Keirou no hi 敬老の日

We have Grandparents' Day in Japan. That's "Keirou no hi　敬老の日" (third Monday in September), literally meaning respect-for-the-aged day. 

We have Mother's Day and Father's Day..so I guess Japanese people thought "Why not Grandparents' Day?" Let's say thank to grandparents on this day this year! We have some new products that are just perfect for grandparents. 

glasses case (gourd)

card case (gourd)

small coin/charm purse (gourd)  

A gourd is a lucky charm in Japan. It's a symbol of prosperity for descendants. Also lucky charm for being hale and hearty. 


My parents will have their first Grandparents' Day this year. Until Nico can say thanks to them himself, I have to take care of some special thank-you presents or a card for them ;) I will probably make a little photo album of Nico for them this year! They will love it :)

With love 
Allie 

Lately..

Our Father's Day at Chadstone Bowling Club - all our extended family gathered at one place and had a great time!

Nico's first 'babycino' at this cafe

Invited to our friend's engagement party - Paul was happy to get heaps of compliments about his new bow tie

And engagement present...plum TENUGUI and tenugui hanger - this cute tag is from IKEA!

After our nephew's confirmation - Paul wore his bow tie again :) he really loves it! Where did we get these gelati? Of course here...

Got an order from my sis in law - ready to deliver!

Happy Father's Day!

I don't usually post on weekends because I'm trying to be a family lady (not a "Family Guy"!) but I just wanted to wish every one a lovely Father's Day today:)

Thank you very much for reading Paul's "being a stay at home dad" entry last week. It became the most popular entry on this blog ever! I think that many mums enjoyed reading it as well as dads, because they could feel understood by one of the guys.

Paul was a really great 'stay at home dad' for two and a half months. I have a particular way of doing my house work and thought I wouldn't be able to let someone else do these things, but I could totally trust Paul and could concentrate on my work. He's not staying at home now, but I think he still is the best dad and the best husband...although I'm a bit biased :P

Those two and a half months were a really great time for us as a family. If I just left home to go to work, I wouldn't have been able to know what was happening inside the house. Although I was just in the study and hiding (!) from Nico, I could hear he was having a great time with his daddy and Paul was trying his best, especially when Nico was being a bit difficult. Sometimes I thought that Paul could just ask me for help, but he didn't want to interrupt my work. He did such a great job.

Maybe I didn't really understand, but in some ways I thought it was a bit easier to be a good father than to be a good mum. At least in Japan, dads only see kids a couple of hours a day (if at all) and on weekends, so they can just be nice and have fun with the kids. Kids can also behave well for the guys, because they don't see them as often too. But I was pretty impressed that Paul had the energy to be a great dad the whole time, even when he had all day, 5 days a week looking after Nico. Paul was really enjoying spending time with our little fella.

Now I feel really sorry for Paul, that he has to leave Nico to go to work. Paul really misses Nico at work (and of course we both miss each other heaps too). At the same time, I just feel how lucky I am that I can stay with Nico all the time. This experience has made me realize that.

I am so happy that Paul is my son's dad. I will make sure he will have a great father's day and I hope all the other dads have a great day too.

with love,
Allie

The attractive TENUGUI world –TENUGUI history

For the last two weeks on Fridays, I wrote about how I got interested in TENUGUI and my TENUGUI making experience in Japan. Today I will write about TENUGUI history. Some of this information is also on my website at nuno and stitch, but I think it's so fascinating that I wanted to share it here too, as well as a little about my own history with TENUGUI.

image from Wikipedia

The history of TENUGUI dates back almost 1300 years. They used to be made from hemp or silk and were mainly used for religious rituals. Back then, Japan imported cotton from China, making it an even more luxurious commodity than silk. About 400 years ago Japanese people started to cultivate their own cotton. Cotton kimono and cotton TENUGUI became very popular. In those days, many people used TENUGUI when going to the public baths, to cover their head from dust, or as a sweat towel.

 

image from Wikipedia

As TENUGUI became more popular, people started to care more about the designs too. There was a TENUGUI design competition called "Tenugui- Awase" and a special dyeing technique called "Chusen" was developed to create colourful TENUGUI.

 

When I grew up, my family used TENUGUI just as hand towels. They were usually a pretty plain mameshibori (navy dots) pattern or had newspaper or insurance company names on them. (Those companies often used TENUGUI as a novelty). But now TENUGUI have changed to become something much more attractive. There are so many colours and designs! Some of them are so artistic that you can just put them on your wall for decoration.

 

image from Wikipedia

TENUGUI have been much loved by Japanese people for a long time. It’s handy. It dries quickly and it’s hygienic. It's very versatile and easy to store. The more you use it, the softer it gets. You can also enjoy the changing colours after washing it.  It would be lovely if they are loved by people in Australia too!

 

With love,

Allie

Hello! Musubi-Tie-Pin

I've been waiting for this time for so long – the time I can introduce these cute bow ties to you! These colourful bow ties are not just cute, but help people in need and are valuable in many ways.

→　shop now!

Only one in the world

These bow ties are made with the offcuts of TENUGUI, so when I order these from Japan, I cannot really choose the patterns. If I order 10, I will get 10 different bow ties. Once each one is sold, I can never get the same one again. That makes these more special and unique!

Helping others 

People with disabilities, who work in a welfare office in Tokyo, sew these bow ties one by one. If you look at these closely, you’ll see the beautiful sewing and craftsmanship. In making these, they can also develop and diversify their skills, enabling them to make a wider range of products.

Admiring Japanese tradition and craftsman’s skills

A part of the money from this project also goes to the "Ancient craftsman foundation”, which helps training in craftsmanship in Japan. In purchasing this product, you are also helping to ensure that traditional Japanese craftsmanship is handed down to the next generation. 

 This bow tie comes with a clip, so you can put them on pretty much everything and anything. You can also swap this clip with another pin or your hair pin too. If you get one of these, all of your family can use it, not just as a bow tie, but also as a hair accessory or a brooch!

I hope you like it:)

With love,

Allie

My favourite things -vintage dresses

I used to go to this shop in Windsor. They have a deal - if you get two vintage dresses, you get one for free. So I always thought, why would I get just one or two? I always got three ;) Thanks to that deal, my vintage dress collection became quite big…

I wasn’t really a vintage clothing fan when I was in Japan. I thought that it was strange to wear something that somebody else had already worn…well I have a big sister, so I always had to wear second hand clothes anyway and was probably sick of it :P There are so many clothing shops in Japan and I had a couple of favourite brands, so I never had any trouble finding clothes that I liked.

Now there are many international clothing labels in Australia too and there are lots of nice clothing shops. But when I first started to live here, I found it difficult to find unique clothing in Australia. Every shopping centre seemed to have the same shops, like Sportsgirl, Just Jeans, Country Road. If I bought clothing from those shops, it was pretty likely that I would see someone else wearing the same clothes in town. You know that strange feeling? 

So I started to buy clothing only when I went to Japan. But then one day, I saw a very fashionable girl in Fitzroy...and she was wearing a vintage dress! The design was a bit old fashioned, but because of that, it was also very unique. I loved the modest-girl look of vintage clothes too. 

If you go to vintage clothing shops, you know that there will be no two things that are the same. Once you miss the chance to buy something you like, you can never get it again. It’s like some kind of fate to ‘meet’ your favourite vintage clothes. Sometimes you might even love everything about an item, but the size is just not right. 

When I began to buy vintage dresses, I was very surprised that all those dresses had Japanese labels and care instructions. I guess they were imported from Japan at some point. No wonder always the size matches my body! I like to wear those things over in Japan too, because no one wears things like that there. I think my mum finds it a bit interesting that I dress just like how she used to dress though.

The other good thing about these vintage dresses is that they often have buttons on the front, so it’s easy to breast feed. A few of my favourites don’t have buttons, so I've put them away in a box for now, but I’m really looking forward to wearing them again when Nico grows up a little bit more!

With love,

Allie

Spring!!

It’s ‘officially’ spring! When I see all the flowers are blooming, I get so excited. However I can't stop wearing my ugg boots yet, nor turn off the heater either. When does ‘real’ spring start??

Spring starts pretty dramatically in Japan. Once the Sakura (cherry blossoms) start blooming, the long and cold winter ends. Japanese people love Sakura. It’s everywhere! They love it not only because it’s beautiful, but also it represents some of the Japanese virtues. 

They say the colder the winter is, the more beautifully Sakura bloom and I think that's true. When it's a pretty warm winter, the colour of the Sakura is not as beautiful as in the cold winter years. So Japanese people tend to think that when people have hard time, they can be more successful.

Also they love Sakura because it has such a short life. It tells us that all things are in a constant state of flux and nothing is permanent. You don’t have to worry too much about what you have now. 

I know many Australian people want to see Sakura in Japan and I’m often asked when is the best time for Sakura in Japan. It’s really difficult to tell because every year is a little bit different. However, if you go to Japan during the last week of March or the first week of April, you will definitely be able to see Sakura somewhere in Japan.  

Although I do recommend going to Japan to see Sakura, you can also enjoy Sakura in Australia too! There is a Cherry Blossom Day in the Dandenong Ranges. I couldn’t find the schedule for this year, but it’ll be around September 20^th.  Or you can have this new Cherry Blossoms and Java Sparrows TENUGUI and enjoy a spring Hanami (flower viewing) party at home ;)  

With Love,

Allie