Frank and Josie's House

So there I was preparing a blogpost all about the new life we are living when I get some bad news from back home. Our beautiful labrador, Ebby, who is the sweetest personality, was gravely ill and the vet saw it as a kindness to put her to sleep. He said in all likeness she had bone cancer and it had progressed quickly. For ages she had been getting stiff on her back legs but I think she had been hiding from us how much pain she was in. My sister had to deliver the news and with the time difference that meant it was the children’s bedtime when we spoke but lunchtime for her. We had just come home from a lazy dinner out when our world was shaken by the news that our wonderful friend was in a huge amount of pain and not the happy thing she is normally. We had to keep the kids out of the room as our eldest was away and we didn’t feel it was fair to tell the others and not her. The hardest thing was keeping it from our son that one of his dearest friends was basically waiting to die. My da

I can feel the humidity ease as soon as the rain starts to fall. It rains here in Japan. It rains a lot! It really rains when it rains as well. No piddly “it’s just spitting” for this country. Oh no! It means it when it rains. And the humidity means it when it ramps up in the day’s before the rain. I’m sitting on a balcony in Starbucks (not very japanese eh?) enjoying the fresh, rain-scented air. I have ten minutes before my bus and this is my go-to cafe when bussing it. Why when I could choose the cute little coffees shops that are everywhere here? Well because of this balcony. There are only a few coffee shops I’ve noticed that have outdoor seating and having come from France, where outdoor seating is a must for every café and restaurant, I find this little space comforting. That and the baristas in this branch actually make a really nice mocha! Abd my bus stop is right outside The little cafés are too stuffy for me. Maybe in winter I’ll feel differently but for now this little weste