Not much of interest going on around here. As usual, I sweep the street every day from one end of our block to the corner and back. That is my morning exercise ... and sometimes when I get tired of just sitting, I go out for a second sweep. (or maybe a third) The burnable trash is collected twice a week and between sweeping and pulling weeds, I usually have two large bags to take to the corner.
The first day of autumn was celebrated by my spider lilies by the gate. There are pink and white ones on the east side of the house, now all in bloom.
The next signs of fall have also arrived
card. The weeks go by in slow motion. I had to go to immigration to renew my residence.
.Just stepping out the door, the scent of the gardenias fills the air around you
There are Sweet Olive trees to the north and south gardens, and this one is blooming along my small
garden path in the backyard
The third flower of the Night-blooming Cereus has given a showing. This time I didn't miss it. Two smaller buds did not finish growing. Maybe seeing their large siblings, they decided not to
compete.
card. The weeks go by in slow motion. I had to go to immigration to renew my residence.
Yesterday I took the cognition part of the senior driving test. Two hours by three trains and a bus to be demeaned buy assorted employees of the licensing bureau. Luckily, I had my cell phone with me and could call my daughter to stand up for me, that I actually had an appointment for the test and was there in time.
Though I passed the test with 100%, I have a lot of complaints with the way it was run. Clearly, it was an English version of a test that was written for Japanese people. The 16 pictures we were showed four at a time and expected to remember, were sketches in black and white. We were showed four, and the instructor then said what the pictures were, having the class repeat. one picture of a bird with a darkened head, could have been a finch or a warbler or any number of birds. If they had shown a crow, everyone might have answered correctly, but when one man asked if the picture could be referred to as just a bird, the teacher said no, it had to be a sparrow, and that man did not know that word. There were a number of
pictures that were probably more familiar to Japanese people than foreigners.
I could write more, but this "new" Blogger" seems to have been designed by the driving school. Nothing works like it used to and I am more frustrated by the minute.
Needless to say, with the long trip both ways, I was able to add sashing to some of the house blocks. I didn't want to just sew them all together, though that would probably been a good representation of the mess this virus has caused. I decided to alternate sashing on the blocks and think I will put a sashing of floral prints around the outer edge before adding the row of extra houses ... now over 200... and an outer
border.
If anyone can find hints of how to move pictures left or right and get the words arranged, I sure could use a lot of coaching. NEW IS NOT BETTER ... OR EVEN HALF AS GOOD. Mr Blogger needs to find a better way to waste his time
Love the sashing. And the driving test, I sometimes wonder who is behind all these weird ideas. Lovely flowers. I have sunflowers, lots of buds and one flower opened out, bearded iris, I think they are both way too early.
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating. This virus has flattened out everyday life and removed the pinpoints that added interest and social contact. I've always vewed myself as something of a loner. Obviously not so much as I thought.
ReplyDeleteYes, the new Blogger is full of unknown territories and it has taken me a lot of time to find my way.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Japanese love red tape and making it hard for senior drivers seems to be a mission. Of course the test is simply a translation from Japanese to English, and many expressions that the Japanese find easy could be confusing for a non-native speaker.
Lovely flowers in your garden and your street is beautifully swept, too.
I sympathize with the blogger issues, especially since WP inflicted some new hard to use block editor on me yesterday - HATE IT! I saw instructions on reverting to old blogger at
ReplyDeletehttps://canwehaveanewwitchoursmelted.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-to-revert-back-to-legacy-blogger.html
no idea how long that will work thought! It will probably just postpone the inevitable.
It seems like the trip to get to the license station would suffice as a cognitive test on its own. Sounds like they went a bit overboard in testing older people (when do the cognitive tests kick in?) for drivers license. Then again, around here, it's not easy to get someone's license revoked for age related issues.
I will agree that the new blogger is for the birds. I have found if you click on the image you will get a little window with the same icons that are used to align text to the left, right, or middle. This works to align photos. As far as the text alignment...sometimes the icons work....sometimes not........and the size of text is just as persnickety.....your flowers are lovely and I think the positioning of the houses is great!
ReplyDeleteI like your house quilt and all your flowers! Both are lovely. What a pain to get a license. I suppose that will never get any easier for the anyone visiting & staying in Japan.
ReplyDeleteThe new Blogspot has become harder to manipulate. It is frustrating. I sometimes have to highlight and cut whole paragraphs. Enter in several left-align spaces, go back and paste in my cut paragraphs. I do the same with photos that are not centering.
Your flowers are beautiful - as always! And your house blocks are coming together nicely! I agree with you about Blogger - I doubt that they listen to the feedback from users - since I have yet to hear anyone who likes the changes. I think "they" change things just because they CAN - and that "they" need to justify their existence and need to keep things "fresh" so they can keep their jobs - LOL - ;))
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with re Blogger; it seems to change from week to week. Gosh, what a convulated process of renewing your residency. You must be relieved that after the long drawn process you passed. Your flowers are lovely. The scent from the gardenias must be heavenly and I particularly like your spider lilies. Love the blue sashing on your house blocks.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers in your garden. Yes the new blogger is a challenge. A friend advised me to click on "paragraph" and select "normal", also select "centre for the typing of paragraphs. When you select centre your photos will be centred. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteThink of all this red tape as brain exercise. You will continue to ace whatever the authorities throw at you! I'm beginning to understand the new Blogger but am deathly afraid that someone will want to change it again and I will have to learn it all over! For the same reason I've let my iPad die and cannot bear trying to start with a new one...
ReplyDeleteGlad you passed the driving test. Hopefully you won't have to take it again for a while. What a pain. Blogger didn't line up for me when it first changed over, but now it seems to work with centered photos. I haven't tried to move them since the first time (when it didn't work).
ReplyDeleteGood the see the blocks benefited from the time spent travelling. They are looking good.
ReplyDeleteThey really like to make it hard to gain a licence. Not sure I could be that patient.
Lovely to see your garden doing so well.