Cherry, cherry, cherry... 桜、桜、桜

2016.3.16

自転車で染井吉野より数週間早く咲く桜のある所に咲いてるかどうか見に行った。選手に比べれば大分進んだ。蕾は皆ピンクだし、花も少し咲き始めている。

I biked to the spot where a kind of cherry trees that start blooming a few weeks earlier than the usual ones are planted to see if they bloomed. Compared to the last week it has progressed much, buds are all pink and some of the flowers started blooming.

帰り道、もうすこし距離を稼ぎたくて、みどりが丘公園という霊園兼公園に寄った。そこで数本の綺麗な花の木を見つけた。
On the way back I as usual entered a park that is a cemetery at the same time to bike a little more distance. Then I found a couple of trees beautifully blooming.

これは多分梅の一種だよね。
A kind of plum, probably.

これは桜の一種に間違いないと思うのでが、種名は判ら無い。背は高くなくても、満開で葉も少し出ているる
A kind of cherry tree definitely, but the specifics is not known to me. Not so tall, but full of bloom with some early leaves.

名前の判らない黄色い花。
Unknown yellow pretty flower.

雛人形その2 Hinaningyo dolls #2

2016.3.3
3月3日、今日はひな祭りの日。妻と再び雛人形見物にでかけた。今日の目的地は豊田市。
March 3, it is a day of Hinamatsuri, today. My wife and I went out sightseeing dolls, again. Today, our destination was Toyota city.

最初の訪問先は喜楽亭、古い料理旅館で現在は観光施設として保存されている。
The first stop was Kirakutei, old restaurant/hotel preserved as a historic site.

古い内裏様とお雛様。
Old emperor and emperes.

砂絵の展示もありました。
There was also displayed a beautiful sand art.

これも古い。
Old Hinaningyo.

小さいのもありました。
Small ones.

例の、ちょっと怖い人形。

お内裏様とお雛様のupです。

御殿に入っているのは写真を撮るのが大変でした。

犬好きの人のために。
For the people who love dogs.

雀の恩返し人形。
Dolls based on a old Japanese fairly tale, "Requital of favor by a sparrow". I first thought a wig of the doll was gone, but it is a doll of the sparrow.

庭も中々のものだ。女性が庭掃除をしているのを見かけた。いい仕事してますねぇ。
The garden was very well maintained. We saw a lady sweeping the garden. She is doing a good job.

次は豊田市郷土資料館。古い雛人形が幾つも飾られていた。
The next stop was Toyota city museum of local history. Old hinaningyo's were displayed.

それから、企画展として我々の父母世代の生活で使われた機械を見ることが出来た。これは木でできた洗濯機。始めた見たなぁ。
Also, we was able to see old machines used for the everyday lives of our mother and father ages. This is a electrical washing machine made of wood. I have never seen this.

また冬だ Winter came back.

2016.3.1
散歩ならぬ散輪に出た。自転車でブラブラと軽く運動のことだ。今日は北西の季節風が強かった。北海道では暴風雪で被害も出ているらしい。いつもの散輪ルートはほぼ往きが西南西、帰りはその逆だから、ほとんど「往きはよいよい帰りは怖い」とはならないが、帰りも時々向きによっては北向きになって風をモロに受けることになり、辛かった。

I went out for biking. Biked loosely as some exercise. The north west wind was strong today. In hokkaido, there are damages caused by brutal wind and snow. The usual biking route is WSW on my way, and the opposite on my way back, so it is not "There's no fear on your way but maybe some on your way back." mostly, but sometimes I had to head to north and faced the strong wind completely, and biking was hard.
By the way, about the phrase "There's no fear on your way but maybe some on your way back." There's a kid's song "Pass along". The lyric sounds like a bunch of riddles. Each phrase has meaning indivisually, but in total it is hard to understand the meaning. If you are interested, I fond a translation of the song. In the lyric there is a phrase "There's no fear on your way but maybe some on your way back." This phrase is often used as a proverb or idiomatically.

帰ってきたら家の中は日差しで暖かく、アルブカの花に癒やされた。

When I came home; inside is warm by sunshine, and flowers of albuca were soothing.

梅は咲いたよ Plum trees in full bloom.

2016.2.27
満開にはまだ数週間かかると思っていた。しかし農業センターのtwitterには満開と出た。そこで、妻と私は混雑を避けるためにも今朝行こうと、昨晩急に決めた。
I thought it would take a few weeks to be in full bloom. However, twitter of Agriculture center stated they were in full bloom. So, last night my wife and I suddenly decided to visit today in the morning to avoid congestion.

天気は上々、空気は爽やかな香りに満ちていた。
Weather was fine. The air was full of refreshing aroma.

メジロが蜜をつつく。
White-eyes came to suck honey.

ロウバイも見頃。
Wintersweet is in full bloom, too.

いつものようにジャグラーが芸をしていた。これはダイススタッキング。私も一時チャレンジしていたが今は休戦中。
As always, a juggler was performing. This was dice stacking. I once challenged this without success.

そして、ここに寄らずにはいられなかい。
And, I cannot stop coming to here.

先日は売り切れだった安納芋にありつけた。
I was able to buy Anno-imo that was sold out the other day.

ツグミも見に来たか。
Thrush came to view plums.

空気は冷たいが陽の光は気持ちよく温かい。
The air was still chilly, but the sunshine is comfortably warm.

いつも近くの神社に寄るのが常だ。そこで大きな白いキノコが切り株に生えているのを見つけた。これも春の兆しかな?
It is our habit to drop in a shrine near the agricultural center. I found big white mushrooms growing from a tree trunk. Is this also a sign of coming spring?

アイス・チュッリップとは? What is ice tulips?

2016.2.25

昨日は同期の飲み会。「中トロを食す会」だった。仲間が住んでいる所に応じて美味しい食材や飲み物を持ち寄り、私のような何も持って行かない者は金を払うというしきたりだ。メインはもちろん築地から送られた中トロ。

Yesterday, we had a "Let's eat Chutoro" party. The rule is members bring in various gourmet food or drink depending on the living places. Members who do not bring any like me pay money. The main dish is of course Chutoro, fatty tuna meat sent from Tsukiji.

そのためだけに、田舎の我が家から出かけるのもと思い、ついでに行ける梅の綺麗なところでもないかと調べた。しかし、名古屋の梅の名所は皆会場からは少し遠かった。１番の名所は先日行った農業センターのようだ。

As I thought it was a shame to go a long way from my home in the suburb only for the party, I looked for somewhere I can watch plum flower or something like that. However, the famous places of Plum flower in Nagoya city are a little far from the location of the party. The best one looks like the Nagoya Agricultural Center that I visited a few years ago.

調べていたら、フラリエという名古屋市の施設で、石田流いけばな展「雛祭り」、アイス・チューリップ見頃というのが引っかかった。

I found out there was held an arrange flower  exhibition of Ishida school names as "Hinamatsuri" at Flarie one of flower gardens of Nagoya. Also, it was stated that "Ice tulips" were at their best.


アイス・チューリップとは何かと調べてみたら、富山県花卉球根農業共同組合のサイトに説明があった。
植付けた後凍らせて生長をとめた状態で保管し、咲かせたい時期に冷凍庫から出して徐々に外気温にならせながら生長させたチューリップ。アイスチューリップの栽培には専用の施設や栽培費用がかかるため栽培できる施設は限られ、とても珍しく高価です。

About the "ice tulip", I found an explanation at the page of Toyama flower bulbs agricultural union.
Tulips that were grown at the desired season after they were planted and stored frozen to stop growing. As growing "ice tulips" needs special facilities, and the cost is big; the facilities that are able to grow are limited, and namely the "ice tulips" are rare and expensive.

宴会の前にそこに立ち寄ろうと決め、妻もそこだけ同行することになった。
I decided to stop there before the party, and my wife joined me only for Flarie.

Ishida arrange flower

 本当にチューリップが咲いていた。霜が降りる夜はどうするのだろうと少し気になった。
There were tulips flowering really. I was concerned about what they would do at frosty nights.

Ice tulips

Ice tulips

ああ、宴会の写真を出すのを忘れたいた。これです。
Oh, I forgot to show a picture of the party. Here it is.