Nothing

 That's what I've done the past few days! 

Thursday and Friday I had no classes, so I planned to clean, sort out teaching materials and prepare some lesson plans for the next few weeks!  Also I thought that I could clean the at least one kitchen cupboard.  I didn't count on the weather being so bad and me feeling ill because of it!

From Wednesday night to today we've had heavy rain and thunderstorms.  I had a headache all that time, I took so many painkilers that I upset my stomach.  Of course the humidity was high, still is, everything feels damp.  The cats were freaked out by the thunderstorms and spent most of the time in boxes or hiding behind the sofa!  I'm grateful that the worse thing was a lousy headache because some areas were hit really hard.  Floods and landslides in a few areas. According to news sources one person died and two are missing in the worse rain on Saturday.  

Where we live now is safe, the house is above the road and there are no rivers or mountains nearby, so flood or landslides are not a worry!  The other house is a the foot of a mountain.  A few years ago, ove 10 because it was before Hisao died an area near the house had a landslide.  Everytime we get heavy rain or typhoons I worry about that place.  Not looking forward to living there!!!

This is a screen shot from Google Map.

The house

The building with the mark is the house the other buildings are the storage/garage. The garden is massive, plus there are at least 15 other pieces of land, most of which are bigger than this place. Next to the storage building is a stream that has been lined with concrete, it's very deep and carries the water off the mountain.  I'm not sure if it follows a completely natural course.   I've known it to fill up but not over flow.  But there's always a first time!!!

Mom

 Today is nineteen years since Mom passed away.

I can't imagine what she would be like if she had lived, like Hisao, they are frozen in time, in my memory. 

One thing remember are all the stories she would tell us of her childhood.  These are the things that I remember and I know that memories are weird, they change and get distorted.  So if my Dad and brothers remember different things, that's okay!  I'm sharing my memories.

How to catch a rabbit, was a story that had me giggling a lot.  Mom was the youngest of eight children.  Her mother, my Grandmother, died when Mom was just 6 years old.  My Granddad worked on a farm, long hard hours, so her older brothers had to watch Mom a lot.  Of course, as boys they wanted to be off on their own adventures!  To keep Mom busy they taught her how to catch rabbits.  They would take her to a hole, place a lettuce leaf with some pepper on it and a brick next to the leaf.  The idea was the rabbit would smell the lettuce, come out of the hole, sniff the pepper, sneeze and knock itself out on the brick. Apparently, Mom spent most of the day watching this hole, the fact that there were no rabbits inside didn't matter, it kept Mom occupied while her brothers went off doing whatever they wanted!!

I remember Mom making fantastic fancy dress costumes for me, I actually won one year, I was dressed as the Queen of Hearts.  Mom made a dress of red and white crepe paper, a cardboard crown and even the jam tarts for me to carry!!  There were fairy wings made of old wallpaper,  doing puzzles together and songs at night, even though she couldn't sing.  There were games of eye-spy, the one I remember was playing with Steve.  He had something beginning with 'M', Mom and I guessed for ages, finally had to give in!  Turned out to be a motorbike going down the road!!! Water fights in the summer and if we were lucky to get snow then snowball fights!!

Even though 19 years have passed I still miss her.   As I watch my kids grow up I want to call her and tell her all the daft things they do!

Found some photos

I don't when or where

She thought I had no film in the camera

At work

With Alan

With Hannah, a year before she passed

Cats

 

No, I haven't gone mad and got a load of new cats!  This is a cat cafe that Hannah went to this morning.  She had to buy a swimsuit for next week, she has to go to a special needs school for the day and the lessons include swimming.  She checked the local mall and stores but nothing.  I told her that the bigger mall was just a few stations away.  Also, the station is only 2 minutes walk to the mall.  This might be dangerous as the mall has a load of shops that Hannah loves!  She spent time in the cat cafe, got the swimsuit that she needed, then off to the bookshop.  She sent me a message saying that the bookshop has a lot of education books, but she came back with this.

History of cats!

This sign tickled Hannah

The sign says 'Cats Only'

Feeling better

 First I would like to say thank you to my friends who reached out with advice and support on facebook and messenger.  I'm grateful that you took time to read and to write back.  My heart feels a lot better because of that!

When I wrote last time I realized that I was very angry about things.  I've known about these problems with the house for  the past few months so why so angry now.  Part of it was the extreme heat we've been experiencing, up 33C the other day. I'm frustrated as I have so much to do but with the heat it's impossible to do anything.  I would love to work away at the problems at the other house and keep this house and yard clean and tidy but just no energy at all.  I'm trying to get up early, about 5am to get things done before it gets hot but after a few days I'm exhausted.  Still keep trying.  I'm grateful that David is willing to cook most days, that really helps!  At the moment I have no appetite so no idea what to make.  

Of course the cats have to make life hard.  Poor Sam hasn't been peeing.  Two of the older cats have problems with their kidneys so we are very careful about things.  Hannah and Christopher took him to the vet this morning.  He has crystals forming not really a stone as yet.  He got an injection which will make him drink a lot.  Hannah also bought flea medication, cost a fortune but she is willing to pay.  I feel sorry for her as she is working two part time jobs to make money for graduate school in two years time.  

David and Sam, few months ago

Money

 This post is just me having a moan, feel free to skip it!

Money is the bane of my life.  I've never felt I have enough to really live.  Survive, yes, but to have fun money, money for trips or treats has been very little.  Here I am now 60 years old and still struggling.

If we didn't have to move we would be okay, again just surviving.  No extra money, just pay the bills, rent and buy food.  That's okay, not great but okay.  But we have to move, by January 2025 we have to be out of this house.  That's just 30 months away.  The problem is the house hasn't been taken care of.  It was built about 30 years ago but nothing has been done for its upkeep.  There is no toilet waste tank, the bathroom tiles have come off and need replacing, most of the outside rain spouts need replacing and it's too small so the storage area needs to be refitted to be bedrooms.  The bathroom sink has a leak in the waste pipe, that will have to be changed and any water damage will need fixing.  I have no idea about the roof or structural problems, there are some cracks outside, but I don't know how deep they are.  I honestly think pulling it down and rebuilding would be better.  But no money!!  I can't get a mortgage or loan because my age and my kids only have part-time jobs, which they will quit when we move as it's too far to come so I don't know if they can get a loan.  The only asset we have is the other land but that can only be sold to someone who wishes to farm it.  Even then we won't get that much!  

I'm now losing sleep over this.  It's hot, up to 32 degrees the past few days but I'm trying not to run the air conditioner as I don't have extra money for high electric bills.  I feel so sad and defeated.  

Just to make things a bit more miserable Mama fell from the banister yesterday.  I honestly don't know what's wrong with these cats!  They have slept there for the past few years and never had a problem, but now they keep falling.  So far Sam, Fluffy and Mama.  They all seem to land face first!

Poor Mama

What Happened?

 Before I start my moaning some good news!  I went to the hospital on Wednesday, blood tests for cancer and diabetes.  Cancer test came back negative, good.  I only have one more appointment in September for all the scans and xrays, then my five years are finished!  The test for my diabetes was also very good.  I was first diagnosed in January and put on two different medicines.  Now I only need one.  The doctor said that if I keep up, I should be off the medicine by September.  I've lost a lot of weight.  From my highest about  6 years ago, I'm down 17kg (just over 2 stone,  37 pounds), most of that I lost this year.  Unfortunately, since Hannah's birthday, I've fallen back into bad habits, just a taste of this or a mouthful of that.  Got to get back to being strict with myself.  I do feel a lot better and I know that if I could drop another 10kgs I would have a lot more energy.

Now onto the what happened?  Monday morning, Wednesday morning and this morning (Friday) I went out.  Monday was shopping, Wednesday was the hospital and today to the other house.  I'm shocked at the state of my house, every single room is a mess.  I thought I had a good system in place but it all seems to have fallen apart.  One problem is that the deep cleaning that I do before summer hasn't been done.  The small space between the fridge and counter in the kitchen is full of dust, the kitchen cabinets need a good cleaning, as well as the fridge.  My bedroom has clean laundry on the floor,  I've been washing the winter things to put away but haven't finished as yet.  All the floors are bad, the cats are shedding and even though we brush them there is still a lot of cat hair all over.  And then there is the garden.  I can't wrap my head around how much there is to do.  I guess step by step.  My biggest problem is the heat.  Today was up to 31 degrees,  tomorrow and Monday will be even hotter.  My plan is to get up early and get as much done as possible before the heat starts.  Also, I'm reluctant to run the air conditioners as electricity is very expensive. I will let you know if my plans and reality match up!

Hydrangeas look nice!

I Must Be Mad

 Friday and Saturday I felt really ill.  Fever of 38C, sore throat, earache and constantly snufflying.  I only had one lesson on Friday so I could rest but Saturday was very busy.  Every 2nd and 4th Saturday Mikey has classes at the local community centers.  He also has a lot of lessons here, so on those days I teach Mikey's classes as well as my own.  Of course last Saturday was the day he had to go to the community center.  Hannah taught one lesson but she had part time job during the other lessons.  I managed okay, gave the kids worksheets to do, which helped.  The hardest one was two 5th grade girls, they are lovely girls but they have so much energy.  Mikey did my last lesson so I could go to bed early, about 6pm!  I slept very well, I had taken a load of medicine.  Woke up early Sunday morning feeling a lot better.  Got a few chores done and decided to tackle the jungle aka the garden.

The entrance to the back garden

When I saw how bad it was I wanted to go back inside but I know if I do that it will never be done.  Christopher helped me.  I managed to chop down and dig out loads of weeds.  One is very invasive and stings even through the gloves I was wearing.  Spent about half an hour, which I know isn't enough but by that time I ached and was soaked in sweat,

HELP

Today I went shopping.  I needed to buy another fan.  I thought we had enough but when I was checking them I found a couple weren't working.  

Now I'm exhausted.  But still a lot to do, always is I guess.  We haven't been to the other house for over a week.  I'm not sure that I can actually do anything as it is getting too hot.  One thing I noticed was a few bushes of blueberries.  Hope to go and get some.