Tile floor cleaning

Our gallery and office tile floors are getting dull and dirty with normal mopping over the years. This morning I have started scrubbing the floors with paste of Bicarbonate soda and Vinegar. It works. I will continue scrubbing the floor for a while.  
Since I came back from Japan last month, I feel guilty about the floor. It seems public area in Japan is getting cleaner and cleaner over the years - 30 years.

Pickles

Today is my day off. But I spent this morning to make these pickles. It seems very easy to make but I never done before. We can start eating them from tomorrow. Now I will put my feet up.

写真 - a picture of truth

My latest portrait was taken by Neville Prosser who is a photographer taking portraits of Japanese Artists living Australia as his project. I am one of them. We had an enjoyable time yesterday with him and his son as taking myself. Visit http://nevilleprosser.com/blog/?p=568

Now I have to face a picture of true myself.  My glasswork never gets old and it is fresh as the time I made 10 yeas ago or 20 years ago. But I am getting old as seen on the picture showing truth. I hope I get older gracefully.

New subtitle

I changed the subtitle of this blog today. It is "A Journey for her simple living". This is the way for my happy healthy life for my future.  I will try some small changes so often towards to my simpler living.

Second house, Second life, Retirement

Maybe because my age, I hear often the words around us. But almost all years of my life in Australia is a second life like a retirement in a second house ( without first house or first life). It is extremely busy and I only can keep going.

Dream becomes Real.

When you TALK about it..its a DREAM...When you ENVISION it..Its POSSIBLE.. But when you SCHEDULE it..ITS BECOMES REAL!!! -@tonyrobbins

I really like this, so put in my blog to read again and again.

A cold day

Normally a cold day ( feel a winter ) comes the end evening of Lovedale Lunch weekend, the second weekend of May . But this year it came about 4 days earlier. We had a cold day today.

This image is my new kitchen's entry door. I made a stencil and splayed it.

Bits and pieces of my new kithcen

Hanging fly pans from a Exhaust Canopy,Coffee Machine,Knifes on Magnet

Marble bench top and Spices

One of my dream was having a commercial kitchen which means it is very practical. Almost it finished and my dream is becoming a real. I have a lot more dreams working in this kitchen. Sometime I feel I am very slow learner and slow achiever. But if a life is a journey, I definitely enjoy my journey.

I do not know what to say.

I have not posted this blog since September. I am trying to change something in my life but it is not happening much. I made a few more cupcakes and we finished tiling for our commercial kitchen. I attended online business workshop last few months so I got a few idea to improve my website and e-commerce for my next step. I am going to shut down our furnace after 19th December, so I can clean my head as well as my house.

Espresso coffee class

We, my family and friends together attended a private class for espresso coffee making. It was very enjoyable and now we know how to make good coffee. Also we know now some shops do not care much to make coffee, so their coffee are bad taste.

Simple and Clean

I attract the words - Simplicity, Simple life, Cleaning. I got more books with the title including the words.

My actual current life is not simple or clean. My wardrobe, my kitchen cupboard and my desk are all messy. My front garden is untidy. But I wish my life to be simple and clean. I am learning and working on.

My new dream

I have started a training as an artist since 14 years old. I had two choices when I finished the art high school. 1st choice was going to an art collage and become an artist. 2nd choice was going to a professional cooking school near by my house and become a cooking professional. I passed the collage examination and I went to the art collage, but after them I did not become an artist. I worked in a cosmetic company as a planner of make up products. But since I came to Australia, I became a glass artist.

I did not mind to take cooking more seriously. I can see me in future teaching people in a cooking class. I am not good cook at all yet. I have to be a student first. I am not interested in serving food in an restaurant. I am just interested in having a class in my current gallery building. I have discovered an enjoyment in glassblowing class teaching recently. Having a small class of glass blowing or cooking class are fun. Is it too ambitious for an old woman?

I just put this dream in my to-do list before I die.

Today's cooking - A whole lettuce cooked in boiling water with salt and sesame oil was very good. The spring roll was disaster. It blew up and also it was too oily for me.

New watch - eco drive

I was very exhausted mentally and physically since the day before yesterday but I had to spend hours in shopping centre while our car was serviced yesterday. This is a bad combination and I had a retail therapy. It definitely cheered me up. One of things I bought was a watch which was called "Eco-drive". It runs by light and it never needs a buttery change. One of my watchs recently run out buttery. So it is good time to buy one. I was thinking to throw away some old watches this time. But I can not decide which one to go.

Newcastle night

My husband and I were wondering around Newcastle last night while our daughter's school party. We went to see a movie but it was awfully violent and we could not keep watching. So we had a lot more time. After all It was good night.

marukoさん、わたしの誕生日を覚えていてくれてありがとう。

私は昨日ひとつ歳をとりました。
人に私の誕生日を言いふらすほど若くないので、誕生日を無視してこのまま歳をとらないほうがいいぐらいですが，それでも覚えていてくれて嬉しいです．これからも毎日を大事に元気に生きていきたいです．夫が今私の後ろを通りこの画面を見て，私の誕生日にやっと気付きました．”何が欲しい？”なんていいましたが、”今更何も欲しくないけど，来年は覚えていて何か用意してくれればいい”と答えました．来年が楽しみです．

今朝作ったパンにトマトサルサをのせてみました．

Buy one new item and throw away something else.

I bought a cast iron casserole pot yesterday and thrown away some old flying pans, takeaway containers, empty glass jars, old plates today.

I would like to move to a smaller living space about 2years time.

Every time I get a new item, I try to find items to throw away.

Before I die ...

What I want to get done before I die - I have been thinking this question for a while. ( I do not have any health problem. )

• Cook and eat delicious food. I know I have very limited numbers I can eat in my life time. So when I eat something not so good, I feel I waste my life. But often I do not cook well or I don't feel to cook. And we eat fast food or something easy.
• Explore my ability in glass. Even after 27 years of glass making, I still have not reached my best yet. I cannot work long hours or cannot make large things any more, but I have so many ideas I want to try before I die.

This blog is my multi task diary.

This blog is becoming a very important part of my everyday life. I open this site many times or at least once a day even without new posting. It gives me a chance to think many things and look other peoples blogs from my favourite sites and their links.

As thinking of coming days of 2010, I am in panic. Because it seems not enough time to do all I want to achieve in a year. I pat myself to calm down and tell "Just do one thing at a time."

One step of an accommodation project

I went to a local council to get some information to develop a Bed & Breakfast and a Tourist Accommodation. At 2 years time my daughter will leave home. We would like to change our residence to an accommodation after that. 2 years sound long but we need quite many things to do - tidying up the house and garden, setting up our new residence. It is exciting to imagine a picture of accommodation and a new life.

Well dying means Well living

(This is mirror image. )
The book that I have just read is "よく死ぬことは，よく生きることだ”-Well dying means Well living" written by Akiko Chiba who died in 1987 after 6 years of battle with her breast cancer. The book published 3 month before she died.

She made a priority to-do list everyday and spent each day best as possible. She died without regrets. Life is preparation for death anyway, even I am not cancer.

I should ask myself everyday "Am I living well today?"