“サトリの森” ～ Forever

I usually write a Season's Greeting and send it to my family and friends. But this time, I tried......but I could not make it.   So here... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Next year should be better for me. (probably this year was not so bad for Satolela papa and two fur girls)

Satolela papa is not at home now. Many green peppers are growing in our yard. So I picked them and gave some to my friends. But still a lot in the fridge. One of my neighbours was a Japanese restaurant chef.  He taught me how to cook the green pepper when I gave them before. So I tried to do it for my lunch. Just roast the pepper over the gas burner, then add salt.  That's it!! Roast them till they become softer. Those were not enough for my lunch.   Then I cook Soba, or buckwheat noodle.   Soba with Nori seaweed, or dried laver seaweed. You need a kind of sauce, which is called 'Soba tsuyu'   to dip Soba into. When I was picking the green peppers, a nice idea crossed my mind. Twinkle......twinkle I picked several Okra , too.  I sliced cucumber and Okra both from our yard and tossed into the sauce.  And added tomatoes , which were also from our yard. This picture doesn't look nice, but it was ...

Last year we talk about our 10th Anniversary in April, 2011. We planned to go on a trip to Hokkaido where is located in the north.  But we changed the plan because of the huge earthquake. Instead of that idea, Satolela papa suggested me to go and do something completely new to us. So I told him about my idea, which made him totally speechless.   I said, 'Let's go to the new Haneda Airport (Big Bird) by bus!' As for Satolela papa, it seemed to be strange to go to the airport  to celebrate our anniversary. But to me, I thought that it was perfectly fulfilling all the conditions of what he suggested.  Because we had never been there together since we met !!! We could enjoy the scenery from a bus window. It took about 90 minutes from Tachikawa city where we live. Here we are!   WELCOME TO HANEDA AIRPORT!! The moment which  an air plane is taking off makes me so excited at any age. I don't know why, but ...

Since the Great Tohoku Earthquake occurred, I didn't feel like going out for fun. I love spring, especially the period of the cherry blossom. But we often had aftershock. That's why my friend and I cancelled our appointment to have 'Ohanami' or cherry blossom viewing. But I still love spring anyway. Satolela papa and I went out to see the cherry blossoms in April. Because of the disaster, somehow, people were in a mood of voluntary ban.  So there were not many groups of cherry blossom viewing as usual. Satolela papa really worked hard on his vage field this year.   He said that he had to prepare for the future.  I mean, he thinks it would be difficult to afford food in the future because of the transformations of the earth and economy in the world.  He worked his vage field on the beginning of April. Then about two weeks later, the field became like those. Aren't they grow amazingly quick? So another two weeks...

Japan is a volcanic country .  So I went through lots of earthquakes since I was a child. But the earthquake which occurred on the 11th of March was the biggest one I ever had. First the news announced that the level of the earthquake was 3 in Tokyo. But all of people who lived in Tokyo didn't believe it. Later Japanese government announced it was level 5. At the time when the earthquake occurred, I was outside with my girls, Satori and Leila.  We had just come back from a walk.   Then the ground we stood on started shaking suddenly. And I saw the trees and the houses shaking and twitching just after I heard a big sound like ka-boom. It didn't stop.  The ground shook nearly for a few minutes. I was a little bit scared, but I tried to be calm at once because I found Satori became nervous when she felt something was wrong through my attitude and the shaking ground. Leila started barking, too. As all you know,  the earthquake and the ts...

  Spring has come!  Last year of this month,  Papa Gordon and Mama Susan visited us in Japan. We had a nice time.   It feels like just a moment ago  ;-) But.......  who would have imagined such a tragic catastrophe would happen the next year? Continued..... (Sorry, my husband who dearly cares about me said that I should go to bed because it is too late to keep staying up ;-)   So I will finish my blog tomorrow.  I promise!! )