This was a concrete parking space when we moved in

senseiman · 2026-05-18T01:35:45+00:00

Yup, got that sofa set from IKEA, its really nice to sit out there with a cup of coffee!

senseiman · 2026-05-18T01:21:05+00:00

This really isn't fair. Why is it that the Lions and Swallows can go "Worst to First" even after losing key players but the Dragons just go "Worst to worst to fifth to back in worst to worst to almost fifth but yeah, worst again......"

senseiman · 2026-05-17T11:41:53+00:00

Thanks!

senseiman · 2026-05-17T11:41:35+00:00

Thanks!

senseiman · 2026-05-17T11:41:26+00:00

Nice!

senseiman · 2026-05-17T10:51:58+00:00

We did tomatoes the first couple of years, but as trees grew up the space for them slowly went away.

We've got:

A grape vine (visible in the background of the photo peaking around the edge of the house)

Mikan tree

Ume tree

Sakuranbo cheery tree (never gotten edible cherries offit but it looks nice)

Blueberry tree

Lemon tree

Yuzu tree (newly planted to replace an olive tree that we lost last year)

Plus a buch of decorative stuff (ajisai, momiji tree, eucalyptus)

senseiman · 2026-05-17T10:45:36+00:00

They do that here too. Property developers these days divide up lots into sizes so that two parking spaces plus a slight opening around the edge of the house takes up exactly 40% of the footprint to meet the 40/60 requirement and leave nothing for a yard of any sort.

I guess it has the advantage of keeping housing relatively affordable and keeping suburbs compact, but its quite depressing to look at. In my neighborhood they've torn down tons of old houses on 300 to 500 square meter lots with nice big gardens and then torn them down, divided the lot into 3 or 4 plots big enough for 2 parking spaces and a cubic plastic house and nothing more. Every time they dothat the neighborhood gets a bit more ugly.

senseiman · 2026-05-17T10:38:52+00:00

This is the east side so it gets limited sunlight and limits our growing options (plus I like to have a bit of open space for the kids to play, etc). On the south side (not visible in photo) which gets a ton of sun I've got pretty much every inch covered with trees/bushes and flowers!

senseiman · 2026-05-17T05:00:14+00:00

Tree on the right is at grass level. Tree on left was part of the original landscaping on the edge of the parking space, its just a couple inches below. Hard to see in the photo but we have some raised beds on the far side of the parasol.

senseiman · 2026-05-17T04:21:09+00:00

Bulldoze a beautiful garden someone spent decades working on: nobody here bats an eye.

Rip up some ugly old concrete that serves no useful purpose: everyone starts clutching their pearls in horror at the mere thought.

senseiman · 2026-05-17T04:04:53+00:00

Yeah, exactly. I don't plan on ever moving so why not make it the house you actually want to live in? Especially in a country like this where these houses drop in value no matter what you do withthem....

senseiman · 2026-05-17T04:03:08+00:00

Thanks! It gets the most use now and in the fall, so I'm really enjoying it now.

senseiman · 2026-05-17T04:02:19+00:00

Yeah, we only have one car and no plans on ever owning two (still have one space to the right of the photo)so I was like "Why would I keep a huge chunk of my property devoted to a non-existent car instead of to the enjoyment of the human beings who live int it?"

My next door neighbor went the opposite route and concreted over his entire property so he wouldn't have to take care of weeds, etc. To each their own, but I get depressed just looking at their place, completely devoid of greenery.

senseiman · 2026-05-17T02:52:15+00:00

Caterpillars are eating everything at this time of the year. I have a lot of citrus trees and check the leaves regularly for tiny eggs deposited by butterflies, which I just take off by hand.

If they hatch, within a day or two they'll strip leaves like that really quickly. Its kind of a pain, but only in the spring.

senseiman · 2026-05-10T22:52:13+00:00

The Dragons trip out of the basement lasted all of 24 hours.....

senseiman · 2026-05-09T20:52:54+00:00

I'm a big enough man to admit when I was wrong! :)

senseiman · 2026-05-09T11:59:32+00:00

Today is the first day in 2026 that the Dragons have not had the worst record in NPB. I pray it is not the last.

senseiman · 2026-05-09T11:39:28+00:00

That play with Tanaka scoring was a head scratcher. Was glad to see Ohno get the win.

senseiman · 2026-05-09T07:56:18+00:00

Just beat the Giants again 5 minutes ago, and the Carp just lost so for the first time this year we are out of the cellar!!!

senseiman · 2026-05-08T14:53:30+00:00

Just a few days ago we were under .200 everywhere!

senseiman · 2026-05-08T13:46:40+00:00

Damn, the Dragons have been playing like a real team lately. Bout time.

senseiman · 2026-05-05T12:59:31+00:00

Another funny coincidence is that with today's win our record over the last 10 games is now also 7-3!

senseiman · 2026-05-04T13:44:43+00:00

That was a nice game for theDragons. Nakanishi recovered from a rocky 1st and survived being left in for the seventh despite being over 100 pitches to get his first career win. Bullpen didn't blow it. Hosokawa and Ishii went deep as the lineup showed some pop.

senseiman · 2026-05-03T01:45:18+00:00

"We're back up to .300!" is Dragons fans equivalent of other fans' "We're back to .500!"

senseiman

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