Thursday, 31 July 2008
Cicadas
One of the problems of living in the countryside is all the creepy crawlies that we have to put up with!! Spiders roam the house, those I can deal with as long as they as long as they are small. Mosquitoes fed off us in the evening!! Other things that scuttle around I have no idea what they are, but send me screaming in the opposite direction, which makes my boys laugh. But the one thing that drives me crazy are the cicadas. The noise they make is so depressing. They start up early in the morning and continue all day. The constant noise makes the heat seem more oppressive than it is. Once they start I know that summer is well and truly here and here for a few more weeks, at least.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Mother in law back home
Mother in law came home on Thursday.
Lot of things to get use to, kind of tough. Kids are hiding from her, especially D.
Yesterday Oba-Chan got D to move a load of heavy boxes about, at the hottest
time of day!!! Poor boy was really tired after and every time Oba-Chan appeared
he disappeared!
I think Oba-Chan has had a tough life. She was left to raise two kids when her husband
died at the very young age of 26!!!! My husband was just a year old at that time.
She worked literally from dawn to well after dark everyday. She managed to put
two kids through good schools on her own! Pay for two houses to be built, the original
house that was here and the one we living in now. So I guess we should give something
back to her in her twilight years!!!
Would love to write more but there is a massive thunderstorm heading this way and I'm terrified
of the house being hit!!!!!
Lot of things to get use to, kind of tough. Kids are hiding from her, especially D.
Yesterday Oba-Chan got D to move a load of heavy boxes about, at the hottest
time of day!!! Poor boy was really tired after and every time Oba-Chan appeared
he disappeared!
I think Oba-Chan has had a tough life. She was left to raise two kids when her husband
died at the very young age of 26!!!! My husband was just a year old at that time.
She worked literally from dawn to well after dark everyday. She managed to put
two kids through good schools on her own! Pay for two houses to be built, the original
house that was here and the one we living in now. So I guess we should give something
back to her in her twilight years!!!
Would love to write more but there is a massive thunderstorm heading this way and I'm terrified
of the house being hit!!!!!
Monday, 14 July 2008
Tough times
Sometimes it feels like everything around me is in a conspiracy to make my
life difficult.
Our money situation is tight and that is putting mildly so of course the
car needs fixing, the passenger side door wouldn't unlock, simple thing to
fix but cost about $150. Then on Saturday I was hanging out the laundry
Yep the phone had been through the washing machine. So that will need
fixing or replacing!!
Just to add to the misery I found that some cat had pooped all over the
front porch, super yuko. I am so tired of people who get these animals
but don't take care of them. The cats seem to have a favorite meeting
place under my bedroom window.
While I'm on the subject of pets hubby and I are going to see some
puppies tomorrow. Golden Lab mix. We already have a lovely
beagle mix but would love another dog. I must be crazy!!!!
life difficult.
Our money situation is tight and that is putting mildly so of course the
car needs fixing, the passenger side door wouldn't unlock, simple thing to
fix but cost about $150. Then on Saturday I was hanging out the laundry
Yep the phone had been through the washing machine. So that will need
fixing or replacing!!
Just to add to the misery I found that some cat had pooped all over the
front porch, super yuko. I am so tired of people who get these animals
but don't take care of them. The cats seem to have a favorite meeting
place under my bedroom window.
While I'm on the subject of pets hubby and I are going to see some
puppies tomorrow. Golden Lab mix. We already have a lovely
beagle mix but would love another dog. I must be crazy!!!!
Thursday, 10 July 2008
coming home or not?
My mother-in-law has been in hospital for the past 10 weeks or so.
She was supposed to come home today. So at the unearthly time of 6am
I dragged myself out of bed. I was having such a lovely sleep as the room
was rather cool, after a week of no sleep because of the heat it was bliss.
But I wanted to start on Oba Chans room (Oba Chan means grandma).
So I moved some stuff out, the room became a storage place for stuff
we didn't know what to do with. Spent time trying to decided what we
need and what can be recycled. Then at 11am my husband called up.
Plans have been changed. Oba Chan has a fever....again, so she will
spend an extra week in hospital. Actually I'm a little worried and rather
upset by this. Since the operation on her knees, she has had numerous
fevers. I think her immune system is not so good and as she shares a room
with 5 other women, I am sure they are batting around the same fever.
I think a week in a private room would help but who am I? My husband
said that we could still bring her home today but if she is sick I wouldn't
be able to take care of her. With the heat and my allergies I'm having a
hard time just taking care of myself. Another worry is if her immune
system is weak the bugs that the kids pick up from school could be very
bad for her. The school that C goes to has had chicken pox and mumps
going around the past few weeks.
So back to sorting out the room, at least I have a few days now instead of a few
hours.
She was supposed to come home today. So at the unearthly time of 6am
I dragged myself out of bed. I was having such a lovely sleep as the room
was rather cool, after a week of no sleep because of the heat it was bliss.
But I wanted to start on Oba Chans room (Oba Chan means grandma).
So I moved some stuff out, the room became a storage place for stuff
we didn't know what to do with. Spent time trying to decided what we
need and what can be recycled. Then at 11am my husband called up.
Plans have been changed. Oba Chan has a fever....again, so she will
spend an extra week in hospital. Actually I'm a little worried and rather
upset by this. Since the operation on her knees, she has had numerous
fevers. I think her immune system is not so good and as she shares a room
with 5 other women, I am sure they are batting around the same fever.
I think a week in a private room would help but who am I? My husband
said that we could still bring her home today but if she is sick I wouldn't
be able to take care of her. With the heat and my allergies I'm having a
hard time just taking care of myself. Another worry is if her immune
system is weak the bugs that the kids pick up from school could be very
bad for her. The school that C goes to has had chicken pox and mumps
going around the past few weeks.
So back to sorting out the room, at least I have a few days now instead of a few
hours.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
The heat is on
So that awful time of year has finally arrived...the summer heat is here.
Yesterday was really hard....the mercury hit 35.4C about 95.7F.
I managed to do most of my daily chores in the morning when things
were still manageable, the afternoon just taking things slowly.
I realised that this is the only way for me to survive here. I am
not Japanese and I can't handle this heat. There again I think most
Japanese are also having problems with these extreme hot days.
Even my husband says that he can remember riding his bike around
during the summer holidays and it was never this hot.
Is global warming for real? Will I have to suffer this every year
from now on?
July 18th starts the summer holidays so I am going to get my thinking
cap on to find things for the kids to do. Maybe spend a lot of time
in the library, the air conditioner is great, plus do some craft projects
at home. I want to get a paddling pool set up outside to help cool
off. There is also a load of DVDs to watch and if things get really
tough there are always the video games.
Yesterday was really hard....the mercury hit 35.4C about 95.7F.
I managed to do most of my daily chores in the morning when things
were still manageable, the afternoon just taking things slowly.
I realised that this is the only way for me to survive here. I am
not Japanese and I can't handle this heat. There again I think most
Japanese are also having problems with these extreme hot days.
Even my husband says that he can remember riding his bike around
during the summer holidays and it was never this hot.
Is global warming for real? Will I have to suffer this every year
from now on?
July 18th starts the summer holidays so I am going to get my thinking
cap on to find things for the kids to do. Maybe spend a lot of time
in the library, the air conditioner is great, plus do some craft projects
at home. I want to get a paddling pool set up outside to help cool
off. There is also a load of DVDs to watch and if things get really
tough there are always the video games.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Summer is here
Top picture is outside the house, 2nd picture is C and D by the store room.
The past few weeks we have had a load of rain as the annual rainy front passed over Japan.
This is great for the plants but causes havoc with every other aspect of life. Laundry never really dries and ends up smelling, then getting washed again and again. The whole house felt damp and mould grows every where. Took two bottles of mould destroyer to clean out the bathroom, looked great for two days!
Because this house is a lot smaller than the last place the boys have to share a room, plus I use the same room for teaching. Not an ideal set up. Last week I got really fed up of the kids bickering all the time, so we took off for the day. Typical of us we made no plan, just got in the car and drove. We ended up in city about 2 hours from here. Found a beautiful park, up in the mountains so nice and cool to walk around. Also found a great recycle shop and got the kids some books. All in all a nice day out!
Well the heat as started, 32C today forecast for tomorrow is 33C. HELP!!!
I really can't deal with the heat. Today was okay, I got up early, got laundry out, cleaned up a bit, did an early lunch then from 12 noon to about 3:00 just dozed or read with a fan on. couldn't convince the kids that racing around outside during the hottest time of day was a bad idea. D now has a headache, so maybe he has learnt his lesson!!!
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