words no pictures...

Im still waiting for my computer so just dropping in to say I'm still here and have been collecting lots of photos and drawings for when I'm back online! It seems so far this year a lot of stuff has broken...my camera is going to cost $500 to get fixed...so it wont be getting done, and travel insurance cannot cover it..boo.....my computer has already gone to heaven....and now not one but two hard disk troubles........and also a power transformer problem......the shop that sells these kinds of things is getting used to these two foreigners coming in and putting both their Japanese skills togethere to ask for complicated things.....but we learned a few new words, 'refund', 'repair', 'usb'.....all kinds of useful stuff.....so I hope thats the end of the broken stuff and ready for the new year!!

Winter in Tokyo is amazingly nice. Its cold but very clear on most days. Years back, I was living on the west coast which was buffetted by cold winds and snow and made every winter seem unbearably long ( a little like the Tokyo summer and some of what poor boiling Aussies are currently experiencing)....also, in rural Japan, insulation is not big on the list of qualities in a house....so being here in Tokyo in a house with double glazed windows and a fairly temperate climate makes winter.....enjoyable......but of course spring is so close, plum blossom buds are starting to appear and shops are filling up with all cherry blossom stuff, well, its just next to all the valentines stuff, but once thats over it will be sakura crazed shopping......it really is lovely.

I have been making a lot of stuff, cooking and drawing since I spend no time on blogs at the moment. I have lots of cool stuff which is working out better than planned, finishing off projects which have been sitting there for 12 mths, planning/preparing lots of things to do with the mooch and just enjoying these days and not trying to hurry back to Oz (it will happen soon enough) or to another place or basically act like a chook with its head cut off. I'm trying to buy a little less of everything and reuse or recycle more and think more about what I can do. Write and prepare shopping lists and meal plans and just enjoy being a bit more thrifty. I did see a lady in the supermarket the other day, unwrap all her fruits and veges from the plastic bags they came in and put them into separate new plastic bags...I mean one banana per bag.............it felt like the moment when you see a really tough guy flick his cigartte butt out of the car window on a hot day.......like you really want/need/should say something but the voice of reason stops you for whatever reason.................

hello

I'm here but my computer is not. I will be back soon xxx

photos found!

A little while back last year, I did a great cooking class but managed to leave the memory card out of the camera and needed a cable to retrieve the photos of the event. Well it seems that having the screen on my new camera smashed by little fingers has some up sides......while looking for the warranty I found the cable in the box!! So here are some shots of my great cooking class, all about miso......
some of the ingredients......
peeling a satsuma imo, a kind of potato....
preparing some meat dishes with miso flavourings.....
the final table full of food.....I'm full just looking at this photo! This weekend we will go to the snow. I just had a tutorial about how to put on tire chains, actually pretty simple.....now just the driving in the snow part......as well as my camera getting into trouble my computer also decided to have a seizure, a big one. Luckily I have the skills of a computer nerd, right here at home. After 3 days and nights of him working on it (thankyou darling), there is still no root cause diagnosed, but I am online and I dont need to buy a new computer (hooray) and I'm now working on a new operating system (linux).....kind of fun learning a new way to do things. Now I can see what fast internet in Japan really means :)

so, 2009 huh? welcome :)

We had a lovely trip to Melb for xmas/new year. The smell of Australia is something unique and the feel of the dry air. I always love the first day because everything is so much more intense, the broadness of language, the size and colour of the money, being able to understand everything, the familiarness of my surrounds, the small details that I know so well about my home but not so well about my home in Tokyo. It was comfortable being able to slip into life, like a day had not passed since I left a year ago. Of course, first stop was to see my Mum and then go to get some cafe coffee and breathe in the dry air....I had hoped for summer but it just happened for a couple of days....

we visited friends all over Melb......

played at Rye beach, just days before the large bronze whaler shark was caught.....

caught the free circle tram....

discovered baby chinos....

ate old favourites....

enjoyed simple Aussieness....

explored in rock pools at the beach I grew up...

isnt it so beautiful? Thinking of how Tokyo kids grow up and that they never get to see this kind of space...I realise how lucky I was a kid to have this at my back door....

summer did smile on us, just for a few days......

...and now back to Tokyo.......wishing you a beautiful, happy and inspiring new year xxx Thanks to my family and friends for hosting us at many parties and to stay at your houses, it was wonderful and always too short. I did not get to see everyone but I hope to see you in June when we make another short trip to the city of coffee and clean air.