Hot days

It has been very hot since the end of rainy　season on July 17 and it hasn't rained for about two weeks.
And sultry days have been continuing since then.
Of course farmers who grow vegetables are having trouble in watering them.
Moreover many people all over Japan have been dying of Sultry Heat Disorder.
They had died not only outside the house but also inside the house, so we have to be careful wherever we are.
But cicadas are very vigorous and singing loudly from early in the morning.
I feel more hot hearing the song of this insect.

Summer has come !

Butterfly on Buddleja;Butterfly bush

Summer has come at last !
The Meteorological Agency announced rainy season had finished at many parts of Japan today.
It seems to be a little earlier than usual year.
We will have hot days for about two months from now on.


sunset this evening

Ha-n-ge-sho

crow dipper ; カラスビシャク（烏柄杓）; (半夏)

Eleven days have passed since summer solstice.
We name a few days 'Ha-n-ge-sho'.
A year is divided into 24 and we call it seasonal datum points; 節気.
Each of the seasonal datum points is divided into 3  and we call it Ko-u ;候.
As a result there are 72  Ko-u in a year.
'Ha-n-ge-shyo-u' is one of them.
By the way, crow dipper grows about this time of the year.
So we call the days 'Ha-n-ge-sho'.
I took the picture of crow dipper in my yard.

Beautiful sunset

It was a hot day today.
Taking a walk, I could see a beautiful sunset at the side of a pond.
On taking these pictures, the sun set behind the mountain.

Dust storm

this morning

  I woke up to find the scenery around my house strange this morning.
I couldn't see the mountain far away at all.
But the sky became clear before long because the dust was flown away to the east.
It's because of the dust storm ( ko-u-sa) from Chinese continent.
The TV news told it was seen all over Japan today.
By the way, these are the pictures of 2006 and 2007 taken from the same point.

2007 April 2

2006 April 24

Sunset

October 24

   I was able to enjoy beautiful sunset these days.
These are a few pictures of them.

October 22

 

October 21

Rainbow

August11 (16:35)

The other day, I saw a rainbow while I was taking a walk.
It was very clear and so beautiful.

And I saw a small one when I visited our graveyard yesterday afternoon .
Bon festival is coming near, so I went to our graveyard for the purpose of cleaning the place with my husband.
On arriving there, it rained cats and dogs for a while.
So we were in the car till it stopped raining.
It appeared after the shower and disappeared soon.

Mouse on !

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August8 (18:50)

Beginning of fall

morning glory

 Today is the beginning of fall in traditional Japanese calendar, but  it's very hot and close now.
We had a very long rainy season this year, so we'll have short summer.
It is said to become cool early in the morning and at night from now. 
But it'll be sultry during the day till the end of September.

 

Beginning of the rainy season

May 29

  The Meteorological Agency announced that rainy season had started in Okayama prefecture today.
It is three days later than usual year. 
We'll have sultry days for about a month or so and after that hot summer comes!

By the way, some swallows are raising five baby birds at the entrance of my house.
They cry for food from early in the morning till the evening when parents swallows come back to their nest. 
They are very cute.

June 8

Too warm

Japanese narcissus

  It's too warm these days and spring-heralding storm　blew yesterday.
The temperature today was that of the beginning of April and it was above 25 ℃ in some parts of Japan.
And we see some kinds of flowers here and there.
Spring is coming too soon !
But according to the weather forecast, it'll be cold again next week.
I was relieved a little to know that.

The first day of spring

Buds of Winter Daphne

 Today is one of the 24 ｓeasonal datum points called 'Ri-sｈu-n'; the first day of spring.

Buds of Poeny

It is very cold yet, but we can feel the sign of spring here and there.
The sunlight seems to becoming brighter and brighter day by day.
And I see buds of trees and flowers too.

Icy morning

frost on the leaves

  It was very cold this morning and I could see white frost here and there.

icicle at the faucet

Cold day

A pond called 'O-o-i-ke' near my house

  It was very cold and windy today.
I saw very tiny snow flakes falling in the morning.
Was it the first snow fall ?
According to the weather forecast, it'll be below zero tonight.
Cold winter has come at last !

 I could see many ducks floating on the surface of the pond.
They'll be there till next spring. 

Full moon

Mouse on !

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It's raining now and very cool.
By the way, it was a day of 'Beautiful moon at mid-autumn' last night.
It was cloudy, so the sky wasn't clear but I could sometimes see the full moon.

*I hear that the real full moon was early this morning.

It's becoming cool !

Spider waiting for tiny worms

 Hot summer days had gone at last.
It's still hot during the day but it's cool in the morning and at night.
There was a heavy shower this afternoon, so it's very cool this evening. 
And I hear the sound of insects at night.

Cool fall is coming little by little !