Lunch diary 0831

It is the last day in August. We hear both cicada singing and crickets singing.

We are still in hot summer, we are still in the corona virus pandemic, and worry about our unstable government is added. On the other hand our daily life is calm.

 

Monday I fried Soumen-noodle with vegetables and meet. Soumen is usually eaten in summer as cold noodle. But since my stomach got bad the week before last, I avoid eating something cold. So I fried Soumen noodle tasted Chinese sauce.

Leave the scorching heat; gardening shears are waiting, for the user

Tusesday, I fried beef with Chinese paste called "tenjanmen". I put too much, so the taste got thick. Yuki went fishing from the early morning without doing his house chores of the day, which was to take the garbage out.

Get sweaty; while kneading and stirring Natto, with a bitter smile

Wednesday, we bought pork with good quality, so I only sauteed them and added some drops of soy sauce.

This morning "I" broke my glass flame. Luckily the lenses were no problem. We went downtown and changed the flame. And we dropped by a butcher.

Summer ginger; the thickness of the meat, easy to accept

Thursday, it is GOYA.This summer vegetables are more expensive than usual. However the price of GOYA is stable in Tochigi. And some people grow them, so I get them for free.

Goya; take cover from the sun, little after noon

Friday, I fried Soumen noodel again.

Anyway this week I cooked one dish with one pan.

Summer curtain (Noren); forget the chore, to get the window clean

Our bags of disaster kits

Finally, we bought our bags of disaster kits.
Do you have such ones?

Fortunately this area is less in danger by flood. And we don't know if we had severe earthquake, we should evacuate to somewhere. (Staying our house would be safer.) 

First I tried to make such bags by myself, but I gave up. It was too troublesome. Or to tell the truth, I couldn't make the suitable list of the items by myself. 

,

It took more than one month after I ordered.

I put all items in the bags.




We also revised the list, and talked about what else we need.

This talking led us to minimize our house, and organize our products.

We would constantly discard 10 things a week.

Feel relaxed or excited a little bit 0827

 Many people must feel not so happy. It seems to be difficult to see our lives positive. So in many articles, we always see that "let's find something little which makes you relaxed, excited, or happy, you might miss out such things in your daily life." Or, in another article, I see " if it is difficult to find something which makes you positive, let's try to imagine something which makes you laugh". --- actually many kids especially infants are good at pretending games.

I got a pot of small sunflower. After I enjoyed its blooming, I moved it to a bigger pot. And it has more two flowers.  And I also planted St. John's wort in spring. It is growing well. This herb tea is said to make us feel better.

Actually to take this photo, I weeded in this pot.

This tidy pot makes me relaxed, and satisfied.

Additionally I can weed this amount.

How do you do --- about garbage bags.

Here in Japan, plastic bags have started to be charged since July.

Probably it might be good for us to think about eco-system.

However---

I used them as garbage bags in the house. And I need some plastic bags to separate garbage, or threw away garbage containing moisture. But when I use them like before, it means every day, I feel that I throw 3 yen away directly. So I try to reduce to use them as much as I can. So probably I do eco-friendly life. 

However, newspaper is week for garbage containing moisture. So I use smaller plastic bags which are free at supermarkets. I put such garbage into a small plastic bags, and put them into a trash box. We need one more process than before.

And another house chore is added, to fold news paper.

Yuki changes the paper garbage bags and put them into a big trash cans outside constatnly. But he seems not to think of folding daily newspaper by himself.

lunch diary 0824

 We had really hot days for about two weeks. Though today it is still hot, I feel it is a usual summer day. 

I'm afraid that last week my stomach couldn't catch up with the heat.

To be more correct, the Sunday before the last, at first Yuki  got an upset stomach. But he got all right in the day. At night I almost got an upset stomach, but I was all right. However my stomach didn't recover soon. so most of the last week I had rice porridge.

Monday, it was a simple bowl of rice porridge with pickled UMEBOSHI (Japanese plum). The pickled UMEBOSHI is made by my firend.

Plain rice porridge, with my friend's Umeboshi; taste kind.

Tuesday, I had still rice porridge, but, this time I added some vegetables.

 No change, staring at the mercury; Mulukhiya porridge

Wednesday; I felt better, but I chose to have rice porridge again.

Finally the Japanese pear orchard opened. I went there and send some boxes of pears to my friends and our mothers. 

I also gave some pears to the member of the laughter yoga club.

Currently it is difficult to chat with them without purposes. So giving pears was a good excuse. I talked to each at the entrance, though it was a few minute-talk.

Pickled eggplants; sharing gift with friends, while three-minute talking

Thursday; on the day it was really busy. Because the friends I sent the box of pears gave me a call. So I was busy in talking on the phone.

I've started having usual food since Thursday.

Noisy cicada;  chatting with grand-daughter, anytime by online

I cooked liver.

I went to see a dentist. My friend says it will take for a year to make artificial tooth by bridge. (does it make sense?)

The scorching hot day, it might be the last, I'll endure

lunch diary 0817

Obon vacation finished. Since today usual retirement life has started.

It was the first time to spend such a quiet (and boring) Obon vacation.

Quiet and calm are good words, and I know "busy" is also a good word. 

We didn't go to Tokyo to visit our mothers. And my daughter didn't come back here.

So for us it was like a usual 4-day weekend. However usually during this season there are lots of events in this town or area. But this year any events were not hold.

So we stayed home (though Yuki went fishing as the sun rose up, and came home when I finished morning house chores)

Monday, I fried  julienne cucumbers, beans sprouts and meat with Chinese sauce.

This day an electrician came to clean an air conditioner in Yuki's room.

Air conditioner, washed by water, wipe sweat

Tuesday I sauteed sausages and bean sprouts. The egg plant in the photo is grilled  and dipped into say sauce. 

Yuki went fishing earlier. It was all right. However I asked him to take the garbage out. He "forgot" to take recycled bottles away. I was really surprised he didn't understand what kinds of garbage he could take away Tuesday, that made me "angry". 

Househusband's morning, takes long time to adjust; Grilled eggplants

 

Wednesday; I steamed Chinese dumplings.

At noon we had thunder and heavy rain. 

Sticky rice crackers, sprinkled coarse sugar; Thunder and heavy rain

Thursday, we went out to eat cold Chinese noodle.

Now we avoid The 3 Cs, so only three "couples" can eat there.

 

How happy, to see jiggly shrimps, on Cold Chinese noodle

Friday, I sauteed pork with SHISO-leaves growing in the garden.

Nowadays green leaves vegetables are little bit expensive than usual, so i constantly pick up SHISO-leaves in the garden.

SHISO-leaves; fly, boil, saute, actual daily life

English Haiku 0812

I continue learning English Haiku. Unfortunately I have no members to study together. But anyway I keeping making English Haiku alone while I keep learning Japanese Haiku by receiving corrections by mail  once a month. 

This month my three Haiku poems got  grade A.

Through the window, dazzlingly  green rice plants, waiting for seeing a doctor
lingering rainy season; ironing sportswear of my husbands
In  rainy season, temporary sunny day seats occupies , laundry poles

Today's drill is using onomatopoeia.

In Japanese we have lots of onomatopoeia, but in English ----. I don't know about them.

Anyway I tried to making some Haiku using kind of onomatopoeia.

If someone gets some advice, I'm really happy.

From the tap, trickling  little by little, after summer shower
Against sweltering heat, twist the cork out, swooshing
IN the Corona pandemic  hear the sea sound in the head, with glittering

lunch diary 0810

Now we are in Obon vacation. Usually during this season we were busy. We were going to take my mother and my mother in-law here to Utsunomiya or somewhere.

We are not able to go to Tokyo because our visiting is not necessary. So talking on the phone is kind of our everyday job.(Well, to tell the truth, not every day).

On TV, they announce constantly how many people are infected or get positive by PCR test. The number is increasing, but it seems that most people have no symptoms or light symptoms.  

Anyway Yuki and I spend days calmly as much as we can.

Monday; in the morning we went to some stores to do errands. On the way home we dropped by KFC. 

Since Monday real sweltering summer has started. Suddenly cicadas started singing.

Hanging out at the same time hear; cicadas sining

 

Tuesday; in the morning Yuki went to play tennis, I went to the gym.

In the afternoon, we went shopping, and dropped by a friend's house to give a birthday present to her.  My friend and I want to have a teatime at cafe, but we can't in this situation. And she is suffering from chronic illness, so that she avoids to go tout with others.

In the pandemic, seeing each other at entrance; forgetting the summer heat

   

Wednesday, it was really hot. I didn't want to stand at kitchen. So I bought delicatessen.

Sudden real summer; Update my wardrobe, in a hurry

Thursday; you might notice that the main was the same of yesterday's. I pickled the rest of yesterday's main with onion.

UCHIMIZU (water sprinkling); our garden looks happy against, the strong sunshine

Friday, I  bought these things for our lunch and dinner. They are cold Soumen noodle and cold Soba noodle,.

Finally the stitch of my tooth was extracted. The second stage on my tooth treatment starts --- make a false tooth with dental bridge.

with cold noodles, three days sweltering summer, tired of it already

 

lunch diary 0803

 

 

Monday, this menu was almost the same of the breakfast on the day.

It was cloudy. Yuki went to go fishing. I went to the gym to do 30 minutes workout.

And in the afternoon I went to a dentist to have my bad tooth pulled.

 

Lingering rainy season; current my job is, doing exercise

 

 

Tuesday, I cooked fried noodle. Not fried pasta. It is called YAKISOBA.

 

 

 

 I was troubled by a pain after my tooth extracted. So I often took painkiller.

Lingering rainy season, even though in coronavirus pandemic,

 

 Wednesday, I had still the tooth pain. But the I could control the pain with painkillers.

This lingering rainy season is gibing an influence on summer vegetables. But luckily I got lots of eggplants from the neighbor. So I made summer vegetables curry.

Cloudy rainy season ; an aching pain in the mouth, with downturning of the corners

 

Thursday, of course I ate the curry again. The taste got more mild.

It was really cold morning, so I put on the heater in early morning.

Still lingering rainy season, the taste is better and mature, yesterday's curry

 

 

Friday, do you cook "Molokheiya"? They are a really sticky vegetable. And I cooked them. And I also had NATTO, which stickiness is well-known.

 

 

 

Summer Molokheiya; the stickiness gives more power, conquer coronavirus