Let's Talk About Sweat, Baby

I am going to broach a subject we do not discuss in polite UK society, but which has been on my mind constantly now for weeks - sweating.

The english way has always been that "Horses sweat, men perspire and ladies merely glow" (I say 'english' because I've known some right sweaty scottish men but I'm uninformed about the welsh and northern irish.) However, recently I have been not glowly, nor perspiring, but straight-forwardly running with sweat.

Those of you who read regularly will know that the Byrne is no athlete.

(Image from here.)

I therefore do not sweat because of exercise - but just because it is so freaking hot in Tokyo at the moment. For instance, I just cleaned the surfaces and hob in the tiny kitchen which took about 15 minutes. By the end of it I had to go and get a cloth to mop myself down with. My t-shirt was stuck to my back, there were little rivulets of sweat running down my neck and my face was damp all over. Grim. The reason for all this was at 8.30am I thought it would be ok to do some housework just relying on the through breeze resulting from having all the windows open, forgetting that it was already 30 degrees outside and the humidity was over 70%. I've had to close the windows, put on the aircon and have a sit down directly under it to stem the flow.

Putting on air conditioning is something I feel morally opposed to. It uses up energy to cool the room which heats up the machinery and that heat goes outside making it worse for everyone else. Plus it costs money and electricity is really expensive in japan since they shut down all the nuclear reactors after Fukashima. Plus surely I am not such a wimp as to be brung low by a bit of temperature? But no, I am. My family think I'm nuts for not using it all the time but it just seems so...weak. I don't know if I'll ever get used to it.

 

There are basic adjustments such temperature causes the people of Japan to make. The first is that every umbrella you own becomes a potential parasol, apart from the nice see-through one I was given as a leaving present. That would be silly.

The second is that you stick to the shade when you are outside, leading to simultaneous overcrowding and practical desertion on the same street. If you are waiting for a bus or to cross the road you stick to the nearest shady spot, even if it is some distance from the target.

And then there is "the cloth". This cloth doesn't appear to have a name but they are sold in every department store in Tokyo and lots of smaller shops too. Every Japanese person has a selection of them and they are essentially personal hand towels - often a bit like a british face flannel - that is carried around in bag or pocket and used for mopping the japanese invisibly sweaty brow. I haven't seen a japanese person sweat anywhere else. The closest I can find online is Tenugui which are long rectangles of cotton.

They come in every design you can imagine - traditional, manga, cartoon, pop bands, sports teams and so on. Some people frame them and hang them on the wall. Others use them as bandanas or drape them around their necks like small scarves.

All the time it is so hot it is often not actually that sunny, which is definitely better than when it is. When I have been out in the sun without an umbrella the sun has felt so intense on my skin that it was almost painful. This is therefore curtailing my patrols out of doors although giving me more time to craft inside. I have a large quilt I am making at the moment for Nickerjac which I need to spend some time on so this is no bad thing.

By the way, I was looking for photos to illustrate this post using Flickr's Creative Commons search (how do I love thee etc) when, as you do, I typed in 'sweaty man'. It really is amazing what you can find on that site.

What is he looking at?

Flickr Groups - Vintage Book Covers

I do love vintage book covers.

The titles, illustration and blurb are often amazingly misogynistic but then that's the era they're from.

I found all these in a Flickr Group called "Old Timey paperback Books".

Terrible name, but there you go.

I love using Flickr for research and inspiration. And their combining with 'Creative Commons' licensing means you can use many images for free, even in a commercial context.

Not all though.

Fuurin Matsuri - A Wind Chime Festival

I went to this on Saturday and had a lovely time pottering around. It was boiling hot and very humid so the occasional breeze was very welcome, even though the noise could be quite overwhelming after half a minute or so. I made this 10 second video to give you an idea of it.

The actual wind chimes, while numerous, did not take up much room.

Those hanging up were essentially samples, grouped by artist, and you wrote down the number of the one/s you wanted and took that number to another booth to pay and take receipt of yours, suitably boxed. You can buy basic ones with a mass produced print in the 100 Yen shop and in fact I have one with goldfish on and it is very nice, but these were artisan ones. While most were glass there were also quite a few metal ones and others decorated with bamboo. The variety of decoration techniques was fascinating. They varied in price from about 500 yen to more than 5000 (about £30).

You see the glass whales in the middle? A blue one came home with me as a present for my little niece. I would have loved to buy more but those I wanted had metal parts which were very heavy and I have to think about getting this stuff back to the UK.

Nishiarai Daishi Temple, where this happened, is about an hour north of central Tokyo and is a 'working' temple with services going on in the background. The prayer chants and bonging of the gong along with the chime of the chimes and the sound of the waterfall in the garden ponds combined to be quite idyllic. I enjoyed all of them in a medley while watching the fish.

There were actually two gardens - this second one was away from the various noises although probably the most beautiful. It also had more fish and they ranged from minnows to huge beasts the size of a small dog.

The surrounding grounds held many treasures.

In addition this impressive crow - look at that huge beak - had found a big worm - or maybe a centipede which it was subduing and getting ready to eat. He saw me looking at him and moved to the top of this post before checking to see what I was doing.

They are as common here as pigeons in London and we have one who comes and lands on the railing of our balcony with a resounding clang every now and again. I would love to get to know one a bit better. I wonder if they are as freakishly intelligent as they look?

It was all very lovely and I was very glad I went, despite all the travel it entailed on a very hot day.

Pay It Forward

I am a big believer in pay it forward. Also 'do unto others' and other such sayings that turn a good deed into a kind of karmic ponzi scheme. Back in January I joined a 'Pay It Forward' meme on Facebook and have since been very aware that I owed two gifts. I thought deeply about this and decided to go with EPP metal frame purses. I carefully chose fabric. I hand stitched. I joined with blanket stitch using cotton embroidery thread. I lined. I inserted into frame. I threw away because it hadn't worked and they were ghastly.

Well, you know. We live and learn. That's another one I'm fond of. Also "The heart is a muscle..." speech by Bill Murray from Charlie's Angels - the one that came out in 2000. Plus 'Many a mickle makes a muckle'. And of course Terry Pratchett's "We've all passed a lot of water since then" when reflecting on the past. So I made these simpler DPN zippered cases using traditional japanese fabrics and a fabric covered button using something matching.

BOSLEY
All my Angels.  The heart is a muscle.  In body building, we exercise the muscle, and it grows bigger and stronger.  It's the same with the heart.

DYLAN
I must have the heart of a rhino.

BOSLEY
You do.  And you be proud of it.  Mes Anges, these little hurts will heal.  And at crunch time, your hearts will be so buff, you'll be able to clean and jerk his love, three sets, ten reps each.

ALEX
Thanks, Bos.

A Review of the Cat Cafes of Asakusa

I have been doing rather well cat-wise recently. Two new cat cafes last week, a visit to my 'regulars' at Ebisu, and now two new cat cafes this week PLUS a return visit to one of the previous week's ones. During one visit I picked up a leaflet advertising an exhibition of cats in Edo era art (I blogged about an exhibition of this I went to). Looking it up online I found it was 3.5 hours away from here, and briefly pondered a day trip. I wonder if I could have fast-onset CCWS (crazy cat woman syndrome)? I do seem to have overdosed.

Calaugh Cafe

There are nine cats at this place which is definitely the most 'cafe' like of these places I have been.

You are sat at a table to start with and given a drink menu. There is no charge for the first hour - you just have to order a drink - which was admittedly twice the price of a normal drink but then also cheaper than a normal hour at a cat cafe. You then find a cat and let the rest come naturally.

A number of cats were on shelves that ran around the top of the room, under their own personal spotlight sun-lamps. Others were just chilling out.

Some were playful, while others were sleepy.

This one reminded me of our beloved family cat Sweep who died about 12 years ago now. I've been watching "The Blacklist" recently and at one point Red says "You're not really dead as long as you are remembered" but I digress. All in all this was a nice place and you get a drink. But it's not what I'd call a classic cat cafe.

Asakusa Nekoen Cat Cafe

My review in five words? I would not advise visiting.

There is nothing actually wrong with this place. The cats are all in good health and look well cared for. They have all the facilities, places to sleep, toys, affection and so on. But there was a smell. Like the place needed a really good airing and someone had done something on the carpet a while ago and it hadn't been cleaned up properly. Also there was cat hair everywhere. That might seem like an odd thing to say but all the other cat cafes I've been to have been very clean. Obviously cat beds and toys get hair on, but the floors are cleaned and hoovered regularly. In this place it was all over everything. But. There were three kittens and a remote controlled mouse. OMG.

I managed to get the three of them in shot all at once.

The kittens seriously loved that mouse. They were going nuts, chasing it all over the place. They would catch it and knock it upside down and then look at you, waiting for you to turn it the right way up so they could set off after it again. After the mouse ran out of batteries they frantically chased and play-fought with each other.

So tiny! And then suddenly all three of them were worn out and had gone to sleep in different places. One inside a play tube, one on a cat bed much too big for it and one on this scratchable chaise longue.

Once they fell asleep I was out of there - the smell and cat hair got to me.

My way home took me close to the cafes I visited last week so having been a bit disappointed with these two I went back to Cat Cafe Nanny, blogged about last week. Those kittens - the ones who tried to get under my maxi skirt last week and are older than the ones above but still quite young - this time made a beeline for the skirt of my shirt-dress. I was kneeling on the floor and one of them dived under while the other two, confronted with a small, moving shape behind fabric, proceeded to attack. Hilarity and slapstick-in-miniature ensued.

The little lion was upstairs, sunning herself.

So adorable! I also got a better look at the cat with the crazy sideburns.

His fur is crinkled - brindled? Is that the word? It is like stroking a sheep. He was interested in the comic I was looking at, which was in the bookcase there.

All the stories feature cats!

I have to keep an eye out for this one. When I got back downstairs to the kittens I found two of them had managed to get up on top of the sleeping cage and bookcase. They were loving it up there!

I tried to lift one of them down but he was having none of it. I think they were enjoying being so much higher than everyone else for the first time.

I have a few more cat cafes to visit before giving my verdict, but so far Nanny is my favourite cafe of all the ones I have visited. If only Bruiser were there it would be my number one, but he's not so I won't be leaving Ebisu's Nyafe Melange behind any time soon.

Pottering About

Weaving on Monday, and now Pottery on Thursday. I found out about this place at the Stitch'n'Bitch group last week and straight away I booked in. I have wanted to try the potter's wheel ever since seeing people doing it at school and 20 years later - here I was! I also again got one to one tuition from a lovely english speaking teacher too. So lucky!

I was having the 'taster session' which was 90 minutes and as much clay as you can eat. The session costs 3800 Yen which is about £22 and then the firing and glazing was extra, depending on the size of what you decided to keep - you could just ditch everything and leave with no evidence of your output!

I don't want to brag, but in general, manual activities come pretty easily to me. But this? Oh no. It is so much harder than it looks. On my third go I did start to get it and felt much more confident after an hour of 'throwing'. My first attempt did that stereotypical pottery thing of collapsing and splatting off the wheel. This is what the teacher managed to salvage - it should have been a cup a fair bit taller than this and without quite so much 'base'.

I was pretty embarrassed about it but the teacher was genuinely lovely and so patient! On my second one, which was also really bad, I got more of a feel for the clay and by my third I felt much more confident in my understanding of how it moved and how to touch it. The key is moving your hands very slowly and never, ever, suddenly disengaging. I found myself thinking about it as being like laying a new baby down - you don't just plop it down and let go. You support the head and then ease your hand out from underneath very carefully. This was like that.

All in all I made six somethings - 4 cup-ish things and 2 bowl-ish things.

I decided to pay to get four of them trimmed, fired, glazed and fired again which cost me an extra 3000 Yen (about £17, calculated by the size of the objects) so it wasn't a cheap afternoon activity, but I did have a brilliant time. I could go back and do the trimming and glazing myself but not being particularly bothered I opted for the brown glaze and they do it all for me.

Having always wanted to try this, and having found a place only a few minutes walk from the flat, I couldn't be happier with how this session went! I would definitely recommend the Shirogane Ceramic Art School to anyone wanting to have a go. As for going back - I'm not sure. I did enjoy it very much but this isn't something I want to get really good at so I think I'll leave it to the professionals and go back to my sewing. Or maybe...weaving....

June makes

Just 7 for this month - as seen below.

From the top left we have...

1. Cloth from the indigo dyeing workshop - mine is the snowball one at the bottom of the photo. 
2. Mother of all patchwork quilt tops. I still don't know what to do with it. 
3. Colourful hexagon bag with wooden handles. I've used this quite a bit already. 
4. 'Sew beautiful' bags, one for me and one as a gift which has already travelled half way round the world and back. 
5. Red convertible clutch/shoulder bag which I made as a sample for a workshop, which then got cancelled due to lack of interest. Boo. 
6. Camera pouch

I find I never blogged about the last of these so here it is in more detail. 

That zip was a real bugger to install. This was my first experience of clamshell patchwork and I do rather like it. I am working on some applecore stuff at the moment and that is fun too. However, those curves take a lot more time to make pieces for and to sew together than my beloved hexagons so I'm not fully converted. 

My WIP list is fairly busy:

1. Quilt for Nickerjac - fabric bought and design decided. Just pre-washing it all at the moment before starting to cut. 
2. Two more 'sew beautiful' bags being made as presents. More about that below. 
3. Applecore patchwork part done for a manicure bag I'm making myself. 
4. Mum's EPP quilt which I've not worked on all month. 
5. Jasmine's winter cardigan - all knitted bar half a sleeve and a bow. 

The 'sew beautiful' bags are presents whose recipients do not read this so I can show the two outsides I have made. My youngest sister has a hippo fixation. She's got a PhD in biomedical fnah, is a logistics guru and a strong, independant woman, but she does love her hippos. I am sure a few months ago Tokyo was stuffed to the gills with hippo fabrics but recently I could only find two, of which I went with this. 

It is a double gauze (I think that's the right name) so a bit flimsy on its own. I therefore added batting and a backing and treated it like a mini quilt - basting and adding sashiko-like hand quilting stitches. The second is for my SIL's birthday and she said her favourite colours were red, purple, green and black. I went stash diving. 

I used the same stitching over the top but using a variegated red - I do love my variegated threads - and a thinner batting. I'll be making both of these up into proper bags very soon.