夕方散歩 Evening Walk

 寒波の後のこの暖かさは有難いです。タイガにとっても同じなのか散歩が長続きするよう、夕方は小竹向原駅へと続く遊歩道を歩きたがります。城北公園へ行くより遥かに疲れます。でも、名前を呼んでも写真撮影には協力してくれません。

I am loving this warm weather after having been hit by the second cold wave, which affected my health.  Taiga also seems to enjoy the warmth, although dogs are supposed to prefer cooler weather.  She is now in the habit of taking the route to the Kotake-Mukaihara Station, for the evening walk.  It means a much longer walk than going to Johoku Park, and a lot more exhausting for a convalescent like me.  Even so, she has no intention of co-operating with me for a photo shoot - a side eye is the best she can give me.  

赤梅が満開。写真写りはインパクトありませんが、実物は綺麗でした。

Ume tree with red blossoms.  The actual tree was very impressive, although it may not look much in the photo.

この道は梅の木がたくさん植わっていて、今が開花ピークのようです。

On this walkway, there are many Ume trees, and they seem to be at the peak of flowering now.

見通しが良いところでは、まるで桜の開花シーズンのよう。

At some points, the view reminds me of a cherry blossom season.

で、今来た道を振り返ると、こう。メジロやヒヨなど野鳥を眺めながらゆっくり歩くと、非常にリラックスできます。

Looking back the way we have just come.  Walking leisurely, watching the wild birds, such as the White Eye, it is very relaxing.

タイガは他のワンコが残していった臭い嗅ぎに夢中。赤い犬と赤いタイル。

Taiga was more interested in picking up the scent left by other dogs.  A red dog walking alongside the red tiles.

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帰り道、環七を渡って練馬区に戻ると近所の仲良し達と会えました。３歳の大柄なポメの男の子と、トイプーのモモちゃん。

Back in our familiar neighbourhood, we met friendly faces.  A 3 years old, large Pomeranian boy, and a Toy Poodle girl named Momo.

トイプーのポニョ君。

A Toy Poodle boy named Ponyo (what a name).

モモちゃん（左）とポニョ君（右）。モモちゃんはタイガには目もくれず、私を見て大騒ぎ。

Momo and Ponyo.  Momo was not interested in greeting Taiga but was excited to see me.

CSIの番組で見たことを思い出して帰宅後に写真を最大限拡大してみたら、モモちゃんの目の中に私が写り込んでいました。（ドラマでは犯人が写り込んでいた）

I once saw in a CSI drama where they caught the sight of the perpetrator by enlarging the photo of the victim.  After coming home, I tried the same and found that I was in Momo's eyes, too.

この子はナゾのミックス犬男の子で、シンちゃん。長い脚と顔の両脇の長い毛はサルーキの血を思わせます。
This boy is a mysterious individual, named Shin.  His long legs and the long hair at the sides of his face suggest to me that he might have a drop of Saluki blood.

棗、ひと月後 Jujubes, one month on

 1月31日以降、棗苗が徐々に動き出しています。写真の手前の苗は「早脆王棗」の現在。背後の左は「無核金糸棗」、右は「蟠棗」。（写真を撮った時間は、朝日が部屋に段々差し込んでくるタイミングだったので、葉っぱが黄色く見えます。）

Since the last posting on January 31st, the jujube plants have been making progress very slowly.  The tree in front is Early Crisp King jujube.  In the back, the one on the left is Seedless Golden Thread jujube, and on the right is Panzao.  (I took these pictures in early morning just as the sun was coming into the room - thus, the yellowish colour of new buds.)

これは先月末にトップを切って動き出した早脆王の芽。上から３番目の節。恒常的な枝になりそうな太い芽には既に樹皮の斑点が出ています。

This is the bud of Early Crisp King that started growing first, at the end of January.  It is the 3rd node from the top.  Some of the new shoots are large enough already and I can see spots of bark on permanent branches.

これ↓は先月の31日の状態。寒い季節なのでゆっくり育ちました。

This is the same bud as it looked on January 31st.  It being winter, the bud has been growing very slowly.

これ↓は２番目に動き出した芽で、上から２番目の節。

This is the bud that followed the above one, and it is the 2nd node from the top.

これは上から４番目の節。

This is the 4th node from the top.

この苗が届いたときに根っこが大量についていたので、それが影響していると思います。

When the bareroot plants were delivered, this tree had abundant roots.  Perhaps that has contributed to its early growing?

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こちらは無核金糸棗。早脆王は芽が一個ずつ動き出したのに対し、この苗は木全体が動き出しています。ただし、未だ初期なので写真にとって分かりそうなものだけ掲載。

This is the Seedless Silk Thread jujube.  Whereas the Early Crisp King's buds started to come out one by one, the nodes on this plant are starting to grow almost all in concert.  However, it being still at an early stage, I have taken photos of only 'visible' ones in pictures.

この苗が届いたとき、細根がきれいに取り除かれていたのでショックでしたが、その状態から回復しつつあるということでしょうか。苗の地上部の外観では、この苗は接ぎ木部分から天辺まで綺麗な緑色で、３本のなかで一番健康そうな苗でした。

When this plant was delivered, the fine roots had been meticulously removed, which shocked me a lot.  Perhaps, new white fine roots are coming out now, for the buds to be growing?   At any rate, this plant looked the healthiest of the 3, with beautiful green bark from the fusion point to the top of the tree.

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こちらは蟠棗。もっとも遅れて最近動き出しました。届いたときの根っこの量は悪くなかったのに、あまりにも変化が見られなかったので心配し始めていたところ。

This is Panzao.  The last one to start moving.  When the plant was delivered, the amount of roots looked not bad for an imported tree.  However, until recently, it showed no sign of budding, and I was getting anxious.

週末は暖かい予報なので、日中、ベランダで日光浴させる予定です。新芽を野鳥に食べられないか心配ですが。。。

The weather is forecast to be warm during this weekend, and I am planning to put them out into the direct sunlight for a few hours at midday.  I hope wild birds will not pick on the fresh buds.

朝散歩 Morning Walk

 散歩中、近所の空き地でタイガが用を足したのでそれを拾っていました。立ち上がって振り返ったら、通りかかった仲良しのワンコたちが私のほうを見ていました。私のバッグの中身が目当てのようです。タイガは飼い主さんたちに挨拶まわり。朝から仲良しに会えて、一日の良いスタートを切りました。

As we were walking in our neighbourhood, Taiga did her business in an empty plot, and I was picking it up.  When I stood up and turned around, I found familiar faces looking in my direction.  They were after the treat in my bag, while Taiga was going around greeting the owners.  Meeting these friends was a nice start to the warm and beautiful day.

更に歩いていると、他の空き地で近所の紀州犬ウメちゃんと久しぶりに会えてラッキー。

As we walked on, we met Ume, a female Kishu who lives about 50 meters away from our house.  I was so pleased to see her since I heard a few weeks ago that she was not feeling well.

興奮して喜んでいるのは私だけで、ワンコたちは静かに挨拶。

Actually, I was the only one being excited, and Ume and Taiga greeted each other in their usual quiet way.

春の陽気を満喫しながら地元をゆっくり歩きまわりました。ここの家は紅白の梅の木が満開。

We walked on leisurely, staying in our neighbourhood, to enjoy the warm day.  Ume plum trees were in full bloom at this house.

赤花は実が生らないけど八重咲きで綺麗です。

The red flower variety does not produce fruits but having both red and white trees is meant to bring good luck.

こちらは八重咲の椿。

Camellia flowers.

大輪でバラのような花を眺めてうっとり。

Large, double petal flowers look like roses.

キーライムに蕾 Flower buds on Key Lime

 冬の間、耐寒性の低そうな鉢植えを2階部屋に無加温で避難させています。そのうち、実を利用した後の種から育てたキーライムに関しては、ネット上の情報によると実生苗が花を咲かせるまでには7-10年かかりそうな情報を見たことがあるので、もう諦めようかと思っていました。使っている10号菊鉢を他に利用したかったのです。今日の暖かい天気のうちに作業をやってしまおうと苗に近づいたら、

I have been keeping plants with less cold tolerance in a room upstairs for the winter - it is a sunny room but without any heating.  One of them is a Key lime seedling that I have been growing after consuming the fruits, imported from the US.  However, I once read that for a Key lime seedling to flower, it might take 7-10 years, and I was getting rather pessimistic.  So, I thought of getting rid of the plant and use the pot for something else.  Since it was another warm day today, I decided to do it now.

この春のような陽気でもう苗が動きだしたらしく、しかも枝先には蕾が！ 実を利用したあと、湿らせたティッシュの上で種から根っこは直ぐに出ましたが、寒さでそれ以降の変化がなかなか起こらず、双葉が種の殻から出てきたのは2021年の暮、よって実際に苗として育てたのは2022年から2024年の３年間です。しかも、去年の春から暮までは家の北側にうっちゃって、土がカラカラになってからやっと水やりしていた程度。その「適度なイジメ」が奏功したのでしょうか。

When I actually came to closely look at the plant, I could not believe my eyes - flower buds!  I sowed the seeds in late 2021 on wet tissue paper.  I saw the roots come out soon but, due to the cold weather, seed leaves did not come out of the shell until the end of 2021.  Therefore, as a plant, it has been growing for only 3 years (2022-24).  Moreover, I had almost banished the plant to the north side of my house during spring to December last year, watering it only when it was absolutely necessary.  Perhaps the plant feared for its life, thus the flowers?

苗の全体が見やすいように、部屋の壁を背景に樹形を確認。樹高は約１メートル。去年の春より枝葉が作落ちしています。

I placed the plant in front of the wall of the room to take a better look.  It is about one meter tall.  It has lost a lot of leaves and looks less vigorous than it did last spring.

今日の暖かい直射日光に当てるために、苗をベランダへ引きずり出しました。どう見ても蕾です。

I then moved the plant onto the balcony so that it could bask in the warm sunlight.  I am now determined to take much better care of this plant.

久しぶりのシャンプー First shampoo in weeks

 今朝の散歩から帰って、リビングを片付けたあとタイガを呼び入れようと玄関ドアを開けたら、座布団の上ではなくヒガンバナの葉っぱの上でくつろいでいました。この場所のほうが玄関前の座布団からよりも道行く人たちが良く見えるからのようです。門の向こうだけでなく、左下のお隣の垣根の上からも道が良く見えます。それで最近、ヒガンバナの葉っぱがぺたんこになっていた理由がわかりました。

After getting home from our morning walk and tidying up the living room, I opened the front door to call Taiga inside.  Instead of sitting on the usual cushion in front of the door, she was crouched over the leaves of spider lily.  It seems that she gets a better view of the passersby from this position.  She can look over our gate, as well as over the hedge of my neighbour's garden on the left.  Now I know why the spider lily leaves became flat on the ground recently - it was not because of the gales we have been having.

どういう衛生感覚してるの？

Ever thought of hygiene?

かなり汚れているから、今日こそシャンプーしようね。最後に洗ったのは去年の12月30日（！）でした。寒すぎるのと、洗った後のドライヤーがけが延々と時間かかるので、つい億劫になっていました。でも、今日はとても暖かい日なので、ドライヤーがけは屋内ではなく玄関の外でも平気。来週の寒波の再来の前にちょうど良いタイミングです。

It seems she is ready for a good shampoo.  The last time I washed her, it was December 30th (!) - such a long time ago.  It has been too cold, and it takes hours trying to dry her fur after shampoo.  However, today was a very warm day - warm enough to dry her outside the porch.  Also, they are forecasting a return of the cold spell next week.  If I missed today, it would be another week of oily fur on Taiga.

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午後3時頃にシャンプー実行。ドライヤーに時間がかかって、家を出たのは４時過ぎでした。公園に着くと黒柴男子のソラちゃんとばったり。

I started washing her at 3 p.m.  After drying her, we left the house after 4 p.m., to go to the park.  On our arrival at the park, we met Sora, a male Black Shiba Inu.

ソラちゃんの関心は私の手提げの中身だけ。簡単にオヤツタイム。

His sole interest is what is in my bag.  So, we had a quick treat time.

さらに歩いていると、向こうからカンタがやって来ました。

We walked further and saw Kanta heading our way.

カンタはタイガより４歳くらい年下ですが、すっかりオヤジになって、挨拶の瞬間はタイガに対して偉そう。タイガのシッポが右側に倒れているのでしょうがないです。

Kanta is about 4 years younger than Taiga, but he behaves like an older man with an attitude when he meets Taiga.  Taiga is always so happy to see him, with her tail wagging to the right.

カンタがドッグランへ向かうので、ランまで一緒に歩きました。

As Kanta was going to the dog park, we walked together to see him off there.

カンタは中虎ですが、夕日の中ではこんなに赤っぽく見えるときもあります。

Kanta is a brown brindle but, in the evening light, he sometimes looks like a red brindle.