9-patch with indigo top, and lost in translation

 When you take photos throughout your week, are you thinking of your blog?  Or, when you sit down to write a post, do you just reference whatever photos you happen to have taken.  I do the latter.   This week there isn't much but here we go. 

By request I need to make some more masks to take to my kids, and in typical procrastination mode, I assembled this "leader/ender" top instead: 

I made the nine patches, and then double nine patches, while I was making David's log cabin.  I think it might be the very first time I'd deliberately had a leader/ender project.  

I've also been distracted because our college age son Tommy tested positive for COVID.  He's just finished his quarantine and is feeling OK, maybe a little tired.  He got a call from a contact tracer, can feel good about (hopefully) not infecting anyone.  Not certain how he got it.  Glad his symptoms were so mild.  Wish I wasn't so far away!  

In other news, as I mentioned last time, Japan is finally allowing permanent residents and visa holders to return to Japan.  Woo hoo!  This means I can finally go visit baby Charlotte in Austin. I'm not going to do any other travel whatsoever, sadly, but I really think that's best under the circumstances.  

Yes I am quite nervous about travel, especially for the trip back into Japan, but, will think more about that next month.   I think I'm just dealing with rising anxiety over so much.  Which leads me to plead - VOTE!  "When women vote, we win." 

David and I prepared our absentee ballots which I can mail from Texas (alternately the embassy here would mail them for us).  As overseas voters, we vote in the last place we'd registered to vote, so that's New Hampshire.  

A sort-of funny "lost in translation" story.  Every now and then we get something official looking in the mail.  David told me it was an electrical inspection and in my mind I mixed that up with the fire detector inspection, or I thought it was all the same inspection.  When the inspector arrived, I had JUST heated up a skillet on the stove to make pancakes and the skillet was piping hot.  There is a smoke detector right there on the ceiling, so, from the entryway, I motioned him into the kitchen and in my rudimentary Japanese pointed to the pan and said "hot!" and "please be careful!" and "so sorry!".  Those were the only relevant words and phrases I could think of in Japanese.  He just sort of looked at me politely but blankly, and asked me where the electrical breaker box was.  That's in the bathroom.  He spent about 30 seconds inspecting the breaker box and then gave me a piece of paper, and left.  Ha ha ha.  

I have to admit I laughed out loud just wondering what he possibly thought of the American woman randomly warning him about the hot pan on the stove, which was nowhere near the breaker box in the bathroom.  

Lastly, thank you to those of you who commented last time to share your recommendations for hand quilting!  I really do love the Mettler, but I've used Gutterman before and could go back to that, and I ordered some Aurifil to try as well.  

If you are being affected by the wildfires, my heart goes out to you! 

xo

Cynthia