cloudy day collage

We are now officially in the rainy season, or jangma, as it is called in Korea. I think the only day it did not rain this week was Thursday. Supposedly the rainy season is from the end of June to the end of July. I am sure I will get sick of it soon, but I seemed to keep busy this week.

Since it cloudy outside, I thought I would try to add some color with a montage of photos and my ramblings.

I know I haven't talked about my art class lately. But here is one of my latest - I just need to finish a little bit of a wash around her feet. I liked the way she turned out, so I think I might actually get her framed. I have now started a detailed scene that has taken me forever to draw and outline. This scene is from a book and I think I need to go buy a magnifying glass to really look at the people so that I can draw them correctly (in their proper attire and such). Mr. Park usually draws the pictures for you if you want him to, but I have been trying to draw my own.

One day this past week, Ken and I met at Quizno's for lunch. Okpo's only places to get fast food is Domino's, Dunkin Donuts and Quizno's. The menu is pretty much the same and is heavily populated at lunch. We were sitting in the back and I noticed a large glass container sitting on a hutch with something I couldn't make out in it. I got up and looked and there were hundreds of tiny origami paper cranes. When the waitress brought our food, I asked her about it. She said that she made those when she was pregnant for good luck. You are supposed to make 1000 of the paper cranes. I went home and looked up the 1000 crane thing. It ended up being very interesting. First of all, Wikipedia said "A thousand paper cranes is also traditionally given as a wedding gift by the folder, who is wishing a thousand years of happiness and prosperity upon the couple. It can also be gifted to a new baby for long life and good luck." But even more interesting was what I read about about the original 1000 cranes. It started in Japan - a little girl named Sadako Sasaki from Hiroshima was almost 2 years old when the atomic bomb landed on her city. Ten years later, she developed leukemia, or the "atomic bomb disease". A friend of Sadako's told her the Japanese legend that anyone that folds a thousand paper cranes would be granted a wish. Sadako folded 1000 paper cranes before her death. I have provided a link to tell you more of her story. I also printed out some instructions for making a crane. It probably took me 30 minutes to make the first one. I can't imagine how long it took her to make 1000 (maybe 9 months?) - and hers were so so tiny.

However, I also found someone on ebay selling 1000 prefolded cranes for $50.00!!

I am sure you are all waiting for your knitted socks and scarfs to arrive in the mail any day. Well, I am still knitting here and there but not with the Norwegians. I don't know where they all went to and I miss them. I know that for awhile they were spending all their free time sunbathing on top of Beverly Hills III (one of the apartments here). I guess that when you come from a cold country like Norway, a warm, sunny day is alot more enticing than knitting. Anyway, I have played around with making flowers (sorry, no socks and scarfs at this time). Here are a couple of them. I will probably attach them to a pillow or something. And hopefully my Norwegian friends will return in the fall.

When I was in Texas this spring, my sister and I took a road trip down to Austin. While we were browsing the stores of South Congress, we noticed a small airstream trailer across the street with a big cupcake on top of it.



Of course we crossed the street and discovered that it was called hey cupcake! and had a line of people buying cupcakes.
Even though we hadn't had lunch yet, we had to indulge.





Here is Shannon digging in. Yum.
And what a darling idea.






Speaking of Texas, on Mother's Day my father took us on a tour of Clark Gardens. If you are visiting this site, please click onto the link to see the gardens during different seasons of the year and to read the history of it.

Daddy actually works for the Clarks and has built numerous buildings, waterfalls, arbors, gazebos, a chapel and most everything else at the gardens. He retired from the Army and then became a building contractor. He sort of eased out of that when he started building at the gardens. He has really enjoyed his work there.


It was cool and windy but we still enjoyed the flowers

and the scenery.

I am going to end with a picture. This bulletin board is hanging over my "craft table". It has a collage of pictures and items that are important to me and/or I like at the time. Here is a part of it.......I especially love the pictures of the girl and the little dog boy.

See you soon my little ones.