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Journal Post - from the journal our oldest son Shai is keeping |
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March 8, 2025 -
Journal Post - First day at the new house in Okayama
Upon stepping out of the vehicles the first thing we felt was cold. It was
definitely way colder than Tanegashima. After a quick congratulations and hug to
each other, we immediately parked our vehicles. We parked the trailer in the
rusty storage shed, and then tried out best to fit the vehicles in the tiny
driveway. We then checked out the house. It definitely is worth what we paid
for, but also maybe worth more than what we paid for due to the amount of things
that the owners didn't take. The yard is a mess. It's overgrown, trash scattered
everywhere, and it also has some sort of pond. All the rooms are a bit dirty,
the wetrooms nearly unusable, and the toilet horrendous. Literally, it's awful.
And the garage is enormous and built with walls of hardened mud, it is filled
with random items and tools. After that, we started to unpack the truck, and
once that was done, we unpacked the bus. After that, we set up the house for our
first night. All of that took about two to three hours. The next thing we had to
do was run some errands. We were hesitant to take the truck, due to the broken
break lights, but eventually realized unpacking the bus would take too long. Our
first stop was to get some gas for the truck, and oil for the stoves. It was
quite a new experience having to do self service at the fuel station. It took
quite a bit of time to figure out how everything worked. We also got an oil pump
for the stoves at the fuel station. The next order of business was to go to a
home center. We needed a heater for the toilet (which we decided to use instead
of the new one for my room), a bunch of supplies to clean the toilet, and some
cleaning chemicals. The final stop was the grocery store where we went to buy
our next few meals. Once we got home, the first thing we did was set up the
heaters. We decided to only heat the kitchen and my room to not waste oil and
money. We realized the toilet and the garage are a separate power unit, so we
had to go into the garage to turn it on. While we were preparing the heaters,
our doorbell rang. The company had come to deliver our furniture, but we had to
politely ask them to instead come back on Monday when we prepared for them, they
luckily agreed and went back to their truck, which was too big to drive all the
way up the road. After that, we settled in for the night. We ate our store
bought dinner, and then chilled out for a while. A problem we had come across in
the house was that a lot of the walls were covered in some shiny material. We're
concerned it may be asbestos, which is a toxic substance if inhaled. After doing
some research, we're still unsure, but are assuming it isn't asbestos. But we
don't wanna take any chances. Anyway, we settled in for the night. We were all
quite tired, so after we ate, everyone fell asleep around 10:00 pm. But they
didn't quite sleep in the right positions, so I will have to at least get mom
up. All in all, it was a fairly productive first day at the house. But we have a
lot of work to come. I'm so thankful we made it here. It was a long, exhausting
trip, but we did it.
March 9, 2025 -
Journal Post - Getting accustomed to the neighborhood and making some changes
We awoke to freezing temps. It was close to or at zero degrees Celsius. After a
store bought breakfast, we went around the house and property taking photos of
everything before we made too many changes. We then decided to go for a quick
hike up the mountain. On the other side of the road we saw some plants covered
in frost. This is a slight problem, but I got kinda excited about it and snapped
a bunch of photos. There is a small mountain trail, which is maintained, but
only up to this medium sized shrine. Beyond that, there is only the ghost of a
trail that is covered in leaves and fallen trees, and bamboo. The next thing we
did was go meet one of our neighbors. Mr. Takahara. He owns a pottery business
right next to our house, and he already saw us, so we thought it would be a good
idea to pay him a visit and give him some black sugar. While we were chatting to
him, the current town leader, Mr. Kuyama, came over. We started talking to him
as well, chatting about each other, and the place we have moved into. One big
thing, at least for dad, is that there are no loud announcements unless there is
a large scale natural disaster, there is of course the thing for time sounds,
but that's not really a problem. Once we got home, mom started to clean the
toilet, and dad went outside to get working on our parking for the truck. Lael,
Ethan, and I, did some cleaning in our rooms and around the house, nothing
crazy, just some basic sweeping. By lunch time, mom had cleaned the toilet, and
she honestly did a great job. It still stinks, but the toilet itself is clean.
After lunch, I did a little more cleaning until dad called me out to help with
the parking. Thankfully, dad had gotten most of the sticky vines before I came
out, unfortunately he had got whacked in the eye earlier that morning, and stuck
in the finger, both of which, I'm guessing really hurt. Anyway, I stayed out the
rest of the afternoon helping dad. Around four p.m, we had finished the parking
to the point of at least being clean and usable. Just as we were wrapping up,
one of our neighbors, whom we haven't met yet, began talking to us after we said
hi. So far, all of the neighbors seem really nice. Maybe a bit talkative, but
nothing awful. After that, we packed up and went to the grocery store to buy our
next few meals. Then we came home, and settled in for the night. It was a busy,
productive, and pretty enjoyable day.
March 10, 2025 -
Journal Post - More yard work, our packages delivered, and a bunch of digital
communication
Alright, so typing all this information everyday would add up to hundreds of
hours. So, for brevity, I will start writing the events of the day in bullet
points, and then maybe add extra personal info.
We moved the stuff out of the main sleeping room and the new toy room into the
garage. Moving the stuff from upstairs was the most challenging, with it being
very heavy, or in the case of the mattress, dusty and falling apart.
I swept and wiped up most of the remaining dust.
Whilst I was wiping the dust, both Copernicus and all of our packages were being
delivered. Even though the delivery truck was smaller than usual, it couldn't
drive up all the way. The delivery worker brought the packages to the start of
the driveway, and mom and I brought them to the entry. While we were moving the
packages, mom got a call from the cops from Tanegashima for information on what
to do with the neighbor. And, dad also stubbed his toe really bad while moving
the packages.
Then, we moved the old refrigerator from the kitchen into the garage.
After lunch, dad and I began working on the yard. We moved a ton of leaves,
vines, and tree branches. There was also a ton of metal, posts, bricks, and
trash in the yard, which we moved and piled, kinda neatly.
Mom and dad unpacked the bus, moving most of the stuff into the garage, but
leaving the bikes outside.
While all of us were outside, an elderly man in a farm truck, probably the
neighbor in the house above us, drove up to the driveway, gave us strawberries,
and drove away.
While I was going to the bathroom, I looked out the window and noticed that the
house was also possibly made with mud walls. This freaked me out a little, but
everyone else seemed to be unfazed by it.
A few days ago, mom had received a message from the personal selling website
about the mountain. After seeing the contents of the message, we're guessing it
may be an Aussie and Japanese couple, who dad had previously been friends with
the husband on Facebook, but had blocked him after a heated argument.
Dad prepared a spot in the yard for burning our leaves and branches. We're gonna
do a small fire tomorrow. Probably.
And then after working, we went for another shopping trip.
Mom got another call from the cops saying they tried to talk to the neighbor,
then later got another call saying they had finally talked to him. He said that
he owns the land and buildings (which he doesn't), and admitted to going on to
our property without permission.
Mom called her family. So for about thirty minutes, all of us chatted together
for a while.
March 11, 2025 -
Journal Post - Feelings more like home
We spent the morning cleaning our rooms in preparation for our furniture to
arrive. Mom and dad cleaned the kitchen, office room, and their sleeping room.
And I cleaned my room, and the landing on the second floor.
After lunch, dad had found some shelves that he wouldn't use, so I got to bring
them up to my room. I spent about an hour cleaning and putting my things in. I
also got my guitar today.
Mom continued to clean their new bedroom.
Dad began taking all the items out of the attic in the office. Eventually he
called me in to help speed up the process. We found tons of old, and possibly
valuable items.
Some notable things we found today were a huge karaoke machine, cassette tapes,
and a huge safe.
A worker at the gas/propane company came over today to do a quick inspection of
the boiler. He said it may work without repair, but he's unsure.
At 5:00 pm, our furniture was delivered. The workers even moved the fridge and
freezer into the kitchen.
Finally, all our stuff is here. Despite how old this house is, it's really
beginning to feel like home.
March 12, 2025 -
Journal Post - Comfortable and clean
After waking up after a good night's sleep in a comfortable futon, the first
thing we did was unpack some more packages, and I got a no leg chair in my room!
Then, we peeled off the tape, and tore up the cardboard from the boxes used for
packing.
Around 9:00 am, two workers came to inspect our house for septic and propane
replacement. We learned a lot of new things, including some damage to the house
we hadn't noticed, and some estimates on prices.
After lunch, dad and I went out and spent about four hours working on the yard.
Dad started a burn pile. We raked, weeded, and cut lots of trees.
While we were working on the yard, one of the workers came back to set up warm
water in the house. Within about thirty minutes, we had warm water running
through our pipes.
Once the worker left, mom and I got to work on cleaning the bathroom. It was
quite dirty, but after around an hour of scrubbing and spraying, we had a
somewhat clean and usable shower.
After that, we went shopping, and took our first shower in the new house.
March 13, 2025 -
Journal Post - Big changes to the yard
Today was our first day of home cooked meals in the new house. Every meal we ate
today was made at home.
Dad and I spent about the entire day working in the yard. From cutting trees and
vines, to burning logs and leaves, and pulling out tons more trash. While the
yard is still a mess, we got a lot of work done today.
Mom did a bunch more cleaning in the kitchen. She scrubbed and wiped the
cabinets and more dishes.
I did a bit more unpacking and rearranging in my room, and got a bunch of
personal stuff ready.
March 14, 2025 -
Journal Post - Meeting more neighbors, and lots of outdoor cleaning
This morning dad and I started to clean behind the house for the septic tank to
be put in. We both weren't looking forward to this project due to the sheer
amount of spiky vines, trash, and just the general mess.
The old lady who lives behind our house was outside for a little bit with her
much younger sister, so we took this opportunity to go and finally meet her. We
gave her the usual black sugar, and had a brief chat.
Around 10:00 am, the workers came to install high-speed fiber optic cables for
wi-fi, and within thirty minutes, they had it up and running.
Mom continued the work on cleaning her kitchen cabinets.
After lunch, dad and I went back out to tackle the vines. After about an hour,
mom had to go to the post office, and grocery store. So, dad left me in the
back, so he could keep an eye on the kids, while working in the front.
By the end of the day, dad had done a sizable amount of work on the front yard,
and the wall to the street. While he was doing that, I had nearly finished
cleaning the back of the house. There were still tons of spiky vines, and after
moving the trash, a large pile of trash.
Just as we were about to go in, we saw the old man who lives in front of us,
drive up to his house. We decided this was a good time to go and finally meet
him. We gave him black sugar, had a quick hello, and went back home. However, he
came down to our house with a bottle of Coca-cola. He then stayed for a longer
chat, and then after he bid us goodbye, he went back to his house.
The final thing we got done today was actually setting up the wi-fi routes. So
now, we can actually connect to the internet.
March 15, 2025 -
Journal Post - A wet day in the yard
My grandparents called, asking if they could come over that day. Dad declined
due to still being busy and...other reasons.
The first thing that happened in the morning was dad got a desk out of the
garage to use for his laptop, and mom unpacked her laptop onto his old desk.
After that, dad and I went to work out in the yard. In the morning dad raked and
cleaned up some of the loose leaf litter and trees, while I sorted and moved
around some of the trash, cinder blocks, and pots.
Mom finished cleaning the bottom shelves of her kitchen.
After lunch, dad and I went back out. He set up a dog house (being generous
here) for Copernicus. It took awhile and a lot of treats to coax Copernicus in,
but eventually, we did it.
Then, I started working on clearing a one meter section away from the wall to
plant the cypress trees. While I was doing that, dad started to work on clearing
out the old chicken coop. He found tons of trash, hay, and old tatami mats. He
gave some of the hay to Copernicus, who seemed to really enjoy it.
As we were wrapping up, the man we had talked to before when he was walking came
over again. He talked for a while with mom and then went off.
By the end of the day, dad had cleaned out half of the chicken coop, and had
cleaned the leaves out of the stream. And I had cleared a space one meter from
the wall, and did a lot more raking on the upper area of our property.
March 16, 2025 -
Journal Post - A nice day in the house...and a lot of cleaning
That morning dad had said I'd get a day off! So I spent the morning doing stuff
in my room.
Dad and mom on the other hand were busy working. They both spent the morning
cleaning and sorting the furniture and boxes in the living room. They also
cleaned the room itself.
After lunch, dad said I could have one of my cabinets! So after nervously
bringing the two sections up the stairs, I had a cabinet! And with a quick, but
detailed clean, I had a place for all my clothes.
In the afternoon mom and dad continued working on the rooms. While there is now
a lot of trash, the rooms look way better.
March 17, 2025 -
Journal Post - Our first day out
We awoke to a cold morning and a sunny sky dotted with clouds. After yesterday's
constant rain, it was nice to see the mountains clearly, and not shrouded in
fog.
Today was a day out!
The first thing we did was go look for a washing machine at the Edison appliance
store. However, everything was a bit too expensive, so we didn't buy anything.
Then, we went to a くるくるすし. But, after we went inside, everything was quite techy,
and everyone seemed "miserable" according to Lael and Dad, so we decided just to
have lunch at the Joyfull, which was right next to the くるくるすし. Everything at
Joyfull was nice except for one thing: the robot. When we were sitting at our
table, we spotted a robot coming out of the kitchen carrying plates of food to
customers. This was quite a shock for all of us. We expected to be served by a
waiter, but instead a stock music playing robot comes along and gives us our
food. This upset dad, mom and I, but Lael and Ethan, understandably, found it
quite cool.
After lunch, the fuel was getting low on the bus, so we went to the self service
station. We think it's the same one we went to before, but with our own route,
it seemed a lot closer.
Last night, mom had announced that she found a house near the coast in Ushimado.
Then, the agent said she had a house which was still in the process of being
added to the site, so she gave us the address. We went to check it out, as a
possible summer/beach house for parking the kayaks and sleeping in. On the way,
we got our first look at the Seto sea, and wow. Despite the moderate wind there
was today, the ocean was as calm as a pond. It was beautiful. Anyway, we arrived
at the house to find that it was practically in shambles. There was a lot of
exterior, and most likely interior damage to the house. And it was old. Then, on
the walk to the beach, mom spotted another "house"that we had seen on a real
estate site a few months ago. In actuality, it's not a house, but more of two
storage sheds. Dad hinted at the idea of buying that to sleep in and keep the
kayaks. Despite the fact we looked at two properties today, I think we
ultimately decided to not buy either of them due to their condition and
location.
The final thing we did was first go to the ¥100 store to buy some items, and
then we went to the grocery store to pick up some groceries, and dinner.
March 18, 2025 -
Journal Post - Starting to sort the trash
When we woke up this morning, it was -1C. This was by far the coldest morning we
had all felt in years. While it was jarring, and made me want to stay in bed, it
was quite nice.
In the morning, I cleaned behind the house in preparation for the workers
tomorrow to come and change our carasene unit to propane. And also to
psychologically make the workers think that there might be more space than they
realized to put in a septic tank. While I did that, dad emptied out the chicken
coop and did some raking in the yard. And then dad had started to sort the
trash, while I worked on the back, taking out the rocks.
After we went out, mom had started to clean the bathtub. While she wasn't able
to get all the stains off, she got it looking way better.
After lunch, we had about two hours until it began to rain. After a discussion,
dad and I decided to switch jobs. This was a good idea because we enjoyed what
the other person was doing, far more than what we had been doing. So I sorted
trash for a while, and dad worked on the back. As drops of rain started to fall,
dad realized we had to move the trash under the eaves fast. So for the last
thirty minutes, he helped me move the trash.
Once the rain picked up, we decided that was good for the day. So we came in,
and called it a day
One really cool thing I found whilst sorting the trash, was an old Canon film
camera. While there's no way it can take photos, with a little bit of tinkering
and cleaning, it'll look great on a shelf.
March 19, 2025 -
Journal Post - Road cleaning and propane
This cold morning, dad and I started working in the yard. He moved around some
landscaping materials, and did some sorting, while I sorted the trash from the
chicken house.
While we were working, the dad of the owner of a mechanic shop whom mom had
called, was jogging around our house today. He knew the issue we had, and
recognized our car. So he stayed to chat for a bit.
While he was talking with mom, the workers came to do the propane. Three people
had come to do the job.
While they started on that, dad and I decided to take on a daunting project:
cleaning the exterior of the trailer parking. This project took us all the way
until lunch. The workers went off to eat lunch and were to come back to finish
in the afternoon.
In the afternoon, dad and I continued working on taking the enormous amount of
vines off the trailer parking and the chicken coop.
The workers finished around 3:30 pm. We now have a propane water heating system.
While dad was in the house talking to the workers, a man started talking to me
about the cleaning. He said it looked a lot better. Soon after mom and dad came
out to help me in the conversation.
The last thing we did was move all the wood and metal that was in front of the
chicken coop.
March 20, 2025 -
Journal Post - Clothes washing and a small oil spill...
I woke up this morning sick. So the entire day I stayed in, asleep...which was
not fun.
Sometime in the morning, our new washing machine was delivered!
Dad did a bunch of cleaning in the yard and around the buildings.
Dad tipped over the huge barrel that was full of liquid. He didn't realize until
he smelled the liquid coming out, but the rainwater had some oil mixed in.
March 21, 2025 -
Journal Post - A much cleaner yard
I was still sick, so I was in the house the entire day.
Dad got a lot more work done on the yard. He burned the carasene spill, took out
some gangly trees, and did a lot of cleaning in general.
During the afternoon, some plumbing experts came over to see if we could install
septic. We can't, but only because there is a sewer line near! So we can connect
to the sewer, the only downside is we have to wait three months.
March 22, 2025 -
Journal Post - More...cleaning
This morning I was feeling a lot better, so I was able to go out and help dad
today!
The first thing we did was process the trees dad had cut the previous day.
Then, we worked on cleaning the wall on the side road. We took off the carpet of
vines that was on top of it.
After lunch, mom went shopping, so I didn't get out until quite late.
While mom was shopping, dad weedwhacked the entire yard in under an hour. He
also did a bunch of raking.
Once mom got home, dad and I did a bit of work in the corner with the chicken
shed, and then moved a huge clay pipe.
We then took our photos. And, I got to bring the film camera in! After some
quick cleaning and removing of batteries, I realized that there was no way this
thing would be taking any more pictures.
March 23, 2025 -
Journal Post - Cleaner borders and a lot of bamboo
This morning, the first thing I did was clean along the street side of the
trailer building. This was to prepare for putting hot charcoal there to burn out
any roots. While I was doing that, dad did a bunch of raking and burning.
Mom had to go to a town meeting, so I stayed in the house with the kids while
she went. While she was out, dad began to tackle the one spot we really didn't
want to work on: the corner.
After lunch, dad and I cleaned more of the wall on the back of the property, and
did about half of the ramp that leads into our yard.
Then, we, or more dad, decided to cut the final tree that was in our yard. This
tree was around four meters tall, dead, and completely tangled within the vines
and bamboo. So we cut through it, and then it got hung up.
While we were working on it, a man, whom mom and dad had previously talked to
the same day, had come over. He is a professional photographer, and since dad
had told him that I like photography, he came over to talk! He then went back
home and gave us some pictures he had taken, and some photo books from a
Japanese photo contest!
After the man left, we spent the rest of the afternoon cutting bamboo, vines,
and the fallen tree. We didn't succeed in getting all of it out, but we did
succeed in making the yard a mess again!
Something that did feel really good though, was that we got a lot of compliments
about the yard from the neighbors!
March 24, 2025 -
Journal Post - A cleaned corner and a large pot
The first thing we did this morning was to get all the bamboo and vines that
were hanging over the pile, away from the pile. Dad had to snip away numerous
vines, and I had to get on the wall with the Gomboy, and the extended saw to cut
all the vines.
By lunch, almost all the bamboo was either on the ground, or piles to be used to
building.
After lunch, we still had a few vines holding up some bamboo, so we cut those
off, and got the rest of the bamboo on the ground.
Then, dad started processing the poles that were usable, and I began cutting the
stalks of the bamboo to soil level.
Afterwards, I began working on the corner. I finally emptied out the huge pot,
and dad and I got it out of the ground. It was huge! It took both of us to move
it.
While we were working, Mr Kuyama came over and chatted with dad for a bit.
When we came in, we saw our neighbor working on the wall. He seemed to be
struggling quite a lot, so mom went out saying that we would do the work
tomorrow, but he persisted. Now we all feel bad for him doing that...
March 25, 2025 -
Journal Post - Preparing the new dog area, and a sewer evaluation
The first thing I did today was work on the wall. I took off the huge load of
vines on it, and swept the dirt off.
While I was doing that, dad processed the huge amount of bamboo we had cut the
previous day.
After I finished the wall, I took out the dead bamboo that was sticking into our
yard. Then we burned them. I also took some of the extra stuff on the wall.
While we were doing the wall, we decided to take out the huge black roof tile
looking things.
After lunch, I started to work on the corner. I began with cleaning the walkway
that led into our property.
While I was doing that, the workers came to see if we could get sewage, and to
give us the estimate of the costs. The whole thing took about an hour. One of
the workers was really cool and friendly, so we chatted with him and the other
worker for a bit.
After they left, dad stacked all of the bamboo on a tree and the chicken house.
While he was doing that, I was clearing out more of the corner, where the dog is
to go.
The last thing we did was work on the corner together, with dad raking, and I
cutting all the roots that got the rake stuck.
March 26, 2025 -
Journal Post - More work than expected
The first thing we did today was prepare to work on the dog's new area. This
meant me, moving a ton of rocks over to the rock pile, while dad did a major
raking.
Once that was finished, dad decided to tackle the metal area. He somehow got the
metal out within 15 minutes, and then he spent the rest of the morning working
on that area.
While he was doing that, I was struggling with getting the compost bin moved. I
first had to take everything out, and then excavate around it. I had it wiggling
by lunch, but I didn't get it out.
Before we went in for lunch, dad put some smoldering ash and charcoal on the
tree trunk we had recently cut.
After lunch, I finally got the compost bin out.
While I was doing that, dad started on lightly spreading the burn pile.
After I finished sorting the trash out of the old compost, I swept the entire
street wall with the broom.
After dad finished spreading, and I finished sweeping, we began to work on the
dog area together. I cleared a spot to put a dog house and his food, while dad
cleared the area around. Even this proved to be extremely tiring.
While we were doing that, the guy from yesterday came back to do some more
inspections. We chatted for a bit, and then he left. There is a chance we might
actually hang out together soon!
We eventually switched projects, dad went to go rake the rocks out of the ash,
while I raked the rocks out of the dirt in the dog area.
By the end of the day, we were both exhausted, and realized that we had a lot
more work to do on the dog area than we realized.
March 27, 2025 -
Journal Post - A day off...sorta
Since we had been working so hard, and it was to rain that day, we got a day
off! Kinda...
I stayed up in my room most of the day, studying, writing, and filming.
Dad, on the other hand, was downstairs the whole day unpacking the toys, and
instruments!
By the end of the day, the main room looked a lot more homey.
March 28, 2025 -
Journal Post - Tilled soil, no more metal, and ready to move the dog
In the morning, mom went out until noon to go do some paperwork related to
residence and address, and she bought lunch!
While she was out, dad and I finished turning the soil in the entire yard! It
had poured the previous day, and with the cool temperatures, it was the perfect
day to do this.
When we were working, a man came walking up our driveway. At first we didn't
understand what he wanted, but we soon realized that he was one of those people
who go around collecting trash from people's homes! He saw the amount of metal
we had, and we said he could take it all. So he pulled up with his truck, and
within about an hour, nearly all of the metal that was sitting around the
property was taken away. This was a huge score for us because we were all not
looking forward to transporting the metal to a recycling center.
Dad and I started to sort out the other trash for a few minutes, but mom came
home, so we went in to eat lunch.
After lunch, I continued sorting the trash.
While I was sorting the trash, dad started to burn all of the random bits of
wood we found, behind the storage shed. A few of the pieces seemed to be covered
in oil, due to the black, acrid smoke they produced. But eventually we got all
the wood burned, and kept the good pieces for building.
After I finished sorting the trash, I went to work on the dog area. By the end
of the day, I had finished it. So we are planning to move Copernicus there
tomorrow.
While dad was burning the wood, he was also working on taking the vines off the
side of the building. By the end of the day, the building, and the property,
were looking great.
March 29, 2025 -
Journal Post - A semi clean storage shed
Waking up today, we had a new plan in mind. Instead of moving the dog, we
decided to tackle the shed where the trailer was stored.
After mom moved the bus further away from the shed, dad and I moved out the
trailer.
The first thing we did was to get out as much wood and cardboard as possible. We
wanted to finish the majority of the burning in the corner before lunch.
Some of the major things we found in the morning was two wheelbarrows; one old
and one newer, an oil drum, an old rice storage barrel, an ancient machine to
take the husks of rice, some metal choppers, a bunch of glass plates and cups, a
bunch of tools, some fertilizer and herbicides, and tons & tons of empty
fertilizer bags.
After lunch, I boxed all the glass plates and cups.
After finally reaching the back (which was sweltering due to the fire on the
other side of the wall), dad and I brought out the two huge barrels.
We also completely took everything off the "shelves", and took the shelves off
themself!
We had a bunch of odd looks and smiles from people walking/driving by. Mr Kuyama
came over and chatted for a bit, and shortly afterwards, we had a brief chat
with Mr Hamada.
By the end of the day, everything was out of the shed and either burned, ready
to be thrown out, or in a state to be sorted. Our plan tomorrow is to really
fine tune the building, and then hopefully move the vehicles in on Monday.
While we were eating dinner, the doorbell rang. Mom went to answer it, and when
she came back, she had a bottle of Coca-cola in her hands. Oh my gosh, this man
is polite, but our neighbor had accidentally hit the roof corner of the chicken
shed, and he felt so awful that he brought us a bottle of Coca-cola and eggs. We
all felt bad, and were all worried about his car, not the building. I think this
is a great example of why we're in Japan, the people are amazing here.
March 30, 2025 -
Journal Post - Finished the storage shed, and a lot of human interaction
The first thing we did today was move the two barrels into the garden.
Next, we moved all the wood we would use for the dog house, under the eaves of
the garage.
We also moved some other things under the eaves like the old rice machine, and
the old wheel barrow.
While dad was piling the wood, I started to bag and sort all the trash we had
collected yesterday.
Once dad had finished piling the wood, he began to sweep the ceiling and sides
of the shed.
By lunch, I had sorted nearly all the trash, and dad had a good chunk of the
shed cleaned.
That morning we had a lot of attention from the neighbors. Mr Kuyama and Mr Irie
had separately come over to chat for a bit. Mr Takahara also said the property
was really clean.
After lunch, Mr Irie had come back, and this time with a lot of food. He gave us
broccoli, radishes, some type of green onion, and some type of sticky potato.
Once he left, I finished bagging and sorting the trash, even moving the tires
and oil under the eaves.
Once I was done sorting the trash, dad had me start on taking the rocks out of
the dirt where the truck was parked.
While I had been sorting and digging, dad had nearly finished the building. The
ceiling and sides were completely swept, and all he had to do was do the floor.
He swept and raked the entire floor, making huge dust clouds, and creating a
large pile of dry, dusty, dirt. I moved it behind the shed, while dad kept
sweeping. Eventually, we finished. We're planning to move the trailer and truck
tomorrow.
Dad helped a bit with the digging, but eventually went to call mom out to look
at our work.
We got a lot done today, and tomorrow we're taking a well deserved day off, and
going to meet some neighbors, go shopping, and look at the possible property
we're buying.
March 31, 2025 -
Journal Post - A full day out...like literally, the whole day
The first thing we did this morning was move the trailer and truck into the
newly cleaned storage shed.
After that, we walked over to the farm we were offered to use, and then greeted
the cow farmer who owns the land full of bamboo next to us.
Then, we drove to go see some used rototillers, and after finding out the price,
and the fact that they were used, we decided to buy a new one online instead.
Next, we drove over to a home center that had a big sale on chicken droppings,
and manure. We picked up twenty bags of chick droppings, dropped it off at home,
and then twenty bags of manure, and then dropped it off at home.
The last shopping we did before lunch was first to go to the hundred yen store,
because mom and I both wanted some stuff. And then we went to the grocery store
to pick up lunch.
We were going to originally eat lunch at home, but since it was a beautiful day,
and the Sakura were starting to bloom, we decided to go to 美しい公園. We ate lunch
there, and then stayed for a few hours. Lael and Ethan had a ton of fun playing
with the kids, while I went off on the trails to go take some photos. We met
some people there, and mom exchanged Line with a grandma, taking her grandkids
to the park.
Due to lack of time, we thought we might not be able to look at the storage shed
today, but we were able to leave the park soon enough that we could take a look.
Once we got there, dad started taking tons of measurements, and writing them
down, looking like a seasoned real estate appraiser...which he is. We talked to
some of the possible neighbors, and really took an in detail look of the house,
and it seems like we're going to buy it.
The last thing we did was go back to the grocery store for mom to buy some
groceries and pick up dinner.
We came home, getting ready to settle in for the night, when mom realized the
tofu was missing. We soon realized we had forgotten an entire bag of food at the
grocery store. So we drove back, and to our surprise, they had kept the bag, and
we were able to get our lost groceries without any additional fees.
It was a long, but pretty fun day. But tomorrow, we're back to work. |
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