早朝散歩から帰って庭の様子を見ていたら、ローゼルの花が遂に咲き始めたのに気づきました。ハイビスカスの花と比べると随分とジミーです。苗の枝がどんどん伸びて巨大になった一方、花のサイズは小さなアサガオの花程度なので、余計ジミに見えるのかも。
After our early morning walk, I checked the state of the plants in the garden, when I noticed a flower on the roselle plant - the first flower! It is not like a hibiscus flower but on the duller side. The plant has grown into a giant and due partly to that, the flower looks small and dull.
The central stem now exceeds 2 metres. When I first planted it, I gave plenty of initial fertiliser and have been watering the plant twice a day. So, it had no choice but to grow in this heat wave.
すぐ隣に植えられているリスボンレモンの木がすっかり隠れてしまうほど、ローゼルの枝葉が茂っています。
There is a Lisbon lemon tree next to the roselle plant, but it is almost hidden behind the latter.
花はお昼ご飯前にタイガのオシッコ散歩で外に出たときは、既に閉じていました。これ↓ は夕方散歩で出たときの様子。
The flower had folded inwards by the time I took Taiga out for a pre-lunch walk. This photo below was taken when we went out for our evening walk.
閉じた花びらはピンクで、こちらのほうが綺麗な色です。閉じた花の真上にある蕾と、もう一つ支柱の陰になっている蕾が、明日には開花しそうです。
Although the flower has closed, the petal is pink and looks prettier than it did as an open flower. There are two flower buds that are certain to open tomorrow - one is right above this morning's flower, and the other is behind the gardening prop.
今日は湿度が高くてベタベタした一日。林の中を歩くと蚊がすごそうだったので、林の横の道を行きました。
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夕方散歩で城北中央公園へ行きました。草は相変わらずボウボウです。草丈が短かった頃は、公園内の散歩を終えて帰宅する前に草地の奥の斜面に座り込んで、夕風に当たりながらまったりしていたものです。
For our evening walk, we went to the Johoku Central Park. The grass was still not cut. When the grass was short and the soil dry, we used to sit on the slope at the back of the field after walking in the park and before going home.
It was exceptionally humid all day today. Walking in the woods would mean getting bitten by mosquitoes, so we walked on the road next to the woodland.
同じ道を懐かしい子がやって来ました。タイガが子犬のころ、川向こうの草地で一緒に遊んだクラ君です。タイガの尻尾がブンブン。
As we were walking, we saw a familiar face approaching us - a large dog named Kura. When Taiga was a puppy, they used to play together in the field across the river, where they are currently building anti-flood underground reservoirs. Taiga's tail is wagging furiously.
写真がボケてしまいましたが、仲良しぶりの記録にアップしました。
In this photo, the pooches are blurred but I am keeping this to preserve the happy memory, since neither of them is young.
左の第二期は現在進行中で、さらに８年くらいかかるはずです。ここが草地だったころは、桜の木がたくさん植わっていたし地形も高低の変化があったので、花見にもワンコを遊ばせるにも最適なところでした。あと８年なんて、タイガは待てません。
川向うの草地だったところは、現在工事中。洪水対策の地下調整池の建設工事です。右半分のこの写真に写っているところは工事の第一期で、最近完了したそうです。
The field across the river has been under public works. They are constructing adjustment reservoirs for floods. Of the total project, the First Phase on the right was recently completed after about 8 years.
They have started working on the Second Phase which will likely take 8 more years. When this place was a vast field, we had many cherry trees, and the ground was varied with hills and mounds. The field was ideal for cherry blossom seasons, as well as for dogs to play. Taiga cannot wait for another 8 years.
工事現場を眺めながら、公園の上に向かいます。
Looking over the construction site on the right, we went up the slope to reach the other side of the hill.
ドッグラン近くの花壇の花を眺めながら、ベンチで一休みしてから帰りました。
Having come down the hill, we sat at a bench near the dog park to have a rest before going home.
