2007/07/14 11:33my recent condition My dog is staying at my home now, so my husband and I are spending hap py time with her!She is already 10 year-old but still cute, I think. I really envy her! I hope I will be a cute old woman, like her!It's mid dle of rainy season, and a powerful typhoon is approaching now.Many Ja panese people can have a three-day weekend this week. But they will ha ve to cancel or change their schedule, I guess.But... [続きを読む]

2007/06/16 12:43Lavender I planted a lavender last year.And now, it is blooming!It smell very n ice (*^^*)I want to grow many lavenders, but I withered a few ones b efore.That's why I've hesitated to plant another lavenders.But... it i s too great flower!I can't give up!!I heard there are a lot of type of lavenders.I try to find lavenders which is a good match with soil in my garden.http://api.my.yahoo.co.jp/RPC2... [続きを読む]

2007/06/15 09:40I found a persimmon bud I finally found a persimmon bud!!There is only one bud on tree's upsid e, so I couldn't take a photo finely...But I think bud will increase f rom now.There are the tree in my parents-in-law's garden.And my mother -in-law who is an instructor of IKEBANA has taken care of it, but pers immon blossom is not within her recollection.Persimmon blossom must al ways bloom in obscurity.But I will definitely see ... [続きを読む]

2007/06/09 09:10My dog will come here!! The other day, my mother phoned me that she wanted me to take care of our dog for 1 month. I'm not living with my dog now.Because when I got married, I lived in an apartment and I couldn't have a pet there.Afte r that, we bought our own house so we can have pets now.But it was too late! She was already an old dog at that time.Now, we're thinking tha t our decision is good for us and our dog.But some... [続きを読む]

2007/06/04 14:25Lupines I don't like lupines, but I have some Lupines in my garden. My grandfather likes them　because it looks like rising.I mentioned about Wisteria before, and wrote "wisteria has downward flower and is associated with a negative image".And Lupines are associated with a positive image in contradiction to wisteria. Oh, can you see a pink columbine to the left side of the photo? Yeah! I like it... [続きを読む]

2007/05/31 09:21Blue Rose I have two blue roses in my garden.And this is the photo of one of the m.It is not real blue, I guess.But it is too hard to make real blue ro ses.That is why, "blue moon" means "non thing".Blu ish roses are mysterious and I'm always attracted to them when I see t hem.http://api.my.yahoo.co.jp/RPC2... [続きを読む]

2007/05/26 08:33Rose Roses in my garden are blooming!I love rose, especially drab-orange ro se in this photo.This rose's name is "Julia". Its name is al so beautiful, not only appearance.To be honest, I didn't like rose bef ore I got this because I thought rose were hincty, fiddly and self-ass ertion.But I crushed on it when I found it.My husband's grandmother on his mother's side bought me it as a housewarming ... [続きを読む]

2007/05/23 11:18My holiday I stayed at my parents' house with my husband for 4 days.During our st ay, we drove to Morioka city and "KOIWAI FARM".I took this p hoto there... it was a beautiful day so rape blossoms shined brilliant ly in the eyes of me! 　　　　　 This is Mt. Iwate.We could see i t at the farm.There were no trees and grasses before, can you believe me?Mt. Iwate is active volcano, so this place was cover... [続きを読む]

2007/05/19 12:07A kind of Iris It is an endemic plant to Japan.We call it "Hime-shaga" and it doesn't have English name.But it is a kind of "Iris", so many people have seen this shape, I guess."Hime" basically m eans "princess", and sometimes expresses "pretty" "cute" and "small thing".It is very small... its p lant length is about 20-30 cm as its name suggests... [続きを読む]

2007/05/18 13:28Blueberry blossom Blueberry trees are coming into buds right now!I planted three trees to get berries at first.But now, they feed my eyes (*^^*)They prefer acid soil, so I have to regulate acidity every year.But it is not so hard because I only have three trees and I have never thought that it bothers me.I can get berries in a month.I'm looking forward to it!But. .. I have one big problem(T-T)There are many birds a... [続きを読む]

2007/05/17 14:27Wisteria I went to my parents-in-law's house yesterday.There was a beautiful wi steria ( we call it "Fuji" ) in their garden, so I took th is photo.I like this colour... "Fuji-iro"."Iro" me ans "colour", maybe people in the past thought that wisteria is representative of light purple things, and used its name as an exp ression of light purple.It is familiar flower to Jap... [続きを読む]

2007/05/15 10:23Hosta I want to introduce "Hosta" to everyone.Hosta is common in J apan too and there are many kind of them.Of course, we can enjoy their flower and their leaves feed our eyes all the year round. I got them from my mother-in-law.There are several types of them in her garden.I chose this one because this flower was the most cute among them.The ot her hostas which she has grown also have beautiful... [続きを読む]

2007/05/14 15:37A lily of the valley I took these photos in my garden this morning.They are "Suzu-ran (lily of the valley)"... very small and cute!! I really love the m.The flower appear the shape of "bell", doesn't it?? Japa nese people of the past thought so."Suzu" means "bell&q uot; in Japanese(*^^*).Incidentally, "Ran" means "orc hid".Can you fully understand?I planted them a few ... [続きを読む]

2007/05/11 21:05my staple dish I sometimes cook this dish during summer.Because it is very easy to c ook and not heavy.I can eat it on very hot days even though I suffer f rom the summer heat.It was hot day the day before yesterday, so I want ed to have this dish and cooked it.1. Boil sliced pork.2. Cut some SHI SO (beefsteak plant leaf) , MYOGA (Japanese ginger) and SYOGA (gi nger) into strips.3. Make dressing... mix SU (rice vine... [続きを読む]

2007/05/09 10:14Golden Week holiday Golden Week holiday is unique to Japan.There are 4 national holidays a week.In addition to these holidays, we can take a day off on weekend as usual.But unfortunately, my husband had to go to work on several d ays during Golden Week.That's why we couldn't take a long trip.I wante d to visit my parents, but we put it off for 2 weeks.At first, I got d iscouraged because I really wanted to see my dog!B... [続きを読む]

2007/05/01 09:30Festival in my hometown It's a festival in my home town.I couldn't go to see it this year...I t is the most beautiful festival I have seen so far!!And it is familia r to me because I have seen it since I was very young.Of course, I sat on that parade float when I was 9-year-old.I wore a beautiful KIMONO ( maybe... purple ) and hair accessories and I sounded a small drum to the music.I'm proud of this festival!!If I have a... [続きを読む]

2007/04/28 13:59Cherry blossom I finally went to see cherry blossom last Saturday.It has been one wee k since I took photos though...But I want you to see cherry blossom!!I love cherry blossom!I was waiting for blooming them since last March. But they kept me waiting for a long time, because the cherry blossoms were later than expected. And now, most cherry blossom are gone.I hope to see beautiful blossoms next year!Wow, the thun... [続きを読む]

2007/04/24 15:45Reuse!! I made it a few days ago!!It is reuse...isn't it?Flowers in Japan ar e very expensive, so I didn't want to throw them away when they were w ithering.And as I mentioned before, I had made dried flower and I made it with the dried flower.Now, I am drying a yellow rose which I used once when I took the lesson of IKEBANA now.I have only one rose, but I don't want to throw it away.When I think like it..... [続きを読む]

2007/04/21 19:54Do you remember? I've been drying these flowers for 3 weeks.Have you seen them??Yeah , I used them for IKEBANA before and I'm drying them now because I wan t them to be "dried flower".Luckily, they are best dried flo wer, so I didn't have to throw them away.I am going to put dried flowe r in a small container or something.And... I want to put it over our f ront door(*^^*)http://api.my.yahoo.co.jp/RPC2... [続きを読む]

2007/04/17 10:45Flowers!! I went to a park that is near my house with my husband last Saturday.T here were a lot of flowers in the park!!Yellow flowers are rape blosso ms and pink ones are cherry blossoms. I love spring!! Because I can se e beautiful flowers.I also like gardening, so I'm always busy during s pring.But it's OK because I always enjoy doing them, so I don't get ti red easily.Spring and my gardening are far from ov... [続きを読む]

2007/04/12 09:10Scones I made　(*^^*) I baked scones with chocolate chips.I had wanted to have scones since I wrote about afternoon tea.I prefer them to bread... actually, I don 't like bread.Because bread sometimes contains a large amount of fat a nd sugar.In contrast, scones are very simple. It's good for me.But my husband doesn't like them. He always says "too powdered and I'm g etting thirsty!!" when he has.He may be senes... [続きを読む]

2007/04/07 11:20Plum Blossoms I went to see plum blossoms with my mother-in-law yesterday...not cher ry blossoms.Because the cherry blossoms don't bloom around my area yet .The cherry blossoms usually bloom after plum blossoms.Japanese people originally had enjoyed viewing the plum blossoms.But now, "Hana- mi" means "to go to see(view) cherry blossoms".Litera l translation of "Hana" is "flower an... [続きを読む]

2007/04/03 10:31Inari-zushi I made INARI-ZUSHI for dinner last night.It's a kind of SUSHI.And acc ording to my dictionary, it's a pouch of fried bean curd stuffed with vinegared rice.I think it is a grab-and-go meal. I want to go to see t he cherry blossoms with it and eat it under the tree when the cherry b lossoms are really beautiful.I can't wait!!http://api.my.yahoo.co.jp/R PC2... [続きを読む]

2007/04/02 15:05Wheatears I went to my parents-in-law's house to take the lesson of IKEBANA on F riday.I used 5 wheats and a subdued red freesia this time.Sometimes we use a thing that is not flower as a main stuff.It is not important th at main is flower... The main is seasonal, it's very important for IKE BANA.It will be time of the wheat harvest next month in Japan.Well, do you think it is too early to use wheat?Most Japan... [続きを読む]

2007/03/30 08:58Britain in Japan?? I live in Japan but Britain is near here!To be more exact, "Brit ish hills" is correct.What is it?? Uh... I don't think most of people know about it.British hills is in Japan, but we have to speak E nglish and can have a British experience there.And I have been there w ith my husband, and we took afternoon tea.Scone, quiche and sandwich.. . Everything was delicious!!Later, I heard that I ca... [続きを読む]