Sixty Two

 That is how old Hisao would of been today.  I was wondering how we would of celebrated his birthday, maybe a trip to the city to try out a new resturant. It would be a low keyed celebration but fun.  So that is what I'm going to do, keep things simple but try to have fun.  I'm thinking of waiting until Sunday to do anything as today is very busy and I'm not feeling good, allergies and a cold!!  So on Sunday I'll prepare a nice meal and make a cake (or buy a cake depending on how hot it is).

Just a few random photos!

Today is also the day that my brother in law commited suicide.  That made celebrating Hisao's birthday hard.  When my mother in law was alive she would give money to the Buddhist priest to come and say a special prayer,  she didn't celebrate the son that was alive.  I guess it was her way of dealing with guilt.  Mental health is still not talked about,  it's getter better but still years behind the UK.  So I'm guessing that when my brother in law was struggling there was no help available. 

It's That Month

 June, the month that has so much heartache for me!   I go through this every year.  So many memories, my husband's birthday, Mom's passing, my brother-in-law's passing, and our dog's passing. My cancer was this month as well. So much pain in one month.  So I want to try and make some good memories for this month, do something fun but to begin the month I got sick, just a stupid summer cold but it made me more miserable than I already was.  Feeling a bit better so wondering what to do.  The problem is no car so can't go anywhere, Mikey is using the car today.  Also there are a load of things that I have to do!  After the problem with the electricity, for which we had to call an electrician in and spend almost 300 pounds to fix, I noticed that the kitchen needs to be deep cleaned again.  The dining area floor needs to be done; of course, all the daily chores still need to be done.  So I guess fun will have to wait a bit!!

One thing that I am enjoying is the blackberries that have grown.  This year I have a lot of fruit.  I've made muffins and will make some more later today and the other night I made a smoothie, which was very nice.

blackberry smoothie

So off to start the kitchen!!!

Another Problem

 The sink and small counter leading to the stovetop are made of metal.  Since Saturday we have been getting small electric shocks whenever we touch those areas.  At first, I couldn't feel it but I was washing dishes this morning and felt a tingle from the water!  There are no electric outlets in the area, the nearest two are on different walls.  I have no idea what is going on!  David is trying to contact someone who is an electrician.  If not, we will have to contact the real estate agent and get yelled at for the cats' mess.  Since they are already kicking us out I really don't care what they say.   What a life!

Our cat Fluffy is driving me crazy!  She finds the narrowest places to sleep and of course, falls off.  She also steals food whenever she gets the chance.  I made some blackberry muffins.  My oven is very small so I can only do one tray at a time. I left the bowl on the countertop, half an hour later found Fluffy licking the bowl!!  Even after I moved her she went back two or three times to get more.  She then sat by me as I was eating, giving me sad eyes so I would give her food!!

This was the other day.  I had made some tuna sandwiches and had a bit of tuna leftover.  I put it on the table, turned my back and Fluffy had her head in the bowl!!  She gets cat food and eats okay but she loves people's food.  Non of my other cats do that!!

Downsizing

 The house we are in now has two large Japanese-style rooms that we use for teaching, a large open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area, and four bedrooms.   The house we have to move to is about half the size.  There's a large Japanese-style room that has the family Buddhist altar, two small bedrooms, a kitchen/dining area, and a small living room.  There is a massive two storey storage area next to the house which we are thinking of converting to extra bedrooms.  But even with that, we have too much stuff.  So we have to downsize as much as possible.  We've already started.  Today Mikey took a car full of books to the recycle place, the books will be turned into recycled paper, which is good.  Most of those books were the kid's textbooks from elementary and junior high school, loads of out-of-date books from teaching.  The big problem for me are all the kid's books that I still have.  They are in the room that I use for teaching, some are picture books that the students can look at, some are story books, Mikey reads them to the younger students, translating to Japanese as he goes.  

Some of the books in the teaching room

Most of these I will give away to other international families.  At least I hope to!!

Doing this is driving me crazy!  I think we have done a lot to move to the other house but then I realize that there is still a lot to do!!  Sometimes I feel that we will never have the other house ready to move into.  I guess we just have to keep on.  I don't have much confidence that I can do a lot in the summer but have to try!!!

How Good is AI?

 Suffering from writer's block! David suggested that I use Bing AI to generate a blog post.  I asked for a post about living in Japan, countryside living and frugal living.  It came up with a lovely post but was completely wrong, it's written as if I had just moved to Japan.  Here is the post.`

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Hi everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the spring season. I know it's been a while since I last updated my blog, but I have some exciting news to share with you. I have moved to the countryside of Japan!

Yes, you heard that right. I decided to take a leap of faith and leave behind the hustle and bustle of the city life for a simpler and more peaceful one. I have always been fascinated by the Japanese culture and lifestyle, and I wanted to experience it first-hand. So, I packed my bags and moved to a small town in the mountains, where I rented a cozy cottage surrounded by nature.

It's been a month since I arrived here, and I can honestly say that I don't regret my decision at all. I love waking up to the sound of birds chirping and the fresh air filling my lungs. I love walking around the town and meeting the friendly locals who always greet me with a smile. I love exploring the nearby temples, shrines, and hot springs that offer a glimpse into the rich history and spirituality of this country.

But most of all, I love living frugally and sustainably. Living in the countryside has taught me to appreciate the simple things in life and to be more mindful of my consumption and waste. I have learned to cook with seasonal and local ingredients, to make my own cleaning products and toiletries, to reuse and recycle everything I can, and to grow some of my own food in a small garden. I have also reduced my expenses by cutting down on unnecessary shopping, entertainment, and transportation. I feel happier, healthier, and more fulfilled than ever before.

Of course, living in the countryside is not without its challenges. Sometimes I miss the convenience and diversity of the city life. Sometimes I feel lonely and isolated from my friends and family. Sometimes I struggle with the language barrier and the cultural differences. But these are all part of the learning process and the adventure that I signed up for. And I wouldn't trade it for anything else.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my new life in Japan. I will try to update my blog more often and share more stories and tips on how to live frugally and happily in the countryside. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below. Thank you for your support and stay tuned for more!

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Nice post but totally unrelated to my life!  

My life is all about still trying to understand Japan, even after 32 years here!

My life is all about trying to make my money stretch from one month to the next.  This month it hasn't and I have no idea what to do!

And of course, my life is about trying to make a house that I don't even like into a home that I can feel happy in.

The AI post is very uplifting, talking about waking up to the birds and the fresh air but for me at the moment waking up just means another day of struggling, getting chores done, teaching and just surviving.  Maybe AI's life is better!!

Mikey has been practicing his balloon art.  This is a puppet head that he made!

And David has been teasing the cats!  Steve with a cabbage leaf on his head!!

The House Again

 Last Friday David, Christopher and I went to the house to clear out more stuff.  

Now is the hard part.  The past few months I've thrown out most of the stuff my mother-in-law had saved. That was easy as I had no feelings for the things that she had collected.  The only emotion I had was what a waste of money!  Now I have to sort and throw out the things I've been hanging onto.  Friday it was the massive collection of books.   Hundreds of books, maybe thousands.  We set up bookshelves for the ones I want to keep.  That has made the idea that we are really moving there more real.  Seeing books out of the boxes and onto bookshelves means we are moving.  I'm still trying to find a way to get enough money to buy a place where we are.  I thought of selling the house and land but it wouldn't be enough to buy something here.  So I have to accept, even though it breaks my heart!

Looking through the books bought back so many memories.  Books I bought for the kids to read and books I read to them.  Some of those I kept.  The next big problem is the huge pile of videos, DVDs and CDs.  I have no idea where these can be thrown away.  Also the toys.  I must have spent a fortune on my kids!!

Outside storage, a lot of stuff for fieldwork

Driveway to the outside storage

Stone house in the garden, I never noticed it before

When I returned from the house I found the kitchen sink was blocked again.  Another call to the plumber but we had to wait until today before he could come.  3 days without a kitchen sink, is kind of crazy! We managed but I'm glad to have it fixed.

And today Hannah went to the city by herself to watch a musical.  It's based on a Japanese anime, so I have no idea what the story is.  She looked all grown up this morning when she left.  

Going to the theater

The Kitchen Sink

 Last week both Christopher and Hannah got sick.  Christopher started on Thursday, with a sore throat, sinus headache, and stuffy, runny nose.  I thought it might be allergies because I was down with allergies on Tuesday.  But Thursday night Hannah started to complain of a sore throat.  Looks more like a cold.  Problem with Hannah is that she always gets very high fevers.  Friday afternoon her fever was up to 39C.  She slept most of the day.  By dinner time she felt better but hungry.  Dinner in our house is usually self-service.  We have our main meal at lunch, then leftovers or whatever can be found in the kitchen for dinner.  Our evening schedules are crazy,  David doesn't eat, he's still sleeping, but will have breakfast at about 10:30.  Mikey eats at about 9pm.  Christopher at 9:30 if he has work, and earlier if no work.  Hannah either after 10pm when she has work at the cram school but earlier if working at the drug store.  

Last Friday was a holiday so I decided to make something for Christopher and Hannah, maybe some nice soup.  Started washing the dishes and noticed that the water wasn't draining.  The kitchen sink here is rather strange.  There are two sinks, one very large, the other too small to be useful.  The second sink I use to drain the wet dishes.  The two sinks are connected underneath.  I noticed that the dirty water from the large sink was backing up to the small sink.  I decided to unscrew the waste pipe to drain out the sinks and see if I could find what was blocking the sink.  I managed to unscrew the pipe from the big sink but the weight of the water pulled the pipe away from the small sink, ripping the plastic, making both sinks unusable.  Time to call the plumber.  We had phone numbers for emergency plumbers.  Hannah had to call.  But she wasn't sure how to explain what was wrong in Japanese.  She managed somehow.  The plumber came at 7:30 and got the sink fixed in about 10 minutes, cost was 7000 yen, about 40 pounds.   I'm glad that it's fixed and that it didn't cost too much!

David keeps taking my phone to take selfies, so I'm putting them here.