My family in Japan is OK

Thanks to everyone who telephoned and e-mailed to see if my family in Japan was affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami.  I am delighted to report that my family is fine - they live far from the quake's epicenter but they have been feeling some of the aftershocks which can be quite pronounced.

Ironically, we didn't have telephone or the Internet on Friday because a construction crew had cut a fiber optic cable,  so just when I was trying to contact Japan, our Seattle technology failed us!  Once service was restored, I kept calling but got the Japanese equivalent of "all circuits are busy, please try your call again" and I did keep trying until Saturday afternoon when I finally got through to my aunt and my cousins.

My aunt assured me that our family was fine.  One of my cousins has a married daughter who lives in Sendai but that she and her family had been out of town when the quake hit.  They are fine but they cannot get back home or find out if their house is even standing!  There is no telling how long it will take to recover from the devastation.

Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers.  I will keep you posted as I get news from Japan.

More construction pics

Things are moving right along!  Every time we come out to the house, there are great changes!  Here are a few from last week.


 New French doors - interior view                                                   Exterior view

I love these new doors - they let in so much light and we can now see out into the garden.

Here's a view of the new living space.                                           A kitchen view - ready for cabinets.

It is so exciting to see all the work that is being done.  Huge progress.  Soon it will be time to put the new cabinets in the kitchen.  They are patiently waiting in the garage and I am impatiently waiting in Seattle!  Hopefully my next post will include cabinet pics!