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Journal Post - from the journal our oldest son Shai is keeping |
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July 1, 2025 -
Journal Post - Some small projects
This morning, only dad went out to work, while I stayed in and studied. He spent
the morning watering and tending to the garden. The kids also went out for a
short bit to play, but soon came in due to the heat.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, dad, mom, and the kids headed out. Mom worked on her seedlings
while the kids played, and dad worked on setting up a temporary BBQ for the 4th
of July so we could cook the cow that was gifted to us.
Around 3:00 pm, I headed out. My project until dad was done working on the BBQ
was to start hoeing the dirt in the back of the storage building so we could
plant our grape and kiwi vines. I did that until dad was done with the BBQ, and
then we headed in for a timeout.
After the timeout, dad worked on setting up the concrete stools around the BBQ,
while I worked on making the holes to put the huge pipes we found in. While we
were doing that, the kids came out to play, and mom headed to the farm until
about 6:30 pm.
Dad eventually got me to work on placing in the seats, and he did the finish
work of putting in the soft soil and making sure they're even. While I was
putting them in, dad worked on tying the wood sticks around the fruit trees.
When mom came back from the farm, Mr Budo came over. He first talked to dad for
awhile, and then came over to mom and me and talked about this photographer for
awhile.
Once it was 7:00 pm, we headed in for the day.
Around 8:30 pm, while we were taking showers, Mr Budo came back to talk to mom
about some photo gallery. He was wondering if I would like for him to showcase
one of my photos in his section of the photo gallery.
And that was it for the day, quite an interesting day.
July 2, 2025 -
Journal Post - Weeding around the farm and some work in the other yard
The morning was dedicated to the farm.
First, dad and I headed over to the farm. He started weed whacking around the
farm, and while I was waiting for there to be enough weeds to rake, I weeded
some of the sweet potato beds.
Before dad could weedwhack around the metal poles, I had to hang the net up so
it wouldn't get caught in the weed whacker.
Eventually, mom and the kids came along. They stayed for awhile and mom did some
weeding, but they soon went home because the kids wanted to.
Dad and I stayed until about half past noon. The time we were there, we weeded
all around the perimeter of the farm, around the buildings, and our friends
yard. We were both exhausted and covered in sweat.
We then headed home for lunch. Right before we were about to eat lunch, Lael's
friend's mom came over and gave us some bagels as thanks for weeding her
family's yard.
After lunch, dad and I headed into the other yard. First, dad weedwhacked all
the bamboo, and I raked it up. Then, we went to go get our buckets and scoopers,
and a net. Dad was going to dredge out our well, while I would start dredging
the pond in the other yard. I also brought a net to catch the frogs and turtles
there. Sadly, I only caught one frog.
Dad basically emptied out the entire well, and he put the muck around all of our
new fruit trees and the cypress trees.
Dad and I then worked on the pond for a little while, but soon went in the house
for a timeout.
After the timeout, I played with my brothers outside, while mom and dad headed
to the farm. Dad tried to fix the leaking hose at the farm, but he couldn't. But
they were there for awhile, mom weeded and began to string up the bitter melon,
while dad watered all the plants. While they were there Mr Irie gave them some
vegetables!
Once dad came back home, I headed to the farm to help mom and talk to Mr Budo.
Last night, Mr Budo had come to our house saying that he would be putting his
photos in an upcoming photo gallery in Tokyo! And he offered to let me use part
of his space to showcase my photos! So after I helped mom finish stringing up
the bitter melon, we went over and talked to him. Once we had all the details
sorted out, mom and I headed home.
Since it was nearly 7:00 pm, I was done working for the day, but dad stayed out
a little while longer.
Once dad came in, we had a little visit. The owners of the farm next to use came
over to our house and gave us a large pumpkin and thanked us for weeding part of
their farm.
And that was it for this very productive and food filled day.
July 3, 2025 -
Journal Post - Putting in the pipes and some small projects around the yard
This morning, dad and I worked in front of the house. I worked on making the
holes to put in the two large pipes, while dad worked around the orange tree
turning it into a sort of seedling growing area. He also took some of the
mushroom substrate from there and put it in the compost.
While we worked, mom headed to the farm. She put in some seeds and did a bunch
more weeding.
Once she came back, dad, mom, and I put in the pipes. They thankfully fit nearly
perfectly. Mom then headed in, and dad and I used the dirt I got from making the
holes to pack in the pipes, and fill them up with dirt.
While we were working, Mr Kuyama (the one who lives in the blue house), came
over and gave us some vegetables. We talked to him for a bit, and he also
offered to bring over some strawberry seedlings once they were ready.
Once we finished putting in the pipes, I moved the extra dirt into the storage
building, and then I headed in and dad watered the garden. And that was it for
the morning.
After lunch, only dad went out, but he got a bunch done. He spread the rocks out
around the concrete stools, set up a piece of wood in the tire swing, hung up
our gypsy flag, put a pot as a birdbath on the pipes, and used the huge pipe we
found as a table and storage for charcoal around the BBQ.
It was a very productive day.
July 4, 2025 -
Journal Post - Happy Independence Day!
Today was a fairly "chill" day. This morning only dad went out to work. He just
did some light gardening in the yard.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, the rocks were delivered. Once they were dumped, dad and I headed
right out to work. All we did was finish putting the rocks in the front area. A
few more fruit trees were also delivered.
Once all the work was done for the day, dad and I headed out to take some
photos. Due to the major work wrapping up, and us being quite tired to do it
everyday, we decided to take pictures around the end of each month to show our
monthly progress on the property. And along with my everyday log of what we did,
this should be way enough to write volumes about.
When we were done taking pictures, we headed out for our 4th of July BBQ! The
meal plan was to first eat the chicken hot dogs mom made, and then eat the cow
Mr Kuyama (the one who does cow work) gave us! And the night just went great. We
started out by getting the fire going, and with the charcoal from the previous
owner, we had a blazing hot charcoal within thirty minutes. Dad seared the
chicken sausages, and then we ate them. Mom did a great job making them, and
they tasted even more amazing in the nan bread mom made. After that, mom and dad
cooked the cow! With the taste of the BBQ in the cow, along with some BBQ sauce
and lettuce, it was flavor heaven. We don't eat cows often, so when we do, we
make sure to enjoy it. We didn't finish it all, so we gave some to Copernicus,
and saved a bunch for tomorrow's lunch. Then, we had s'mores! After the
delicious (but sticky) desert, we all just sat outside for a while hanging out
and listening to music. Around 9:00 pm, we headed in for the night, took a
shower, and went off to bed.
A super fun day, and a great way to celebrate not only the 4th of July, but the
amount of work we got done within just four months.
July 5, 2025 -
Journal Post - Cleaning the walls
This morning, once again, only dad headed out while I stayed in and studied.
This morning, dad just did some light projects. He watered the trees using the
water from the well, he soaked the garden, and he sprayed the dirt floor of the
storage building to soften the dirt.
And that was pretty much all for the morning.
After lunch, dad went out by himself until about 3:00 pm, when he came in for a
timeout. In the time he was outside, he weeded the whole area of our property
that faced the main road.
After his timeout, we headed out. The main goal of the afternoon was for me to
make one more hole for our fruit trees, and to get all the vines and mess off
the wall along Mr Takahara's street. We only worked on one of the goals.
The wall took a lot longer than we thought, but the result was worth it. While
we didn't finish, the part we did finish looks great. While we were working, Mr
Takahara actually came out and thanked us profusely for cleaning along his road.
Around 7:00 pm, we headed in. It was a very productive day.
July 6, 2025 -
Journal Post - A few more holes, finishing the wall, and a BBQ
Dad and I headed out first thing this morning. The main goal for the morning was
to get ready for putting in the last fruit trees.
I spent about half of the morning clearing out two holes and making one new one.
While I was doing that, dad worked on the upper area and garden.
While we were working, Mr Kuyama came over and gave us a bunch of cherry
tomatoes!
Once I was done on the walls, I headed down the street and continued work on the
wall. While I did that, dad did some work in the front area, like sweeping and
moving the wood into the secondary parking.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, dad and I headed back out. While he started cleaning the front
area, I finished the wall by around 3:00 pm. Once I was done with that, we
headed in for a timeout.
After the timeout, mom and dad headed out. First they put in the new fruit
trees. Once that was done, mom cut some sweet potato vines to put in the farm
while dad watered the garden.
Once they were done working, they came in and took a timeout, and then dad went
out and got the BBQ going. We spent the rest of the evening outside eating,
drinking, and talking.
Also, today was officially the day we got a renter for our house in Tanegashima!
Mom and the agent have been going back and forth about it, but today mom kinda
really announced it. It's a three year lease with JAXA for one person to stay at
the house renting for ¥60,000 per month. So that is honestly great.
A fun and productive day.
July 7, 2025 -
Journal Post - Morning at the farm and afternoon in the storage building
This morning, mom and I headed to the farm while dad and the kids stayed home.
At the farm, mom put in the sweet potato vines she cut, while I watered all the
plants. The soil was so dry that I had to soak the soil before mom could
actually put in the vines. Once the planting and spraying was done, mom tied
some of the net up to the fence, and we also did some weeding.
While we were at the farm, dad was gardening and he started weeding along the
side of the storage building.
Once we came back, mom headed in and I stayed out. Dad kept working in the
garden, while I went into the storage building and began to hoe the ground and
rake it.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, dad headed out, and then I came out around 3:00 pm. While dad was
out by himself, he watered all the fruit trees with water from the well, and
also did some work in the upper area.
Once I came out, I got back to work in the building. While I did that, the first
thing dad did was finally fix the heavy steel tools we found at the house. With
those tools fixed, my work really sped up. After he was done doing that, he
began to process all the wood that he had moved into the secondary parking.
We just did that basically for the rest of the day, and then headed in at 7:00
pm.
A productive day.
July 8, 2025 -
Journal Post - Making an area for the RC cars, work in the storage building,
and some pipes cut
This morning, dad headed out alone and mom went out on the bus to run some
errands.
Mom had to go shopping and also get keys made for the renter of our house.
Dad spent the morning making an area in the upper area of the yard for the kids
to use their RC cars in. He used pieces of wood we got from the property screwed
to some of the trees to make a border for the RC cars.
I spent the morning in my room.
Once mom came home, she and dad moved the vehicles around, and then we ate
lunch.
After lunch, dad headed out. Once he was done working on the RC car area, he
went into the storage building and began to rake the huge chunks of dirt out of
the soil.
Over the last few days, we noticed there was a very...potent smell in the upper
area of the yard, and with some inspection the day before, we realized that Mr
Takahara's tank for...feces was leaking. So today, mom went over to his house
and talked to him about it. After mom talked to him, he began to clean the
drains around his house.
I came out at around 3:00 pm. My first project was to weed the back area of the
house. While I did that, dad kept raking in the storage building.
Around 5:00 pm, Mr Takahara talked to dad and said he wanted to talk to us. He
said that there was no feces water draining directly into our yard, and that he
would get his tank sucked within the week.
After that, we headed in for a timeout.
After the timeout, we all headed out. I got back to work in the storage
building, while dad, mom, and the kids tested out the RC car area.
About an hour after we came out, the septic worker came to a drain pipe that was
too long, and a septic pipe that was too tall. After that, he also attached our
hose to the faucet using wire, and inspected the overhang on the entry. He said
it was damaged, but could be easily fixed. After that, he headed off.
I went up on the ladder really quick to fix the wifi cord, which had slid off
its holder.
After that busy day, we all headed in.
July 9, 2025 -
Journal Post - Print some photos and finishing the third rock pile
This morning, the first thing we did was mom and I went out and raked the rock
pile level so mom could move the truck so we could get the bus out. Once that
was done, mom and I headed out on the bus. The reason for going out today was to
get my photos printed for Mr Budo to put at the photo gallery. We first went to
a Lawson, and tried various printing methods, but none yielded great results. We
then headed to Halows to buy lunch and look for A4 photo paper. We got lunch but
couldn't find the paper. However, since mom had bought A3 photo paper, if I cut
that in half, it would be A4 paper, so we decided to try that, but first, we ate
lunch. While we were out doing all this, dad was playing with the kids at home.
After lunch, I cut up a few sheets of the A3 paper, and we did some test prints,
and luckily they worked great! So I cut the rest of the paper we needed and we
printed out 16 photos, plus my introduction paper. After I showed it to
everyone, I put it in an envelope to give to Mr Budo later in the day.
After all that printing was done, dad and I headed out to work. The main goal
for the afternoon was to finish the parking area and move any extra rocks into
the back area. We got that done around 6:30 pm.
Dad decided that we would all go to Mr Budo's house to give him my photos. We
gave him my photos and talked for a long time, and then headed home.
And that was it for today, pretty productive.
July 10, 2025 -
Journal Post - Work out in the front
This morning dad and I headed out. We did a bunch of projects this morning. The
first thing I did was take all the weeds we had pulled over the last few weeks
into the other yard to burn. I also took some of the broken wood we didn't want.
Once it was all over there, I got the pile going. While I was doing that, dad
burned a bunch of old rope in the bottom of a metal barrel, and then started
working on making a wall and finding the drain in what used to be the second
parking lot.
While I was over in the other yard, I managed to catch one big bull frog, which
I put into the well.
After I was done in the other yard, I got to work weeding and taking out dirt in
the area between the street and the storage building. Dad continued work on the
parking.
And that was it for lunch.
After lunch, dad headed out, and I stayed in until 3:00 pm. In the time dad was
outside, dad had finished the wall, and had found the covered drain.
A bit of a side story, but when I went out at 3:00 pm, I was shocked at how
bright the sun was. This was because the last few weeks had been super hazy. We
thought it was just the humidity level, but mom had recently read a story
stating that a volcano erupting in Kyushu was sending ash all the way up to
Tokyo. So the reason for the haze was most likely the ash. But when I went out,
the haze was gone, the sky was deep blue, and the sun looked like a detonated
bomb.
Anyway, once I went out, I worked on and finished the area between the road and
the storage building. While I was doing that, dad finished the drain.
While we were working, the septic worker came and picked up his umbrella and
spanner wrench. We talked for a little about what we were doing, and then he
headed off.
After that, dad soaked the garden and I did some more work in the garage. And
that was it for the day.
As I was putting away the tools, Mr Irie drove up and talked to me for a little
bit and then gave me some carrots and a tomato. So that was nice.
A very productive day.
July 11, 2025 -
Journal Post - Dumping at the other property and some work in the farm
Before anything, we got the rocks delivered.
This morning, while dad worked in the storage building, my main project was to
take out the well in the back. Mom went to the farm to do some weeding and
watered some of the plants.
I spent basically the whole morning breaking apart the walls, cracking the top,
moving the rocks, getting the excess concrete off the block, and moving all the
concrete into the front.
While I was working, dad came up with an idea and called me over to run it past
me. His idea was instead of sifting all the dirt in the storage building and the
upper area, we could instead put in fertilizer bags and drive all the bags over
to the beach shack and dump everything there to make the parking. I thought that
was a great idea, so the rest of the morning, dad spent taking a lot of the dirt
from the storage building and bagging it.
Once mom came back, she made lunch, and when that was ready, we headed in. And
that was it for the morning.
After lunch, dad and I headed back out. Dad still had a few more bags to fill
(we are using all the chicken fertilizer bags, which is 60 in total), so while
he did that, I moved all the big rocks from the well into the upper area.
Once the bags were filled, we loaded up the vehicles. I put the concrete blocks
and dirt bags in the truck, and dad loaded up the bus. Once the vehicles were
loaded, we headed to the beach shack.
Mom drove the bus, and the rest of us were in the truck. The bus was so heavy
that I had to get out and push the bus out onto the street, along with mom
putting the bus into 4-wheel drive. Once we got to the beach shack, dad first
pulled the truck up to the property, and mom pulled off into a sideroad. Dad and
I very quickly unloaded the bags along the street, and I tossed the concrete
blocks into the property. Then dad went to get the bus. While he drove the truck
to the bus, I put all the bags into the property and started dumping them. Dad
then drove the bus up, and once the bus was unloaded, he went to park it next to
the truck and then came back to help dump the bags. Once the bags were dumped, I
put them all in one bag, and we headed back to the vehicles. Then all of us went
to check out the property now slightly filled with dirt and chunks of concrete.
We then headed home.
After a little timeout at home, we headed back out. Mom and I were going to the
farm, while dad stayed home and loaded up more bags. Just as we were about to
leave, mom got a call from the company who delivers rocks, asking if they could
come deliver them the next day, and mom accepted. Then we headed to the farm.
At the farm, I planted the Asagao seedlings that Akane had given us as seeds,
and while I was doing that, mom watered the sweet potatoes. When I was done with
the seedlings, I watered the rest of the plants, and mom worked on some weeding
and making a bed. We then went home.
At home, dad had already loaded a bunch of bags up. So once mom headed in, dad
and I spent the rest of the day filling up the bags and putting them in the
vehicles to take to the beach shack tomorrow.
A very productive day.
July 12, 2025 -
Journal Post - A day of dumping
The first thing we did today was head to the beach shack to unload both the
vehicles filled in total with 60 bags of dirt and rocks. Once they were unloaded
and dumped into the parking lot, we headed home.
After that, mom went shopping and dad and I got to work outside. We spent the
entire time until lunch filling up 60 more bags and then loading them into the
vehicles. We continued using the dirt from the storage building. Once mom came
home, we headed in for lunch.
Right after lunch, we took another drive to the beach house and unloaded all the
bags we had loaded into the parking lot. When that was done, we headed home.
At home, we spent until 5:00 pm, loading 60 more bags. Once we took all the
loose dirt from the storage building, we took the dirt piles in the upper area
that was along the road. Dad loaded up two bags at a time, and I took them to
the vehicles with the wheel barrow. Once that was done, we headed in.
We spent the rest of the evening doing a BBQ! Which was a lot of fun.
And that was it for this very productive day.
July 13, 2025 -
Journal Post - A day of dumping, the sequel
This morning, the first thing we did was take the 60 bags of dirt and rock to
the beach shack. Once it was all dumped, we headed home.
Once we got home, dad and I took a quick break, and then we headed out. We spent
until lunch filling up 60 more bags with the dirt from the upper area, and
loading them into the vehicles.
And that was it for lunch.
After lunch, we drove to the beach shack and dumped all the bags into the
parking lot.
Because both the truck and the bus had the warning light for low fuel flashing,
we went to the fuel station before we went home. It was a little chaotic filling
up two vehicles with only one credit card between them, but we dealt with it. We
did get some strange looks though...
Once we got home, dad and I took a quick break and then headed back out. We
spent until 5:00 pm filling up 60 more bags with the dirt and rocks from the
upper area, and then we loaded them into the vehicles.
And that was it for work for the day. The plan for the evening was to do another
BBQ! But as we were getting ready to BBQ, Ayane and Kana showed up! Apparently
she was here for a business trip, and they decided to come over and just say hi,
but since we were already doing a BBQ, dad invited them over, and they said yes!
So before they came we got the BBQ going.
Ayane, Kana, and her mom and dad showed up, and for the rest of the night, we
just had a great time. Once they left, we took showers, and that was it for this
very fun and productive day!
July 14, 2025 -
Journal Post - A day of dumping, rainy version
This morning we awoke to the sound of falling rain. As the morning progressed,
the rain increased to a steady downpour.
Today's plan was to dump the load of bags at the beach shack, but because of the
rain we were skeptical if we would do it. We did it anyway.
So in the pouring rain, we drove to the beach shack and unloaded 60 more bags of
dirt into the parking lot. Once they were done, dad began to pack it in with his
boot, while I stuffed all the bags. By the end, we were both soaked down to our
underwear.
Then we headed home.
We were going to go out and work on the rocks we got delivered, but it was
raining a tad too much to go out and do that, so we stayed in until lunch was
ready.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, dad and I headed back out. We were going to take another load of
bags, but only with the truck this time. So dad and I worked for about an hour
in the for-now light rain, loading up 40 bags, which was by far the heaviest
load the truck had done. Once the bags were loaded up, we all got in the truck
and headed to the beach shack.
When we got there, we immediately unloaded the bags, and then dad parked the
truck in Mr Morishita's parking lot. Dad and I unloaded the bags, but took a
quick break due to the pouring rain. While we were in the truck waiting for the
rain to settle, mom got a call from Mr Watanabe, calling about a lot of the
things we were asking for. After the call, dad and I finished dumping the bags,
dad stomped in the dirt, I packed the bags, and then we headed home. This time
we were only soaked down up to our underwear.
Today was actually the last large trip of bags we had to take because we
basically moved all the dirt we didn't need! So in total, we moved 400 bags of
dirt and concrete chunks to the beach shack. Wow.
After all that, we headed in and made it an early day, with no point to go out
because of the rain. So we spent the rest of the night relaxing.
A very wet, but productive day.
July 15, 2025 -
Journal Post - Finishing the rocks, 60 more bags, work in the old parking,
and bending a pole
This morning dad and I headed right out to work.
Dad began to work on taking some dirt out and setting up wood walls in the old
parking while I began to work on moving our last load of rocks into the back.
While we were working, mom went shopping and possibly did some paperwork related
to phone numbers.
By the time mom came home, dad had taken a ton of dirt out of the parking lot,
and I had moved a good majority of rocks into the back. Dad also helped with
that a bit.
While we were working, Mr Kuyama came over and gave us two whole watermelons! He
got them from someone and was kind enough to give them to us.
And that was it for lunch.
After lunch, before I came out, dad had to take the rake and push all the rain
off the sheet in the storage building. It was so heavy that in the morning, one
of the ties snapped and spilled water everywhere.
Once I came out, before we did anything, I headed over to the farm to get 10
metal arches.
Then, dad and I bagged some more dirt. We first finished all the dirt in the
upper area, filling about 20 bags. Then, we raked the wet, loose dirt from the
old parking into the driveway to dry out, and while it was drying, dad bagged
some loose dirt in the old parking. While he did that, I kept turning the raked
dirt, and took the huge rocks out. Once it was dry enough, dad bagged it all and
we had filled all 60 bags.
We then loaded up 30 bags into the truck to take to the beach shack the next
day.
Dad then swept up the huge mess of dirt, while I finished up the rocks. In the
back, there were two loose concrete chunks, so I took them out and loaded them
into the truck.
Once all the rocks were in the back and smoothed out, and dad finished sweeping,
dad started to bend the metal arches. The reason he was bending them was because
at the beach shack, we need some type of pole to hold the retaining wood walls
we're going to use to hold the dirt. We originally planned to buy rebar, but it
was way too expensive for the length of it. So we wanted to try bending some of
the metal arches, and it worked! Within 5 minutes, dad had bent and snapped an
arch into 4 usable poles.
And that was it for this very productive day.
July 16, 2025 -
Journal Post - Last load to the beach house and making the parking
First thing this morning dad went out and finished bending all the metal arches
to be used at the beach house.
Once that was done, and mom was ready, we all got in the truck and headed to the
beach house.
At the beach, the first thing we did was unload 30 bags along the street. Once
that was done, as mom and I watched, dad precariously backed the truck into the
property using all the dirt we moved as a ramp. While it took some sliding, dad
got the truck into the property. Once it was in, we dumped the bags, and then
dad used the truck to pack in the dirt.
We then opened up the beach shack and mom and the kids hung out in there.
Dad and I then got to work making the retaining wall for the parking. Dad first
used the metal poles he made to hold up two wood boards. Then, along the wood
boards I put the concrete blocks I took out from the well in the back of our
house. Dad then reinforced that by putting wood boards on the other side of the
concrete chunks, and then more metal poles. And that was pretty much all we did
for the morning.
Just as we were about to leave, Mr Morishita came out and gave us a bunch of
food. He gave us a pumpkin, spaghetti squash, and two watermelons. He then
invited us into his yard to eat some watermelon, and we gladly accepted. We hung
out in his yard for awhile, and he served us all drinks and even more
watermelon, and even let us pick some of his mini peaches. We stayed and talked
for a while, and then we headed home.
Since we were already quite full, and way off schedule, mom just made a simple
lunch of some chopped up veggies and rice. While mom was preparing lunch, I
loaded the last 30 bags of dirt into the truck.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, our doorbell rang. It was the real-estate agent who dealt with the
beach shack. He came over telling us we had another complaint from the neighbors
about their wall. They said it wasn't very clean and were wondering when we
would fix it. So we talked to the agent and asked if we could just fix it
basically exactly how we found it, and he agreed. So we got ready, and headed
back to the beach house.
At the beach house, we first unloaded the bags into the parking area, but didn't
dump them yet, we also unloaded the tools. We then drove the truck into a
parking area Mr Morishita said we could use.
The first thing I did was move the smashed chunks of concrete from the wall into
our parking lot. Then using the remaining pieces that weren't smashes, I fixed
the wall to basically exactly what it used to be.
While I did that, dad got ready to put another board in. So I helped him smooth
it out, and then he put another board and more poles to hold it in place. He
also used all the dirt from the bags in the area where the boards were. Then we
got another layer ready, and put the final board so that it was up to street
level.
The last thing we did was smooth out the parking to prepare for the load of
rocks we were gonna get dumped in the parking.
While all this was happening, mom was talking to some of the neighbors about the
neighbor who complained about the wall.
Once that was all done, we headed home.
Now today is basically the last of the bags, and in total we had brought 460
bags of dirt and concrete. And these bags are used for 15 kilograms of chicken
droppings, and saying we filled them to about 10 kilograms means that: 460 x
10kg = 4600kg. We brought 4,600 kilograms of dirt and concrete to the beach
shack. Woah.
And that was it for this very productive day.
July 17, 2025 -
Journal Post - Work in the storage building and making a discovery
We woke up today, and Ethan was sick with the flu.
This morning, dad headed out by himself. Because it was raining, and basically
all the huge projects were done, I was able to stay in the house and study.
The first thing dad did was fix the sheet on the storage building, stretching it
over more and tying it down.
Then, really quick, dad put the grate over the drain in the rock parking.
Then, dad noticed the muddy spot is in the driveway where there's no concrete,
so dad dug in about 10 centimeters and filled the hole with rocks.
While dad was working, Mrs Irie came over and gave us some eel to eat. At the
last party I told Ayane's dad that I had never eaten eel, so we were guessing he
bought an eel for us, which is incredibly nice of him.
Dad found a cicada still in its juvenile stage, so dad taped a see-through
container to the window so we could hopefully see the mature cicada emerge.
Dad then got all the large trash piled in the garage to be thrown out on
Saturday.
Once that was done, he spent the rest of the morning working on smoothing the
side of dirt out in the storage building.
After lunch, he headed back out.
Dad spent the rest of the afternoon working in the storage building taking out
the small hill of dirt. However, what he thought to be a quick and easy project,
turned out to be a lot harder than he thought. While he was digging, he struck a
very large rock, just thinking it was nothing, he eventually pulled it out. But
under the rock was a 50 centimeter deep hole. The hole is definitely not
natural, due to how the rocks are placed along the circumference of it. Dad
suspects it was either a well, or part of an artificial drainage/stream system.
Once dad found that he just kept working, but planned to tackle it with me the
next day.
So that was it for this dreary, but productive day.
July 18, 2025 -
Journal Post - A full day in the storage building
Dad and I went out first thing in the morning and immediately got to work on the
storage building.
Dad showed me the hole (which we called the Great Abyss Of Mendokusai-ness). It
wasn't as bad as I imagined, but after taking a peak inside, I realized we had a
lot of work to do.
Dad began to smooth the sides of the storage building, while I began to take out
the rocks along the abyss. I took out one rock, and realized that the hole
extended the entire width of the storage building.
With this discovery, and the fact that we now have a very large parking area
because of the rocks, we have given up on the idea of parking any vehicles in
the storage building. So it will now be converted into a growing
area/greenhouse.
Eventually dad came over and helped me take out the rocks. He loosened them, and
I raked all the dirt and pulled the rocks out of the hole once they were loose.
It took awhile because most of the rocks were the size of small boulders, but we
got it done.
Once we uncovered the entire hole, it looked more like a canyon. I took a peak
at the street side of the canyon and saw it end at the building's foundation and
then curve off to the left, which is expected as it probably connects to an old
drainage system.
Once that was done, dad and I spent the rest of the morning smoothing out the
ground in the storage building, and raking all the dirt up to the abyss to be
filled in the next day.
And that was it for lunch.
After lunch, dad headed out by himself for a while. He spent the entire time
working on smoothing and taking the concrete off the sides of the building's
foundation. I then came out around 3:00 pm.
When I came out we worked, but kinda slowly, we were talking a lot. But we did
get some more done, like I raked up the huge pile of dirt dad made, and while I
was in the house, dad had filled up 8 bags worth of concrete to take to the
beach shack.
I then had a crack at cracking off the crumbling concrete. I got a good amount
of it off.
That was basically it for the day. Ethan had been sick the last two days, and
dad was starting to catch whatever Ethan had, so he was pretty tired. So we went
in around 5:00 pm, calling it an early day.
Despite us going in early, we got a lot done.
While we were in the house, we got two visitors. First Mrs Irie came over with
bananas for Ethan, and to check how he's doing. The reason she knew about him
being sick, is because when she came to give us the eel, she told mom that her
granddaughter was sick, and mom told her so was Ethan. Soon after she left, Mr
Irie came over and gave us cucumber and two watermelons! So that was super nice
of both of them.
July 19, 2025 -
Journal Post - Work in the storage building and yard
We woke up today, and Lael also had the flu.
This morning, before anything, mom and I headed out to throw out the "big
trash". We threw out the parts of the old bed and just some random, old
furniture. While we were throwing out the trash, one of our neighbors who lives
a little down the street showed mom and I his grape vines and how he grows them.
The reason he showed us to them is because Mr Kuyama told him that dad was going
to grow grapes.
Once we were done with the trash, dad got ready, and he and I headed out.
Dad spent the morning managing the garden, while I worked in the storage
building filling the hole. I first filled in the two sides where I had to shove
dirt deep in, and then filled in the middle.
Before we went to eat lunch, I had to go check the trash to see if they took all
of ours. Unfortunately they did not take the sliding door frame and the
minifridge, so I had to bring them back.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, I started to move the rock pile in the storage building to the
upper area. Dad helped with the three boulders I couldn't lift. We used the
silver tarp to together carry the boulders.
Once all the rocks were moved, I filled up the hole up to the same level as the
rest of the building. While dad did that, dad kept gardening. He also worked in
the dog area to make it so Copernicus could no longer get stuck in the turmeric
beds.
Around 4:30 pm, dad and I headed in for a timeout. After the timeout, I stayed
in with the kids, while dad went out to work more and try and get the BBQ going,
and mom went to work at the farm.
By the time mom came back, the BBQ still wasn't going, so dad came in and I
headed out to try and get it going. And when I couldn't, mom came out, but she
couldn't either. The reason it was so hard is because we had to get charcoal
going, and while we had done it before, our technique was still awful. So we
ultimately decided to cook and eat in the house.
And that was it for this interesting day.
July 20, 2025 -
Journal Post - Work in the storage building, finishing the main parking, and
some farm work
This morning, the first thing dad and I did was some work in the storage
building. Dad hoed and filled bags, while I raked and hoed.
After about an hour of doing that, we decided to get to work on the parking. The
last thing to do was to use the vibrator/compactor Mr Kuyama gave us. So first,
mom had to move the truck into the storage building. Then, dad and I spent about
15 minutes trying to start up the compactor.
While we were still trying to start it, Mr Takahara drove up and talked to us
for a while. Once he left, we finally got it going after many tries of fidgeting
with the throttle and choke and adding more fuel. Once it was going, I pushed it
while dad guided me along where to go, and within 30 minutes, the parking was
mostly compacted.
Once that was done, mom, guided by dad, moved the truck into its final parking
position. Just as that was done, Mr Kuyama drove by, and we signaled him. He got
out and we told him we were done with the compactor, and thanked him very much
for letting us use it. We then loaded it into his truck, and he drove off.
Then, dad and I continued work in the storage building. Because Mr Kuyama had
done so much for us, dad wanted to at least give him something. So we had one
last pack of gift せんべ that we had originally bought for the neighbors at the
beach shack, so when he drove by, we gifted it to him.
Dad and I kept working until the hoe snapped, so dad went to fix it, while I
took apart the mini fridge.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, dad continued work in the storage building, leveling it out and
filling bags, and I headed to the farm to soak the plants.
Once I was done with the plants, I returned home to a much larger pile of dirt
dad had dug out.
I then worked on the storage building myself, and dad went to water the fruit
trees and also take off the vines growing on them. Once dad got most of them
off, he came in and helped me out a little more.
At 5:00 pm, we headed in for the day.
A very productive day.
July 21, 2025 -
Journal Post - Almost finishing the storage building
This morning dad and I headed out and got straight to work on the storage
building. We just did some hoeing and raking, but didn't get a ton done.
Mom was going shopping this morning, so before she went, I headed in the house
to change and then I began to play with the kids while mom was out.
While mom was shopping, and I was in the house playing with the kids, dad was
outside "jamming". In the time that it took for mom to go shopping and cook
lunch, dad raked up all the dirt into the pile, filled all the chicken dropping
bags, and even filled most of the cow manure bags with dirt. By lunch, he had a
ton of the dirt in bags.
After lunch I headed out and saw how much dad got done, which gave me a huge
boost of motivation, so for the next two hours dad and I worked in the building.
He filled all the manure bags, and I hoed a ton of the dirt and raked it into a
pile. Will all the bags filled, both types combined, dad filled 120 bags.
Once that was done, I kept working the storage building, and dad had to go set
up some stuff. He put the compost back (he opened it a few days ago because it
had maggots), he made a place in the sun where mom could hang the 梅干し, and did
some more weeding around the fruit trees. After that, we headed in for a
timeout.
After the timeout, dad watered the garden, while I kept hoeing and raking. By
the time dad was done watering the garden, I had made it to the second post in
the building.
And that was it for this very, very productive day.
July 22, 2025 -
Journal Post - Work in the front and upper area
Before anyone could get to work, Mr Irie came over and gave us watermelons.
This morning, I stayed in and dad headed out. The sickness has finally made its
way to me, so I wasn't feeling great. Dad spent the morning managing the garden
and weeding the upper area.
Mom also headed out to the farm, and while she was out I played with Lael and
Ethan.
By lunch, mom had gotten a ton of weeding done and watered the farm, and dad had
weeded the entire upper area.
After lunch, dad headed out. While he was out there he cleaned up a bunch in the
garage, took apart the weird outdoor cabinet we were going to use as an outdoor
greenhouse, and cleaned up the front by moving stuff around and sorting.
By the end of the day, the front looked amazing, the upper area was weeded, and
the cabinet was in pieces.
A very productive day.
July 23, 2025 -
Journal Post - Shai's (my) Birthday
Today was just a really chilled out day. I was a bit sick, so I stayed in all
day chilling out and playing with Lael and Ethan.
Dad still went out, he spent the day sorting out more stuff in the garage.
He got a lot done, and found some interesting things, including what seems to be
a flame thrower.
The evening and night were really fun.
And that was it for the day.
July 24, 2025 -
Journal Post - Sorting out the garage
Today only dad headed out.
Dad spent the morning watering the garden and the trees. Along with that, he
also took more muck out of the well and put it on the mountain of sifted soil to
mix in with, as to add nutrition to the soil.
And that was it for lunch.
After lunch, dad spent it in the garage. He got a bunch of it sorted, and in the
late afternoon, mom went out with some trash bags, and together they bagged up
all the trash dad sorted.
Then around 4:00 pm, mom headed to the farm. I watched the kids, and dad kept
working.
Once mom came home, that was it for the day.
July 25, 2025 -
Journal Post - Two more loads to the beach house
This morning dad and I headed out and loaded up 60 bags of dirt into the truck
on the bus. Mom then got ready, and we all got in the vehicles and headed to the
beach house.
We dumped the bags, and then we headed home.
Once we were home, mom and the kids hung out in the shade while dad and I loaded
60 more bags. We then drove to the beach house, and dumped those off.
Now in total, we had dumped off 580 bags at the beach shack.
We then drove home, and then mom got in the truck. We then headed to the store
and mom went in to buy lunch.
We then headed home and that was it for the morning.
After lunch dad headed out to load more bags, and I stayed in because well...I
was still sick.
Around 4:00 pm, mom and I headed to the farm. I volunteered to go because all I
needed to do was water the plants, and that was easy. While I did that, mom was
weeding.
We then headed home, and by the time we were home dad had filled up 60 more bags
of dirt. So mom went in and I helped dad load them into the vehicles. While we
were working, Mrs Irie came over and gave us some cold snacks because her
daughter saw us working in the hot farm. Once all the bags were loaded, I headed
in and dad watered the garden.
And that was it for the day.
July 26, 2025 -
Journal Post - The last mega load of dirt
This morning, the first thing we did was head to the beach shack with the 60
bags of dirt loaded into the two vehicles. We got there, dumped the dirt, and
then headed home.
Once we were home, I stayed in the house, for I was feeling really sick, and dad
went out and bagged up 60 more bags of dirt. Those 60 bags basically used up all
the loose dirt in the storage building.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, I took some medicine. We hung out for a while until the medicine
began to kick in. Once it did, we got in the vehicles and headed to the beach
shack. Once we got there, we dumped the bags, and then headed home.
In total we had now brought 700 bags of dirt, rock, and concrete to the beach
shack. And with each bag weighing about 10 kilograms, we had basically brought
7,000 kilograms of dirt.
Once we were home, dad headed out and all he did was just water the fruit trees
and garden. And that was it for the day.
A very productive day.
At night there was actually a festival going on in the community, but because we
were all still sick, we didn't go. There were supposed to be fireworks at 8:00
pm, so we went up to the second floor to see if we could see them. We waited and
waited but nothing came. We suspected the "fireworks" just meant sparklers the
kids were using.
July 27, 2025 -
Journal Post - Neighbors with chainsaws
Today was a chill day in the house…kinda.
We all stayed in the house for a while after we woke up. I was still sick so I
wasn’t even planning to go out, and mom and dad were working on setting up dad’s
phone number, though ultimately they couldn’t because dads phone was still tied
to his old phone number, so mom would need to take it to a shop.
While we were in the house, two tractors with lifting attachments drove up the
road that led to the entrance of the other yard. The tractors drove in, and out
stepped the owner of the yard, and some other guy. And then, they began to cut
down the huge tree in the other yard.
Once dad realized this, he wasn’t going to go out until they were done. So to
pass the time, I sent dad the journal I have been writing daily about our life
in Okayama, and he worked on formatting it for his website.
The owner kept working even until lunch, so we all stayed in until lunch.
After lunch, they were still working, so we kinda watched them for a while. They
weren’t cutting the tree from the bottom, if they did that there was a very high
chance they could’ve hit Mr Takahara’s house. Instead, using the lifter
attachments on the tractors, they lifted each other up on platforms held by the
tractors. They slowly sliced into the parts that were the most troublesome, and
then with some rope, they tied the branches to one of the tractors and they
started to pull. The first rope they used snapped, but with a different rope
they pulled one of the branches down. The whole time the younger guy had been
climbing up the tree, but this time the owner climbed up with the chainsaw and
cut a wedge into the branch so it could be pulled down. However, because of the
strong wind, when the owner was being lowered on the platform, the branch
snapped and actually fell in his direction. Luckily it seemed like he was only
grazed by the canopy. Speaking of the canopy, they piled all the branches and
leaves right where we were gonna put the rooftiles. Once they had cut the worst
branches, for some reason they drove the tractors away. We thought they were
taking a break, but they didn’t come back. We realized they left the yard
in…that state.
Now of course, it’s not our yard, but we had worked quite a bit to clean it up,
and now there was a huge mess of canopy just laying there, and the tree looks
terrible. So we talked, and if they didn’t come back to clean it within a few
weeks, we’re going to go process the branches, and if we get permission we’re
going to cut the tree.
Once they left, dad headed out. Outside, he pulled the metal bits out of the ash
of the old tools he had burned a few days ago, he also got a bunch of cardboard
and wood ready to burn, and he picked a bunch of basil that was going to see.
After that, he watered the garden and then came in.
And that’s it for this very…interesting day.
July 28, 2025 -
Journal Post - More bags to the beach shack, but we finished the storage
building!
The first thing today was dad and I headed out to work, and mom headed to the
farm.
I wasn’t feeling great, but way good enough to work.
In the time it took for mom to return from the farm, dad and I completely
finished the storage building, which means getting rid of the last hills and
moving all the dirt out. Dad also filed up 50 more bags, and I loaded 30 of them
into the truck.
At the farm, mom put in the marigold seedlings, did some weeding, and watered
the farm.
The original plan for the day was to take a load of dirt in the afternoon to the
beach shack and do some work. However, since we had more bags than expected, we
decided to just really quickly drive over to the beach shack and dump the bags.
After we dumped the bags we headed to the fuel station to fill up the truck and
fuel tank, and then we headed to the store and mom bought lunch.
Once we got home, I loaded the last 20 bags of dirt into the truck
And that was it for the morning.
While we were eating lunch, mom got a call from Mr Irie asking if we were at the
beach shack. She was wondering because she was around the area the beach shack
is in, and she noticed the truck was gone. We told her no and that we were back
home. Mom got a call from her later asking if we wanted watermelon, but we had
so much already, mom kindly declined.
After lunch, we took the bags of dirt to the beach shack. While we were driving
there, we saw on the shore that there was this interesting looking canoe being
tied to the shore by people who didn’t seem Japanese.
Once we arrived at the beach shack, dad and I unloaded the bags, and then dad
went and parked the truck. Dad and I spent about 15 minutes dumping the bags and
raking the dirt smooth enough so dad can drive the truck in. Once that was done,
we drove the truck over to the parking lot. Once we got it into the parking lot,
we took a quick walk to the beach to see if we could talk to the “canoe men”,
but they weren’t there anymore, so we headed back to the beach shack.
At the beach shack, dad used the truck to pack the dirt in. I guided him while
doing it. Within about 15 minutes, we had a parking lot/ramp that was as hard as
concrete.
Once that was done, I loaded the bags, tools, and the old overhang from the
beach shack into the truck, and we headed home.
At home, dad went out and watered the fruit trees and garden. While he was doing
that, Mrs Budo came over and gave us a watermelon! She stayed for a while
talking with mom and then headed home.
In total, we have now brought 750 bags of dirt to the beach shack.
And that’s it for this tiring day.
July 29, 2025 -
Journal Post - A lot more work in the garage
Only dad and mom went out this morning. I was still a little under the weather,
and I wanted to study, so I stayed in the house with the kids.
Dad spent the morning getting a ton more sorting done in the garage. He got out
a bunch of termite infested wood, cleaned up the area where all the tools used
to be stored, and moved the glass windows into the area he cleaned. He also
burned a bunch of the wood he found in the garage.
Mom headed to the farm for a while to do some weeding and to water the plants.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, dad got a bunch more sorting done in the garage. He also got a
bunch of supplies ready to clean the bikes with! Once he got it all ready, he
called me out.
When I came out, the first thing he showed me was the thermometer he hung up on
the garage post. It was the one he used to use when he was younger to measure
the high and low temperature of each day. So now everyday he's going to tell me
the high and low of each day and I will write it in each of my blog posts.
Dad and I spent about an hour working on our bikes together. All we did was a
really low-level cleaning, and didn't even work on the rusty gears.
At 5:00 pm, dad had to soak the yard. While he soaked it, I kept cleaning my
bike. Once he was done with the yard, I put my bike away, fed the dog, and then
headed in for the day.
A very hot and productive day.
The high temp today was 102 °F (ca. 38.89 °C) and the low was 79 °F (ca. 26.11).
July 30, 2025 -
Journal Post - Hanging up some shades and work in the garage
The first thing dad did this morning was to hang a window shade outside the
window of the landing on the second floor. I watched him do it, and once he went
out, I hung up two more outside the window in my room.
Dad headed out. He spent the morning in the garage doing more sorting and
throwing stuff out.
Mom went out around 10:00 am to the post office, phone shop (for dad's phone),
and the supermarket.
I was in my room studying.
And that was it for the morning.
After lunch, mom and dad went out. Together, they bagged up some of the cushions
and futons to throw out. The other cushions dad put in the back to be thrown out
on "big trash" day. All these cushions and futons were in the huge metal box
that was in the garage.
Dad also burned the handles off some more old tools he found in the garage.
Dad called me out to help move some wood from the upper area onto the path along
the upper street.
Around 5:00 pm, mom headed to the farm to water it. While mom was there, dad
watered the garden.
The high temp for today was 102 °F (ca. 39.89 °C), and the low was 79 °F (ca.
26.11 °C).
July 31, 2025 -
Journal Post - Basically finishing the garage
Before dad really got to work, he and mom moved the giant metal container
outside, in front of the garage.
Since today is the last day of July, dad and I went out and took our monthly
photos of the property's progress.
Then dad got to work. He spent practically the entire morning in the garage,
doing more sorting and cleaning.
Mom headed to the farm this morning to water the plants.
And that was it for lunch.
For a while after lunch, dad continued working in the garage. He also moved a
bunch of stuff out of the garage. Eventually he finished up in the garage and
got to planting some seeds. He planted a bunch more basil and cucumber seeds
into the garden.
Around 5:00 pm today, there was some more work in the other yard. The guy who
helped the owner cut the tree had come back to process the remaining branches on
the ground. While he didn't finish cutting the tree, he at least moved all the
branches into the same spot.
While this was going on, dad was watering the garden.
Once he was done with that, he headed in the house, and that was it for the day.
The high temp today was 101 °F (ca. 38.33 °C) and the low was 79 °F (ca. 26.11
°C). |
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