Busy Days

I've had a couple of weeks off from teaching but I seem to be more busy!
Spent a day moving furniture, again! Also packed up boxes to take to MIL's
house. I just have too much stuff here, books than nobody reads, pots and pans
that have worn out and clothes that are too small!  I know dumping the stuff in
MIL's storage place isn't the best thing but at the moment I don't know what else to do!
Mikey, Christopher and I drove out to MIL's! It always depresses me to go there.
She had the house built about 25 years go but she hasn't taken care of it at all. It's a mess
inside and out, needs a good paint job, even cleaning the windows would help, She
really can't take care of herself, she had a massive bruise down the side of her
face, another fall. And there is nothing we can do about it, she passed the cognitive
test so the welfare system can't place her in a home. The fact that she has limited
mobility and another serious fall could kill her doesn't factor in!
Went shopping yesterday, I bought fish on Sunday and even though it was in a
cooler bag, on ice it smelt really bad. David called the supermarket and they told
us to bring the receipt and get our money back. I was a bit upset at not having fish
the other day, I really fancied it!  But the supermarket service was good, no questions asked
they just refunded us!
Today is David's birthday, so going to have some fun with the kids today!  Have to go to
the hospital for another check up but after that we will have nice dinner, cake and watch
some movie!
The kittens are growing well.  They have taken to using the litter box, couple of little
accidents! I went to put my shoes on the other day and found a small puddle, of course
it had to be my shoe that one of them peed in!

Out and About

The other day Hannah and I went to the city.  Just looking around, nice lunch!
Simple day out for us!  Turned into a real adventure!  I am hopeless at
navigating train stations and trains!  And it's not just because my Japanese is
bad the same happens in the UK. I just don't get trains!  We arrived at the station, got
our tickets and went to the platform. Hannah is looking at the board and says that
she thinks we can't get on the train that is coming because it is reserved seats only.
When the train arrives it turns out to be the expensive express train.  We then decided to go back to
the office and ask for help.  We were waiting at the wrong platform.  We finally got to
the city, but then had to get the subway to the place Hannah wanted to go!
Again not good with subways! In London last year I got lost two or three times
on the Underground!  I've only used this subway twice before, but not too bad.
The store Hannah wanted to visit was the Takarazuka store. Takarazuka is an all
female musical theatre company, this is a link to Wikipedia about them  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue

She shopped for a while, spent a fortune but she was happy!  We then went and had lunch.
Rather nice hamburger steak!
Getting back also turned into an adventure!  We got off at the wrong station!  Just one
station before we should get off!  Poor David had to drive to pick us up, not very far

but the station was in the middle of a housing development with a lot of narrow and
one way roads.  I don't like trains!!!!

poster for a musical

It's hot waiting for trains

Nice lunch

Yesterday was also out and about. City Hall, Tax Office, shopping and Hannah's school.
Talk about crazy morning, I was hoping everything could be done in about one hour, reality
took 3 hours.  Never mind some things that I had been putting off are finished which is good!

The kittens are growing.  We got them a litter box last week and so far only one accident, not
bad.  This is what I find in the morning!

Sleeping in the corridor!

Fleas!!!!

The kittens have fleas!
Not sure how they got them, the mother cat goes out but we check her often
and I haven't seen on her.  David noticed them on the white kitten.  So yesterday
David and Hannah spent time trying to get rid of the fleas!  David got a special
comb, by dipping it in water with dish soap and combing through the fur some
of the fleas were killed. Decided that wasn't enough so he gave the cats a bath.
First the mother cat, she didn't complain too much but came back in shaking her
paws, then sat and licked herself for about half an hour!  David then took the
kittens which freaked the mother cat out!  I told her we weren't hurting the kittens
but she wouldn't have it! She was mewing so loud! On and on for ages!  She kept it
up in the evening which upset the dog. Between the cat and the dog it got really noisy
here, until after midnight!  The mother cat is still upset with us and gives us bad eyes!
The kittens still have some fleas, but seem okay!  Just have to keep them away from
the sofa and carpets!

Cute Kittens

It has been so hot here the past couple of weeks!  Up to 37C some days!
Too hot to think, to move, to do anything!  I have been running the air
conditioner almost all the time, no choice!   Today we are under a typhoon
warning, it's a bit windy and there is some rain.  We got lucky, some places
were hit very bad!

So the kittens are growing! I have to get a litter box set up soon so they can
stat eating food.  That should be interesting.  I have no idea how to train the
kittens.  Hannah wants to keep them, but five cats is a lot of work! We will see!

mommy cat

cute kittens

I'll add more photos as they grow!

This Is Mad

I know it's summer. I know summer is hot.
But the past few days have been extreme!
Hannah and I went to get our hair cut yesterday.  The hairdressers was nice,
strong air conditioner, I felt nice and cool.  The car, on the other hand. would
not cool down.  Even with the air conditioner on full blast it was uncomfortable.
Turns out that yesterday was about 37C.  That is hotter than body temperature!
Mikey was outside most of the day, came back with an awful headache!  Mild
heatstroke, took him a few hours to recover, he is okay now but spending
time outside is not an option!
According to the forecast this will continue for at least another week.
HELP!!!!

And Now Eathquakes!

I know this is Japan and earthquakes are part of life but not where we live!
I always said that the biggest problem here was the weather, extreme heat and humidity,
typhoons and incredible thunderstorms!  But no earthquakes!  Until a few years ago when
we had the Kumamotto earthquakes! But even that wasn't very close, the epi center was
about 2 hours drive from here!  Last night I got woken up at 2:40, the house moved, made
an awful noise.  I came down and checked the TV, earthquake but just a 1 here!  But the
center was the next prefecture!  Then again at 4am, this time bigger jolt, about a 3 here!
That woke up Hannah.  I tried to sleep but couldn't!  Checked the morning news, the
center is right next to our city!  Not happy about that but I guess no choice!  I am really
hoping that it is a one off thing and not something that is going to happen a lot!  I feel very sorry
for the people who are coping with the floods, this is just another stress!
Talking about stress, I realized that I over react to these things.  In my mind I know that
there is nothing that I can really do!  I follow advice on safety but if earthquakes are
going to happen I can't stop them!  In my mind I know this is true, more people died
in the floods and landslides over the weekend than the last big earthquake in Osaka!  But
my body just responds, racing heart, short of breath, dizziness.  I try to breath deeply and
calm down but I have mini panic attacks.  Not nice and not helpful!

Rain, A Typhoon And Then More Rain

In a book I read a few years ago the author described Mother Nature as being bipolar!
With the weather we have been experiencing the past week or so I would have to agree!
In this part of Japan the middle of June is usually the rainy season, about two weeks of
constant drizzle.  Everything feels damp and the air is really humid.  This year we didn't get
that.  A couple of wet days but not the real rainy season.  Then on the last Friday of June the heavens
opened.  Heavy rain and thunder storms. The thunder was so close that the house vibrated
with the sound!  Hannah's school was closed for the day, which is unusual so it must of been bad!
Then last Tuesday a typhoon roared past here!  We were lucky as we only caught the edge of the
storm.  But places along the coast got hit rather bad!  Poor Christopher got stuck at the
station and we had to go and rescue him!  I was hoping for a bit of a break but
of course didn't get it.  Friday the rain started, very heavy.  I've experienced heavy rain
before but not like this.  Most heavy showers last 2 hours, this went on all day!
Again Christopher got stuck at work.  He works at Amazon warehouse, two towns over.
They provide a shuttle bus from the warehouse to the station.  But last week the trains
were stopped and so was the shuttle bus! David and I drove out to pick him up.  Took
us about 40 minutes to get there, a trip that should take 20 minutes!  Getting back was
worse, over an hour!
Again we were lucky.  Our house is in a safe area, no rivers or mountains nearby. Floods
and landslides are the biggest problems with all this rain.  Some towns just down the road
from us have been hit very bad!  Businesses, house and cars ruined!
It is raining again, I hope it stops soon!