Onions Drying

Some onions have already been pulled. These are drying in
this greenhouse.

These first three pictures were taken in the morning.

These next two pictures were taken in the late afternoon. See the difference in color?

Onion flower or seed pod.

Greenhouse From A Distance

This is another picture of the greenhouse of onions. It was taken from across the street. Click to enlarge. The greenhouse is on the right.

Ashes and Snow, The Nomadic Museum

We went to the photo exhibition called Ashes and Snow in Odaiba, Tokyo today.

It is called The Nomadic Museum because it will move from city to city.

The whole building will travel with the exhibition. It was designed by Shigeru Ban. It is made out of old train cars.

The people with the umbrellas are walking toward the entrance. The windows on the right are plastic. That is where the shop is located.

Here is the ticket office.

You walk into the exhibition to the left of the white curtains.

This wall is covered in old tea bag paper. When you enter the exhibition, the first thing you see as you turn the corner is an amber sheet draped from the ceiling to the floor. It is made of tea bags, too. The ceilings are really high. There are huge pillars. They are made out of rolled paper!

Cameras are not allowed in exhibitions, but you can see the photos on the website for Ashes and Snow. There, you can also see how the photos were displayed. It was a very nice atmosphere. There were wooden plank pathways with river rocks from Africa along the sides. Nice music playing, amber lights. For us today, we had a little thunder and lots of rain on the tin roof.

There was a shop located at the exit. Here is the book we bought. The paper is all handmade.

The bag was made out of recycled paper. It had this stamp on it.

Rainbow Bridge

We had to go over Rainbow Bridge to get to Odaiba.

We veered off to the left to get on the bridge.

On the bridge.

A view from the bridge. That "steeple" is the top of Tokyo Tower.

Another view from the bridge.

The train line leading to Teleport station near the exhibition.

The stairway leading from the Teleport train station down to the exhibition.

Cocooning

These first two pictures were taken at night. I didn't want to use the flash because it might disturb the silk worm. So, the color is off.

The silk worms stopped eating. That is a sign they are ready to cocoon. Big Sister cut pieces of cardboard to section off corners of a box. This one sat for a while in the small space. She started to sling her head back and forth for a while.

Then she attached fiber from one side of the box to the piece of cardboard that Big Sister had propped inside.

Before we went to bed, we noticed she had made a sling for herself. That's her rear end up in the air. Look at all the fibers.

Here's another angle.

This is what we saw the next morning. You can still see the worm.

Here is a different angle that highlights the "sling" that is holding the cocoon.

The other worm was wandering around while the other one was busy making a cocoon. She must not have liked the corner Big Sister made for her.

The cocoon on day two.

The other worm still hasn't started. It was the bigger worm. It seemed to be healthier than the other. It ate and ate and ate. Now it's late. Or rather, later than the other silk worm.

Tokyo Gold

This corn field is right over our fence.

Corn cobs are forming. This is corn silk.

The bees are feeding on the corn flowers.

Natural Pesticide

This lily plant is outside Baba's window. This year there are many buds. Hopefully, there will be many flowers. There were many little white aphids that threatened to eat the buds.

Then yesterday, I discovered this little insect had cleaned them up. The buds are now safe--for a while. Can you tell what kind of insect it is?

It's a baby praying mantis. It will get big and green as the summer goes on. It will shed its skin. There's already a lot for it to eat. I'm glad we have this natural pesticide! It is the third generation of praying mantis that I know of. (I've only been in charge of the garden for three years since Jiji passed away.) Click on the label below or do a blog search to see posts about praying mantis and other bugs and insects.

Water Bottle for School

Little Brother has been taking a water bottle to school since Monday. He prefers one that has a cup. He also prefers to take mugicha or barley water instead of water.

At his elementary school, teachers announce when they can start bringing water bottles and then later in the early fall when to stop bringing them. The students are free to drink whenever they are thristy.

All students walk to and from school. The school is not air conditioned, and they spend a lot of time outdoors, too. Having water bottles at school cuts down on time spent at the water fountain.

In the Doorway

 

A plastic pan was hanging from the ceiling of the doorway of a karaoke place.

But why?

What is that above it?

Hungry birds.

Mom came back just in time.

Scaffolding Safety

This is scaffolding on a building. It is right in the middle of the sidewalk. Workers wrapped some of the poles in foam so that people walking by wouldn't get hurt if they bumped into them. They also put up cones and bars so that people won't walk under the scaffolding.

Note the yellow strip along the middle of the sidewalk. That is a guide for blind people. Click on the label "disability" below to find out more about it.

Going for a Walk

When the toddlers at this daycare center go for a walk, they stand in these. They all wear hats.

Here's another one.

What It Is

A picture of this plant with a dark purple blossom was posted on May 18. Turns out, it's eggplant! The eggplant is small now and will be small when it's ready to be picked. The eggplant grown here are small.

Check the post for January 2, 2007 for more about eggplant.

Garden Trees

There is a row of sculptured trees in the garden in the background.

These trees are in a nearby field. They will be sold and taken to be planted in someone's garden.

Trimming the Azaleas

The azaleas are now spent, so instead of dead heading each bush, these workers are trimming them with electric trimmers. Actually the trimmers looked more like chainsaws. Click to enlarge. Note the worker squatting on the sidewalk. He's wearing a lot of tools around his waist and a towel on his head.

Red X's

Walking along, I saw these red x's taped on the wall of a daycare building. They were in the back where the garbage bins and tools were, so they weren't some sort of game or decoration. As I got closer, I saw that the x's marked the spots where there were cracks in the wall. Click to enlarge. I don't think you'll be able to see the cracks, but you may be able to see the x's.