First trial

Yesterday my relative brought us lots of fresh tiny shrimp called 'A-mi' in Japanese.
It weighed as much as 2kg.
In spite of presenting some of them to my neighbors, lots of them was left.
So I asked the way of cooking it to the woman who gave it to me and made a dish called 'Ku-gi-ni'.

First I mixed some sugar, sa-ke and mi-ri-n with soy sauce.
Next I put the shrimp little by little into the boiling seasoned soup.
I also put some ginger.
And I boiled it until there is no soup in the pot.

Though it was my first try, I made it !

I made a dish called 'A-mi da-i-ko-n', boiling radish with this shrimp too.
It was also very delicious !

Mouse on !

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Hi-na doll

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March 3 is the hi-na festival that is called 'the festival of peach'; (Mo-mo no se-kku).
We Japanese pray for health and luck of girls on that day.

This hi-na doll is being set at the central parlor of Ku-ra-shi-ki central hospital.

Full-bloomed Christmas rose

  Christmas roses which began to bloom about two weeks ago in my yard are in full bloom now.
I managed to take pictures without using a mirror.

 

Signs of spring

Narcissus
It's sunny and warm these days.
So I see these spring flowers blooming along the country path.

Mouse on ! (Rape blossoms)

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Dandelion

Cymbidium

A kind of orchids named Cymbidium also began to bloom in the pot.
This flower is very strong and easy to grow.
I'll enjoy this flower for the time being !
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Christmas rose

　The flowers of Christmas rose began to bloom in my yard.

Evidence of warm winter

These are plum blossoms on February 12 this year and on March 4 last year.
They are blooming about three or four weeks earlier than last year.

Taking these pictures, I heard a sound of sweeping the the precincts, so I entered the precincts quietly.
There was a priest of the temple I know well and he showed me inside the newly built temple.
Our temple now under construction will be the same as this one.

I was lucky !

Mouse on !(March 4 last year)

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February 12 this year

U-me blossoms at a temple

Ume blossoms at the precincts of O-da-i-shi temple

I happened to see these blossoms blooming at the precincts of O-da-i-shi temple while I was taking a walk.
I don't know when it began to bloom.

An old priest of this temple is in hospital due to sickness now.
But these plum flowers bloom beautifully when the time to bloom come.

It looked lonely !

Mouse on !

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Japanese apricot with white blossoms

Ume blossoms whose fruit are very small began to bloom in my neighborhood.
This tree bears lots of tiny ume fruits every year.
The pickled plum;(U-me-bo-shi) is delicious when putting it in the rice ball.

Mouse on !

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Japanese apricot with red blossoms

This is the picture of U-me blossoms that I took yesterday.
Because of the warm weather, they had bloomed earlier than usual and began to wither.
These blossoms need insects like bee to bear fruit, but most of them haven't appeared yet.
So they may not  have many fruits this year.
We see influence of warm winter here too ! 

The first day of spring

 Gardenia;(Ku-chi-na-shi)

Today is one of the 24 ｓeasonal datum points called 'Ri-sｈu-n'; the first day of spring.　　
It'll be warmer and warmer from this time of the year.
In fact, it was very warm today, especially in the daytime.

But actually February is the coldest month of the year, so we call this month 'Ki-sa-ra-gi' in Japanese that means we put on clothes more. 

Three cold days and four warm days will be repeated for the time being till warm spring comes.
We might get colds because of this weather.

So please take care !   

Se-tsu-bu-n

Today is the day before the calendrical beginning of spring ; (Se-tsu-bu-n) .
Men and women of bean-thrower at the Se-tsu-bu-n ritual threw beans saying
'Out with the demon and in with the fortune !'
at lots of shrine in Japan.

My husband is also a bean-thrower this year, so he had an  invitation for the ritual at the 'I-na-ri shrine at Ta-ka-ma-tsu'. 
If he pay 30000, he can throw beans with the famous singers or actors. 
But he didn't want to attend it, so he didn't apply to it.

We Japanese have a custom of throwing beans and  hanging burned sardine whose head is stabbed to the branch of Hi-i-ra-gi at the entrance of the house to brush off dishonesty.

Recently we  also have a habit eating rolled su-shi without cutting to pieces facing a certain direction without saying a word.
The direction changes every year and this year's one is north-northwest.

We ate the su-shi for lunch.
And after lunch we ate the beans too.

I'll eat grilled sardine for supper.