I was out taking care of some business the other day and saw this and it made my day. It sure isn’t the roof repair that they did in my neighborhood growing up. Truthfully, you don’t see it very much in Japan either. Most of the roofs are tile where I live. The people who can still do this kind of work with grasses are rare treasures. Once, about twelve years ago, I was lucky enough to watch the progress as one of these straw roofs was completely replaced over a period of a few weeks. Wow! It was impressive. The work these guys were doing didn’t look too shabby either.
Long gone are the days when Famish, our cuddly friend, was a scrawny alley cat. Recently he has been tipping the scales at 6.8 kilograms. That translates to almost 15 pounds of kitty. In his defense he is naturally a “big-boned” cat. His head is huge and his paws are big too. Unfortunately his belly is ginormous and he is always hungry. It appears to be a brain thing from his days on the streets paired with a life of leisure. We have been feeding him less food than the guidelines on his Costco kibble advise but apparently that’s still too much. The vet had told us to feed him 75% of the recommended amount in the summer and the full amount in the winter (to help offset the frigidity inside older Japanese houses). We thought we had been adhering to that but something is amiss.
Anyway, we took Famish to the vet because he had a little bleeding from his gums. We weren’t sure if it was from illness or from the vigor with which he attacks his string toy when we play with him. The vet took one look at him and pronounced Famish fat and in need of a diet. He needs to lose at least 3 pounds and preferably a little more. He has some new fancy food and we are more carefully measuring his portions. We are on day five and he looks as chubby as ever to me so we are taking an additional step.
His gums are fine by the way.
We are moving forward on the theory maybe we made a mistake in naming our rotund feline, Famish. We are hedging our new-age bets and giving him a nickname to help him control his hungry urges. He is now referred to as “man-chan”. That’s pronounced “m-aah-n ch-aah-n”. “Manpuku” means full to capacity in Japanese. “Chan” has few uses and one of them is an affectionate term to add to a nickname. Half of “manpuku” plus “chan” gives us the moniker man-chan. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it works (along with less food).
Here’s a portrait of me by Junichi, one of my 6th grade students. Judging by the picture, it looks like last year may have taken more of a toll on me than I thought. Trust me, I feel much better than I look!
Satomi made this basket to spruce up the house for Christmas!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! The holiday is almost finished here in Japan but for those of you near in our hearts but far away in distance you have just begun the fun. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
We packed Christmas Eve and Christmas with holiday cheer. Christmas Eve my friends the Matsubayashi’s threw a holiday party for my elementary school students, Satomi and I. We had the most incredible shrimp and pasta au gratin I have ever tasted along with Matsubayashi’s locally famous pizza. We spent Christmas afternoon with my friend Colin and his family and had a meaty Christmas feast and pleasant conversation.
Now we are home and getting cozy in front of our kerosene stove. Satomi made the house festive by hanging her christmas quilts and making the Christmas basket in the picture, above. She threw in a few other of her homemade touches and and made the house a home for the holiday season. We even had a few hours of snow on Christmas Eve.
green tea dreamer project 