April Garden Tour

Girl Japan has commented on how big our garden is, so today I'd like to give you the full tour. Compared to what most people have here it is big, but not really huge! We have two plots of land - one for the house and one for the parking and garden, which makes things feel much more spacious. I do love it.

OK, brace yourself for LOTS of pictures!The house and garden from the opposite side of the road. Our genkan is the white door with the bikes in front of it. The classroom door is through the gap in the wall along the road.
The front garden, face on. The lattice fence in the front was put there by the previous owners, as were the trees, rocks and many of the established plants. We put the fence up round the sides and back a couple of years ago.
The front flower bed was made to straighten off the edges for the the tarmac to be put down. It was gravel when we moved in. Daffodils just coming into flower.
Lupins coming back! As is the oregano.
Under the trees at the back of the flower bed are elephant's ears and more daffodils.
Around the stepping stones to the veggie patch are primulas, just coming into flower.
And this yellow thing. It turns into a lovely carpet of bright yellow for about a week, then it's all over for the year.

Two oriental poppies and some daffodils that need moving as they are right where we want to walk.
Standing on one of the vegetable boxes at the back of the veggie patch.
The previous owner planted this and it's a mess of overplanting. From the left is a lilac tree, an akebi vine, something that flowers in spring with horrible thorns, a trumpet flower vine, a sickly rhododendron and a white flowering shrub. Madness. I need to do something about this but it probably won't be this year now.
On the mound that has a red maple planted on it. Down the back are lots of bluebells and other woodland plants.
The daffodils I planted last week are really happy here.
Looking at the central planting, done by the previous owner and getting crowded now. Dogwood tree, two maples, and a yew. Also a big lavender plant a struggling azalea, lots of rocks, and some shrubby things.
A gingko tree (huge, but I love it), a lace cap hydrangea, honeysuckle, rose-shaped double tree mallow, tulips, chrysanthemum etc.
Daffodils by the shed.

A yellow katakuri (dogtooth violet) at the front of the central planting, on the edge of the "lawn" (scrubby weeds and grass...)
The front planting. Miniature conifer, dogtooth violet, white grape hyacinths and daffodils, another miniature conifer along the front. Behind, tree that turns red in autumn (no idea what it is!) with a yew behind it, red maple, green maple, dogwood.
Heather and daffodils in the front flower bed.
The front flower bed is edged with lavender and heather, with a climbing yellow rose on the lattice, primulas and daffodils in the middle. And a big empty space that needs filling!
Not sure what this is but it's pretty. It is an evergreen and grows slowly every year.
Yellow primulas nearly ready to pop.
Leaves coming out on the rose bush.
Battered furniture that needs chucking away but we have to cut it up first.... The table in the back is OK. Shed, with conifer and hostas (not out yet).
The house, looking from the veggie patch. It's a really weird shape from this angle!
Looking down the side of the house to the back garden.
Purple primulas are out here.
Primulas, a maybe-dead blackberry on the fence and the new shoots coming out of a bit of undisturbed root to the left. Also lots of chives and a few ratty strawberries.
The back garden. Washing poles, some strawberries and A LOT of weeds. This bit hasn't been properly dealt with yet.
New strawberry plants put in last autumn. Looking good!
Blackcurrant planted last autumn and happily growing.
Foxglove. Got lots of these as they self-seed everywhere.
Lots of new lilies planted last autumn. Several different varieties mixed together, so I'm looking forward to the summer. These are right in front of the classroom window.
Double pink hollyhock survived the winter and is coming back!
Three roses, from left, climbing rose Lavinia (pink). It wasn't very happy last year after I planted it but it seems to be getting its act together this year. Fantin laTour, half climber, and Bingo Meidiland, a little single daisy type rose. Also there's a lupin on the bottom right that's really growing well.
Self seeded viola. These come back every year without fail.
Grape hyacinth and lavender.
Grape hyacinths planted last autumn. REALLY pretty, these ones!
Natsu Tsubaki trees planted by the previous owner. There are too many of them and they annoy our neighbours. We do cut them back each year but they grow! There's also a beech tree in the row that I think was sold as a Natsu tsubaki that needs to come out as it's far too big for this space. Maybe in the autumn now...
Standing on the classroom deck looking down the side garden.
Another lupin being attacked by the millions of daily seedlings that are produced each year.
Purple tree mallow by the half wall, the classroom deck (bit messy right now.) All the woodwork in the garden needs re-staining. That's an after Golden Week plan, before the leaves get too big and hid the fencing too much.
The classroom entrance, and the whole house from the other side.
Back to where we started - our entrance with a big mess of bikes!

Another Friendly Day.

Yesterday was the dead emperor's birthday, so of course (???) it's a national holiday. (Hey, I'm not complaining, I'll take as many holidays as I can get!)

Seiju was working as were a lot of Dads, so I invited three other elementary mothers round for coffee and chat. The JHS kids all arranged to meet up again, and our house seems to be an easy place to start, so the six of them who were free met up here.

There were ten kids in Yoshi's bedroom at one point! The big ones went out by themselves for lunch, to the park and who knows where else, and we had the three third graders and one kindy boy with us. They all played really nicely together, no trouble at all, leaving us mums lots of time for lots of chat.

All in all, a really nice day. I got SIX loads of washing done! (My bedding makes four loads if I wash it all at once....) but no packing for our trip which we leave for TONIGHT!

Got to get going!!

Blergh!

I'm supposed to have done the last Shred for level 2 today but I didn't. I've been busy all day with the accountant, office lady, getting a hair cut and then four hours of classes, so I just gave up this evening.

I'm not feeling that well and am hoping I haven't caught something just in time for our long-anticipated trip....

Time for bed!

30 Day Shred Level 2 Day 9

One more session and Level 2 is over!

It wasn't a very satisfactory workout today because the phone rang three times while I was doing it, and each phone call was one I had to take so I had to pause the workout then do a bit extra each time I restarted. Also my right elbow is hurting from all the planks, so the last abs session I lay down and did regular mat stuff to give my arm a rest. It's still a bit sore, but tomorrow is my aerobics class which will give it time to rest.

Green Bean Casserole for Girl Japan!

"Real" green bean casserole has white sauce in it which bumps up the calorie and fat content a lot, so I made it without.

Ingredients: Amounts will depend on your dish!
Green beans (duh!)
mushrooms
half an onion
consomme cube or powder
panko
shredded cheese

Boil the green beans just for a minute or two until they turn bright green, then drain.

Slice a few mushrooms and half an onion and sautee in a bit of olive oil. Add just a tiny bit of water and the stock cube (maybe 1/4 cup water...) add the green beans and stir around to warm them up a bit. Add pepper and salt if you have to but the consomme is salty enough for us.

Put half the green bean mixture into the casserole dish. Mix together a handful of panko and maybe 50g shredded cheese, then sprinkle half the mixture over the beans. Put the rest of the beans on top of that, then top with the remaining cheese/panko mix.

Put into the oven at 200C for about ten minutes to get crisp and bubbly on the top.

Munch!

I didn't miss the white sauce at all (much!)

Yummy Dinner Spoiled By Snow

Thanks to yesterday's trip to Costco, I had a fridge full of food today and lots of time because I couldn't get into the garden. I decided to make a nice dinner with extra stuff to drag out during the week.
Plain green beans for Yoshi (two meals worth) and green bean casserole for our dinner.
Spinach for dinner and the rest of the week. I also did a big bunch of asparagus in the same way.
Final dinner: Roast chicken with roast potatoes, raw carrots for Harry, who won't eat them cooked, and won't eat anything green, asparagus, green bean casserole, beef, leek and red pepper stir fry for Seiju who won't eat chicken.Harry, who WILL eat chicken. Like there's no tomorrow.

We will have all the veg, half the stir fry and most of the chicken to do simple and quick dinners with over the next few days.

The dinner was spoiled by the snow because Seiju was worried about driving north into worse weather with summer tyres, so he ate as fast as possible and set off back to work.

Poor man. Sigh.....

Snow Sunday

4:00 pm
4:45 pm

OH NO!

April 26th, it's 2 degrees C (35F) and it's snowing. Gah!

My poor daffodils look shocked.

4:00 pm
4:45 pm

Sapporo Saturday.

First of all, another milestone has been crossed off my list. I am now at a BMI of 24.7 which puts me into the normal category. I am no longer overweight. Now, as the ideal weight for my height is still 8 plus kg away from where I am now I am not complacent. But there is no more medical advantage to losing weight. From now on it's purely vanity!

Today was another busy day, but we got a lot done in anticipation of having a "home" day tomorrow.

Seiju arrived home at about 8 am; Yoshi was still sound asleep, I was thinking about getting up, and Harry was running about naked as his usual weekend practice. I dragged myself out of bed, had a banana, and was off out the door for a 9 o'clock appointment with a housing reform company that we are thinking about to do a big remodel of the house.

We've been going over and over different ideas in our minds, and they have already done a big reform quote, a smaller one and now we've asked for something on the bigger end of scale. We need the roof to be replaced, so we are thinking that we'd like to change the house shape from a sloping piece of cheese shape to a regular house shape, and get three more rooms upstairs while we are at it. Now we have to work out if this is in our budget... This morning, we gave them our maximum price and asked them what they could do with it.

Seiju dropped me off at the station to go into Sapporo for our regular AFWJ ladies meeting. I didn't get to the last one so I was looking forward to seeing people. Six of us met up, and had a good chat over a Chinese lunch, then cake and coffee in another shop. (Calories, what are they??) I wandered around the shops with one of the ladies for an hour afterwards, which was really nice even though the prices in those shops in the station are enough to give you a heart attack!

Seiju picked me up at the station at about four thirty as it was so chilly I couldn't face walking home. We had a little break then went out to Costco to buy stuff to take to our friends in Nara and also for us to eat on the way too! We are taking our car on the ferry so we can pack what we like. Very easy! Seiju wants some new running gear so we went to look, and as far as I could see it was running gear to the horizon, but he couldn't make up his mind and we came out empty handed.

We finished the day by going to eat oh-so-healthily at McDonald's. Yum, but I am about half a day's worth of calories over my limit for today! I did walk a lot around Sapporo, then round Costco, then did the Shred this evening, but I still think the food was a bit much today....

30 Day Shred Level 2 Day 8, Shopping, Busy Fun.

Yoshi's Lego T-shirt - Skeleton Man!

Done!

It should have been done yesterday, did anyone notice??!

I was too tired after a fun but busy day.

In the morning I went with my friend Tomomi (Tasuku's mum) to the local outlet mall to buy some new walking shoes for our GW trip. I got a really nice pair of green Ecco shoes, but looking at the weather reports of predicted 30C weather I think I should have been looking for sandals! Hard to believe when snow is forecast for here tomorrow...

We wandered around the shops, browsed a bit in the Lego shop, where I found a good present for the son of the friend we are going to stay with, and a brilliant T-shirt for Yoshi, then went to Oshkosh and found another nice T-shirt for Harry.

Harry's fishy t-shirt.

We had lunch (Korean Bibimbap) and then I dropped Tomomi home before doing a very quick food shop, going home and doing four English classes, ending at 8:30pm, which was when I ate my dinner as I'd not had time between classes three and four as I normally do.

After all that I was too tired and too full to bother with the shred, so I just fell into bed and gave myself up to sweet, sweet, sleep!

Gakkyu Heisa - Or - The Plague Strikes!

Yesterday, Harry came home from school with the news that 8 out of 16 kids had been home sick that day, and a letter saying that for public health reasons, their class would be closed for two days to allow the outbreak to die down.

I think this is a good idea, but it plays havoc with my schedule! Not all the kids are sick for the same reason. A couple have influenza which I DO NOT want any of us to get a week before we go on holiday. A couple of kids have non specific fevers/colds and two more have sickness and diarrhea, possibly rotavius, which I also do not need.

Harry had a highish fever last Monday night but was OK by the morning so I sent him to school, so hopefully that was his dose then.

It never rains but it pours. Yoshi woke up sick this morning, so I had them both at home! He got up and ate breakfast, and was ready for school despite complaining of feeling unwell, and he'd agreed to go as it was a short day today, so he'd have been home by about 3pm, but suddenly he went sheet white and said he felt rotten, so I sent him back to bed (where he slept till past lunch time) and called the school to say he wouldn't be in.

In Yoshi's case I think it is a cold but also he's just mentally and physically shattered from his new lifestyle and incredibly long days. Tomorrow he has the day off as it's the school's foundation day, and I also get the joy of Harry's crabby company as it's the second day of his quarantine. They are not supposed to leave the house and I'm teaching anyway, so he can't go anywhere. Lovely. He and I are going to be climbing the walls by Friday morning.

It seems that a plague is sweeping the town, as today two of three toddler's mothers called to say they were sick, so I cancelled the class for the other one, and my kinder class was only two of five kids. The older kids all came though there were several who told me they'd been ill the day before.

I've been madly washing my hands all day, opening the windows between classes, and wiping down the table with alcohol based wipes. Hope it's enough to keep the bugs at bay. Shudder!

30 Day Shred Level 2 Day 7

Done!

I am thoroughly converted to the plan of alternating days now. I do the shred workouts so much stronger and harder, and my muscles respond so much more accurately and for longer.

Today I only modified the plank jacks and the squat thrusts, and that's to save my knees and shins. I can do all the ab work to the fullest extent and could even do more of each exercise (well, one or two more, anyway!) The walking pushups.... well, I can now get into the proper pushup position and go down about three inches each time. Tonight I noticed I have bicep muscles for the first time in my life. Also, the right one is bigger than the left even though I am left handed.

In my ladies English class today, they were commenting on how much weight I have lost, and how much more toned I am, and we all ended up on the floor doing walking push ups. One of the ladies could do it but not the other two!

Yesterday I did 3 miles of Leslie - a hard one with lots of knee lifts which I feel a bit today. Tomorrow I have my aerobics class in the evening. Three more days at level 2, then on to level 3. I'll get one session in before we leave for a week's holiday with friends in Honshu. I won't get any shredding in during that time but we will be walking A LOT. Hope I don't lose it and come back to being unable to do it again!

I've Broken The Plateau! And 14 kg down.

Well, after two days of changing up my workout schedule to include more cardio, just one aerobics class, one shred and one 3 mile Leslie Sansone walk later, I've busted out of the 66's and into the 65's! I'm also 14kg down on my start weight as of today, which is very nice.

I know that weight isn't the be-all and end-all of a fitness regime but it certainly helps to see the numbers dropping. I've got a long way to go yet....

Another goal is fast approaching - one more click down on the scale and I'll be just into the normal BMI range. I started off just into the obese range, so I'm looking forward to seeing that. My BMI as of today is exactly 25.0. Normal is between 19 and 24.9!

30 Day Shred Level 2 Day 6

Done!

I'm definitely getting better at it and having a day to rest in between is making sure I do it harder and with better form.

Even with today's aerobics class on top, (the only way I can make the shred every other day is to have one day with both aerobics class and shred every couple of weeks) it was a much better workout than when I was doing it every day.

Tomorrow I shall do a three mile walking DVD and a bit more gardening.

Half a Million Steps Done!

Today I went over my halfway point to a million steps! It's going a lot quicker than I thought it would. Unfortunately these tickers don't seem to have a way to tell you when you started, and I can't find any mention of it on the blog. So at least if I mark the halfway point with a post, I will know how long the second half takes.

Monday's Gardening

I only had a bit more than half an hour free this morning, so decided to tackle a bit more leaf clearing and sketchy weeding (in that I am just yanking out what will come easily, not digging out the roots yet - that is the next round!)I'm trying to work my way round the garden and photograph as I go, so I'll be able to give you a complete circular tour over the next few weeks! So this morning I moved on from the veggie patch to under the gingko tree - that's always totally smothered in leaves.
Yesterday when we uprooted the pine tree, we had to take up a big clump of daffodils. They needed putting somewhere else, so they have gone under the gingko tree. The daffodils had made a lot of babies, so I split them up, leaving each one lots of space to expand. I do love daffodils so much, but they are very expensive here. (Think five UK pounds or 10 dollars for three bulbs!) So splitting and spreading around what I have is a good way to go.
This is what I managed to achieve in twenty-five minutes! I cleared a lot of leaves, uprooted a lot of dandelions and clover, and got a dozen or so daffodils replanted. Very satisfying but there is SO MUCH MORE to be done!
Two bags of rubbish today! Not bad for such a short work period.

After that, I rushed out, still sandy with soil on my knees to my aerobics class. Then came home, ate lunch and I must confess had a 30 minute nap. I fell asleep REALLY hard and it was not nice to have to wake up.

Dragged myself off to pick up Harry from the after school club, and took him to piano. While he was gone I robbed the bank of 95% of Seiju's wages to pay all the bills, then picked Harry up and went back to the after school club to pay their fees that I had forgotten all about (oops). We went on to the car shop to get the brake pads changed, as yesterday we were told they were worn down but they had to order them in. Then rushed back to find Yoshi at home - he was given his own key yesterday much to his delight and Harry's great jealousy. (And our nervousness - how many days till I come home to find the place unlocked and wide open??? Or he loses the key????)

Made dinner shoved it at the kids and told them they had fifteen minutes to eat, took Yoshi to his musical rehearsal, and came back and flopped! Still to do today - all the inside work including washing dishes as there's not a clean one in the house. Yuck.

Taking Out A Tree

The first two pictures were taken last June. The rest were taken today.

This pine-type tree in the centre of the photo was planted probably fifteen years ago, right up against our plot line. We put the fence behind it up three years ago and clipped half of the tree's branches off to make the fence skim behind it. Of course the tree has continued to grow and overflow to the neighbour's land.They have never complained, and we were in two minds about taking it out, as it blocks their view of our living room window. Trouble is, it BLOCKS their living room window as its branches stop about three feet from their glass.
Another problem is that we can't do anything with that bit of the garden because this tree sucks up all the nourishment from the soil, and it has a very strong piney, turpentiney smell that seems to repel plant growth too.
There used to be another tree of the same type in that corner too, just to the left of where Harry is standing. We took that one out as soon as we moved in. There are still too many trees in this garden!
Yoshi went to town on the tree and sawed off all the branches that he could reach.
Then Seiju lopped the top off, and tied up the long stump with rope (this was my idea!) While he was doing that I was trimming the branches so that most of the stuff would fit into rubbish bags.
Yoshi was taking pictures and has NO respect for my still rather huge backside! I included this picture so that you can see the mess of stuff that we trimmed off the tree and the long dead weeds in the background.
Tying up the tree stump...
... and tying the other end to the little car's tow point! I was a bit worried that the car might not take it, but by exerting long steady pressure and digging around the roots, Seiju got the tree uprooted in about three goes.
Thanks car! The last tree was smaller than this one and we did it entirely by hand. It nearly killed us.
I took off ten bags of weeds, branches and dried up leaves. That brown thing is the root of the tree - not sure if the rubbish men will take it but I have to try.
This is what it looks like now its mostly cleared up. There are still weeds and dead leaves but my back seized up and I had to stop for the day. The next plan is to wash down the entire fence and restain it as it's balding in places. That will be next weekend if the weather is good. Then dig this patch over, buy more soil and fertiliser for the veg boxes at the back, then plant veggies here. That will have to wait till after Golden Week though as it's still too cold yet. (It snowed a bit on Wednesday!)
There was a very sickly rhododendron and a bunch of rotting fence posts here up till last week. I'm in a ripping out mood right now!
We tidied up quickly and zipped out to get both cars serviced and the oil changed. This is in our local Toyota dealer. They give us coffee and juice while we wait, there's a play area that Harry still likes, and it doesn't cost any more than anywhere else in town.

When one car had been done, we went out for an early dinner so that Seiju could get off to his work on time. We called in at the reform company we are thinking of using this summer to arrange another meeting next weekend, then went to pick up the big car. (Which needs new brake pads so back I go tomorrow, boo!) Then Seiju took the kids to buy printer ink while I went to get a house key cut for Yoshi and did a couple of days worth of food shopping.

Then home, packed Seiju up, send him off, and collapsed onto the sofa with my computer.

I'm exhausted! (But really satisfied, we got such a lot done today, and it was lovely to be in the bright, breezy sunshine.)

Spring Has Come To The Garden!

Daffodils are just coming into bloom.

There aren't many out yet, but there are many, many buds about to burst.

We just need a few days of warm sunshine like today.
(16C -woohoo!)

Not sure what this plant is - if you know please tell me. I have three of them and they are very cute.

Renegotiating The 30 Day Shred

Note that is NOT giving up!

I took the day off yesterday and did no exercise at all, not counting all the steps around the house picking up and putting away, hanging laundry and vaccuuming. Tonight when I came to do the shred (level 2 day 5 for those of you keeping count) I was able to do it much better, much more strongly and with much better form.

I have been really dragging the last week or so, REALLY not wanting to do the exercise, and tired all the time. At the same time I have put on nearly a kilo of weight, and while people keep saying to keep on, it's only muscle weight, I am not so sure. My steps have dropped significantly and I'm only sweating that twenty minutes per day as opposed to the previous more gentle 50 minutes. On the other hand, I am definitely getting stronger, seeing (well, feeling under the flab) muscles on my stomach and bum, and that makes me happy.

So, from now on I am going to stretch this time out by doing the Shred on alternate days, and go back to my Leslie Sansone walking DVDs or aerobics class on the other days. I'm hoping this will give me chance to rest my muscles, get a bit more cardio in, and shift my weight loss into gear again.

Harry's Sankanbi, Too Much Food, Lots of Friends....

Harry in his music class. He was in a really bad mood and didn't behave very well, very contrary, so I left the classroom and went to look at the cute new first grader's class instead!

I'm sort of in a sulk today and yesterday after doing that bloody shred for 15 days in a row and GAINING weight. And my tight jeans are TIGHT so it's me changing shape too...

Yesterday I did not do any exercise because I was cleaning the house. I did about five loads of laundry and I sorted out more than half of the boys' room, chucking a boat load of junk and changing their sheets and airing their bedding. Felt really good. Then by the time I'd taught four hours from 4 - 8 I was shot and just went to bed.
Banging the tambourine with unnecessary force...
Today we had Harry's sankanbi, (school open day) then went out for lunch with friends from school, both Japanese and foreign, which feels really nice, like we are proper members of the community, and SIX of the nine new JHSers from the elementary school who all converged to play with the younger kids as the parent teacher meetings went on. I do hope they will all keep their friendships going even though they are at three different schools now.

Cookie fest! Harry was playing at a classmate's house.

The kids came back to our house and went to the park for a couple of hours before coming back to my home made muffins and oatmeal cookies which they devoured while comparing notes on uniforms, clubs, odd kids and the like. I stayed in the kitchen pottering about and washing up slowly so I could listen! Then they went upstairs and played hide and seek which is SO CUTE. All those would-be teenagers forgetting themselves and actually enjoying a game for the sake of it. The group was three girls and three boys too which was nice.

Yum, mostly cranberries and sugar. Buzzzzzz!

Another great thing was that there's a boy who lives near us who left in the 4th grade as his dad was transferred out of the district. He has come back with his mother to live in their house and go to JHS here and is in the same school as Yoshi who has seen him a few times. They all went to call on him to ask him to play with them. He couldn't because they were just going out with his mother, but he was thrilled that he had not been forgotten. The best thing about this - the boy is autistic but the kids just think he's himself and have missed him a lot the two years he was away. I was thrilled that they wanted to play with him because I think he's getting a rough deal at the JHS with totally unknown classmates AND the autism to deal with. It's another reason to thank the upbringing that the elementary school has given them, of respecting and accepting and celebrating who everyone is, and enjoying the differences that we all bring to our society.

Anyway, one of the muffins and two and a half of the very heavily cranberried oatmeal cookies found their way down my gullet. And they were very yummy! I made 12 muffins and 25 huge (10cm across!) cookies and there are two cookies left! Six nearly-teenagers can eat a lot! Thank goodness because tomorrow I am back on the wagon and I don't need any sweet things leering at me from their plate.

Actually, I'll be back on the wagon with a vengeance because we have to cut down and uproot a tree that is encroaching on our neighbour's land.... We did one about five years ago when we moved in that was smaller than this one, which is not huge, and it nearly killed us. I don't actually think we will be able to get the stump out this time. My plan is to cut the branches off as it stands and bundle them up for disposal, then cut the trunk, then dig down lower than the ground level and cut it off there, then just leave the rest of the stump under the ground. It's a pine of some kind and the roots seem to poison the ground and not let anything grow there but I'd like it to be a veggie patch. So I'm going to dig it over again and hoik out what roots I can, then just hope that the rest rot eventually.

30 Day Shred Level 2 Day 4

Done this morning before my office lady came, much the best way, to get it over with and not have it looming over me all day!

I'm just off out to my regular Thursday evening aerobics class now. I like the relaxation bit at the end best, it's lovely. I could sleep on the floor of the hall all night.... zzzzzz.

30 Day Shred Level 2 Day 3

Done.....

Groan! I am exhausted and in drips of sweat at the end but I don't have muscle pain the next morning. Am I doing something wrong? I mean, I have a bit, but really not a lot. No walking like a crab or anything.

30 Day Shred Level 2 Day 2

Done!

Harder than yesterday because I have some idea of what form I'm supposed to be using now. Will get harder as I improve. I'm really pleased with my abs right now though, they are much stronger than they were even ten days ago!

30 Day Shred Level 2 Day 1, And Stats for Level 1.

Well, I got through it - in a manner - all the way through to the last set of abs, and when I saw that it was PLANKS again, I gave up and lay down and did an ordinary set of crunches! My arms are my very weakest part so having to hold me up for so long was just too much for them! I really think this will get better quicker than level one though, and I am shocked at how much I could actually do without modifying the moves.

Right, photos and stats. Stats first....

I have lost NO WEIGHT AT ALL. That is to say, over the past ten days I dipped down 600 g (1.3 lb) and then it went right back on again.

Measurements have NOT CHANGED AT ALL. I am so disappointed. On the other hand I think that I am stronger than I was ten days ago, even if the tape measure is not moving.

Photos!

It is hard to say if there is any improvement or not.... I had to take the after photo on the right myself as it's late at night and both kids are in bed, so there's noone to take it for me. (I usually browbeat Yoshi into taking the pics for me, and he does the whole nearly teenager disgust with his mother thing every time. I'm traumatisting him by displaying my blub to him!!) That means that my stance is slightly different. However, I think that my abs are more defined even if the measurements tell a different story.

It is hard not to feel defeated after working so hard for ten days. The trouble is that I was doing about 7000 steps a day and moving fairly hard and rapidly for about 50 plus minutes a day, and instead I've gone down to 20 excrutiatingly hard minutes. So of course the fat burning has slowed down. The 30 Day Shred may be great (and I think it is doing me good) but really it needs to be alternated with days of long cardio sessions for the best results. Still, I have made a comittment to doing this every day in April and so I shall. There's plenty of time to sort out a regular routine once I've tried lots of methods. After all, I don't look like THIS anymore.....
.... which was me late last September just a week or so before I began my lifestyle revamp. So really, it's all good, isn't it? And I've got another 40 years or so to get the balance right!

Braeside Cottage's Soda Bread

A fellow foreigner-in-Japan-who-likes-gardens posted this recipe for a soda bread/scone for me, as Yoshi and I can't eat yeast. We made it together last night and it was yum!There is no sugar or fat in the recipe (if you use non-fat yoghurt like I did) so it was actually surprisingly low calorie.
It puffed up nicely in the pan, exactly how the recipe said it would!
The finished product. The inside was very soft and fluffy but the outside was crisp and crunchy. Even Harry, who won't go near scones or muffins usually, had two bits and declared that he liked it.
One satisfied Yoshi!

For me, I thought that the amount of salt was rather high and I shall reduce it slightly the next time I make it, which I am sure will be often as its SO EASY! The whole thing disappeared in about five minutes....

The recipe is up at the link at the top, so do go on over and try it out yourself.

30 Day Shred Day 10 ...

... which means that tomorrow I have to go on to level 2!

I am watching it right now to get an idea of what I have to do and I think I might die. NO WAY can I do most of the stuff it asks you to do....

I'm looking forward to how I'll be feeling at the end of the ten days though, as I thought the same for level 1 and I can pretty much do it now. I noticed tonight that the weights feel light for some of the exercises (not for those horrible side lunges though.)

I'll post ten day photos and stats tomorrow morning. There's been very little change in weight this week. Not sure about measurements.

Yoshi's First JHS Sankanbi (Open class)

Yoshi had school on Saturday, as it was open day for the parents. We went to a social studies class (geography and history and current events) which is done by their homeroom teacher.

The kids had been given homework - to find a piece of news that interested them, print it and stick it into their notebooks, then write a few lines of commentary about it. The idea was that they would get together in their groups and choose the most interesting piece to report to the class on.

Unfortunately the teacher must not have explained what he wanted clearly enough as only about 5 kids out of the 34 had actually done it, or even knew that they should do it. (Yoshi was one of the ones who didn't do it!)
After each group had reported to the class, they voted by a show of hands as to which news item was the most interesting, and then the teacher asked them to find the place in their atlases. Yoshi was one of only two kids in the class who looked up the name in the index and used the map references to find it. Yeay for our little elementary school who actually taught that!
After the class, the kids went home and we went to the whole school PTA meeting. VERY BORING. VERY COLD (in the gym) and utterly incomprehensible as all the speakers put their heads down and muttered at top speed. They passed out a load of papers, one of which said, "63% of parents are members of the PTA!!!!" Seiju and I rapidly decided that we'll be in the 37% who don't join. Bleh.

We then went back to the classroom for a meeting with the homeroom teacher. Of 34 kids only 20 parents turned up and from those the FIVE (overkill, anyone?) PTA positions were chosen. Then the teacher went over his impressions of the first week - that the kids are still very uptight but are loosening up, and that they are all trying hard and that he thinks they'll end up being a good class.

Yoshi is trying really, really hard. Seiju and I were talking this morning about how he has grown up immensely in just a week. It's a bit like when he was born, and I marvelled that how even 45 minutes later he'd kind of unfolded and puffed up and couldn't be put back. He's done the same thing this week, and couldn't go back to elementary school now, he's clearly a junior high student.

Nobody in the class is really talking to him yet, as they don't know him and are desperately hanging on to elementary friends (This school draws from two main elementary schools with just Yoshi from his village school and one or two newcomers.) Despite sitting in silence most of the day, he's enduring it well, endeavouring to be friendly and is biding his time, not making big attempts to be noticed.

He told me that he planned to volunteer for lots of things so that he'd be put into smaller groups than the whole class, which would give him more chances to make friends. There are a number of jobs that need doing in the class and he's stepped up for two of them. He's the English Leader which means he goes to meet the English teacher (in Japanese high schools, the teachers move around the classrooms and the kids stay put unless they need to go to a specialist room) picks up worksheets and homework and hands it out, and writes the stuff required for the next class on the board. He's also the class PR rep for the school. (not sure what that involves yet!)

Japanese junior and senior high schools are big on "clubs" which though voluntary in theory are heavily enforced in practice, and usually mean three or more hours a day, six or seven days a week. Classes finish just before 4pm but the kids don't leave school till 6:30. Its ridiculous. In this school most of the clubs are sports orientated (and once you join you are stuck with that one sport for three years) and Yoshi is most decidedly unsporty.

He was going to go for the theatre club but during the spring holidays it was disbanded because the teacher left. So he's joined the city drama troop and has joined the broadcasting committee at school. This is not actually a "club" and it's expected that you join one of those two, but Yoshi put his foot down and said that was enough. Good lad!

The broadcasting committee have to get to school just before 8am and go directly to the studio where they make the morning announcements. There's a 10 minute reading period before registration so the kids take their books and read in the studio, then go to class for registration. They then take their lunch to the studio to eat while broadcasting the previous day's video of the after school activities. Then after school they make the next day's video, tidy up, do their homework (I like this bit and Yoshi says he's going to do his with the others from next week) and horse about till about 6:45pm when they go home. Yoshi will have to leave earlier the three nights a week he has drama rehearsals as they start at 6:30 across town and he has to have time to eat, too.

All in all, he's adapting very well and he's really growing up. We are very proud of him, even though the actual system sucks in so many ways.

Easter Eggs!

Yoshi and Harry found that the Easter Bunny had been while they were out at Jiichan and Baachan's this afternoon.
I wondered if Yoshi would be bothered this year but he was as enthusiastic as ever!
Harry was of course thrilled.
The garden is gradually coming to life. I did a couple of hours of clearing up dead leaves and branches yesterday but today I concentrated on inside the house. (Didn't make much progress...)
These crocuses are nearly over. They are so pretty but their flowering time is so short. Still, I'm thinking about planting a whole lot more this autumn, as they are such cheery flowers after the long winter.
Still, I'm thinking about planting a whole lot more this autumn, as they are such cheery flowers after the long winter.

30 Day Shred Day 9

Done!

Push ups were really hard for me today, but I did ALL THE ABS, properly!!!

I have decided to do one lot of butt kicks but the other two sets I do knee raises as otherwise my shins hurt too much.

30 Day Shred Day 8

Done!

I have worked out that it was the butt kicks that were causing the shin pain, so I have replaced them with knee lifts and my legs are much happier.

Today's workout went well; I am definitely getting stronger in the abs and I can do a lot more pushups than before though they are still the knee ones.

I don't think I could do even one real pushup!! Last night I thought there was a bit more definition in my shoulders/backs of arms, and if I push my fingers into the blub on my stomach I can feel baby muscles!

30 Day Shred Day 7

DONE!

(No stretching at the end because my office lady turned up too early!)

No Shred Yesterday

That's two days missed.... I was just so busy all day yesterday and then I did have some free time in the evening but I was just so tired that I flobbed about till bed time.

Will do better today!!

30 Day Shred Day 6

Well, having missed a day yesterday I felt like some bits (legs!) were like noodles, but my abs were in good nick and I was able to keep going all the way through the first bit and nearly all the way through the other two bits. Knees were a bit off tonight (I've been doing a lot of knee bends in my kiddy classes today) so I modified the skipping bits as they hurt when I came down. I did knee lifts instead.

20% done!

It was a beautiful springy day today so I walked to the bank, which clocked up 8000 steps and got me into the sunshine for a while which made the whole day seem better.

Thinking About Our New Lifestyle.

Yoshi walked off all by himself to school today. It's horrible for him being totally friendless. The JHS draws from three schools from the area, with two schools providing 50% each of the kids. The other school, Yoshi's, is made up of kids from various areas of the town and Yoshi is the only one this year to go back to the local JHS. We had five good years at his elementary school (MUCH better than the local one) but now he's paying for it...

Anyway he seems to be fairly happy about going at the moment, and has a good attitude towards it so that's encouraging.

We thought a bit about the daily schedule and so far this is what we have come up with - not sure if it will work but we have to try something... We'll have to adjust as we go.

Up till now we've been getting up at about 6:30 and the kids have been going to bed about 9pm. That isn't going to work any more seeing as Yoshi didn't get into the house till 9:30 pm last night.

Also we've been getting out of the house by 7:35 to catch the school bus, but if I take Harry to school myself he doesn't actually have to be there till 8:20, which is a huge difference. It gave me more time in the morning if both boys were out early, so I took them to the bus more often than not.

Yoshi's new school is very near our house, maybe a ten minute walk at most, and he too has to be there by 8:15, but a bit earlier would be better.

Going to bed so late is going to wreak havoc with our study routine, as the tutor will only be able to come twice a week, and they'll have to concentrate on the JHS curriculum, not English or the kanji that Yoshi is so far behind on.

So this morning I tried getting the kids up half an hour later at seven so they could sleep a bit longer, then because they had both got completely ready down to clothes out for them the night before, they had time to eat breakfast and then do about 15 minutes of kanji practice before we all left the house together just before eight. Yoshi walked off on his solitary way and I put Harry in the car and drove him all the way to school.

The other end of the day is what is so stuffed, and I'm going to be finishing work half an hour later every day from today also, as I had to push back all my afternoon classes to accommodate the longer elementary school hours that began this April.

I'm going to have to be much more disciplined about cooking dinner right after breakfast, so that it is ready to heat and eat as soon as Yoshi gets in. The drama club nights he'll have to have rice balls or something that he can pick up and eat in the car on the way there.

Because the other mother said that she will bring Yoshi home, that means that Harry can continue having his earlier bed time which he really needs, and then Yoshi will have to come home, do whatever he needs to for the next day, and get into bed as fast as possible.

The school also said that they expect the kids to be doing two hours a night of study and homework but I am not sure where that is going to fit. You can't get a quart into a pint pot....

Yoshi's Entrance Ceremony...

... and a taste of things to come.

Oh dear, it's been such a busy day, a real shocker to get back to work with! We've entered the life of a junior high schooler right from the beginning, and I don't like it already.

Seiju came back lateish last night, so he was here to help this morning. Harry had school in the morning (entrance ceremony for the new kids) so Seiju got him sorted out while I did laundry and tidied the house a bit. Then I got Yoshi up (last day of lying in for a loooong time by the looks of things) and he and Seiju went out to look for summer tyres for the big car.

I went to my aerobics class but cut short the last twenty minutes of stretching so that I could get back in time to shower and change for Yoshi's entrance ceremony. The three of us walked across to the school and then Yoshi went off to his new classroom. Poor kid knows one other kid in the whole school, and he's not in the same class anyway. There are four classes of 34 kids each in the first grade.

We went to the hall where we sat and waited and waited and waited. The new kids came in and we all sat through an hour and a half of endless introductions and speeches, all focusing on the word "kuro" which means suffering. Basically, "You had your free and easy life in elementary school but now real life begins so you'd better buckle down and get serious." Bleh. The whole thing was so dark and so boring. Then there was a long wait for all four classes to get their pictures taken and then one with the parents too.

We then went back to the classroom with the kids where they were given a massive stack of text books to take home, plus name badges, rule book (that they must carry on them at all times....) and the next week's timetable. The homeroom teacher seems OK but it's hard to tell in such a short time.

Enter the future salaryman clones....

We walked home and Seiju sat down right away to write all the endless forms that needed filling in so that they can go back right away tomorrow. Then we went to pick Harry up from Jiichan and Baachan's, as they'd picked him up from his after school club and taken him to his piano lesson and then back to their house.

We all went out for celebratory sushi, and by the time we'd finished it was ten minutes before Yoshi's new drama club meeting time (more about that later) so Seiju dropped me and Yoshi off at the community hall, took Jiichan, Baachan and Harry back to their house, and loaded up the old summer tyres and wheels before coming back to get me.

I had in the meantime introduced myself to one of the senior girls' mum as she had very kindly agreed to bring Yoshi back each time as the meetings end between 9 and 9:30pm which is far too late for Harry who is crashed out by 8pm most nights.

Seiju and I then went to the car shop, bought the new tyres and left the car there to have them put on, went to the home centre next door for some bits while we were waiting, then spent till 8pm in McDonald's drinking coffee and exchanging news as we haven't actually sat down and talked together for weeks.

Big stack of textbooks!

We went back to the grandparents' house to get Harry, then while Seiju was unloading the winter tyres I got Harry ready for bed, and went through all his new textbooks and millions of papers for his new school year. He has his old first grade teacher back this year which is great - she's a really nice upbeat, organised young woman who suits them very well.

Seiju then left for his two hour plus drive back to work and I went upstairs with Harry (who won't be there by himself, sigh.... this is going to be a pain now that Yoshi's going to have a much later bedtime) and while he was falling asleep I hung and folded laundry and sewed Yoshi's name badge onto his uniform.

Yoshi arrived home at 9:30 and we spent the next 45 minutes going through his stuff and packing his bag for tomorrow, then he finally went to bed.

I have not done my Shred for today, and I'm not going to, I'm shattered!

Yoshi's class teacher told them that they will have trial club activities after school tomorrow till Friday that will end at 5:30pm so to expect them back home about 6pm. From next week they'll be expected to stay in school till 6:30pm and to expect them home about 7pm. RIDICULOUS.

Right, now about this drama club. Yoshi has said for six months or so that when he got to JHS he would join the drama club. This school had a good one that did a lot of things and he was looking forward to it. Unfortunately during the spring break the teacher who led the club was transferred to another school and the club was disbanded. Now the school has only three clubs that are not sports orientated, which Yoshi hates and is determined not to join. They are the art club which is full of nasty girls and is commonly known to be avoided, the science club which is basically an escape for the nerdy kids who hate sports and is run poorly by a nerdy teacher (according to my spies - my JHS English class students!) and the choir, which is extremely competetive and very high level with very long hours.

Unfortunately though the school says that clubs are voluntary, the degree of voluntariness is questionable, in that kids are harrassed until they join something, being threatened with not getting into a good highschool etc....

We had heard of the city youth drama group that puts on a musical each year so during spring break we went to investigate it, and Yoshi was really taken with it. He's also the only boy in the group so they were desperate for him to join and welcomed him with open arms. I went to the first meeting with him and the kids range from a few ten year olds through about 30 JHS and SHS kids, to a few adults. It meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:30 - 9pm which is as bad as clubs you might think, but it is something that Yoshi himself really wants to do, and it actually only lasts till August, by which time the school club harrassment (too bad, so sad, we are already in the city youth drama group) should be over.....

It's really going to make nights busy though, as he'll be back from school and right out the door again three nights a week, and the other two nights the tutor will have to come. I will have to cook simple stuff that he can grab with one hand and eat in the car as I drive him over to the drama club, or eat in a few minutes before the tutor comes. I'm going to have to be A LOT more organised about food and get it all cooked and dished up before my classes begin in the afternoons. Not really looking forward to the next few months as we all get used to this new life.....

Sigh.

30 Day Shred Beginning Stats and Photos.

I've finally got round to putting my starting stats and photos up. Deep breath. Here they are.
Weight 66.6 kg (146.8 lb)

Neck 32 cm (12 5/8")
Bust 89 cm (35")
Chest 78 cm (30 3/4")
Waist 78 cm (30 3/4")
Belly button 87 cm (34 3/4")
Hips 100 cm (39 1/4")
Thigh 60 cm (23 5/8")
Calves 38 cm (15")
Upper arm 31 cm (12 1/4")
Forearm 23 cm (9")

30 Day Shred Day 5

Well, it got a bit easier today I think. I have great trouble with those side lunges while raising the weights. My arms are like noodles and I've not been able to do it at all for the second set. I changed to bicep curls to be doing something. But today I sort of got through the second set by doing them much more slowly than the beat.

The one thing I am noticing is that my step counter numbers have plummeted. This can't be good for weight loss, so I think I am going to have to add the walking DVDs back in. Unfortunately that will mean two workout sessions a day which I am not sure I have time for. Maybe I can just add a mile in as a warm up at first and then see how I go after a few days.

My shins are hurting tonight, too. Not good.

It's a list-y sort of day!

Well, it's the last day of my holiday and I must confess that of my massive list of things to do this week, I have done almost none of them.

So, it's a list day today! I am not going to complete everything, there simply aren't enough hours in the day! Serves me right for having a lazy week (but it was soooo nice!)

Bold italics are what's done!

* Gardening - at least one bin bag full of rubbish got rid of.
* Sweep the edges of the road and flowerbeds along our house line.
* Sort out Yoshi's school stuff. (Half done!)
* Sort out Harry's school stuff. (Half done)
* Clean the kitchen - again.
* Tidy the classroom.
* Assemble bags for new students with notebooks, textbooks and the like.
* Sort out a box of clothes that I don't need any more and actually post it on my e-groups!
* Sort out a box of presents to take to a friend in Golden Week, then put it away rather than live with it in full view.
* Put last year's reciepts and tax files in the attic.
* Put the skis and snow shovels away in the shed.
* Tidy the outside genkan - take up the holey green grass stuff we put there five years ago and sweep it out!
* Tidy the inside genkan.
* Do laundry - at least one load.
* Make a decent dinner because Seiju's coming home - woo hoo!
* Hang last night's load of laundry.
* Put away the dry stuff and iron what's necessary for the week. (I just sort of shook out this morning's clothes...)
* Send kids to the library to return a load of books.
*** And, of course, that pesky Shred.

30 Day Shred Day 4

Completed.

And that is all I have to say about that.

Harry's Computer Crafts

Harry has taught himself to use the design software "Hanako" and has started to print his own papercrafts. This one is the new DSi.
This is the card, printed out and ready to cut. He's made this entirely himself, entirely from scratch. I can't believe that he's still only eight years old....
The DSi made up! I took this on the computer so the buttons are reversed.
The back - cover with camera, and cassette slot.
The cassette.Inserting the cassette into the slot.

Amazing, isn't it? He spent hours the other day making a cell phone!

First Gardening Post of the Year

Well, it's April and my gardening juices are starting to flow.... The only trouble is that the snow hasn't all melted yet and it's really cold still.Most of the snow has gone off the front garden, but nothing is recovering yet, so it's all grey and smashed-up looking.
There's just a tiny bit of snow left down by the fence. The snow has melted faster this year, which is nice.
I've got a few snowdrops blooming but unfortunately they are behind some mini conifers, so you can't see them from the house!
There is still snow in the vegetable patch, and it's a real mess. I have to do something properly with this once spring is underway.
Tulips and daffodils are just poking their heads up, along with some lily bulbs which I must have planted too shallow, as they came up and promptly got frosted.... (The yellow miserable looking things in the background.)
More daffodil bulbs coming up in the back garden, forcing their way through the fallen leaves that got smooshed over by the snow. I need to clean this up but can't tread here yet as it's too marshy with snow melt.
The bulbs in the previous picture are coming up just on the other side of this wall. Still too much snow to tread here yet.
My first gardening effort of the year was cleaning this front flower bed up. I took off all the dead leaves and stalks, and a lot of blown rubbish too. I need to do the bed on the other side of the classroom steps but it was too cold today so I gave up and came in. I also need to sweep down the edge but the wind was so strong it was pointless trying that today.
Flower bed by the front steps. Last autumn I dug this bed over completely and put all the bulbs to the back of the bed. Or so I thought. Look at how many are still coming up along the front!

Yoshi's Lego

The other day in a recycle shop, Yoshi came across a small box of Japanese castle Lego characters from a set that came out over ten years ago. He's really satisfied with his find, and has spent several hours playing with them.

Shred Day Three

I'm hoping to have something more interesting to talk about tomorrow!

This is getting harder with each day. Blergh is all I have to say tonight...

Not going to give up though. Ten percent done.

30 Day Shred Day 2

This morning I woke up without a trace of stiffness, but got a bit creakier as the day wore on.

This evening I had a go at Day 2. I had more time to think about form and to try harder. I can do the jumping jacks but the jump rope does me in. It's such a sudden and hard start that I needed to get my asthma inhaler during the second lot of skipping, so I shall have a puff before beginning tomorrow. Abs are not too difficult but I can't keep going through the whole of the last set. I need to work on that.

As well as the Shred, I walked into the shops with the boys to get Harry's new notebooks for school and Yoshi's regulation (blergh) JHS haircut (cannot touch the collar). We walked back with food shopping in our backpacks, so that was a fairly good workout in itself!

It Must Be April Fool's Day...

OK, I have bitten the bullet and have decided to do the 30 Day Shred every day this month. I bought the DVD back in February but when I tried it, it was far too difficult for me and I went back to my Leslie Sansone DVDs for the next month or so.

I am now another couple of kg lighter and another month stronger, and exactly a month away from a trip to Honshu with the family to meet long-term friends, which is a great motivator in wanting to be firmer and fitter by then.

There's a 30-day Shred group of bloggers led by Motherhood Uncensored that I have been following over the past month. They finished their 30 days yesterday, but a couple of the graduates have set up rival teams to continue with another month of exercises, so I've joined Bill's Team Jillian as they are going on with Shred-related exercises while the other team's going for a different trainer. There are already several people starting the Shred who didn't get in on things last month, so I shan't be alone.

You may also have noticed my 20/20 button to the right... That's another bandwagon I have joined! This challenge is being run by Ashlee who has lost a tremendous amount of weight and is doing it in great style with a lot of emphasis on healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Her blog is packed with good advice and she also has a food blog that is really interesting. (Though a lot of the recipes are fairly hard to do here in Japan, she has a lot of lovely ideas.) She's running a challenge to lose 20 lbs in 20 weeks. I have been losing that much on average but it's nice to feel accountable, and another 20 lbs will put me very close to my goal. This is a longer range goal than the 30 day Shred which is a much more temporary thing, though looking at last month's batch of photos, I'm hoping I'll get similar results!

I did the first workout tonight and it went much better than I expected. I am using 1kg weights and can do most of the strength moves with them. The cardio does me in and I can't get through to the end of the second reps so I just walked in place for a few steps before trying to catch up. I had similar trouble with the second set of abs work, though I got through MUCH more than in February when I tried. I think the twice-weekly aerobics classes are helping!

We are encouraged to post starting photos and stats, which I .... maybe .... will do - still thinking about that one. I will certainly take photos tomorrow and measure all the bits but it's too late tonight to be bothered with that.

Wish me luck!

13kg Down!

13 kg down this morning!

The long walk around the town and by the sea we did yesterday (three hours and nearly 10k - Harry's legs were fried) must have offset the damage of vast quantities of sushi last night!