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More Maura Walks
Maura’s visit to the vet yesterday did not include taking his stitches out. We have to wait another week. I almost cried; I am sleep deprived from adventuring. You know how in fantasy novels, the author glosses over the long arduous journey: “They made fast for Thoradil, changing horses and riding through the night, arriving…
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Spicy osouji
The tradition in Japan is to end the year with all your slates clean: bills and debts paid, gratitude given, and house and grounds thoroughly cleaned. This year I have managed none of that. But I did tackle a task today, in the eleventh hour, that’s been on my list for six months. I wrangled…
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Moonlight walks with cats
Maura’s wearing an Elizabeth collar since his Christmas day vet visit and can’t safely go outside by himself. The doctor prefers him not to go out at all, but that’s not practical; his litterbox is the big wide world. And he gets salty and destructive when his freedom is impinged. Fortunately (and unexpectedly) Maura seems…
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Monkeys in the backyard
The Japanese macaques are stealing fruit from our trees and eating it in the garden. It looks like they were enjoying themselves while I was out of the house today.
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Nengajou jollity
Today I sent out our nengajou, the holiday cards that are delivered on January 1 in Japan. I am not 100% sure that’s going to work properly for my cards this year. I didn’t buy the special pre-franked cards the post office sells, instead drawing my designs on postcards I already had on hand. So…
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Two fewer inoshishi
Living in the countryside is not for the faint of heart. Neither is this post; turn back if you don’t like death. After writing here yesterday that the inoshishi weren’t getting into the trap, I woke this morning to find two of them in it. And one on the outside. He sensed me, snorted loudly…
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Wildlife: inoshishi
Inoshishi are wild boars. They are agricultural pests with a price on their heads – or their tails, as the city pays for every tail you bring them. We have some that live in the hills and vales surrounding 555. Wild boars eat roots, bulbs, grubs, and worms. They get into rice fields and roll…
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The barn is next
It’s been three months since we moved into 555. Next week I have a meeting with Sasaki-san about renovating the 120 year old barn that sits next to the house. It was a dairy barn for generations, but its been out of use for decades. The floors are still dirt and mud, but there’s no…
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Turmeric Harvesting
I have a jungle of turmeric growing in my hatake garden plot. It’s all volunteers from the Kawasakis old garden. I didn’t do anything to call it forth, it just arrived in its own time. Turmeric is a beautiful broad leaf plant with exotic white flowers. Over the summer it was lush and green. When…
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Garden planning for climate change
I started writing this in August, but decided I was too novice to publish anything about garden planning. However, this week the USDA updated their plant hardiness zone map in the US and winters are skewing warmer, pushing areas into new Zones. So what I wrote is definitely correct. I have been vindicated, and here…
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