Heavens To Betsy-- Now What Do I Do?!?

Tanuki-chan... brought home on Papa's birthday (Monday)

So... I have a sick and/or injured Tanuki (Japanese Raccoon Dog) in my garage.

As you can see.

And anybody who's been following along on this blog knows exactly who brought it home.. (*cough*Koshi*cough*)

This time I swore the kids to secrecy--they were absolutely *not* to tell Papa, as I didn't think the poor man needed a heart attack for his fortieth birthday (yes-- Tanuki was brought home in the middle of cake and dinner preparations.  As ye sow, so shall ye reap.)

And I must leave off in a violent hurry, because I have to find a vet... or zookeeper... *quickly*... which is why I've got the computer on at this hour in the morning in the first place.  Thank goodness for Google.

Keep you posted :-))

Mata asobou, ne!  (Tell you more about Tanukis next post!)

*Tadaima!

Kinmokusei...Osmanthus fragrans

There's a lovely Tang in the air.  I love the smell of this tree in the fall...

That's literally Tang -- the orange powdered breakfast drink, originally formulated for the Apollo astronauts, for those old enough to know about that;-)

Wiki has just tried to tell me that it is cultivated in Asia, Europe, and North America  "for its deliciously fragrant flowers which carry the scent of ripe peaches or apricots".  Rubbish-- those flowers smell nothing like peaches *or* apricots.  They smell exactly like Tang in powder form.  I know, because I noticed the smell before I knew where on earth it was coming from.  Walking down the road, suddenly assailed by childhood memories of yellow kitchen cabinets and brownish carpet and the little wooden table and the kitchen window and the bread drawer and the pantry, where the canister of Tang was kept...

"What smells like Tang?  There's no Tang in Japan, that I know of....??"  Oooh-- this tree smells like Tang!  Who knew!

Movers bow, and put protective covers on all the walls...

We are finally moved in.... wireless troubles and all that.  But I hope to be able to post rather more regularly from now (if I can get my computer to connect reliably.  Ahem.)

the Child who Falls Asleep Anywhere

No sooner do we buy a sofa, than somebody conks out on it... ;-)

The floors are nice and clean, though, because movers in Japan put drop cloths down everywhere and (of course) take off their shoes before they come inside.  Even if they are carrying your refrigerator...

I've traded four flights of stairs for steep hills in all directions...

Going anywhere is "whee!"

Coming home is "wuh..."

Nice view though...

See it?

The view out the dining room window...

Can you see it?

That.

Mostly we can see the Mountain at sunset, when it's backlit...





This one came out nice-- ukiyoe sky and dark, feathery clouds behind Fuji...

On clear mornings we can see it-- after the rain last week, it emerged with a snow-covered cap.  The clouds came up from below that day...

Snow-capped Fuji under a soft duvet of clouds

*"Tadaima!" means "I'm home!" :-)

Next time I'll tell you all about the spider I caught in the garage.

Really;-)

Mata asobou, ne!