Sometimes I try to tell people what a millipede is, but you don't see them in Japan so much.
Here are some of the Chinese quince from my garden. They smell lovely, but I'm not quite sure what to do with them!
And the little orange things are called "Karasu-uri" or "Snake Vine" in English. The vine grows in the summer, and in late summer it has fruits that look like tiny watermelons. In autumn they become orange and kind of look like mini-pumpkins. Please don't try to eat them! I picked them because I think they make good decorations :)
This is my photo of the week. I found a row of camellia bushes as I walked to the post office in Takezono recently. The blooms were so beautiful I couldn't resist stopping and taking a picture ...
Anyway, here is a picture of Mt Tsukuba that I took a few weeks ago from the rooftop carpark at Yamashin homecenter. Lovely, isn't it?
Today I met an old friend who lives in Tokyo. She has exciting news - she has co-authored a book! Congratulations Chris!
Here is the 'mystery bird' that was in the persimmom tree. Thank you to K-san for telling me its name :)
There are some wonderful pictures of other Japanese birds. It seems to be a group that shares bird-watching photos.
There are two fruit trees in my garden. Before you feel envious, let me tell you that NEITHER of the fruits can be eaten ...
Oh, if you are wondering, there are quinces in Australia but a different kind. Karin are 'Chinese quince' but the quince I know can be eaten. They look kind of the same, but you can cut them up and cook them like apples. When they are cooked, the flesh becomes pale pink! My father really like stewed quinces. I wonder if I could try cooking Chinese quince?
The second tree is a persimmom tree. Of course you can eat persimmom, but the fruit on this tree are bitter. Despite that, the birds love them! A family of Japanese crows sometimes visits the tree (I don't like the awful noise they make) and yesterday a flock of beautiful birds came. They were about 30cm tall, with white/beige bodies, black heads and pale blue/grey tails. I hope those birds come back again. I tried to take a picture but my camera's zoom isn't powerful enough.
Last week one of my English classes changed into a flower arranging lesson! One of the members is studying to be a flower arranging teacher, and everyone else asked to teach us how to make a simple arrangement - in English!!!
M-san's class was really easy to follow. She had prepared a handout with the basic design, and after we finished that part, she said "Now you can add flowers as you like". I was happy with this idea because we could make our own original designs.
It was interesting because even though we had the same flowers, everyone's arrangment was a little different to the others. What do you think of mine? (It was my first try ...)
Flower arranging is quite relaxing so that night I made another arrangement at home to use up the flowers I had left over.
Do you remember on June 10th (please see the archives to the right of this page), I started to make ume miso dressing? Well, last weekend I could finish it.
So I put it in a stainless steel saucepan and simmered it on low heat for about 5 minutes. You have to be very careful to stir it constantly so it doesn't burn. Next I sterilized some jars with hot water and then white liquor. Finally, I poured the hot dressing into the jars. You can see the end results.
A frog that was sitting on the top of the washing pole, about 160cm from the ground. I caught it and put it on the grass, but it climbed back up immediately! I was annoyed because I wanted to hang out sheets, but I guess it was annoyed because it was enjoying its sunbath. Finally I left it on the end of the pole and it stayed there all day!
A cricket. There are lots of these and they make a lovely sound at night. I can also hear bell crickets but I haven't been able to find them in the daytime. I love the sound of autumn insects but as it gets colder, the singing gets weaker and soon it will be silent.
This week I heard something very funny but a little unkind.
If you want a nice shopping experience, please go to Kojima Denki. I really like the staff there who are very kind and helpful. The choice of products on display might be limited, but please ask them if you have something you want to buy. Some shops do have stock but not on display. For example, recently I went to the Gakuen store but the IC recorder I wanted was out of stock. The clerk said she could order it, or I could try another store. She gave me an advertisement showing maps to the other stores in the area. I knew that the model I wanted is the most popular now and is out of stock in many places (not just Kojima), so I called the other stores by phone. I could get the recorder from the Ushiku store even though they didn't have it on display. (The Ushiku store is small so display space is limited.)
Pumpkin muffins cooked in the barbeque. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I've also cooked bread in the BBQ because mine has a lid so it becomes like an oven.
And lastly, I bought chicken bones from Marugen Meat to make my own chicken stock. The chicken is brand name chicken from Iwate and tastes great! I didn't add any salt or other seasonings, but put in one large onion and half a carrot. I simmered it for about 1 hour, skimmed the skum (aku) off the top, let it cool, then put it in the freezer.
My other decision was to only buy expensive milk. There are so many news stories about the strange foods and medicines that farmers give cows! And I also want to know how milk can be kept in a carton for over two weeks?
This season G-clef cafe has a wonderful dessert - kind of like a soft pudding with caramel sauce. I went there for their delicious curry but couldn't resist having sweets afterwards. 
'Dessert' is a word that can be understood where ever you go, but I am guessing that Americans and Canadians don't know or use the word 'sweets'. 
