Goodbye 2015

Goodbye 2015. 

I think it's fair to describe the past year as a roller coaster period in my life and the lives of many family members and friends.  I'm looking forward to the new year. 

I'm not making a list of resolutions, not even promising to finish all those UFOs, but I have some ideas and plans up my sleeve and I'm hoping it's going to be a better year for us all. I'm certainly feeling positive.

I am pleased that I completed the Contemporary Quilt Group journal quilt challenge this year. It was touch and go some months but I have twelve quiltlets that, I think, reflect the year. Here they are all together.

I don't know whether I will take the challenge again this year, I'll see what the rules are when they are published.  

I saw this on Facebook and thought it is a good wish for a new year so I wish it for all my lovely followers:

Happy New Year!!

New Year's Day Walk

2013 dawned bright and sunny (just like my lovely friends in Australia and New Zealand told me it did there!) and so it was definitely a day for a walk.  DH and I walked at Ostler's Plantation near Woodhall Spa with DSiL and big GS.  It was fairly muddy underfoot but an interesting walk.

"Ostler's Plantation is named after the agent of Mr John Parkinson, whose abortive attempts to discover coal led to the founding of the Spa. Early in the 19th century, Mr Ostler planted a fir and oak forest in the area, which he purchased from Parkinson when his employer became bankrupt. Most of that original forest was burnt or cut down. 
The walks in the plantation today include parts of the old airfield. The airfield, constructed in 1942, is one of more than 50 that were operational in Lincolnshire during the last war. The taxiways, and many of the bunkers and standings are still intact, though overgrown by bracken, elderberry and bramble."

After all that fresh air and exercise a gentle afternoon was called for.  Reading in front of the fire, cold meat, cheese and pickles for supper.  2013 is good so far.

2013 Targets!

A new year is about to begin and it's at this time of year that people make resolutions and massive "to do" lists appear on blogs.  I'm going to keep mine vague and simple with one exception, the first thing on my quilting to do list is:

1. Finish David and Jessica's Wedding Quilt  (I have until April)

The other quilt-related to dos are:

• Quilting, stitchery, dyeing etc based on my trip to Japan last year plus more indigo and natural dyeing

• Visit the Festival of Quilts for the duration (four days) in August

• Organise some good swap projects with the Global Piecers

I want to spend more time with the people I love.  I hope to have a least one little trip beyond these shores during the year.  I'd also like to spend more time in the garden and more time at the bach.

That's it!

Have a very happy New Year.  I hope that 2013 is peaceful, healthy and full of good things for us all.  It won't be but let's face it with optimism and positivity.  A friend posted the following on Facebook recently, I used to have it on a poster on my wall at college (didn't we all?) but haven't read it for ages, I think it's time for another airing:

Desiderata - Words for Life by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labours and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Welcome 2012

Driving home yesterday I saw this strange cloud and quickly snapped a picture (I was a passenger by the way).  It was very wispy and sort of whipped upwards as you can see, quite unusual.
Today it is unseasonally mild, about 12C and I saw a tiny lamb in one of the nearby fields.  I also took a little walk in my garden and these pelargoniums are still flowering their heads off although we have had a few frosts.

It is the last day of the year, and some places have already welcomed 2012.  We've had a phone call from BiL in New Zealand to tell us what 2012 is like - wet apparently!  I heard on the news yesterday that Samoa has changed it's time zone and is now on the same side of the International Dateline as Australia; the Samoans missed out on 30th December completely to make this happen. Samoa calendar change
What are your plans for 2012?  I have my wonderful visit to Japan in April and several other things to look forward to plus a long list of quilting projects as ever but mainly I want to spend time with family and friends.  I wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful 2012 that doesn't go too quickly and brings you many blessings.

Happy New Year

あけましておめでとうございます

I found this lovely account of Japanese New Year traditions at http://www.zuzu.org/japan.html
 
AKEMASHIE OMEDETO GOZAIMASU! - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
by Achur, age 12 - illustrations by Alex, age 10

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The most important and most celebrated part of the holiday season in Japan is New Year's day, known as O-Shogatsu. It's a very busy time between the 24th of December, when school gets out, and the first of January.
Before the New Year, Japanese people clean their houses from top to bottom. Then they put up New Year's decorations, especially Kadomatsu which are made from bamboo, pine branches and strips of white folded paper. When the house is clean and decorated, then everybody gets busy preparing New Year's food.
One of the most important New Year's foods is Mochi. In our neighborhood, we have a mochi-tsuki party every year and make our own mochi. We gather on a Sunday morning in an empty lot. In one corner of the lot, someone starts to cook rice on an open fire. When the rice is cooked, it is placed in a special wooden dish and is pounded with a big wooden hammer. All of the neighbors take turns pounding until the rice mixture becomes a big ball of dough. Then everyone gets involved rolling small mochi balls which are eaten with different kinds of sweet or salty sauces and toppings.
On New Year's Eve, Japanese people spend time at home with their family. They eat, play games, and watch special New Year's shows on television. Just before midnight, people can also watch temple ceremonies on t.v. where a huge gong is stuck 108 times to wipe away the 108 sins of the past year.
Although Christmas cards exist in Japan, most people send traditional New Year's postcards called Nengajyo. Some people sends hundreds of them. This custom is very nice because if you post your cards by a special date in December, the post office will deliver them all bright and early on the 1st of January. When you wake up on that day, your mailbox is full of happy wishes for you.
After New Year's breakfast, people get dressed up in their kimonos to go to the shrine or to the temple to pray for good luck and good health in the new year. This is the first temple visit of the year and is very important. After praying, people visit the temple market. All around the temple grounds, there are booths and little shops set up where you can buy traditional foods, cotton candy, balloons, toys and temple souvenirs.
Daruma can also be purchased at the temple market. These are papier-mache figures that come in many sizes and that have two big white eye spots. Daruma are used for making New Year's resolutions. With a magic marker, the buyer blackens in one of the eyes while making a resolution. If, during the year, they accomplish their wish, they can blacken the other eye to show they succeeded. At the end of the year, people return used darumas to the temple for a special burning and buy new ones.
After visiting the temple, Japanese people return to their homes to eat, play traditional games and just relax. Children fly kites and play with wooden tops. Adults play poetry games and pratice calligraphy.
Probably the most important holiday tradition for Japanese children is O-toshidama. These are little envelopes containing money that children get from their parents and other relatives. Even though the Japanese holidays are very different from holidays in America and Europe, since children are expected to be good all year in order to get O-toshidama, in a way, it is just like Christmas.

Achur, Adam and Alex are from Latham, NY. In 1991, they moved with their family to Tsukuba, Japan, where they are the only foreign students in their small Japanese school. The first year was hard, but now they can speak, read and write Japanese very well. Their little brother Alex, age 4, started Japanes Yochien (kindergarten) this year and loves it!
- originally published in the Holiday 1993 issue of ZuZu