Strewth, work and life are bloody busy at the moment, but I can’t let that stop me from looking after things, which resulted this week in a renovation to the Fountain of Strewth. It was nothing major, but I found wooden letters on sale in the local 100 yen shop and decided they could decorate the fountain in Kanageroo Corner. Somewhat harsh weather conditions have got me worried about the garden, with a week of fairly constant rain a few weeks ago followed by largely gloomy conditions where regular rain hasn’t arrived, topped off by blistering heat and stifling humidity.…
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Today greeted me with the pitter-patter of raindrops (and a hefty dose of demotivation), so I spent the predawn hours vegging out with the idiot box on and gazing into the garden, appreciating the raindrops glistening on the leaves. In days of yore, I wouldn’t have been deterred by the not-quite-drizzle level of the rain and just gotten on the bike. I should have done it today, too. But I am struggling to see and have lost my nerve, particularly when cornering or riding on potentially slippery surfaces. It was enough to keep me sedimentary. So was a demoralizing public…
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Kangaeroo Corner, our garden, is basically filled with Aussie native plants, but there were a few trees and plants there when we came to live here, and they have largely remained, including the nandina, also known as heavenly bamboo. Unfortunately, her presence in the garden proved far from heavenly. The nandina, or nanten in Japanese, is a very popular plant in Japan, where it is native, as it is throughout east Asia. Despite its name in English, it’s not a bamboo, but a shrub. But it grows like a bamboo–fast and powerfully–and that’s why we’re saying good-bye to her. Today…
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Getting old is not much fun, nor, as the late, great thespian Bette Davis once famously said, it’s not for sissies. But I’ve becoming increasingly conscious of age over the past few weeks. My eyesight is going: quickly and rapidly. I’m seeing less in the dark and rain, vision is cloudy and peripheral vision untrustworthy. Arthritis in my hands is making even the most minor of tasks a tough one. And my professional life, such as it is, is slipping from disaster to disaster. All these things are adding up to fill me with fear and trepidation, which has become…
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All sorts of things have been happening, but also nothing at all. I hope that doesn’t seem too strange? The “all sorts of things” are just day-to-day events that keep me busy. And there was yet another clash with my boss, this time leading to her humiliation. I could have made it worse for her, but have decided to quit while ahead. I’m sure that will have repercussions down the track. I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it, though. For the time being, I have another five months’ work, so I can hopefully make the most of it.…
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It’s drizzling and miserable weather today, which provides a wonderful opportunity for an update as my customary lunchtime ride can be substituted. Lots has happened since my last post, but there’s little time to write about it, so this is a bit of a summary of the past couple of weeks. Perhaps most important is the passage of the first anniversary of my garden, Kangaeroo Corner, earlier this week. Amazing Alex, his mate, Mrs. Kangaeroo, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law built the garden as I was out with a broken leg at the time. It has since become one of the…
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Spring is drawing closer by the day, if not actually here already in Tokyo, but that doesn’t mean the warmth has arrived yet, though the cockatoo in Kangaeroo Corner couldn’t care less. Every morning is getting lighter and the flowers are blooming. Kangaeroo Corner’s wattle is resplendent! We were originally going to have a wattle-viewing party in the early spring, but it looks like reality has intervened. Speaking of reality, it’s bloody chilly again today. Apparently, this is only a one-off. It’s a little apt, as the icy relationship with my boss is becoming positively chilling after we were dumped…