My weekend is finally here. Hoorah. I plan to relax quietly and do some things I enjoy: spend time with hubby, photograph some flowers, read some more of my book, clean the flat, play with the hamster, and do some more tracing of the family tree.

I will definitely get out for some fresh air tomorrow. Not sure where yet, but probably Shinjuku Gyoen as usual. It isn't only nice to be out in the sunshine and the fresh air; in earthquake season, it is great to be outside sitting on the grass and not have to worry about what would happen if the big one struck there and then. A full-blown 9.0 could hit right underneath you and you'd be okay sitting on that grass (unless, of course, the ground itself opened up and swallowed you, which would probably be just my luck). We had a pretty strong aftershock at 11:19 this morning. I was at work and myself and my student calmly slid under the table, waited for the shaking to stop, then clambered out again. It wasn't easy getting under there at my age either. We need bigger tables.

I am enjoying reading my latest Tim Pears "In a Land of Plenty". I read his first one, "In the Place of Fallen Leaves" and couldn't put it down. Both books concentrate on families in rural parts of England. "Leaves" was set in the eighties, but "Plenty" is set further back, starting in the early sixties. The pace of both is wonderfully slow, with the characters' lives unfolding day-by-day from childhood to adulthood. Just the kind of book I like.

Hamtaro got cleaned out this evening. I had to do it, as he was smelling too heavily of pee. He has a nice, new house in there now, made out of a cardboard box, and a fresh pile of dried grass and some kitchen roll for bedding. Every time I clean his tank, he spends the next half hour frantically digging about in all the new bedding, as if he seems to think he has some chance of escape. He's given up now and gone back in his box. He won't be out for hours now; I think he has a Playstation in there.

The family tree has turned into a monster. I now have over 600 people on it and that is just on mum's side of the family. I haven't been able to find any of dad's online as apparently all the Irish records are kept locked up in churches and have yet to be put online. Still, mum's side is proving huge enough to keep me going for a while. I will post some of the interesting things I've discovered, such as one of my very distant great grandfathers and two of his offspring being killed by a bolt of lightning in summer 1689. Ye should never shelter under a tree in a thunderstorm. Oh no.

Husband should be home soon, three sheets to the wind, no doubt. He's gone out on the town with a cosplay dentist. Goodness knows what they will be up to.