While my rash is gone, and I no longer awake with bloddy arms from scratching in my sleep, I am finding the days difficult. I don't know what to do now that all the rice is harvested and drying. It will be a week or so before I can get started on the next task - dakkoku - taking the kernels off of the straw.
Everyone is worried because, due to the exceptionally hot summer, the rice quality this year is not as high as usual, so it demands a lesser price. I'm not worried, even if the quality is a bit lower than usual, at least we got enough to eat, enough to send to Tomoe's family, enough to send to people who give me cameras, and enough to sell.
If anyone is interested in 5,10,20 kg of almost organic rice, please let me know. We still have to decide the price, and it will depend on the quality test results, but no matter what, it tastes best when it is fresh, so it is best to order it now.
We can also supply a year's worth of rice, sending it to you as you need it and we will take off the hull immediately before each shipment, which keeps it much fresher than sending it all at once. We still have rice in the hull from last year that tastes almost as fresh as it did in November last year.
Photos: Our rice drying, and the rooster "on loan" to us by a local grade school. The teacher was keeping it as a sex-education tool when his students (only two) wondered why the hens' eggs didn't hatch. After he got the rooster, the eggs were fertilized, but the rooster attacked an old lady living near the school, so he had to get rid of him. Naturally, he called me.
I was worried that his early morning crowing would disturb the neighbors, but apparently they didn't even realize I had him for the first two weeks. I love having him, as he has never tried to escape from the yard, and the hens tend to follow him around. It keeps them from running away and causing trouble in the neighbors' fields.
He is a bit aggressive, but only to Tomoe. The first time I grabbed him (to take him home from the school) he drop-kicked me, but I think I showed him who is boss, because he has not attacked me since. Tomoe, on the other hand, is on his shit-list.
Unfortunately, the fertilized eggs did not hatch and the children have sent me a letter saying they need him back. Hopefully once he does his job, I can get him back here, unless anyone has a rooster laying around the house that they don't need?