a gardener came

Though some people know how small my garden is, but we need to have the trees trimmed. Yesterday and today a gardener came and trimmed the trees. While he was trimming, I was weeding a little. (Of course after he trimmed the trees, he also weeded the garden.) After that I planted some herb seedlings.
Now all things I have to do before my trip are done. (In the afternoon I went to see a doctor to get some medicine.)
I don't have any classes in the evening and at night. And probably Yuki is coming back earlier than usual. I'm waiting for Yuki. Today's dinner is --- I'll just put something in the microwave.

This is the first trip for only "us"; Yuki and me. Usually in this consecutive holidays we call them GOLDEN WEEK, we spend with my mother in the first half, and in the second half we spend with my mother-in-law. We're  a little bit sorry to them, especially my mother-in-law. She was looking forward to coming to stay with us. So after our trip I'll visit them in TOKYO. So souvenirs especially for them are necessary.

The trip is expensive for us, but we decided to go when we can do. the older the mothers get, the hard going on a long trip gets. Even now they are fine, and this year we finished to pay education expense of our daughters. So for us it is best time to go on a overseas trip. And thanks to Jan & Nick, we are able to go to America without thinking our health problem.  (I'm not confident about my power, so  it's difficult to attend a tour trip.) And I "love " to experience a local culture. What is waiting for us?
I also have an opportunity to attend a Toaster Master Meeting in America. I'm exciting and nervous.

Yuki will take his computer, so I may update this blog from America.

Monday

Monday again. And after four days, our vacation will start. Yuki and I are going to America to meet our friends Jan & Nick. I can't wait. Yesterday we packed all things which are necessary for our tip into our suitcase. Yuki is used to such an overseas trip, so for him it seemed easy to pack. For me, I'm not used to it. So I packed various things into my suitcase, that the suitcase is bulging. Jan must be disagreeably surprised.

On the other hand, I'm not confident of my health. It's rainy and cold today. It's difficult for me to adjust this changeable weather. Actually this weekend I stayed home except going out to eat dinner. My throat has hurt a little, I hope it will be better soon.
On Saturday we went out for dinner nearby on foot. They serve fusion food.
MOTSUNI--- simmered guts with soy sauce is probably Japanese food.

 Grattin of asparagus is kind of Western food.

 KAKUNI-simmered block of pork is kind of Chinese food.

We had a good dinner, and as soon as I came back home, I went to bed.

On Sunday I relaxed at home in front of a heater. I couldn't attend a Toastmaster's meeting unfortunately.

When I was a child, I would be a powerful girl. Since I became adults, before trips or big events I often get sick. It's opposite, isn't it?  Have a nice week.

Wednesday's topic

Before I talk about Wednesday's topic, let me show this photo. I got lot of strawberries.

Now, it's the season of strawberries in TOCHIGI. We have lots of strawberry farms. For strawberry farmers, the busiest season is over. Christmas,and winter season is the best season for sellers, it means for our customers, strawberries are expensive. And in winter strawberries are grown up in greenhouse, so not only manpower cost but also fuel cost are included in the price. Now it's warm enough to grow strawberries without greenhouse. So the price is down. And people in Tokyo don't eager to get strawberries any more, so they sell strawberries more locally. When my daughters were little, we used to pick up strawberries at my friend's strawberry farm in this season.

The topic of this week is "lifestyle Changes".
1. What things do you think have mad our lives better?
Internet and Computer. Thanks to them, I can write this blog, and know many blog-friends.
2. What things do you think have made our lives worse?
Cellphone. Cellphones are really convenient. But many people got more unpunctual.
3. What do you think will be the "next big thing"?
If I knew, I would be a millionaire.
4. What's been one of the biggest change in your life?
Starting my own English school at home.
5. What's your biggest worry about the future?
I'm afraid to be alone.
Having a family is a great fun. And now there are two members in this house. These days I'm getting used to the life of two.

What do you think of these questions?

SAKURA (cherry blossooms) in UTSUNOMIYA

This year Yuki and I could enjoyed cherry blossoms in Utsunomiya, again. Last spring we were really disappointed because of the earthquake. However, we can spend usual life  now. We thank to everything.

Every spring our family used to go up a hill to see these cherry blossoms blooming, stop by  small food stalls and eat something. Now just Yuki and I see them blooming there. We just enjoy seeing them. Anyway I'm really happy to see this scenery this year again.

This week has already started. On Tuesday I have a meeting of our English Picture Workshop group. On Thursday, and Friday I'm going to visit to nursery schools to read English picture books. And on Sunday it is the day of Toast Maters (speech club). I hope everything goes well.

Let's enjoy this week.

Wednesday's topic, Feeling

Are you a cheerful person?
I often see elderly men and women walking with a frown. Such a face makes me sad. On the other hand when I see an elderly person sitting on the chair in the park with calm look, I feel calm.

Do you think women are more emotional than men?
I don't think so. Women might tend to be easy to cry, on the other hand men must tend to be furious. I think, kids tend to be emotional,  middle-aged people are easy to get their head and elderly people are --- depend on people,  tend to be emotional. For example, these days whenever I watch a sad story on TV, or listen to a sad story, my eyes water naturally. Additionally, some of elderly people act by their history. (Does is make sense? It means they are difficult to accept new things, so they tend to be stubborn. )

Well, well, do you know BUNTAN-orange? I got lots of BUNTAN yesterday.
The taste is between oranges and grapefruits.

This season we have lots of kinds of oranges; like HASSAKU, AMANATSU, BUNTAN, and so on.

How was the weekend?

In Tokyo, many people seemed to enjoy seeing cherry blossoms, though in Utsunomiya they don't start blooming.
In America and the Philippines many people seemed to enjoy Easter. And Dom, who is my blog friend, also enjoy Easter with students. (Thanks of your happy photos, Dom.)

On Saturday, I put away my winter clothes and took out my spring clothes  and I also disposed some old clothes. Then I organized my small garden. They were tough jobs for me. So after that Yuki and I went to take a rest at a cafe & gallery. (While I was doing such chores, he went out to play tennis.)

It was a nice place. We had early dinner. And Yuki went out again to participate jam session. I organized the house even though it was at night.

On Sunday, I had to prepare for lessons of this week. I copied some CDs for adults, made some craft for a kindergarten student. This week I often have to go out for meetings, or reading books to kids, so I won't have enough time to prepare, so it was a necessary job.
It made me really tired (it's just an excuse), so we went out for dinner to have "meat".

These days I don't eat meat so much, but the meat of this restaurant is an exception. The restaurant is my favorite restaurant. They serve many kinds of a la carte, so we don't need to order a full-course meal even though it's a French restaurant.

This restaurant made us relaxed and made us feel grace.

Well, even now these photos remind me of the graceful feeling. I 'd like to go to KARAKU to play the piano tomorrow keeping this feeling.

Bad Habits and Pet Peeves

I have some questions.
1,What's one of my pet peeves?
    I don't like it when someone shaking leg syndrome (jittering?). I think it's rude.
2,What's your temperament like?
    I think I'm a little short-tempered.
3,What bothers you most at home?
    I don't like it when someone left their shoes lying around. When I see it, I often tell them to put their shoes together neatly.
4,What's one of your bad habits?
   I often sit cross-legged. ( Please make an excuse myself, these days my knees get weak, so it's difficult to sit straight.)
5,What do you think is your worst habit?
   I often put my elbows on the table.

6,What pet peeves do your family members have?
   Yuki doesn't like  ?????? I don't know. Probably he doesn't like litter newspapers.
7,What bad habits do your family members have?
   Yuki smokes.

Saturday, and Sunday

Saturday, a new friend came to my house. She is from Gabon. Until I met her, I didn't know the name of Gabon. I knew many things about Gabon. It is fun to know other countries. While I was listening to her, I felt my world spreading. Late in the evening Yuki came back, so we went out to eat SUSHI for dinner.This is the cake I baked for her.Unfortunately I'm not good at baking cake, so I used this chocolate mix.

On Sunday, I went to a festival in the next town. There were many food stands. My friend also opened his branch store there.

Have you ever had pretzel? I know it as "snack". It was the first time to have pretzel "bread".

I learnt the origin from this book.

Well, April has started. Today 4/2　it is the first day for my younger daughter M to go to work. I sent cheering e-mail to her this early morning. Anyway today she seemed to go to work on time. I'm happy that my daughter stepped the first step for adults, on the other hand, I'm  a little sad to see her off directly at the door.