Mr. Miyagi: Evil Spirits Beware!

Mr. Miyagi is my Shisa Dog (he is old and wise). According to legend a shisa dog saved an Okinawan village from an attacking sea dragon, so now EVERYWHERE you go there are shisa dogs on roofs and entry ways warding off evil spirits.








Since it is essential to have shisa dogs protecting your home, we had a girls day out to an antique store that lets you make your own guardian shisa. The cutest man, Mr. Sachi, helped us along the way. We started with just a frame and a pile of clay. While working Mr. Sachi would come around and help us out by adding claws, a nose, a mane, all kinds of things. We loved Mr. Sachi!!




Traditionally there are two shisa that protect your home. One has an open mouth to ward off evil spirits(male), and the other a closed mouth to keep good spirits in(female). We will be going back soon so I can make Mrs. Miyagi. Fun, Fun, Fun.

Quilting a plate of Sushi :)

Twenty girls including myself got together and made an Okinawa Memory Quilt. Each girl chose something that reminded them of Okinawa, designed a quilt square, and made 20 of them! We then got together and exchanged all of our squares. So at the end I ended up with 20 different squares. Here is what some of the girls did: geta shoes, sanshin, kokeshi dolls, goya, kimono, whale shark, map of Okinawa, and goya. I made a Sushi Platter!!


It was a lot of hard work but it paid off in the end. Now I need to learn how to piece a quilt together!? My goal is to finish it by the time I leave the Island. Rick thinks it will never get done. Blah, Blah, Blah.... :)

Happy Anniversary!!

Ricks out of town and the kids are in bed so what am I finally going to do.........blog-it-up!!!

For our 7th anniversary Rick and I took a scenic tour of Okinawa in a little Cessna plane. Of course Rick thought it would be lame but after the flight he admitted that it was fun. Rick sat in the front with the pilot and got to fly the plane a little. The views were amazing!! The water is so clear we could see all the coral reef that surrounds the island.

Our flight was uneventful until it came to landing. After touching down the pilot heard a pop and lost the brakes and steering on the right wheel. He did manage to slow us down and get us off the main runway before loosing all brakes and steering. We ended up going into the grass to stop. Since we lost control and ended up in the grass it was an official crash landing!! Emergency vehicles came out to make sure we were all o.k. Our pilot kept apologizing but we assured him that we thought it was a perfect end to our flight!!