My lunch for this week 0629

Monday, I had a zucchini. What did I cook with a whole of zucchini? I fried slices of the zucchini with Japanese noodle instead of spaghetti.

How colorful! Let's fry lots of vegetables; Rain season makes me stuck in




Tuesday, fried noodle again. But this time I used "thick Japanese noodle" called Udon.
In the morning five women came and did laughter yoga.
A good sweat Fellow meeting with a big laugh; Hangeshou
Hangeshou is the 11the day after the summer solstice.



Wednesday, I did lots of errands in the morning and dropped by Karaku.
Over the counter, Spicy saver comes; In the midst of rainy season.




Thursday, I had lunch outside again. This restaurant is mainly for college students, so it is near by a college. I asked the owner to decrease the volume of rice.

With a bitter smile Watch the other's big appetite; A snail rests.



Friday, noodle again. You might laugh.
This is "regular" yakisoba. I cooked it with the rest of sprout beans.

Walking the same roads, What blossoms bloom next?  A humid morning.

Do you like city atomspher?

Last weekend we went to Tokyo, the main event was to celebrate my mother in-law's birthday.
After that Yuki, my daughter and I went to OMOTESANDOU, which is a very famous place as a sophisticated town.
Why? An exhibition was held, and my daughter's work was displayed.



Yes, we went to see it.
However, for me the event I was really looking forward to was, not to have a nice birthday lunch ( it was a kind of duty), not to see my daughter's work (I had already see it at her house), to visit a café near the exhibition center.
It was the first time that I went there.
I was really surprised, because usually fancy or trendy cafés are full of young people, especially in Harajyuku and Omotesandou. However at the café, the customers were in their various generation, and elderly  couples was also relaxed naturally.  So I liked it.
This time I could go there again. It was about 3 o'clock,  unfortunately not so many elderly people were there. But I really enjoyed the city and fancy atmosphere.

。



My daughter seems not to like such "fancy" places, or she was too tired of them, like I am tired of ? or not so interested in rural atmosphere.

Nowadays one of things I like or I look forward to is to visit somewhere with city atmosphere, though I don't like crowded places.

Going out early morning

An early morning we went to a temple to see its garden with full of hydrangeas, and do "chinowa kuguri". Can you see a big ring? It is made of corn grass. When we through it, it is said to be removed calamity from us.

This temple is very famous for the hydrangea, but it was not so bloomed. "Chinowa" is settled until the end of June, but we enjoy hydrangeas until the middle of July.


Anyway when we finished the annual event, it was still 7 PM.
We dropped by a café, and had a good breakfast.





We had a good leisure for under 1500 yen, though our schedule was tight.

リアルタイムプレビュー

An amazing appetite

Two weekends in a row, we went to Tokyo to visit our mothers.
Both are fine, which is a good thing.
And what they look forward to is not to meet us, where to be taken to eat.

My mother and we visited to see our family grave, because in this moth there is a day of anniversary of my father's death, though 40 years have passed.
We went to our familiar Eel restaurant, though my mother and I shared the lunch, anyway she had a good appetite, and looked happy.

My mother's birthday is also in this month. So her sons and daughters in-law, and granddaughters (all her grandchildren are girl, opt, ladies)
She loves beef. So the birthday party was held at a Korean style grilled beef restaurant.
She also had a good appetite, and looked happy.

When I reach their age, will I have such a good appetite?
Before that will our daughters take me anywhere?


Anyway, two big events were finished.

Though I don't believe it ---

Though I don't believe fortune telling, it's not that I don't like it.
When I open a daily news on the net, automatically an article of today's horoscopes comes under my observation. My horoscope is  Capricorn.

It is said "today you might face what you didn't want to see, you should accept it honestly".
Well, well, I laughed.
Yesterday, I decided to take of the vinyl tablecloth on the dinning table. Since we bought the table, it had been covered with a tablecloth. Probably it had been more than 20 years passed.

I thought it must have been clean on the top of the table.

However --- I faced the dirtiness, though I cleaned the table lightly.

So after I read the article, I cleaned the table with neutral detergent, and wipe it with dry towel neatly.

It was  my morning chore of today.
Today I'm going to have early lunch with my friend.

When do you buy your clothes?

When do you buy your clothes? Do you make a plan on buying your clothes  like to buy them on sale twice a year? or do you buy when you want?
In our case, we buy clothes when we "need".
I know the definition of "necessity" is very vague.

Yuki changed his pajamas into for summer. Last summer the pajamas had no problem. But this season, he feels itchy in the pajamas. Did I tell you? His skin is sensitive and he goes to a skin clinic regularly. He tries to avoid from wearing polyester clothes directly on his body. But some clothes are polyester ones, because he likes the design. The pajamas were polyester ones, but he liked the design, and it didn't cause any problem until last summer.
Probably getting old makes his skin more sensitive.
So I bought new ones on Net.

The other day I attended a meeting. It was a cool or cold day. So I thought which I should wear , a hard shirt or a soft shirt.  A hard shirt means that I have to wash it by hands and iron, a soft shirt means that I don't need any special care.
It was not so formal meeting, so I put on a soft shirt. In winter I often wore it but always I put something on it. I had never noticed that it had hair balls on the sleeves before I wore it alone. I was very embarrassed, though I knew on one noticed it. As soon as I came back home, I order a similar one on the Net, though the next time I wear it will be this winter.

Well, I told this story to Yuki.
Yuki said "I had same situation. The other day I went to Tokyo on business by Shinkasen, I noticed that the black of my pans faded. I was embarrassed".
I said to him "why you should wear your business suit?"
He said it was not so formal, so it was OK to wear casual "uniquro" pants.
So we went to uniquro to buy new ones. I don't know when he wears them. Because the fade pants are still useful.

One day

Yesterday, it was the day of voluntary reading at the library.
Some mothers and kids joined us. And some seniors also joined us  for a short time.
Then, three of us had lunch.

 We are in the middle of 60, around 60, and the in the middle of 50. The main topi in common was of course " retirement life". We had a big laugh.

Then I dropped by an art gallery.
The artist is in my generation, and she deals with paper including Japanese paper

Thie title of this work is "drum", it is not a real drum, but we can touch it directly, and play with it gently. It is used Karasuyama paper. Karasuyama is in our prefecture. 

 Saigon chiaki

Coming our retirement life

My husband, Yuki, is plannning on doing lots of things in his coming retirement life, though the budget is another thing. Most of the things are a pattern to participate in or you can say , to consume .
Going to play tennis, going fishing. Going golfing. The other one is to create music on PC, which is just a pattern to organize and to have potential to earn his pocket money.
Anyway he wants to be free-spirited, to tell the truth he will be free from a company's word but he is also tied by our house rules. Some people say that he will be bored in one year. It m But be true, however he will think another thing when he feels bored.

And  what should I do?
For a while I continue my school, volunteer activities.  But in a few years, my retirement life is also coming.
These days, I really understand my age. When I participate in a meeting, the main people or teacher is younger than me. Until 5 years ago, they were in my generation. Some 60's or 70's are still in activie, but we should step aside to the younger generation. And we debut to the stage of our generation. In the senior world we are freshmen.

When I was 40, I started the school as work, before that I organized a kids English club as a volunteer  group.

What will I be able to start or continue?  Probably I will be able to continue to do organize a laugher yoga club. I like to organize something by myself better than to participate in something.

Grilled sweet fish ; Counting  days to the new life  Fishing pole is waiting

Vigorously Forward my 70's generation; Liliuokalani maculatum 

Walking 0617

Once I suffered with dizziness, it takes a little bit long to recover.
The dizziness was stopped, but I suffer  heavy-headed.
Anyway I walked to see the doctor back and forth. 5700 steps.

Daisy Fleabane; Accepting aging With elegance

We have a similar flower of Daisy Fleabane, it is Philadelphia Fleabane.
But it is not a seasonal word in Haiku, and it is grouped as a late spring flower.
6200 steps. 

First I made such a Haiku.
Philadelphia Feabane pass the torch Daisy Fleabane

In English poem word, it sounds like a rhyming.
But, I learned, in Hailu, it sounds too common, or vulgar.

Green rice field; Recall one month before  Philadelphia fleabane 

Hydrangeas have started to bloom. I went to my way to do walking to a post office which is not near my house.
6066 steps.
 

You must see the sign. It shows "No littering".
I laughed with the combination of the hydrangea and the sign.

Hydrangea; Walking with umbrella cane  No rain
 

Take out

Anyway every day the temperature changes very much, and it is very difficult for me to adjust to it. 

Unfortunately since yesterday my dizziness has stsrted again, though today it seems to be better. 

I canceled to att me theyesterday's meeting in the morning.

In the afternoon, it was getting better, so I was going to books I borrowed at the library. But unfortunately I had already rad all of them. So in the evening, I went to the library to borrow some books for this weeks and drop by my familiar cafe bought them as my dinner.

However I had no appetite, so this morning I and them with Yuki.

 

Before Father's Day

Who made this puzzle? A high school boy.
I am planning on making cards for Father's Day with elementary school kids his Tuesday and Friday.
However, yesterday, my high school students showed interest in this puzzle sheet.
So they made their puzzle card. I wonder whether they would present theirs to their father.
Anyway they seemed to happy to feel like being "kids". (Though they are still kids)

Our mulberries

These days I often pick some mulberries in the garden and put them on our yogurt.

We have two tress which were planted last spring.
They are not so big, and I want them not to grow big so that I often trim them.
However, this year they have lots of berries.

 

The reason why I planted them was to make our own mulberry tea.

So I pick some leaves and dry them.

 

Mulberries; Accepting aging Gracefully

Mulberries; far away aging  Keep as a pre-senior

Last Sunday

Last Sunday we went to a public art museum by "bus".
They opened for free because of celebrating "Tochigi citizen's Day" . (Well, I don't know about the day well.)
We thought the parking lot might have been full, but not as we expected.
However, it was OK. Because one of our object was to see the exhibit, and the other object was doing walking exercise.

The exhibition was very good, we really enjoyed.
The art museum was downtown.
So after that we went to see a stage. There my friend who goes to the gym with me must have played flu. But all the dancers were too beautiful for me to find her.

Then we had lunch.
I was going to eat this cold noodle.
But it was too cold to eat cold noodle.

、



So we had hot noodle
They were not ra-men, not udon, not soba, they were "soumen" noodle.



Well, well, at this point We did already more than 8000 steps.
For Yuki, it was usual. But for me it was too much.
Anyway we had to go back home by "bus".
When we got to home, we did more than 10000 steps.
"I did it".

We left home before 10 AM, and got home around 15 PM.
After that I was lazy and relaxed. Yuki went out somewhere.

The bus fee was 1000 yen, the lunch cost 1000 yen.
So We did 2000 yen walking weekend.
It was really reasonable, wasn't it?

It is very cold today.

Now we have rainy season,   Today it is very cold like an early spring. So the heater is working.
I have to attend a meeting  in the morning, do I have to of out in an hour. It seems to be necessary to wear a spring coat.

Anyway a new week has started.

I put away 10 things from the kitchen shelves. some things were expired.

Then. I made pre-cooked dishes for this week.

We finished breakfast, well, after quick morning chores I'll go out.

What did you eat last week?

Yesterday a lady came to talk with me in English. It was a kind of English lesson.
We talked about our diet of last week drawing a mind map.

 

She is a barber, so she often has dinner outside after work.

Last week she went to a casual Japanese restaurant like  Mr.T (Well, the carual Japanese restaurant he went was a high-grade casual Japanese restaurant, we think it was not casual)

 

She enjoyed KUSHIAGE.

What is KUSHIAGE, according to a dictionary, it is explained in English like that deep-fried skewers of a shingle item such as vegetables, meat, fish and so on.

Yes, it is right, but it might be difficult for people who don't know it including kids to imagine it.

Japanese style deep fried kebabu, Japanese style deep-fried BBQ.

 

 

 

Deep-fried sticks. I don't know why they put an adjective "magic".

Two ladis come in turn

I decided to decrease my collection of English picture books.
This time I posted this photo on Utsunomiya Mottianai site. The organizer is my friend, though she moved from Utsunomiya this spring. This site is shared mainly among foreigners living in Utsunomiya. We exchange or give something we don't need for free. (Sending fee is another matter)



An Indian lady, and a Korean lady comes. Both of them are mothers, they seem to want to read their kids.
I'm happy to share my books, and to make another community.

English haiku poem and my post card

Yesterday I reconsidered  my Haiku and tried to make it better.
Then I made this post card.

Then I walked to a post office, and sent it to --- "you"! (Without permission) 

I just wanted to share my Haiku world, though I'm not good at drawing and making poems.

I drew "Himejyon" . I saw them while I was walking.
Himejyon is called freabane in English. Do you know them? They are just glass. And in Haiku world it is a seasonal word of summer. They bloom from May to August in Japan.
On the other hand we also see "Harujyon". It is called philadelphicus in English. They bloom from late April to early June.
Both of them look similar.
I found Harujyon yesterday while walking.

Well, if "another you" receive my postcard with Haiku, please give me a message.

We were struggling with ants

Since the Sunday of the last week before, we had been struggling with ants.
It occurred suddenly one day that ants were walking on the shelf of a window where I put on a yogurt kit. They didn't flock around something,  just walking. They invaded my house.
So I put an ant insecticide kit on it. But it was the first step.
Next day they were walking on the sink. I cleaned neatly it.
Next day, they were walking in the drawer near the kitchen sink.  I put everything out from it, cleaned, and put them back, of course I put another ant insecticide kit in it.
Next day they were walking on the ceiling by the top shelf. I did the same thing.
One week passed, ants invasion seemed to finish.

 I put some ant insecticide kits on some places, and I also made natural insecticide kits using clove, sage, cedar, and boric acid.



While I was struggling with ants, Yuki did a thing. He repaired all net windows. He had to repair 4 net windows.


Well, rainy season is just around the corner.
We might struggle with slugs and cockroaches.

walking 0603

I manage to continue walking.

This is a report of the week before last. (Since last week I've been suffering dizziness, though it is getting better.)

 

Well, will I be able to continue my walking exercise ? It depends on my health situation and the "weather".

 

 

These are roses of my friend's garden. She doesn't do anything for them, but every year they bloom, and the color is very beautiful. It was 4404 steps there and back, so I did walking in the evening. Totally it got more than 5000 steps.

 

Rose scent; Ram-ble on  With laugh-ing

 

 

 

I made a detour to a drugstore to buy some bread . 6246steps.

Jap-a-nese I-ris; Passing rain shower I'll follow you

 

 

In Japan the fee of cell phone is very expensive. A new plan was announced, so we went to a shop to reconsider our contract.

He drove there, I walked there. The shop was so crowded, he was on the waiting while I was walking.

Po-ta-to flow-ers;  Com-ing re-trie-ment life Know our home-budget







 

 

Koban grass; Can't help drop-ping by a store; hav-ing a coin pass

Do you know the flower of briza maxim?
It seems to be called "briza maxima" in English.
In Japanese we call Koban sou.
Koban means old coins which were used 150 or 200 years old, and  oval.
I walked 5523steps.

 

It is getting hot. So I walked at night. 5217 steps.

Short-er night; Back band grow-in-the-dark  Not alone