Okay...so that title was a bit deceiving. It has not rained continuously for 4 days. No. But, it has been dreary, humid, cloudy, sometimes breezy, sticky, drizzly AND rainy for 4 days. 4. Days. Those of you who are planning a trip to this part of the world, FYI-- this is the time of year to avoid in Japan. The 'rainy season'. (Those of you who used to live here, go ahead, shake your head, shudder and say "oh...I remember that and thank you Baby Jesus that I don't live in it anymore".)
Keep in mind that the majority of us do not have clothes dryers or the desire to fight the crowds for dryers at the laundromats, so our laundry is hung outside...except during the rainy season when we hang wet clothes all over the house, hoping they get dry before they start to get smelly. The only saving grace to this is that, no matter where you go, there will always be someone (or many someones) who have clothes that smell the same. Seriously....the makers of that stuff you spray on your clothes to make them smell better (rhymes with LaSneeze), were oh so smart to introduce their products here. Clothes...shoes...furniture...curtains...you name it....they get moldy and yucky here!!!
Anyway....the rain today tested the Kuroiwa family. Issei, when there was a bit of a break, jumped on his bike and was not seen again until about 5:00. He made it back just as it was starting to pour....again. The
K-Man, Koji and I, in need of some time out of the house, decided to enjoy a little retail therapy.
For the occasion, I wore one of my favorite shirts. For some reason, wearing this shirt just makes me feel a little lighter in spirit!! (I think it's the guys and the fish...yeah...that's it!)
As we are suffering from some financial "discomfort" these days, our retail therapy took place here...
....at the 100 yen store.
Look at how nice and shiny it is.
(Obviously, we got there ahead of the crowds, because when we left, about 45 minutes later,
it was packed!!)
We did some looking around...picked up about $15 worth of stuff we needed.
We even got a giggle or two. Or, I got a giggle then explained it to the K-Man, who also chuckled...after bit of 'thinking time'.
The "scum absorbent sheets" and "scum skimmers" are used when you are cooking stews and such and well, that scummy stuff gets on the top. I told the K-Man that, yeah, we probably have something similar in the States, but, I'm sure that the name would be much.....prettier.
The "slime picker" doohickeys are to keep the yucky stuff out of the sinks. We don't have disposal systems, just little buckets that catch the gunk (we also have very cool net bags to put inside those buckets so you don't have any really nasty messes on your hands!!!)
"Slime pickers". I think I had something like those when I was single.
haHA haHA haHA
(Sorry...the stickiness is making me delirious!)
After also doing some grocery shopping, we needed a snack so we picked up some taiyaki.
These are fish-shaped, pancake-like sweets that are filled with sweet bean paste or cream (which really is more like the vanilla pudding I make!).
These were kind of crunchy on the outside, which we all agreed were really good.
Yummy snack and with Koji in the backseat humming the theme to Jaws, well, the moment
was just pretty perfect.
Good Lord...can this family NOT take a normal picture?!?! (^-^)
*************
It's late...I'm sweaty and in need of another shower, I think and I'm trying to stay positive, so will come up with something good from all the rain.
hmmmmm.
Thinking.....
Okay....got one.
Not only is this the rainy season, but it is also hydrangea season.
The hydrangea, by the way, is the official flower of Nagasaki City.
In the back corner of our yard, we have three pretty big hydrangea bushes (trees?).
In the almost-eight years that we have lived here, the hydrangea flowers have slightly changed
colors every year.
Oh...nothing drastic, just a faint darkening...the light pink have become much darker and the lilac colored ones have turned almost purple.
In the rain, they tend to be even more beautiful and in my opinion, a vase full of hydrangea in your house, truly adds a little bit of life.
5 comments:
If it makes you feel any better, it's been raining for weeks here, too. We've had some pretty serious storms come through, and believe it or not, we had a tornado touch down in Chicago last week. As I type this, it is thundering and lightning outside. Thankfully, for me, this is my favorite kind of weather. :)
I love the fish....and the fact that Koji was humming Jaws!
I don't know how you deal with laundry during this time of year! That would make me batty!!
And that looks like a normal family picture to me!!
The periwinkle blue hydrangeas are my favorite!!
Sounds like a perfect day to end that dreary feeling.
No clothes dryer or central air??? Good Lord, woman! What's with the lack of those conveniences in the land of such brilliant folks?
PS-Please keep my husband out of that store. He cannot be controlled in the $1 stores.
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