A Christmas Outing

December 23rd is a national holiday in Japan, it is the Emperors birthday, so a few years ago we started a tradition where we get together with friends and have a trip into Tokyo. We go to the Hobgoblin in Shibuya for lunch, there isn't usually anyone else in there that early so it doesn't matter if the kids run amok. We fill our boots with good old English grub and beer/cider before heading off to the Metropolitan kids hall, 10 minutes up the road, it is a 5 floored play centre and all free. The kids enjoyed the clown show last year so we made a point of getting there to watch it again this year. Then the kids ran themselves silly, Ebi-kun LOVES the music room, they have all kinds of instruments for the kids to try, must say that the drum kit is looking a bit battered now. Around 5pm, we all got together and headed down to Shinjuku to see the pretty lights before collapsing on a train home. I always enjoy this day out, it feels like the holiday season has finally started.

A Merry Christmas To You All

and if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a lovely 25th!

ps. I didn't win the Spoonflower competition, I didn't really expect to with all those girlie designs, thank you to all those that voted, I am still hoping the fabric will arrive today so I can make the pants up for Christmas!

Last Chance....

To get your vote in, voting closes today (22nd), so if you haven't voted yet and you are full of Christmas cheer and good will then pop over and vote for my fun, cool and stylish boys pants, the coolest kids pants on the block!

If you get a 'you already voted' message but you haven't, try a different browser.

For those who have voted, thank you again for your support, I promise this is the last voting post!

The Shop

Just wanted to let you know that the shop will be staying open over the holiday season but, I won't be able to mail goods out as quickly as usual. Everything in Japan closes up for new year, we will be back to normal by the 4th.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me this year both by buying my goodies and morally, I really appreciate it. I have made some wonderful friends, some I have even met in person. It had a been a good year and starting the shop off slowly has given me the confidence I needed, when Ebi-kun goes to kindy in April, I feel I will be ready to step up and hopefully make this little business a little bit bigger.

Enomoto Bokocho Ice Candles

Enomoto farm is one our favourite places to visit, they have a few animals to pet, you can watch the cows being milked using a fancy 100% automated machine, there are loads of bikes and trikes for the kids to ride on in the yard and they sell the best ice-cream for miles around. Last year we found out about the ice candles so I made certain that we wouldn't miss it this year. The weather was perfect (and really cold). We did get there a bit early and they were still setting up, so we had a wander down by the river.

They also give out free soup, hot, hot soup, so good. So we went upstairs in the barn to eat, when we came out, it was properly dark and the candles looked great. Next year is the Chinese year of the tiger....
This is a Sea Angel, very cute and there were several other designs including a Santa and a Christmas pud.
They freeze the water in milk cartons and a handful in bowls, they have a big freezer for the ice-cream, I assume sales are down in the winter so they have more space. Some of the candles are coloured, they are very effective. We had a great turn out of playgroup friends too, it is a nice way to get into the Christmas spirit without having to battle the crowds to looks at the lights.
One good thing about celebrating Christmas here is that you don't get bombarded with TV ads, when I go to get my last minute veg and groceries on Christmas eve, I will not have to fight my way around the supermarket, it will be like shopping on any other day and there is not that expectation of a thousand presents under the tree. For most it is a normal school/work day, the kids will get a present (maybe), KFC dinners and strawberry shortcake will be eaten and that is it. Now, the run up to New years, that is a whole different story...

Not much time left to vote, get a wriggle on if you haven't already done so....

My Birthday

I decided rather last minute, that I didn't fancy staying at home for my birthday - mainly because I would end up doing piles of housework, not my idea of fun. So, I invited my neighbour Tammy and along with Ebi-kun, first we stopped off for some lunch then we all went to the Saitama Modern Art Museum in Kita Urawa. It is two minutes walk from the station and in a park, so it is quite a nice place to go with kids.

We didn't pay for the special exhibition, instead just had a look in the main galleries. This was one our our favourites, a little man standing on top of this big mountain, it is even more impressive when you see the painting up close...

They are all individual grains of rice!

There were also a family of Elephants hanging out in the main gallery

Downstairs, there was art being displayed from various high schools around Saitama, I let Ebi-kun loose with the camera so we have a great collection of blurry photos, I did manage to get a couple of shots in. I love this one of the albino peacock, very eye catching.
And we all liked this one, I asked Ebi-kun what was wrong with the picture and he pointed out the penguin with the backpack and then the one flying upside down, and then the one carrying the baby but he didn't once say it was odd because the penguins were flying. When I mentioned it to him, he told me, in no uncertain terms, that penguins can fly, it is just that they do it under water.
After the gallery, we had a play in the park, until we all started to turn blue, then we headed to Starbucks for a nice hot coffee to warm us up before heading home. My hubby managed to get home in time to do the bath and bed thing with Ebi-kun so it was a nice relaxing end to the day.

and just on the off chance that you haven't voted yet, why not pop over now, it will only take you a minute or so!

Rig Watch #2

Uncle Dave is still making his way to the Falklands on the oil rig, I sent him some questions from readers and Ebi-kun.

Ebi-kun asked, is it scary getting on and off the rig?

Yes, it's very scary when we have to change crew by the billy pugh (photo in this post), we usually get on and off by helicopter, like this one.

Is it all guys or are there women who work it too?

Traditionally it was only men , but now we do have women , apart from stewardess, there are geologists, engineers, and mud loggers.

What sort of food do you usually fix?

I cook everything, we have to cater for all types. I do special evenings curry evenings, Turkish, Greek , St Georges Day, Robbie Burns, Chinese, Indian, anything! This time I have done a St Andrews Night (see the photos)
Why do they move the rig from off scotland to Falkands? No more oil? I thought the oil rig were firmly stuck on the sea bead forever....thank you for sharing ...

We are going to the Falklands because they think there is oil there, we are a drilling exploration rig we can sail, we have thrusters which enable us to get into position, but for any distances we need a tug to tow us there. When we are in postion , we get the tugs to put out our anchors, 16 of them, we still move with the sea the drilling pipes stay still. There is still oil in Scotland,and the rest of the UK and gas in the south of England.

Where does the poo go?

The poo goes to what we call a red fox unit where bugs break it down and it get treated and put to the fish to eat mmmmm*

*and people wonder why I don't eat fish!

How many people are there usually on the rig?

We have 120 beds usually around 115 onboard at any one time, its a full hotel service, making beds, cleaning etc.

How long have you been on the rigs and have you ever had a fire or scary experience on the rig?

I've been on the rigs for 20 years we have had some scary moments, fires, nearly tipping over or turing turtle as we call it, I don't get sea sick but I've seen some who do and it's not nice.

Sorry Emma, I couldn't ask him if he had worked with your dad, because I don't know your dads name!

Thank you to Uncle Dave for taking the time out to answer all our questions, the lastest message I got was to say that is was rough weather, gale force 9! brrrr, a sailors life is not for me!

There is still time to cast your vote, if you haven't had chance to yet, come on, help me put the cool boys pants at the top!

Thank you!

For all the birthday wishes, I had a lovely day yesterday, we went to the art museum, I will post pictures later, the camera battery is re-charging as I write.

Uncle Dave has answered the rig questions, so I will put up the next rig-watch post as soon as I get the time, apparently the weather is a bit choppy out there at the moment!

Some people have emailed me to say they are having problem with the voting, getting a 'you already voted' page before they actually voted. I can't actually link to the voting page, you have to go via the Spoonflower blog and the link is in the text UNDER the picture. I asked the staff at Spoonflower about the problem, they said to try a different browser, I'm not sure if it is a specific browser that is causing the problem. Anyway, you have until Tuesday to try again, why not pop over now *cheeky wink*

As I did NOTHING yesterday I am playing catch up today, I will try and get back later, no promises as we are off to see the ice candles this evening then I have a gals night out to go to.

It's my birthday....a favour....and a giveaway....

Yes, it is true, I am one year older and one year closer to the that big 40 EEk! Now, a few weeks back Spoonflower announced that an up-coming contest was to design an item of kids clothing which only used 1 yard of fabric and included sewing instructions, when I saw it, I though great, the push I needed to get some of those hair-brained ideas made into real clothes. For those who don't know, Spoonflower is a company that allows you to upload your designs and print them onto fabric, I have used their services several times and have been very impressed, in fact that is where the Organic Space Cadets get printed.

So, with no further ado, this is my design...

It is for a pair of boys (or tomboy like girls) pants, and we all know how much boys like to keep very important things in their pockets, screwdrivers, pens, bolts, pieces of string, emergency chocolate, all essential items, just ask Macgyver or The A-Team. These pants have all the essentials already in the pockets plus the pocket patches have a walkie-talkie, turbo boost and hyper power controls, seriously, what more could a boy want? They are super easy to make and the instructions are printed on the fabric.

Although I have ordered the fabric, it hasn't arrived yet, but here are the photos of the proto-type pattern, I used denim and some space cadets for the patches on the pockets....
They are so easy to sew, three seams then hem the waist, insert the elastic and hem the legs and you are done! Ebi-kun says they are very comfortable, he doesn't like jeans, he says that they are too hard so I wasn't sure he would want to wear these but he does actually love them
The pattern entered is for age 4-5 years (110cm) but I think I will be able to scale it down for smaller kids. So.......the birthday favour... please vote for me! It is simple, just pop over, via here and click on the cool boys pants (which ever patterns you click on will have a green box around them and remember to click on the final button at the bottom of the list). It isn't hard to miss mine since all the other designs are very much cutesy-pretty-girlie-girlie. Which is fine but boys get such a raw deal. Just think about when you go to a kids clothes store, usually 75% of the store is made up of pretty and cute girls clothes and then there is one corner with the same-ole same-ole boys stuff, think diggers, dino's and camouflage print *yawn* Boys need cool clothes too!

I was feeling pretty good about the design until I saw all the other entries, I was expecting lots of girlie designs but I didn't expect to be the only boys design, I would like there to be more cool things for boys but I suddenly felt disheartened and having serious second thoughts - what was I thinking? It is too late now for me too pull out!

So, please, (I am not below begging) vote for me! and IF I win, I will pick a random winner and make them a pair of the pants or something more suitable if they don't have kids or whatever. When you vote, let me know, one way or the other, leaving a comment here, twitter DM, a FB message, email (jojoebi.designs at gmail dot com), carrier pigeon etc. and I will put your name in the hat. To up the chance of their being a giveaway, get all your friends, family, neighbours and any random people you might bump into to vote too.

Does this sound like a plea of a desperate woman? I don't care, I have more things to worry about, like turning 40 next year! Is that a grey hair......?

Let it snow, let is snow, let is snow....

We cut out lots of origami snowflakes for one of the advent activities then decided to make it snow in the genkan. Daddy-ebi had a bit of a shock when he came home :o)

Our new favourite book

I spotted this in the book store the other day, and you know how I am a sucker for a book with beautiful illustrations. It is a puzzle book and also a gallery!

Each page is designed by a different artist and the styles of the pictures are completely different. Each double page had a picture printed twice BUT there are 7 small differences on each page.

This is Ebi-kuns favourite page but it is also the most difficult, we still haven't found all the differences on this page!
All the illustrations are based on Christmas, it really is a very cute book and Ebi-kun has spent several hours already studying it. I think it will be a perfect book to put away after Chritsmas, ready to do it all again next year.
The book depository doesn't stock it but here is the ISBN in case you want to track a copy down 978-4-426-80591-3 and it is called Christmas Gallery.