公園で At the Park

 公園に着くと、ちょうど柴犬のカリー君も到着しました。

When we arrived at the park, Curry, male Shiba Inu, also turned up.

タイガはカリー君の飼い主さんに挨拶。

Taiga greets Curry's dad.

そこへ初めて見る子が登場。ボーダコリー、3歳半のポル君。ボーダーの雄としても体格が立派で、遠くから近づいてきた姿は威厳がありました。また、茶色の部分の色が何とも珍しいカラーです。３歳半ならちょうど体が出来上がっているので、今が最も美しい時期です。

A new face - 3 1/2 years old Border Collie, named Pol.  Even for a male Border Collie, he is quite large.  As he approached us from a distance, he looked really impressive and handsome.  At 3 1/2 years old, he is fully grown and in his most beautiful state.

タイガとの挨拶。耳とシッポの状態からして、僅かに緊張しながらも自分がひるんでいないことをアピールするかのようです。

Pol wanting to greet Taiga.  Judging from his posture, he is marginally nervous, but he wants to show to Taiga that he is not intimidated.

ワンコは男の子が甘えん坊、と言われますが、こうやってスリスリされると本当にカワイイ。

With me, he was so affectionate (I hear male dogs are more affectionate than females).  He gave me lots of cuddles.

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涼しくなって、オーブンの暖かさが懐かしくなる季節です。今日は黒ゴマ入りの丸パンを焼きました。ゴマの重量は小麦粉に対して5%。

The weather has turned chilly and now it is the season when I miss the warmth of baking.  I decided to bake buns with black sesame seeds (baker's ratio 5%).

発酵が完了したのは夕方。

It was already getting dark when proofing was done.

焼きあがって冷ましている間に、タイガの夕方散歩に出かけました。

After taking the buns out of the oven, we went out for the evening walk.

帰宅すると完全に冷めていたので、夕食用に１個切ってみました。

The buns were completely cold by the time we got home.  When I cut one into half, 

黒ゴマの香りがプ～ンとして美味しそうです。冷めても皮の部分はバリバリ、中身はフワフワです。しばらくクセになりそう。

the scent of black sesame rose.  The skin is hard even after cooling, while the crumb was very light.  I think I will be baking these a few times more.

散歩 Walks

 今日は不安定な天気の一日。早朝散歩の頃には雨は一旦止んでいましたが、家の近くの道路工事現場から丘の向こうへ続く道を眺めると、霧のようなモヤがかかっていて、向こうはまだ霧雨が降っているかのようでした。空も怪しい。

The weather was unstable today with occasional showers.  By the time we went out for our morning walk, the rain had stopped but the humidity was high.  Looking towards the hill where nearby road construction leads to, the scenery was hazy as if it was raining at the end of the road.

城北中央公園に着くと、入口でイングリッシュブルドッグのブン太に会えました。ドッグランで大型犬と散々遊んでクタクタになったそうです。

When we arrived at the Johoku Central Park, we met Bunta, a male English Bulldog.  He had been to the dog park and had lots of fun with large dogs.  So, he looked thoroughly exhausted and content to go home.

名前を呼んでもアゴをカゴに乗せたまま。

When I called his name, he did not have the strength to lift his jaw from the basket.

入口広場の林には木漏れ日が射していて、気温も急上昇中。かなり蒸し暑いです。

The sun was shining through the trees when we went further into the woodland, and it was getting very muggy.

もうイチョウが落ち始めています。

The ginkgo nuts season is about to start.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

お昼ご飯のあと、通常は近場でオシッコ散歩だけで済ますのですが、今日は天気が良いので長めの散歩にしました。うちの前の坂道を登り切ったところにある、紀州犬のウメちゃんの家ではキンモクセイが満開状態。つい２週間前に植木屋さんたちが庭木の剪定をしていたとき、「キンモクセイは花の後に剪定すれば良いのでは？」と思いながら通りましたが、さすがに職人さんの仕事は違う。

After lunch, we normally have the shortest possible walk in the neighbourhood, just for Taiga to relieve herself.  However, since the sky was turning blue after so many rainy days, we had a longer walk.  About 20 meters up on the slope from my house, Ume, a female Kishu Ken lives.  They had gardeners 2 weeks ago for autumn pruning of their trees.  At that time, I thought that they should leave the osmanthus tree alone until after the forthcoming flowers.  However, I can now see that the professionals knew what they were doing.

花が露出するように、枝の先っちょの葉っぱの部分を取り除いた剪定方法のようです。

They meticulously removed the end of each branch where there were leaves.

小枝の下を覗く必要もなく花を見ることができます。

The result is that the flowers are exposed fully.

そういえば例の「ウスギモクセイ」はどうなっているのだろうと思い、6丁目へ向かいました。途中の小さな公園。道の横のザクロの実をチェック。

That reminded me about the rare kind of osmanthus that I saw in spring this year.  That tree had fruits looking very much like olives, which was a great surprise.  When osmanthus was introduced to Japan, I am told that they brought only female trees and they do not get fruits without male trees.

So, we set out to the next district to see if that tree was in bloom this time of the year.

まだ落ちずに綺麗な実がついています。春にはおびただしい数の花が咲いて、秋にはこうやって実を眺めることができるなら、結構優秀な庭木です。

On our way, there is a pomegranate tree growing in a small park and its fruits are looking very pretty.  This tree had an abundance of flowers in spring and now it has many beautiful fruits.  What a good ornamental tree.

その公園の斜め向かいの家のキンモクセイもチェック。

Almost opposite to the park, there is a tall osmanthus tree in a large private garden.

これは全く剪定してない自然体の枝ぶり。この家の庭は広いので、放任するスペース余裕があります。

This one is without pruning and this is how it should look if left naturally.  But you have to have a large garden.

私がキンモクセイに集中している間、タイガは藪の中のネコに夢中でした。数匹のネコが、さっきの公園とこの広い庭を行き来しながら住み着いています。

As I was absorbed in looking at the osmanthus tree, Taiga was busy with something else.  A cat in a bush.  Several cats live in this garden and the park opposite, so Taiga enjoys passing through this area.

三毛猫でメスのようですが、野良のキツイ目つきでした。
A calico, so it must be female.  However, she has a fierce look in her eyes since she is a feral cat.

ウスギモクセイ目がけて坂道を下りていきます。

We went down the slope towards the unusual osmanthus tree.

これがその庭木で、今年の春にはオリーブのような実が生っていました。どうやら咲いているみたいですが、キンモクセイのような多花性ではなさそう。

This is the tree.  Its formal name is Osmanthus fragrans var. thunbergii Makino, according to Wiki.  To you and me, it's osmanthus with pale flowers.

The unusual thing about this variety is that it produces fruits by self-pollinating.

ブログ友の「海月ファーム」さんにこの木の名前を教えてもらって、ネット上で開花写真を見ていたので、今日この花を見て納得しました。本当に色が薄い。だから「ウスギモクセイ(薄黄木犀)」。枝によっては白花の「銀モクセイ」かと思うほど白っぽい花の箇所もありました。

A blog friend who saw my posting told me the name of this tree, and the name in Japanese means "pale yellow osmanthus".  This tree does not produce abundant flowers.  

I have seen a white flower variety whose name means "silver osmanthus", as opposed to the normal variety whose name means "golden osmanthus".  On some sites, people treat the 'pale yellow' and 'silver' varieties as more or less the same. 

花の香はほとんど感じませんでした。この家の近所の家々にはキンモクセイが咲いているので、微風が顔に当たるたびにそれらの花の香が強烈に香ってくるのは分かりますが、風が止んだとたん、ほとんど匂いがしなくなりました。

The flowers do not have noticeable scent.  Many houses nearby have golden osmanthus trees and, every time I felt a breeze on my face, I smelt their scent.  The moment the breeze stopped, the scent ceased, too.

散歩のあとローズティー Walk followed by Rose Tea

 夜のうちに降り出した雨は今朝になっても止まず、公園は雨の中の散歩でした。他所のワンコの姿は全くなし。

It started to rain during the night, and it was still raining this morning.  So, it was not surprising that we did not see any other dogs when we arrived at the park.

タイガはストイックに歩き続けます。この雨合羽、気に入ったのか装着の際に全然逃げ回りません。脚を通さなくてよいのが受けているようで、着せる私にとっても非常に楽です。

Taiga walks on stoically.  She seems to have taken to this raincoat - when I try to put it on, she does not run away as she used to do with previous raincoats.  With this one, she does not have to put her legs through sleeves and that seems to have made a lot of difference.  It is easier for me to put it on her, too, so we both benefit from it.

昨日 日本スピッツのアンジーちゃんと会った築山へ上ります。ここはタイガのオヤツスポットのひとつなので、私を誘導していきます。

We went up the little mound where we met Angie, the Japanese Spitz, yesterday.  This is one of Taiga's treat spots, so she is happy to lead me to it.

上がって見渡したところで誰の姿も見えないので、

Up on the mound, we did not see any other dogs walking.

オヤツのあとはさっさと帰りました。

So, we had a treat and went home.

門の外に置いてあるバラのハンザは、先週からポツポツ咲き始めています。

The Hanza rose started to flower last week - this is the third one this autumn.

食用菊の十五夜もだんだんと開花してきています。

The edible chrysanthemum in the rain.

秋の花なので小ぶりですが、香はしっかりあります。

Since it is an autumn flower, it is small.

さっそく摘んでローズティーにします。

I picked it to make a cup of rose tea.

タイガの雨合羽は庭のホース水でドロが簡単に落ちるので、あとはハンガーで外に吊るしておくだけ。使ったあとに洗濯という手間が要らないので、とても便利な雨具です。

It is easy to look after Taiga's raincoat after use - I just run the hose water outside and the dirt comes off easily.  After that, I hang it outside to dry - the material is not woven, and it dries quickly.  The beauty with this raincoat is that you do not have to do 'washing' as such.

ローズティーには酸味が欠かせません。キンカンライムを1個利用。10月に入ると果汁たっぷり。果皮の色が翌年の２月頃に黄色くなっても味は変わらないので、長く利用できる便利な香酸類です。

For the rose tea, acidity is essential, so I picked a limequat which becomes fully ripe in October with lots of juice.  The skin turns yellow in following February, but the taste does not change, which means I can use this over many months.

薔薇の花は綺麗に濯いだら、花びらだけを使います。

I thoroughly rinsed the flower before putting the petals into the cup.

左はダージリン紅茶。右のハンザは熱湯を注いだだけの状態で、花びらが脱色して決して綺麗な外見ではない。

On the left is Darjeeling tea, and on the right the rose tea.  When you pour hot water, the petals lose their colour and it looks unappealing.

両方のカップにキンカンライムの半割をそれぞれ搾りいれると、ハンザのほうは酸に反応して液体が濃いピンクになります。

I squeezed half of the limequat each to the Darjeeling tea and the rose tea.  The rose tea reacted to the acidity and the liquid acquired a deep pink colour.

さらに、味を良くするためにハンザのほうに小さじ２杯の蜂蜜を加えると、色はより濃くなります。

Further, I added 2 teaspoons of honey to the rose tea, and the colour became deeper.

液体の味は甘酸っぱくて香がバツグン。花びらを食べるとシャキシャキの食感とスモモのような風味があります。

The taste of the rose tea (the liquid) is sweet and sour and very delicious with a beautiful fragrance.  The petals have become firm due to the acidity, and they are now chewy with a hint of plums.