JFK Rose

Taken at Jindai Botanical Gardens the other day. JFK roses photograph well. Check the one I posted two years ago by clicking on the label below.

Under wrap

These cabbages are in a small field across the street from us. They are next to the sidewalk.

It's nice to walk along and see vegetables growing.

"Oishisou!" "Looks delicious!" Big Sister used to say.

Time to Split

This field down the street from us is planted in Japanese eggplants. (They are small.) Some of them were left on the stalk too long. They split like this one.

A Confused Sakura Tree and other fall scenes

This sakura tree was blooming! It's early or late. They are supposed to bloom in spring.

This is pampas grass and a flower that looks like clematis. It was on a stalk, though. Clematis blooms on vines.

Pampas grass.

In Memoriam

Granddaddy passed away last year. I took this photo of an Anne Frank rose at Jindai Botanical Gardens. Many other beautiful roses were blooming.

Shower Caps for Cars

They had to wash the house again so they covered the cars again.

This is our car. Note the elastic band.

The workers strapped and taped this one on the car next to ours.

Looks like Darth Vadar with hat pins

But, no, it's our house wrapped up for a bath and a paint job. The house was washed yesterday. The roof will be painted tomorrow. Why all the bars on top? Are they going to wrap the roof? I'm not sure. They used to spray paint onto houses, but I think they've stopped doing it that way. Maybe we'll find out tomorrow. If I can make it outside to take a picture!

This is the view from the street. When the workers washed our house, they put huge shower caps on the cars in the parking lot behind it. They will probably do that again tomorrow. Today they taped around the windows and shutters.

This is the view from across the field. We have to keep the shutters closed. We don't have shutters on every window. The cats and dogs are bouncing off the walls with men walking the planks around the house outside the second floor. It's a circus under this tent. But it's not fun!

This is the view at the front gate. That's the top of a car. The white round thing is the light on the gate. That gives you an idea how tall the house is!

P.S. They used brushes to paint the house and they didn't wrap the roof.

7-5-3 Shichi-go-san

For information about shichi-go-san check out Kids Web Japan. Click on the label below, too.

Scaffolding

Workmen have been putting scaffolding around our house for the past two days. They will put cloth on it. Then they will wash the house before they paint it.

A Roof with a View

If you look closely (with a telephoto lens) you'll see,

Mt. Fuji! Our view has gotten more crowded over the years. Click on the label below to see more views of Mt. Fuji. Note the picture taken in October. There was no snow on it.

Close-ups

We can never pass up the chance to take a picture of a praying mantis. They are part of our garden family. This picture was taken on the 7th. This may be the same praying mantis we saw climbing the palm tree earlier in the day. She was in a big hurry, and she looked a lot fatter.

She was not in hurry as she made her way across the picnic table. She paused to wash her face. Look at those black prickly things on her front legs. I've never noticed those before.

Check the label below for more pictures of other praying mantises. Click on these pictures to enlarge them.

Linda Gerber's Now and Zen

Linda Gerber was in Tokyo on the 18th of October. She gave a workshop on SCBWI's Writers' Day. She has written several books. Here's one that is set in Japan. It is for young adults so you may want to put it on your list of "books for future reading."
It's worth the wait!

Kids Web Japan--Book Week

Author/Illustrator Keiko Kasza

Author-illustrator Keiko Kasza had lunch with us yesterday, too. Check this link to see her books.

Kids Web Japan--Book Week

Author Kierin Meehan

Australian author Kierin Meehan is visiting Nagoya for several months. She was in Tokyo today. Some SCBWI Tokyo members and international school librarians met her for lunch at Fujimamas in Omotesando. It's a great restaurant.

Ms. Meehan's first book, Hannah's Winter, is coming out in the United States in March 2009. Check out her other books here.

Kids Web Japan--Book Week

Yuzu KitKat

Another KitKat! What flavor will they think of next? This mini size cost 45 yen.

Tanya Robyn Batt

Tanya Robyn Batt, author of The Princess and the Bear King (a Sakura Medal 2006 nominee) told us stories at the SCBWI Writers' Day on October 18th. She is a great storyteller. Click on the book title in blue to link into her website. She does school visits and workshops. I bought this book for her to sign. It's a great story and the illustrations are lovely.

Click here to find the list for the Sakura Medal picture book nominees for 2009. The Wakame Gatherers by Holly Thompson, SCBWI Tokyo Advisor, is on the list!

It's still Book Week here in Japan.

Kids Web Japan--Book Week

Culture Day

Today was a national holiday. Big Sister and I went shopping for her high school trip next week. She is going to Kyoto. We didn't see any festivities, but we heard the end of three opera singers perform in the lobby of a shopping area. It was great! Maybe they will be the Japanese El Divo.

For information about Culture Day check the following link:
Kids Web Japan--Culture Day/Constitution Day

Halloween Party Treats 2008

Pumpkin flavored marshmallows! Made in Japan.

This cookie-covered chocolate is available year round, but it had Halloween decorations on the box this month.

This big bag of candy was bought in the States. Little Brother was going to give it to his friends for souvenirs, but couldn't give it away at school. He made treat bags to give away.

You've probably seen these before. Instead of gummi bears, there were Halloween shaped gummis.

Pumpkin Hunt

We usually order a pumpkin from FBC (Foreign Buyer's Club) for our Halloween party. The pumpkins are grown by Japanese farmers and then FBC delivers them. This year I forgot! A few flower shops and food departments in department stores have one or two pumpkins for sale in October. This year I had to go on a pumpkin hunt. I found one at a flower shop several stops from our station. I had to carry it home in my shopping bag. I sat on the train with this big round bag on my lap. It was really heavy! I almost had to roll it home! I had to carry it with both hands because I was afraid the straps would break. We wouldn't want to eat pumpkin pie for Halloween! People noticed me. They looked and smiled when they saw the orange pumpkin sticking out the top of my bag. My neighbor said, "Oh, it's Halloween." Japan has changed a lot.

It's the biggest pumpkin we've ever had in Japan. I put a deck of American playing cards next to it so you could tell how big it is. The flower shop clerk decorated it with black tape. The "X" near the top means that this pumpkin was hit over the head. An "X" is used in cartoons, too.

I bought these cookies for Little Brother and Big Sister's snack. The party is tomorrow. The cookies are from Viet Nam.