極早生ミカンの日南の姫（ひなの姫）がやっと色づき始めました。カタログの文句によると8月末頃から収穫できるようなことを言っていましたが、うちでの現実は大きく異なります。日当たりを良くしようとバルコニーに置いたことがありますが、暑すぎて枯死寸前まで行きました。でも庭では他の果樹の間にしか置けないので、日照不足から完熟期が遅れます。
This is said to be the earliest-ripening variety of tangerines. According to the catalogue, the fruit starts ripening as early as the end of August. However, my tree is placed in a half-sun position and it ripens much later. I once put this plant on the upstairs balcony but the extreme summer heat nearly killed it. Since then, the tree has taken a few years to recover and this is the first year of fruit setting after its near death.
The plant, growing in a 30cm diameter pot, has 3 fruits and this is the largest one.
This is the smallest one and I will wait patiently.
玄関前の食用菊「松風」。今年の秋は連続して台風が到来したので、雨水を吸い過ぎたのか、徒長しています。例年どおり、８月下旬まで刈り込みをしていたのですが。
The edible chrysanthemum in front of the porch has grown taller than usual. I cut it down to about 30cm several times through the summer months, up to the end of August, in order to keep it low and bushy. However, this autumn, we had typhoons one after another, and the excessive amount of rain water probably caused the plant to grow tall.
害虫のフンです。しかも、粒が大きい。
今朝は久しぶりの青空。散歩途中で見かけたオリーブの木の下に、以前うちのバルコニーで見たものが落ちているのに気づきました。
We had a blue sky this morning for the first time in days. As we were walking in the neighbourhood, I saw something familiar on the ground under an olive tree.
Droppings. And, they are huge - much larger than the ones I found under my olive tree.
上をよーく見てやっと見つけました。例のイモムシ。
It took me some time to find the culprit, but there it was.
うちにいたのより遥かに大きくて、私の中指ほどのサイズ。どうりでフンの粒も大きい。うちのオリーブでこのムシを見つけたときは、直ぐ近くに置いてある鉢植えのフィンガーライムに産卵に来たアゲハチョウが勘違いしてオリーブにも産み付けたのかと思っていましたが、この木の周辺には柑橘類が無いので、オリーブの葉を食べて育つ昆虫がいるようです。そこで検索したら、どうやらスズメガの幼虫のようです。
The grub is much larger than the one I found on my olive tree, thus larger droppings too. Thanks to this creature, I learned something new today. When I found the grub on my olive tree the other day, I thought that the usual butterfly came to my citrus tree standing next to the olive tree and made a mistake in laying eggs. But there are no citrus trees near this olive tree. So, I googled and found that it was the 'horned worm' of Sphingidae (according to the Wiki).
近くの小学校の塀に飾られている在校生による風景画。時々更新されるので、通るたびに見ています。
The elementary school near my house displays water colour paintings of pupils on the metal fence. They are renewed from time to time, so I enjoy walking along the fence.
今日の気に入りはこれ。背景は空だそうですが、私の勝手な空想では山奥の滝を梢の間から見ている状況です。なので「木々の向こうの滝」と自分の中で題をつけました。
This is my favourite of this morning. The artist calls it "The sky seen from the top of a tree". However, I call it "The waterfall beyond branches". I am imagining myself standing on an edge while walking in a mountain.
数年前まであった豊島園を惜しんでの絵？ 子供たちにとって閉園になったのは残念だったと思います。その跡地にはハリーポッターのテーマパークができたそうですが、私にはおおよそ興味を持てない分野なので行ったことありません。
These two paintings are reminiscing the Toshimaen Park that used to be in our Nerima Ward. Even as a child growing up in the countryside, I used to hear of it as a sort of paradise for small children. After decades of business, it was closed several years ago and now Universal Studio's Harry Potter Theme Park stands in the area,
