Neighbourly kindness

Japanese people love to give things to others. In fact, it is often not easy to return the compliment as you might then receive another gift in return for yours. A couple of months ago Lorna started teaching one of our neighbours French. She can speak English too but it is French she is interested in for the moment. So after brushing up her French again, Lorna started the weekly one-to-one class only to discover that this lady is actually quite good already! Anyway, this neighbour has a garden filled with various vegetables and fruits, probably more than enough for her husband and herself. So over past weeks we have been the grateful recipients of freshly-picked cucumbers, green beans, 'eda mame' (soya beans which so far we have only ever bought frozen) and delicious blackberries. Lorna took some muffins to her the other day as a thank you but then just a few days later we received even more blackberries and some special pink-coloured sticky rice which the Japanese make on special occasions. What a blessing it is to have such neighbours.