Keeping Warm

The major repair on the side of our home is complete. The rot was extensive and I had to do a lot of fancy woodworking to get the log back to a natural appearance. I hope that’s the last major repair I will have to do. The temperature has dropped significantly and I doubt I will have a chance to put a finish coat on. I started framing the foundation for my garage, but that will probably have to wait until the temperature warms up.

Since it’s turning into winter outside, I decided to do some work inside. I started installing the fan in the great room. The reason I made this job a priority is because the wood stove warms the upstairs rooms, but does little to keep the downstairs warm. Since warm air rises, the fan should do a good job of circulating the air. Usually, a fan installation isn’t a big deal, but the fan is 68” wide and it required a step-up transformer (100 volts to 120 volts). The fan is mounted to a very large log that is 20 feet above the floor. I had to wire the transformer to a switch and then to the fan. Japanese wiring doesn’t use a ground wire. I asked an electrician in Japan about this and he said that if something goes wrong the whole thing goes “Poof”. I told him that the electrical storms at this elevation are fierce and a lightning strike isn’t out of the question. He said that a lightning strike is highly unlikely. If it did happen, then my electrical system would go…you guessed it…”Poof”. To wire our house to an earth ground would be cost prohibitive at this time. The down rod for the fan had to be manufactured out of a pipe that I found. The pitch of the roof along with the length of the blades required an extra long down rod…48 inches. This project should be completed tomorrow provided the step-up transformer can handle the amperage draw of the fan motor. I have my fingers crossed.

I just had to do it.

“You’re in big trouble! Do you have any idea what kind of mess you created?” exclaimed Erika as she ran around in a panic over a tree that I cut down.

“I just had to do it,” I calmly replied. “You knew I was going to cut it down. What’s the big deal? Just tell the property owners that my husband is from America and that he didn’t know any better.”

I think it’s a major taboo to cut a tree down that is on someone else’s property. The tree was only five feet from the property line. It was blocking the view of my volcano. Solution: Cut the tree down. It wasn’t a huge tree, but it was getting bigger each day and if I had waited till the property owners gave permission, it might have become a huge tree. I’m sorry, but I just had to do it. I was getting the hang of using a chainsaw because I had lots of logs to cut for firewood. I looked over at the tree that had been bothering me since we purchased the house. “Why not?” I asked myself. “Now is as good a time as any.” Fifteen minutes later, the deed was done. I had committed a sinister crime of unknown proportions. I felt sorry that I had to cut down a perfectly good tree, but the tree was in the wrong place at the wrong time…it had to go. After all the dust had settled, I felt good that I had done what I had set out to do. The trouble was that if the property owner was unhappy about the trees disappearance, we could be sued. Solution: Hide the evidence. That’s what I have been busy doing today and will be doing tomorrow. I have a lot of tree to chop up into little pieces and a stump to whittle down to something smaller than a pancake. It will be worth it…I think. One day, I’ll be sitting on the porch admiring the view and thinking about a tree that could have ruined the whole scene. It still could, in an economical sense, provided I don’t do a good job of covering my mistake.

Today, we had a surprise visit from a friend that had a backhoe. His name is Kiyonaga-san. My friend was kind enough to let me use the scaffolding that has been gracing the side of our home for the past month. He also let me use the chainsaw to cut firewood and the tree of despair. His current contribution to my well being is the use of a backhoe. He pulled up to our property and asked me if I had drawn the plans for the new garage. I showed him the drawing and the rest was history. He immediately hammered some stakes into the ground, set up a level, took some measurements, and began excavating. It really happened that fast! I was left in astonishment as he took control of the situation. I have never met anyone like him. He then proceeded to measure, stake, backhoe, and level the area for our dog fence…amazing!! Did I say that he did this on his weekend? Did I also mention that he did this for free? It’s been six hours since he left and I’m still trying to catch my breath. In a mere 5 hours, Kiyonaga-san, transformed my yard into something that I had thought I would have to wait for at least another year or two. I really don’t want to learn how to build a foundation from the ground up, but Kiyonaga-san believes it’s the best way to save a lot of money. He also believes that I can do it with his help. I’m speechless and grateful to have him as a friend.

George

One Down

The wood stove is installed and working perfectly. That means that one project is done and I have ten thousand more to go. The next headache…I mean project…is to repair, apply sealant, and stain one side of the house. Most of the upper logs have been completed. I still need to clean up the white panels and prepare them for primer and paint. The middle section of logs will require a major repair (see an earlier post). I decided to leave that for later. Since the scaffolding is on borrowed time, I need to make the best use of it. The weather has been stable, but each day begins with mist and the temperature gradually warms as the day progresses. This pattern should continue for another day or two before it starts to get really cold. I’m at the mercy of mother-nature which means that I can only do what I can do.  I’ll continue removing the grey wood along with the mildew using a product called “Wood Renew”. The stuff is amazing and it doesn’t harm the environment. Just mix it up, brush it on, wait ten minutes, and scrub the remaining gunk off. Like magic, the original wood color appears. I’ll post before and after pictures as soon as I get around to it.

Our friends and neighbors have been kind enough to provide us with some hardwoods to burn in our new stove. The problems are that we don’t have a place to store seasoned wood and the wood needs to be cut into 45cm pieces. We purchased a wood splitter in the U.S., but we need a chainsaw. A good chainsaw is expensive in Japan. I feel uncomfortable asking our neighbor to use her chainsaw all the time. We’ll try to shop around for one this week. I wish we could find a good used one, but I know I’m dreaming. Our front yard has a truck load of starter wood in one pile and a truckload of logs in another. We are expecting another 2 tons of wood to appear next week. It sounds like a lot of wood, but I was told that we may not have enough wood to get us through the winter. We’ll see how it goes. As the season gets colder, the price of firewood rises. Hopefully, we’ll make it through our first winter without freezing to death.

Observations

Maybe, you imagined that George would treat me like a princess since I agreed to live in Japan. No, our relationship has not changed.

George and I installed the parts to the chimney. I was so scared to climb up to the top of the scaffolding in the strong winds. My legs were trembling and my heart was pounding. One thing I was sure of...I was not ready to die. George felt sorry for me and allowed me to climb to the third level instead of the top. I was okay and I enjoyed the views while spying on what the others' were doing.

I observed that the field of Susuki's next to our house to be huge and beautiful. A nearby neighbor owned a large property with many buildings. I also observed that Lucky had the best seat in our yard. Earlier, I cleaned the dogs' beds and airated them under the sun on our patio table. Of course, Lucky chose the most comfortable bed with the best view. He didn't know that I was watching him from above.

 

Erika

Another Day at the Office

Here’s an update on the remodeling of our home. The giant blue tarp was removed after a year of protecting our home from the torrential rains in Tsukahara. I managed to apply Perma-chink sealant to all of the seams and joints that could possibly cause a leak. This took about five days to accomplish. I found some gaps between the logs and the concrete backer board. It’s no wonder that we had some serious leaks in the house. After completing that long and tedious project, I decided to remove the side roofing structure that looked like a two-year old had built it. The eye-sore was causing more harm than good. I was surprised to see how much rot was behind the bracing for the structure. These photos will give you an idea of the extent of the damage. Our neighbor’s jaw dropped when she saw the gaping holes after I removed some of the rotted wood. I’ll need at least a week to get this area stabilized.

Earlier this week, Erika and I installed the chimney section of piping for our wood stove. This wasn’t an easy task since the piping was heavy and awkward. Fortunately, the scaffolding was a great help. I could barely reach the chimney, but it was doable. We are trying to install the wood stove before winter arrives. The floor tile for the stove area has been cut, but we are having trouble finding thin set mortar to install the tile. It looks like we will have to use some sort of adhesive to lay the tiles. The adhesive is extremely expensive and I’m not looking forward to using it. The working time is ten minutes and that’s not a long time to use a material that I have no experience with. I’ll take photos as soon as that project is done.

It’s has been raining all day…time to catch up on some much needed rest. I’ve been studying for my driver’s exam. The written exam is supposed to be an easy ten question test. The practical exam is the real challenge. I’m expecting to fail a few times before I even come close to passing. I’ll have a lot to write about when that time comes.

George

Busy, busy, busy

In between doing a gazillion other things, I managed to start remodeling our home. Since winter will soon be here, I need to have the wood stove up and running. I was told that it can get very cold in Tsukahara. It would be a shame to freeze to death during our first winter in Japan. In order to have a working stove, I need to tile the area where the stove will be placed. I cut all of the floor tiles, but I’m having difficulty finding acrylic thin set mortar. Finding anything that has to do with home maintenance is a challenge. In the U.S., I visited my nearby Home Depot or Lowes and they would have everything I needed. In Japan, I visited a home center in Oita City (45 minutes away)and they told me that only a specialist uses this or that. I would have to special order whatever I was looking for…good grief. An example of this nonsense was when I needed to purchase some mortar. They carry only tiny bags of mortar that could cover only a couple of tiles. The cost was 2000 yen. To make matters worse, the grout only came in two colors…gray and white. The person working at the home center didn’t have a clue about using mortar or laying tiles. He tried to sell me a bag of concrete and told me that only specialists use thin set mortar. “Normal people” use concrete. Fortunately, my neighbor’s son works for Diawa House and he brought over some beige colored grout. The color matched our tile perfectly. I’m still working on purchasing mortar.

The chimney pipe also requires installation. A huge scaffold is resting next to our home waiting for me to climb all over it. The plan is to install the chimney pipe before the tile. I’ll need the scaffolding to get near the chimney so the pipe can be secured. Once the pipe is secured, I can install the tile. The stove comes next, then the stove pipe. After all of that fun is complete, it will be time to build a wood storage shed. I also need to install fencing for the yard so that the dogs can play outside while we are away from home. Somehow, I need to find time to repair the leak under the blue tarp that has been hanging on the side of our home for the past year. To complicate things, I need the scaffolding to repair the leak, but I only have two weeks left to use the stand. The mountain weather is unpredictable and it’s hard to determine when a clear day will occur. The best I can do is to keep busy and to get as much done as I can. Did I say I was busy?

George

Thank you

Our life has totally changed. We are now officially POOR, but I have never seen George so happy. His smile has never disappeared since he moved here. Whenever we have a chance to go to the city, he misses Tsukahara.

I am often scared of the strong winds, wild boar, deer, snakes and bugs, but this is the safest environment he has ever lived in, according to George. We don’t have to worry about guns, gangs, violence or lawsuits. Our next door neighbor, Ms. Namba-san, shares with us all kinds of rumors which is a form of entertainment for us. Ms. Namba, often gives us some of her cooking. Her cooking tastes as if a world class chef had prepared it. We get more than enough nutritious food from her. Thank you Namba-san!

Each day, we experience something new…most of the experiences are good. We have so much news to share with you after spending our first month in Japan.

Our new car is a Nissan Moco. George’s cousin, Megumi from Tokyo, gave us a fantastic deal and managed to arrange delivery a day after we arrived home. George was complaining about the color and female interior style, but as soon as it arrived, Lucky gave his approval. That’s all that mattered for us. Since then, Lucky spends most of his time in the car and George has grown fond of the color. Thank you for everything Megumi!

Scaffolding: George had kept asking for it for a long time, but we couldn’t afford to rent it. On George’s birthday, Mr. Kiyonaga-san who is the best friend of George’s good friend, Mr. Yoshida-san called us. He found the great deal on scaffolding and he even helped us for an entire day to set it up. Thank you Kiyonaga-san!

George’s 50^th birthday: Our friends brought a cake for George and shared his birthday. We usually don’t celebrate anniversaries or holidays, but this was special. I did my best to make sure that we moved to Japan before his birthday. I wanted this to be the BEST birthday present that he ever had. Since we had to pinch every penny, he missed having dessert. The cake was sooooooo good. Thank you Nami-chan and Yoko!

Lucky and Kiley: They have experienced all kinds of creatures in this natural environment. They are often scared of strong winds and sudden downpours. Deer often visit our yard and the dogs go nuts! Kiley and Lucky can find all sorts of entertainment from the window. It’s a great relief to see that they have adapted so well to their new home.

I have so many stories to tell, but I’ll just summarize a few for today. Erika

Look Out Below!

Today marks “One month to go” before we begin our journey to Japan. I wish I could say that we are ready, but that’s not the case. We are waiting for Kiley’s lab results and my left eye is questionable. The shipper is trying to get us the best deal, but I’m worried that he still has not decided if we ship by ocean or air. Right now, it looks like air. I have a huge “To do” list in order to get the house ready for renting. I’ve never been a landlord before. I’ve heard of all kinds of nightmarish stories. Living 5000 miles away doesn’t help matters. We hope that our property manager can do a good job for us. This wasn’t in our original plans. We had hoped that we could have sold and used those funds to remodel our home in Tsukahara. Those plans will have to remain on hold until the economy improves or I win the lottery. Both scenarios are long shots. Realistically, we will have to live in a warehouse condition for a long time. Nakatsu will be a place for business and Tsukahara will be a place to work (on the house). I don’t think we will be bored anytime soon.

The economies around the world are looking dismal. Japan has fallen to number 3, behind China and the U.S. I’m not sure what that means in the future except that the yen is not going in the direction we had hoped. Purchasing a car in Japan is painfully expensive for us. Actually, purchasing anything in Japan using American dollars is expensive. I guess our timing couldn’t have been worse, but…at least we are moving forward towards a change. I think of change as jumping off a cliff…a very high and steep cliff. Our backs are against the wall and I really don’t want to look down. Who knows what will happen when we hit bottom. The motivation to jump is driven by many factors with one of them being regret. I can’t turn back now. If I did, I would regret that decision for the rest of my life. To force a dramatic change in life requires a lot of energy, stamina, perseverance, and courage. I’ve never experienced anything like this, so I don’t have something I can compare it to. Erika has helped give me the courage to face this change, but it’s up to me to make the jump. My first foot off the cliff occurs when I leave my career of 20 years. I start falling when the plane takes off from Seattle. Look out below!!!!! This will be a heck of a ride.

The Countdown Begins

With a little less than a month to go before I put in my 2 week notice, I’m beginning to get anxious. I’ve complained countless of times about my job to Erika. The past 20 years at work has taken its toll on my health. I have neck and shoulder problems that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. I wished that my company hadn’t closed the hangar in California. The bitterness I feel towards my company has been reflected in my work attitude over the past 7 years. With the help of Erika, I’ve tried to channel those negative thoughts into giving me courage to make this move. I recently asked one of my senior coworkers how they managed to stay with the company for so long. His reply was, “I do as little as possible”.  That reply reminded me as to why I was leaving. I can’t imagine not having regrets about life with the notion that you had spent your life doing as little as possible.

The mountain of paperwork for the dogs is just about complete. The veterinarian needs to issue a health certificate on Sept 28^th and the USDA needs to give the official government stamp on the 29^th. If everything goes as planned, the quarantine office in Osaka will keep the dogs for no longer than a couple of hours. Customs will be a major obstacle when we reach Japan. This will be a test to see if our shipper knew what they were doing. Unfortunately, we will be the one to suffer for their negligence.  Who knows…maybe everything will go as planned. I also believe in Santa Claus.  George

The Excitement Continues to Build

Imagine trying to purchase items for a remodel that hasn’t even occurred yet. I have a rough idea as to how I want to expand our home in Tsukahara, but what about the dimensions? How about compatibility, metric vs. English, 120 volts vs. 100 volts, Japanese vs. American construction methods, availability of parts, Japanese vs. American codes, etc.? The list goes on and on. For example, I had to guess on the amount of tiles and flooring I would need to complete the remodel in Japan. Some the rooms do not exist yet; just a rough sketch on a piece of paper. I think Erika is spoiled. She has this notion that I can do anything if she asks for it. She said, “Order all of the items now for Tsukahara that will be too big to carry in suitcases when we visit the U.S. in a couple of years.” “Ummm, okay,” I replied. My answer was, “Okay,” but my mind thought, “Good grief. You must be kidding!”

The pallets of tiles, laminate flooring, stains and wood finishes, cabinet doors, wood stove and chimney piping, sinks, faucets, and plumbing are here and ready to ship. It wasn’t easy or cheap, but it’s here. The future remodel will be designed according to the materials that were purchased and not the other way around. I guess I’m used to doing things backwards. The first winter in Tsukahara will be miserable. We won’t have a stove or any room to move around in. I’m guessing that we will probably spend most of our time in Nakatsu trying to get the business going. The home in Tsukahara will be used mainly for storage.

I’m worried about the blue tarp hanging on the side of the house. I hope it will withstand another brutal winter and prevent anymore leaks. I know I have a few more areas that need to be protected from rot. If I can keep the house from falling down until next summer, maybe we will be okay. We heard some good news about our water heater. The gas lines have been installed and maybe we have a new water heater. I’m not sure what is going on since our neighbor (Namba-san) is handling all of this for us. I better remember to make an insulated box for that water pump. I don’t want to have another one explode because of the intense cold.  George

Plans

Our plan is to stay in Nakatsu for 5 days and live in Tsukahara for 2 days. The commute is approximately 1 hour. The scenery is beautiful and a narrow road winds you through the mountains and gently descends into the Japan countryside. Currently, the farmlands are golden with wheat glistening in the sunlight. Traffic is almost nonexistent. The actual driving distance is short, but the speed limit is only 50km (35mph). If we are successful in business, we would like to purchase a second home in the Nakatsu area. We are also going to try to teach at various kindergartens along the commute. The problem is where we can keep Kiley and Lucky while we teach a one hour class.

As soon as we move in October, our main focus will be to decorate the business, so that we can open as soon as possible. Unfortunately, decorating is not something that we possess much talent. I hope to come up with something soon so that we can purchase materials here. Finding materials in English can be a challenge in Japan. My biggest obstacle is to create an environment that appeals to the young and old alike.  I’m restricted as to what I can attach to the walls.

Fusuma (paper doors) separate the  classrooms. It’s really hard to attach anything to a paper door. The classrooms are not very large so every square meter needs to be carefully utilized to obtain maximum results. Speaking of furniture and appliances…instead of buying new stuff and suffering from sticker shock, we found a great place that sells used stuff. It’s officially my favorite place to shop in Japan. I hate shopping, but I don’t mind going there. One of the benefits of Japan is that the Japanese love to buy new things. They discard perfectly good stuff so that people like me can buy it at bargain prices. Most of our purchases will be for Nakatsu since Tsukahara will have all of our stuff from the U.S. This brings up a sore subject. Since we can’t afford to build a garage in Tsukahara, we will have to store all of our stuff in the house. This means a 40 foot X 8 foot X 8 foot container worth of stuff. I hope we have enough room. We want to keep Nakatsu as empty and professional looking as possible. I’m getting a headache just thinking about it. I’m slowly learning that even the best laid plans tend to fail if you try too hard to stick to them.

George

Private Property, Welcome

I was in for a surprise when I drove onto our property and saw an obasan (old lady) walking around our property like she owned the place. Erika politely asked what she was doing. She said that she was harvesting warabi  (mountain vegetables). From my understanding, this was a common practice in the countryside. They come from all over to harvest warabi and wild berries when they are in season. I found the whole experience kind of strange since I was under the impression that we lived out in the middle of nowhere. These “bush people” park along the gravel road that leads to our home. At one time I saw a group of four people wandering in the tall weeds (over 2 meters high), actually I didn’t see them, I saw the weeds moving. I told Erika that in the U.S. they would be arrested or shot for trespassing. Interesting…all of a sudden I didn’t feel like we had any privacy. This was even more apparent since we didn’t have a bathroom to take care of things. I would look out for Erika and she would do the same for me when we had to take care of business. Erika asked the obasan if she were afraid of being bitten by a snake. She calmly said no and told us that it’s more dangerous if you don’t have boots on near your house. That made sense in a peculiar way. I thought the large bucks roaming in the weeds and bugling was unique when we visited last fall, but this certainly tops that experience. I could see the weeds moving and I knew there were people out there…searching…searching for mountain vegetables. I had to know what was so special about these delicacies. As fate would have it, our neighbor just so happen to be cooking up a lunch that included these elusive vegetables. I couldn’t wait to taste the wonderous flavors of warabi. It kind of looks like a green sprout. You know like when a small fern starts to open. I opened my mouth prepared to be taken away by the exotic flavor…nothing. It tasted like soy sauce. “What’s the big deal?” I couldn’t believe people would waste the time and risk being bitten by a poisonous snake to eat this. “I don’t get it.” The neighbor was quick to point out that the taste was more of a symbol than an actual taste. It was supposed to taste like spring time. “Oh, I get it.” I politely finished my plate and went back to whacking weeds.

I promised to join the “bush people” when the wild berries are in season. I was told all kinds of edible fruits and veggies grow wild in Tsukahara. When I was whacking weeds in the yard, I was afraid I was destroying someone’s natural dinner. I soon got over the feeling as the yard was quite large and I was getting very sore and tired. Erika and I took turns whacking weeds. The weed wacker was borrowed from her brother. I don’t know if they have this kind of tool in the U.S. Just picture a long pole with a small gas powered motor on one end and a spinning tablesaw blade at the other end. If you are not careful, a person could get seriously injured. It works very well for the intended purpose and someday I would like to purchase one. They run about $400.

We must have looked pathetic to visitors with our house in terrible condition, a yard full of weeds, I’m unable to walk, I haven’t shaved in 5 days, and no water or septic. At least the weather was good. We had to rest in the car because the house was uninhabitable. The neighbor brought us food and water while we tried to cut down the weeds. It felt good to work even though I could use only one leg. I think Erika was convinced that Japan was good for me after she experienced our little bit of hardship. She was impressed with the fact that I didn’t complain. In the U.S., I would have been upset, cussing and complaining about the situation. In Japan, I was perfectly calm and accepted the situation. I enjoyed the opportunities the situation opened up for us. We were given a chance to meet all sorts of kind and generous people because of our difficulties… it was fate.

George

Nakatsu

The dream of a bed and breakfast or a weekend café in Tsukahara is a long way off. It’s just not practical at the moment. A decision had to be made. If we moved to Japan without selling the house, then we had to work in the city during the week and enjoy Tsukahara on the weekends. If we waited to move to Japan until we sold the house, then we could remodel  the home in Tsukahara, but we still would have to have an income. Either way, we needed to spend some time in the city. Which city? Nakatsu ended up being the choice because of its location and schools. I’ll write more on this topic at a later time. Where in Nakatsu? We had to consider that we would have a business (an English school) in our rented house. Rented, because we could not afford another house. Since we had dogs and we wanted to have a business, we could not rent an apartment. So we needed to rent a house.

Finding a house that allowed piano, guitar, lots of kids, and two dogs was not easy. The house needed to be located near schools so that kids could easily come to our business. The house needed to be located near a park for the dogs. The house had to allow for extra parking for the business. The house couldn’t be too expensive to rent since we didn’t have an income. The house couldn’t look too old or run down or no one would come to our business. The house had to be large enough to accommodate two classrooms and a place to sleep and cook. As I mentioned in an earlier article, finding anything that had to do with real estate was a difficult task. Finding a house that met all of our requirements was an impossible task.

Erika searched many months for a suitable location via the internet. I’m guessing that Nakatsu has a population of 85,500. The city is spread out and it was important to know where our competition was located. This narrowed the search to a few areas. The largest middle school was located in an area that had a huge park. The competition was located a comfortable distance away. Erika started emailing a realtor that specialized in rentals. He was located in the area that we were interested in. As fate would have it, he had a home that was available that matched most of our needs. Our biggest concern was the floors. We preferred hardwood floors, but the house had tatami floors. We took a trip to the nearby home center and found some area rugs that could help solve the problem. The area surrounding the house was perfect. The schools were very close. The kids walked very close to our house as they went to school. The nearby park was huge! The dogs would love it. They have a large river, miles of hiking and biking trails, huge fields of mowed grass, a sporting complex, many picnic tables, and lots of mature trees. Parking was available at the house for 3 cars and extra parking was also possible for $40 a month. The fenced yard has a gate, so Kiley and Lucky can’t get out. The best part was that the landlord was willing to wait for us to move in October…fate. The rental papers for Japan will soon be ready to submit further committing us to move in October. Believe it or not, this is really going to happen. Stay tuned….

Repairs to My Knee and the House

As I mentioned before, we could not spend a single night in our home in Tsukahara. We did spend a lot of days there. To accomplish that, we had to commute from Erika’s brother’s home. His house is about 45 minutes away. This is where we stayed before we bought our home, so it wasn’t a big deal. It all worked out as we could use his home as a central location to take care of business in Nakatsu, Usa, and Yufuin. The lingering problem was my knee. After 5 days of excruciating pain, I decided to see my favorite doctor in Yufuin. As we had done 6 months before, Erika notified the nurse that I had no health insurance. They understood and kept any tests to a minimum and provided generic medication. The doctor suggested that I might be experiencing gout. He explained what gout was and he had pictures of gout crystals along with a plastic replica of a knee joint. Without doing any tests, he could not be certain, but he assured us that we didn’t have to go back to the U.S. earlier than planned. My neighbor was with us out of concern and she shared our relief about the diagnosis. I learned that gout does not affect only overweight people. Gout is prevalent in Japan because of the diet of seafoods and other foods rich in uric acid. My knee was a 100% after 3 days. I could begin working in Tsukahara on the rotted logs.

I had some interesting reactions to my methods of rot repair by the neighbor’s son and a contractor. The photos show how extensive the rot was. I’m not certain if they believed I could fix the problems. After the repairs were done, they acted surprised at the results. I’m not sure if it was out of amazement or if they wondered why I just didn’t replace the logs? I had a chance to test some Permachink products (sealants and stains)I brought from the U.S. Everything worked as advertised and I’ll be placing a large order soon. A retired contractor has been trying to find a person to build our garage for a reasonable price. He also has access to building materials at a reduced price. He has done a lot of work around the neighborhood and he often stops by to see how things are progressing. I know he loves the property and the house so much that he has offered to help with the restoration for free. I have to admit that I feel a little bit like Huckleberry Finn. I make the work look like so much fun that people are volunteering to help. Free is sometimes more expensive than if someone charges you. More on this topic, later. I worked on a vertical beam inside the house that had some severe water stains. The photos show that the stains were sanded out and treated with a clear gloss coat of acrylic. I’m really happy with the results. Ten or twenty years from now, the house will look brand new. I write ten or twenty years because until we sell the house in Washington, we have to work full time in the city. This brings us to another story.