Japan

We got home from Japan Monday morning and it's taken till now for me to have the energy to post.  There were 2 typhoons while we were there, the first delayed us from getting to Miyajima the island we were going to.  They suspended trains and ferries and we had to stay on the mainland.  Luckily our daughter, with her great Google skills found us a hotel overlooking the water so we had shelter from the storm.
The new day we went to Miyajima and it was a beautiful place.  We explored the "floating" Shinto Shrine and did some drawing.  We stayed at a Roykan, a traditional Japanese hotel, with dinner served on a low table and futons to sleep on.  It was wonderful.  After dinner our daughter and I went down to the communal baths, one for women and one for men.  It felt heavenly.
This has got to be one of my favorited places in Japan.
The next day we headed to Kyoto.

On the ferry

The view from our room

Our room

The floating Torii

The Shinto Shrine with the tide in.

Setting up our dinner

bedtime

Japan

We're in Japan.  The typhoon made us a day late to our Sunday destination, Miyajama, but we got here this morning and it's beautiful.  We're staying in a Ryokon, a Japanese style room.  Thank God there are some chairs or I'd be crawling around on the floor.  Next stop is Kyoto.

Lunch

We went to the Cotton Exchange for lunch and didn't have our old reliables----Low Country Boil for  Mac and Shrimp Salad for me--.  Mac had Fried Grouper and Shrimp (he would have preferred it to have been broiled or baked) and I had a Shrimp Po Boy.  They were good, but not as good as our old favorites.  We also shared a plate of Calamari and it was delicious.
There would be more pictures but I'm having trouble getting them off my phone.
In Big News we have air conditioning---FINALLY.

Anniversary

It's our 53rd Wedding Anniversary and we're getting ready to head downtown for lunch.  I say it's our anniversary, but technically it's not.  I think, and I do have to think about it, our anniversary is August 27th.
You see, we were engaged to be married on the 10th of September and that August Mac received his draft notice---the war in Vietnam was going on.  But married men were exempt.  Mac called his draft office and they rescinded the notice because we were getting married.
Then on the 26th of August they declared that after midnight of the 26th married men who weren't already married wouldn't be exempt.
I was living at home with my parents, Mac lived with his.  When he got home from work he grabbed his Mother----he was old enough to be drafted, but not old enough to sign to get married, he needed a parent.  They picked me up, we headed to Nevada when there was no waiting period to get married and drove like crazy.
Others had the same idea.  We waited in line and it was after midnight before we got our license, but we found a chapel and got married anyway.
My Mother-in-law was concerned that my parents would want our church wedding before we slept together, so I slept with my Mother-in-law instead.
Two weeks later we had our church wedding and Mac had his Army physical 3 days later.
Then in November---no idea of the date--- we were married in the Catholic Church.
So we've been married 3 times, celebrate the 10th of September and looking forward to many more.

Already Gone

The header painting has been sold, it didn't even last a week.  It will be on its way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana tomorrow.  Mac got my bigger version done and it's hanging in the bedroom.  Hope the lady likes hers as much as I like mine.

Not Yet

No air conditioning yet, they now say Monday or Tuesday, but they brought us a second portable air conditioner. They're noisy, but work pretty well.  Once you leave the family room area it gets hot pretty quickly.  We have a window air conditioner in the bedroom and I don't know how we'd sleep at night if we didn't.
Got my hearing aid yesterday and it's just right, I can hear everything.
Went out to breakfast today, delicious as always.
Hoping to have air conditioning soon.

Well Pooh Again

It's still summer here, so what happened Sunday?  Our new
, we just had it put in in January to the tune of $6,000 went out.  And it being Sunday we couldn't call anyone and Monday was Labor Day so again we couldn't call anyone.  But bright and early Tuesday we called the folks who installed it.  I had doctor appointments all day so we set it up for them to come out in the late afternoon.  And they did.  The fan blade in the fan part of it had broken off.  They promised to order the part and return the next day.  Today they called and said they couldn't get the part till tomorrow, but they brought out a portable air conditioner.  It's not as cool, but it's cooler than the 88 it was without it.
In other news my doctor appointments went well.  And tomorrow I go to pick up my hearing aid to try out.
Quite a week.

Just Being Lazy

Can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I posted.  Nothing major going on, just life.  Been lots of rain, not too hot and now we're into September my favorite month.  We'll be having our 53rd wedding anniversary next week on the 10th and my birthday is on the 28th---can't believe how old I am, wasn't I just in grade school?
Just before my birthday we'll be flying to Japan to see our daughter, can't wait.
Had our yearly Medicare physicals with our primary doctor--he said my lungs sounded great.  He's also getting me a hearing aid to try out.  The chemo wrecked the hearing in one of my ears, all the little hairs died and they aren't coming back.  I'm not deaf, but I don't hear like I should.  Most hearing aid cost in the thousands and Medicare and our supplemental insurance won't pay for them.  This hearing aid is much cheaper and I get to try it out for a month to see if it works for me.
This Tuesday I meet with all my other doctors to set up a maintenance schedule to keep an eye on my lungs.
We went out to lunch on Friday to Denny's because I was craving Chicken Fried Steak which is not chicken, but rather a thin piece of beef covered in flour and fried, served with white gravy.  It took a half hour to get it and it wasn't worth the wait.  It was over-cooked and had little taste.  The gravy was ok.

Borrowed the picture off the net, my steak didn't look this good.

Rain again this morning, 3 thunderstorms yesterday morning and one day this week  got over 2 inches.  It's definitely been a wet summer.  Doesn't cool things off, just makes them steam.

Been reading a ton of books this summer, most just ok. Did enjoy A Short History of Montmaracy a YA book by Michelle Cooper, the first in a 3 part series.  It's about a family living in a decrepit castle on an island in the Bay of Biscay in 1936.  Some complained that it was too much like I Capture the Castle, but it's been so long since I read that that I can hardly remember it.

Have also been reading J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady series about a sheriff in Bisbee, Arizona and some of Robert Goddard's books.  Some I've read before (Sight Unseen) and some not (Hand In Glove ).  He always has so many twists and turns in his stories.

So that's been my 2 weeks.

The new header is Mac's new painting.  I liked it so much that he's painting me a bigger version of it .  This one's for sale.

A Trip

We took a trip this weekend, we flew to Atlanta.  That's our first trip since my diagnosis and it felt wonderful.  Because I have a Platinum credit card from American Express I get a free ticket once a year and that's what we used.  I paid for my ticket and Mac got his free.  And what was even nicer, they upgraded us to Economy Comfort on the way up and to First Class on the was back.
Stayed at the Renaissance Hotel right at the airport with a view of the planes landing and taking off.  On Friday night we went to a baseball game at Sun Trust Park to see the Braves play the Colorado Rockies, we lost.  But it was a beautiful park, we had great seats and we enjoyed it.
Saturday we went to the Georgia Aquarium which we didn't enjoy---too crowded, too many baby buggies and too many displays that weren't live fish.
For lunch on Saturday I asked Siri to find us a restaurant near the aquarium and she gave us a list and I chose Benihana's.  We haven't been to one of those is years.  Love the cooking done at your table.  Mac had Calamari and Scallops and I had Shrimp.  Both meals came with mushroom soup, fried rice and fried veggies.  It was so good.  I ate the most food that I've eaten in months.  It was fun to watch what the other folks at the table had too.
We took a car service to get around town, neither of us can do too much walking.  We had the same driver the whole time, we would call and he'd come and get us.  Really nice gentleman from Ghana.
Atlanta has always been the largest city in Georgia, but it's gotten huge and the traffic was awful.  Glad we live down here on the coast.

My view at Benihana's

The view from our room.

The Badger playing guitar on the balcony at our hotel.

The pictures are out of order because Blogger wouldn't let me move them around, sorry.

Saturday Morning

It's Saturday morning and I should be cleaning up the kitchen, but I thought I'd do a quick post instead.  Mac took some pictures of my new plants, he has one more to pot---a Texas Lilac---we were looking for a Buddleia, but they didn't have any.  He also took so photos of our neighborhood alligator, he is growing quickly.

Isn't he a handsome young alligator

Zinnias

Gardenias

Ginger Lilies

Well Pooh!

My hair's falling out.  Just when it was coming in thick and growing every day.  So I want it to fall out quickly so it can start to grow again.  It was looking cute, now I have bald sidewalls.
Had a great week.  Managed to exercise twice, started a new painting and found more things to paint. It's commissary shopping today with a stop at Lowes and Hobby Lobby.  My Gardenia looks so pretty I want another one.  Need to get off my duff and take some photos.
Rained every day this week except for yesterday.  All that rain has kept our pool cool, usually by this time of year it's almost too warm to swim in.
It seems so strange to see all the photos from England showing yellow grass.  Here it's so green and the weeds are having a field day.  About the only thing blooming though are the Zinnias and the Ginger Lilies.
More sad news from Mac's cousin's family.  In addition to the cousin's house burning down, their sister who lived in Colorado passed away.  So sad.  She was my age, but I don't know the details yet, but we will send flowers.
Mac had another cousin call this week, just felt the urge to talk to everyone, know the feeling.  Then last night we talked with Mac's brother and his wife.  They're just back from Montana where they went to a cowboy wedding and then to Glacier National Park.  They live in the San Francisco Bay Area and said their flight home was 2 hours and then their drive home (which isn't that far) was also 2 hours---too much traffic.  That's one of the reasons the other cousin Mac talked to said they're retiring next year and leaving California.  It's definitely one of the reasons we left.  Just too many people.
Skyped with our daughter this morning--what a great invention Skype is.  Our daughter hates talking on the phone, but loves Skype, it's so much more personal.
Well that's all from here, hope you're having a great Sunday.