Summer Breeze

Wind chimes are hung in gardens during the summer. Papa says that the tinkling sound of a wind chime makes him feel cool. Today I went to Harajuku. When I was inching through the sweaty crowd toward the exit of the station, I heard these wind chimes. They are made out of glass. They are very common here. Paper strips are tied to the glass clapper or tongue of the bell to catch breezes.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Even the smallest breeze is welcomed! I'm not sure I felt any cooler.

Click here or the label below to see more wind chimes and other summer things.

Hands-Off Flushing

Most public toilets flush on their own when you leave the stall. Some can be flushed by moving your hand over a sensor like this.

Itch Stop

Even though bats swoop and dive for mosquitoes in the field behind our house, there are still a lot of mosquitoes in our garden. They find Little Brother and Papa tasty. Both use this on their bites. It takes the itch away. Mosquitoes rarely bite me and Big Sister.

Shiso

This is the way shiso is sold in grocery stores. Sometimes it is placed on ice or on wet paper towels in the vegetable section.

Shiso is used as a garnish. Raw fish is placed on top of shiso leaves. Shiso is also sliced in strips and sprinkled on top of rice.

Earlier in the summer, there was a shiso Pepsi available at convenience stores. We tasted it. It tasted like shiso. I didn't get a picture of it and now I can't find it in our area.

One summer there was a cucumber Pepsi.

Check this post for purple shiso. And this one for a look at Little Brother's onigiri, rice balls, with shiso.

P.S. I found a shiso Pepsi at our grocery store!

Taro and Lotus at The Dallas Arboretum in Dallas, Texas

I love to photograph taro--anywhere, any time. I grew up with elephant ears in our flower beds. Here is a big pot of them at The Dallas Arboretum. They're in the same family as taro, aren't they?

Lotus at The Dallas Aboretum.

Click on the labels below to see pictures taken in Japan.

The Bamboo Cutter's Daughter at The Dallas Arboretum

There are storybook playhouses on display this summer at The Dallas Arboretum in Dallas, Texas. This house is based on the Japanese story "The Bamboo Cutter's Daughter".

Read what Kids Web Japan says about "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".

Baby Ears

Granny's baby elephant ears in Texas.

Baby taro in the field near our house in Tokyo. They are not the same. Click on the label below for more about taro.

Chautauqua

I've lived in Japan for over 20 years. We have a roof garden where we sit to admire Mt. Fuji on clear winter days and brown bats on summer and fall evenings. Still, one of the things I've missed over the years is porch sitting.

This is the porch at the Athenaeum in Chautauqua. I got to sit here every morning from July 12th to the 18th. I was given a grant to attend the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop. It was a great experience!

The view was fantastic. This is a morning shot of the lake. In the evening, I watched brown bats here.

Highlights for Children®

Purple Shiso

 

 

The green plants are taro.

Check this post for purple shiso.

Lines and Vines

Telephone lines and kiwi vines. Click on the picture to enlarge it. That's a stop sign in the bottom left hand corner. Check this post for a picture of this kind of stop signs. And here for another kind.

The kiwi is over a carport. Check this post for more pictures of the carport.

It is still the rainy season. We are having overcast days, sunny days and rainy days. Yesterday was sunny. Today is overcast. We need some sun!

Our vegetable stand man pulled some onions and tied them together to sell. That dark plastic thing is a shower stool. Some people use them to sit while they wash themselves before getting into the bathtub. He's using it for a field stool.

That's a bundle of dried onion stalks. He used them to tie the onions together.

Here are some onions with their roots still in the ground. They're waiting to be pulled. I bought some from his vegetable stand. They are nice and sweet.

He has a lot of them!

Construction Mat

There's more construction on our street. This time they put down this mat to show us where to walk.

Our vegetable stand man returned from his field carrying a load of onions. He rode his bike through the construction to get to his vegetable stand on the other side. Those kanji painted on the street tell drivers to watch and slow down. There is a park on the left.

Here is a post about another sign painted on the street. And the machine that painted it.

Digging Potatoes at Sunset

Can you see him? Click to enlarge the picture.

Up in the Clouds

Watching clouds from the roof garden. There's that spot again. I've got to get the camera cleaned!

This is a baby praying mantis. The first one I've seen in the roof garden this year.

Neighbor's Gate

This is just one of the many styles of gates in our neighborhood. To go to the front door you would open the right side. First, though, you would ring the bell. The owner would answer through an intercom.

Garden Raspberries

There are a lot of raspberries this year! This plant has been coming up in our garden every year for ten years.

They don't all ripen at the same time. Even those on the same stem!

Ladybug

Click to enlarge the picture. Believe it or not, this will shed its outer shell and become a shiny round ladybug. Click here to see more about ladybugs.

Garden Wall Vents

Most garden walls in our area are made of cinder blocks. This wall has vents at the top and slits near the bottom. They allow air to flow freely. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

This wall has a different design for vents near the ground.

This wall has diamond shaped vents near the top.

Click here to see another design.