Hannah

 Hannah had another episode on Tuesday, not a seizure, from what she described, it sounds like sleep paralysis. 

My understanding of sleep paralysis is that there is a disconnect between the brain and body. When we are in REM sleep, the time when we dream, our brains temporarily paralyze the muscles in our body; otherwise, we would be acting out our dreams! As we wake up, the muscles become active again. Sleep paralysis happens when we are waking up, but our bodies are still paralyzed. It's not dangerous but rather scary. I've had a few episodes of this myself, so I can understand Hannah's panic.

She decided to come home Tuesday evening. She spent the night at home but had to return to university today. So I've come back with her for a few days. Next week is a holiday, so she can come home again for a few days.

This morning I offered to make breakfast. Just something simple, sausage, eggs, and English muffins.

Breakfast at Hannah's

It took longer than it should have, as I spent time looking for things. I forgot how difficult it is to cook in somebody else's kitchen!

I made a little video of Hannah's apartment. I narrated it, but my voice sounds awful. It always does, but sounds worse than usual as I have awful allergies and a sore throat.

Enjoy the video even though it's not the best quality!

Hannah has an MRI appointment on Friday, so I hope she can start to get some answers as to why these things keep happening to her!

I'm wondering what to do for the rest of the morning! I've cleaned up, hung the laundry, I have to wash the dishes from breakfast, but after that I'm free. Read? Watch TV? Lie around?  I would go out but the weather is rather unstable, thunderstorms on and off, and rain that goes from a little drizzle to full-on downpour in a matter of seconds!

It's very quiet here, no cats. I never thought I would miss them so much! I'll have to ask Christopher to send some photos later!

Hiroshima And Nagasaki

 Today, at 8:15 am, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, 80 years ago. Three days later, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

Every summer, these events are marked. August 15th, the day that Japan surrendered, is marked a day to remember the soliders who gave their lives in war.

I have very mixed feelings about these dates of the bombs be memorialized.

Of course, it's important to remember the innocent victims who died on those days, about 80,000 in Hiroshima and 40,000 in Nagasaki. Plus the ones that suffered for many years after with burns, radiation sickness and cancers caused by the bombing. I say a prayer for these people every year.

What I struggle with is the fact that the media always portrays Japan as being the victim. Japan might be the victim of the atomic bomb but it was the aggressor in the war.

One of the reasons Amercia joined the war in the Pacific Thearter was the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The Japanese had already expanded it's emipre across a large area of Southeast Asia. Japan was driven by the desire to obtain natural resources. Also national prestiage and military power played a part in the expansion.

These facts aren't really talked about, either in education or in the media. It's all about the suffering of the Japanese people. The atrocities commited by the Imeperial Army (The Rape of Nanking or Comfort Women, for example) are brushed over. Some people believe that all the awful things that happened in the war are conspirecy theories put out by western media.

Was the use of the atomic bomb really necceasary?

I've heard arguments from both sides. But it's hard to judge, I wasn't there and I wasn't the one to make the decision to drop the bombs.

One argument for using the bombs is that it shortend the war. The loss of life was horrendous on those days but a prolonged war would of caused a lot more casualites.

Were both bombs needed?  I don't think so, dropping the one on Hiroshima was enough to scare the Japanese leaders into considering surrender.

There are many lessons to learn from these tradgies. One thing I would like to see is that the children are taught that even countries have to face the consequences of their actions. If Japan hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor, then maybe the bombs wouldn't have been used!

I've visited Nagasaki and toured the area where the bomb was dropped. There is a beautiful Peace Park. I had a look at the museum but had to leave as the photos were very disturbing.

This year Hannah went to Hiroshima. She visited the Peace Dome and meseum, again a very disturbing place to visit.

Some photos from Hiroshima.

A drum that was found in a school

An elementary school, this place was used as a makeshift hospital

The Peace Dome

By the way, I'm sorry for any mistakes, especially spellings. The spell/grammar check AI use isn't working!

Exhausted

 As much as I enjoyed my shopping on Sunday, it left me totally exhausted!

Yesterday was made even more difficult because of the ongoing thunderstorms all morning. I ended up with an awful headache. Needless to say, very little got done!

I had plans, clean the entrance and the tatami room again. The cats have decided that the tatami room is theirs. I don't mind, but finding hair everywhere is driving me crazy, even though we keep brushing the cats, they still seem to shed a lot! Also, the smell is driving me up the wall! I need to keep on top of the cleaning, but with the heat, it has been really difficult! 

This morning I pushed myself to get some done, not 100% but a good start, I hope to finish tomorrow and then try to at least run the vacuum once or twice a week.

I need to make a good cleaning schedule. I've written about this before; in my mind, I have an idea of what needs to be done and when, but I don't write it down. I'm also very good at making excuses; I have classes today and don't want to be too tired for that, I have to clean the kitchen and cook lunch, the garden needs doing, I'm tired, etc. Some of my excuses are very creative; the mess is an ongoing work of art, the best one I came up with was after watching a documentary about hoarders, I actually told the kids I was trying to see how long it would take for the mess to become unlivable, only lasted two days! Even though my house isn't that clean, I actually don't like a mess, and I especially don't like things that smell!  I think that is why I spend a lot of time and energy cleaning the kitchen. 

I guess it's time to get off my computer and start some lunch! 

Just a few photos of the cats, the ones that cause so much trouble, but are still cute!

Mama

She came back after a week.

Fluffy lying on my iPad and phone

Steve

Five of them in the dirty corridor, which is the coolest place.

A Bit Of Fun Shopping

 Recently, the only shopping I do is grocery shopping. It's turned into a rather stressful chore that needs to be done!  The main stress is from the price of everyday things. I'm spending more now to feed four of us than when there were six of us!  I know that when we were a family of six, the kids were little, but I would buy things that I now consider luxury items, fresh fruit or ice cream, come to mind. My shopping now is very basic things, a bit of meat, chicken, maybe fish sometimes. Basic vegetables, always seasonal, as they are cheaper. Then the daily necessities, like milk, bread, eggs, and sausages. Nothing fancy. I can pick up 20 items and pay over 7,000 yen, about £35, that would be for three days!  Also, I go to two or three different supermarkets, one has cheap meat but the fish is expensive and never looks or smells very fresh, another has good deals on vegetables but milk and eggs are expensive, and then another for all the things I couldn't get at the first two shops! It is exhausting and rather frustrating!

Today we went to a shopping mall. I usually don't bother with these places, too much walking, and the supermarkets there are a lot more expensive than the other places. But I saw on Facebook that there's a coffee/ import shop that had English brand tea!  I buy cheap tea, it's okay, but I really wanted something a bit special. Also, these stores are good for Christmas food, and yes, I know it's only August, but this is one way I survive the summer, by planning Christmas!

The mall was a 30-minute drive from here. We had to cross the river, I was shocked at how low the water was.

I think we need some rain.

Since those awful thunderstorms the other week, we haven't had any rain. The forecast is for some this week. I hope it rains as it does cool things down a bit!

The first thing I noticed at the mall was the flood barrier. This mall is close to a river, not the one in the photo!  The problem is that the river is higher than the mall. Christopher worked at this mall. During the rainy season that year, the river burst its banks and flooded the mall; the water came up to Christopher's knees. He was working at the bookstore and said that all the books on the lower shelves were damaged. Because of this, Christopher lost his job!  He had only just started to work there. This was the second year in a row that the mall had flooded, so I think that the insurance couldn't cover the damage. The store had to find a way to save money, so maybe that is why Christopher lost his job!

Now the mall has these barriers at the entrance.

These barriers pull across the entrance during floods.

I wonder if they work!

I managed to find the store that I wanted to go to. It was smaller than I thought, but they had the tea.

English tea

I'm looking forward to a cup of real English tea.

We had a little wander around and found Muji. This is a lovely store that has a minimalistic design philosophy. They sell a wide range of goods. I'm always drawn to stationery goods and kitchen goods. I bought myself a couple of nice pens.

Nice pens

I also bought Christopher a new T-shirt.

Of course, green.

I had a look at a few things for David's birthday. I think I'll have to go back there to get him something.

I had a look in the supermarket, it was expensive, but I came across a small corner of plant-based items. This is something that is only just catching on in Japan. I saw these noodles.

Vegan

Somehow, they don't look very appetizing!

On the way out, I caught the back end of a train that goes around the mall. The kids love it!

Train ride around the mall.

I tried to get some video on the way back, but Mikey was driving very fast! I really liked the trees that have been planted along the road. The red flowers were very beautiful!

As you can see, the mall is in the middle of the countryside!

I had a nice afternoon, but I was so tired after! 

Surviving Summer

 The heat has really intensified! The past week has seen temperatures in the upper 30s; I think one day it reached 40 °C.  I'm not sure about other places, but here the humidity has been around 50%, which makes it a bit easier.

I still don't have air conditioners in all the rooms. I have mine, which really helps. David's is working at the moment, he went outside and kicked the machine, then it worked. 

We tried to get the old machines working, but no luck.

But somehow we are surviving!

It's not easy, but if I can get up early to clean and start lunch, it really helps!  Also, I give everyone an area to clean. Then I stay in my room with the air conditioner on for the rest of the day.

I realized the other day that this is the first summer that I haven't had an air conditioner in the main rooms. A few times I haven't had air conditioners in the bedrooms, but I've always had them in the rooms that are used a lot, the kitchen, dining room, living room, and the rooms I used for teaching. I've often wondered if it would be possible to live without air conditioning! Now I know it's possible, but not nice! 

I keep telling myself that it's almost autumn! That the temperature will go down, and soon I will be complaining about the cold! For me, the cold is a lot easier to deal with!

Last week I went shopping with Christopher. We found these cute soft toys. I thought this one looked like Christopher!

July

 I didn't think July was so busy, but looking back, I did a lot of things!

Having Hannah here for a week was nice, but the reason she came wasn't good. She has a few weeks' holiday from university next month and is using that time to go to the doctors to figure out what the problem might be! She went to a "brain doctor", a neurologist, today.  He said that there are three possible causes for her seizures: first is epilepsy, second is stress, and third is a circulation problem.  She has an appointment for an MRI next week. I hope that she can get this sorted out as soon as possible. 

July started out relatively cool. I actually managed to go out in the evenings for little walks! The mercury would get up to 33C but because the humidity is low, it just doesn't feel that bad!

The past few days, however, the temperature has really gone up, summer has really started! According to the weather forecast, it could get up to 40 °C tomorrow!  That is crazy! I really hope the humidity stays low!  I know what I'm going to do: stay in my room with the air conditioner on. I might have to open the door so the cats can come and go. They really don't like the air conditioner, but they might stay near the door!

I really want to get things done in August; I need to push to do the yard. I'm looking for some potatoes to start growing in pots. I went to one of the garden center stores near here, but couldn't see any! I'll have a look online. Also, I'm still trying to figure out the kitchen storage. I really miss my pantry. I never realized just how useful that was in the other house!

Keeping Fluffy out of the food cupboard would be a good start!

Fluffy likes to find interesting places to sleep.

Those two things should keep me busy!

Of course, with the weather warming up, the bugs are coming out.  Found this on the car the other day!

These give me goosebumps.

And yes, I screamed.

I hope August is a good month; it's usually a hard month because of the heat, but I'm determined to make it better this year!

What A Week

 Last week was hard!

It started off with me feeling totally overwhelmed by our situation.

We have no money but need a lot!

The only asset we have is the land, but we can't sell it as it's still in either my mother-in-law's name or my grandmother-in-law's name.  To change the name would cost between £150 and £500 for each piece of land, and we own about 16 pieces of land.

The house and garden need a lot of work. Not having air conditioners is crazy, this week the temperature will be over 38 °C. Trying to cook or clean in that heat is almost impossible. I worry about David as he has to sleep during the hottest time of the day. He has a fan on his bed, which helps, but I'm not sure how much good sleep he gets. He looks exhausted! He needs a holiday but can't afford one! I don't think he's had a holiday since he started work there, about 4 years ago! The only time he's had off was when he got Covid!

Then Mama cat got out and hasn't come back! She escaped on Wednesday, but we haven't seen her at all since then. I didn't want to tell Hannah as I know she'll stress, but she would ask why no photos of Mama. I figured telling Hannah now is better!

Come back Mama

I had a new student on Thursday. My first online student. The lesson was okay, but there's a lot to learn about using Zoom. I have to set up a schedule and figure out how to send materials or make something on the Zoom app! It's a challenge. Which is good for me!

I tried very hard not to get too desperate, but of course, life loves giving me a hard time. 

We have to pay land tax this month, 2,5000 yen, £125, then insurance for David's car, 50,000 yen, £250, plus the electric bill will be more as I've run the only air conditioner a lot! 

Then the oil lamp came on in David's car. He took it in yesterday, got the oil changed and the brakes looked at, cost 5,000 yen, £25, not too bad, but the engine needs changing, which would cost 30,000 yen, £150. I think he got scammed! He bought the car off the internet without seeing it, maybe not the best idea!

Where is all this money going to come from? David is paying for almost everything at the moment, and he isn't earning that much!

Just to add to my misery, I've been sick with an upset stomach. I think it's all the stress that I'm dealing with!

I haven't really slept much or well this past couple of weeks, about 2 hours out of 24 hours. The nights that David isn't working, I took sleeping tablets but only got 4 hours!

Christopher has been cooking and baking for the past few weeks. I'm glad that he has started to do some cooking.  I try to do lunch, but dinner tends to be a bit hit and miss! Most days, Christopher will make something quick for dinner, which really helps!

Yesterday, he made some very nice blueberry muffins. He made more today, some without blueberries as Mikey doesn't like cooked fruit!

Blueberry muffins

Muffins with cat paw prints

Cheeky request!

I've added a Ko-Fi button, if you would like to buy me a coffee, or tea!!!!