[Easy English Blog] Christmas presents

What are the best Christmas presents? When I was not so busy, I used to make most of my Christmas presents. I made clothes and toys for children. I made cookies and jam for adults. I collected small jars and filled them with jam or marmalade. I decorated the jars. They looked very pretty.

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One year I made French mustard. This was fun to make and very popular.

I love to give the special people in my life small gifts, especially at Christmas. It very sad because these days, I mostly buy presents. I wish I had more time and energy, because I think the presents we make ourselves are more special.

Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Tomatoes

Every year we have a problem. When should we plant our tomatoes? There is a custom in my country. Everyone says,  ‘plant tomatoes in the last weekend of October’.

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In this country, this is spring. In your country it might be 6 months the other way. But maybe the problem is the same. If we plant our tomatoes in the last weekend of October, we can be sure there will be some cold weather in the first weeks of November. Our tomato plants are young and weak. The cold weather is not good for them. They die. In November, we have to go out and buy new tomato plants!

Sometimes the weather is not kind to gardeners.

Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Christmas shopping

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It’s the time of year when I have to start thinking about Christmas presents. When I first came to Japan, I bought Japanese presents for my family and friends back in the UK. Over the years, I have bought them fans, chopsticks, sake cups, sake, laquerware, tea, ao-jiru (green barley grass drink), ceramic teapots, Japanese sweets, books about Japan, Japanese beauty products…etc.

I wonder what to buy them this year. I don’t think they need any more sake cups or teapots or fans. Every year, I walk around the department stores in my city thinking, “What can I buy?” “What will they like?”

It is time to start doing that again. I want to get all my Christmas shopping done early. I don’t want to leave it to the last minute. But I wonder…what can I buy?

Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Stopovers

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I go back to the UK once a year. When I go back, I never fly directly from Japan to the UK. I always fly via another city. This is because I like to spend a few days in a different city.

Over the years, I have had stopovers in various cities. The main ones are Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, Amsterdam, and Helsinki.

All the cities are great to visit, but my favourite is Paris. I have visited Paris six times. When I’m on a stopover, I only stay for around two nights, so I don’t have much time. I used to go sightseeing, but now, I like to relax in a cafe and read a book.

I have visited Helsinki three times. Every time, I stayed there on December 31st. There is a big celebration in the main square in the city every year. It is cold, but always good fun.

This year I am going to stay in Amsterdam. It is my third time to visit the city. The first time I went, I just stayed for one night, so I spent that in a bar. The second time I went, I stayed on December 31st, but I had influenza, so I didn’t have a great time. This year, I hope to do some sightseeing and enjoy my time there.

Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Memory gardens

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Our garden is very big. We have to work hard to look after our garden. A large garden can be very expensive. You might buy many plants and trees to create your garden. Our garden is not like that.

Our garden is a “friends and family” garden. We think hard about where to put plants and how to create a beautiful garden but we don’t buy many plants from garden centres. Our garden is full of memories. My mother died more than 15 years ago, but I have some plants from her garden.  I have some plants from my sister-in-law’s garden. She died about two years ago. They are not sad plants. They are happy memories.

I also have plants from my friend’s garden. She was my best friend in high school. I have plants I grew from seed. The seed was collected on international holidays.

Then some plants are shared with neighbours. My neighbour says, “That looks nice.” I say, “Would you like some?”

Then weeks, months, years later, my neighbour says, “I have something special. Would you like some?”

Maybe memory gardens are not the most beautiful gardens, but they have special meaning. Sometimes when flowers come out in my garden, I see the flowers, but I also see the people.

Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog]Recycling centre

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Yesterday we went to the recycling centre.

In some cities, you can put out paper, glass and plastic in separate containers and the city will come and collect it. Our city is not like that. If we want to recycle, we have to go to the recycling centre.

One thing I have noticed is that there are always many people coming to the recycling centre. They have boxes of paper, beer bottles, wine bottles or plastic. They are always cheerful. Maybe recycling makes people feel good.

Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog]Food miles

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I have been thinking about “food miles”.

When I was a child, it was not always possible to buy bananas and oranges. We don’t grow them in my country, so we had to wait until some more arrived from another country.  These days we can always buy them. We can buy anything we want in the supermarket. But some people worry about food miles.

The idea is that a lot of energy is used to move food from one part of the world to another. When we buy and eat this food, we should think about the energy that has been used in transport.

Today I bought some asparagus. I love asparagus, and I didn’t have to worry about food miles, because it is asparagus season here. This means the asparagus has come from local farms, and it is very cheap in the supermarket.

I’m going to steam it and eat it with lemon juice and butter.

Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Muffins

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I am not a great cook, but we all have to eat! Today I made some corn muffins. I was very pleased with them. I cut up some cheese and tomatoes. I served the muffins while they were still warm. They tasted good with the cheese and tomatoes. I used a recipe from a cookbook I bought more than 20 years ago. It’s called Marvellous Muffins. The recipe is very easy. I did not have everything I needed so I made some changes.

I like making muffins because they are so quick.  I guess that means I am a very lazy cook.

Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog]Electric cars

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Electric cars have been around for a few years, but today I sat behind the wheel of one for the first time. It was a Hyundai Ioniq. I was very interested.  It seemed quite different to a normal car. There are also many safety features.

The owner asked me if I would like to drive it. But the road outside our house is very busy.  I said I would wait until I could drive it on a quiet street. When our visitors drove away there was no sound. I remember when the Prius hybrid cars first became available in Japan, some people were worried. When the Prius was in electric mode, it was completely silent. So no one could hear it. So people wondered if it was safe. If you can’t hear a car, maybe you will not notice it and there could be an accident.

Even though silent cars can maybe be dangerous, I think they are very good for the environment. What do you think?

Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Short Story] The Sunhat

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Fiona is going to a wedding. Her friend Carol is getting married. Carol’s boyfriend’s family is rich. They live in a big house with a beautiful garden. The wedding will be in the garden.

Fiona doesn’t have a job so she doesn’t have a lot of money. She loves fashion and wants to wear something beautiful to the wedding. Fiona’s mother gives her one of her old dresses. Fiona cuts it up and makes a new dress for herself. It is pink. It is very short and has thin straps over the shoulders. Fiona thinks she will look good in it.

Then she thinks, the wedding will be outside. It will be hot and sunny. I don’t want to get sun burnt. I need a hat. She goes to the $2 shop and buys a sun hat. Then she uses the material left over from her dress to make flowers.

She puts the flowers on the hat. Oh, it doesn’t look good. I need some flowers in different colours, she thinks. She finds some blue, and some white material in her mother’s sewing basket. She makes some more flowers. She adds them to the pink flowers on the hat. The hat looks wonderful!

Fiona is very excited on the day of the wedding. She knows she looks good.

It is a very beautiful day. It is hot and sunny, but it is also very windy.

After the ceremony, everyone is standing in the garden drinking champagne and eating snacks. Fiona has a glass of champagne in one hand and a sandwich in the other. She cannot hold on to her hat.

Suddenly the wind blows hard. It picks up Fiona’s hat and takes it high into the air.

“Oh no! My hat” shouts Fiona. Everyone laughs as they see her hat fly away.

Fiona is sad because she has lost her hat, but she cannot do anything about it.

The next weekend, Fiona and her mother go on a garden tour. They visit many gardens. Garden tours are popular and there are many people. Suddenly Fiona’s mother says, “Fiona! Is that your hat?”

There is a very smart woman looking at some rose bushes. She is wearing Fiona’s hat. Fiona runs up to her. “Excuse me, but that is my hat!”

The woman looks surprised. “Are you sure?” she says.

“Yes. I don’t know how you found it. I went to a wedding in Grampstead Road. The wind was strong and my hat flew away.”

“Oh,” says the woman. “I live in Grampstead Road. I found it in my garden. I will give it back to you.”

She takes the hat off and gives it to Fiona.

“Thank you,” says Fiona.

Then the woman says, “I really like it. Where did you buy it?”

“I made it,” says Fiona. She explains about the $2 shop sunhat, and making flowers to put on the hat.

“Really?” says the woman. “You are very clever.”

Fiona gives the hat back to the woman. “Please keep this one. I can easily make another one for myself.”

The woman smiles. “I have an idea. My name is Valerie Osten. I have some fashion shops. I sell clothes for weddings and other special occasions. Will you make some hats for me? I think they will sell very well. Here is my business card. Please call me.”

“Oh, yes!” says Fiona. “I will do that.”

As Fiona runs back to her mother she thinks, I was so lucky that I lost my hat. Now I have a job!