The Mainichi Daily is Japan’s English tabloid of record and proud of it. And I mean that as a complement. They regularly pick up interesting but easily-missed tidbits such as news about a toilet that exploded in a hospital. I don’t know if I should be proud, but my father has now made it onto the paper.

My father is embarking on a 2500-mile journey down Route 66 as I write this. He and four other post-retirement buddies over 60 are driving from Chicago to Los Angeles. My dad is driving the accompanying car while the others drive Harley Davidsons. It’s a total guy thing although my poor mom is being dragged along for reasons that are unclear. My father, who can be convincing when he wants to, has somehow managed to get people to cover this trip, and the Mainichi Daily  is one of them. (He’s also gotten Harley Davidson to donate jackets and bike rentals, Toyota to provide the car, and a number of hotels to provide lodging. I don’t know if I should be proud of him or embarassed.)

Anyway, if you’re interested in what they’re up to over the next two weeks, the Web site will get updated every day apparently, courtesy of reporter George Itagoshi. I wish George bon courage. I can’t imagine what it might be like to go on a roadtrip planned by my father, who is not, let me tell you, a planner by nature.

I actually made this awhile ago, but I figure it’s better late than never so here it is. The pot is lined with cinnamon sticks so we could smell it by the entrance to our home, bringing a nice touch of autumn.

PMK spent a lot of time and effort to design his food Web site only to let it go, so I’m taking over it. I refer you to Fugu Diaries.

I don’t know what that means either, but that’s what I made, loosely translated. It’s not my best work as you can see. There’s a bit of oasis (the green stuff that you stick the flowers into) that is peeking out.

It’s been awhile since I took my last flower arrangement class (it has also been awhile since I last blogged), but here is my latest work. It’s a dried flower arrangement and will supposedly last for about two years. The trick is to keep it out of moisture while preventing it from drying up. If anyone figures out how to do that, let me know.

Last week’s flower project involved sticking flowers in a vase with dark pink jelly in it. My instructor said that they come in the form of little pellets that turn into jelly when you soak them in water. It’s quite pretty, but the flowers died quickly because the jelly gets in the way of the flowers’ ability to soak up water.

This is the wedding bouquet I made a couple weeks ago (I’m a bit behind with my blog because of my new duties as bakery editor for Fugu Diaries).

Too bad I’m not in Chicago because I would’ve given it to Sue.

I haven’t been to my flower arrangement classes in awhile because I’ve been out of town. This is my latest work. I guess it’s supposed to be a manly arrangement, but it sort of looks like a jungle to me.

This is my best work so far. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s a chef d’oevre. You’ll notice that the top of it is perfectly round. My teacher took a picture of it when I was done.

I take this class with a friend from work, and the interesting thing is that we work with the same material, but our end results are completely different. She ended up with a cute masterpiece herself.

Why sleep on your own bed, when you can squeeze yourself on to someone else’s? My dog, Ada, and her cousin Tristan. My dog is the whiter one. Note that Ada is sleeping content as can be, but Tristan looks uncomfortable with his eyes open. Who knew that two 50 pound plus dogs can fit onto a large (not extra large) dog bed.

My latest work of art. I didn’t cut off my finger this time, but it could’ve been a close call because we had to use a glue gun to attach the eggs (they’re real) to the wire that you use to stick in to the pot o’ things. And yes, I realize that Easter’s over.

Of course, in Japan, you would never even know it happened. I’d forgotten about it completely until we received an Easter package from my in-laws.

This is Ann Norling’s basic kids sweater that can be made in one piece, top down. I made it with one ball of washable green tweed yarn on size 8 needles. It took me about 3 days. The sweater also has crew neck pullover as well as v-neck cardigan and pullover alternatives.

This is not the best picture of my latest masterpiece since it was taken four days after I made it. You might notice the edges of the flower petals drying up a bit. But voila.

I made this for Ben and Rachel’s new baby girl. The pattern is Minnowknits Cotton Roll #184. I made this with Bernat cottontots yarn which is machine washable and dryable, but it could probably be made with wool. I’d probably make it again.

This is the fruit of my labor. I cut off a slice of my finger in the process. It took a good two hours to bring down the bleeding enough that I can put on a band-aid. Patrick had to feed me while I held my finger. I’m typing with 9 fingers as we speak.

My finished project from my first official class at Carla Flowers near Gaienmae station.

I bought the yarn for this project when I was back home for the holidays at Sheep’s Clothing in Valparaiso, Indiana. It requires worsted weight wool that can felt and extra-thick eyelash yarn.

I didn’t expect to finish this project as quickly as I did, but it only took a long weekend.

I’ve learned how to put up pictures on my blog thanks to my husband. I’m starting to learn flower arrangement with a friend from work, so I thought I’d put up my first piece.