Why?

 Even after 33 years in Japan, there are things that I don't understand.

Our kitchen sink is blocked.  It's not a good design, two sinks with separate drains until the pipes meet halfway down to take the waste water out. If it gets blocked below where the pipes meet the dirty water from one sink flows back into the other sink.  Every few months this happens.  David used to take the pipes apart and fix the problem.  But the newer pipes are rather fragile and he doesn't want to risk breaking them. So we have to call the plumber.

This morning David called a plumber that we have used before. He said he was at another job and would call after he had finished there to say when he could come here. That's fine. About an hour later the phone rang, David had gone to the shop so Hannah answered it.  She started to explain who was the older brother between David and Christopher. I'm listening to this wondering who was calling, maybe from the City Hall or something to do with inheriting the land. After the call, I asked who it was, and Hannah said it was the plumber. 

Why does the plumber need to know who is older? Also, how does he know Christopher's name (he used their Japanese names)?  David paid one time with his credit card so I understand them having his name on file but Christopher wasn't here. All rather weird. Plus they haven't called back to make an appointment, it is now 6:40 in the evening.

Am I missing something here, is this a Japanese culture thing or is this company just strange.

I'll ask David to call again tomorrow.  We might get an answer.

On Sunday on the way home I stopped by a supermarket that is opposite a train station. Hannah took some photos, of a very typical Japanese cityscape.

The train just pulling into the station

In the top photo, the building on the right is a block of flats, very typical in this area.

The photos are good considering she took them on her phone!!

I Missed A Day

 I was determined to write every day this month and until the weekend I was on track!

On Saturday I went shopping with Mikey and Hannah, just to the local shopping mall. I wanted to check out a furniture shop.  I want to buy a few pieces of furniture, I've looked online but seeing things in real life is better for me.  The other house is smaller, I want furniture that looks nice, and comfortable but doesn't overwhelm the small space.  One thing I want to buy is a new sofa, one that is easy to clean, with a high back to lean against.  I've seen some online but wanted to touch the material to see how it feels.  We had a look but most pieces were sold out, the mall is closing down so I think the furniture store isn't adding any new inventory.

We had a look in an electric store. I went in to stand in front of the fans.  Even with the air conditioning, I was sweating buckets!  The fans were nice!  Hannah wanted to check out the size of the refrigerators.  She wants to buy a set, washing machine, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, and rice cooker but she couldn't understand the size of the refrigerators.  She has a better idea of what to buy now.

I bought some new towels. I have no idea what's happening to my towels but they aren't lasting that long, most of my bath towels have holes in them. I'll cut them up to use as cleaning rags but I don't know why this is happening. Maybe because they are cheap. I had one towel that was given to me as a gift that I used for over 10 years.  These new ones are only lasting a few months!

My big news is that Mikey got engaged on Sunday!  I want to post photos of his fiancée but he didn't ask her if it's alright. She's a very private person!  She's a lovely young lady and shares Mikey's crazy sense of humor.  I'm so happy that he has found somebody to settle down with.

Hannah got all dressed up.  She spent most of her time playing with Mikey's fiancée's baby niece!

Hannah looking cute

It's back to work for me today. Only one lesson so I hope to pack up more stuff later.  David and Christopher took a load of boxes this morning.  We are getting there, slowly!!

The End....

 ....of my summer holiday. Back to teaching on Monday.  I'm not that busy but on the days I have classes I have to be aware of the time, some projects take a few hours to complete, plus I need to have energy to work into the evening.

I managed to get a few things done, of course not as much as I would have liked.  Never is! 

I packed up four more boxes of books from my room, Hannah sorted a big bag of clothes to go to the recycle store and a friend came and took another box of children's books from the room I use to teach in.

I need to tackle the walk-in closet and the room that was the office but is now a second teaching room and a dumping ground! I don't know if anybody else does this but when random things need a place they get dumped in the office, my idea is to sort them later, but somehow later never comes! The cupboard under the stairs needs cleaning out and the shoe cupboard, lots of old shoes that need to be thrown out!  

I've packed up most of my baking things but still have kitchen gadgets that I won't be using until the cooler weather, so that's a project for next week.

I hope we can move in the middle of November, that is 86 days, 2 months, and 25 days!  Not long at all!

There are still things that need fixing at the other house. The toilets still need seeing to, I hope to get that done next week.  I want to put a sunroom on the front of one of the rooms, it's similar to a conservatory, but not as big.  I want another room for the cats, also sunrooms are good for hanging laundry when it's rainy! I've looked online but need to go to stores to see exactly what they are like.

I would love to change the kitchen and bathroom but I think that will have to wait until next year!

This morning Fred and Alan were fighting, there was blood at the top of the stairs and paw prints going from David's room but I can't see who was bleeding.  

Alan

Fred

The two culprits but don't they look innocent!

 

Fluffy Tofu With Chives

 This is a recipe I found on Instagram. I added panko (Japanese bread crumbs) as the tofu didn't hold together as I fried it.

1 block of firm tofu, drained

1 egg

small bunch of chives, cut small 

enoki mushrooms, cut small

panko about a handful, this wasn't in the original recipe. I just added some until the mixture came together

1 cube of chicken bullion

3 tablespoons of potato starch

sesame oil for frying

In a bowl crumble the tofu, add the other ingredients, and mix well

Shape them into oval balls and fry in the sesame oil until done, I think I cooked them for about 10 minutes.

Very easy recipe. Also because it's a lot of protein it helps to feel full longer.

Fluffy Tofu with chives

Enjoy!

Again?

 Do you remember the end of 2019, the beginning of 2020?

The news of this new virus in China, and the draconian measures the government was taking to tackle the spread of the virus.

I watched the news as the epidemic spread throughout China, and then onto other countries.

I really wasn't that worried. I live in a small city in the Japanese countryside. We don't get that many tourists here, nobody to bring the virus to our doorstep.

I watched as the first cases were recorded in Europe and the first known case was seen in the UK.  The words epidemic and pandemic became part of the vocabulary I had to teach to my older students. 

Once the pandemic spread through the UK I worried for my family there. The news was saying that the elderly were particularly vulnerable. My Dad is in his 80s, was he going to be okay?

I was amazed at how people followed the rules and stayed home, how life stopped. A doctor on the way to work took a video of his root through some of the busiest streets in London, they were deserted! It was eerie how quiet it was.

In the middle of January, Japan had its first case. I still wasn't worried.

In March schools closed and we had to close for a while too. But there were no cases reported in our small city or the neighboring cities. 

I started to notice that plastic partitions were going up in stores. The first one I noticed was in a convenience store. That surprised me, had the virus come here?

A couple of weeks after that the supermarket in the next city had a sign on their butchers counter. It said that you couldn't ask for a kilo of meat to be divided into two 500-gram packs as it takes time and they want the customers to move through the area fast. I actually cried, this is when COVID-19 became real to me. Before that point, I felt that it was happening in other places but not near where I live.

I bought alcohol, masks, and vitamin D.  We washed our hands, face and gargled when we came in from shopping or work.  I tried to cut down on how often I went shopping and the time in the shops.

Every fever we got was monitored, and every cough was checked. I tried to be rational about it but the number of deaths scared me. Hannah has weak lungs because she was born premature, Mikey and Christopher have allergies that make the respiratory system weak. I wasn't that healthy at that time. David was okay. 

We caught it in 2021, I think!! A milder form that attacked the throat but not the lungs!

I was glad when the pandemic was over.  For me not having to wear masks everywhere was a sign that it had run its course.

Why am I writing this?

Monkeypox (Mpox). 

Again the news is reporting about a new disease that is starting to spread around the world. The WHO has declared it a global health emergency. 

This disease, which is related to smallpox, started in Africa. It's a zoonotic disease, which means that it can be transmitted from animals to people.  Hunters or people dealing with animal carcasses can be exposed to it. It's transmitted by skin touch or on surfaces, if you use a towel of an infected person you could get infected. It can be transmitted by air droplets but that is less likely!

There have been a few cases in Japan.  

I'm wondering if this is going to be another pandemic and if it's going to be on the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic. Or is it a case of a slow news day?

How do we protect ourselves and our loved ones?

Are there vaccines? Do we need them? How deadly is this Mpox? I know that news organizations choose the worst photos for dramatic effect but some of the photos are awful.

We are still dealing Covid here. We had it in June, more like a bad flu.  Miserable but pain killers for fever and aches and pains, a few days in bed and good healthy food cured us.   A lot of our students have had it or somebody in their family got sick. I think Covid is going to be like the flu and cold virus, always there!

I'm trying to balance being aware of Mpox but not freaking out!  We live in a time of international travel. People travel to exotic locations and interact with the local people and wildlife, I think it's normal that viruses are brought back.   

We should educate people about the transmission of diseases, the other choice is to stop people from traveling!

Please stay safe. Keep an eye on your local news, and educate yourself on the symptoms. There isn't much else we can do. I hope that scientists and doctors can find a way to manage this without the extreme measures that were in place 4 years ago.

Got to end with cuteness!!

Frodo and Sam this morning

Playing with my cats helps me to deal with the stresses that get thrown at me. Between diseases that only existed in far-off countries, to the possibility of a massive earthquake or WW3, and my personal stress dealing with moving I am at a 1000% stress level. But the cats are so calm, they just chill out. A lesson to be learned there.

 

David

 Today is David's birthday! 30 years old!

As always I feel the past 30 years have gone by very fast. 

He struggled so much in school with bullying but he always persevered. He could also be very cheeky. One time his teacher came to the house. She said that she had been looking for David at each break time as he hadn't done his homework. David said every time he saw his teacher he went the opposite way because he knew he was in trouble! 

He loves jokes!  When I went to Kyoto a few years ago he called me and said that there was a big leak in the kitchen sink. I asked him to send a photo so I could see what had happened. He sent me a photo of leeks in the sink.  

I'm wondering what his 30s will bring!  He has to find another job.  I would like him to get something that leads to a career. But he is happy to do part-time jobs. He said that his ideal job would be one where he just has to read!!!

I did a nice lunch for him and have some choux cream cakes for later. 

Nice lunch

I never know what to get David. He always says that he doesn't want anything. Hannah found a great T-shirt online. It says "I work to buy the cat's food!" which is true. He thought it was very funny!

Laughing at his T-shirt

Just a few photos. I have a lot of him as a kid but not so many in his teen years. I probably have more but need to pull out all the photo albums to find them!!

Just born

few months old with Mikey

with Hisao and Mikey

On Granddad's lap

Not sure how old here, 10 maybe!

He's taken so many selfies over the past few years, most of them pulling faces or posing with the cats!

with cats or pulling faces

My second son is now 30!  Does that mean I'm old?

Cleaning

 While sorting out some books I came across some of my old diaries. These were from when the kids were in school. I would write about things we did together, days out, or special meals. The problems the kids were having at school. My thoughts and feelings about what was happening in my family or the world. One constant theme was cleaning!

A typical entry would state that I had cleaned the kitchen but the living room needed doing. Or I got one bedroom done but the others were a disaster.

After Hisao died a lot of entries said that the whole house was a disaster!

I don't think I've had every single room completely clean at the same time. Maybe just before going to England for a few weeks and then it was by sheer hard work!

Why can't I clean? I don't think it's just laziness, although that plays a part, when the kids were little I would rather spend time with them than washing dishes.  I always thought that once the kids were older the house would be clean, but now I have cats! It wasn't because I worked, I did but I worked from home and used to pick up flutters in between classes.

I think I lack organization! I remember my Mom had certain days for certain jobs. Until she got an automatic washing machine Saturday mornings were wash days. It didn't matter what the weather was she would pull out the twin tub and do the laundry. She would get it dry and ready to iron by Sunday afternoon. Monday morning we would have clean clothes for school.  

I do laundry almost every day. It gets washed, dried, and dumped in my room. I have a mountain of clean clothes at the foot of my bed. I keep asking the kids to collect their clothes and put them away. Every few weeks I spend an hour folding and putting away clothes. 

I keep on top of the daily chores, floors swept, vacuumed, and mopped but the dirty dishes seem to multiply by themselves!  The other week I spent two hours just washing dishes! 

I've read books about cleaning and household organizing.  Some of them stated the obvious, such as wash your delicate tableware first then the more dirty dishes, and dust before vacuuming.  I know those things, kind of common sense but how to get it done, a checklist of priorities, finding the motivation.  This is what I need.

Reading these books, and watching TV shows about cleaning made me wonder how did my Mom and millions of other Moms cope without these resources.  I think my Mom would tell me to stop reading, get off my fat backside, and do the dishes.  

And maybe that is the secret, just doing something every day. 

The next few months here are going to be chaotic. I have boxes stacked in my bedroom, the corridor that runs behind the two tatami rooms, and the cupboard in the teaching room. As I box up things I'm cleaning shelves and drawers, basically dust that has built up over the years, my allergies are getting bad!!  I've decided that in the other house, I will keep it clean. I'll organize myself to do chores every day. I want to make videos of recipes that I try out, so I'll need to keep my kitchen spotless.  I really want to have a nice place to live in. I don't like the layout of the house, lots of dead spaces, but I think by adding touches that reflect me and keeping it clean I should be alright living there.

Cats in a box

It's hot, even in the evening it's about 31C but the cats still find the smallest box and get in together.