Finishing off odds jobs 2015

When we arrived at Obachan chi's one Friday evening, I thought our stay would be a cold one, after all it is winter! How wrong was I! The weather is generally warmer in Izu than where we are based in Yokohama. Surprisingly despite the little old farm house being far from seal prove and with air escaping from cracks throughout, we usually always stay warm. However I must add, that we do love our old kerosene heater! We are warm as toast. So what am I trying to say....well working on outdoor jobs is pretty comfortable weather wise in Izu.

So...moving onto my first job. In all honesty I wish I could present an exciting before/after reveal for you to see, but in reality we need to finish off some end of year jobs before welcoming in the new year. We also need to discuss the next job and what the budget will be and how and what we can recycle and then think some more. One thing is for sure, I didn't realize how satisfying it would be to repurpose something. I've got the bug!

                                                     

Returning to Obachan's I was keen to see how the replanting of the bulbs were going and if they were happy growing along the fence line....or not! While the presence of weeds was expected, once I had pulled them away, it revealed that our efforts had paid off. 

Look at all those weeds!

The bulbs were indeed happily growing along the wall as I had hoped. I can't wait to see them in full bloom towards the end of February, early March. And when they are I will definitely share my simple, gardening efforts with you. It's really rewarding when a no cost project produces such satisfaction! 

Our next essential job was to re-attach the blue tarp to the right-hand side of Obachan's roof. We suspect that a recent typhoon had blown it off. Over the years the timber has deteriorated and holes have appeared in the knots of the wood.

                                      

This was not an exciting job, but so necessary because over a decade the water has gotten in and bowed the ceiling.

                                 

So until we can actually change the timber, our bandage up remedy is to cover it over and hope that no more water leaks in through the ceiling. 

Growing in the local area (actually our neighbors down the road) are these sweet persimmons which are now being dried along bamboo sticks by the locals. Winter has come to this peaceful little part of Japan.
I'll be back in the new year to share some discoveries we found at Obachan's, one benefits your health and the other is an antique find.

I'd like to thank you, my loyal followers who check in to see our progress on the little old farmhouse. It truly is a labour of love for us, which also gives back to us with its peaceful setting. Wishing you all an exciting 2016 filled with much happiness, love and good health! 

Opening Pandora's Box

You know when you have to start on a task or job you don't want to do, but you know that once you start you'll feel better for doing it? Well the "black hole" or rather the kitchen was something we kept talking about, but avoided doing. So, when we got an offer from a relative to use his small tip truck, it was the nudge we needed to clean out the rubbish. Boy was there still a lot to clean out!

So what I am talking about you say...the kitchen can't be all that bad...right?! Well think again! Let's open the side door and take a look inside shall we.....

See what I mean? It's a total mess and has been left for more than ten years. Believe me when I say that we did clean out this area ten years old, but somehow there was still a bit more to clear out. To the left of the platform is a shoji screen that leads into the tatami area, which is the main living area. We have since removed the platform you see below, because the support joints had been chewed by termites! 

View from the side shoji screen

Collapsing kitchen sink

The kitchen traditionally in this type of farmhouse has a dirt floor due to safety factors (so I've been told, or really it could just be how it was back then). The bathroom is also part of this area.

In the end we ripped the old sink 

The ceiling had some old ply board hanging down, so we removed it, which  exposed the blackened beams

There was even a very old irori (open fire pit)

 The kitchen also shared the bathroom, but it has seen better days. Now you can see (below) the state of the bathroom and also understand why we have so many onsens!!   One thing is for sure, this area will make great before and after pictures!

So the initial plan is to clean out the place and then start laying a timber frame for the floor boards. It's a physically tiring job walking around in the rubble, but we'll survive and keep thinking of the bigger picture. We are also thinking about moving the kitchen to the extension area. It then gives the kitchen  a better outlook at the front of Obachan chi's than the present area which is at the back of the house. There is much to do and as you can see it is a very big project. We'll be taking small steps and of course thinking of the budget and how we can use recycled materials, which in all honesty is more satisfying at the end of the day.

*A very "Happy Birthday" to my mum today, who's encouraging comments (as we work at giving this little house some love), mean a lot to us! 

First impression- Part I

The entrance before entering the genkan area looks.....well....very sad. Like all the areas that are in need of some TLC around Obachan's they wait patiently for there day. The concrete had broken away welcoming weeds to grow and for dust and dirt to fly into the genkan, which bugged me no end! This project is a two part process. First we will concrete the rectangle area you can see below and the second part is the area in front of the engawa to the far left, not seen here. But don't worry I will share it all when we get to it.

So we initially pulled away the broken pieces of concrete.

A shallow trench was dug to lie the plank of wood in which then held the concrete in once poured.

All ready for the concrete.....

We went for the pre-mixed concrete again with it being such a small area and because its easier to use.

It was quickly spread out....

A creative idea came to me after the concrete was poured....I know bad timing!

See the roof tiles on Obachan's place...

........well we had a couple of spares (at the time I thought they were spares...oops!) and I thought this would look fun set into the concrete as a personal touch.

Yes I know...... the poor front sliding door is looking worse for ware! It is patiently waiting its turn for beautification. We have plans for our front door!

So this is where we are at the moment. It's coming along slowly, but it's an improvement.

I think you know what I'm going to say next....yeah...it's time for a well deserved onsen.

Unwanted visitors

If you have been following along with our little veggie garden that we planted sunflowers and  corn in at the end of summer, I must tell you that we had very rude guests who visited us while we were away. They ripped our sunflowers out from the ground and dug some rather large holes looking for small crabs. Yes, our dear neighbours from the mountain, the wild boars were in town. While we did plant the corn a bit too late, we were hopeful for at least one cob of corn. But it wasn't meant to be...

So we started digging up the ground and unearthed what would seem like hundreds of wild jonquil bulbs. Remember these are safe from the wild boars chompers! We also dug up the concrete blocks and formed a simple, uneven pathway. Trust me, its temporary for now. 

 My assistant was hard at work digging up bulbs and repotting them into her pots.

While I wish I could click my fingers and our little garden could look something this......

   

                                  gardenoholic.com

The reality is that this is the end result for now. It would be great if the grass could grow covering the bare patch of ground and the bulbs would bloom along the pathway, but we will see if our neighbors pay us another visit. Next time we hope they show us some manners. It is hunting season now, so there number might be up! 

                              
My sore muscles are heavy and tired from all the digging, chopping and lugging concrete blocks, but a hot onsen will fix my aches.

First Aid Repair

So we have a rotting problem. In the roof to be precise. It's something we've been aware of but never made it a priority to fix until now.

It all started when I painted the toilet ceiling and noticed the wood was moist and not fit for painting. So we got up on the roof and took a look around and this is what has been going on. Most probably during a typhoon, strong rain and winds the some roof tiles just flew off or may have been struck by a flying object.

Traditionally, the roof has a layer of clay laid onto a wooden frame and then the tiles are placed on top of them. It gives the home a very....well...earthy smell. I first noticed something was going on when I saw a tall weed proudly standing up high on the roof. At the time I didn't know that the clay was suppose to be there, so I started pulling it off and then realized my mistake.

So, dear husband did a temporary first aid repair until we can fully re-make the wooden frame at a later stage, but preferably before next summer hits again. He simply cut some timber from an old crate we had and placed it over the hole and then relaid the tiles. Unfortunately the corner tile was worse for ware and broke. Looking at that wooden frame, I honestly don't know how it can hold up all those tiles.

Here are some snaps I took around Obachan's local town. The roof below is of a converted kimono shop that is now a restaurant. 

 

 Here is the visitor's centre....

.....and a beautiful kura (storage building).

Here is a side view of Obachan's roof tiles. Notice the detailed pattern on the tiles? I came up with an idea that I will share with you later to highlight this craftsmanship on a recent project at Obanchan chi's. Considering how long this little old farmhouse has been sitting here through sunny days, typhoons, heavy rain, heat and cold it is still showing no signs of leakage. But "touch wood" that our luck so far lasts until we can do a proper job on repairing this little old roof.

 Now off to that onsen....

Tokonoma

This area in a traditional Japanese house is known as the Tokonoma. It is typically dressed with a scroll that expresses some wise words or a painting and a beautiful ikebana flower arrangement for artistic appreciation. However in Obachan chi's she used it to house her butsudan a decorative wooden display box, which she used to pray to her dearly departed husband and ancestors. 

Being respectful to his Obachan, my husband thought about it a lot before removing the butsudan. We both felt that the best way we could pay our respects was to give this little area some love, as you can see it was pretty overdue for a paint and the spiders liked living high up in the dark corners. Our idea is to freshen it up, put in some lighting and some fresh flowers....to remember Obachan, even though I only met her once on my first trip to Japan. Our assistant has also made the suggestion of placing a photo of her Obachan, her great-grandmother in a frame. But first things first...painting!

I went for white because it blends with the rest of the main living area.The area doesn't typically have a cupboard underneath, but we found that if we removed it, it would cause the mud wall to crumble. So for now we are going to leave it.

So once I had finished painting we started researching what type of lighting we could install. Keeping to a tight budget we found these black stick on battery operated lights, since we really didn't want to get into rewiring. All we need to do is just push them in the middle to switch on. They'll do the trick for now!

Pulling from the garden what we have on hand, the vibrant red higanbana brought an autumn flavour indoors! 

But the small vase was looking a little pathetic, so I changed it for something I have wanted to buy for awhile now. Behold......

                           

My sansaikago or small harvesting basket!  My assistant was happy to model how it is traditionally tied on the hip to collect wild vegetables collected from the mountain. There is also a much larger one that you wear on your back that has colourful straps, which would look great as a larger vase at the entrance to our genkan, but slow steps first. We need to beautify the front a bit more before I can buy that one ;) But here is my small harvesting basket in all its glory and I love it!

It's a big improvement from this......

To this..........

I feel it could do with a beautiful scroll or some printed Japanese material, so I'm on the look out and will share when I find it. The white and yellow flowers found a new home before we left Izu. On our way to Obachan chi's we pass her grave and it is our tradition to pay our respects when we leave; to thank her for looking over us as we give her little house some love and to take care of us as we travel home. She gets us home safely every time! Our assistant also loves to pray to her great-grandmother.

One more photo...just because! 

Oops! I must fix up where the roller brush got away from the wall and landed on the cupboard!