celebrating my belated birthday

My birthday is on November 17th.

I was in Tochio on my birthday.

Tochio is where I was born and lived for 18 years.

Tochio is a mountain village in Nagaoka City in Niigata Pref.

I was too busy taking care of my sister and her husband
to remember my birthday.

When I came back to Tokyo, my daughter's family proposed
to celebrate my belated birthday.

On 25th we had my belated birthday dinner party.

They all like music.
They sang a song “Happy Birthday to You!”

They sang the song with beautiful harmony.

Oh, I should have brought my little digital recorder
and recorded it!

My daughter and her husband prepared しゃぶしゃぶ party
for me.

My grandson bought his favorite book for me.
I read it eagerly. Yes, I like the book very much.

I think I understand why he likes the book and wanted
me to read it.



My granddaughter gave me a jigsaw puzzle.
She herself painted a picture for me.

She knows I like blue skies, white clouds, travelling abroad
and climbing mountains.





How happy I am!

What a peaceful birthday party!

I'm grateful beyond words.

(in front of my apartment)

Labor Thanksgiving Day

It was cloudy and rainy today.

It was raining in the morning but I opened
all the windows and cleaned up the rooms.

The rain had abated when I finished cleaning.

“Oh, it is Labor Thanksgiving Day!
Kodaira Farmers’ Fair (収穫祭) is held today.
I think I will go and have lunch there,” I decided.

I walked 40 minutes along Tamagawa-josui
and arrived there at 12:35.



I bought 焼きそば for 250 yen, sat on a bench
and ate it talking with a lady who came from 飯能.

She was older than I am.
She was more talkative than I am.
We enjoyed 一期一会.

Most vegetables were sold out during the morning.



I bought 2 very good 牛蒡 for my daughter’s family.
They all like 金平牛蒡 very much.

I bought unsold tomatoes for koharu and her brother.

Tomatoes are their favorites.

Wow! I walked 20114 steps today.

busy days!

I had been very busy since I received a phone call
for help from my elder sister early on the morning
of Nov. 5th.

My elder sister and her husband are both in bad condition.
My sister has been watching her husband for a long time.

Now she has been feeling a severe pain in her stomach
and has no appetite, which has completely weakened her.

I hurried to them—my hometown in Niigata and took her
to hospital. She is to undergo a close medical examination
for her stomach next week.

I came back to Tokyo last night.

On Sunday I'll go to my sister’s and stay there
for a week or so.

My sister has got completely weak-hearted.
I think I'll stay by her and support her.

(autumn colors in the neighborhood, today)

Amaryllis Annual Autumn Concert 2012

The 25th Amaryllis Annual Autumn Concert
was held at 府中の森芸術劇場　ウイーンホール
last night.

koharu's parents are members of Amaryllis Ensemble.
Her father plays the soprano saxophone.
Her mother plays the alto saxophone.

All the members love music.
The members play the saxophone, the flute or the oboe.

Each of them practices playing the musical instrument
after work or on holidays.

What a wonderful concert!

I greatly enjoyed the concert.

But koharu was an severe music critic.
She commented about each performance.

koharu's parents came home late at night.

koharu and I were sleeping when they came home.

meeting a blog friend

I was still coughing, was afraid of going out
but I went to Komagome Station to meet her.

We had exchanged promises to meet at Komagome
on November 1st.

It would be the first time for us to meet.
So I did not want to break my promise.

Wow! She was much younger than I!
I had expected she were as old as I am.

She was a very charming lady.
She came to see me with her husband.

We talked a lot as if we were dear old friends.
(I’m sorry I often had a fit of coughing.)

We visited 六義園, had 蕎麦lunch at Sugamo
and then visited 旧古河庭園.

Oh, what a wonderful time I had!

How nice to enjoy walking in the beautiful gardens
with my dear friends!

(at 六義園)













I had 山菜蕎麦 for lunch.
My appetite was improving.





(at 旧古河庭園)

Most roses were gone.

But I was glad some of lovely roses were waiting for us.















We had a nice day, didn't we?

I thank you and your husband ever so much!

I walked 10716 steps in a day.