Happy New Year!

YES!!!   Still here!!!

Somehow we slipped  from 2019 into 2020 and I never even blogged about it...furiously busy actually doing tour guide work over the so-called winter holidays and hardly time to change socks.

Okaasan. Fine. Hasn't got the influenza yet. Pretty lively when we go to see her.
Not much talking...and walking is shaky.

The last month or two we (or usually Dear Son) has taken her to the karaoke group that meets in the staff dining room of the care home. It is organised by one of the residents, and usually about 10 people get together round the big TV and a few of them sing songs with　microphone.
Okaasan claims she doesn't know any of the songs, but since the average age of the group is 80 and all Japanese, it&S a fair bet that she does know them. She nods her head in time to the music, even claps...and looks happy.

So good.

Dear Son has had some health problems this winter. Not serious, we hope. But he hasn't worked so much and so Okaasan has had weekly visits from him. With me occasionally. 
Near Year Day we went and had sweetened sake and chat. The care home had decorated the walls, finally! And there was special food on the menu.

So. Onwards into 2020. The Year of the Rat!

Really I should blog more. But working life is busy with the teaching and the guiding. So I hardly sit here calmly at the computer and think about this blog. But I WILL try harder this year to average more than once-a-month blog....