Val's snippets.

Add to the list of gifts a lettuce, delivered by a large group after they had done morning exercise in the park. It was  fresh and nicely washed.
And even more surprisingly a kimono. It belonged to Eije's grandmother, and survived last year's earthquake. It is lovely crepe silk, and it is fine for me to re  make it. Eije's was also surprising for having the longest hair I have ever seen. He is a tall man and it nearly reached the ground.

Lucky I asked is this a tin of tuna fish. No, cat  fish. That might be OK. Then I saw the cute cat on the side of the tin. Lucky.

Japanese names are hard for us to pronounce. It's the same for them with B's and W's.  So I am Bal, and we have spent the day oofing.

There was a saying, "by guess or by God'. We find out way about "By guts and by Google". All praise to Mr Google
for maps and translate. I might bake him some cookies when I get home
Consequently we have learnt about two words of Japanese..... Shame on us.

Choosing where to go has been interesting. Before we left home I thought up a coastal route, imagining little fishing villages,  sandy beaches, maybe a sun lounger and a drink with a little umbrella in it.
Well, yes to fishing villages, but not a hint of a cafe, Rick Stein, or harbour side bar. The whole cost line has been seriously defended with big concrete sea walls and breakwaters. And the few beaches sadly  littered.
We are not on the tourist beat.

And then the hills. We now know impossible to avoid, but also with determination we can "do" them.
Google maps shows terrain. It's like a two year old has gone mad on the map with a fat 6b pencil.

Struggling up a mighty hill I heard a big voice, from a passing car. 'You can do it' . This did spur me on. And the view was worth it.


Some  hours later a car stopped in front, and a lovely woman introduced herself. " It was me, and I want to do something like that one day". Inevitably we are then asked our ages, Don gets a big wow for his 77