House Cleaning - Metaphorically

The periodic lack of new posts doesn't necessarily mean I don't have any ideas for something to write about. I get ideas all the time, I just don't always take the time to take a photo and upload it and write the piece.  Today I have for you several things I wanted to share with you. At left is a photo of part of my current project for my quilting class.  Sensei set a class project some time ago that started with maple leaves in autumn colors.  I haven't photographed them yet, but they were meant to be a border for a central picture that will together hopefully, someday, be a wall hanging.  The original idea was that a house would go in the center.  But sensei decided that I should do a church for the center of my piece.  So I found a free pattern on the Internet for this nice little church which  I completed by paper piecing. The finished block was square, and for a wall hanging I thought it should be oblong in shape. So I said I could put a tree next to the church.  Sensei thought this was fine and showed me some examples of trees in quilting books.  I went home and came back with this stylized pine tree.

Sensei was not impressed.  In fact she expressed some confusion. "Is this the tree we discussed, Jyojia san?" Well, no it wasn't exactly.  I had kind of slapped it together and put fabrics where they fit rather than where they looked best. So we looked at the trees in the books again and I chose a specific one to copy. That tree, shown at the right was more what sensei had in mind. In fact she liked it. so I uprooted the original and planted the new tree. So now sensei thinks I should put some people going to church in the scene.  Sensei, she's full of ideas.

That last paragraph reminded me of something else I wanted to tell you about.  Living in Japan and working closely with British and European coworkers these last three + years, the "R" has disappeared from my name.  Both names now that I think about it.  My Japanese friends call me JYOja san and the last name is AnDAson. The Europeans tend to say Jiyojia with more vowel sounds. The British sometimes say JOwja. To tell you the honest truth, I really hadn't paid much attention till another friend recently addressed me as Georgia, fully pronouncing the R sound that it struck me that I hadn't heard it for a very long time.

On to two of my ways of coping with the cold weather (in comparison to Florida) this winter.  The picture here is of my foot in a sock with toes.  These socks have been available here for a very long time.  I think the better ones are knit with silk yarn. These are acrylic.  As you may know, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes a couple years ago.  My Medical Advisor advised me to be careful of my feet.  The pain I had in my toes sometimes was possibly related to the ailment and I should do what I could to encourage good circulation. I have observed that my feet hurt less when they are kept warm. So I decided to try these socks, especially since the toe box in my winter shoes is roomy, and I found that if I did a lot of walking my toes tended to get mashed together and at times overlapped each other.  I could go on, but that's probably more than enough. 

 On the other extremity I am wearing fingerless gloves.  I get them at the 100  yen shop and have probably 4 or 5 pairs. These have little latex dots that help with your grip. They keep the majority of my hand warm while allowing me to type or sew or knit unencumbered by glove fingers. I still have little cracks on my thumb and forefinger, but my hands don't cramp or ache when it's cold. In addition to the socks and gloves I usually wear several layers of clothing all over. It's not the North Pole, but it is cold for someone like me. My apartment doesn't have central heating and everyone here is trying to conserve electricity this winter, so I only heat the room I'm working in. It would be okay with me for spring to come any time now.