An Almost Positive Post

 I managed to find a good dentist yesterday. I was a bit worried, as it really is hit or miss on holidays to find a good dentist or doctor that is open. Most smaller clinics close over the holidays, but some are asked to stay open. Of course, large hospitals with emergency rooms are open. When the kids were younger, we were given a small city newsletter that would have the information on where was open on Sunday or holidays, now everything is online!

The dentist I went to yesterday was a very nice, modern place. It even had special machines to dispense slippers as you went in and a machine to pay at, which means the staff doesn't handle money! The dentist even used a bit of English, which is always a plus!

But, of course, it wasn't all good! He managed to put my tooth back in, which was great, but when he looked at the X-ray, he saw that the tooth next to it wasn't looking that good and would need to be replaced soon! My big problem is that I have no back teeth, so I'm using my front teeth to chew with, which isn't good! The dentist suggested I get partial dentures. I tried that, but they made me gag, and they kept falling out! That's the bad news! I thought about getting implants, but the procedure looks very painful, and it's very expensive; the cheapest is 350,000 yen (about £1600) for one tooth! I'll go and see my own dentist in the next week or so and see what they can suggest for me! Not looking forward to that at all! Never mind, taking care of these things is part of my New Year's determination!

That was the negative bit of this post!

I'm still wondering what this new year will bring. I really hope things will be better than 2025. I also know that for things to be better, I have to make them better. I need to stop escaping to my bed. I know I sleep too much, sometimes I am really tired, but at other times I just don't want to deal with things. This is part of my depression, part of how I cope with disasters. It's not productive, it makes me feel guilty when I get to the end of the day and see all the chores I haven't done or the things that I enjoy, like reading, not done because most of the day I was in bed! I need to change this habit. I've proved to myself that I can stay awake all day. When I went out with Hannah a few times, we would be out all day, getting up at 5am and not resting until we got back home after 8pm. The next day, I would need to rest a bit, but I didn't get as tired as I thought I would be. I shouldn't use my age as an excuse either. I have friends who are older than I am, in their early 70s, they don't spend all day, every day in bed! It really is an escape for me, I don't want to face this house, the garden, the lack of money, so I sleep! I need to get this under control! 

Another thing I mentioned briefly is reading. I have thousands of books, novels, history books, cookbooks (yes, I read cookbooks!), and self-help books. I think I like collecting them, the same with the study books I have, I collect them, but never study anything. This year I'm going to start reading my books! How many can I get through? I used to read at night before bed, still do sometimes, but having the TV in my room makes it easier to just watch that. At the moment, however, I'm having a hard time finding anything good to watch! Newer programs just seem so pathetic, no real storyline or character growth. I think I should try turning the TV off and getting a book out! 

This year I want to take care of my health, lose more weight. I've found what works for me, no carbs, such as bread, rice, pasta or potatoes, morning and evening, very little with lunch, which is my main meal. Fill up on vegetables, especially soups, now that it's cold. No sweets, occasional treat, once a month, maybe. Move more, walk, get out in the garden and find some other exercise to do. I have to do this! I want to travel with Hannah (maybe with the others as well), I don't want to spend most of the time moaning about my knee or back! 

Hannah and I are making plans for March, a trip to a place that isn't too far. We wanted to go to Nagoya, but it would be too expensive this time! We are still making plans. I'll let you know once I figure things out!

Last night was a beautiful full moon.

First full moon of the year!

One good thing about living in the middle of nowhere is that there is no light pollution; on clear nights, the stars are so bright!

Misery Loves Company

 After all the drama yesterday, I was determined to write a positive post on my goals, dreams and determination for this year! 

My plan was to get up early, at 5am, make breakfast and obento for Christopher, read a bit, take a nice walk outside, do chores, make lunch, and then spend time on my computer.

I managed to get up early, made obento and breakfast, so far, so good!

I ate breakfast with Christopher, just chatting about the day ahead and what I wanted to make for lunch. I was sipping some water after I finished eating when one of my teeth felt funny. I touched it with my tongue, and it fell out!

My poor tooth.

It's one that I had fixed a few years ago. I think I had a root canal done, and the tooth was put in on a post, the black thing sticking up in the photo!

Of course, today is still the holiday, and my usual dentist is closed. I found an emergency place I can go to this afternoon. It doesn't hurt, only if I touch the area, but it's uncomfortable. Additionally, I want it covered to prevent the area from getting infected.

I really hope things turn around. Not even one week of the new year has passed, and we've had an ambulance ride and now a dental emergency.  Things have to get better!

One of my goals for this year is to make colouring books to sell on KDP. I've watched a number of videos on this; they make it seem so easy. Tags like "Set up your colouring book business in one weekend" make it look so easy, but I can't even get past the basics of setting up Canva. I'm going to give it a try! I'll probably end up screaming at my screen!

 If we have no more disasters, I'll write a nice, positive post tomorrow! 

Wish me luck at the dentist!

It Snowed

 I woke up to this 

I did think about going outside to take a video, but it was too cold!

I needed to run to a supermarket this morning. Even though I shopped on New Year's Eve, I still needed some meat for the next couple of days. The supermarket I went to on Wednesday is where Christopher works; the fruit and vegetables are reasonable there, but the meat is costly. Today I wanted to go to the supermarket where meat is more reasonable. But I couldn't figure out if it was open or not, so we decided to go to a discount store that sells meat, not the best, but I could get stuff for a couple of days! I don't mind driving around, I'm just sitting there, but David is still not 100% and I would rather he rest than drive me to a few different places. 

On the way there, the snow was really coming down.

It stopped at lunchtime, but it's still very cold. Even in the house, it's cold, and I can see my breath when I move away from the heater. 

I made a simple, comforting lunch. Butadon, sliced pork cooked with onions flavoured with dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar over hot rice with miso soup. I usually make a salad, but I couldn't be bothered. It was nice and warming!

Nice, warm lunch.

The cats are trying to find the warmest place to lie down as well. These three, Sam, Mama, and Frodo, got in Hannah's futon.

Nice and cosy.

I'm still thinking about my goals for this year.

Of course, priority is my health, not just losing weight, but dealing with all the aches and pains I've been having! Part of me hopes that as I drop more weight, the pain in my knee and back will resolve itself, but I feel I need to really focus on exercise and movement. The past couple of months, my exercise has been walking, which is good, but I think I need to build some muscle, especially around my stomach and thighs, to support the painful areas. I really want to travel with Hannah. She can walk all day, I need to keep up, as it's not fair if our trips are spent with me looking for places to rest all the time! 

I got interrupted.

There was an awful thud in the corridor.

At first, I thought it was one of the cats falling off the table. Hannah ran out to check. David had collapsed, again.

Another ambulance ride and emergency hospital visit.

Another afternoon of waiting to see what's wrong.

Another round of panic and throwing up, me, not David, it's how my body copes with stress.

It looks like David has a slight fever. He's been battling a cold for about a week. He took a couple of nights off work, but went back because we really don't have money!  He pushes himself and then ends up collapsing.

He has an appointment next week to check his brain. He wasn't having a seizure, as in a typical seizure, but there are absent seizures where the brain seizes, but the body doesn't shake. I don't think he has epilepsy, but I didn't think Hannah had it either. The doctor wants to run some tests on his heart as well!

Another lot of bills that we will have to pay! I really need to get a lot of students so I can afford all these emergencies!

I'll try and write something more positive tomorrow!

Happy New Year

 First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who has been reading my blog for the past year. I love checking the stats and seeing how many people have found my blog and stuck around to read my ramblings!

This post was going to be upbeat and positive, about all the dreams I have for this year, the goals I'm thinking about and what I really want to do. But of course, life still happens, even on holidays!

So, first a few complaints!  

Hannah was checking the weather. It looks like we might get a bit of snow. We live in northern Kyushu, not snow country! We do get a few flurries almost every year, but most of the time, it doesn't stick. Last winter, we had a few days of extreme cold and snow. When that happened, the water pipes feeding the water heater froze.  We had cold water but no hot water. I managed to find a way to defrost the pipes. I then tied a lot of old clothes around the pipes as lagging. This is another design flaw in the house. The cold water is pumped up into the house, the water then it goes to the back of the house and out into the water heater that is on the back wall. The pipes bringing the cold water are outside, there is very little lagging and no covering over the pipes. When Hannah said that there was a possibility of snow, I decided to check the pipes to see if there was something we could buy to put over them. What I found was that one of the pipes has a slow leak!  When I looked more carefully, I could see that the pipes had been taped up a few times, again, not investing in the house, just band-aid solutions! I think one of the first things to do this new year is to get a plumber in to see if there is a better way to deal with this!

The pipes leading to the water heater.

I found strips of sack-like cloth in the storage. I think they were used to keep the roots of the trees warm. I managed to wrap the pipes with it. I didn't stop to take a photo as it was very cold outside!

My other complaint is about the people of this area. This morning, David, Christopher, Hannah, and I went for a little walk. Just up to some of the land we own. We had hoped to see the first sunrise, but we were a bit late. As we were walking and talking, not loudly, not doing anything wrong, an old woman came out and started yelling at us. We were on our land and the public road. I would never go on anybody's land without permission. This woman started shouting, "Who are you? What are you doing?" I wanted to say mind your own business, but we have to live here and antagonising the neighbours is not a good idea. We said our family name; there is only our family in this area with that name, so I know she would know who we are and who we are related to. She walked off muttering something about not understanding English, even though we all spoke Japanese to her! She didn't greet us or offer a Happy New Year! I'm wondering if this is part of the anti-foreigner sentiment that is big at the moment in Japan? Or she's just a nosy, mean old woman!

Beautiful flowers, they cheered me up.

Early morning!

There, that was only two complaints, not too bad!

I'm still struggling with the goals I set at the end of the year. 

My diet ended when the holidays started. But I haven't piled on the weight, maybe 1/2 kilo, which is good for me! One thing that has helped is all the walking I did going out with Hannah. She's in her 20s, full of energy and wanting to see things. When we went to see The Phantom of the Opera, I did over 10,000 steps! The other days I went out with her, I did over 3,000 steps, even today I've done over 2,000 steps. I know you can't out-exercise a bad diet, but I think it helps!

I'm still reading Wuthering Heights, just over halfway through now! 

I realised that I like having books, either on my Kindle, on Everand or real books. I just love collecting them. I was sorting through some books the other day when I found a copy of Little Women from when I was a teenager. On the back is a list of other children's classics. I put check marks next to the ones I had, but I don't remember reading all of them; I just liked to collect them. One thing I want to do is read more this year!

And my Japanese study! What to say? I'm still struggling, but I do try to use what I know more, not always relying on the kids. I still need to get down to some more serious study.

My goals for 2026 are still floating around my head; once I have a clearer idea, I'll post. One thing I've determined is to get under 90kg by March, when I have my next doctor's appointment, about 5kgs to go!  Cheer me on!

Another thing I want to do is travel more. There are so many wonderful places to see in Japan. Hannah and I have some tentative plans, but of course, money is tight. We were going to go to Nagoya in the spring, but the price of flights and hotels is more than we can afford! We are looking at somewhere closer to home, just staying over one night!

If anyone wants to help fund my adventures, I've set up a Ko-Fi account. 

This is the link https://ko-fi.com/jackienakano

I want to work to make money, but at the moment, that seems impossible!

Here's to a wonderful, positive, great year. 

I hope that wherever you are that this new year has been one of fun, family and friends.

Happy New Year!

2025

 What a year!

It was a real roller coaster ride this past year.

The only thing that didn't change was our financial situation! It didn't get any better; still struggling month to month. Christopher having a job helped a bit, but we need a lot more money to get things done!

January was all about getting used to a new situation. Commuting to work, trying to clear the garden (still working on that), finding where things belong (still working on that), and getting used to this house and area.

I wasn't happy to be here; I'm still not that happy, but I've accepted the fact that I have no choice, this is it. 

January and February were challenging due to the cold and the inability to heat the house. Now we have heaters, the dining/kitchen area gets warm when I'm cooking, which helps. 

I really hoped things would get better as the year went along. I hoped to get new students, but that hasn't really happened.

March was Hannah's graduation. That was nice! Also, the fact that she finished university and was ready to move on to her next adventure was exciting!

Hannah in her hakama

As we moved into spring I decided to try and get some students here, but that didn't happen. I had leaflets put out but not even one call! The only good thing from that was getting the tatami room set up to teach in. I still want to get students here, it would be a lot easier for me. Also David wants to try and teach, I think he's had enough of driving 40 minutes at night to work. I hope by this February that we can start putting leaflets and collecting some students. I even tried on line but that didn't work either.

At about the same time we got the tax bill for the land, another finacial burden plus the city calulated my national insurance contribution. This is calulated from the tax dated 2023 to 2024, which was a lot more than my current earnings. I know that by going to the city hall I can get a discount, the problem is the city hall in this city is massive and I tend to get lost! I managed to change the amount I had to pay, I'm wondering what will happen next April.

Summer starterd with a vengence. Heat, humidity and loads of rather scary storms! The one I remember was when Mikey and I were driving to the other city to teach. There was almost no visibility, and some of the roads were flooded! Mikey pulled over to call the mothers of the students to cancel the class, there was no way we could get there plus we thought it too dangerous for the kids to be walking in the storm.

This is just a few minutes of that storm, it went on for over an hour.

Even though I had a lot to look forward to in the summer, Les Miserable Concert, in English and a couple of day trips, summer ended up being rather stressful and miserable.

I will admit that summer isn't my favorite season, the heat and humidity make it hard for me. Add to that this house only has one working air conditioner in my room, really didn't help at all. Also, the summer seems to be getting longer every year!  This year the heat stayed until October, even in November I was wearing short sleeves!

The worse thing, however, was Hannah having another seizure. This made three in a year. The first one was in  2024, either end of September or the begining of October. The next one was in July, we aren't sure if she had a fit as she was by herself. She called late at night in a panic, she felt totally unfocused. She said that she woke up and couldn't remember her name or where she was. After that episode she came home for a week, The next seizure in September of this year, was infront of the class she was observing. She got an appointment to see an epilepsy specialist who diagnosed her with epilepsy. She has medication to take but she needs to learn how to deal with fatigue and stress, these are what trigger her seizures. It's been a real learning curve for her!

In September Hannah and I went to see Les Miserables In Concert. It was really good. I'm glad we had the chance to see it. We've watched it twice in Japanese, which was good, but to see it in English was rather special!

October was typical with bad allergies! Every year I go through this. Summer is hard, I try to keep on top of things but because we don't have working air conditioners it got harder and harder to do even the basic chores. I tell myself that I'll catch up in the autumn, only to be hit by awful allergies that have me in bed with low grade fevers for a few days each week!

November was the day trip to Hita. I really enjoyed that day. I also proved to myself that I can walk more, that I can have energy to enjoy sightseeing and experience a different aspect of Japan. I also realized that I want to learn more about Japan and Japanese history. Not just the political history of who the rulers were, what battles happened and when or the change in the goverance of Japan but the history of the people, how they lived, what their houses were like, how they made money, educated their kids or what they ate! 

Hita

I really hope to have more trips next year, there are so many places to see, even locally!

One place that Mikey and I visited was Ukiha Inari Shrine.

Spectacular views

Beautiful Tori Gates

Also another shrine I visited was Kora Taisha Shrine, this time with David.

This time I remembered to take a photo of the shrine itself.

Decemeber got busy toward the end of the month. A trip to Costco, paid for by Christopher. I hadn't been in over 9 years, so it was a nice change. I'm still enjoying the delicious cheese I bought there.

Christmas was quiet. Nice dinner Christmas Eve, then Hannah and I went to see The Phantom of the Opera on Christmas Day.

The past year had many challenges. Part of my struggle was not wanting to start again at 63 years old. I always thought that at my age I would be settled, not retired but taking things easy, traveling a bit, figuring out how to deal with old age. But I had to move, I have to restart our English school, I have to work a lot more to save for when I can't work. That was a lot to deal with emotionally. Hannah being diagnosed with epilepsy was a real curve ball as well. The lads have been very good and supportive. They've put up with my moaning, they have all helped with the mountain of work that needs to be done. Christopher has a good job, not high pressured but a steady income. Mikey and David are always willing to drive me to different places. 

Next year? Who knows? I have plans, I'm thinking about some goals that I want to achieve. As one of my friends said "I hope that the end of 2026 will see you with less kilos and more money!". I really hope so, the opposite would be awful!

Happy New Year!

By the way my grammar/spell check app isn't working, so if there are any mistakes, I'm sorry!

A British Village And Frog Temple

 The other night, I was scrolling through a Japanese app that combines video and photo sharing, focusing on lifestyle. I think it's aimed a young people as a lot of the content is fashion and make-up, but I enjoy the recipes and travel posts. I came across a post about an Antique British Village. I can't really read Japanese, but I can figure out a few things. The address for this place looked like it was in a small city just 30 minutes from here. I asked Hannah to check on Google Maps, and it turns out to be very close. Also, next to the British Village is a Frog Temple!

Mikey drove us out there this afternoon.

The village was nice, very cute and looked very British. The little area is called Arlington Village, named after a row of honey colored cottages in a village in the Cotswolds.

Information about the name of the village.

The first thing we saw when we got out of the car was a "Hobbit Hole"!

Cute!

It's not a real dog in the kennel!

This was in the car park. The walk down to the village was really nice!

The roadside was full of flowers.

The village itself was small, about 7 shops. The main gallery and office were closed because of the New Year holiday, but just having a look around was nice! Hannah said the weather was perfect, cold and overcast, typical British weather.

The entrance.

We had to find cats!

I can imagine being in England!

Lovely little birds on a water feature.

Coalport bricks.

I don't think they came from Coalport! There wasn't anyone to ask, maybe next time.

Of course, a selfie with Hannah!

It was really small but somehow authentic! I would love to go again and have an English Tea, maybe in the spring.

The Frog Temple was next door!  It's very interesting to be walking along, seeing all these English-looking buildings next to a temple!

The temple is known as Kaeru-dera, カエル寺, the formal name is Seieizan Nyoirin-ji 清影山如意論寺. It was founded in 729.

The grounds are very big, with frog statues all over the place.

The word カエル kaeru has other meanings besides frog. One meaning is to return. Another is to change. There are a lot of these themes throughout the temple.

By crawling through this frog's mouth, you can change your luck.

If you hug this statue and pray, all your stress will go away.

So, of course, Hannah hugged it!

Hannah in a heart

Around every corner, there was something else to see. 

This saddened me, Japanese scriblings.

This one was getting repainted because of the same problem.

There is also a collection of frog statues. We even found Kermit!

Kermit

Planes with a frog picture, so they will return.

There was this lovely wall on the way out!

We had a lovely afternoon. Lots of walking, again! But I don't feel too bad!

Unfortunately came home to David being sick! This seems to be his schedule; almost every year, at this time, he gets sick. I really hope it's just some bug he's picked up, and he'll be better soon.

Osoji...The End Of Year Big Clean

 When I first came to Japan, I would hear a lot of students talking about "Osoji", the end-of-year big clean. Osoji literally translates to "big cleaning".

This cleaning isn't about preparing your house for relatives to visit; this big clean is about purifying your home (or office, shop, clinic, school, etc) for the new year. A chance to remove the dust of the old year and welcome the New Year with clarity and good fortune.

In most homes, families clean together. Deep cleaning of kitchens and bathrooms, polishing floors, and cleaning tatami mats. If the weather is good, futons are hung out to air!

A lot of people use this as a chance to declutter. Second-hand stores are great to visit just after the New Year, as they have so much stuff, and there is usually a good sale!

Most of this cleaning takes place in the last week of December, just before the New Year decorations go up.

I've always found it too cold after Christmas to do a lot of cleaning, actually, to do a lot of anything!

Again this year, I got most of the deep cleaning done before Christmas. For me, being able to relax over Christmas and not worry about cleaning, except for the daily chores, has always been important. I always liked to cook and bake over the Christmas holiday, and of course, spend time with my family.

This year, I managed to get almost everything done before Christmas, except the entrance and the porch and the walkway in front of the house! 

The walkway, to the right, are the main windows of the house.

Part of the front porch.

For some unknown reason, this area has become a dumping area for things that don't belong in the house but never make it to the storage area. The blue box in the front of the photo is the cooler I used for shopping in the summer. It was supposed to be put away a few months ago, but it just sat there! There are gardening tools, including the infamous rake, the one I stepped on and smashed myself in the face, yes, just like in a cartoon, and it hurt like crazy!

I got Mikey and David to put things away; some of the stuff was heavy, I don't even try to lift heavy things any more!

Hannah had an important mission. She had to guard the entrance; the door was open, and we didn't want the cats making a run for it!

Hannah on guard duty!

I took a little video of Mikey and David working hard.

If you are wondering why Christopher isn't helping, he's at work! He doesn't have a day off until January 1st!

David found a lot of these little lizard things.

Little lizard, kind of cute.

There is still more to be done, maybe over the next couple of days, but it looks a lot better.

Still need to move the boxes and other bits and pieces.

While everyone was finishing off the cleanup, I made shepherd's pie for lunch. One of my students is a farmer; she gives me boxes of vegetables every now and then. The last lesson before the holiday, she gave me a massive box of potatoes. She said that she couldn't sell them as they have eyes and there are too many for her family!  I was so happy to get these potatoes. Rice is alright, and I don't mind having it almost every day, but I love potatoes!

Shepherd's Pie.