February..so far

 This month has been rather busy.  Most of the business is to do with Hannah.  She graduates high school next month and is preparing for university.  To that end she has been sorting out stuff from school, so many prints!  The kids have textbooks and workbooks for each subject, about 11 in Hannah's case but the teachers still make prints.  I understand it as I teach as well and sometimes the textbook doesn't go into detail on some  things or I feel the kids need more practice on certain areas.  But the amount of prints Hannah has is crazy.  Also the amount of money this is costing, entrance fee for the university ( about 2000 pounds) a computer (about 700 pounds), I would of waited on that but she doesn't know yet if she will have classes or online classes. Then there is the suit for the entrance ceremony (about 350 pounds).  Good job I've been saving for the past few years.  Plus she will need new clothes, for the past 6 years she has had uniforms, hanging around the house is pyjamas, a couple of nice things to go out in but not much.  I guess a few shopping trips are in the future.

Unfortunately a lot of things in the house need replacing, air conditioners (two have stopped working and one is only works sometimes). The air conditioner work as heaters so have been running a lot this winter.  Also my stove top is broken, need to get that changed soon as it's gas and I worry about it leaking.  Could do with a new sofa, cats have ruined the one I have now.  Good job I like working!!

The weather here is going through extremes.  Sunday was like spring, up 23C, yesterday and today it's snowing, down to -2C last night.  The forecast is for it to warm up again but who knows!

I'll leave you with some photos of the cats!

Fred and Alfie

I wanted to make my bed but.....

Christopher stuck the cats toy on his head

This is the result!

Having a Laugh

 I've realized that I am totally stressed by this pandemic.  There again I guess most people are!  Until December the virus felt far away, I didn't know anyone who was sick and the cases being reported were always in another city.  Now there is a cluster in Hannah's school, too close for comfort.  One thing that helps me with stress is finding the funny things in life, things that make me laugh or at least smile.  Here are a few things that have happened over the past couple of weeks that have done that.

Even though I don't want to I still have to food shop, I try to be as fast as possible in the stores and only shop once or twice a week.  The other day I came back exhausted from doing a big shop, four different stores in two towns.  I have a hard time walking because of my knee plus it was freezing cold.  Got home and all nine of my cats were curled up on the sofa.  Of course I say hello to them but I came out with "Hello dogs!"  Hannah just looks at me and asks why I'm teaching English!

Then Christopher asked me to sew up his trousers.  He stooped down to pick up a box at work and his trousers split, he spent 3 hours with his arse hanging out!

Then there is David, who has the most incredible stories.  In Japan in all stores you are greeted with "Irashaimase" which basically means welcome, it's said in a loud, cheerful voice.  David works in a local convenience store, he said that he shouts out "irashaimase" hundreds of times a day when he is working!  When he is working a long shift I make him a big breakfast, but Friday was just 6am to 9am so something quick.  I made him a lovely cheese on toast.  He are half of it then said that he doesn't like cheese on toast, he likes cheese and he likes toast but not together.  He went off to work.  The first hour was kind of busy, but at about 7am things have slowed down.  All the other jobs that need doing like checking toilets are clean, emptying bins, checking shelves are full have all been done so David is just standing about waiting for customers.   He is feeling rather hungry by now and thinking about food.  Finally David hears the door open and he calls out, in English, in a lovely loud cheerful voice "I'M HUNGRY".  To say he wished the floor would open up and swallow him is an understatement!  

David!!

Quick Update

 Turns out that there is a cluster at Hannah's school.  Yesterday Hannah got a message from the school that 5 people have tested positive at the school.  The message didn't state if they were teachers or students.  The school will close until Wednesday, which I guess is something but a longer closure would be better.  

Also the local news said that one elementary school is closing for a week after another cluster had been found.

It all seems to little to late.  David went to the local mall to get his hair cut, he came back saying that the place was packed.  I know where we live isn't under lockdown but surely only going out when necessary is the best idea not acting like this virus doesn't exist!  As soon as David got back he washed his hands and rinsed his mouth with a iodine solution.  

Sorry this posts are rather miserable but I am going crazy!  I watch the British news almost everyday. I really don't know how people are coping there!  I think I would hae had a breakdown by now!

It's Creeping Closer

 I'm talking about the Covid 19.   In the past week I've heard of a cluster just down the road from here, at a nursery.  Then the supermarket where Christopher is working had one incident.  And today somebody ay Hannah's school has it!  And guess what none of these places have closed!  The government is trying area by area lockdown, so the next prefecture is in lockdown but nothing has changed.  The main thing is that bars and restaurants have to close by 8pm, other than that it is life as normal!  Everyday the numbers are going up and hospitals are struggling to cope but wanting the Olympics to take place seems to be more important.  Another thing that is totally weird here is the peoples attitude toward health care workers and those who have the covid 19.  Nurses are  quitting because they are being bullied by neighbors.  I read about one family that broke my heart.  This family had lived in the same house for over 30 years and were well known and liked in the community. Their daughter caught the virus while she was away at university, she didn't come home while she was sick.  But the neighbors ostracized the family, even throwing bricks through the windows.  In the end the family had to move!

I will be glad when we can get vaccines.  I know they aren't 100% and wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands will still be needed but somehow it will give me peace of mind!

Just to finish some cute photos of the cats.

This is when it was very cold!

Mama cat

Birthdays and Snow

 This week was Christopher's and Mikey's birthdays!  

One tradition we have is the birthday person can request their favorite dinner.  Christopher wanted a very Japanese meal, tonkatsu, which is breaded pork chops, usually deep fired but I do them on the grill, miso soup, rice and salad.  I also made a very Japanese dish, lots of Japanese vegetables and chicken thigh cooked in soy sauce, sweet wine and sake, very nice and warming.  Mikey wants Toad in the Hole, so I'll do that for him tomorrow.  Christopher prefers Japanese food, Mikey goes more for Western foods.

And we have snow.  We get a little flurry of about 30 minutes every year, that doesn't stick.  This year it's been snowing since Thursday night (it's Saturday afternoon now!) and it doesn't look like it is going to stop.  Hannah's school started on Friday but they sent a message that the school is closed, that means it is very bad as schools seldom close here!  David and Hannah just came back from the shop, it's a few minutes walk from here, of course David feel over!  And they had a snow ball fight!  Top temperature today is 1C, this in an area that gets up to 38C in summer, very extreme!

Near our house

Our Yard

Cats watching the snow

These two photos were taken at midnight but so much cloud the sky looks white

Cats keeping warm

Goodbye 2020

 What is there to say about 2020?

I never thought that I would be living through a pandemic.  These things belong in SF movies or in history.  I remember studying about WW2 in school and thinking that I was lucky not to be born in such a time, that I could never cope with the stress of sending our men off to fight, not knowing if they would return or return whole!  Although the pandemic was not too bad in Japan it still impacted us in a rather negative way.  I honestly don't know how people in Europe, UK or USA coped.  

I started off the new year determined to grow my business.  I really wanted to visit UK in 2021 so a year of hard work I should be able to save enough money for that.  David made new leaflets, we got them printed and the boys started to go door to door.  We got a few new students and I thought things were going okay.

The end of March David left to join the Japanese Army.  That went wrong very quickly.  During his training he got stress fractures on both knees.  He need time to recover but instead did a 10 kilo march in full gear.  He got out on a medical discharge 3months later.  Even now he still has pain from time to time.

March was also our lockdown.  Unlike the UK it wasn't enforced.  All schools closed, public places closed as did most stores, supermarkets and drug stores being the exception. I tried to shop once a week not easy with limited space but some how managed.  We didn't close our school, it's our only source of income and there was little help from the government.  We gave the students a choice, if they felt safe they could come, if not take a holiday.   It was hard, our income went from almost 3000 pounds to about 800 pounds (our rent is 850 pounds).  

April 1st my mother in law died.  Old age, she was 83 and had spent the last 2 years in and out of hospital and in a care home.  We inherited her house and a load of land which we are still trying to figure out what to do with.

Because we were in lockdown and not teaching so much we spent a lot of time cleaning out my mother in laws house.  I had kept so much in storage there, it was really like a trip down memory lane.  I shed a few tears as I remember all the things we did as a family when the kids were little.

One of our kittens got adopted by a lovely lady in the US Navy.  Because of lockdown she couldn't leave the city she was in so we drove almost 3 hours to take the kitten to her. It was nice to get out and see somewhere different.

End of lockdown, start of summer David came back and got a part time job a local convenience store.  Christopher was working at the local supermarket stacking shelves before it opens. 

Then our lovely dog died.  She had been slowing down over the past few weeks, I thought it was the heat and her age. Turns out she had cancer.  The vet said that she was suffering and too far gone, she wouldn't last the night so best thing was to have her put down.  Even now I'm crying about this.

The rest of the summer was hard. Too hot and not able to go anywhere because of Covid 19.  Wearing masks in the heat made me rather ill.

Autumn saw Hannah begin her search for a university.  Because of her homeroom teacher she decided to be a teacher.  Hannah always thought that she couldn't be a teacher because she is shy but Hannah's teacher is also shy.  Poor Hannah worked so hard for her first university but couldn't pass but got into her second choice.

I'm sure I've missed out a lot but 2020 is almost over and 2021 is a new start. I know things haven't really changed, if anything with this new variant of the Covid 19 things could get worse.  But I feel that doctors and scientists have more idea how to deal with it and of course there is the vaccines that are being rolled out.  So 2021 I need to make money, I really want to go back to the UK for a visit.  I need to step up my teaching, especially teaching kids, I've kind of lost the plot there.  I hope to spend more time with my kids, we are all getting older and more busy, with everybody's schedules being all over the place it is difficult to get together.  

Few photos in no particular order!

Photo I found in mother in laws house, hubby with his long hair.

Leaving for Japanese Army

David

 Lovely early morning adventure because of David.

He managed to fall down the stairs, this was before 6am. I was in the living room and heard this awful thud, I went out and David was picking himself up.  I asked if he was okay, he said yes and went to the toilet.  A couple of minutes later I heard another crash.  I went running and David was on the floor.  His eyes were open but unfocused, he was sitting, leaning forward and moaning.  He grabbed my hand so hard I thought he would break it.  He then went down again, eyes rolling back. When he came too his pupils were just pin pricks and again unfocused.  I shouted Hannah, who was awake to get Mikey.  He called the ambulance.  I managed to pull David up and get him to the living room, he sat there feeling rather dazed.  He remembers falling down stairs but nothing after until he was in the living room.  Got to the local A&E, which is small but able to deal with most things.  (It's the hospital where I had my surgery a few years ago.)   Hannah came with me because of all the forms to fill out.  David was checked over and had a CT scan.  Apparently he his head when he fell down the stairs and has a concussion!   Not what I needed at this time of year!

And just to add to things it's snowing and actually sticking.  According to the forecast it should snow over night until sometime tomorrow afternoon.