It's HOT

 Until this week, the weather hasn't been too bad!

It's been hot, but not the scorching, humid weather that I associate with summer in Japan.  Even today, the humidity was still rather low, about 50%, usually it can get up to 80%

Yesterday was the first day that I felt sick because of the heat! On Tuesday and Wednesday, I have to go back to the other city to do some English lessons. Usually I'm alright with this, I go from my room which has air conditioning in, to the car, with air conditioning to the community center, again with air conditioning. 

But the air conditioning in the car isn't really working! On the long stretches of road, when we don't have to stop for lights, it works okay, but in the city, where there are a lot of lights, it stops working! Of course, yesterday, even the two long roads that we usually whiz down were busy, and the traffic was slow, hence no air conditioner and a very hot, melting lady!

I was surprised to see that even Hokaido was hot, one city recorded temperatures of 40C. That is crazy, Hokaido is known for it's mild summers, temperatures usually range from 14C to 24C.

I think summer has really started!

I'm always very careful to avoid heatstroke. I drink as much as possible, either water or some kind of sports drink. Recently, I've started to buy salt candies, I don't know how much they help. I stay in the air conditioning and keep fans on in the rooms that don't have air conditioners. We are surrounded by trees and bushes which really help to keep the house a bit cooler. I complain that the roof comes down too low over the windows. In the winter, the rooms are too cold because there is no sun in the rooms at all, but at this time of year, it does help to keep the rooms a bit cooler! I like to have the windows open so any bit of breeze can get in!

I'm still trying to get outside a bit every day, even just a stroll around the garden helps me. I want to get out early to try and pull weeds or tidy up a bit. This week I haven't had the energy to do that, but I hope to do some over the weekend. 

The cats are suffering the heat but they find cool places to sleep. I make sure there is fresh water for them in different places around the house, but they all seem to prefer my water!

Fred is drinking my water!

Silver Centers

 I posted a short video of my garden on Instagram.

This is the video.

As you can see, it is rather overgrown, and I'm feeling overwhelmed!

One person on Instagram suggested I call the Silver Center to see if they can help.

I had forgotten about this resource and think it's a good idea, once this heat has finished.

Silver Centers were first established in 1975.  There are now 1,300 centers across Japan.

The centers offer employment opportunities for retirees who want to stay active, give back to the community, and earn a little extra money.

The jobs are light, including gardening, helping with housework, and office work, among others.

Japan has an ageing population; a lot are single, either never married, divorced, or widowed. As they age, friends and relatives start to pass away or leave the area. It must be lonely for a lot of these people.

Giving them the chance to do a bit of work is a way to help them keep active, to make new friends and give something back to their community.

We would have to pay a few thousand yen for them to come and help in the yard. But a lot cheaper than hiring a professional company to help!

Looking at that video, I wonder if doing our garden is light work! 

Marine Day

 Today is a national holiday, Marine Day.

This holiday started in 1941 as Marine Memorial Day to commemorate Emperor Meiji's 1876 voyage on the steamship Meiji Maru. It became a national holiday in 1996, when it was renamed Marine Day. From 2003, the holiday has been on the 3rd Monday in July, to create a long weekend.

This is also the start of summer holidays for most schools, so a lot of families take off for a day or two at the beach.

When my kids were little would go to a beach for a day. Unlike beaches in the UK, there are very few amenities at the beaches we visited. In the UK, most beach towns would have amusement parks, game arcades, cafes and restaurants, plus theaters. 

I was so shocked by my first visit to the beach here. There was nothing, a place to sit, which was basically an open-sided hut with tatami mats that you could rent for the day. There were changing rooms and showers. But no shops, game arcades or amusement parks! 

I realized that in Japan, at least in northern Kyushu, you go to the beach to enjoy the sea. In the UK, the weather is usually bad, so other entertainment is needed.

I like the idea of a day to celebrate the sea. Japan relies heavily on the sea for food and trade. 

The sea is something we need to appreciate more and take care of better!

Typical beach in northern Kyushu

One reason I like this photo is the fact that the lady has left her bags on the table while she went to paddle in the sea with her kids. I don't know if you can see, but she left everything, including her purse. She had enough confidence in the safety of Japan to leave her stuff and go paddling. I know that wouldn't work in the UK. This was a few years ago, just after the pandemic, so maybe not that many people about, but still!

Change of subject! I'm trying to figure out how to add a Ko-Fi button! It's a donation service. Our money situation is dire, and I need to do something. 

 I have no idea what I'm doing. I've made a Ko-Fi page, but I'm having problems with the link. 

Maybe by the next post I'll have it working!!

Why?

 I've just spent over an hour trying to make a simple alphabet worksheet.

I asked Gemini, Google's AI, to create one. It was okay, but I didn't like the formatting; the letters were too small and close together.

So I took the basic idea and tried to make something myself.

But it's ended in me feeling totally frustrated and fed up. 

I asked Hannah about making lines that are used a lot in the notebooks for English here in Japan. Which is basically 3 lines, then a red line, which the letters sit on, and a blue line to show where the letters that have a tail finish. 

She found what I wanted in a couple of minutes using Google Slides! I had spent the best part of an hour on Google Docs, swearing at my computer because I couldn't get it right!

Lesson learned, ask Hannah!. 

She has to make a lot of PowerPoint presentations for university. She studied how to do that in high school, and it has really helped her a lot!

Today wasn't such a good day. It's very hot, according to my weather app, this week is going to be very hot. I keep getting excessive heat warnings! The only good thing is that the humidity is still low, which really helps. But I've gotten to the last half of July without feeling like I'm going to die from the heat, so that's good! Let's hope that after this week the temperatures will be a little bit more normal. I've enjoyed the couple of walks I've had and really want to explore this area a bit more. I'm actually looking at Google Maps to see what is near here to walk to!

Last evening's sunset

We had incredible thunderstorms yesterday afternoon. When they had moved on, the sunset was very beautiful. 

Also, I didn't need the air conditioner last night, I even had to turn the fan off at about 3am as I felt a bit cold. Nice!

The only problem was the noise from beneath my window. I had the window open, and I could hear some kind of animal moving around. I think it was a wild hog, as I could hear grunting!

The fun of living in the countryside of Japan!

A Walk In The Rain

 After I finished writing yesterday, I really wanted to go for a walk.

After having that lovely walk with Hannah the other week, I've been wanting to go out more, just to see this area and enjoy the nature.

Yesterday was cool as it had been raining on and off all day, for me, that is good walking weather.

I asked Christopher to go with me. We headed out, but as soon as we got to the road, it started to rain. I thought about turning back, but we had umbrellas and the rain wasn't that heavy!

I'd seen a tori gate, which is the entrance to a shrine that I wanted to check out. I had an idea that we could get to the shrine from a back road, instead of walking along the main road. So off we went on a little adventure!

These signs are everywhere, marking out a walking course in this area.

We walked along this road for a while. It was nice and quiet, a chance to see nature.

These might be persimmons.

Big field of sunflowers

We couldn't find the shrine, but we found an old burial mound, built in the year 600!

Just a short video of the burial mound.

This is the big tree that is growing over the burial mound.

Beautiful, majestic tree

Christopher had my phone to take photos and video, I should have known he would take one of me. Not flattering at all but this is how I look. 

The fat foreigner

It has given me more incentive to try and lose weight!

On the way back, we came across these plants. Again, I have no idea what they are, but I love this color.

The color didn't show up very well, but it's a very light, smoky green.

We headed back the way we came. I think I walked about 1 kilometer, it was hard but I felt very good after!

Notebooks

 I came across a video a while back talking about how to use a notebook.

The creator of the video stated that he used his notebook to help him step away from technology. He showed a page in the notebook that listed things he could do, broken down in how many minutes it takes to do each task, instead of just scrolling through social media. Simple things like making a nice cup of coffee to things that take longer, like going for a walk.

I will admit that I scoffed at this idea. I mean, do we really need to be told how to use a notebook? 

Then I started to watch my own kids more carefully. They use their phones for everything, of course, social media, and YouTube, but also to keep notes or appointments. The same is true for my students, if they ask to change their lesson time, they check their phones to see when they are available. 

I understand that it's convenient to keep everything on your phone or iPad, but what happens if you can't recharge them, or you get hacked and all your information has disappeared?

I suggested to Hannah that she keep a journal to help with her stress. I've written a journal since I was 16 years old, not daily, but a few times a week, I write down what's going on and, more importantly, how I feel. It helps me to stop internalizing things and gives me something to look back on, to see how I've grown and changed or how I'm still struggling with the same things (losing weight is a constant theme!). Hannah said she can use her phone, but I told her that the physical movement of writing helps a lot with stress and anger. I showed her some of my old journals and pointed out the difference in my handwriting when I'm stressed or angry, compared to when I feel alright and happy. The more stressed I am, the smaller my writing gets, and I press very heavily on the paper. When I'm in a good place, my writing is larger and flows very nicely. I gave Hannah a nice notebook to use. I hope she does use it!

That is one good use for notebooks, but I have other notebooks for general things.

I was cleaning out a cupboard the other day, I was actually looking for something, but I can't remember what, when I came across a stack of notebooks. I decided to look through these notebooks and found that they were what I call my scribble books.

These are notebooks that I use when I watch things on YouTube or look things up on the internet. They contain web page addresses that I saw somewhere to check out later. They have ideas for this blog or plans for making a web page (still just a plan, as I have no idea how to do it). There are recipes that I saw somewhere that I should write into one of my recipe notebooks. 

But most of the content is "To Do Lists"!

These are usually weekly lists. They are titled something like "Between July 18th to July 25th I have to do....". Then there is a list of about 10 items that need to be done.

These made me laugh as they never change. Some of these notebooks go back to 2020, pandemic time! But the lists are the same: clean the kitchen, do the toilet, clean the bedrooms, lose weight, and study Japanese. 

On one list, I wrote "Clean the chicken", I think I meant clean the kitchen!

The list I have now includes fold the clean laundry that is dumped on my floor!

Clean laundry mountain!

I will do it, one day!

These are a couple of the notebooks I've been using, they are from Daiso, 100 yen shop. I love Daiso, I'll have to do a haul one day!

The one on top is the one I'm using now.

Does anybody else use a notebook, or are you all digital? Let me know!

Just a good laugh to finish. I took a pack of mince out of the freezer last night to defrost. I usually put the meat in the fridge after an hour, but I forgot last night! When I went into the kitchen this morning, I found that the pack had been broken and the meat nibbled at!

I think somebody had a midnight snack!

Change Of Plans

 I had great plans for today!

I was going to get up at 5am, clean a bit outside and leave Christopher with a long list of things to do. Then I was going to clean the kitchen and the corridor. Make lunch and then spend the rest of the day reading, studying Japanese and watching TV.

Unfortuanlly, most of that didn:t get done!

I didn't fall asleep until 3 am!  The cats wouldn't settle down. Then my brain went into over drive. I kept thinking about how I really wanted to get things done and thinking about how good it would feel to have at least part of the outside sorted. I know it sounds crazy but I'm really worried about the weird weather Japan has been experciening this summer. None of this is in Kyushu (except for that crazy thunderstorm last week) but that doesn't mean it can't happen here. There have been a lot of localized floods caused by what the media is calling "guerrilla rain", these sudden, intense down pours. Also, a couple of days ago there was a small tornando in Shizuoka.  It wasn't very long, just a few hundred meters but the damage was very bad, a garage had it's roof ripped off. The roof was found 100 meters away! Christopher was showing me that in another area cars were flipped over.

We have so much outside that could go flying if we got hit by a tornado, typhoon or even high winds. I don't like to think about the kind of damage that could be caused by some of the stuff out there!

So last night, I lay in bed, just thinking and planning and not sleeping. Which means I didn't get up at 5am! I woke up almost 8am, but felt awful! I decided that I wouldn't try to outside this morning, I can do it in the evening! I thought about sending Christopher out but asked him to clean the tatami room instead!

I cleaned the kitchen, got David to sort out a problem I was having with Amazon Photos (I'm really bad at computer stuff, I try but get so frustrated). Made lunch, then spent the afternoon in my room, with my air conditioner on. Today was hot, 36C, but again not too humid. The air conditioner really helped at lot.

At about 5 oclcock I decided to go outside. There are still some blueberries to be picked, I thought I could do that then start on the garden and the cleaning. But this happened.

A sudden down pour. There was thunder about as well.

Fluffy wasn't happy about the thunder!

Fluffy under the chair because of the thunderstorm

Tomorrow is another day! I have to try to get things done. I really want to get things sorted as soon as possible. Problem is everyone is so tired from work and I feel bad to ask them to do a lot, especially if I'm not doing that much. I keep telling myself that they are young men with a lot more energy and stamina than I have. 

I hope tomorrow is better! Wish me luck!