March

 I got a lot done in March.  Got to the other house a few times.  The two bedrooms are basically empty, one has a mattress that needs to go, the other has stuff that can be burnt. The kitchen cupboards are empty, I've kept a few things, brand new rice bowls and soup bowls that were gifts, a couple of nice trays, again gifts but never used.  We break a lot of things so they will be used!  The big tatami room is almost finished, just a few things on the floor that need to be thrown out.  One corner is piled with stuff I've moved from here, books and curtains mainly.  The veranda still needs to be worked on, boxes of CDs and DVDs but not sure how to dispose of them.  The next thing is to get utilities hooked up and start cleaning. That is going to be hard.  Next time I go I have to be brave and take things out of the toilets.  

My exercise was a bit hit-and-miss.  I did every other day for the past couple of weeks.  I get so tired going to the other house.  Also, spring is really here, on Friday it wasn't moving stuff, walking from one end of the house to the other, climbing stairs that are more like ladders that tired me out, it was running and screaming as bugs started to come out.  I don't like bugs of any kind!  Spiders are okay, the little lizards are okay but bugs have me running.  Good exercise I guess!!!

I noticed that the cherry blossoms are out.  I took a walk to the park on the next block and took a few photos.  Looks really nice but it might rain tomorrow!

The park near the house

April is the new school year in Japan.  Kids change years or change schools, going on to the next level.  It's a time of change.  I'm wondering what other changes will happen this year.  My English school is not doing so well, I'm not the only one, a lot of places are struggling to keep going.  I would love to start a new business but something easy, low-key that I can do.  I keep looking on the internet but most ideas are good in the USA or UK but not here. Any ideas?

Be Positive

 After my last moaning post I decided to message my friend.

I don't have many friends but the ones that I do have, I've known for many, many years and I know I can trust them to tell me the truth, even if it's hard!

The message to my friend went along the lines of how hard it is to move, how this is all (mostly)my MIL's fault, on and on.  One total whinge fest!  My friend wasn't having it.  She told me to stop moaning and just get on with things.

Even though it hurt, it was what I needed.  

That night I was sorting through my books (again, I have so many), trying to decide what I want to keep and what I can let go of.  I came across one of my journals written about 6 months before we were told that we had to leave this house.  In it, I wrote that I was wondering if I could get permission to change the toilet, bathroom, and kitchen here.  If I could choose the company, then get a loan to pay for it.  

This really hit me!  I was willing to pay to renovate a house that will never be mine but not willing to do the same for a house I own.  Talk about stupid!

So I gave myself a good talking to Wednesday night.  I realized a few things.  I either worry too much or moan too much.  With this move, I'm doing both.  I need to let go of the past, the pain and move on with my life.

Is this what I want?  No!!!

Do I have a choice?  Again no!!!

Is moaning and worrying going to change things, of course not!

So what should I do?  Grow up would help!   Stop acting like a kid who didn't get what they want for Christmas. 

I decided to focus on something good in the house.  There are 100's of problems and as I take out more and more stuff I'm sure I'll find more.  But there are some good things! 

There is an engawa, which is like a veranda that has nice views of the garden.  I plan to set up a reading corner there. I'll make a nice cozy corner to relax in.  I'm guessing that in the summer I won't be able to use it, as the air conditioning doesn't extend there but at other times of the year it could be nice.  Also, there is a bench outside of the dining room windows, a nice place to sit, with a cup of tea and watch the mountains.  If I can change the kitchen, I can make it one where I can cook without doing a balancing act!  These are the things I'm going to focus on!  

I've decided to focus on doing what I can do, instead of moaning about what I can't do.  One thing is I can cook good healthy meals.  I enjoy getting in the kitchen, and making good healthy meals.  

Thursday morning I spent time cleaning and cooking.  We had a good lunch,  we were just finishing when some of the cats started fighting.  David went to see and came back in with Fred, one of our grey cats.  One side of Fred was soaking wet, I thought he had got in the shower room but when I looked more closely I realized that it wasn't water but this yellow/brown fluid that was pouring out of a wound.  The cyst had burst!  David was happy that it burst on the corridor which is easy to clean up and not on his bed!

We cleaned Fred but he kept licking it so we put a collar on him but he got that off after a few seconds.  So I found an old T-shirt that belonged to Hannah and tied it on him, he wasn't happy.

Fred in the T-shirt

Poor thing but he seems to be okay!

After that, I had a nap. When I got up again I asked Christopher to help me with some things on my computer.  My computer used to translate web pages from Japanese to English but has stopped doing that.  Christopher asked what was wrong with my Line account.  Line is similar to WhatsApp, a free messaging service.  When I opened my line account everything had gone.  Turns out that my account was hacked.  I sent e-mails to most people on my account, explaining what had happened.  Christopher uninstalled the app and I have to reinstall it!!

Mikey, Christopher, and I went to the house again today.  I managed to pull up the carpet in the corridor and found that the floor is really nice, it needs a good polish but other than that it's okay.  I'm kind of stuck at the moment.  I piled the stuff to be dumped into the dining room, it's the easiest to take out things but because there is still too much outside nothing is being moved.  Mikey and Christopher managed to burn a lot, so I hope next time I can get more out!

Hell

 That's the word Christopher used to describe the other house.  And he's right!

The house is a disaster, not just the mold, trash and smell of urine but the structure itself is damaged.  I noticed that the color of the outside back wall was different.  The wood has gone a green color and feels damp. The two patches are where the toilets are.  Looks like they have leaked.  Inside looks okay but I have no idea what has happened underneath.  Another load of money to put into the dump.  

Then I decided to move the last few things off the kitchen stove and counter.  

This is the counter!

That black is mold!  The counter top and sink are covered in it.  The stove is mix of burnt on stuff and mold.  The floor is soft infront of the counter and sink, so maybe rotting as well.  I just stood there and cried!

How did this get to be my life?  I'll be 62 in the summer, I don't want to move, to clean up a house that is never going to be home.  I wanted to travel.  Before Hisao died we planned to travel in Japan.  Now all the money I make will be put into this hovel!

I feel trapped and angry.  I have no escape plan, no second choice.

Today the company that is going to build on the land next door came and checked the boundary between the two properties.  Looks like they will be building new houses there.  Nice, clean, modern houses with manageable gardens!

I keep getting told that I will save money on rent, that even having a loan will be paid off.  Problem is I won't be making as much as now.  We plan to keep teaching using the comminity centers but there are only certain days that they are available and trying to get the days that match the students schedule is going to be difficult.  Most of our students are kids and they are very busy.  

It's just one problem after another.  I feel all joy is being sucked out of my life!!!

Two Sick Cats

 Last week we found a lump on Fred's shoulder.

Fred in the carry case

We thought it was just from fighting but it didn't go down after a couple of days so Hannah took him to the vet.  Turned out to be some sort of cyst, the vet pulled out a lot of yellow fluid, gave him some medicine, and sent him home.  The lump went down a bit but seems even bigger today.  We will keep giving the medicine and see if that helps, if not back to the vet.

Then Alfie stopped peeing!  So again Hannah took him to the vet. 

Alfie

He has a bladder infection, so he got medicine.  Then we noticed he still wasn't going to the toilet and throwing up a lot.  So Hannah took him back, turns out he is constipated and full of gas, more medicine.

I feel so sorry for Hannah.  Not only did she have to carry the cats to the vet, about a 5-minute walk but she paid for everything, about 100 pounds.  She also had to get a vaccine for herself, the measles and rubella shot.  From April she will be working part-time at a local nursery and there have been a lot of measles cases recently.  That cost her 50 pounds!  I wish I could help her out but at the moment I am only just covering our rent and utilities.  

And I'm still exhausted from last week but am determined to go to the house twice this week as well, I must get it sorted before the summer.  I plan to clean out here in the summer, at least I can use the air conditioners!!!

I Over Did It

 Mikey, Christopher, and I went back to the house yesterday.  I was all fired up to get as much done as possible.  The weather was nice, sunny, and warm but not too humid.  After an hour I had to call it quits.  My back was screaming!  I remember moving a box on Wednesday that was heavier than it looked and something twinged in my back but I shrugged it off. Thursday I was in pain but again I put it down to age and the fact that I've had back problems most of my life.  Friday I woke up feeling okay so went but the pain was awful and so annoying as I really wanted to do a lot.  

The pain made me miserable. As I cleaned out things I noticed so many more problems.  The bathroom sink is a built-in unit, which is standard in Japan, but the waste pipe has been leaking, so the bottom of the unit is rotten and I have no idea what the floor underneath is like.  The same thing has happened in the sink that is in the dead space in front of the toilets.  I really have no desire to move there, it is so depressing to think about it.  Yes, I'm grateful we have that house because trying to rent somewhere else with nine cats would be impossible.  But at the same time, I feel as if I'm going to be working to pay to fix things that should have been taken care of years ago and not left to get really bad.  I know that my mother-in-law spent over 5000 pounds on clothes that she never wore but nothing on fixing the house, I feel so sad.  All seems such a waste.  I remember after she built this house she would come to my place and yell at me for having a piano and computers, I worked hard for them.  I just feel she had no sense about taking care of the house when she could.  

This is the trash that is outside

 

In the house is another room full of stuff.  I found it easier to pile things near windows so they can be taken out.  Some stuff we burned but there is still a lot.  Cleaned out one bedroom, just the old mattress there, the bathroom is done, and most of the Buddhist room.

The Buddhist room

There are thousands of incense sticks that I have to get rid of.  I'll use them in the summer near the windows to keep away mosquitos!

Outside

Looks like one of the neighbors decided to "help" by cutting down some trees, but I think he cut down the blueberry trees!! 

We will go next week and see if we can finish off a couple of rooms.

I think we will have to call the city hall and pay to have the trash removed.

Then the cleaning has to start.

How to remove black mold that is inches thick?

How to get the smell of urine out of wooden floors?  I know our cats pee in places they shouldn't but I clean it up and use alcohol to get rid of the smell.  Looks like my mother-in-law had a few accidents but never cleaned up.  She was offered home help but refused it!!  Yet another thing to deal with!!

Also, the windows are caked with dirt.  I think the main room windows got cleaned twice in 32 years when we lived there, the other rooms never got done.

Going to sulk now!!!

I Went, I Saw, I Gave Up

 I didn't give up 100% but I threw in the towel for the day.

The plan was to go to the other house early and stay until 3 or 4 o'clock. While there we would start a fire and burn a lot of the trash that is hanging around.

But Mikey forgot that he had an extra lesson at 4 o'clock and it's very windy today, starting a fire would have been rather dangerous.

There is so much stuff to be disposed of.  Years and years of living crammed into a small house.  Some things we can burn, old wooden furniture that has become moldy and all the clothes that she bought and never used.  I did try to take some clothes to the recycle shop but we were spending more in gas going there than we were making.  Old books can be taken to a place that recycles the paper and metal can be taken to the scrap place to be reused.  But there is a lot of plastic waste and we have thousands of CDs and DVDs that I don't know what to do with.  I watch programs from the USA and UK about hoarders, I love the idea of having a skip to throw everything into or having places to donate good stuff to.

 I wanted to find something good about the house.  The design, size, and location are bad but there must be something good in there.

I found a couple of things, the light fittings.

The light in the entrance

And one of the bedrooms

They need cleaning but are actually very nice.

Also some flowers were blooming which helped the outside to look a bit brighter.

A bit of color in the garden

Also, the view from the bedrooms is nice, at the moment.  I'm wondering if anything is planned for the land next door.

The view from the bedrooms

If the weather cooperates we can go again on Friday.

We have to get as much done as possible. 

Mikey said that there are companies to take away plastics, CDs, and DVDs but they are expensive.  I'm thinking of using one of the storage rooms to dump everything until I can save money to pay to take the stuff away.  I know it doesn't solve the problem but it's an idea!

Just Thinking

 I want to step away from teaching English. 

In every house I've had, I've always had one room for teaching.  Made my life very simple when the kids were little.  Just a 30-second commute, from one room to the next.  The house we are moving to just doesn't have the room to do that.  Also, it's in the middle of nowhere so I don't think getting new students in that area will be easy.  I'm hoping we can keep the students we have here by using the community centers to teach but I want to put the classes together.  At the moment I have one lesson on Monday and one on Wednesday, and a few on the other days.  Mikey has 4 or 5 a day.  I don't want to travel 40 minutes, one-way, teach for one hour and then sit and twiddle my thumbs for a few hours while Mikey teaches.  Here while Mikey teaches I can cook, clean, or get a few things done.  Also what about the future, 5 or 10 years from now?  We either have to make this school profitable enough to support any families the kids might have, and they all work together, or find another business.

What to do about David and Christopher?  They have part-time jobs here that they kind of like.  They could get more hours and stay here but they don't want to.  Also, wages are very low. The minimum wage for this area is just over four pounds and no real overtime!  David's supervisor, who is responsible for three or four different shops only gets 3 to 4 hours off every 24 hours.  It's dangerous as he is driving to different stores.  

The area we are moving to has almost no public transportation, a bus every hour and it doesn't go to the areas where there might be jobs.  David needs his own car and Christopher needs a driver's license. Another two worries.

I've been thinking about trying to start a different business but what?

I've thought about making a travel and food blog.  But I don't travel, I want to but no money! And most of the recipes I use are from other people or books and I have no idea about copyright laws.  

We have a load of land so I thought about using some to rent out storage lockers but that's not popular in the countryside.  We missed the solar panel chance.  

Starting a pet-sitting business and pet hotel.  But no start-up money.

We have persimmon trees, so fruit picking is an idea but very seasonal.  We could try to grow other fruits but I have a black thumb and again very seasonal.

I guess we need a family meeting and find out what everybody wants to do.

I look at these kids making money on YouTube etc and wonder if that is really possible.  Would anybody be interested in a 60-something fat foreigner living in Japan?

I have no classes tonight, so going to attack the kitchen, maybe bake, do my exercises, and get ready for tomorrow!!!!

Sleepy Sam!

Just A Cat Post

 I haven't written about the cats recently!

They are still driving me crazy, still cute, and at times very funny!

At the moment Alfie is purring away, lying in the sun with Hannah playing with him.  He tends to be a loner, and prefers the other cats to playing with us! But catch him at the right time and he will play but not sit on your lap.

Alfie in the sun

Fluffy still tries to get chicken when it's cooked.  Whenever I've cooked chicken I either have to fit a lid on it or put it in the oven or fridge.  The other day I had cooked some chicken but it was too early for lunch so I left it on the stove.  I went to the toilet, came back, and could see Fluffy's tail in the kitchen. She heard me come in and jumped off the counter (Yes, I do bleach the counters every day) and came strolling into the living room, looking all innocent!  

Fluffy with Mikey

The other cats are doing okay.  Why do we think that cats like to be alone?  My cats won't settle at night if there is nobody with them.  Fred and Frodo are the worst, they will cry for ages if somebody isn't with them when it's bedtime.  When David isn't working it's okay as they can settle but the other nights either Hannah or I have to sit with them until they fall asleep.  I use the time to read, in the past two weeks I've finished about five books this way!  I've tried playing with them, getting them to chase up and down the corridor, and then feeding them before bed but even if they are tired they want somebody with them to sleep!  

afternoon nap!

This week I'm hoping to go to the other house on Wednesday.  It's a national holiday so no classes.  I hope we can spend the whole day there.  I'm planning on making some onigiri (rice balls) and getting fried chicken from a local store that specilizes in fried chicken.  I'm hoping to get a lot done, we will see. One thing I want to do is to take down what I call the dead photos!  In Japan, there is a tradition of having photos of those who have passed away displayed in the room with the Buddhist Altar.  There are photos of people that I don't know and for some unknown reason these photos creep me out, they always have done.  I feel the eyes following me and judging me on everything I do.  I plan to take them down, take the photos out of the frames, and put them in a photo album. 

I'll try to update after Wednesday!

It Is The Season Of

Taxes

And allergies.

And frustration. 

Even though I don't earn so much money I still need to do taxes or rather Mikey has to do it!   By declaring income I get assessed for my national health insurance. For 3 people I pay about 50 pounds a month for national health insurance, then for any trips to the doctors, dentist, or pharmacy we pay 30%.  Helps a lot!  Especially I still have another four years to check for the cancer.  With most cancers after five years of nothing you are cancer-free, the type I had the doctor has to check for ten years!  

March 17th is the deadline for the tax form to be handed in this year.  Mikey did it yesterday!!  The tax office has made it easier by having what they call "E-Tax", which just means that instead of writing everything by hand you can type on the computer! Not really that much easier!  Also instead of waiting in line at the tax office, you can send it over the Internet.  I guess that does help.  We drove past the tax office last week and the queue was out of the building and down the side.  I wouldn't want to wait in that queue.  One thing I do is keep last year's tax forms, in a big brown envelope with TAX and the year written in large letters.  Helps!

Of course, the lovely warm weather brings allergies.  Mikey was sick last week.  I think he caught a cold but because of his allergies, it was a lot worse.  He was sick for 4 days, didn't eat for two but made up for it when his appetite returned!  I got hit yesterday.  Runny nose and sneezing.  I took my tablets but didn't help all that much! A friend was telling me about a leaf that grows wild that she chews on to stop allergies, I found that you can buy a tea made from that leaf, so I got some yesterday!  I have no idea what it is in English, doesn't taste nice but if it helps I don't care about the taste!

The frustration is the feeling that time is passing by too quickly and I'm not getting enough done to move. I need to clean out, get rid of, and pack up stuff here and clean out the other house.  Every day I try to do something toward that goal but it all seems too much.  I feel overwhelmed with everything.  I want to run away and not deal with things but I have no choice.  We have found out that we can connect the toilet to the mains sewage but it will cost a lot, we can get a special loan from the city to help pay but we will have to pay it back.  I get the answer to one problem but then another comes up.  Even though I know paying rent is a waste of money as the house would never be mine I would rather do that and stay here!  

Hannah with the cats

Hannah went back to the school where she did her teacher training.  She asked the homeroom teacher if she could come and say goodbye to the kids when they graduate.  The teacher invited Hannah to come to the last English lesson.  When Hannah got there the teacher said that she could teach the lesson.  Poor Hannah had about 5 minutes to prepare but she did okay.  She went to the goodbye party and had a nice time.  One of the students wrote in her memory book that Hannah coming to the school was the best thing of her 6th-grade experience.  I'm glad Hannah had such a good experience and that the students liked her, I feel this has given her a much-needed confidence boost.

The House.....Again

Another morning at the other house!  Still so much to do. 

Today we managed to clear out the entrance.  Most of that was our stuff that had been dumped there.  About 3/4 I trashed, the rest went into storage to be sorted when I'm feeling better and not so pressured to get things done! 

The entrance

On the left are shoe cupboards, really big ones.  They were full of old shoes.  Most were never used but they have all gone in the trash, except the ones on the highest shelf, even Mikey had a hard time reaching them, we will need a step ladder next time.  The space in front, with the two ladies sitting, drives me crazy.  It's for displays but I don't want to use it like that.  For me, it's dead space that could have been used better.  I'm thinking of putting up a curtain and using it to store the vacuum cleaner etc.  There's no place to keep cleaning supplies, so everything was in the corridor!!

I found something interesting in the small cupboard underneath. 

My find

not sure what this says

This is really heavy.  For some unknown reason, I really like it.  One of the few things I want to keep!

with one of Hannah's old dolls

Mikey couldn't decide which one was creepier!!

After two hours of lugging boxes we were finished for the day.

We went for a drive to a town about 20 minutes away.  It has a nice old town area but we didn't stop. Hannah took a few photos as we drove through.

Some of the old buildings.  I hope to go again when we have a bit of time to explore this area!

Right now I'm tired but it's a good tired.  The feeling of getting something done.  Still a lot more to do!  We will get there. one day!

Exercise Update

 It's been about a month since I started to exercise.  I will admit that I missed a few days.  One was the day we went to the other house, I figured all the moving of boxes and walking counted as exercise.  Also the past week or so I've missed because of my allergies being bad. I can exercise when I'm sneezing, coughing and having a runny nose but not with the awful sinus headaches I get.  Some days I feel like I've been beaten around the face and even just walking sends shooting pains, so exercise is out of the question.  Other than that I have been consistent.  I'm doing a gentle 10-minute chair exercise and I'm starting to see some results.

I haven't lost weight, I keep bouncing up and down the same kilo.  Also losing weight has more to do with food, as the saying goes you can't out exercise a bad diet!  But my mobility is better!  The other day I was walking from the car to the supermarket, Mikey had to park far away as it was busy.  I usually walk with a limp because of bone-on-bone arthritis in my right knee, but that day I realized that I walked fast and no limp. I thought it was a fluke but over the past few days I've been walking okay.  Also when standing after about 20 minutes my back and hips hurt. Today I spent an hour cleaning the kitchen and cooking dinner, until it got to an hour on my feet I had no pain.  

This gives me hope.  I dream of traveling in Japan, there are so many wonderful places to see but so much walking. I have to keep up with the exercises, maybe try a longer one, really get fit.  Then all I have to do is make money!!

Also, I do need to cut sugar again.  I don't why but I'm finding it harder to say no to sugary foods.  Last time I stopped sugar I was using an artificial sweetener in my tea, but it had an awful aftertaste!  I take half a teaspoon of sugar in my tea, which isn't too much!  But it's the chocolate, cakes and cookies that keep coming in the house.  I think I'm going to have to tell the kids to stop buying them.  

Maybe I need another challenge!

Mama

Just a photo of Mama enjoying the sun!!!

Hospital

Today was my checkup for cancer and diabetes.

Nothing big, just had some blood taken and a quick word with the doctor.  I'm all right with that, I know the hospital, the procedure, where to go, which desk to put my file into so it's easy for me.  I don't have to try and understand the Japanese.  But it's so busy!  

Blood draw took two minutes, talk to the first doctor, two minutes, second doctor three minutes but I was there from 9am to 11am, then another 40 minutes wait at the pharmacy.  Still, it's over and done with and I don't have to go back until June.  That is the big yearly checkup with a CT scan, mammogram,  and blood work.  

We have 210 days until we move and I'm still not happy about it.  Every time I go to the other house I try to imagine living there but it still feels so wrong.  Part of this is not having a choice.  Usually moving house means choosing somewhere that you like or at least can feel comfortable in.  I don't get that choice and I know it's because I've chosen to have cats.  I know that I can, potentially save money because I don't have to pay rent but again it's not really that good.  I don't have to pay rent but I will lose students because we can only hire the community center on certain days.  Also, I'll need a loan to pay for things.  Getting the house connected to the sewage system will cost about 800 pounds, paying to the city and then more to the company that will do the work.  I'll have to get a loan for that.  A friend suggested doing a lot of the work ourselves, she said that there are a lot of videos on YouTube to follow but I know that a lot of time DIY doesn't work out!  Also, DIY costs money.  Feels like a lot of work to live in a house that I don't like!

Mikey with Fluffy

Mikey doesn't like the cats so much and Fluffy doesn't like people so much but they seem to like each other.

Cold...Again

 It's March and we had snow this morning...for a few minutes!  I was so shocked when I looked out the window and saw snow.  Hannah said it felt colder than February, which might be true. I'm not complaining, I like the cold (maybe not this cold though!).  I keep seeing on different news sites that scientists are saying this summer could be hotter than last year.  My reaction is "NO, NO, NO, don't need that!"  

One thing I like about the cold weather is being able to cook "comfort food".  Today I made chicken pie, roast potatoes and peas (too many peas!).  

Tasted great!  I also made jam tarts with the leftover pastry.

chicken pie

I've been trying to get down to zero food waste.  I'm so tired of finding food in the fridge that is out of date or vegetables that have gone bad.  David sometimes shops on the way home, which helps a lot but he has a habit of just buying what he thinks we need without checking what we have or asking me.  

To use up vegetables I've been making soups, I just throw in whatever is in the fridge and hope for the best!  Most of the time it's good.  Nice, filling, and warming!

David terrorizing Steve

Not sure what Steve did but David grabbed him. He looks totally scared.  I do know that Steve was under the table and biting my toes earlier!!

The House

 We managed to get to the house today.

When I'm here I think that there isn't so much to be done but when I get there I feel overwhelmed by just how much is left to be thrown out before cleaning and restoring the house can start. 

The weather didn't help today.  Yesterday it rained all day, so everything felt damp and we couldn't start a fire to burn some of the trash. It was so cold and cloudy making the place look dark and dismal, not a good feeling.  Also, I discovered that a lot of things in the entrance and tatami room are things we dumped there.  A lot of Hannah's toys or things from her school days.  I've decided that at this time I can't deal with the extra emotion of throwing away her stuff.  Part of it has to do with my husband. Just seeing those toys reminds me of Christmas and birthdays.  Yes, I know they aren't my husband but sentimental things are hard to let go of.  Also, I have too many strong emotions dealing with this move as it is, I can't handle any more.  So I'm going to put these things in our storage area and when we have settled in take time to go through them and say goodbye.  Let them go slowly.  I feel for me that is the best.  Maybe in the grand scheme of things, not a good idea but I don't know what else to do.  

Hannah yelled at me.  I found a box of clothes that I packed up and put there.  I started to look through the box, but Hannah caught me and told me off.  She said that I had decided that the stuff in the box wasn't worth keeping and I should just throw away and not go through it again.  She's good to have when sorting out things!

Managed to get the shoe box sorted.  There must have been about 50 pairs of shoes!  Most belonged to my mother-in-law but I found some that belonged to my brother-in-law, he passed away before I came to Japan, so over 33 years but she was still hanging on to his stuff.

I also found a lovely set of geta (Japanese shoes) and a bag.  We took it to a recycle shop but they weren't interested in it.  When I checked after I could see that the bottom of the shoes looked worn.

Looks nice but the bottoms are scuffed

Took some photos of the back of the house.  Having all the bamboo taken down has made a big difference.

bathroom windows

The door leads into the bathroom!!

One of the bedrooms

Looks like I'll have to check the wood next time.

I'm also suffering from bad allergies, I've been sniffling and sneezing all day.  It's that time of year!!