Smells Goooood!

The funny and nice old woman from downstairs came by last night to ask for a loan of some rice until her pension arrives in mid February. She is very tiny and any shopping at all involves a long trip to the store and back with her day pack. She uses the day pack to keep both hands free to find her way there and back and it takes her about an hour to navigate the journey downstairs, out to the street and slightly more than a hundred yards down the street to the nearest convenience store and back and she tells me that the two or three items (a sweet red bean paste filled roll, instant noodles and a chocolate bar usually) that she buys are very heavy to carry. I can't imagine her lugging a few pounds of rice home from other farther away stores (she is specific about where each type of product should be acquired and very loyal to each store she visits). Although she is very reluctant to make use of the various delivery services, not wanting to be seen as anything but totally self sufficient, she has relaxed a little and will let me help out with the rice and a few other things, always insisting on giving me money later, when her bimonthly pension payments arrive. She always insists in paying me more than necessary so I stop by with treats like the sushi egg omelets that I "have too much of" or brownies, which I know she likes. Yesterday she stopped by to chat for a couple of hours while I cleaned the kitchen and she decided to give us her toaster that she never uses. Now I'm baking bread so we have something to toast this morning.