CATS

Life with cats is interesting, frustrating and at times, exhausting.
Cats have no sense of time or privacy, they want to do what they want to, when and where they want.  2am is the best time to race around and fight,  11am is nap time!
I never wanted cats.  Growing up we had a couple of cats for a short time but we were
always more of a dog family.  The same here, at one point we had two dogs.  Now just one old lady!
Cats were never part of my thinking.  I would get mad at the local cats for using my yard as a toilet. Actually I get mad a irresponsible owners, people who buy or acquire pets but then don't take care of them!  I always feel that pets don't get a say in who has them, the animals are not responsible for the carelessness of people.  That is how we got Mama, she was a stray, sitting outside my window crying.  I couldn't let her starve so I started giving her food, of course she came back time and time again, finally giving birth to the first set of kittens just outside our window.  We took them in and over the course of the past year they have become part of the family.  And as much as I moan about them, they make me smile with their antics.  Each cat has it's own personality and interesting quirks. The white cat, Steve, will mew and chirp when you call it!  Fred, the gray and white cat loves chasing a small ball up and down the corridor.  Alan, the black cat, is the trouble maker, always starting fights!

So I thought we were settled with our 4 cats.  Just waiting to get Mama spayed.  We tried so hard to keep her in but she escaped a couple of times and because the owners of the cats around here haven't had their animals fixed she got pregnant again.  Thursday night she had two kittens, 24 hours later another one was born.  These kittens are a lot healthier than the 2nd lot that all died.  They are bigger and are moving around a lot.  Poor Mama is exhausted, 3 litters in 12 months is not good for a female cat.  We will have to postpone her operation until she finishes weaning the kittens but I am determined to get her fixed as soon as possible.

Steve with lovely blue eyes

Fred asleep in his drink

Difficult to see but the new kittens

Mama and baby

Alan looking for trouble

Summer Holidays

My summer holiday is almost over.  Didn't do much, just relaxed at home, far too hot to go out too much!  But did manage a couple of outings.
David, Hannah and I drove to a museum, took 3 hours to get there!  We drove through the
mountains, nice to see the green fields and lovely cool rivers.

Tori Gate

The museum was about life in the Showa Era,  1926 to 1989.   It had displays of every day items that were used at that time, including a house and school room.  Unfortunately part of the area was the old shops but it was too hot to walk around for long!  It was an interesting place and I enjoyed seeing things that were similar to what I remember growing up, cassette recorders and record players!

Show Era classroom

It was a nice day out but very tiring!
Last week Hannah and I went to see Les Miserable, again.  The show was very good!  I really enjoyed it, even though it was in Japanese!  Getting there and back was exhausting, we had to use the trains. I really don't know how people can do that every day!

Posters

Cakes and a drink before heading home!

I am going to make a cake now, today is David's birthday!  Plus Mama cat had kittens last night!

RAIN

I know this is the rainy season and I know that we get heavy rain but yesterday was
crazy.  Thunder storms and torrential rain for a long time from Saturday night until
about lunch time Sunday.  David went to vote in the morning, he said that some places the water was
up to his knees!  It was surreal watching the news and recognizing places.
This is from NHK world news, most of the places shown are just down the road from here.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190721_15/

We are still under a storm warning, but I hope that the worse is over and done with.
The shopping mall where Christopher is working was completely flooded.

This week starts my summer holidays,  I'm hoping that the weather will improve!
According to the forecast for this week it is going to get hot!  Not sure if that is good
or not!

Rainy Season

The rainy season has well and truly started.  The rainy season in this area is usually in the middle of June but this year it has been late.
We've had some rain, about 24 hours non stop but not as bad as in some areas south of us.  So far no flooding or landslides, as yet.  Some areas have not been so lucky.
One problem I have with this weather is the constant headaches and feeling of leathery.  I really have no energy at all.  Plus, to add to my misery , my allergies are in full swing!  I am trying to get things done every day but all I want to do is sleep or sit and stare into space, even reading or watching TV seems like to much trouble.  I get this every year but this year it feels worse.

Of course the cats keep me busy. It's a good job they are cute.

Also David has made some ume juice from the ume fruit we picked at my mother in laws house. It is really lovely and refreshing!  We still have a load of the fruit frozen so should be  enough for the next few weeks!

About 10kgs of fruit

One Year Check-Up

Today was my one year check up since my cancer diagnosis.
The appointment went okay, just lots of waiting around.  First was the mammogram. Not a nice
experience but over in a few minutes.  Then a CT scan.  To help with the contrast a special
liquid is injected through a drip. I always have problems with having a drip as my veins are rather deep, I ask for the nurse to use the vain on my hand.  But the nurse today said that she could get a vein in my arm.  After lots of slapping she finally found a vein to stick me.  Getting the drip in was alright, but she kept asking if it hurt.  I wanted to say of course it hurts you just stuck a big needle in my arm, but I smiled and kept my peace.  The CT scan was painless and the staff got it to speak in English to me.  At certain times you have to breathe deep and hold your breathe, in Japanese I always get mixed up!  Having the English really helped.  After that was an echo and then more waiting to see the doctor.  One thing with this hospital is that everything is there, so when they take blood it is sent to the hospital lab to be processed.  The same with the scan, everything is sent to the doctors computer, no waiting for  outside labs!  Makes things a bit easier, over and done in one day.
The good news is that every thing is clear, no sign f cancer anywhere.                                                      

These are ume fruit that David picked from mother in laws garden the other week.  He is making a drink from them. It's really nice and refreshing in the heat.  Little sharp which makes the drink nice!

Hisao's Birthday

Friday would of been Hisao's 58th birthday.  It's hard to think of him as being 58!
I often wonder what he would be doing if he were here.  One thing all the problems with
my mother in law would of been on him!
I found some older photos that I've scanned into the computer,  not good quality because of the scanner but enjoy!

About 5 years old

20's maybe

18 years old in Tokyo

With my Mom and Dad, 30 years ago.

With David and Hannah and our first dog

With the kids

I really miss Hisao!

Here We Go Again

Every year while it is still cool I tell myself that I will do better in the summer.
I determine not to be defeated by the weather.  That I will keep to my schedule and not
end up in bed, being miserable.  I dream of going out, of visiting places and seeing things,
especially during the holidays.  I tell myself that a positive attitude will help because
complaining is not going to change the heat and humidity.
Most years I can get through the first few weeks then end up getting sick.
This year I didn't make it through the first week of the intense heat!
Yesterday, according to a weather app that I have it was 30C but real feel was
up to 36C.  I decided that it would be best to use the air conditioner while I was teaching.
But I couldn't find the remote. Mikey and I searched for half an hour but no luck.
I taught for 2 hours, with a big fan on but it didn't help that much.
In the evening I couldn't cool down, got an awful headache and felt sick.  When I checked
my temperature it was 38.5C, I had heat stroke.  I couldn't believe it, the first week!
So I realized that a positive attitude is not going to change my body and it's reaction
to the heat.  But being positive is so much better at dealing with the heat.  Moaning is
a waste of time.  So now I am trying to find the humor in my situation and how to manage
the rest of the summer.

Our animals seem alright in the heat.  The cats don't like to be held, which is understandable.
They roam around the house looking for a cool spot, then they don't move until it's time to
eat, sensible creatures.  Our dog, Lucky has found a cool spot in the yard.  She is getting old now
and doesn't have the energy she use to.  I make sure she has plenty of cool, clean water.

As always cat photos.  We had a long box that the cats loved running in and out of!