A Japanese jaunt

In just over  a week our number one son is coming home for a visit. We know when he is arriving but have no idea how long he is staying. We're hoping it's going to be a reasonable length of time but will be happy with whatever. It's a couple of years since he and his wife have visited so his sisters are getting excited as well, there could be quite a delegation at the airport to welcome him. He is flying in from Japan. Yeeha!

Four years ago we were in Japan for his wedding. We loved Japan and the people and hope to get back someday.

Church in Japan where the wedding took place

We thoroughly enjoyed living in a completely different culture, even if just for a few weeks and because we were staying with family we didn't just do the tourist things.

Yes, this is the road, and yes this car was driven up here and parked for the night.

We found it was very safe to go walking at night time when the air got cooler, a lot of other people did the same thing, including young families.

Chinatown

One night we went for a lovely stroll through Chinatown, we were even stopped and had our pictures taken with a delightful elderly Japanese gentleman and his friends. We communicated with signs and play-acting.

We visited Nara and the deer park there as well as going to see the Great Buddha in the Todaiji Temple. The buddha is bronze and 15 metres high (50 ft) and the temple is the largest wooden structure on earth. It is huge and my photo doesn't do it justice, it doesn't show the perspective.

standing in front of the Todaiji temple, Nara

The ornamental gates are beautiful, even the gates to some of the houses are lovely, totally different to european style.

the inside of  a temple gate

I think this is a shinto temple, in Kyoto


While we were in Kyoto we went to the Kinkaku-ji Temple. It is set in beautiful gardens and is built in the middle of a lake. The two top storeys of the temple itself are covered in gold leaf and it  belongs to the emperor who is the only person who is allowed into it apart from a priest. And he only gets to visit it once a year.

We also went to Himeji castle which is a world heritage site and the allies were ordered not to bomb in the area during the second world war. While there we met another lovely Japanese gentleman who told us a story of the castle shogun. The castle was under attack and he had to escape by jumping naked out of a window and escaping across the roof and jumping into a well. There was a tunnel in the well and he made his escape. We all enjoyed a wonderful story time with him speaking no English and us no Japanese but with a lady interpreting in broken English.

Himeji Castle

Just outside the castle walls were formal gardens representing the seven different areas of Japan.

one of seven formal gardens, Himeji

We visited a lavender farm in Kobe and also went for a harbour cruise while there.

part of Kobe city from the lavender farm

Harbourland from Kobe Harbour,

We ate a variety of foods, Japanese and Chinese, in a large range of restaurants from formal to informal, outside and in. This was quite a challenge for me as I am a basic meat and veges girl.

We were treated to a meal of Kobe beef in a shubba shubba restaurant - extremely expensive, and something we couldn't have afforded ourselves.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my short tour of Japan. I have great memories. One of the best, apart from the wedding, was meeting yet another elderly gentleman who invited us inside and we found ourselves in the midst of a group of elderly ladies and gents who were making simple toys of paper and straws. We spent about an hour with them, some of us revisiting our childhood. Our new daughter-in-law interpreted and we had lots of fun and laughter. We did and saw lots more but too much to tell here.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week.

Diana

Oh, and yes we did meet and talk to young people as well :)



jigsaws, books and feijoa jam

It's a strange winter - not as wet as usual - but the temperatures are still way down there.

The nights draw in early and the drapes are all pulled around 4:30pm on a bleak day.

And that makes for long drawn out evenings.

So what to do on a long winters night?

Well I don't know about you but I get a bit
fed up with the fare on the telly,

 although there are one or two programmes I like:

Once upon a time.

Castle.

Weekend murders.

Undercover Boss.

Junior Masterchef.
Missing.

just to name a few.

So to while away the time I dug out some jigsaws.

 I haven't done a jigsaw for quite a few years so
 I thought I'd better start slow and easy,

 like a 500 piece one.

It only took a few days so I got brave
 and pulled out a 1000 piece box to do next.

One Sunday youngest grand boy came in and was really
 fascinated by the size of the puzzle and how
 small the pieces were. .

so seeing as he had a birthday coming up
I thought I would see if

 I could find him one that was not too big.
I managed to find a

 60 piece map of the world with some stand up icons
 and he was really pleased with it.  

He rang that night to tell me he had finished doing it
 in one afternoon,

 'not a week like it takes you Granma'.

Don't ya just love 'em?

I also went along to the library and got an armful
 of books out, 'cause I just love reading.

Unfortunately I can be quite anti social when I read,
I get really lost in a book if it has a
good story line, then have to run around like
an idiot getting things done.
It's just as well my GKB doesn't mind, he likes his telly,
I like to read.

I've also made some feijoa jam, it turned out horrible but edible,
 so I am eating my way through it.
Thank goodness it is only a couple of jars.
The next door neighbours have a couple of trees on our fence line and I harvest the windfalls, well the 2 little grand boys do.
 They love going out with a bowl and gathering the fruit up,
though I think they may not all be windfalls,
 but what I can't see isn't hurting and the neighbours don't mind.

The boys are allowed to pick the berries
on our side of the fence in season too, raspberries,
blackberries and there is a nut tree as well,
hazelnuts I think. I can never remember what they are.
We have to wait for them to fall as well,
 they're practically invisible on the tree.
Youngest grand boy loves cracking the nuts open with a rock.
And not many of the berries make it inside either!!

It's 3 degrees celsius outside just now and will probably drop below freezing overnight, which will mean a good frost in the morning and hopefully a nice winters day.

Have a good week everyone, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Diana

Bob's birthday bash

              Last weekend my GKB celebrated his 70th birthday!

               All the extended family gathered to party with him.
                       Well when I say all the family gathered
                        I mean all 22 of us who live in Otago.
                         We have family in the other island
                                as well as overseas in Asia -
                               just a bit far to travel for tea!

                   Traditionally we meet for a meal somewhere.
                            This time we gathered at a hotel down  
                               the hill from my eldest daughter.
                           We threatened her with coming back
                                to her place to cut the cake
                              but the roads were so icy we
                                      decided against it.
             Middle grand girl who is 14 baked the cake and I think
                              she did a pretty good job of it.
                      It was rich and decadent and covered with 
                              mostly melted chocolate for icing.

            We had a private bar which was at the back of the pub
                     and was fully self contained, loos and all,
                    so we didn’t disturb any of the other diners
                    and the little grand boys could play around
                             without anyone getting upset.
                    The grand boys thought it was great fun 
                               to sit on high bar stools at a
                                  high round table to eat.
                                              

                      Some of the younger fellows came instead
                   of going to the big footy game, big sacrifice,
                                our teams last for the season,
                 but we had a big TV in the corner of the room
                            and so we turned it on and kept
                   the sound down and all the fans were happy!

I'm afraid that by the time we left though

and the poppers had all been popped

(and the balloons had also been popped)

there was a bit of a mess on the floor -

 but it was a clean mess and easily cleaned up.

A fun time was had by all

even if there were some

tired grands the next day.

(And some tired grandparents as well, haha).

thank goodness for Tuesday

I can't believe how busy my weekend turned out to be.

It was all fun but by Tuesday,

yep, I know that is not during the weekend,

I had to cancel a lunch date so I could have some

down time before I started work for the week.

All two days of it!

First off, Friday night I went to ten pin bowling

with the church youth group. Very energetic.

Followed by supper afterwards at Burger King.

We were joined by another group from out of town

 and they have now challenged

our kids to a table tennis match later in the year.

So we will travel to their place and join them

 for tea and an evening of fun,

most probably in the third term.

Then came Saturday. The morning was the usual housework and getting the washing out seeing as it was a fine day, sort of.

Saturday afternoon?

Well...the Sunday School was having a masterchef cook off.

And I'm a Sunday School mentor so down

I went and the kids arrived at 2pm.

So much fun. Three teams of three.

The youngest was 4 and the eldest 11.

The kids cooked up a storm.

First up was the cupcake challenge.

Everything made from scratch, and then decorated.

Lots of yummy things to put on top.

                            Then came the pizza challenge.

Once again they made the base from scratch

and then put on the toppings.

Popped it into the oven and 20 minutes later -

magic. Three delicious pizzas.

We had three judges, and the kids had

 to present their goodies to the judges, just like the real thing..

They just loved it, lots of excitement.

They all received a certificate for taking part

and the winning team received 

 the 'Golden Rolling Pin', our masterchef trophy,

and a white apron each.



Then on Sunday there was church and in the afternoon

 I filled in a shift at work.

Monday I took my little mother and a friend to a soup and sandwich lunch, really yummy,

 preceded by an interesting speaker.

So by the time Tuesday came all I really wanted

was to spend some quiet time at home.

So I did.

Enjoy your week, whatever you are doing.

Diana

...okay, okay, I confess...

...I'm a royalist at heart :D)



Queen Elizabeth 2nd on her Coronation



So needless to say I have spent a fair bit of time the past week in front of the telly watching the 60th jubilee celebrations.

Part of the time I was at work so my lovely

GKB recorded it for me.

I have seen bits and pieces and so will watch it

all properly at my leisure. Each programme was approximately 4 hours long but as winter has finally arrived with a vengeance I should have plenty of time.

I loved the 1000 boat flotilla on the Thames - quite amazing to watch. It must have been really awesome to have

 been on the embankment with the crowds.

That royal barge was something else!!

I laughed at the little boy who said he loved

seeing it and what was "really exciting was the queen standing at the front driving it." That made his day. :))

It was a shame it was so wet, I'm surprised more of the Royal Family didn't end up in hospital alongside Prince Phillip!

Union Jack

The inside of St. Paul's cathedral is really magnificent, I have added a visit to it to my bucket list, along with a visit to Holyrood House where the civic lunch was held (I think). The carved ceiling in that great hall was something to see.
edit 22/6/12:( I have discovered I have the wrong palace, in the wrong country as well. Oh dear. I meant Westminster, not Holyrood, sorry folks).

Visiting England one day is one of my daydreams.

The queen looked so tiny at the back of the procession into the cathedral for the service and it was such a shame Prince Phillip

couldn't be there with her. But lovely to see all the family there, including the 2 young princesses.

Queen Elizabeth, June 2012

We recorded the concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace -  a lot of my residents sat up to watch it and were really

disappointed and went off to bed very quickly once it started.

They felt sorry for the queen,

 I think they were expecting something a bit more

formal and sedate.

This week a series on the royal palaces has started so I am hoping to record those for later viewing as well, as unfortunately,

 they play on nights I am working :((

New Zealand flag

Signing off with my national flag having

flown the Union Jack throughout this post.

Have a great week.

Diana

p.s. All of the photo's on this

post have been taken

from the internet.



Going bush for a day ...

At this time of the year, when the days get just a tad cooler,

my thoughts often tend towards Australia.

One of the reasons is the warmer weather

and the other is because half my siblings,

along with their kids and grandkids live in Queensland.

Last time we visited was back in September,

just because we could, for a few weeks.

We visited with both my sisters, who are in north Qld,

as well as the nieces and nephews of course

and another couple of Kiwis we knew before they moved

to Aussie (a lifetime ago).

One of our nieces and her husband invited us to

spend a day at their 'block',

so we duly got in a car early one morning

 with her mother, middle sis,
and drove for a hundred kilometres

 or so down the road a bit.
We arrived in time for morning tea.

Niece and her husband and family had left much

earlier than us, 6am I think, and had set up camp.

Below are some photo's taken on the day, at the block,

7 1/2 acres in all, and it's amenities!!

There were also goats, cows, fruit trees and sugar cane.

And a pond for swimming.

The bunkhouse and alfresco dining room

Goat shed in the background.

The welcoming 'longdrop'.

Outdoor ablutions,

I had a wonderful bath under the stars that night

 before travelling back to civilisation again.

Kitchen amenities, with some of our lunch cooking.

Fish caught on the block, oysters bought on the way in.

Home grown salad greens to go with it.

What more could you ask for? Delicious!

Some of the 'muddies' (crabs) caught during the afternoon, for tea.

The blokes are very much into the hunter gatherer thing

and my GKB thoroughly ejoyed a great afternoon out with them.

The dogs having an afternoon nap on their 'bed'.

 Raised to keep them off the ground because of

creeping/slithering critters and to keep them cool.

Me, with my GKB, holding Blossom, a week old kid.

I was allowed to name her :D)

A couple of the young blokes getting the fire going after tea.

We had a lovely day out and were invited to stay the night

 but elected to travel back.

I'm a bit of a soft city slicker and enjoy

 my home comforts I'm afraid.

Well I hope you enjoyed our day out,

this is just a few pictures to give you a little bit 

 of an idea of what we did one day in Aussie.

There is so much more to tell, but maybe another day.

letting off some steam

Sorry folks, I just have to let off a little steam!

I sat down to write something quite different but

that will keep till later.

Last night I was working (I work in a rest home)

and went to answer one of our residents call bell.

She was in quite a frantic state, had just answered her phone

and couldn't make head or tail of what was going on.

I could hear someone talking to her in a really persistent manner,

in a foreign accent and alarm bells started ringing.

It was one of those ratbag computer hackers trying to

get her to turn on her computer.

Being 99 and in a rest home and not owning a computer

she couldn't work out what was going on and getting in a real tizz.

I'm afraid I saw red and took the phone and let rip.

I sent him packing with a flea in his ear!

(And I didn't swear).

Now the poor old soul is scared to answer her phone in the evening.

These people have got no idea of the damage they do,

not just to peoples computers or finances but emotionally

  - I guess they don't care either, unfortunately.

On a happier note, in February I planted a couple of

sunflower seeds,

far too late for them to do anything major,

I really thought it might already be too cool for them to

germinate but was hopeful.

Well they did germinate and they grew and reached toward the sun. Then we had a week or so of cold weather.

I thought that was the end of them, but no.

Autumn turned out to be beautiful and warm.

The sunflowers grew and grew,

one outdoing the efforts of the other.

The photo above is the one which opened and bloomed,

and even though we have now had a dusting

of snow on the hills it is still standing tall.

Its mate is about 8 inches shorter and the day before the snow it was just starting to open - I haven't been down the yard to have a look at it since, but I must soon.

They haven't reached their full height, but just to have made it to the height they are has really amazed me.

Isn't life grand on the whole.