Hard to Resist

ソファでパソコン広げながらお菓子を食べていたら、ユキの切ない目線。
目があったら最後、お菓子もらえるまでじ～～～っとしてるわよ、この犬。

Lord of the Flies

イギリスの作家、ウィリアム・ゴールディングの１９５４年の小説、「蝿の王」を読みました。

日本ではあまりなじみが無いけど、映画化もされています。
何年も前に映画を見て、あまりに衝撃的でびっくりしたのを覚えています。
そんなわけで原作を読みたくなって、図書館から借りてきました。

ヒジョーに難しい本です。青少年向けなのがびっくりするぐらい。
南太平洋の無人島に飛行機が不時着し（墜落したのか？）、生き残ったのは中学生以下の少年のみ。救助されるように煙をたこうとするも長続きせず、リーダーを決めて秩序のある暮らしをしようとするも、結局少年たちは怠惰に暮らし、対立グループは野蛮かするばかり、という話です。
青少年向け無人島話に良くある冒険活劇を想像したら大間違い。
とても悲しい、悲しい話です。
映画がお勧め。

I watched the movie adaptation of Lord of Flies years ago. I remember the heavy gut feeling watching the movie.
The book was... It took me over 3 weeks to read the first 40 pages. I just did not like the writing at the beginning. Too scattered. It got better afterwards but it was a very slow reading.

This is heavy stuff. I don't know how this book is categorized as Teen book.

WIP: Butterick 4443 Polka Dot Dress Day 2 & 3

このワンピース、あきらめるかも。

I might just abandon this pattern.

Butterick B4443

I have made 3 muslins so far. Originally cut a size 12, then the back gaping was too much so decided to cut size 8 and then do a FBA.

 I liked the fitting of the back but the front was not right at all, so went back to size 12 for the front and used size 8 for the back (I think).
Then lengthen 5/8", shorten at shoulder, took in the CB, I don't know how much at this point, front still gaped so pinched a bit, let out at waist, took in under bust, took in top of the princess seams for both front and back. I will have to fix neck line.

Fit is much better now. But I just don't know if I want to use this pattern. I feel like I should be properly making my own custom sloper if I have to go through all these fitting changes.

I have another princess seam dress pattern I could try. ...Hmmmm. I will have to sleep on it.

Attempt to Grow Avocado

アボカドを食べるたびに、種を取っておいて芽が出ないか試しているんだけど、なかなか成功しません。

Windowsill Garden

青いプラスチックコップに入っているのがアボカドの種です。
こうして楊枝をさして半分水につけておくと、下から根が出て、上から芽が出てくるらしいのよ。
根が出るとこまでは行くんだけど、まだ芽が出るにはいたらず。
ちなみに一番手前はスイートバジルで一番奥はパープルバジル。枝を切って水に入れておくと根が出てくるので、ちょっと増やしてみようかと思っている。でも増やすほどバジルを料理に使っているわけではない。

Have been trying to grow avocados. Supposedly, if you put the seed half in the water, the root will grow from the bottom and sprout from the top. Well, we have gotten roots for previous ones, but they never grew more than that. Since avocado seeds are just kitchen scrap, I shall try again and again.

I am also trying to propagate sweet basil and purple basil from the garden outside. Not that we need more basil, but why not.

Pattern Notcher

Since I was ordering a medical exam table paper (as a tracing paper for patterns) from Amazon, I also ordered a pattern notcher.

I am really bad at remembering notches when I cut fabric, and this little slit in the pattern makes the notch marks more visible against the fabric so I like it.
Plus I feel like I am a train conductor who notches the old fashion train ticket.

San Diego

サンディエゴに住むお友達夫婦から荷物が届いた。
入っていたのはサンディエゴのマグカップ、焼肉ソース、抹茶あられ。
添えられていたメッセージは：

「サンディエゴへの招待状です、受け取ってね」
ちなみに前サンディエゴに遊びに行った時に焼肉屋さんと日本のスーパーに一緒に行ったので焼肉ソースと日本のお菓子なのです。
ここんち新生児がいるから忙しいかと思ってたんだけど、ここまでされたら遊びに行かなくちゃねぇ。

This Week's Okra

オクラの収穫１週間の記録。

Okra and Eggplant

ナスはそろそろ落ち着いてきたけど、オクラはまだまだ２日に１回は収穫しないとたけのこのように生え続けています。

Okra and Purple Basil

普段は面倒くさいので茹でたりとかしないで生のままサラダに入れてもりもり食べるんだけど、収穫するばかりで食べなかったらたまってしまったので、全部オクラフライにしました。

The eggplants are getting slower to produce but the okras are still living strong!
I have to harvest them every other day or they will grow too big. I didn't eat much for the past week and accumulated a lot so made them all into fried okra. Yum.

WIP: Butterick 4443 Polka Dot Dress Day 1

ワンピースに取り掛かりました。
モデルが着てる黄色いのの予定。

Butterick 4443

Now that my machine is back from service, I have started my next garment project, Butterick 4443.

I have decided to make View C, the yellow dress the model is wearing, less bow belt.
This will be my very first, woven, fitted bodice dress. I really like the princess seam bodice.

Looks so simple...

I wanted to make it right, plus somehow I knew that the fitting will be a bigger issue for a fitted bodice woven dress than a knit dress, I decided to make a muslin.

Amazingly bodice uses so little fabric

I know I'm supposed to draw lines and stuff on muslin but my knowledge base is not there yet; I still have a lot to read about how to make a proper fitting muslin, so I just went for simply cutting the fabric (old bed sheet) for bodice pattern pieces.

First muslin after ripping the CB 3x

The pattern had this fold line for petite, separate from lengthen/shorten line (I don't know what the difference is). Since I'm only 5'3", which is technically a petite height, I went for it and folded the patterns short by 1 inch. Well, I think I need that 1 inch back for the front, and I will probably have to do sway back adjustment by 3 inches or so (what is wrong with my back?).

But the biggest problem was the neck gaping. It was gaping in the front, and gaping big time in the back.
Of course, a day like this when I needed an extra set of eyes and hands to see and work on the fitting on my back, the Man of the House was gone fishing so I had to kind of blindly pinch the extra fabric.

I am quite not happy with the fit yet; will require a 2nd muslin. But I will have to figure out how to fix the front neck gaping and sway back adjustment first.

I work hard

犬を飼っている同僚が、「私たち、これよね」と言ってポスターか何かの写真をプリントアウトした紙をくれた。

My co-worker gave me this print-out.

直訳：私の犬がより良い生活を送れるようになるために私は頑張って働くのよ。
しっかり壁に貼り付けました。

My Machine is BAAAACK

メンテに出していたミシンが帰ってきました！

Super Clean Inside!

本格的にミシンを使う人は１年に１回ぐらいはメンテに出すらしい。
私はそんなに本格的ではないので、１０年に１回。
というか、１０年前に義母のお古のミシンをもらってから初めてのメンテナンスです。
義母もこのミシンはバックアップ用だったので、一体最後のメンテは何十年前だったのでしょう。（ちなみにミシンと私は同い年）
特に壊れていたわけでもないんだけど、帰ってきたミシンで試し縫いしてみたら、まるでバターを縫うように滑らかでした。違うな、やっぱり。
そして何年も切れっぱなしだった電球も、ちゃんと新しいのがついて帰ってきた。
さぁ、これでやる気満々よ。

My machine is back!
I know those who sew seriously recommend the machine to be serviced every year, but since I'm not such a serious sewer, I guess it was once every decade?
This is my first service ever since I had this guy handed to me a decade ago from my mother-in-law.
Since she had this guy as her back up, I don't know when it was serviced last.
(By the way, I'm same age as my machine. We are meant to be together)

Although my machine had been working just fine before, it sewed like butter when I tried on a scrap piece of fabric. Plus it's so nice and clean inside.
Maybe my tension dial was tweeked? My basting stitch looks much nicer and does not pull like it used to.
My light bulb had been dead for years and my machine came back with a new bulb. No more sewing in the dark.

Now I am so motivate to sew!

This Weekend's To Do List

私はリストマニアなので、やるべきこととか、旅行の荷物とか、食料品の買い物とか、常にリストに書き出します。
今週末のすることリスト：

This weekend's to-do list

 することリストは書き出して、冷蔵庫に張って、終わったものから線を引いて消していきます。
犬の散歩は２度書き出して、土曜日に散歩したら消し、日曜日に散歩したらまた消すわけよ。
リストを書き出すのも好きだけど、それ以上にやり終えて消すのが好きだから、リストはなるべく細かく書き出すことによって、（犬のブラシがけと犬の爪きりは別ということ）各項目を終えたところでより高い達成感が得られるのです。
・・・なんてうんちくだけど、要するに書かないと覚えていられないだけなんだけど。

I love making lists. I always have lists for to-do's, things to pack for travel, grocery, etc.
I often write up a to-do list for the weekend and tape it on the fridge.

They key is to make every item small but specific so that I get to cross off many items. Because, after all, crossing off the list item is the fun part. So I have 2 entries of walking dogs (one for Saturday and one for Sunday), and entries for every bit of different tasks separately (like brushing dogs and trimming dogs nails).

Let's see how many I can actually cross of before the end of the weekend.

Lonely Dinner

今日は一人で夕ご飯。前回の一人夕ご飯に引き続き、またしてももらい物のニジマス。

Baked rainbow trout for lonely dinner again.
Recipe:
1 Rainbow Trout, cleaned and gutted.
Rub the fish with olive oil.
2 pieces of butter in the belly flap
A pinch of salt
A pinch of lemon pepper
A pinch of paprica
A pinch of curry
A pinch of cumin
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (because this was a big fish)
No brainer.

Old Photos

昔の写真を整理中。
２００４年。
ライチもエコーも顔、黒っ。１０年前かぁ。
ライチ推定１歳前後、エコーは３歳かな？

Dogs 2004

２０１０年。
エコーがすっかり白くなったころ。

Dogs 2010

２０１４年。
ユキ登場。

Dogs 2014

最近あまりちゃんとしゃしん撮ってないな。やっぱり２匹そろった写真がいいよね。

Dog with Seizure

半年振りにライチがひきつけ。
慣れたとはいえ、鬼の形相で痙攣している姿を見ると、年も年だし、このまま虹の向こうに行ってしまうんじゃないかと心配になります。

Our 11-year-old, 23-pound, assuming-Norwegian elkhound mix has epileptic seizures. She has been on phenobarbital for many years and we have added potassium bromide this year after 2 days of terrible seizures.

She just had another one; first one in 6 months. Not too terrible like she had last time(when she excreted #1, #2, and anal gland, twice in one night, two days in a row) and she came back pretty normal so nothing to be worried about. According to her last blood test in May, her potassium bromide level is at the lower level, so if needed, we can increase its level to see if that will work. But unless the frequency goes up or her seizure turns bad, we think it's under control for now.

Even though we have gotten used to it, looking at her having terrible muscle spasms with her face turned into something demonic, it makes me sad and worried that she may cross the rainbow like that.
I know she's getting old and someday she will cross the rainbow, but if it has to happen, I just hope it does not happen when she's having a seizure.

Lettus

屋内で育てていたレタスを庭に移植しました。

うまく育つといいんだけど。
実はどうも家の庭、何かの生き物に狙われているようで、もともと植えてあったスイスチャード（レタス系）や、インゲンなんか、ことごとく頭から食べられているのです。
花壇自体が地面から高くなっているので、ウサギがわざわざ花壇に入っているとは思えないので、多分地リスかな。
明日あさって、またしても記録的な大雨が予想されるので、もしかしたらせっかく移植したレタス、生き残らないかも。

Transplanted the lettuce seedlings that the Man of the House was growing inside the house.
I think we got some creature coming to our garden. All of our swiss chard, cucumber, bush beans, and other lettuce that we planted in the garden were eaten from the top.
Since the garden itself is raised, I don't think it's the rabbit. Thinking it's the ground squirrel. I have seen one run across the yard the other day.
Though rain is usually a welcome thing after transplanting, we are supposed to be having another record breaking rain tomorrow. I hope they survive.

Cookie

ボスが巨大なクッキーくれた。

お昼ごはんのデザートに残さず食べた。さすがにでかかった。

Jimi Hendrix Stamps

小荷物を送るのに郵便局に行きました。
順番待ちの列沿いにはディスプレー棚があって、売り出し中の切手が飾ってありました。
私、かなり切手が好き。
そこで見つけたジミヘン切手がかっこよすぎて、即買。

Jimi Hendrix Postage Stamps

とくにシートの裏はまるでレコードジャケットのようじゃないですか！

The back side is like a record jacket!

I love postage stamps. Great art in that tiny square is just amazing.
When I went to a post office to send off a package, the display case along the waiting line had various stamps currently being sold. Jimi Hendrix stamps were just so cool that I could not resist.

I wish we were using more snail mail so that I get to buy lots of cool stamps and use them.

Moment of Paradigm Shift: Why I Sew and How I Should Sew

Echo: May 2005

特に意味は無いんだけど、エコーの写真。２００５年。

Echo's picture has nothing to do with this post. I just miss her.

I have been sewing garment about, what, a couple of years? I have made a few T-shirts, an A-line skirt, and a few knit dresses so far. As you know, I am not a sewing enthusiast who would sew every minute of my free time and produce shirts and dresses every week.

I sew my garment because:

1. More from the necessity: I am what people here call petite, and very difficult to find clothes that fit me well in this country. Yes, now that I am a sagging middle age woman, I fit in size 0 or even 2, but with my short legs and rectangular body, RTW clothes still don't fit me or hang as comfortable as I want.

2. I like making things and building things with my hands; I think it's very rewarding. I enjoy helping the Man of the House do home renovation and if I have lots of time, I like trying to bake bread or make pizza from scratch. I am not an expert in any of what I do, but making things instead of simply buying is very enjoyable.

3. I am cheap. Yes, I totally admit that. I don't want to spend $50 for a simple shirt at Ann Taylor Loft if I can make it myself (and hopefully someday soon I want to venture out to making a woven shirt with front placket and sleeve placket and a collar and all). Of course, by now, I have come to a conclusion that making my own clothes is not necessarily cheaper than buying a RTW. But, many of the big stores that sell clothes for general public don't carry smaller sizes; it seems they all start from size 4 or 6, and if I go to a more brand name stores at a mall that carry smaller sizes, well, they can be expensive.

That's why I want to sew garment.

I really want to learn how to sew garment. How-to books are good, but I am more hands-on person, and to be hones, there are millions of sewing books out there and I don't know what to get. Unfortunately, there are not many sewing classes available where and when I can go. I certainly do not want to drive across town after work; my time is more precious than that.

So, I registered on Craftsy and took a few courses.
Then, I recently purchased Susan Khalje's "The Couture Dress" class (when it was on sale for $19.99).
I did not have any intention to actually follow the class and make a dress. But the class came with a Vogue pattern, and since I was getting my sewing machine serviced and could not work on my sewing project anyway, I started to watch the class.

I binge watched it.
It was a very good $20 investment; the class is LOOOONG! Not in a bad way at all. So much was covered in this 15 lesson class. It was mesmerizing and I just kept watching. I watched it all in a course of 5 days or so.

I am not going into detail of how great the class was to learn about the couture dress making. What prompted me to write this long post and to make a mental note for myself of this moment was that I had a paradigm shift moment while I was watching this class. The teaching of Susan Khalje gave me a whole new attitude towards sewing garment.

Prepare everything right and pay absolute attention to detail. Hand sewing is not a boring chore, it's fast, secure, and precise. Most importantly, enjoy the long and laborious process because that's what makes a great garment.

I'm not saying I should be making couture dresses or any clothing items couture way. I also took Janet Pray's "Sew Better, Sew Faster" class before and I learned a lot from it, too. Since the items of clothing I will be making or need to be making are more practical, everyday wear and work clothes, so I probably don't want to hand-sew or hand-baste a lot of things.

But things just clicked me inside: I should be making garments with quality and shouldn't be lazy about it. I should also enjoy all the work as part of the process.

So that's how I will be sewing from now on.

And Then There Were None

我が家に泊まっていた友人家族が去り、残されたのは洗濯の山。

普段は二人と２匹暮らしなのが、友人滞在中はマックス１０人と２匹で人口密度高かったです。
気の知れた人々なので、朝ごはんとかも勝手に食べてくれるし、自分たちの服の洗濯とかも勝手にしてくれるのでその点は楽よ。「おもてなし」の心配とかしなくてよし。

犬達は幼児３人と中学生というメンツに追い掛け回されてちょっとお疲れ模様だったけど、まぁ、これもいい経験ということで。

それにしても幼児の親は大変だね！２歳児とか、イマイチしゃべれないから何が欲しいのかとかよくわからんし。目はなせないし。
元気な２歳児は、家の中でサングラスをかけて走り回り、こけて顔から着地し、サングラスの縁のねじ部分がこめかみにあたって流血騒ぎになりました。アイスクリーム食べさせておとなしくなってもらいました。いや、笑い事じゃなかったです。

Rainbow Trout

一人で夕ご飯なので、魚焼きます。

釣りが好きなお友達が沢山ニジマスをくれたの。
切って腹出して、きれいにした状態で真空パックで冷凍したやつをくれるので、非常に料理の手間がかかりません。真空パックのまま冷蔵庫で解凍し、テキトーに塩とスパイス振ってバター入れてオーブンに入れればできあがり。

こうして私はいつまでたっても魚をさばいたことがないまま年をとっていくのね。

A friend of ours gave us rainbow trout. He always cleans the fish and freeze them in a vacuum pack so it's super easy to cook: just thaw the pack in the fridge, shake some salt and spice, put a couple of pieces of butter and stick it in the oven.

That's how a middle aged Japanese grows older having never cleaned fish. Shame, shame, shame.

Flooding Day 2

犬の散歩のついでに氾濫した川がどうなったか見に行ってきた。
もうすっかり水ひけてた。

Flooding Day 1

Flooding Day 2

 Went to see the flooded river again. Yup, the water was all gone.

Flooding

記録的な雨に襲われました。
おらが街は普段雨が降らないので、道路の排水設備が全く整ってなく、ちょっとでも雨が降るとすぐ道路が浸水してしまうのです。
町中の道路、特に交差点は巨大な水溜りになり、深さが３０センチぐらいになったり。

この写真はオット撮影。私の小さな車じゃ、こんな交差点、かなり危険。幸い雨が降ってたのは仕事中で、帰るころにはどこも水ひけてたよ。

帰ったらうちの近所の川はびっくりするぐらい氾濫してた。

信濃川に比べたらこんなの屁の河童とおもうじゃない？これがまた、この川、普段は幅３メートルぐらいなのよ。近所の人皆川見に来てたよ。

We are in the state of emergency from record breaking rain.
1. We don't have adequate storm sewers to handle the rain water.
2. When it rains, it rains HARD.
3. Therefore, when it rains, it floods all over the street.

We even have a "stupid motorist law." If you are driving and get stranded in the street that is closed (which is everywhere when it rains), and you have to get rescued out of the flood by the fire department, you will have to pay the cost of the rescue.

The river nearby was flooded big time. I know, it just looks like a proper river to an outsider, but this "river" is usually about 10 to 20 feet wide. It was funny to see all the people stopping to see it. The pedestrian traffic on the bridge almost reminded me of after 4th of July.

I am just grateful that I did not have to drive in the flood. My little econo-box would not have been able to handle this flood.

Cup Noodle

カレー味のカップヌードルが大好きです。
お母さん、ありがとう。

Pineapple

花壇に植えたパイナップルの葉っぱ、順調に成長しています。
実がでるのは一体何年先でしょう。

The pineapple leaves we planted after eating are actually growing.
Somehow I doubt that we will be living in this house when we actually see a pineapple growing on these but we shall see.

Sweet Potato Vine

観賞用芋づるに花が咲いた！
葉っぱも花も、よく見たら朝顔に似てる。

International Wildlife Museum

剥製博物館に行ってきました。
結構お気に入りの場所なんだけど、さすがに私も３度目？４度目？ぐらいで感動も薄れてきた。

我が家のお客様は来週の月曜まで滞在です。

Peacock

おらが街の動物園ではクジャクは放し飼い。

我が家の現在の人口、大人６人、中学生１名、幼児３人、犬２匹。
もういっぱいいっぱいです、私。

B-29

飛行機の博物館へ行ってきました。ちなみに２度目。オットは３度目。
オットは飛行機好きなので、大体どの飛行機見てもすぐ型の名前とか、誰が作ったかとか、何に使われたとかすぐ言える。
・・・時々うざくなる、特に博物館みたいにどこ見ても飛行機だらけだと。
ミサイルも展示してあるんだけど、ミサイルの型も見ただけで言えるよ、あの人は。
前回ここ来た時はオットのお父さんも一緒だったんだけど、それはもう二人がかりで事細かに説明されて、３時間、ある意味拷問でした。

日本人には馴染みの深いB-29。近くでみると大きくてびっくりする。
こんな爆撃機を相手にしたら、ゼロ戦なんて巨人の足にまとわりつくアリぐらいなものよね。

B-29

Ski LIft

連休で来客中なので、観光が続きます。
スキー場のスキーリフトに乗ってきました。

地元の気温が４０度ぐらいだったのが、１時間半ぐらいかけて標高２７００メートルの山の上までドライブしたら、気温は２５度ぐらいで過ごしやすかったです。

Went to a ski lift ride. At the base of the mountain, it was 107 degrees but at the top of the mountain where it was over 9,000 feet, it was only 77 degrees.

Sunscreen Dispenser

観光地のトイレに入ったら、日焼け止めディスペンサーがついてた。
皮膚がん予防に日焼け止め塗りましょうというポスターとともに。

Sunscreen Dispenser

Went into a public bathroom and there was a sunscreen dispenser. Nice.