今年の春に発芽した赤葉モミジの苗を植え付けるための浅皿を探していましたが、浅いタイプのものはなかなかお店では見つかりません。唯一、イメージ通りのを見かけたのは、散歩中に通りがかった空き家の庭に放置された大小様々な鉢の山の天辺に乗っていたものでした。それを思い浮かべながら自分で作ろうと思い、粘土を通販でゲット。手にとって「あれっ」と思ったのは、粘土とは思えない軽さ。
I have been looking for a shallow bonsai pot for my red-leaf Japanese maple seedlings. However, deep, modern looking pots are in vogue, and I could not find anything of the shape I needed. The only one that fit the image I had in mind was lying on top of a heap of abandoned pots in the garden of an uninhabited house that I passed by when walking with Taiga. So, I decided to make one myself and got a packet of clay that is said to be water resistant - i.e., it does not melt in water. When I held it in my hand, I was surprised to see how light it was - nothing like the weight of natural clay.
According to the instruction, you can mix water-colour paint to make the clay colourful. I did not have any painting colours, so I decided to keep it simple for my first pot. This material is very cheap and, if I change my mind in the future, I will try using the colour or come up with a different shape.
袋を開けてみると、今まで見たことない材質です。しかも泡っぽくて柔らかいプラスチックのような感覚。練っていても全く手が汚れません。
When I opened the packet, it was something totally unfamiliar. It was foamy, and it was more like soft plastic material rather than 'clay'. Moreover, my hands remained clean whatever I did with the material.
まずは、土の水はけをよくするために、鉢底用の足を作っておきます。長さを同じに切ったら、本体が乾燥してからつけるために数日保管。それまでにはこれらの足も硬く乾燥しているはずなので、余った粘土は密封しておいて接着剤として使う予定。材質がゴムのようにぐねぐねして変形するので、いま本体にとりつけようとすると長さも形もバラバラになってしまいます。
I first made legs for the pot to increase drainage. Having ensured that they were of the same size and length, I decided to leave them for several days until when the pot would be dry and hard enough to attach these. The leftover clay will be kept wrapped until when I use it as glue for the legs and the pot. The material is too rubber-like and unstable, and if I try to attach them to the pot today, the shape and length will be all different.
本体用の粘土は十分あります。適当な厚みに延ばしたら、コッペパン用の型を利用して形作りすることにしました。
There is enough clay to make a pot. After rolling the clay out to a suitable thickness, I used the mould for a bun.
これで大体の方向性が見えたので、
The rough image of the pot is decided.
型を外して最終段階へ。
Having removed the bread mould, I started to shape the pot.
水はけ用の穴を3か所に開けました。手作り感満載。イメージトレーニングしていたより遥かに難しくて苦戦しました。手触りがゴムのような材質で、つかみどころがない。従来の天然の粘土とは違い、手を離したとたんに形が崩れて勝手に変形してしまいます。結局、グラタン皿のような出来上がり。
I made 3 punctures to ensure good drainage. The pot looks very unsophisticated - this is very different from the image I had at the start. In my defense, I can only say that this material is a shape shifter. Unlike the natural clay, it changes its shape the moment I take my hands off. It ended up looking like a gratin dish.
最後には、半分投げやりで終了。
Well, this will have to do for now.
粘土の厚みによって３～７日かけて完全に乾燥するそうなので、すぐには使えません。苗と並べてみると、大きすぎました。でも、そのうち苗が育つでしょう。
The instruction says that, depending on the thickness of the clay, it will take 3-7 days to get completely dry. So, I cannot use it yet. Looking at the pot and the seedlings, I think the pot was too large - the seedlings will have to grow to fit the pot.
歩いているうちに、白っぽいアンダーコートの抜け毛が浮き上がってきます。これを指でつまんで引っ張ろうものなら、ゴソッと抜けてくる短い毛のやり場が無くなるのと終わりがないので、引っ張りたい誘惑に耐えながら歩きます。
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
タイガの換毛期はまだ終わっていなかったのか、最近 抜け毛が激しかったので午後にシャンプーしました。毎日ファーミネーターをかけているより、洗ったほうが手っ取り早いです。シャンプーのあとは自然乾燥の旅で公園へ。
It seems that Taiga's moulting was not done yet. She has been shedding heavily again recently, so I shampooed her this afternoon. Rather than brushing her with the Furminator every day, it is a lot quicker to wash her. After the shampoo, we headed for the park to dry her in the sun.
As Taiga was walking, the loose fur from the pale undercoat started surfacing. If I ever pulled some of it out with my fingers, a huge chunk would come out and I would not be able to stop doing it. So, I had to resist the temptation and kept walking.
今は夏葉の色で、薄茶色です。うちの発芽苗もノムラの種からですが、先の写真のとおり春からずっと真っ赤です。樹齢が関係してくるのでしょうか。
城北中央公園に来たついでに、この公園に１本だけあるノムラもみじを見に行きました。
Since we were at the Johoku Central Park, we went to the spot where the only Nomura maple tree grows in this park.
As it is summer, the leaves are light brown. My red-leaf seedlings are also Nomura variety, but their leaves are as red as they were in spring - perhaps due to the seedlings' age?
秋になると再び赤葉になるので、紅一点で目立ちます。
秋になると再び赤葉になるので、紅一点で目立ちます。
In autumn, this tree will stand out since it will be the only red tree against the background of green and yellow.
台風８号の影響で今朝も早い時間には小雨が降っていました。日光でその水分が蒸発してくると、もう蒸し暑いのなんの。
タイガが地面の臭い嗅ぎに夢中。ワンコはなぜかミミズの臭いが大好きで、地表に出たミミズを見つけると地面に肩をこすりつけてスリゴロすることが良くあります。今その気配があったので、広場の先のほうへ移動しました。
Taiga was occupied with sniffing the ground. Dogs love the smell of ground worms and, if they find one on the surface, they will rub their shoulders against the worm. Right now, Taiga looked about to do that, so we moved to the other side of the field.
The effect of the typhoon No. 8 was lingering this morning with light rain in the early hours. The sun came out after that, and the ground moisture has been rising all day. It was very muggy.
帰ろう、ね、ね？ 帰宅後には玄関内で、ドライヤー掛けの作業が待っています。ドライヤーで毛が舞い上がると、汗だくの顔にもろに引っ付きます。かといって、この時期、玄関の外でこれをやろうものなら、蚊の餌食になります。
I coaxed Taiga to start heading home. I had to save my energy to finish her drying process with a dryer at home. In this weather with lots of mosquitoes outside, I have to use the dryer in the porch. The dryer blows the undercoat hair into the air, and it sticks to my sweaty face. I have to conserve my strength for all that.
帰りはミンミンゼミの声に急かされるように、公園の出口を目指しました。
We headed for the exit of the park amid the ringing sounds of cicadas.
