A Country File

Well Hello and a Happy New Year to one and all.

We've had a really nice time at the house with plenty of friends, food, and festive spirit!

The snow hasnt been nearly so bad as last year in fact it's actually quite warm.

Gosh, is that the time!!
Well so much has happened in these last few weeks that I dont know where to start..oh well yes I do, we got married..finally..in a typhoon.. epic... joyous.. fun.. wet.. unforgettable.. and so on.. and so much more..

Here are some pics..













If you would like to see some more.. and of course you do... then here is a link to nicky's photo site.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickyfern/sets/72157594321531855/show/

The water level in the 'Sanctuary' has dropped, which is causing me a bit of concern, it all started when a load of trucks roared up the road last week and a whole gang of workmen got out, complete with all the massive earth-moving equipment they like to hang around in.

The problem apparently was that last year in the typhoon a mudslide had washed a load of trees rubble etc into the river. It meant a load of free firewood for us, and it also meant that some pipe that was always blasting out water 24/7 had to be shut off....in fact the consequence of the typhoon was calm at our place and lead to us making our forest, relaxation, hammock, zone or as we now call it ..the 'Sanctuary'.

It had become a great spot to hang around in, it felt like we had created someplace special, somewhere that you could cool off from the summer heat, relax, unwind, chill.
Even the workmen would come down in their lunch breaks and sit and eat their bento's in a place that a few months ago no-one would have given a second glance.

They did all that and at the end of the week they have effectively destroyed it....thanks guys.
No, consultation, nothing, and now the pipe is once again back blasting out water. And where just a few days before the stream trickled happily over rocks, giving life to all the plants and insects instead now lies a dying, stagnant, muddy, puddle....such is progress??!! in our world today....but never fear for I the countryside eco warrior will set forth today and attempt to right what has been done wrong and if i have to pickaxe the whole massive dam they have constructed then so be it!!


For those of you Countryfile longterm fans, yes, thats you that is..you will recall that back at the Tondo festival I overheard a rather nice comment about 'gaijin' from one of the old ladies in the village.Well last night was the villages Bon-Odori festival and Nicky overheard a rather distressing comment about 'gaijiin' that makes me a little sad..

It was from one of our students, a kid that we have watched growup, we know all the family, been to his house, etc etc in fact back before he was a junior high school kid he used to run up to me and fling his arms round me and say jon-daiski....get the picture??

Anyway so he's there last night with a friend, some kid I dont know, some-one who like many of the people at the festival last night come back once a year to spend time praying at the ancestors graves before scuttling back to the oh so convienient world of the city.
Nicky says 'hello' and he says 'hello' back and this friend says 'Is that your English teacher?' (yes she is) but Kazuki replies 'No, shes just a foreigner'.

I didnt hear any of this, I was busy chatting to some of the villagers who I havent seen for a while, like Moriwaki Denki Man, as we call him, who makes me feel a whole lot better about my alcohol consumption by being consistently the most p*ssed man in the village by a long way.

When Nicky told me what she heard I wanted to run up to Kazuki and tell him 'Your names Kazuki, my names Jon, but your friends name I dont know. I live up that mountain you live way over that mountain, your friend, I dont know. I live in Tonoga, you live in Kami Tomo, your friend, I dont know....in short Kazuki just who is the foreigner here??? Your friend who I dont know, you, from the next village, or me, the guy who lives up that mountain?? Who???

I wanted to say all this but I didnt, ultimately whats the point? True from now on I will view this kid in a different way, I doubt I will ever be quite as friendly to him again, and the family also I will be just that little bit more wary of....such is progress??!!? in our world today.

On a happier note, the beautiful weather of the last few weeks has meant we've been to the beach for the last three Sundays at Hamada, Festa de Rama and Oshima. Ive been up in the mountains with friends, out in the city with friends, been to bars with friends, been playing in the sea with friends, listening to music with friends, hanging out at the house with friends, laughing and enjoying with friends.

Friends come in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
that is real progress in our world today.

'ello, well blue skies and soaring temps makes me one contented chappie and no mistake! though toiling in the fields has left my back a little red and sore...

last saturday was the first time in a long time that ive been able to sit by the river in Peace Park with a few drinks and the welcome company of friends.
Back when i lived in the city this was a near daily occurence, but times change so it was nice to sit and chill.

We then had a potato at SpudLove who are celebrating their two year anniversarry (two and a half years after opening??!!), then it was off to watch some bands at Sumatra Tiger, all good, though by this time my alcohol consumption had hit that point where i start to say all the things i have to say sorry for in the morning.... so sorry, all of you, though really i do think Pink Ballgowns would be good...

finally we went off to Ai no Haina?? in Dobashi though precise details of what happened there escape me though i do recall having to be frogmarched home by exasperated friends after i decided that i wanted to sleep in a park!!

the sun got me up nice and early the next day and after a brief stop to pick up Bobbi and our swimming attire it was straight off to Hamada. It's a lovely 1hour drive on route 186 to Hamada from our house, where we spent the day doing what everyone should at the beach ie not a lot, but soaking up the rays, swimming, and trying to get Bobbi to enjoy playing in the sea (didnt really work) .

Yesterday was spent getting the house cleaned, the fields cut, tomatoes picked, storeroom walls painted and wooden beams varnished, with enough time in between to sit and cool off with our feet in the stream in 'the forest relaxation zone'

We had a visitor in the evening, our neighbours nephew Kota arrived and promptly decided that he wanted to stay at ours for the rest of the time he`s staying in the countryside. We managed to persuade him to go home in the end, but only on the premise that he can 'come and play' today..

so I'm awaiting his arrival at least Bobbi will have someone to chase and play with all day while i carry on cutting the rest of the fields that I couldnt manage to do yesterday...

Nicky's off having a dress fitting so apart from the pets, kota, and some old man who is busy preparing one of our cemetary areas for Obon..I have the house to myself....

sun shine, blue skies..lifes good!!

`ello me luvvers well the 21st of July always has special meaning for me as it was on this day that I first arrived in Japan.
So today marks 5 years since I landed into a steamy cicada filled world..well how times have a changed, now here i sit in a sodden peaceful world (all cicadas silent, presumed drowned) .

As often has been the case i really wasn't expecting to be here this long, and as so often is the case now that I am here I cant think of what I would do if I left...

I certainly wasnt expecting to be now living in the mountains of Hiroshima-ken, joint owner of an old farm, shortly to be married to the woman who (romantically enough) was the first person I met in Hiroshima those 5 years ago.

Which surely just goes to show that we can never relly know what will become of us...which is a good thing otherwise our lives would be that little less exciting ...

Well ello again me luvvers!
It`s been a reet busy time for all of us these pass few weeks not enuff 'ours in the day to scrape together some lines for this 'ere blog.

First up on the list is our new kitchen table..built from scratch one afternoon she's (she/he??!!!) is a real beauty...which until I get some snaps online you'll have to take me word for... big enough to lie down and sleep on though so tall that you wouldnt want to. Its made a real change to our eating cooking arrangements.

With a proper kitchen still a long way off dream, the table has at last made it possible to cook, eat, sit, write, read, all at the same time....

Another thing has been that we've started is re-flooring the storeroom... beams have been laid, adjusted, and aligned, and half the floorboards have already bee nailed down, another hard days graft will see the job complete and for the first time since I first opened the door and put me foot through the floor all them years ago will we be able to walk around comfortably.

With a proper floor this opens up whole new possibilities to guests staying..they can have their own little house of their own and might start us having some paying guests pension stylee or maybe some WOOF volunteers....it means for the wedding we can house even more people..

hmm really have to get them wedding invites sent out soon...weve been planning to send them since january...all be finished by the time we get round to it, or we'll have a wedding planned for 150 people attended by the two of us and the pets....

On the subjuect of pets its been a bit traumatic these last days as poor little Bobbi has had her 'operation' she was a bit down for a few days which hasnt been helped by the fact that she now has to wear a big green collar type thingy round her head for another week..means she cant see none too well though also means she cant chew her way through everything...

One of the cats has been so freaked out with Bobbbi's new headgear that he hasnt set foot inside the house since...instead just hisses at Bobbi through the windows.

And theres more, just the other day Id just finished cutting the fields (again, again) when I decided to re-mud a wall in the kitchen. I found an old bag of clay and set to. its like making mud pies as a kid only better though possibly messier.
This wall used to be my favorite feature of the house as i would tell anyone whod listen when we first moved here, though now a couple of years on and it just looked well, old, cracked and seen better days ( know how it feels! ha!). Still one squidgy mud plastered few hours and it now looks as good as new (sadly didnt work the same for me).

Aahhh well better bring this to a close, lots more to tell, but i think blogs are more user friendly in bite sized chunks rather than book form.

Just to add that I'm missing having much contact with what few friends we still have in Hiroshima, and missing also some nightlife action....missed the Dangerous Drums night of a few weeks ago which reminded me of a very cool night the last time they were here...oh well, used to pride meself on having me finger on the pulse of the Hiroshima scene, now dont seem to recognise anybody when I'm in town....thats country life for yer.... lets all get to the beach soon......

farmer jon

I know I'm always the first to have a go when its raining so better balance it out to say how great the weathers been lately, nothing can bring a smile to my lips quicker then waking up to blue skies and the prospect of a sunny day ahead...marvellous.
Yesterday we both had to be up at 5.30!! to help out with the village clean up day..all very community spirited, but 5.30 on a Sunday!! Perleeeease! Anyway by the time we'd got some tools together and wandered down the street it was all over. Not really sure what was achieved but me and nicky set to by slashing down some weeds before heading home.
As we had some visitors coming we carried on busily working away at home...and both the house and the fields havent looked so good in a long time.
Ive just about finished chopping up the once huge pile of trees into nice sized logs.

The afternoon was spent hanging out with friends in our newish forest hammock zone..which is a great new addition for the summer...rocks, water, and trees..all very wabi sabi

Now with the sun beggining to steam through the windows I'd better get going and do some work on all the other things that ive been putting off for so long..rivers to dam, mountains to move, floors to be laid etc etc...still on days like these everything seems possible..

ps we bought a new car the other week..like the old one only better.... another scarcely affordable expense but the shakken was up so it had to be done.