We had lunch at a restaurant in Kiyosato Kogen. This restaurant has tables where we can eat with dogs, which is very helpful. It was a cloudy and chilly day, so it was a good thing for Kurumi also. The cherry blossoms in this area are at their best. We are enjoying a relaxing trip today.
We decided to take a spring drive trip to Tateshina, Nagano Prefecture. It was another warm sunny day today. Tateshina is at a high altitude, so the cherry blossoms are at their best right now. Tomorrow we plan to drive around the Yatsugatake Mountains to Kiyosato. I hope to drive in every season this year. It may be inconvenient for Kurumi, but I think it is good for him to be exposed to a different environment once in a while.
My classes at the university have begun. Starting today, I will be in the interpreting course for the first semester for 13 weeks to study English with the students. Last year it was translation, but this time it will be interpretation. The main difference is that we will be translating in order, starting from where we hear the English. The method of stopping the flow of the conversation to translate is called consecutive translation, but in any case, it is a busy task to translate into Japanese while listening to the audio and writing down notes. It makes me hungry. Kurumi seems to be doing well in the warm weather. He is playing and eating well today.
My wife’s sister came over today and helped my wife dye her hair. They are very close and were discussing their upcoming trip. They have decided to go to Kyushu together. While my sister-in-law was helping my wife dye her hair, I washed and waxed her car. Recently, this has become an unspoken action. It is smaller than my car, but it is taller, so I need a platform to wash the top part. There is no roof over the parking lot, so it seems to inevitably get dirty quickly. Kurumi had time to play together with everyone, so he was a little tired. He was taking a nap while snoring.
Today was a sunny and pleasant Sunday. My son and his wife gave us a gift of footwear to use on the balcony, and I decided to make a rack. If it is shaped like a slipper rack, it will not collect water when it rains. And I left it with a top panel so that it would not be affected by ultraviolet rays as much as possible. I placed it by the window leading out to the balcony. Kurumi is doing well today. He is taking a nap as usual.
I disassembled and cleaned the hot water flushing part of the toilet; after 10 years of use, the inside has become dirty. There is no written procedure for this kind of work anywhere, so I had to check the condition of the parts as I went along. It took a little time, but now we can continue to use it comfortably. Kurumi seems to be spending more and more time sleeping. Today, too, he took a long nap.
Today was the day I was going to the company office, so Kurumi and I were only able to spend time together in the morning. He looked a little sad when I left home. I walked along the road to the station for the first time in a while and saw a flowering pear tree in the neighborhood. Near my office, I saw the usual rows of ginkgo trees turning green. I am feeling the change of the seasons.
In the morning, the bird nest box at the garden is busy with birds going in and out. It seems that they have not laid eggs yet. I took this photo from the living room through the window. People and cars pass nearby, so I am a little worried about whether the birds can live there safely. Kurumi is playing well today, too. His stomach seems to be in good condition, probably because we raised the temperature in the bed room a little last night.
Today was a pleasant day with blue skies from this morning. The cherry trees that withstood yesterday’s rain storm are now in full bloom. I was noticed that there are many cherry trees. The pink color scattered on the mountainside is beautiful. The parent birds are standing in the swallow’s nest, perhaps with eggs already in it. Kurumi was in a bit of a bad mood this morning. The cold weather last night may have been the cause.
Today we had strong winds and rain from dawn. The southerly wind was so strong that the sound of rain hitting the windowpane woke me up. The weather is not stable in early spring. The temperature has dropped in the afternoon and I am using the gas heater to heat the house. Since yesterday I have seen swallows flying around. The birds seem to have taken up residence in the birdhouse in the garden. I am looking forward to seeing them warm their eggs. Kurumi was playing energetically today. After eating, he played with his toys for a while and then fell asleep.