Busy Days

It has been mad busy here the last few days, with visitors the latter part of the week then Saturday Ebi-kun had football and then we had dinner at a friends house and got back very late then yesterday we spent the day at Ikea but more about that later.

We took my uncle and  family to Kawagoe for the day, it is a lovely city but I don't know it that well so I don't think I make the best tourist guide. We decided to head to the old part of the town first and find somewhere to have lunch, my friend Ann recommended a place near the bell tower which I managed to find but then the menu was all in Japanese so I struggled with the translation, it went something like this...

ermm....well chicken and something

garlic and ermm something

chicken bowl with something

some kind of grilled bird 

eel

you get the picture! The waitress, who I obviously managed to fool with my excellent Japanese when we came in, went to get the picture display from outside, we all ended up with a  good meal so no worries there. It was a bit worrying that I could translate the whole of the drink menu without problem *blush*

A lot of the buildings in the old street are shops selling traditional foods and crafts, so we wandered around sampling this and that and keeping an eye out for large animals which I think were part of an exhibition.

after wandering up to candy street we walked over to Kitain, which is the big temple. The picture below Ebi-kun is walking over the nightingale floor, the floors are designed as a security device so when you step on them they squeak, I'm not really sure why they are named after a bird, they just sound like squeaky floor boards. Ebi-kun is pretending to be a ninja and get across without making a noise - he failed, and so did we.

 

Of course we had to visit the 500 Buddhas again but by this time it had gone really cold so we didn't stay long.

 It was lovely to spend time with Si and Charlotte but even more lovely to have my newest cousin stay, she is adorable and the smiliest child I have ever come across, she never cried, just grumbled a bit if she was hungry, Ebi-kun was smitten and wanted to keep her. They left Friday lunch for the next leg of their trip - New Zealand, hope it is warmer there for them!

bear babby.... tips for writing

Does your child mix up b and d too? Ebi-kun will ask me about 50% of the time which way does b go or d go. He always writes B correctly so I was telling him to think of that and as little b is the same as big B but without the top loop (does that make sense?) 

Anyway, when I was doing the posts for the Montessori Goldmine the other day, I came across 

this post by Little Hands, Big Work which inspired me to write this post today. If you click over to Little Hands, Big Work you will see that her son remembers which way round they go by using sign language. Then in the comments someone left this tip, which is the one we have adopted.......

Give the thumbs up sign then place your knuckles together like this....

the left now looks like a b and the right looks like a d.... 

and together they look like a bed....

Now, whilst we are at it, my cousin taught Ebi-kun how to remember his left and right. I was always taught 'you write with your right' which has been the bane of my life, being ambidextrous this little rhyme just doesn't work for me and I imagine it would be just as bad for a leftie so I have adopted this method too...

Put both hands out and point at the ceiling, then stick your thumbs out at 90 degrees

The one on the left looks like a capital L - simple! as long as your child knows his letters. 

Apparently there is a similar thing using the lines on you palm for remembering the Japanese but I don't remember what it is, Kirsty, if you are reading this please fill me in!

Button Hunt - perfect activity for crafty mamas

Growing up, the button box was always one of my favourite 'toys' and I would spend hours playing with it. Ebi-kun also does the same, he will sort them into colours or shapes, polish them, find ones with magical powers, making patterns in playdoh, flicking them around the floor in his own version of tiddly winks and other such things. Recently he has got a thing for treasure hunts, so I made up this button hunt to keep him out of mischief, I have made it into a PDF so you can download it and do the same. You could easily make a simpler version for non readers or one specific for buttons in your own tin.

button hunting

all done!

Button Hunt

If you need any more button ideas why not try....

Button cleaning (bottom of the post)

Button math

First sewing activity

Button flowers and One More Moore

Threading felt with Montessori Mama

Button napkin rings at Copycat crafts

and if that isn't enough, there are a tonne of ideas here.

Our last week...

was pretty low key, we kicked back and relaxed a bit. My Nanna came to visit, she is 90 and is still full of life and still lives alone. The goblet Ebi-kun has in the picture was discovered in a quest, I had some shopping to do so we put goblet on the shopping list. Then, we had to visit every charity shop in town hoping that a knight had dropped one off when he was passing through Congleton. Luckily, most of the shop assistants played along and helped us with the quest and Oxfam came up trumps, although Sir Ebi-kun was a tad disappointed that it wasn't a jewel encrusted gold chalice!

 It was good to Nanna or Mother Cock as she is better known as these days, normally she stays at my moms for Christmas but there was no room since we had taken over the spare room and my brothers were on the sofas!

Ebi-kun had some putting lessons from papie 

 We had a couple of pub lunches, I was glad to see that there has been a move to have healthier options for kids on the menus these days. Last time we visited almost everywhere we went it was 'something and chips' whereas Ebi-kun would much rather tuck into a plate of pasta or a nice salad.

 Then before we knew it, it was time to head back. Our flight from Manchester was delayed which meant when we landed in Munich they were already calling the final boarding for our connection so we ran through the airport trying to find the right gate, thankfully Munich seemed much smaller than Frankfurt and we made it just in time - Phew! I am really glad we made it to the UK for Christmas whilst Ebi-kun still believes in Santa and the Christmas magic. Obviously I love going back to see everyone but sadly, a trip to the UK doesn't do anything for my wanderlust and to travel outside Japan is sooo expensive, maybe our next trip will be to somewhere more exotic - Ebi-kun is of an age where he can appreciate a foreign land now, the question is where... I quite fancy Mongolia or Bhutan if we opt to stay in Asia or there was talk of meeting up with Di and Rob in South America, I'd love to go to Central America too. Hmm, what I need is a lot of money! Where would you go, if money was no object?

a knight and his steed...

Sir Ebi-kun of Congleton needed a steed and since Spotty was back in Japan we had to come up with a new horse.... yes it is a teddy bear strapped to a piano stool.

 Sir Ebi-kun asked for a saddle but I told him he had to ride bare back. It wasn't until later in the day that it came apparent that he thought I wouldn't make a saddle because he was riding BEAR back (his logic was because the had used a teddy bear to make the horse).

kids - gotta love them.

A very smiley visitor...

This little cutie, my newest cousin, is coming to visit this week, she is bring her parents with her.

C is 6 months old and going on her first tour, they are in Japan for a week then off to New Zealand followed by Australia and then stopping in Hong Kong before heading back to the UK.

Some of the family think that her mom and dad are a bit insane doing such a big trip whilst she is so young, I reckon it is easier to travel with a little one at this age rather than when she gets to 18mths or older.

What do you think? Would you travel with a 6mth old?

In The Garden...

We had some regular visitors in moms garden that kept us amused as we ate breakfast each morning, this little thrush is beautiful and quite bold there was also a cheeky fat robin that I didn't manage to get a decent shot of.

 And then there were the two squirrels who provided hours of entertainment

 They were forever trying to steal the birds fat balls and bags of nuts, it was funny watching them eventually pull down the bag then make off with it along the fence.

I often think of setting up a bird feeder or table in our yard but I worry about the crows, we have a lot of crows around here and they are BIG and nasty, I really don't want to encourage them.

Ice Decorations

I have been wanting to do this since I first saw it a couple of years ago but we don't get the weather for it here. When we were in the UK it was the coldest December on record, perfect for ice decoration making. We raided moms baking draw and got out muffin tins and silicon cake tins and filled them with coloured water, leaves and ribbon then left them over night.

 The wreath was pretty but would have looked better with red berries I think, the orange bits are Chinese lanterns.

 The smaller muffin tin sized decorations we tied to the tree at the front of the house, my mom was making rude comments until a lady came past and started raving on about how great they are and asked if she could take photos too!

 This was a odd one, the blue water was trapped inside the ice but was still liquid, it did freeze solid the next night.

New Years Eve

We spent New Years at Di's and had a lot of silly fun. Di and Rob are music lovers and have loads of vinyl, Ebi-kun has never really seen record before so Rob gave him a lesson of how it all works, at least now he can grasp the concept of a broken record.

Di's friend Sarah came round with her two little ones, her eldest is like a whirlwind and talks sixty to the dozen, I think this was possibly one of the quieter moments, it was cute all three playing together.

 Last time we visited we played 'Rock Band' (I hope I have got that right!) so Ebi-kun decided we had to play again whether anyone else wanted to or not - obviously daddy-ebi was enjoying it just as much as the little drummer boy.

 Once the kids were in bed we had cheese fondue for dinner, it turned into a surreal 70's night with Di donning 'the catsuit' which used to be my grans

 and the rest of us dressed in odd clothes and wigs

 I love this picture of the guys, Daddy-ebi looks ridiculous with a tache. It was a good night in, we had planned to go to the pub in pairs but I am glad we didn't bother, too much to drink and playing games was a much better idea.

a long shot...

I am looking for some hemostats and I hear that doctors/surgeons throw them out on a regular basis, so I was just wondering if any of you happen to be a doctor or know a doctor who has a couple of pairs that they would like to donate to a poor crafter (that would be me!)

I will happily pay for the postage, I want them for turning and stuffing dolls and softies.

thanks!

Cup Cakes

are best when decorated by a 5 year old

don't you think?

WIP's

It has taken me a while get back into the crafting swing of things but now I am back and my WIP pile is stacked up as usual.

a blanket for my new cousin

sound pouches for Yasuyo 

new softies 

latest project for Sew Hip

a prototype for a tutorial

What is in your work in progress basket?

He's behind yooooooooou.......

(December 28th)

Panto 101

I think pantomimes as I know them, are primarily a British thing and when you try to explain what a panto is to someone who has never experienced one you always get a lot of strange looks, so for all you lovely readers who have never been to a UK style panto, here is a breakdown of the panto 'rules'.....

They are always put on around Christmas time and for me Christmas would not be Christmas in the UK if I didn't go to the panto. 

The stories are always well known fairytales such as Jack and The Beanstalk, Cinderella, Puss In Boots and in this case Aladdin.

The leading male character is ALWAYS played by a young woman, here is Aladdin himself herself.

 The leading woman is ALWAYS played by a man - usually a middle aged, over weight man at that, ridiculous over the top outfits are a MUST. Here is the stunning Widow Twanky...

 Audience participation is compulsory, lots of shouting and warning the characters when the baddie comes, there is usually a song where everyone has to get up and sing and join in some daft dance and the cast end up in the audience somewhere along the way.

 At some point a member or two of the audience will end up on stage and there is usually a messy scene within the play, although they are not necessarily done at the same time. It was at this show, the guy in the middle was an audience member, there was lots of mess and a silly chase, Widow Twanky and Wishy-Washy fell over and Widow Twanky lost her wig which just made the whole thing even funnier.

Now, I bet you are thinking that this is a play for kids, well you are wrong, a well scripted panto has lots of innuendos and adult humour too so when the kids aren't laughing, the parents are. It is also fully acceptable for the actors to ad-lib, especially if they manage to make the other actors laugh. Widow Twanky was obviously the queen of ad lib and had every actor snickering at some point, never mind the audience.

Most of the bigger theatres have 'famous' actors in the cast, I hadn't heard of any of the cast but these two were from some kids TV programme apparently.

We had primed Ebi-kun with the lines 'He's behind you', 'Ohhh no it isn't' and 'ohhhh yes it is' so it didn't take him long to get into the swing of it. The show we went to see was at the Lyceum in Crewe and it was brilliant, we all came out with sore throats from the shouting, Wishy-Washy stole the show, he was amazing and Widow Twanky played a star role too. A big thank you to mom for getting the tickets we really enjoyed it!

meme

Di has tagged me for a meme, it is a long time since I have done one of these*, I need to share 7 interesting facts about myself then tag 7 other people....

one

I once lay on a bed of nails, on stage at a punk gig

two

I can't remember learning to ride a horse, my gran gave me a pony when I was 18mths old, so riding is something I have always been able to do, like walking

three

When I go to someones house, in my mind I redecorate the place in my own style

four

I used to be petrified of daddy-long-legs, I still don't like them but I don't run from the room screaming anymore. Spiders I quite like though.

five

I am ambidextrous

six

I hate public speaking

seven

I am a book snob, it really annoys me when I see people mistreating books, according to my mom I have always been like this!

*

I am too lazy to go back and find the old meme's so some of these facts may be repeated!

Now, to pass on the meme, I nominate...

Bagladee

Sycamore Strirrings

Blooming in Japan

Paisley Jade

Sweet Tidings

Vlijtig

Shinshu Life

A mixed bag of bloggers from all over the world!

Boxing day...

(December 26th)

Traditionally, Boxing day has been my favourite day of the Christmas season, when we lived at the cottage it was an open house day, friends and family would come round, there would be much drinking, eating, chatting, games and silliness. This year was a much quieter affair. It started with my mom doing a taxi run to take middle brother Daniel to the airport - he was flying out to Spain to meet his ex and then onto the Dominican Republic with her, that is where she is from. They have a very on-off relationship so heaven knows what it is right now! Then it was onto Bury to pick up my other brothers kids and bring them back for a few days. 

The kids had more presents to open, it was like Christmas mark II, we had kept some of Ebi-kuns presents so that he would have some to open too. Later in the day my step brother and his family arrived so it was pretty much a full house. Ebi-kun's older cousin D doesn't handle crowds well, it seems to stress him out and he gets upset and loud, Ebi-kun wasn't really sure what to make of it all. Once everyone had left and the little ones were in bed D calmed down, he spent a age playing quietly with his lego, like a different child.

 M got lots of Peppa Pig toys, I can't see the attraction myself! It was good for Ebi-kun to have time with his cousins, before now it has only ever been a couple of hours here and there, we do get to see them on ichat but it is not the same as actually playing with them.

 The 27th we played some games indoors then took the kids to the Wacky Warehouse so that they could blow off some steam, it was a good choice, it wasn't busy and the kids wore themselves out. Tom and I made it our mission to get a photo of all three of them together in the balls.... we failed! This is the best shot I got and M had run off.

 I think actually Tom was enjoying it in there more than the kids! The drive over to the Wacky Warehouse is only about 10 minutes but Daddy-ebi was driving - the first time to use my moms car, with 3 kids in the back, snowy roads and 7 roundabouts to contend with, each way (we don't really have roundabouts in Japan). The kids behaved themselves in the car and we made it there and back with only one near miss and Daddy-ebi had a large, well deserved beer as soon as he got back :o)