Miss R's Birthday...

In the past, R has requested dragon and dinosaur birthday parties, so I should not have been surprised when she requested a sea monster party this year.  We expanded beyond reptiles to include things like the kraken and megalodon though.  Her party happened before the base restrictions tightened up, so she was able to have a few friends over for her party.  We had cake and ice cream of course.

The girls all made pie crust sea serpents.  M did the one that actually looks like something beyond a primitive play dough snake, and I'm including mine with the rest as well.

They played a hot tournament of kraken eye, or ping pong, on our dining room table.

A made a megalodon to throw fishes to, and she also sewed all the fishes.  Then the girls each got to take a fish home.

M drew a scauldron dragon for a pin the tail on the dragon game.

They did some drawing. 

Bonus! I was able to re-use some table runners I made years ago for someone's mermaid party.  Then after the sea monster party I was inspired to finally work on the mermaid quilt for which I have been collecting fabric for the last 15 years...  I finished the front and back!  But I'm not going to attempt to quilt it, so it can wait until we get back stateside.

The big sisters made the marshmallow fondant monsters for the cake.  This cake was a little thick on the frosting even for me.  And that's saying something!  With the huge amount of marshmallow on top, it was sweet overkill.  But good, you know.  It was a fun party!

Here is A working on her megalodon.

Thrifting in Yokosuka

The curse has been lifted!  Sort of.  Instead of having to stay within 3 kilometers from the main gate, we are allowed to go to anywhere on the Miura Peninsula, which is about five kilometers wide by 10 kilometers long.  Not much, but hey!  For months this spring we weren't allowed off base at all, so I'll take it.  For now.  We actually haven't even been able to go very far, because B has been on call for many days, and he has to remain within 20 minutes of the hospital.  Out west where I grew up, you could get a good deal farther than 10 kilometers in 20 minutes!  But here in densely settled Japan, it doesn't work that way.  But luckily there are lots of quirky shops and streets to explore here close.  B and I have been visiting "recycle" shops, or thrift stores.  They can be an adventure.

Even heard of the saying "dumber than a bag of hammers?"

I'm still pretty new to thrifting in Japan, but in my limited experience there are two types of thrift stores here.  One is similar to what you might see in the US, like Goodwill.  Here there are a couple brands of those: Wattmans, and a bunch of Offs, like Book Off, House Off, etc.  They have isles, things on hangers, and so forth.  The other kind I have discovered you can find while traveling down a street by looking for a shop with junk piled in front.  These have tiny isles, or no isles, and just mounds and mounds of stuff.  

Here is the outside of the shop we went to the other night.  (It's the second type of shop...)  It's a very short walk from our base.

It's so fun to poke around in these places.  And although we are coming up on another move, and I'm trying SUPER hard to not acquire too much else, I still like looking around- and it helps with not buying if I take pictures of the cool stuff I find...

I don't know if you can see, but there are two big old huge mallets down there.  Mjolnir's big brothers.  B thought maybe they're for pounding mochi?

If you ever wanted a golden calf...

Walking back to base.

And then on Saturday, we drove to a truly unique shop that everyone on the Yokosuka Thrifters Anonymous facebook group calls BW.  I really like this shop.  It's a series of shacks, run by a wiry man who speaks pretty perfect English, and really hates masks.

Pretty twine.

Some art I liked.

And I don't really like watermelon, but I was sorely tempted by this kokeshi.  I mean, I already own a pumpkin headed kokeshi, so it would fit, right?  But I resisted.

Here is B, gazing into one of the more impassable areas of the shop.  We ended up buying a really old mechanical clock, very dirty and broken, for 500 yen, or about 5 dollars.  B can fix it when he feels like it.  It has a pendulum, and potentially makes a nice chime.

I don't go for the usual tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog things) stuff.  They usually have grotesque breasts and male genitalia, and the inhibited/Scandinavian/Mormon upbringing part of me thinks they're uncomfortable.  But this one hanging up is super cute!

On the way home from BW, we spotted a shop with junk piles outside!  There was a pay parking lot close by, so we pulled in.  And then we had one of the experiences that make me dread moving from this place.  B was looking at the car, and the parking thing that raises up under the car, making sure you have to pay before you leave, and I was out on the sidewalk with my phone, using google translate to try and figure out the pay machine.  All the sudden a guy on a motorcycle pulled in, and came up to help me.  He didn't speak English, but B came over, and with his Japanese the guy helped him figure out that we needed to pay when we come back from the shop, not before.  I thought the guy must live close, and be pulling in to park himself.  But no, he just hopped back on his motorcycle and drove away.  He only stopped because I was obviously in need of help.  It was so kind!  I love Japan...

This recycle shop was tightly packed, and a bit pricier than BW, but fun to poke around in.  A red pay phone?

And I really liked this dish set.  This shop seemed to specialized in stuffed pheasants.  There were a ton of them.  And I don't mean the kind of stuffed animal my girls hoard...  

We went back to the first thrift, which I guess is called PX?  The one close to the train station by base.  B wanted a second look at some chisels he was eyeing.  He didn't end up getting them, but he bought some drill bits that are amazing.  It turns out they cut perfect, smooth holes.  But I saw this lovely wooden plate.

And one last thrift find:  A charger, shaped like a cow bum.