Sinks

Mi has a favorite place. She only claims it in the morning just before Tetsu is going to shave. I think she is waiting for him to tell her to move. Or else maybe she wants a quick drink before she gets flooded out (though there is an available water dish elsewhere.) I wouldn't think that this is such a great spot on a cold morning. That porcelain sink must be cold on her paws... But this is where she chooses to wait for 5 or 10 minutes.

In our house this is our only bathroom sink. We have one in the kitchen of course but unlike American homes that might have a sink in the master bathroom, and another one or two in the regular bathroom and ANOTHER close to the laundry room, Japanese homes usually have only one sink. When we moved into our house I really felt happy for that! A couple of our first apartments had only the kitchen sink and that was where we did our face washing and tooth brushing as well as dish washing and food preparation.

And our old apartments didn't have centrally heated water... The kitchen sink had an "instant" gas water heater above it and with a flip of the gas line and a sputtering of gas lighting, within seconds there was the hot water. I always wondered how it could get heated so quickly.　　

(Water heater picture from the Internet)

As an aside... Most Japanese homes don't have hot water for their washing machines... We wash in cold water or economically minded people will pump the hot water from the bath the night before into the washing machine tank. My washing machine has a pump and hose attached to it but it still means the hose drags across the laundry room to reach the bathtub. And besides, Tetsu and I use the bath at the pool nowadays so for the most part our bathtub is defunct... thus cold water laundry.

This is my nice big kitchen sink with running hot water. It is a little on the low side (not that I am a tall American) and THAT is the total amount of counter space in my kitchen, but it serves me well. At least I don't have to brush my teeth here while I cook breakfast!

When there were four of us living here, we all lined up in front of the sink in the mornings but these days Tetsu only has to ask Mi to move over before he can do his grooming.

Mi doesn't wait for me...