From Defeated to Determined

 I'm amazed at what a rest and a good night's sleep do for my mental health.

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed; my allergies are calmer, I feel a lot better mentally, not so down, so I determined not to be brought down by our money situation. I can't make any more, even though I want to; what I can do is cut waste to a minimum and find even more ways to save money.

I have subscriptions to Hulu and Netflix; one has to go. Netflix is the cheap subscription with ads, which don't bother me at all. Hulu, however, is more expensive, so that will have to be cancelled; I can always change back later. That will save just over 1,000 yen a month. 

Other things that are wasting money are buying drinks and something for dinner when we go to the other city to teach. 

On Tuesday, Christopher comes with Mikey and me; he makes sandwiches for us. But we still stop at a convenience store to buy drinks. I always buy water; I should get a flask and bring water from home. On Wednesday, when it's just Mikey and me, we buy something to eat, but I think that I should make some sandwiches or rice balls. I noticed that over the two days I spent about 4,000 yen; multiplying that by 4 weeks makes 16,000 yen, about £75, far too much to waste like that. Also, there isn't much choice in the stores and no real healthy choices!

Another area I'm looking at making changes in is our food shopping. I need to go back to making a week's menu and sticking to it. It's so easy to buy "bargains" but then not use them, therefore wasting money. A few times in the past I've planned out a week's menu and made shopping lists. I remember being able to save over 3,000 yen a week, about £15.

Just implementing those few changes could save me a lot of money. Takes discipline, though. But that's good for me. I need to stop being so lazy and make the effort!

I hope this determination lasts!

Yesterday, even though I rested a lot, I did make an effort to put away my very heavy winter clothes and put out my summer clothes.

A couple of things surprised me; one was that it didn't take as long as I thought it would, about 40 minutes altogether. Another nice surprise was that some clothes that I thought didn't fit actually fit now! I have two new outfits without shopping!

Today I cleaned out the fridge while making lunch. I wanted to roast some broccoli and potatoes; I parboil them first, otherwise they don't seem to cook through properly. While they were cooking, I decided to clean part of the fridge. I like cleaning the fridge when it's hot!

Today's lunch!

Hamburgers, roasted potatoes and broccoli, salad and miso soup. I did plan to make rice, but I forgot to turn on the rice cooker! Never mind! I'll use the rice for this evening's meal!

Feeling Defeated

 Maybe defeated is too strong a word, but definitely overwhelmed.

I would really like life to go more smoothly. I know that having problems is normal. 

I just wish my problems didn't happen all at once!

A perfect scenario would be to have a problem, solve it, next problem, solve that and keep on going like that. One problem at a time. But life is messy, and problems seem to occur in clusters.

Most of my problems are about money and my health!

June seems to be the month when a lot of taxes are due, the new national insurance starts for the year ahead, and we now have another city bill to pay that I really don't understand.

The new bill is about sewage removal. We already pay a bimonthly water bill, which includes sewage. This new bill is calculated based on the size of the land. Because the land we are on is large, the bill is high. The land measures about 1435m², and the house, from which the sewage is taken, is only 204m². We have to pay 149,060 yen, about £700. We can pay monthly, but I think I might go to the city hall and find out exactly what this is for. Our mains sewage is just for the water, not the toilet waste, which we still have to get fixed!

Then, of course, just the everyday price of things is getting to be crazy. I'm lucky that I have wonderful friends who send me stuff, a bag of rice that came just at the right time. Also, one of my students is a farmer; two or three times a month, she gives me some vegetables, which really helps. 

But it is really disheartening to go into a supermarket and see that, yet again, there is an increase in basic foods. It's not a lot, but these few yen add up quickly.  If I can get to the supermarket where Christopher works, with Christopher, he can get a 10% employee discount. We try to do that as much as possible.

My big health problem at the moment is allergies. I have no idea why they have suddenly flared up.  Yesterday was awful, my nose was like a tap, just dripping, and I had to teach. I took medicine, which helped a bit, but I still went through 4 packets of tissues. Today is a bit better, but I'm wiped out. I've slept most of the day, I didn't even make lunch, but I have a good dinner planned.

Then, just to add to things, I came home yesterday to find Christopher sick. He came home early from work with a fever and headache. I checked his fever last night, 39.5℃, very high. I gave him some painkillers and let him sleep. He's a lot better today, thankfully! I know he's an adult, but he's still my kid, and I worry! 

One of my friends reminds me to be grateful, something that I struggle with. I know that my problems aren't that bad, that a lot of people have harder lives, but I think it's normal to see your own problems as being overwhelming!

Three things that I'm grateful for.

1) Friends who help out, who keep it real for me and remind me that life is wonderful even when it feels so hard.

2)A house that is mine, no rent to pay, which does help.

3)Kids who are willing to help each other and me. They aren't selfish with their own money and are willing to lend money or buy things for each other without moaning!

I'm fighting the defeated feeling! Tomorrow is a new day, next week is a new month. I have to find energy to deal with these problems; lying in bed isn't helping!

Cats on the new cooling mat I bought.

It's getting hot, not every day but most days. I got this cooling mat from Daiso for 500 yen, about £2. These are for people, not pets; the pet ones cost about 2,000 yen, about £10. I'm thinking to but some for us to use on our beds. 

Fed Up....

 ...of summer and it's only May!

I always feel that May is the last chance to get things done before the heat and humidity set in. This year, however, May is already too hot! It's already 30℃ at 11 am! Yesterday was up to 33℃! Far too hot for this time of year.

Today and tomorrow are my teaching days, and I honestly don't want to go! The air conditioner in Mikey's car doesn't work, and of course, there's no money to fix it. I feel like I loose 3 days, 2 days going to teach and then one day to recover. I'm not sure it's worth it for me now, the amount I make doesn't justify what we pay in gas and for renting the community centre, but until I have another source of income, I have to keep going.

Which brings me to the next thing I have to moan about.

YouTube and all the promises of making money!

I don't know if anyone goes down these rabbit holes, but I keep seeing these videos with thumbnails that say things like "Copy me and make xxxxx" or "How to quit your job and make money". I've watched them, I've tried to copy them, but I keep hitting a brick wall. One problem is that a lot of the tools they use are not free, and I honestly don't want to pay for something that doesn't work. Then there are all the new rules about using AI to create things. I'm inspired by the idea of making colouring books to sell on KDP, but I can't draw, so I would have to use AI. Amazon has so many hoops to jump through; I guess it's good, as I know that many artists are trying to sell their work but are being pushed out of the market by AI.

I should get lunch and get ready to go!

One thing with going out is the interesting things I get to see.

The other day, we were behind this truck, I have no idea what he had on the back of it!

House on wheels?

I just checked the homepage that is on the back of the truck, it's a florist's. 

The Great Midnight Bug Fight!

 I really don't like bugs, even the ones that some people find pretty or cute, like butterflies or ladybirds (ladybugs). They just make me go cold, some make me scream, like cockroaches and praying mantis. The weird thing is that I'm alright with spiders; I would rather they stay outside, but unless they are massive, they don't bother me.

Recently, there have been a lot of stink bugs on my window at night.

As I'm reading or watching TV, I can hear them flying into the window. It irritates me, but as long as they stay outside, I don't mind. I keep my window open, as it is still cool in the evenings, but I have a screen mesh that I keep closed until there are too many stink bugs on it!

One of the bugs on my screen last night.

Last night, at just after 11pm, I decided to turn off the TV and read for a bit. I just got comfortable with my book when I could hear this very loud buzzing and then tapping sounds. I looked up to see a stink bug circling my light. Every now and again, it would hit the light. I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep with that in my room. Time for action!

I knew we had some fly spray, I had bought a can a couple of weeks ago. I remembered seeing it in the dining room. But of course, when I went to get it, it wasn't there. I looked around for a few minutes before I remembered seeing a can in the bathroom. I found an almost empty can!

Back to my room, the stink bug is still circling the light. I sprayed the fly spray, but instead of a nice mist coming out, I got these drops of liquid and a tiny bit of spray. I shook the can and tried again, same results. I now have a very agitated bug, going faster around the light and fly spray trickling down my arms. I'm watching this bug. I have maybe enough spray for one last shot. I have to make it count, I have to kill it, or I'll have to sleep on the sofa!

I was watching the bug so intently that I got dizzy! Finally, a chance, a last shot! I managed to hit it! But my arms are now itching because of the fly spray that is flowing down them!

I went to wash my arms, realising that I might have lost the battle and wondering how comfortable the sofa would be!

When I got back to my room, the first thing I noticed was how quiet it was, no buzzing! I'd won, but I have no idea where the body is! I'm still looking for it!

Finally, I can get on my bed, read and then sleep, but of course it wasn't that easy. Because the spray didn't come out in the usual fine mist, I had splashes of fly spray on my bedding, so at midnight I had to change my bedding! 

I really don't like bugs!

Google Photos

 I keep my photos on Google Photos. 

One feature that I love is the collection of photos they put together for you at the top of the page. The photos are curated and displayed with titles like "cuddles and purrs" or "7 years ago".

Some of these photos are then organised in collages to keep.

This is one of our first dog, Lou!

Lou

We had her 20 years ago. 

I like how the photos can be rather random but follow a theme.

Photos of Dad's house

I never would have thought of putting photos like this together.

Of course, there are collages of everyone and the cats.

One of the collages of Mikey

Christopher

And food, lots of collages of food.

This one was labelled "Sweet Treats"

This is one that came up today, "Cuddles and Purrs With Fred"

A Fred collage.  

I've always loved taking photos. When Mikey was a baby, before digital cameras, I would take 36 photos every month. The same for the other kids. I liked having a visual record of them.

There are very few photos of me as a baby or young child, which I always felt that was sad. 

I often wonder what people in the future will say about these photos, these snapshots of our lives. 

Life is so fleeting, even though sometimes it seems long, but things change so quickly. One day, you have a young family, enjoying adventures, enduring sleepless nights, homework tantrums, birthdays and Christmases, then life happens, and the kids are grown. You are left with memories and photos that make you smile and cry!

I hope you enjoy these little collages of my life.

Hannah and I collage

David

I Messed Up....

 A new recipe!

Hannah bought me a cookbook a few weeks ago. All of the recipes can be made in the microwave, which, in the summer, will really help. We are planning on buying an air conditioner for the kitchen/dining area, but the extractor fan over the stove top doesn't work. Even with an air conditioner on, standing over a hot stove is going to be awful.

The recipes are very simple, using ingredients that I usually have on hand. Of course, the recipes are in Japanese, I can read most of the text; what I can't read, I either use my phone and Google Translate or ask one of my kids to help.

My cookbook from Hannah

With my Japanese cookbooks, I usually write out the recipe in English, either on the book itself or use a sticky note.

This time, however, I thought the recipe was easy enough to do without doing that. 

The recipe was breast chicken, Chinese cabbage and green peppers.

Chop the chicken and cook in the microwave, when cooked at the vegetables and seasonings. Nice and simple!

I cooked the chicken, I then looked at the recipe again to see how many green peppers I needed. It was then that I noticed that I should have mixed sake and potato starch together and coated the chicken with that before cooking the chicken. Never mind!

I had to change the seasoning. According to Google Translate, I needed fish sauce. I have no idea what fish sauce is, so I used oyster sauce. Also, the recipe is just for two servings. It said to use two leaves of Chinese cabbage, I used a quarter of one; I wanted more vegetables in the dish. I have a habit of changing up recipes a lot!

Even though I messed up, it tasted alright.

The chicken is under the vegetables.

This made enough for three people. 

I've learned my lesson: write out the recipe before you start!

Wildfire

 Living at the foot of a mountain, I constantly worry about landslides and, to a lesser extent, flooding. There's a stream at the back of our property. Most of the time it's just a few centimetres deep, but during the rainy season it fills up, it's about 2 meters deep. A few times it's flooded the area next to it, but into the house.

I never considered wildfires; they happen in Japan, but usually further north and in the autumn. Japanese summers are very humid, which makes it difficult for a wildfire to take hold, difficult but not impossible.

Tuesday morning, about 10 o'clock, I heard a helicopter go overhead. Occasionally, we get helicopters passing over here, but they don't hover around. This one kept going round and round. At first, I thought it might be the hospital emergency helicopter. 

After an hour and more helicopters, I realised that this was something different. I stepped outside to see what was happening. I noticed that the mountain seemed hazy, I then noticed the smoke.

Hazy mountains and smoke.

Our neighbour was outside, he told us that it was a wildfire and that we were safe at the moment. 

I had to go to the other city to teach, we left at about 3 o'clock. There were still helicopters, maybe some news helicopters as well as firefighting ones, plus a lot of fire engines going past.

On the way to the other city to teach, we stopped at a store and got these photos.

The vegetation is very dry; the winter was dry with very little rain and almost no snow. 

Where the fire started, workmen were cutting down the grass and undergrowth. The motor on one of the machines caught fire, and with all the dry grass around it just spread very quickly.

Fortunately, it was contained and put out in one day. On Wednesday, there were helicopters flying over the area again, maybe just checking that it was completely out.

Plus, it has been raining since last night, which really helps!

I never thought that I would have to add wildfires to my list of worries.

Just Wondering.....

 If I made a mistake.

In the depths of winter, when it was hard to get out of bed because the house was too cold, Hannah and I made plans to see the musical "Sunset Boulevard" in Tokyo in July.

When we made these plans, summer seemed very far away. I thought that by the time summer came, I would have lost weight, made money, and acclimatised to the heat and humidity.

I haven't lost weight, but I still have 8 weeks, so I could drop a few kilos and get used to walking a lot.

I haven't made any money, but I hope to make a bit before I go. Hannah has paid for the tickets, the flight and the hotel. I'll pay the expenses when we are there. If I haven't made enough, I'll have to borrow from David or Christopher.

That leaves getting used to the heat and humidity. I don't have the confidence to do that.

One big problem I have is that I sweat a lot. Because of the humidity, the sweat doesn't evaporate at all. I carry a small towel to wipe my face, but it leaves it dry and sore. I'm wondering if there is something I can use, some kind of cream, to stop or at least reduce the sweating. 

I'm planning on buying these little hand fans and cooling towels for my neck. I also have to find some kind of electrolyte drink that isn't full of sugar. I drink a lot of water, but in the summer, I need to make sure my electrolytes are balanced as well.

When I got sick the other day, I really wondered if going to Tokyo in the summer was a good idea. I really want to watch the musical, it's in English and is only playing for two weeks.  The question is, can I survive?

I had heat stroke when I was in my 20s. I was so ill for about a week, but it took over a month to recover 100%. It's really a big problem in Japan; every year 100s of people end up in hospital because of it.  I'm very careful in the summer; I don't leave the air-conditioned room unless I have to. But by doing that, I only really live for half the year. I joke that I do summer hibernation! I really want to go out more, even in the heat. I guess from this trip, I will see if I can be more active in the summer.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to go out in the day, just to get used to the heat and humidity, just pottering around the garden, not at the hottest time of day but in the morning. Just a few minutes to see how I feel. I hope that I can used to heat and deal with sweating.

Wish me luck!

For the past hour or so I've been hearing helecopters over head, which is very unusual in this area. We sometimes hear the hospital emergency helicopter, but they leave very quickly.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I went out to see what kind of helicopter it was. 

The helicopter was circling the mountain, I noticed smoke, looks like a wildfire had started.

Smoke from the wildfire.

In Japan, wildfires happen more often in the winter because the humidity makes everything damp. At the moment, however, it's hot and dry. I met our neighbour when I went out, he said that we aren't in any danger. I hope that's true. Plus, the forecast is for rain tomorrow.

I'll let you know if there is any more information!

They're Here

 The cockroaches!

David ordered some cockroaches to start a business of selling them to people who keep lizards as pets.

He has to let them breed until he has a few thousand, then he can start to sell them. 

They are not in the house, they are not coming into the house, ever! 

The cats would play with them, maybe eat them, so the only safe place would be in my room, and that is an absolutely no, never going to happen scenario.

David was asleep when they came; Christopher bought the package in. It looked like the pack that the cat's flea medicine comes in. I told Christopher to open it to see if it was the cockroaches or the flea medicine. He opened it and showed me. I screamed, not a high pitch lady like scream, but a deep, gruff sound, more like a growl than a scream. Christopher said I sounded like an old man!

David is having far too much fun with these cockroaches. He walks up to me, grinning. I can see the cogs turning in his brain, thinking of all the pranks he could pull.  

This morning we were chatting in the kitchen, facing each other and drinking. David suddenly started to laugh. He asked, "Why are we standing in the kitchen, facing each other and drinking?" It was a bit weird!

I really hope he can make money with this little business. He needs to change his job as the night shifts are making him ill, but the daytime jobs just don't pay enough. If he can make something with this business, then he can get a part-time job locally.

David with Fluffy.

Here's hoping that cockroaches are popular! 

Heat Exhaustion

 Every year, on the first hot day, I get sick!

I think my body just can't cope with the heat. Today, Mikey and I drove to visit Hannah. It's just over an hour from here, so not too far, but it got really hot, up to 32℃, which is hot, especially since the air conditioner in Mikey's car wasn't working!

We picked up Hannah and drove to the house that Mikey is renting. He wanted to drop off some stuff. I wasn't allowed to take photos of the house; Mikey and his wife are very private. But it's a nice house! Two floors, with two tatami rooms downstairs and two upstairs, a big kitchen, but no garden at all. It's an older house, but well-maintained. It's in an area of older houses, all close together, a typical countryside town in Japan.

Hannah and I went to the little shrine, just two houses down from Mikey's place.

Nice little shrine

There's a small pond that's fed by a stream; it has turtles in it!

The surrounding area is very nice, all countryside. The rice fields are being harvested at the moment. I felt sorry for the workers in the fields, it's hard working in the heat!

I took a little video as we drove back to the city. It's hard to believe that just 5 minutes later we were in the city again.

We took Hannah shopping. Next week she has teacher training for two weeks. She needed a couple more white shirts to wear with her suit. After that we had lunch at a resonobale restaurant.

Hannah and I both had a burger.

Mikey had a mixed grill. Very filling.

Took Hannah to a supermarket. The places near her house are a bit expensive, so when we visit, we take her to the discount supermarket. 

After we dropped Hannah off, we headed home, another hour's drive, with no air conditioner. I was really trying to enjoy the scenery; the area between the two cities is very beautiful.

More rice ready to be harvested.

Waiting for the lights to change on the bridge

I really wanted to get back, to get in front of a fan and cool off, but I think we hit every red light! Plus the level crossing, which took a long time.

A long train!

Even though I felt awful when I got home, with a fever of 37℃ and a headache, I'm glad I went out. I rested a bit and feel a bit better, but rather tired. So a bit of dinner, but I don't know what and an early night!

The Results Of My Planning Book

 I finished the planning book today. It's a thin book, so I could only plan for 3 weeks.

But the results, the patterns I've noticed over the past 3 weeks, are very interesting.

The things I thought I was doing poorly at and the things I thought I was doing well or just okay at are very different.

Sleep, especially sleeping during the day and staying up at night, has been a big worry for me for a long time. This bad habit started when the kids were little, and I was working almost every evening. I would get up early, especially when the kids started school, I would get chores done, meals prepared for the day, then rest in the afternoon because I knew that teaching kids in the evening would be hard if I'm tired. I can get very bad-tempered when I'm tired! Most days I was teaching from 4 o'clock to 9 or 10 o'clock. After teaching, I would be too hyper to go to bed early, so I would stay up until at least midnight. This has become a bad habit. Now, however, I'm not teaching every day, but it is still easier to keep that same pattern. What I noticed during the past 3 weeks is that I have a few days where I'm on the go all day, cleaning, doing the garden a bit, teaching a couple of days a week and studying/reading in the afternoon. Then I would get over tired and rest for a day. I need to even things out more, spread the chores over a few days instead of trying to tackle everything in one day. Also, set a bedtime, even if I'm not tired; just wind down the day by reading and relaxing, not doomscrolling or watching TV.

One thing I thought I was dealing with alright was my eating. I've noticed that I do alright with breakfast and lunch, but the late-afternoon and evening things go downhill fast. I'm not really hungry, but I pick at things. Recently, it's been peanut butter and jam sandwiches! Very bad! I don't keep snacks in the house as I know I'll eat them, but it's so easy to send a message to Christopher and ask him to pick up something on the way home. I think I'll have to prepare some high-protein, low-fat snacks to have at hand. Things like tofu, nato, chicken breast, and boiled eggs. I'll see if I can find some recipes to help with that. I'm back to not eating carbs in the mornings, just some protein and fruit. I found a smoothie recipe that I should start making again: plain yoghurt, tofu and some berries. I use frozen berries as they are very expensive here. The recipe called for equal amounts of yoghurt and tofu, but I use more yoghurt than tofu as I don't want a strong tofu taste. I'm trying to get back into having just protein and vegetables for dinner. I've managed that for the past few days. 

I haven't been exercising as much as I thought I was. I'll have to get back into my chair exercise. I thought I was walking more, but some days I do a lot of walking, other days almost nothing. 

I cleaned more than I thought. Maybe because this house is always a mess, I thought I wasn't doing that much. But almost every day I cleaned, some days more than others.

I've studied a lot, not Japanese, but I've been reading a lot of history recently. 

Keeping this notebook over the past 3 weeks has been very eye-opening for me. I had this image of myself that I don't do anything constructive, that I just sleep all day, every day. I thought that at least I was eating alright, with the occasional treat and exercising more. 

For the next 21 days, I'm going to focus on 2 things: eating and exercise. I read somewhere that it takes at least 21 days to build new habits. I'm going to use my diary to record what I do, how my eating is going, and also why I'm eating too much. I know I'm a stress eater, but I think I eat out of boredom as well. So I want to record what my emotions are around eating.

I struggle with exercise; I find it boring and would rather avoid it at all costs.  But I know that if I want a good, long life, I need to set habits now that will get me fit and keep me fit for the future.

I hope by tackling these two areas that I'll be able to tackle the other areas of my life after/

Talking about the future, Christopher bought a few things for Hannah. Mikey and I are going to see her tomorrow. This photo shows some of the groceries he bought.

Grocery for Hannah

The red packages are spaghetti. Hannah asked how long the spaghetti would last; she thought maybe a couple of months. The best-by date on the back says until 2029. Three years, by that time I'll be 67! Somehow this surprised me. Hannah will be 27, Christopher will be 31!  

I hope by then my health will be better, that my kids will finally be settled and living the lives they want, and that this house and land will be in a better shape. 

Here's to the next three weeks!

Hot

 Today the temperature hit 31℃!

That is crazy for May, the usual temperature for this time of year is mid 20℃s. 

Fortunately, the humidity is low, which means that using a fan helps to cool things down a bit! 

According to the ten-day forecast, the weather will cool down a bit next week because it's going to rain. I hope so, I'm not ready for the heat.

I might start my summer schedule earlier than usual. Five days a week, I get up at 5am to make breakfast and obento. I then rest for an hour or so afterwards, then get up again to do chores and make lunch. My summer schedule has me doing as much as possible before 8am, and the latest 9am. After that, I can stay in my room with the fan, and when it gets really crazy, I can run the air conditioner!

I still have a lot of deep cleaning to do. I was hoping that I would have most of it finished by now, but there are still a few jobs that need to be tackled. Being sick with allergies last weekend threw me off schedule. Christopher doesn't have work tomorrow, so he can help a bit! One job I want to do is to put the heavy winter futons out to air out and then put them away for the summer. Just looking at them makes me feel hot! Another job is folding and putting away the clean laundry that is on my floor, again!

The only good thing about the heat is that the cats don't fight so much. I think the heat tires them out. They have started to lose their winter coat, even sweeping and vacuuming every day isn't helping. We are trying to brush them every day. Unfortunately, it's hard to brush all the cats on one day. I think the best time to brush them is when they are sleeping, but it's hard to find them, or they sleep where it's impossible to reach them.

Today, Fred got a good brushing!

It was going well, even if he was complaining, until Toast jumped up!

I'm going to make some iced tea!  I need a nice cool drink!

Another Oh Bother Post

 A few things happened the other day that had me saying "Oh Bother" a lot, and a few other choice words!

The first thing that had me cursing was my weight.

I used to check it every day. I've always been obsessed with my weight. I can look at photos from years ago and remember how much I weighed! That's rather bad.

Recently, my weight has been going up and down by the same 2 or 3 kilos. I'll get down to 93kg, which is very big but a lot better than where I started from 113kg. Then I'll get up to 94 something, then down to 93kg. I can't seem to break this 93 kg barrier. I'm self-sabotaging myself, and I don't know why. For me, losing weight is really a mental game. I know what to eat, I know what kind of exercise I can do and what is good for me, but I keep shooting myself in the foot. I need to spend some time thinking things through and trying to understand why I'm doing this. My goal for this year is to be under 90kg, so near yet so far!

When I got on the scales the other day and saw my weight had gone up, that was the first Oh Bother moment!

The second was to do with David's car.

He bought this car a couple of years ago, basically to help with moving. From the start, the car had some problems. It looks like an older model, no automatic windows, it has the old-fashioned ones with the wind-down lever. The key doesn't have a button to unlock and lock the door; you have to put the key in the door. Not really a problem, but it gave us a good laugh.

After driving for a couple of months, the engine started to make a strange noise, so he took it in to be checked. Some belt needed to be changed, then the engine light came on, so he took it in again and got a few more things fixed. Since he's had this car, it feels like every couple of months he has to take it to the garage to fix something. The roadworthy test is due in August, the mechanic estimated it would cost over 300,000 yen to fix it, about £1400, it's not worth it. David has decided to sell it and buy another one. He called a couple of companies to come and check the car to see if he could get something for it. The one mechanic said that the odometer had been turned back!  My reaction when I heard that was not Oh Bother, but a lot more colourful language. David basically got scammed.

David's car.

David isn't too upset, he said, it's only a car. When I said that I'm angry because he worked hard to make the money for the car, he said that it's only money! That's David, very relaxed about material things.

And because misery loves company, the tax bill for the land came! Another year of paying tax on land that doesn't make an income. I really want to sell or rent out the land, but until we change the name, we can't, and to change the name costs a fortune. I was hoping we could do it bit by bit, change the name on one plot of land, sell it, change the name on the next plot. But we have to do it all at once!

Feeling Better....

 But exhausted! 

My allergies flared up at about 3 o'clock, Saturday morning. From that time to about 1 o'clock this afternoon (Sunday), I'd slept for about an hour, and that wasn't a good, deep sleep. In 34 hours, just one hour of sleep is a bit crazy! Also, the allergy medicine makes me sleepy, but every time I lie down to sleep, my nose would just run, also the mucus would go down my throat, choking me! I've sneezed so hard that my ribs are painful! I'm hoping that the worst of this attack is over. I have so much to do, and being sick doesn't help at all!

New week, new plan!

According to the weather forecast this week, it's going to start getting hot, up to 29℃, the week after, up to 30℃. Help! Next week, I really need to finish deep cleaning the house so that it's easier to do the basic chores every day! Wish me luck!

One big chore is cleaning the cat hair; it's that time of year when they start to moult, everywhere! I swept up so much hair the other day that I could have made another cat! I'll have to find the cat brush and give them a good brushing a few times a day.

Mango

Christopher just came back from work, he bought me some nice fruits for Mother's Day! I haven't had mango in years; it's rather expensive. 

I'm going to go and enjoy my mango!

Bad Day

 Today has been one of the worst days for my allergies this season. This year, I haven't been too sick. This might be the third or fourth day that I can't function because of allergies so far this season. By now, I've usually been sick for over 10 days. Big improvement!

Last night I sat down and planned out my day. Get up at 7am. Christopher doesn't have work on Saturdays, so I don't need to make obento for him. Have breakfast, clean the kitchen a bit, go outside and pick weeds, cook lunch, then spend the afternoon reading and studying. 

But I woke up at 3am with my nose just dripping. I took some allergy medicine and tried to sleep again, but I started to sneeze, a full box of tissues later, and I was still sneezing. I realised that it was going to be one of those days!

I tried to sleep but could only doze between sneezing fits. I crawled out of bed at about 9am. Not too late, I decided that even if I couldn't do anything else, I could clean one area of the kitchen. I decided to clean where the kettle and cups are. It was a small enough job that I could do it in a few minutes, I also managed to clean off the dish drainer.

Lunch was last night's dinner. I had made a big pot of curry, so I just cooked some rice. 

I really wanted to sleep a bit, but it's hard with a constant runny nose! I watched TV a bit and tried to read, but I couldn't really concentrate.

I hope that this will pass! I want to get the house cleaned as much as possible before it gets too hot to move!

A photo of Sam in my window. Christopher was around the back of the house near my window. Sam had been relaxing on my lap. He heard Christopher, jumped on the windowsill and started hissing. His tail is all fluffed up!

Sam

Oh Dear

 I was looking for inspiration for today's post. I decided to look back at last May. I came across this post, Jackie's Japan Journal: Breaking Habits

Not good! One year and I'm still doing the same thing, still getting up too early, then going back to bed and sleeping most of the day away.

I have three questions that only I can answer. The first one is why do I sleep better in the day? I've always been a night owl; I've never been fond of early mornings or any mornings, actually. I know I'm able to get up and keep going all day. I did it when I travelled with Hannah earlier this year, also when I've had days out. So I don't think it's a physical problem, more an emotional one.

Another question is, do I want to be awake, to get things done or is escaping into sleep the only way I can cope with stress? My stress levels are high, but so are every ones elses! I'm not unique in this day and age. I worry constantly about my kids, and yes, I know they are adults, but the worry is still there. I worry about Hannah and her health, David's job and all the driving he has to do. Is Christopher alright in his job? Can he deal with all the walking once it gets hot (the nearest bus stop is a 40-minute walk from here; he's okay now, and it's good for him, but once the heat and humidity start, will he be alright? Heatstroke is a big problem in Japan)? Also, money always seems to be a big worry for me. We never seem to have enough, so I spend hours at night looking through YouTube trying to find a simple side hustle. The problem is that nothing is really simple.

The last question is, can I break this cycle? I've tried sleeping tablets to help me sleep at night, but they didn't really work. I need to find a good rhythm for my life. I know my health isn't that good, but sleeping constantly isn't helping. Looking back over my planning book for the past couple of weeks, sleep is always marked as bad! All the other areas are either ok or good. 

As much as I don't want to, I think I'll have to make a schedule, what time to get up, what time to rest, what time to go to bed. I feel like I'm going backwards with my life! Five days a week, I get up at 5am to make breakfast and obento. I know I don't have to, that Christopher can make his own obento, and anyone else who wants breakfast can help themselves. But I feel it's the least I can do! I then stay awake until 7am to call Hannah. She has to take her epilepsy medicine between 7 and 7:30. Most days, she can get up by herself, but sometimes she doesn't have confidence that she'll hear her alarm. I send her cat photos, so her phone is pinging a lot. After that, I doze with the idea to get up at 9am to start my day, but some days I don't wake up until 10 or 11 am! That's bad, my whole morning has gone! I definitely need a schedule!!

Another thing that has me worried is that it's been a year since we started advertising our English school here, and there have been no calls at all. I don't know what to do.

I was hoping that we could get some students so David could teach; it's better than the job he has now, which is making him ill. He's lost so much weight he looks gaunt!

David, he doesn't look good!

But still fools around, he was driving when Hannah took this selfie!

I asked why he doesn't get a full-time job at a company. He said that it's hell working full-time, the income is about the same, and you are expected to work overtime and go drinking after work. The Japanese have a word for death caused by overwork, karoshi, which shows how often that happens. People are literally worked to death.

I'm going to suggest he tries to get students online, even a few would help. I need to teach more as well. I'm wondering if the time of just advertising and getting lots of students has passed.

Sorry, I'm just rambling here!

Goodbye Hannah

 Hannah had to go back to her apartment today, because she has classes from tomorrow morning.

It was nice having her here for a few days, but it's always kind of sad when she goes back. I know her life is there now; she has classes and starts two weeks of teacher training soon. But the house feels quiet and empty, even though the other kids are here. Is there another word for adult children? It always feels weird to say kids when they are adults, but my kids!

The weather was really nice today, so I decided to go along with Mikey. Part of the journey is along the river.

I like this part of the river; it always looks clean.  It's the last day of the Golden Week holiday, so a lot of people were out. There are a few golf courses, or maybe just practice areas, along the river.

We did a bit of shopping. Hannah needed a few things from Daiso, the 100-yen shop, and some bits and pieces from the supermarket. I thought about going to a few other places, but we were both tired.

Of course, we got lost! But I actually enjoyed that, got to see some other parts of the city!

Lovely temple gate

Even in the middle of the city, there are so many green spaces.

As we came back to Kurume, we saw the tail end of the shinkansen.

You can just see the Shinkansen as it pulls into the station.

The building on the left, with the cranes, has gone up very quickly. It was started just over a year ago! Mikey and I were wondering what the appeal of living at the top of these kinds of buildings was. Not for me, I don't like heights, and I would worry about earthquakes.

I need to rest, I have a few busy days ahead, I really want to make the most of this good weather before it gets too hot and humid!

A New Recipe

 I have so many cookbooks, most of the time I just read through them, but I never get around to making anything! Kind of defeats the purpose of having the books, doesn't it?

Yesterday I was looking through a Japanese cookbook when I came across a recipe using bean sprouts, moyashi in Japanese. These are always cheap and rather filling, but I never know what to do with them. I asked Hannah to help me translate the recipe. I found that besides the bean sprouts, I had everything to hand to make it, so that was tonight's dinner.

Bean Sprouts and Cabbage in a Savoury Sauce with Fluffy Eggs

Ingredients

Bean Sprouts 2 bags

Cabbage, about the same amount as the bean sprouts, cut into strips

Mushrooms, just a few of any kind

For the sauce

Chinese Soup stock powder 4tsp

Sugar 3tbs (I used less, about 2 tbs as I thought it would be too sweet, good call as the taste was just right)

Ponzu 3tbsp (Mentsuyu can be used instead or citrus soy, 1tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tbsp of lemon juice)

Water 200 ml

Potatoe startch 1tbsp

For the Eggs

Eggs 4 large

Milk 1tbsp

Ingredients

I didn't use all the cabbage, it's massive!

Chop the cabbage and mushrooms, rinse the bean sprouts. Stir fry in a large frying pan. I used a wok.

Frying the vegetables

While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the sauce. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.

Once the vegetables are cooked, add the sauce. Stir the sauce well before adding, as the starch tends to collect at the bottom of the bowl.

Mix the sauce and vegetables thoroughly and cook until the sauce is thickened. 

With the sauce

Transfer the vegetables onto a serving plate, add oil to the pan and scramble the eggs until they are firm but not dry.

Fluffy eggs

Pour the eggs over the vegetables, and serve with rice.

The finished dish.

This was very quick to make and easy.

I always taste things as I go along. This didn't need anything added, but if you like a saltier taste, then a bit more ponzu would work.

I also next time I'll use more eggs!

If you make this, let me know!

Hannah bought me another cookbook, in Japanese, using the microwave to cook the dishes. I think in the summer that will be a lot better than standing over a hot stove. Once I've tried a few recipes, I'll post them on here!

Greenery Day

 Today is the second of four national holidays that make up Golden Week. Today is Greenery Day, a day to appreciate nature.

The origins of Greenery Day are closely tied to Emperor Showa (Hirohito), who had a lifelong passion for plants and biology.

Before his passing in 1989, April 29th was celebrated as the Emperor's Birthday. That day was renamed Greenery Day until 2007, when April 29th became Showa Day, and May 4th was renamed Greenery Day. This shift helped distinguish between honouring the Showa era and celebrating nature itself.

This time of year is lovely in Japan, usually! The weather is mild, the humidity is low, a great chance to get out of the cities and enjoy nature. People tend to hike or have picnics. There are also a lot of botanical gardens to explore throughout Japan.

I just like the idea of not having to work for a few days! I used to teach during Golden Week, but most of my students would have plans, so it's easier just to have a break before the intense heat of the summer starts, which keaves me drained!

I have enough greenery around here, I don't have to go anywhere to appreciate it!

I had a little walk around the garden, it feels so fresh after that awful storm yesterday.

Just a little video of the garden. I really have to get out and trim the trees and try and pull more weeds. It really is never ending!

Not very clear but there are plums growing on the tree.

I have no idea what these are but they are pretty.

The side of the house

This side I need to clear out as much as possible as both the electric meter and water meter are down there, somewhere! I feel sorry for the workers who have to fight through that jungle just to read the meters. 

Does anyone enjoy gardening? I like the idea of gardening, once everything is set up but having to cleaar out this garden is putting me off the idea!

A Slow Cosy Day

 That sounds a lot more positive than I'm totally wiped out from yesterday and haven't done anything at all today! I did make breakfast and obento, and have spent time reading!

I think I overdid it yesterday. I cleaned, made a big lunch, then spent an hour at Costco.  Most days, I would do just one of those things, but I'm trying to do more, be more proactive. That kind of backfired!

Also, today's weather isn't helping. It's been raining all day. This morning it was like a typhoon, strong winds and rain.

I was only outside for a minute, but got soaked through. I went to check whether the stuff hanging around outside had blown away. Mikey's rain gear had blown onto the garden, and a blue sheet had blown across the front of the house. Not a big problem. I was worried about David's car being hit by flying debris.

The wind has died down, but it's still raining. This is from my window. I'm a bit worried about how the water is collecting in the gully outside the house.

Today is the first day of Golden Week, which features four consecutive national holidays. For a lot of people, it's a chance to get away, but with the weather being so bad, I guess a lot of plans have been cancelled. Today's holiday is Constitutional Memorial Day. 

I should go and make some dinner, at least do something today!