Ode to Nan

Life has been what you could say a little busy lately. As usual I promise to update the goings on very soon, but in the meantime my daughter has started for me! As soon as we got home from taking my Mum to the train this morning she asked if she could write on her blog. The result is here. It is totally unedited and unprompted by me - there may be a bit of imagination needed with the spelling, but I'm sure you will get the message. We loved having you here Nan! I'll be back in the blogging world soon....

Fish and Chips

My mother arrived last night and we ate at a "family restaurant" on the way back from Fukuoka. Then tonight we had her first home-cooked meal at our house ..... fish and chips! My mother-in-law offered to give us some of the shark that they had filleted and I would have to say that it definitely tasted like good old Kiwi fish and chips - just what you want to feed your mother when she arrives in Japan from New Zealand! Perhaps I won't be saying no next time I am offered some - just trying to find someone who is willing to fillet it for us! I did go a little fancier than chips though with hedgehog potatoes and some fresh salad. Here's hoping the meals become a little more Japanese over the next 3 weeks.....

Best gift yet

I have been given some wonderful gifts in the past, but today's really takes the cake. One of the mothers from the kindergarten rang me all excited to say that her father had caught a shark and she had seen on TV that New Zealanders eat shark all the time in the form of fish and chips so she would bring it to me. I had visions of a tray of lovely white meat that I could put in a delicious beer batter and serve with some delicious oven baked chips. A taste of home - yippee! And then she opened her boot and ..... there were 3 large WHOLE hammerhead sharks (the pictures don't do them justice!) lying there. All for me. She was so excited - telling me that in Japan they usually just throw them away..... I can see why! Considering I have never even filleted a "normal" fish and considering my mother is arriving tomorrow and I haven't even gotten around to getting sheets onto her bed the thought of trying to fillet a whole, large hammerhead shark was too much for me so I have just spent the last hour trying to off-load them on the unsuspecting neighbours. The last one has been delivered and now all I need to do is get rid of the smell from the car. I guess the fish and chips will need to wait till we make it back to New Zealand next time!