Here we are over a month later. Lots of things have happend: my computer has been fixed, I went to Thailand with my son for two weeks (too cool of a trip - we will be going back in June or July to show it to my husband)....

I am finally caught up with my work - so I went stumbling and found this cool site:
This site describes in detail how to dye yarn with Kool Aid. I always thought that "stuff", the Kool Aid was poison - the taste, the smell and the really bright colors. This site makes it clear to me : There is a use for Kool Aid and it is dying yarn - bright colors are great for yarn!!!!
Check-out the site at :
http://www.snowangels.com/sketchbook/?page_id=418

I will be trying to get some of the Thailand pictures up in a few days..... ( I took 3 memory sticks for the camera and got them almost full......).

Cool idea for Origami paper....

I found this on another blog - Craft Avenue.
Using seed packages to decoupage on a flower pot. The idea made me think and why not use some Japanese origami paper to create an Asian flower pot.... Put a hibiscuss flower in it and it will become that Asian gift for a friend or a hostess......

I have added a link on the left below my etsy store link - so go and check it out!

Have not done much crafting this week!

My computer just took a dump: I have no internet, but my husband is workin just fine. I have tried everything I can think off, but nothing... So now, I will pay someone to look at it!
We went to the Local Azaela Festival on the north end of the island. It was stunning and we took over 200 pictures : everything from a butterfly resting on a piece of railing in a jungle, some really funky trees against the sun and of course the blooms..... Since I can not access them right here to add a picture please check out my husbands site. The link is on top of the page to the left!

I have however been shopping and I found stamps, stamps and more stamps. Some rather usual and some a bit unusual.... I will be listing them on etsy this week and next week. We are going to Thailand for spring break the beginning of April (we moved here to see Asia and now is as good as a chance as ever...) and will be gone from 4/2 until 4/11.

Soda machines - the Japanese have two or more everywhere

Here is a little about life on Okinawa, Japan. Some things stood out when I first arrived on the island. One of the dominant things were the Soda mashines: Well we thought, that there is a lot of them in the US, but the Japanese have us beat!!!! There are at least 20 of them within a 5 minute walking radius of my apartment building in a very residential neighborhood. The Japanese just love them. The coolest thing about them is that they are mostly filled with tea - green tea, hot tea, cold tea, black tea, lemon tea, apple tea etc. - and with coffee drinks - milk coffe, expresso, black coffee, hot coffe, cold coffee etc. The mashines often have hot and cold items in the same mashine. The hot items are really hot - even in the winter. They usually have a red button or a red label. That is how us non-japanese reading people identify them. The tea and coffe seldom is sweetend and sometimes even bitter. There are a few sodas and energy drinks along with water in the mashines. The fanciest mashines are coke mashines that have a TV screen in them - the TV shows a cute coke comercial over and over again.

Overall nobody has to go thirsty here, all one needs is a 110 Yen.....

I saw the sun!

The weather has not changed much over the last few days - I am still cold, but the sun was out for a few hours. I broke down and spend money on two pairs of men's houseslippers - one for me and one for my husband... I do have big feet, but womens shoes end at around an american 8. Men's shoes are kind of the same, but they do get a little bigger to a men's 9 or women's 10. So we have two choices shop on base (very limited selection and everybody shops there, but okay for jeans, socks and underwear) or order through the internet. We are not only to tall and big for Japanese clothing, but the clothes and shoes here are a very different style from what we are used to. The womens clothes at the mall have a lot of very big prints on them and look to me as if they were made for a bunch of teenagers... The mens clothes are alo very flashy. Hey, what can be expected from a bunch of young guys that spend as much time blow-drying their hair in the morning as the girls. And the shoes.... well, the shoes for girls it is the higher the heel the better and also the flashier the shoe the better. For the guy flashy still applies. A few days ago Josh and I were driving or better sitting in stop-and-go traffic on the way home. We were going down Gate 2 Street (the street starts at a gate of a base, is about 1/2 mile long and is lined with clothing stores, bars, eateries, clubs with live bands and more bars (lots of the bars are in either basement or on the second or third floor above the shops). So here we are, sitting in traffic, and it is cold, rainy and windy... There are not too many people about. All of a sudden Josh says: "Mom, look at that bruise on her leg". I look and here is this young Japanese woman wearing a pair of short shorts (daisy dukes come to mind) , a heavy black patent leather looking fur-lined jacket, a pair of black High heel boots, that come up well above the knee complete with gold spikey heels, a pair of socks a little longer than her boots and a knitted cap. Half of her thigh is bare and showing of a huge bruise... That seems to be the dress code for the young ladies here - minus the bruise. One would think, that this outfit might have had something to do with the location, but no - girls dressed like that are to be found at the mall further away from any american base. I just, happen to remember that girl and thinking: If I had that bruise, it was this cold, the last thing I would be wearing is the shorts and boots (if I had the figure).

I have to quitt complaining here!!!! The Japanese have a different dress style and there are lots of people that dress not as flashy - normal in Japanese kind of way. And the great thing is I can wear what I want - in jeans, mulies and a plain blouse. Of course I get stared at a lot, because not only am I taller than most men in this country, but I am also not skinny and have a very light complexion, light brown hair with blue eyes in a country where everybody has black/drk brown hair and brown eyes..... When we go to places, where not very many foreigners go, the staring becomes more obvious. My son is also amazing to them: he is obviously a teenager, but he is way tall for them. Overall the people are very friendly and try to help in any way they can. The politeness is amazing: At night one can frequently see drivers dim their headlight when waiting at a red light to not blind the person in front of them or across the intersection..... Americans and Europeans could learn from them! So there it is: I hate the clothing, but love the people and their wonderful politeness... Just another little slice of living on this lovley island waiting for warmer weather and more sun!