Happy New Year!

Well here we are, the end of the noughties! At least it is for me here in Japan - the rest of you will have to wait a few hours.

I would love to have some profound thoughts to share with you but alas I have none. So in the absence of perspicacity all I can say is thank you. Ah, but who to you may ask? Well some that truly deserve to hear it will have long forgotten me and have no chance of reading this, such as the many people that helped my 13 years in Japan a (mostly!) pleasant stay.

One person stands out above all others though - someone who has never stopped believing in me and has given me the strength to carry on in the face of adversity - someone who gave me my own mantra "I am a fighter and I will not give in" - someone who sees the days of the week in colours (and probably responsible for my daughter doing the same).........

And I could go on, and on.........

Thank you for everything so far......

To my mother Maggie May

Some say it with flowers, I say it with music - you won't understand the words but this is for you - arigatou (thank you)

With all my love

Happy Birthday Eddie

It was my godfather's 65th birthday last week and since he's a keen blogger I had a T-shirt made up especially for him! He tends to go on a bit so I thought this was appropriate!

And since his other half grumbles about the amount of time he spends at it he can just turn around and say

And here he is - Happy Birthday!

Watery Wednesday #47

My two keeping cool in the sweltering Tokyo heat a few hours ago!

Watery Wednesday #33

The above duck is an Indian Running Duck and belongs to a good friend of mine. He spends his leisurely days swimming in a children's paddling pool and his nights with two guinea pigs in a fox-proof coup.

Back Door Britain

I think I'll pass on that one!

Watery Wednesday #29

Taken about a week ago this is a view looking across the Bristol channel from Severn Beach. Anyone who's been there will know that "beach" is a bit of a misnomer!

But my kids love places like that far more than "proper" beaches I'm pleased to say. Big girl had a lovely time looking for "old lady sticks" while small girl searched for "Morris dancing sticks" and I collected driftwood to make picture frames. As the old saying goes, The Best Things in Life are Free and even the crappiest of places can yield treasure!

Watery Wednesday #27

Taken in Heiwanomori Park in Kanagawa when my big girl was 23 months old this photo brings back very happy memories of when I first became a stay-at-home dad. Anyone who has survived the August heat in Japan will know that my daughter had the right idea!

Wordless Water?

Rising Tides

In the News this week:

Apparently much of England is about to disappear under water due to rising sea levels and 10,000 people could die this summer as temperatures soar to 40 deg C.

Prince Charles says we have “less than 100 months to act” before it is too late to be saved from global warming. That makes Doomsday Sunday July 9 2017. Better put that one in your calendar!

Meanwhile on the other side of the pond the wettest thing in Texas is oil, California's still dreaming of a winter's day and global warming is increasing the death rate of trees. Never mind though because "Global warming may be cancelled out by a natural cooling of sea temperatures over the next decade".

Oh well, at least there are no killer bees this year!

A Saudi Atrocity

"A 75-year-old widow living in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 40 lashes and four months in jail for mingling with two young men who are not close relatives, her lawyer said Monday. The newspaper Al Watan said the woman, Khamisa Sawadi, met with two 24-year-old men in April after she asked them to bring five loaves of bread to her home. The two men, her nephew and his business partner, were arrested by the religious police after delivering the bread, the newspaper said. They were also sentenced to lashes and imprisonment. The verdict against Ms. Sawadi, a Syrian who was married to a Saudi, also orders her deportation after her sentence is served. Her lawyer said he would appeal."

Doesn't this just make you SICK!

Wordless Wednesday

See Nuts in May

Mummy's tummy

I was taking my youngest daughter to school the other day when she suddenly said:

"Daddy, I used to be in mummy's tummy"

"Yes you were" I said "And guess what? I used to be in my mummy's tummy too"

"What?" she said in amazement "you were in my mummy's tummy?"

"No" I chuckled, "my mummy is your Grannie"

"Grannie is your mummy?!" she asked in disbelief.

"Daddy" she said, "after I was in mummy's tummy, I dressed as Peter Pan and then I ate all my grapes".

Ah, the last 4 years rolled into one nice easy sentence!

This conversation took place a short while after a similar one she had with her Grannie, who happens to be Maggie May and features in a recent post

I Spy...

During the half term holiday I suggested a day trip with Maggie May and my two daughters. As the journey would be fairly long Big Girl proposed we play I Spy. The game went well but as Small Girl never got any answers right I gave my turn to her.

"I Spy with my little eye something beginning with Wuh" she said.

A few minutes later, with every answer getting a "Nope" we gave up and asked for the answer.

"I don't know" she said, "horse?"

Time for a rule change I thought! "Ok, new game" I said " I spy with my beady little eye, something green". This went better with Small Girl guessing that grass was indeed green!

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with Puh". "No, it has to be a colour" we said. "Ok, I spy with my little eye something beginning with 18".

Duh! Eventually she got the idea and spied something purple. Once again we had to give up - "what's the answer" we chimed. "I like purple" she said "we saw purple flowers yesterday".

You can't beat a 4 year old!

Morris: A Life With Bells On

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Japan! It's been a while since I posted anything and I've chosen a bad time as I am flying to UK early in the morning. As there's no time to write about what I had planned  to write about here's a photo I took this morning from Rokugobashi bridge between Tokyo and Kawasaki over the Tamagawa River featuring Mt Fuji in the background.