You may enjoy this book
Beautiful language and sentiment from Japan
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I met an English bloke at the Kine, and he was 84, my elation knew no bounds. 
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I’ve just downloaded this and the info given about it reads:
Description
A wonderful sui generis novel about a visiting cat who brings joy into a couple’s life in Tokyo
A bestseller in France and winner of Japan’s Kiyama Shohei Literary Award, The Guest Cat, by the acclaimed poet Takashi Hiraide, is a subtly moving and exceptionally beautiful novel about the transient nature of life and idiosyncratic but deeply felt ways of living. A couple in their thirties live in a small rented cottage in a quiet part of Tokyo; they work at home, freelance copy-editing; they no longer have very much to say to one another. But one day a cat invites itself into their small kitchen. It leaves, but the next day comes again, and then again and again. Soon they are buying treats for the cat and enjoying talks about the animal and all its little ways. Life suddenly seems to have more promise for the husband and wife — the days have more light and color. The novel brims with new small joys and many moments of staggering poetic beauty, but then something happens….
As Kenzaburo Oe has remarked, Takashi Hiraide’s work “really shines.” His poetry, which is remarkably cross-hatched with beauty, has been acclaimed here for “its seemingly endless string of shape-shifting objects and experiences,whose splintering effect is enacted via a unique combination of speed and minutiae.”
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While I’m talking about the Kine and oldies, I was due as usual at 5pm yesterday for the 1st of my thrice weekly sessions. Sometimes I have a little siesta in the afternoons so I set the alarm on my phone. 4pm for kine days which gives me time to walk Jules and get to the cabinet before time, and 5pm on non kine days which gives me time to walk Jules and start getting his dinner ready for 6.
On Monday, despite checking the whole day on my calendrier first thing, I mysteriously thought it was Sunday. The result was that I roused just after 5 and went walking with my mate. Half way round for no particular reason, it suddenly hit me that it was Monday, and half past 5. Apologetic text followed to the kine mistress. 
Could be a suitable gift? The French version is “Le chat qui venait du ciel” and is quite charming.
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Definitely need to resurrect thorn (þ, Þ) for the “th” sound.
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Its back! Covid has reared its ugly butt again down here and my son and his son are pretty ill at the moment after the little girl was bad last week and mum is also feeling it but not so bad, one of the hazards of being a teacher and using a crèche these days. The blood test confirmed a virus from the covid family and this one turns into bronchitis, very high fever and also cases of conjunctivitis have been reported. So, out with the masks once again to transport them to the doctor and pharmacy again or run errands. Be vigilant especially in waiting rooms.
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I’m sorry to hear that Shiba. Hope everyone gets over it soon.
Thanks, as usual I came away from the pharmacy with a bag load of medication for them. Just thought I would warn folks it’s still about and DIL said more than half of her class are absent with it too. Hopefully the hot weather will start to make them all feel better again.
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Also in the UK - one of my business networking colleagues had a dose of it a couple of weeks ago - although he is a travel agent so could have picked it up from anywhere!
I’m taking my 100-year old Mum in for her NHS spring COVID jab on Monday.
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So we arrived at the house. The shutters over windows and door were still secure and when we opened up it all felt good. Electricity on, it’s fine. Unload, then park the car.
My wife went off to the loo and I suddenly remembered that the water was off, so down to the cellar I went. Turn the tap, and instead of the usual brief spurt as the system re-pressurises it just kept running. Then I hear my wife exclaiming loudly. Another Brit with a second home here warned me a couple of years ago that sometimes it can get cold enough to push pipes apart in empty homes. Off with the water PRONTO!
So we mopped and bucketed for about an hour, then had lunch - a lot of water went under the (old, grotty, useful) double sink unit. Since then I’ve reconnected the main cold water feed in the downstairs bathroom/baunderie that was pushed apart, replaced the 2 popped flexible pipes for the basin there and the cistern filler for the downstairs loo. The bath/shower mixer upstairs is broken apart by ice formation and will need complete replacement - water there is off because the isolation valves work for the room.
There doesn’t seem to be any serious damage, but it’s annoying to have to replace the mixer that’s less than 2 years old. This is the first time since probably 2018 this happened - I think the house was empty since then. It’s also inconvenient because our son is coming over from Switzerland tonight, so we can’t give him his own bathroom.
At least nothing bad happened.
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Can I ask AM, when you leave do you leave taps open so removing a possible pressure build up if freezing.
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There should be a drain valve next to the mains stop cock, and always disconnect shower mixer taps as the ceramic insides are very susceptible to freezing
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I’ve not been leaving taps open so far, but it looks like we need to start. There is indeed a drain valve, and maybe in future I’ll use it before closing up for the winter. This reinforced the importance of shutting off water before leaving.
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Very sorry to read about your misfortune - and it must feel even worse after a long journey.
You’re not in the UK, but are still quite northerly and a lot of people I know down here have said there’s been lower temps than usual this last winter. We’ve not really had any frost, but I’ve still lost quite a few plants.
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Thanks Mark, I’m really grateful I had enough bits and experience to fix this stuff. Perhaps there was a sustained period of freezing weather with no cold clear days to provide some solar gain and lift the temperature inside the house.
My OH always left ALL taps open both inside and out and also back in the UK when we first started to come on visits. Also he would leave the chauffe-eau tap open too as there was an overflow pipe.
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It sounds like you’ve had a lucky escape. Could have been worse.
Are the joints that have been popping, plastic pipes?
We’ve had colder than normal - not the coldest, but more sustained cold.
Copper compression fitting on the mains feed, plus 2 flexible connectors on the tap. I can see another copper compression fitting was moved about 2mm but is still tight and dry.
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Also, realisation that today is the Sunday of a bank holiday weekend, and les hypermarches sont fermé exceptionelle. This explains why the Super U in Tonnerre was so very busy yesterday.
So I’m in this morning, baking bread for dinner. Tonight we’ll eat out.
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