December is cold!

A few weeks have gone by and things are quiet again.  The days are REALLY cold and the nights colder!!!  At night I have fleecy pajamas on and a neck warmer and ankle warmers and recently I even wear a knitted hat!  The reason?  Our bedroom, our HOUSE is cold!  We have a kerosene heater going thoughout the day in our main room but the heat doesn't get upstairs and neither of us like to have the air conditioner/heater blowing down on us all night.  I do set an electric mat at our feet that warms up the bed somewhat (though Tetsu doesn't like it on all night) but the greatest warmers are the two cats who cuddle deep with me (not Tetsu!)

Tetsu readying my car for me to go to the crosswalk.

In the morning I throw on some fleece lined pants and a fleece sweatshirt as well as heavy socks and gloves and with my crosswalk guard's overcoat (not warm!) I am ready to face the freezing morning for an hour standing in front of the school... While I get dressed, Tetsu warms up my car and scrapes off ice from the windshield.  A great treat is when I get back from the school Tetsu has a mug of hot, sweet coffee waiting for me!  Heaven! 

Autumn wasn't very colorful this year...  We hardly got any deep oranges and reds though the ginko trees were a beautiful yellow.  This photo is of the ginko tree grove in front of the University hospital where I go every two months.  

At the end of last month, the neighborhood had a mochi (pounded rice) event and old and young came to watch the rice being pounded in a traditional mortar which was then served either with sweet soy powder, or sweet beanpaste, or grated radish.  It was great fun for the observers to shout a rhythmical cheer as the pounder raised the mallet and the turner flipped the steaming hot rice for more even pounding.

Our two old cats find places to stay warm...  Cleo, the darker of the two, is 20 and the winter is getting into his bones...  There have been a couple of days recently when we weren't sure he was going to hold out much longer but he seems to bounce back...

One of my English classes has evolved into a craft class...  We USED have free chatting time and then we'd spend the last 30 minutes reading a chapter of a book together and afterward I'd ask questions, but once we'd finished our last book they opted for more free chatting time and less study.  One friend is VERY good at thinking up different crafts to try and so we've made pompoms and used dried flowers to make wreaths, we've done some hand sewing and some knitting, and one of the last times we were together we did some Japanese paper cutting.  I've really enjoyed this craft before and I'd like to get back to it...

Last week, after a couple of hours at the pool, Tetsu and I were driving home after dark when I noticed at the side of the road an eldery lady  sitting on a divider overlooking a stream.  She obviously shouldn't have been sitting there so I jumped out of the car and ran over to take her to some place safer and find out why she was where she was.  She actually seemed quite chipper even though it was dark out and the temperature was only 40 degrees F. (5 degrees C)!  We put her in our car and asked where she was trying to get to and she seemed to think her destination was just up the street a bit more and to the left.  

"There's nothing up that street except fields and mountains and a tunnel.  Where are you trying to go?" 

She gave the name of a park COMPETELY in the opposite direction in the center of town, nearly 10 miles away!!!  The lady really wanted us to keep going up the street and to the left but we turned around and headed for the nearest police box.  Despite the fact that she was lost (and didn't know it) the lady could give us her name and said she was 87 years old and that she lived with her son.  We asked if she had a cell phone on her and she did so she tried to call her son which wasn't successful though the call must have gone through because he called back a few minutes later.  The lady however couldn't seem to figure out how to use her cell phone so I got on the phone with the son and I gave him the name of the police box that we were headed to.  Once at the police box, the lady was in good hands and she waved happily to us as we drove away while she waited for her son to come and get her.  

This is the FOURTH time Tetsu and I have found some elderly person on the street and taken them or called the police.  (I one time confronted an elderly man walking along the road alone and suggested that I help him, but he politely explained he lived in a house within sight and took off quickly to get away from me...  I may be a bit too enthusiastic about helping elderly people out walking...)

And here is a photo taken moments ago of John ACTUALLY SITTING ON TETSU'S LAP!  Will miracles never cease!  John has mellowed out quite a bit, but he is getting up in years too...  He and Tetsu have become friends (on John's terms) and the two of them are very happy together.

Luka got a chance to participate in a Christmas parade in town and he had a great time!

And Taiga has begun climbing and standing.  The two boys keep Leiya busy but they also seem to have a lot of fun together!

To end, here are a couple of colorful pages in my bullet journal!