Thursday, August 5, 2021

To Texas and North Carolina... with quilts

My month in the U.S. is drawing to a close.  It's been pretty wonderful, in between some stressful travel days here and there.  

First up, Texas - we got vaccinated immediately, the Johnson and Johnson "one and done".  Such a relief to finally be vaccinated. 

The thrill was David finally meeting Charlotte for the first time!   Very happy Grandad!

I brought Charlotte her butterfly quilt: 



Little lovey napping with her log cabin baby quilt and an afghan made by her paternal Grandmother.  Cozy, so sweet. 


She really likes the little kawandi quilt too and brought it over to Kaela last night - so cute.  It's a bit of an "eye spy" or "identify the colors" type of quilt and it's pint sized and soft with the double-gauze backing. 


Minnie hanging out with me in my room: 

I sometimes joke that in this house, every quilt is also a dog quilt (I don't mind).  


I also brought them their Christmas quilt.  I tacked back the binding over several evenings.    Kaela is real pleased with it so that makes me happy: 


Did I mention that every quilt is a dog quilt?  Minnie wanted to get in on the action. 




After a week we flew to North Carolina for four days.   Unfortunately (or fortunately) I was so in the moment I hardly took any photos. 


Walking a possible lot (the dream is to have my brother David build us a house in or near Chapel Hill, once our time in Japan is finished) 


 
My brother in his new shop: 


And the cozy apartment he and Janette created above it, to live in while they build their next home.  


In North Carolina we stayed with Noelle and Keenan in Raleigh and sure enjoyed the beautiful trees outside our room: 

Two of their cats - cozy cozy. 


Noelle's college quilt still in use;).  


I gave Noelle and Keenan their Christmas quilt too (no photos!) - I think they will enjoy it! 

Next we went to Massachusetts and Maine and I will blog about that next. 

Right now I'm finishing up my extra week in Texas, nursing a bad head cold (ugh), expecting a negative result from this afternoon's COVID test....  and David is already back in Japan quarantining in the apartment.   The bad news for me is that Japan just added Texas to "the list" and I will be put into a government designated facility for the first 72 hours of my quarantine.  Fun times ahead (not).  

I'm packing some provisions to supplement what is bound to be a difficult-for-me food situation during those three days.   I expect a lot of fish and mystery items, but I also expect I will have a water kettle to use (standard in Japanese hotel rooms).   And wifi!  Please let there be good wifi! 

So, I will blog again in a few days, during my "hotel jail" time.  ;).  

xo 

Cynthia 


16 comments:

  1. How lovely that you were able to visit so many family members. I'm sorry you'll have extra quarantine time in Japan. It's a shame Texas insists on encouraging low vaccination rates.

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  2. Looks like you had a great visit. I didn’t know you had North Carolina connections. I moved to Japan from the Raleigh area and was working in Chapel Hill at UNC. The infection numbers in Japan have really gone up while you’ve been gone. Good thing you were able to get vaccinated.

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  3. Glad you were able to spend so much grandma time with Charlotte, and that you were able to get your J&J one and done vaccines. We had very little adverse reaction when we got ours. Good luck with your return trip to Japan.

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  4. So good to hear from you. Hope you feel better quickly. I’m glad you got to visit your loved ones. It must have been great to give all those hugs.

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  5. Let us know how you make out with your quarantine. I'm sure the visit was worth the inconvenience of that. Sending you lots of hugs and good thoughts!

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  6. What a wonderful time you've been able to have visiting and especially getting hugs from your granddaughter. Your suitcase must been full of quilts to pass out. I'm glad you were able to do it in person. Now it appears you've had to fill it with survival provisions. Hope the quarantine passes uneventfully.

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  7. Cynthia que buen encuentro familiar bonito reportaje con tu pequeña nieta y tus maravillosos edredones. Siento que tengas que hacer cuarentena, espero tengas costura para pasar tu tiempo. Cuídate

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  8. Looks like a wonderful visit to your family. So glad you were able to get vaccinated while here. How exciting to be looking for land in NC! I love your brother's setup. We've discussed the possibility of a home above a garage space some day. Just not sure about stairs - maybe a ranch with big garage would be a better choice at our age, lol. I hope quarantine goes quickly and that you brought some handwork to do while there! Jan in MA

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  9. Oh, I am so happy that you had a wonderful visit. I hope you can bring up these happy memories while you are sitting in government quarantine. We will all be so glad when this nightmare is over. You are so wise to have brought the Christmas quilts rather than having to ship them, plus you got to see their reactions which must have been superb! Safe travels.

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  10. Seems like you’ve been mentioning this “upcoming” trip for a while and now it’s almost over already! Glad to hear you had a lovely time with your family, but sorry about the quarantine - that will pass quickly too and soon you’ll be back to your usual routines. The key is to cherish/enjoy it all!!

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  11. So glad your trip was a happy one! Fingers crossed for a negative test and surviving the quarantine!

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  12. Glad you had a fun visit. Lucky family to get quilts as well. The only quilt Nikko ever slept on was on Paul's bed ... and she chewed it full of holes. I haven't been brave enough to visit family. all the hoops one needs to jump through are just too much,

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  13. Happy for you that you both were able to come visit family and gift some quilt creations!

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  14. Little Charlotte has grown so much. It's hard to believe how old she is! I love the photo of her in her navy swimsuit.
    How wonderful you were able to take quilts and that they are so well-loved already. Both people and pets go for comfort, don't they?
    You did a lot of travelling while in the States! I'm sure it was fun and good to see family but tiring, too.
    So sorry you have a cold. It will be awful flying with it. I hope you feel better before you go (or went, if you're already back in Japan).

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  15. It was so great to catch up with your family trip post today
    I hope you are doing okay in hotel jail, maybe you are out by now.
    I loved all the family and pet photos. Looks like your quilts are well loved and appreciated That is so wonderful.

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  16. Oh you can not imagine how I envy your time in the States with family. I can put myself in each place just with different quilts and different family members. Your quilts are being so loved!!! I'm beginning to think that with all the quilts I have to take on my next trip to the States that I'm probably going to have to pay a penalty for an extra suitcase...

    I do hope your return to Japan isn't a hardship. I will be following your story closely!

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