Setting Up

Yesterday, a workman set up a tent and then tables and chairs on the spot where the new house will be built beside the vegetable stand. Today, a Shinto priest performed the ceremony for blessing the ground. The family sat in chairs and watched. Then they went up one by one to put a leaf branch on a table of offerings. We did the same thing 11 years ago when our new house was built. The same is done for companies and commercial buildings, too.

P.S. Though it was out in the open, it was a private ceremony so I didn't take photos.

Thanksgiving in a Box

First, sorry this photo is so blurry!

I ordered the turkey late this year so we had our Thanksgiving dinner today. We had to wait for the turkey to thaw!

I order everything from the Foreign Buyers' Club. I have seen turkeys in some grocery stores here in the past, but I didn't see any this year. Next year I'll order earlier.

Filming the Field

I've been following the vegetable stand man around and taking photos. Today, there was a film crew filming the field for a commercial about the area. At one end of the field, they filmed. At the other end, I was taking photos of the vegetable stand man storing his sato imo for the winter. I'll post a photo later.

Autumn Field Work

Those guys missed all the action. That's our vegetable stand man working in the fields. He's moving sato imo to store them for the winter. Those are sakura, cherry blossom trees on the right.

Back to Work

It was the day after Labor Thanksgiving, the day to be thankful to workers. Today was busy day for workers. This worker dug a hole next to the vegetable stand, put a pole in it, piled dirt around it and stood back to see if it was standing straight. It will be the power source for workers when they are building the new house.

Then he wired the pole. Note: I took these photos from our kitchen window.

Down the street, this worker is unloading boards and stacking them in a storage shed.

This worker is delivering lunch boxes to an office. I took these last two photos from the roof garden.

Busy Even Today

Even though it was labor Thanksgiving in Japan today, our vegetable stand man and his wife were busy. He cut the stems of yatsugashira. He biked them over to the stand where his wife stripped the outer skin off them. She put them on top of the stand to dry. Click here to see how they used to dry it.

This is yatsugashira in the field. It looks like sato imo (taro) but it has red stalks. Click here for a post about the root of the yatsugashira.

Kids Web Japan--Labor Thanksgiving

Vegetable Stand Loses a Wall

Workers tore down the house, the garden wall and the trees next to the vegetable stand. The vegetable stand lost its side wall.

Doors from the old house were salvaged. The vegetable stand man nailed them on the side of the stand.

Now the stand has a wooden wall. Click here to see its old wall.

Tearing Down the House part 2

Usually workmen hang a heavy curtain around the property line before they tear down a house. That keeps the dust from spreading. These workmen put the poles but didn't put a curtain. We can see the laundry hanging from the line on the balcony of a neighboring apartment.

Also, note how thin the walls of this house were. That is an outside wall of the house. There was a piece of wood on the outside of that slatted piece. Then plywood with wall paper on the inside of the house.

The machine that broke the house also loaded the pieces onto the back of a truck. In this photo, pieces of the tin roof are being loaded. See the man standing in the bed of the truck? Click to enlarge the picture and you can see the vegetable stand man standing by. Dangerous!

The pieces of tin were crushed with the crane and then wood from the house was stacked on top.

They tore down the fence and the trees, too.

Tearing Down the House

Work at the vegetable stand continued as they tore down the house. The vegetable stand man's wife just finished washing leeks. A workman held a hose on the house as the bulldozer tore into the house.

Getting Ready to Tear Down the House

This is the house next to the vegetable stand in our parking lot. Our vegetable stand man doesn't live here. His sister-in-law lives here. Her son is building a new house for her and his young family.

Usually, a curtain is draped around the property line before the house is torn down.

This workman is bringing an old blanket out of the house. He put it on a junk pile.

Junk is sometimes piled up to be thrown away with the debris of the old house.

Shichi-Go-San

Today was officially shichi-go-san. Though it was a beautiful day I didn't make it out to take pictures. Click on the label below to see old posts. Also, check Kids Web Japan.

I'll post an old picture of Big Sister and Little Brother later.

Kids Web Japan--shichi-go-san

Drying the Garbage

We wash pet bottles to put them out twice a month for garbage collection in our area of Tokyo. Drying them was a little difficult. I found this at the 100 yen shop. Five bottles can be drip-dried at one time. There's even a place for the caps.

What is this?

Outlaw

This person is breaking the law. A new ordinance in our district forbids using an umbrella while riding a bicycle. So what can you do?

Wear a plastic suit and hat!

Another Rescued Kitty

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I found this kitty in a shed on Oct. 31. I put her in a box and took her to the vet. The vet bathed, de-flea-ed and wormed her and kept her for a few days. We're looking for a home for her. She likes to play, watch TV, and cuddle. She's a sweetie. Our dogs love her, but one of our cats, Toto, hisses at her.

Papa and I visited her at the vet. When he saw her, he said, "I think this cat is our cat."

He was right. We kept her.

Happy Halloween!

No party yet this year. Little Brother came home Friday with a fever. H1N1 is making its rounds here. It is called Type A. Fortunately, he doesn't have that flu. Just a cold. So no happy Halloween for us.

Something exciting did happen today, though. I rescued another kitten! I heard it meowing in a shed near the field behind our house. Click on the label below. We will take care of it until we find a home for it. She's spending a couple of days at the vet.

Click on the label below to see what we've done in the past for Halloween. I wanted to post a photo of something orange so here's a persimmon tree. The kitten is orange, but I didn't get a picture of her.

Spokes

Look at all these spokes on this bicycle wheel!

The bicycle was locked to a sign on a corner next to a building. Note the plastic bag over the seat. It's been raining every other day here. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

That round thing in the street is a light. It flashes red in the evening. The big white kanji on the street is the beginning of the word tomari. It means "stop".