this & that

I was hoping that I would be finished re-pasting the photos on this blog by the end of this year, but I still have 900-something posts more to go.

The good thing was that I only had to start from 2011 posts and not 2005!

Another good thing, it has been nice re-connecting with everything I've written.

My knee still isn't 100% so I guess I still need to go to rehab next year...

That, plus juggling all the other "real life" stuff, somehow it hasn't really felt much like the holidays for me.

Anyway, Satoshi will be off for New Years so we'll be on a little adventure soon.

We may not have wi-fi where we are going, so I’ll moderate comments when we get back.

In the meantime, I do have some of my "usual" year end posts lined up.

I hope you all had a nice Christmas and enjoy the rest of the holiday season.

I'll talk to you again after the new year starts.

Be well everyone!

flickr

I started using Flickr at almost the same time I started this blog.

At the time, "someone" was stealing my photos and I wanted a way to keep track of the photos...linking the photos on my blog back to Flickr was a good way.

Back then, I had what Flickr called a "Pro account" (paying a set amount a year for more storage than the free account), but then (maybe a couple years back?!) Flickr changed everyone to free 1 terrabyte storage so I cancelled my pro account and went to a free one, cause a terrabyte (for free) is huge!

Then sometime this year, Flickr was bought out by Smugmug, which "said" they would honor everyone's accounts...until the other day when I received an email.

From January 2019, they will only allow free accounts a total of 1000 photos/videos...you know how many photos/videos I have stored on Flickr?! 20,000 plus-something!

But, I am not willing to pay for storage, which is why I do not use iCloud too.

Most all of my photos are backed up either on disc or on my external hard drive (pre-historic methods are my speed).

So...all my blog posts from 2005 to November 6, 2018, will almost certainly be affected...which means that they probably will not have any photos attached to them after January 2019.

I think Blogger is using Google Photo now, so I have started using that for posts after November 6, 2018.

I am not sure what will happen to the earlier posts and will wait and see after Flickr downsizes my photos to the 1000.

I am bummed because I've used Flickr for so long but also realize things cost $$...in the end though, I am too cheap to put any money into this teeny blog.

Just wanted to give you a heads up and hope you understand.

Thanks for listening.

Have a nice weekend.

reconnect

It's been 8 years since I last saw my Flickr friend, Maui Luna.

Over the years there have been lots of changes for both of us.

And it was nice that she wanted to meet up while she was in Japan.

We met at Shin-Osaka (the bullet train station in Osaka), and had a nice lunch.

After lunch we went in search of a park so her young son could run off some energy.

We were lucky to find a park that had cherry blossoms blooming.

The thing that I enjoy about this time of year is that you can find cherry trees blooming almost anywhere.

You don't need to make a special trip to a famous tourist site to enjoy them.

Maui Luna also gave me these omiyage from San Francisco, Hawaii and Japan.

It was a short visit but I'm glad I got to see her again and also to meet her son.

Thank you Maui Luna for a great day.

greedy piglet pancakes

My Flickr friend, Greedy Piglet, uploaded a very appetizing photo recently. She was also very kind to give her recipe for those delicious pancakes.

I tried the recipe but instead of adding blueberries to the batter, I garnished them with banana & some defrosted strawberry & blueberries. I also used olive oil instead of the butter, and also added a strip of bacon.

mmm.

p.s. her recipe makes about 7, 3-inch sized pancakes.

p.p.s. The recipe just in case it cannot be accessed:
Flour ... 100g
Sugar ... 20~30g
Baking-powder ... 5g
Egg ... 1 *@ room temperature
Milk ... 70g *@ room temperature
Butter ...10~20g *dissolve it by putting the bowl in hot water, or by microwave.

1, Mix & sift flour, baking-powder and sugar. Put them in a bowl (A).
2, Mix an egg, milk and melted butter (B).
3, Add (B) onto (A), mix them with a whipper. *add blueberries
4, Cook it in a frying-pan a.s.a.p.

new friend, new recipe, new flower

Yesterday I met a new friend. She contacted me through Flickr. Since she's travelling through Japan, she emailed me and we met for lunch and lots of sweets. (sorry no photos of the food) She gave me a mini bottle of her favorite liquer, which I hope to make ice cream or bon bons with!...thanks for a great time, Maui Luna!

The new recipe is something I tried for dinner.

Spring potato kinpira -- serves 2 from "Soshoku no susume-Spring recipes" by Hideo Makuuchi

400g new crop potatoes (about 1 pound?)
a pinch of dry chili
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup sake (rice wine)
2 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
2 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce)

Wash the potatoes and keep the skins on (dig out any of the eyes--if any)
Cut the potato to about 4 or 5 mm.
Heat a pan and put in the oil
Toss the potato with chili around in oil until transparent
Add the sake, mirin and shoyu and simmer on medium until all liquid disappears.

This other recipe is adapted from a recipe I've used from Jamie Oliver. Cut an onion (preferable new crop as these are tender and sweet) into quarters but don't cut it all the way through.

Put a teaspoon of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put into a 400F (200C) oven for about 30 minutes.

Lastly, I wanted to show you my new flowers. They are called "forget-me-not". They were really inexpensive, less than 100 yen each. I thought the little flowers were so cute.

moo

I thought we should take a breather from the "eats" for just a bit...I just received my order from Moo.com. They make greeting cards, postcards, notecards, mini cards and stickers from your Flickr photos(for a fee). They also make the cards from your photos on other places too, so check to see if your photo account is listed.

When it comes, it is packaged in a stiff vellum envelope so the cards don't get wet and there is also a thumbnail card with all the photos you chose.

Takes a while to get them (because the company is in England), but definitely worth it.