Various updates

It's a busy week translation-wise, so just time for a few quick updates on previous posts.

All our suzumushi this year have turned out to be females. That's probably because you're supposed to spray the earth holding the eggs with water once a month or so throughout the winter, but as I put the tank in the back of the cupboard and completely forgot about it the soil dried out completely. Usually we've had forty or fifty little crickets hatching - this year there's only six. And, as I said, they're all females. Those girls must be strong to have survived such neglect! Fortunately the pet shop near Kei's school sells suzumushi, so when they're old enough I'll buy a few males and arrange a matchmaking session, to be sure we have some eggs again in the autumn. This winter I'll put a note on the cupboard door to remind me to keep spraying...

The beetle larvae are still showing no signs of pupating, though they grow monstrously fatter by the day.

Two of the tadpoles have turned into frogs, though one died before we could get it to a pond. The last one is still stubbornly refusing to grow its front legs yet, lurking at the bottom of its tank like a teenager who's reluctant to grow up and leave home.

And I finally have an idea about what crafts I'm supposed to be making for the kindergarten bazar! Work deadlines meant I missed the last two class meetings, but at the boys' swimming lesson last week I ran into another mother who told me they'd spent several hours cutting out tiny cakes and lunchbox items out of felt. (Japanese lunchboxes are pieces of art in themselves, in case you're wondering just why anyone would bother making toy ones.) There's another craft-making session next week, and to try to redeem myself I'm going to really make an effort to get there. Not that I think I'm capable of cutting out beautiful little felt food items, but perhaps I can glue them into boxes or something.

Dan's kindergarten has some photographs up here of his summer festival, held last Thursday. This is one of the best ones of him, doing a ninja dance with the other boys in his class. I'll try and get some of my own photos up in the next few days.