Another blog

I've been making another blog - for cooking :)

I post some of my cooking ideas in this RE blog, but the new blog is 100% cooking and food.

Take a look here:

http://eating-easy.blogspot.com/

Using refillable bottles

Do you use refill packs for your household cleaners and toiletries?

Sometimes it is difficult to pour all of the contents into the bottle, and it takes ages. But I've found if you cut a small hole in the bottom of the pack, the liquid comes out really easily.
You should try it!

What do cats do?

What do we do in our free time?

Walk on top of the new TV (until shouted at, then understand it is bad - don't do that again).

Walk along the top of the curtain rail in the living room. 

(Continue to do this, no matter how much Mummy shouts.)

Sit with legs hanging over Daddy's computer.

Mummy gets very angry if we walk all over her keyboard or stand on the laptop and press some buttons. She is VERY angry if we press the "control" button and make strange things happen.

Sit on top of the rail in the bathroom.

(Wait here every night while people are in the bathroom, then suddenly MEOW loudly at them when they come out. Roll around and almost fall off ..... Mummy gets very angry about this.)

Make tunnels under the feather-down quilt .... 

..... or jump on top of the quilt because it is fluffy and it is fun to squash the air out of it.

Guard a toy.

And sleep, 

and eat,

and sleep some more,

and run around crazy,

and sleep ....

Girls' Day

March 3rd is Girls' Day in Japan, though sadly not a public holiday ...

Here are some lovely dolls. I wish I could have a set like this! Thank you K for sharing your photos.

By the way, every time I look at such dolls, I'm reminded of The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon. I like to imagine that one of the ladies in waiting is Shonagon, though she would certainly laugh about that!

From the top:
Emperor and Empress, Ladies in waiting,
Court Musicians, Guardsmen, Workmen

And even Google is celebrating Girls Day. This morning I found this when I turned on my computer.

Not or no?

Are you confused how to use NOT and NO?

Look at these examples. Can you find any grammar pattern?

I have no money.
Peter was no help at all.
There is no salt on the table.

This pattern is:   no + uncountable noun
The meaning = do not have = does not exist = 。。。がない

****************

It is not cold today.
I am not tall.
Peter is not rich.
I am not a doctor.

This pattern is:   be verb + adjective
                        be verb + noun
The meaning = not that condition = not that thing = 。。。ではない

****************

I will not go to school tomorrow.
I have not seen Taro this week.
I do not like orange clothes.

This pattern is: not + verb
The meaning = 動詞 + ない　


By the way, for Part One, we often change "no" to "not".  Now the verb is negative and we use "any".
I don't have any money.
I haven't any money. (British English style)
Peter wasn't any help at all.
There isn't any salt on the table.

Keeping your letters clean

Spring is on the way and it is always really windy and dusty. I hate it when dust gets into the letterbox and then my letters get dirty :(

An easy way to stop the problem is to go to a 100yen shop and buy a piece of fake grass tile. Cut the tile in half to fit into your letterbox, and now the dust will fall down under the tile and your letters will be on top. Clean!

Hozomi vegetable shop

I buy almost all my vegetables and fruit from this small vegetable shop near my house.

The shop is owned by a young farmer, and his friends who are also farmers sell their produce there, too.

They are not certified organic, but use no chemicals or as little as they can. But best of all, the veggies are REALLY fresh and taste great. They taste like vegetables should taste like :) Sometimes the produce is damaged by frost, etc, but it still tastes nice! I much prefer imperfect vegetables than beautiful ones from a supermarket that have no taste.

Another thing we learn from shopping here is which vegetables and fruits are truly in season. Of course, summer has many more choices, but it is important to eat the foods in season and not eat many imported foods. So even though I love red and yellow bell peppers, I have to wait until the summer to eat them :(

Some fruit such as the oranges you can see in the photo, do come from another prefecture, such as somewhere in Shikoku, but everything else is local. This is also the same shop where I buy the free-range eggs - direct from Mr. Hozomi's chickens every day.

This basket full of produce cost 2, 620 yen. This week was a little more expensive than usual because I bought strawberries and some citrus fruit.

Here is what I got:
12 eggs, 2 packs of spinach, stick of mountain potato, lettuce, tomatoes, rape-blossom greens, horse-radish, turnips, baby potatoes, shallots, Chinese cabbage, lemons, kumquats.