Kittens' brave new world...

Chichi and Popo have made it down from the shed roof and into the garden - and NOW the real fun (and worry) begins.

We escort them on the adventures outside - keeping them in sight as they explore our garden, Hoshiba-san's garden, the long grass under the raised subway line, the street, the trash station, the apartment complex bike shed....

Very, very cute.....what's NOT to love about kittens seeing bugs for the first time and jumping thru grass?

Luckily the come back when they see us, allow themselves to be picked up and run to safety from cars and dogs. Crows are big and scary...and Chichi actaully ran towards two crows near the trash station....

So amid all the other things of life - just watching kittens in the early morning...giving all the neighbors a fashion show of my pyjamas and old sweaters...happy!

Bad time gifts...and kitten drama.

Okaasan's timing with gifts is not the best.
Not her fault at all. Just sadly, the way it is with busy working people: i.e. me.

Twice now on a Monday she's come home from the department store after hula dance and brought a bag of traditional Japanese cakes - very sweet, rice and bean paste little concoctions in the shape of peaches or plums or flowers.
I come rushing in between classes to feed cats, rest the knee and check e mail - and she presents me with the cake and wants to start making Japanese tea so we can sit down and appreciate the genius that is a traditional Japanese cake. Not actually a tea ceremony of course - really tea powder and a whisk in a big bowl-like-cup.
But it would still take time. And of course it would only be polite to sit and chit-chat.

But at 5 pm on a Monday this is impossible for me.
I'm in thru the door with screaming kittens who need FOOD! PLAY! TOILET BOX CLEANING! and then I am getting stuff for evening classes...and by 5.45 pm I am out again.
Not a time for Okaasan and Oyomesan quality ladies time with tea and a sugary plum-shaped cake.

I feel sad. I tell her I'll eat it later after work. But it feels like a rebuff to her gift.
And even more sadly: as I was cleaning out the cat toilet box last night....Chichi broke open the cake packaging, wrestled it all to the floor and started eating the thing! I'm sure over-sweetend rice isn't good for him. He kind of slurped the delicate plum shape into a green blob.
So I had to throw it away. And luckily Okaasan didn't seem to remember later on so I didn't have to fake out why I couldn't eat it in front of her....

*  The kitten drama....probably over-hyped on sugar...Chichi got out of the screen windows after I'd gone to work. Yujiro came home to find one cat missing and the other going mental. He called me. I had to leave my long-suffering students and drive home...we walked around the streets calling and rattling a food bag.
Luckily after 30 minutes Chichi came home.
Big relief all round.He does actually know where home is. Until now we've only escorted them round the garden and street by the house.
I drove back to my classroom - told the students I wouldn't charge them for this non-class...and finally got home again at 8 pm.

And finally: had a glorious weekend away with a friend in central Hokkaido. So here are some Hokkaido Spring pictures!

Taisetsu mountains from Biei

Catch up stuff...

A week of cold, grey, wet weather  - yet another man who thinks he'd like to have a go at being Japan's Prime Minster - terrible massacre in Britain - work - Japanese soccer players giving goals to any team that wanted them-  kittens - Okaasan - Yujiro's job rained off -....

*  Okaasan's health check came back : basically a healthy old lady. Slightly high bad colesterol, but many elderly people have that. It's all the Macdonalds chicken McNuggets she eats at 6.30 pm almost every day...

*  Had 4th knee injection on Wednesday. Was blabbing with nerves when I walked into the room, the thing itself was so-so...came home and lay on the carpet weeping into a kitten for a while.
Finally 48 hours later the knee joint felt better. But I felt down about the whole thing again. Wondered whether I should drop one of my big community center classes and stay home with the knee up on Mondays or Tuesdays...would it help it get better quickly?

*  Kittens are really becoming little cats. Rain stopped play outside this week, but I improvised inside with chairs under the carpet, bits of stick and bits of plastic which made great crackling sounds. They are getting used to the collars now. 6 months old this week!

*  Okaasan was ok - she watched TV, washed clothes in the middle of the night and went out for walks but mainly came home on time. Yujiro was home a lot and cooked. Okaasan ate what was presented. No big random shopping. She even put all her precious magazines in a neat pile!

And this weekend - today? I am escaping. Got 2 classes this morning and then getting away with a friend to the countryside out in central Hokkaido to enjoy spring scenary and good food at a little guest house. I can't walk into the scenary...but I'll wrap a blanket round my knees and take a book.

Robbery...the details.

Spoke to Jane Sunday night to hear the details of the robbery.
Amazing. Wonderful that neither of them were injured.
But very scary.

Monday lunchtime Lucy stepped outside the front door while waiting for lunch to cook.
As she stood enjoying the sunshine, a man suddenly appeared round the side of the house from the parking area - he has his face covered and looked cold/sick.
He walked up to her and forced her back into the house. Tied her hands behind her back and demanded money! He didn't appear to have any weapon, but he was a man and they are two women.
He didn't do anything to Jane, I guess he thought she was too old and feeble.
Then he stayed in the house FORTY MINUTES!!! He made Lucy walk from room to room and hunted in the drawers etc for money...
They have him some money and he found Lucy's late mother's wedding ring....he ripped out the house phone cables, took the mobiles and took the car keys.
He drove away....and came BACK a few minutes later to get his sweater which was in the field nearby.
Then drove away.
The car was found a 1 km away on the main road. So maybe he had a friend in a car, or a bike nearby?
Lucy managed to get out of her ties and ran to the main road to get help.

There were no other reports of anything like this in the area. The police think he may have been a  druggy taking a big chance by approaching a house...maybe he was originally looking in the car for money and heard Lucy come outside.
It really is amazing. This is in the middle of the English countryside, miles from anywhere...

Both Jane and Lucy are ok, but understandably a bit nervous. Although Lucy comes from Zimbabwe and had been tied up twice and hit over the head once..."but I didn't expect this in England!"....not at all part of her Carer's job description.

*  And Jane's health: she has to go into hospital later this month and have a polyp removal operation...supposedly a routine thing. But she is in her 80s and frail and very open to getting all sorts of killer viruses that lurk in dirty British hospitals. So we'll see.

*  And Yujiro has taken his relationship with Okaasan to a New Level: he got her to give a urine sample yesterday and took it along to the hospital! So they can test it and give her a health report. Bet he never thought he would be discussing such things with his mum....