Autumn

 September is the start of autumn. Unfortunately, I don't think the weather got the memo as it is still hot! Today's high was 33C but felt like 36C.  I guess that is a bit better than 36C feeling like 40C!!

I'll be glad when the temperature drops enough that I don't have to run air conditioners all the time!

Autumn in Japan is a chance to recover from "Natsu bate" summer fatigue.  The heat and humidity here are very oppressive, it's easy to get so tired just from doing daily activities. Maybe for a week or so, it's alright but after a few months, the feeling of being totally exhausted all the time sets in.  It's so hard to explain how it feels, no energy at all. Having air conditioning helps but that is such an unnatural cold that it's hard on the body as well. I love my air conditioners, without them I wouldn't be able to do anything at all but waking up with a dry throat every day is hard.

There are so many tasty treats at this time of year as well. Japanese pears are starting to appear in the supermarkets. I always associate them with September because they were a breakfast treat when the kids went back to school after the summer holidays!  Soon sweet potatoes and chestnuts will start to appear. I love sweet potatoes, just steamed, or in soups and stews.  In convenience stores, the niku man, steamed pork buns have started. I love pizza man, the same dough on the outside but the filling is pizza sauce and cheese, very addictive.

Pizza Man, my treat today! 

In spring we have the cherry blossoms, a map showing the best time to view them is published. In the autumn we have a map for the fall leaves.

This is from the internet showing the different times that the leaves are at there best.

Where we are is a bit late, usually about November. Even though this year is going to be very busy I hope to be able to go somewhere for a day just to enjoy nature. Where we are moving to is in the countryside, so we'll get a lot of nature there but having a day out might be a nice break!

Still packing, managed to fill three more boxes yesterday. I tackled a set of drawers that I knew would be difficult. A lot of clothes that I don't need but was hanging onto. Hannah was in the room, she would just say, throw it away. That helped a lot. A couple of T-shirts have gone into a bag to use for cleaning the windows! 

I need some more boxes, my walk-in closet is basically cleared out, maybe I can finish it tomorrow!  Then do more downstairs!  

Just two more months to go. Help!!!!

Getting There

 I managed to go to the other house today.

The last time I went was just before the typhoon, so we basically just put stuff that was outside into the storage room.

Today David and Christopher came, we managed to get a lot done.

Christopher spent time outside burning more trash. Thankfully most of the trash has gone. It's taken over 2 years to really get rid of stuff.  My mother-in-law passed away 4 years ago, at that time we had no plan to move there so we just took out obvious trash, but the things that she had hoarded we left, my plan was when we had time to go and take care of things, maybe use the house as a summer home. Being told that we have to vacate the house we are in pushed us to clear things out.  I never thought we would get to an almost empty house, it honestly felt as if the stuff was multiplying behind our backs!  I remember feeling so happy that I had emptied out 20 of those big boxes only to go into another room and find 30 more, plus a wardrobe and two chests of drawers.  All that is behind us now. I've left a few pieces of furniture, I plan to replace them in the future but just don't have the money as yet.

We cleaned out the main dining/kitchen room. I took down the curtains and blinds, they were filthy and covered in mold. I threw out the counter that was in there, I did think about keeping it but it was really tatty. I need to find something to replace it as the only counter space is about the size of a chopping board! David pulled out the paper that had been put in the bottom cupboards, I think the idea was to catch splashes but the paper hadn't been changed for years.  He cleaned part of the kitchen, it looks better but needs a few more scrubs before I feel it's okay to cook in. We went to a local home center and bought some carpet tiles, blue, David's choice. I was going to just have the floor bare but it's been ruined, again something will have to be fixed but in the future!

All in all a good morning, exhausting but I can see some progress so it's good!

David  putting the carpet tiles

Just having those few carpet tiles down makes it feel more like a home. One good thing is they are easy to change if the cats mess, which they will!  David has these in his room, one problem is that the cats seem to mess where the tiles meet, not in the middle!!

A few months ago

Now

It's nice to see how far we've come. Still a lot to do but I can have a bit of hope that things will be done on time!

I'm amazed at the difference, just a few wipes and it looks better.

This countertop was black!! 

I still want to clean everywhere again but it looks so much better! I couldn't reach the backspace, I'm not tall enough!  

Managed to fill 3 big boxes, as always more to move.  Still, we are getting there!

August

 Started with an earthquake, ended with a typhoon!  In between was very hot and humid.

It was a busy month. Even though I didn't go to the other house David and Christopher went a few times and made good progress. Most of the trash is out, and the rooms are more or less clean. I need to go to make sure things are cleaned properly, the walls and the railing around the top need to be cleaned out, the old curtains and blinds removed, the windows washed, the floors mopped, and then polished. One big job is the stovetop and extractor fan. I know we cleaned the fan when we lived there, but that was 16 years ago and it hasn't been done since then. 

Here I've managed to pack a lot and sent a load of boxes over. Need to do more this week. I think almost all the winter stuff has gone. I still haven't sorted the walk-in closet, I hope to do that tomorrow.  I have to start throwing things out. I'm just hanging on to stuff for the sake of it.  There are still things in the kitchen that I won't be using for a few months that can go! I hope to have this house 80% empty by the end of September. A tall order but I think it will be easier that way. Moving takes time and I would rather do it bit by bit than try and move everything at once.

August was also David's birthday and mine. We had a nice celebration for David's. I didn't bother with mine. I'm 62 and starting over, not really worth celebrating!

Then there was Mikey's engagement. I'm so happy about that!  

All in all a good month, a bit crazy with the weather but that is Japan. Summer is really intense!

I'm looking forward to September. I hope the weather cools a bit but it probably won't.

Hannah and I are going to see Jesus Christ Superstar.  That should be fun!

Other than that a lot of packing, sorting out, cleaning of both houses, the usual stuff!

I didn't quite make a post every day. Should I do the same challenge for September?

Sleeping on the stairs, it's a death trap!

Typhoon 10 Shanshan

 We were lucky again with this last typhoon.

Bit of wind, lots of rain. 

Those videos were from yesterday afternoon.  The wind died down a couple of hours after that but the rain has continued almost nonstop for the past two days! 

This typhoon is unpredictable, although the main part of the storm has passed the wind and rain have picked up again, plus the air pressure is very low.  I've had headaches for the past couple of days because of that!

A lot of places along the southern coast of Kyushu and the inland sea between Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu were hit badly.  There were reports of tornados in some places taking off roofs and shattering windows. Underpasses were flooded in one city and rivers are swollen. The typhoon isn't moving fast even though it has lost a lot of power it is still powerful! 

One thing I'm glad about is that a lot of businesses closed for a couple of days. I'm always shocked at how many people go to work in the worst of weather.  There are always people in the background of reports from different cities.  I understand wanting to do your job but surely your business is not going to collapse if you stay home for a day or two!  I feel that risking your life for your job is really silly, the only people who need to work are first responders and hospital staff.  Going out, and putting yourself in danger puts an extra burden on emergency services. The emergency services are always stretched during these disasters as the risk of floods and landslides are very real. Then of course there is the damage caused by the high wind, downed trees and power lines are a big problem.  David's company closed the internet cafe yesterday until 3pm today. He has to work tonight but the storm is bad again so I'm wondering if he should go!  But I know that even if I tell him not to go he will and I don't have the energy to fight with him!

This typhoon is now moving toward the more populated areas of the country. There is still a lot of disruption to travel. Most Shinkansen lines are closed, JAL and ANA have canceled or suspended flights. There is even a possibility that some highways might close. There are a lot of reports of people being stranded at airports or train stations!

I'm hoping that this typhoon will die out soon and that there are no more deaths, I've seen reports of 4 people being killed. 

For everybody who has sent me messages and prayers over the past few days thank you so much.

Waiting

 Typhoon 10 still hasn't hit. It slowed down over the sea, which means it is getting stronger.

This typhoon has had people guessing where it was going! The first forecast, last week showed it going toward Shikoku and Honshu, just catching the corner of Kyushu.  Now it is south of Kyushu and moving slowly up the coast toward Nagasaki! 

It looks like it the eye will pass south of us, near Kumamoto. That is about an hour and a half drive from here. We won't get the eye and eyewall but I think the storm is so big that anywhere in Kyushu will be in the path!  

Flights have already been canceled, as well as most Shinkansen trains. Hannah just told me that local trains will be canceled as well. Even schools are closed Thursday and Friday. 

A few minutes ago we had the first emergency alert.  These alerts go out early to advise people to evacuate to the emergency shelters before the weather gets really bad. This is helpful for the elderly or people with mobility problems!  

Where we live now is relatively safe. There are no rivers nearby or mountains.  The wind is scary but this house has shutters on the big windows. 

I'm a bit worried about the other house as it is at the foot of a mountain. There is a possibility of landslides!  

We've tided outside, just have to bring in the umbrellas that are on the front porch. I've shopped, we have bottled water, cup noodles, plenty of bread, some snacks and fruit. I picked up some candles from the other house as well, just in case the power goes off.

Now it's just a case of waiting and fighting with the kids. David works nights, tonight will be okay but tomorrow night I don't want him going to work but I know he will and I will sit and worry about him.  Is it worth risking your life for a part-time job!? He has to quit so getting fired for not turning up is not a big problem.

David doing his daft selfies with my phone, again.

Just had to edit this to add these photos of a double rainbow.

Really beautiful

The second rainbow is not so clear in the photos but in real life it was!!  Very dramatic sky!!

Why Is It So Hard.....

 ....to declutter?

One good thing about moving is having the chance to sort out stuff and throw away things that are no longer used or needed.

I've been doing the hundreds, if not thousands of books we have.  We have books for teaching, those were easy to throw away. Some were so old and so out of date that they confused the kids! I had one book teaching "How Many?" using everyday objects like pens, pencils, erasers, etc. One object was cassette tapes, I spent half the lesson on this asking the kid "How many" and getting him to answer "There are 4 cassette tapes.", then changing roles.  At the end of the lesson he asked, in Japanese, what are cassette tapes?  I was surprised that he had never seen a cassette tape, CD, or even a DVD.  Books like that were easy to throw away. There's a recycle place that takes books and scrap paper to reuse the paper. We've taken maybe 30 or 40 big boxes there.

A lot of books were from when the kids were little. Bit harder to deal with but a friend of mine took a lot. She is Japanese but has a foreign husband and they are raising their kids to be bilingual. She also knows other families that might benefit from the books.  That was easy to do. I've kept a few, the book I read to Hannah every day she was in the hospital, or a favorite book of the boys.  

Other books that are harder to deal with are ones I've bought over the years. These are taking a bit longer. Also, everybody has a lot of books, 200 or 300 each, maybe more. We really are a book family!

Yesterday I wanted to start sorting my clothes. This is where I'm having problems. Hannah suggested that I throw away anything that I haven't worn for a year. But it's difficult when the clothes are still wearable.  I took out six pieces yesterday, threw out 5, and put one back.  I realized that some of the clothes I've had for years, maybe 20 years or more. Why am I keeping them?  Part of it is worrying that I won't be able to buy things again.  Being big means that it was difficult to get nice things here.  But that isn't true anymore, there are catalogs and of course internet shopping! Got to get rid of my old thinking!

This is the next problem. I asked Mikey to bring a couple of the big plastic drawers from the other house, he bought six over. They are so big and in the way. If we had a chance to go this week I wouldn't mind but between work schedules and the typhoon, I think it'll be another week before we go

Plastic boxes!

The sad thing is that there are about 50 of these boxes, they were full of unused clothes!!

Typhoon???

 There's a massive, powerful, slow-moving typhoon forming south of Japan.  Depending on which app or news feed I check we are either going to be spared the storm altogether, get the edge of it or get hit really bad!!  It's predicted to hit on Tuesday!

As always I'm more worried about our neighbors than the storm itself. The three closest houses all have nice cars parked outside, I worry that stuff from our yard could fly and damage their cars!  A few weeks ago David cut down some of the trees and bushes outside but didn't clean up, so there's a lot of branches lying around. We got some of them moved but still too many for me to feel that it's okay if the typhoon hit.  So this morning Mikey, David, and Christopher were tasked with cleaning up as much as possible.  While they were doing that Hannah cleaned the living/dining area and I did the kitchen and made lunch. Nice, productive morning. After lunch, Mikey and Christopher took the trash to the other house to burn!  I'm not sure how much they could burn because about an hour after they left we had an incredible thunderstorm!  The storm has passed and the temperature is a lot cooler, about 27C but humidity is high! Still, it feels a lot better than 35C.

Hannah took these photos the other day when she went to the special needs school.

Winnie the Pooh on the fence

She thought it was kind of cute. I like the fact that the photos show how interesting the houses are in Japan. The wooden house in front is old, maybe 40 or more years old.  The ones that look like boxes are very new, it's a style that is very popular at the moment.  The houses are next to a field, that looks like a rice field, this is also normal here to have a mix of fields and housing. And of course, no pavement to walk on, in most rural or semi-rural areas cars, buses, trucks, bikes and pedestrians share the road.  In larger cities, there are pavements (sidewalks) and bike lanes but in the countryside, it's a bit hit-and-miss!