this too much longer!

And Luka's pre-school photo with him trying hard to smile brightly.

And I guess that's about it for this post!  Thank you for sticking with me!