Japanory

Meeting Strangers from an Internet Forum…

Monday 4^th August – Friday 8^th August 2008

I've mentioned before that I'm a member of The Bad Mothers Club. (If you're interested to know what this site is all about, take a look at the discussions here).

Anyway, some local members want to meet me! How lovely of them.

I've got no internet connection. Well, I have, but it's old fashioned dial-up only in the house in Exeter. So, through lots of phone calls – usually with me stuck in the hedge at the bottom of the garden due to there being no mobile signal in the house – we've finally managed to get a small group meet organised.

A little nervously, Jane and I made our way to the meeting point in a café and wait for random strangers I've only "met" on the internet to make themselves known to us. I suppose my appearance helps people find me – red and black hair isn't that usual – or it wasn't then.

We met a truly lovely bunch of ladies and some of their children and went for lunch in a place I'd never been to before. After lunch we had a quick poke around some gorgeous vintage clothes shops and then made our way back to our various homes.

I really hope I can do this again some time. It was wonderful to put faces to names and meet the real people behind the forum nicknames.

This was also before Facebook took off, so we really were meeting "strangers". It was fabulous!

Miniature Pony Centre - Again

Monday 4^th August – Friday 8^th August 2008

Rhiannon wants to take Eve to the pony centre.

I hate the drive there - all narrow windy roads which, when I lived here presented no problems at all. But that was long ago and I've become more used to city driving now.

There are enough activities to keep the two girls busy and happy for the day although I worried about Jane's ability to walk up and down the hilly fields. Still, there's plenty of places for her to rest and it's a way of passing the time.

The house is way too small to stay inside and we can't afford to keep going into Exeter.

Luckily the weather was kind to us, and now it's summer holidays for the UK kids too, there are some extra activities laid on. Including face painting.

We ended up with two rather scary geishas!

A Car Park Mistake

Monday 4^th August – Friday 8^th August 2008

Although Exeter city centre is within just-about-walkable-distance from the house, it's a bit too far with children and with Jane still fairly weak I drove us all up there and parked in a car park at the edge of town.

Off we wandered, looking at the shops, getting coffee and a sit down, browsing the books and magazines before finally ending up at the other end of town outside Hawkins Bazaar. Rhiannon was on the verge of kicking off about getting get another toy when she'd already been spoiled enough. I was tired through lack of sleep when suddenly I remembered the stupid parking system in Britain.

Hells bells! It was a Pay and Display car park and I hadn't done either!! OMG (I had to get that in here somewhere.)

Car parks in Japan are all sensible. Either you take a ticket at the barrier on the way in and pay for the time you've spent in there on the way out. Or in other car parks a clever raised clamp thing pops up under your car so you can't leave until you've paid at the machine (each parking space is numbered, so you tap in your bay number, pay and the clamp lowers).

So I made Rhiannon come with me all the way back to the car park, hoping against hope that we hadn't been clamped of fined or towed away. Thankfully, none of these had happened. So I paid and displayed – eventually.

And Eve got her "fluffy ball".

Fluffy Ball and Pizza Lamp

Monday 4^th August – Friday 8^th August 2008

We took the kids to the local park to run off some energy. Yes, it was still raining – it is Devon, after all!

Jane still gets tired pretty quickly so we headed home after a while and ordered a Chinese to be delivered. The kids played happily upstairs while we caught up on life, the universe and everything.

Eve took a huge fancy to a toy of Rhiannon's - what she dubbed as "Fluffy Ball" – it's this from Hawkins Bazaar. So we promise a shopping trip and I said I'd buy her one of her own.

The rain stopped and we sent the kids outside to run around the quiet cul-de-sac. It wasn't quiet for long… Dusk was falling and the photo-sensitive ligts came on. For some unknown reason Eve dubbed these "Pizza Lamps" – not because of their shape but because she thought they smelled like pizza. They don't. But it became a theme of the week and kept two nutty girls in hysterical laughter for days. We still talk about it now. Funny what things children invent when the TV "doesn't work"… (tee hee!!)

At bedtime, things got 'interesting'. The house has just two small bedrooms, a single and a twin. Of course, the girls want to sleep together so they get the twin, Jane needs proper sleep so she gets Rhiannon's single room and I have a tiny mattress on the floor in the living room. It didn't actually work out like this at all. I've mentioned before that Rhiannon is a dreadful sleeper and, being super-overexcited, sleep was NOT going to happen. We played musical beds each and every night of the week and usually ended up with Jane and Eve in the twin and Rhiannon in her room – I stayed downstairs. Sometimes, if Jane was already in bed, Rhiannon would sleep on the floor with me.

Tired.

The Big Surprise!

Sunday 3^rd August 2008

Today's the day!

It started with rain and ended with joy.

Here's the story...

When Rhiannon was in nursery in Northants, she had a lovely best friend, Eve. Eve's mother, Jane and I became close friends too. We spent a lot of time together.

Rhiannon and Eve on Rhiannon's 4th birthday

Then Jane developed an aggressive form of breast cancer and her partner left her. Let's not even get into the second part of that dreadful sentence. Jane left the area and moved closer to her family near Coventry where I drove up to visit on a few occasions. We'd take the kid's to a soft play area attached to a pub where they ran riot while Jane bravely endured the rude stares at her scarf covered head and offloaded to me about her ex and her debilitating and lengthy chemotherapy.

Although she was still enduring treatment, she felt strong enough to catch the train down to Devon for a much-needed holiday. Because she still had off-days between treatments, she couldn't guarantee she would be able to keep her promise, which was fine. But was also the reason I hadn't told Rhiannon about the plan. Rhiannon is fully aware of Jane's condition, but I didn't want to raise her hopes for something as exciting as a visit and a whole week with her very best friend in case Jane wasn't strong enough to make the considerable trip.

As soon as I had a call saying that they were on the train I knew "it" was on.

So at the time the train was due, I dragged a grumpy child away from British TV and into the car to drive to the station.

"Why are we going here?"

"We're going to watch the trains"

"We're WHAT? No, that's boring and I don't want to. I want to go home" ad infinitum…

In the station where the train was just pulling in, I spotted Jane as soon as they appeared near the gates. Rhiannon stared at her with a puzzled expression – Jane had a full head of hair so probably wasn't recognisable considering the time scale since we'd seen her looking so well. Then she spotted Eve and still didn't quite believe it until Jane and I hugged.

Then Rhiannon squealed with utter joy and embraced her friend in a massive bear hug.

Awww!

All Change!

Saturday 2^nd August 2008

The time has come for Tim to leave us. Rather than drive all the way back to Mum's and endure the drive back down to Devon again – which wiped me out last year – he has decided to take the train to visit his best friends in Milton Keynes then travel to Heathrow via Mum's. He has to get back to Hampshire to collect the luggage we left there and will also take the bulk of our shopping with him.

So I get to keep the car, which is essential in Devon. It also means I will have to deal with handing it back to the hire firm. But I'll cross that bridge later.

Anticipating a major meltdown from Rhiannon I have a Cunning Plan (yes, another one – I'm still not entirely convinced the Very Special Sneaky Surprise will happen for reasons that will become clear tomorrow…!)

For a while now, Rhiannon has been saying for quite some time she wants her hair cut. At first I was sceptical as she's always wanted "Princess Hair", but she kept going on about it so she obviously meant it. Her hair is extremely fine and wispy and will never be the long, golden curls she dreams of. Also, I think a shorter cut will suit her immensely. I heartily agree with her decision, but have been pretending I don't want her to have it cut, as I think this will be the perfect distraction to Daddy's leaving. Clever huh?!

We drop Tim off at Exeter St David's station in the morning and just as Rhiannon's tantrums and tears start, I said "So, shall we go and get your hair cut then?"

Instant success! Off to Toni and Guys we go and Rhiannon ended up with an absolutely gorgeous chin-length bob. She looked stunning and so grown up.

But I completely forgot to take a picture of her on the day it was done I was so busy trying to keep her mind off Daddy not being there. This one is after about a month of growth.

We did a bit of shopping. I caved and bought her a Nintendo DS - purely with an ulterior motive; the thought of having a super-hyper child on the 12 hour flight back to Tokyo is daunting to say the least. So I hope this gadget will alleviate her constant chatter. Then went out for a girly dinner and home to watch a movie.

BIG surprise for her tomorrow – I hope.

A Perfect Day - Lyme Regis

Sunday 27^th July 2008

We've arranged to meet some friends who we met here in Tokyo and have since moved back to the UK.

For some reason we decided that Lyme Regis was a good place to meet. They had a heck of a journey to reach this beautiful town, but were very happy to do so. It took a few phone calls when we got here to actually find them but we were soon reunited. They have two delightful children and Rhiannon had a fantastic time with them.

I adore Lyme Regis with its wonderfully pebbly beach, interesting shops and, of course, the fossils. Although a very uncomfortable beech to sit on, I can spend many a happy hour there finding stones. I have a bit of an obsession with rocks and stones and have quite a collection from around the world. Which is a subject of much complaint when it comes to moving house… yes, I'm peculiar, but I don't care.

With my new, better quality camera I sat taking hundreds of candid shots of the children. Some of my favourite photos of Rhiannon are from this single day.

We were incredibly lucky with the weather and it stayed glorious all day.

Lunch was taken in a café on the seafront and right in the middle of it some sort of fun-run took place. Competitors of all ages took part, even children. It was great to watch and cheer them on.

Wandering along the promenade I was suddenly transfixed by a man balancing stones on top of other stones in amazing, gravity-defying natural sculptures. This was the famous Adrian Gray and I will hopefully see his incredible work again someday. I wasn't allowed to take photos of his creations, which is fair enough as he finances himself by selling his own pictures. One day I hope to own one. The others didn't share my enthrallment and dragged me away to the other end of town. They wanted to go to the fossil museum which I have visited many times before, so, in order to save on the entrance fees, I wandered around the back streets where I found shops selling jewellery made from fossils.

After finding a lovely pub for a typical British pub dinner (fish and chips all round!), we walked back along the sea front to a small sandy bay.

Once sunset neared, the sea settled into a mirror-like state and I got my camera out again. I must make the effort to take this camera out more often – the picture quality is worth it. But my standard one is more portable.

We all had a wonderful day out with good friends in a stunning town enjoying perfect weather.

It doesn't get much better than that.