A sunny morning after a bunch of snowfall.

Sometimes it's breath taking.

Ski slopes also got some snow, need more to play there!

It's snowing since this morning.....

Long, tough winter has come. At the same time some mosquitos still survive inside the house, so I put some mosquito coil stands which look like pigs!

Just a mosquito coil stand, not me!

Finale for autumn foliages here are larch trees.

If we describe larch trees in Kanji letters, it's a 3 kanji letters which means something like a kid of pine tree that drop its leaves.

I think this tree is a kind of maple tree, but don't know exact name.

Smoked some rice shells the other day. We call it "kun-tan" which improves sand.

Put some kindling coal at the lower part (a cone) and put enough rice shells around.

It smokes a lot at the first time but it gets calmer later.

Some years back when I tried to smoke some for the first time, the explanation said "Wait *for a while* to find some rich shells getting smoked ", I thought that *for a while* might have been 15-20 minutes but it took more than 3 hours!!!!! We can travel from Osaka to Tokyo by bullet train! Probably that was one of lessons how time flew in country life.

Found a gingko tree nearby though I thought they were not strong against snow as I had never seen any here in Hakuba. Wonder where I had seen around when I walked there.

Gingko tree leaves go yellow in autumn, so it's a good combination with red and brown leaves when they get together.

If I remember right, gingko trees are dioecism ones. This gingko tree is probably a singler one, so even if it's a female gingko tree, it won't have its own nuts. The college I went to have some gingko trees from the main gate for a while, I put attention not to step on any gingko tree nuts. They are exactly yummy but stink a lot if you step on them! Be careful.

Finally autumn foliages came down the mountain to reach around our place.

This below is what I found in a park in Oomachi city last year. A creature made by autumn leaves, very impressed.

I put chervil pots in the sunshine when it's fine as I want to have them grown well before winter. As they like moist and well fertilized sand, sometimes I provide some drops of water by a sprayer or a funnel with a thin spout.

This below is also a chervil pot, but seeded a little bit latter than others so that I could have some pots of them even if some of them are died. It's a kind of headging a risk.

Usually I don't put any fertilizers when I seed some but chervils are not good at being transplanted, so I put some fertilizers before I seeded them. And grow them sometimes deleting some. They look a little bit weak but they are actually one of easy herbs that survive winter. However, I have never had them outside of the house in winter, so I am not sure how it goes if you had them outside of your house if you lived in a snowy area.

Oregano. Transplanted from size 6 to 8 pot. Their roots grow very fast. You need to transplant them into bigger pots or need to devide them into pieces so that they don't get suffocated in a small pot. Oregano is one of the easiest herbs to survive winter as well as thyme , lavender. They can survive even in the snow. They might not if it's just cold without snow ( too dry due to no snow ) - I'm not sure though. I hear lavender survives much easier in snowy places.

Italian persley. Also transplanted from size 6 to 8 pot. I will have this one inside of the house in winter. Italian persley is a 2 years plant.

Germinated thyme. It seems that it has been a bit colder for thyme to germinate. I still need to keep them moist at the surface until all germinated. Thymes survive even in the snow, but I need to have some pots inside of the house as we use them for cooking. Have to be careful because I got some lemon thyme pots as well as common thyme pots which i have been growing for years.

Emmergency rescue practice held at sight seeing association.

Have to remember how to do that by practising it regularly.

Went out to see where the autumn foliages came down. Then found we got first snow at the top of the mountains. It seems already high time for us to have it.

I guess it's getting colder in the morning and at night day by day from now on. Autumn foliages are now around the top of ski slopes, it's still green around our place. This is how a 2,000 meters altitude difference works to have those 3 colors ( snow at the top, autumn foliages at the middle and green at the bottom ) at the same time.

Pic of same direction in different dates. From a close point of Shinano Moriue station for 3 symbolic Hakuba mountains of today (upper) and Sep.24th(lower).

For Mt.Goryu. Today(upper) and Sep.24th(lower)

For Tsugaike direction today.

Visited a herb center in Ikeda town a little bit southern from Hakuba on the way to visit here and there to buy something e.g. new rice just harvested recently.

Common thyme, Stevia, Sage, Winter savory (left to right). All for our cookings. Would like to grow them in autumn sunshine but perhaps they won't grow enough big only in autumn sunshine. Transplanted all of them into size 5 pots.

I was surprised to find many big rosemaries in the herb center. Exactly they are all in kinda indoor full of glasses, so they can get a lot sunshine and warm all the year. They warm there in winter. The biggest rosemary I found there has perhaps 4-5cms thick trunk and taller than I, it was planted into the ground, not into a pot. Wonder if some circunstances were different, they grow that differently......... They had grown that big while i had grow my rosemaries by transplanting them little by little from smaller pots to bigger ones. Other rosemaries in some pots there were also big. It's convenient to grow some plants bigger in some small pots but things don't go like that here in Hakuba especially for plants which need a lot sunshine and warm temperture.

Took this picture before sunset, around 5 p.m. forwarding to Lake Aoki. Rice fields look all gold.

Perhaps farmers will be busy to harvest them all around this coming weekends.

It's been fine this morning, maybe because the typhoon 14th was going away from Japan which we call "Typhoon ikka". A picture of Hakuba mountains around from Shinano-Moriue station.

The 3 Hakuba symbolic mountains were in the cloud. Often clouds are around the peak almost 3,000 meters altitude.

Same here around Mt.Goryu close to my place, also in the cloud.

When I come to speak of it, "Ikka" for "Typhoon ikka" means something "left (gone)", but in Japanese "ikka" also means " a family". So when I was a small kid,I misunderstood that "Typhoon ikka" was very scary because Daddyphoon, Momphoon, Brophoon, Sisphoon and kidphoon like me come to attack all together lol....

Autumn festival in this area.

Found a conductor car for a freight train here. Didnt know there's one there.

Waiting for being harvested soon........

Transplanted some thyme pots from size 8 to size 10 then put them into flowerbed back in this spring.

This above might have died. No leaves found.

They are still alilve (I hope) . Need sunshine for them to get well.

Cut some rosemary stems to get new pots. Put them in a tiny amount of water (right) by taking some lower leaves before you do that. You can use the taken leaves for some cooking. Stems in the water will be put in some pots with some sand to get new pots. If it's basil or mint, you can wait by some roots come out by leaving them in water but anyway rosemaries really can't stay with humid condition, if you put rosemaries into water so long, they get some mold so you need to take them out of water soon to put them in sand. Be careful !

I found soba flowers were in bloom when I took a walk some days ago.

I feel soba plants also grow a bit bad this year as well as vegitables maybe because of the strange weather. We had very long rainy season this summer, usually it ends around the second half of July but it did at the end of July this summer. It has been cloudy in September, clouds never go away from the mountains here.

As September has come, transplanted 2 rosemaries into bigger pots. (size 8 to 10)

The left one was still in a size 8 pot, the right one was just after transplanted into a size 10 pot. They have already survived kinda long, perhaps 6-7 years. They say rosemaries survive for 10 years at the longest, so I think they are enough old.

Rosemaries love sunshine really much, and really dislike snow. I have to take them inside of the house in winter but it causes lacking of sunshine for them. I sometimes put them outside in the sunshine in winter only when it's enough warm for them because if it's not enough warm for them, it would be a problem. Some may say I can put them somewhere inside where airconditioning works to keep it warm but it doesn't work to keep them good, it just helps them to get some sick e.g. mildew. Sunshine is the best thing to keep them good.

Actually they look very sick back in this spring, they got back well by the enough sunshine in August after the long rainy season in July. They have stayed in the 8 size pots for enough long and their roots started coming out of the bottom, so I decided to transplant them into bigger pots. I kept wondering how I can take the big 10 size pots outside and bring them back inside of the house for them to get sunshine in winter when I really get tired because of the extra snow removing job when it's needed. Even with 8 size pots, it had been troublesome. But they have grown that good, I need to do that by training my muscles.

Usually I transplant plants' pot into some 5 size pot when I get some. And next year I transplant them into size 6 pots if roots came out of the bottom and they are perennial plants. Later on I transplant them into 2 size bigger pots everytime when it's needed. But I guess a size 10 pot is the biggest if I needed to take them out and bring them back often. My waists will get hurt if it's bigger than that. Potteries are heavy by themselves and when we give water enough, they get heavier.

When you are not enough awaken in the morning, rosemaries work for you to activate your brain if you squeeze some stems of them through your fingers. I have to try it.

We thought about the criminal and wonder if squirrels are! Squirrels hold chestnuts in their mouths if we put any. They do that making their mouth scary wide open. I wonder if their chin were dthat. If squireislocated when they do that. If squirrels were really the criminals, hard to arrest them! lol...

Found a couple of what we call "Monki cho" - an yellow butterfly - at the tiny farm we borrow.

I guess it's the season to find a partner for them now. They were elegantlly flying for a while.

But!!!!!

Another one got in and started buttling!!!! Seems it's not easy to get a partner even in their world.

Due to the longer rainy season which had stayed at the last half of July this year and lacking of sunshine, most vegitables had not grown good. Fortunately finally tomatoes started getting redder and redder day by day. Can't eat this much, so we cook some tomato sauce.

The difference of tomato sause made of fresh tomatoes and made of canned tomatoes are definately its smell, I guess. Ones from canned tomatoes are anyway stinky. I sometimes feel that definately it's cheaper for us to buy all tomatoes we need than growing some by ourselves because of the cost - tomato pots, fertilizer, our time etc. But nowadyas we can get anything we need by paying some, this kind of stuff - ( kinda primitive, old fashioned way to supply something what we want by ourselves ) - might be the most extravagant.

Found a cicada was emerging at the front of our place.

I think they usually emerge somewhere else not like at a front where many people can find themselves. I thought I had better not touch it because it was energing, so I just stayed there for a while to give a warning if someone was stepping in praying it could emerge safe.

Unfortunately I found this one passed away next morning still having the shell at its left wing. Probably I guess it was not able to take the shell off completely which made it impossible for it to fly away. Sometimes nature is too cruel.

As it has been fine nowadays, people enjoy some water related activities at Lake Aoki.

They were really away from this side enjoying themselves.

Hum....... Can a rubber boat take that many people!? Maybe they are all slim, not like me....

As it had rained so long and much in the rainy season this year, vegitables seem to contain more water in them. We put them in sunshine when it's fine to dry them out.

Onions and purple onions. Purple ones got bigger than needed because it kept raining when it was time for them to get harvested.

Potatoes. Due to the much rainfalls in the rainy season this year, we harvested them a bit earlier than usual. Potatoes sleep for a while after getting harvested. Usually they germinate in April in here so that we can provide potatoes we grow throughout winter season. But wonder how it'll go this time.

Some Prietta also went bad because of much rainfalls. Prietta is improved from Pechunia, so guess perhaps not so strong for rainfalls. This one is the best at the moment.

Found a dragonfly in my garden which tells autumn has come though summer has just come after the long rainy season.

Will this summer end earlier? But anyway it's difficult to take a pic of small animals by a digital camera. Often backgrounds are focused like this.

Summer has come! The rainy season was finally over this season, have seen fine days and summer sunshine recently after a long interval. Seasons should be as it should be!

Clouds in summer sky look like Watagashi which is made of only sugar found in some local festivals in Japan. An E127 series local train was running when I heard the warnings of railroad crossing.

Many people enjoyed paragliding from ski slopes. I hear some may land on where sheep or cow walk around, they are curious about human beings from the sky, gather around one to lick the person... lol... wonder if it's true or false.

Swallows stay relaxed nowadays, maybe I guess babies born in this year have already been able to fly by thenselves. Would like them to save enough physidal strength for more than 3000kms trip back to the south in autumn.

Hakuba Goryu ski slope view from the east along the Route 148. You see a slope from top all the way to bottom. That is a combination of Grandprix, Champion and Champion expert. Beginners can not get in the Champion expert, so they are to take detour to woody course to get in the bottom Toomi slope. Of course you can get on the Telecabin to go down.

I saw this flower a lot around rice fields. Maybe one kind of lily?

They declaired that the rainy season was over at in Kyushu and Shikoku region at the last half of July, we also wait for it. I took a train from Kamishiro to Hakuba after a long interval. As I usually drive my car to move around, seldom walk around the town.

Some floweres are hanging in a basket at light poles around Hakuba station. I guess this is a pot of prietta, not sure 'cause a lot similar floweres are now available, sometimes hard to judge which is which.

This above is Hakubakan main office house. It's an old traditional one which provides some informations about mountaineering.

Tried to take some pictures of mountains but so much cloud hide the top, had to give up.

Not completely fine, still found some cloud in the sky though.

Waiting for the rainy season ends...................Too late than usual.

Found some butterflies between the rainfalls.

Often find this butterfly above, but still have not found the name of it.

This above is "Monshiro cho" everyone knows. I have never seen "Monki cho" (yellow ones) for long perhaps more than 20 years.

Clouds stay lower around mountains which tells us it may rain there. We are not damaged any here by the heavy rainfalls now though at some places it seems they are having hard time from the suffering. Lately I feel it tends to rain a lot at the end of rainy season. They say global warmth causes it.

As cucumbers in our tiny farm has been growing, we can create a plate with them.........

Taking a umeboshi bottle out of a stock room. I like this kind of antique stuff. These umeboshi are what we pickled 3-4 years ago. Umeboshi is a kind of Japanese stuff, very sour.

#1 Take seeds out of each and every umeboshi, hit them on a board with a kitchen knife to make it paste.

#2 Grill some one-night's dried horse mackerels in an oven and untie them.

#3 Devide a cucumber into 2 vertically to delete all the seeds inside. Slice them as you like.

#4 Mix all of them above. If the umeboshi paste tastes too sour for you, you can add some Mirin in it.

Recommended plate for suffer from the summer heat. If you have never tried umeboshi yet, you can ask us when you stay in our place with us !!

I found someone enjoying water skiing at Lake Kizaki, I got off my car and walked to the lakeside to see it closer. But oh well, it seemed they've stopped.

It didn't seem any accidents, so I was not in a hurry to do any. Maybe they just needed some rest. I guess perhaps I have to train my legs to enjoy it. Probably a lot muscle power required.

Exactly there were some cloud in the sky, but fine day with sunshine.

Here's marrow tea, you need to put some marrow flowers in a pot - fresh ones or dried ones, it doesn't matter.

Pour some hot water in the pot and put a lid on it and leave it for a while.

Pour some in the cup, it looks slightly cobalt blue or blue.

Squeeze some lemon into the cup, see it changes pink in color.

It totally looks different in color which is a magic.

Summer has come, time for viola to be end to bloom. I tried this color combination for viola this season.

Usually I put some yellow and orange ones together, but this one might be nice as well.

Delfinium and marrow have been in bloom since late June.

Delfinium could be 2 meters tall if the enviroments around were enough good for them, so we need to put some poles to support them like above. Delfinium flowers get in bloom one after another in a bunch, probably flowers in a bunch are just in bloom only for 2 weeks which is not long. I found some delfinium seeds at a home center (DIY shop) nearby and got some to grow. In the year I seeded them, they didnt get any flowers but from next year they regularly get in bloom at this time of the year. I guess probably they really rely on sunshine the most to grow

Marrow belongs to a hollyhock group. We can enjoy some herb tea with its flower. Marrow tea looks cobalt blue or blue if I dare describe but when you squeeze some lemon in it, it changes pink which is magic!

Went to Snowharp crosscountry skiing trails to watch fireflies with a couple of guests originally from Holland. Click this almost dark black picture below to see a clip.

People around said it was fewer than usual, exactly I saw more somewhere else close by though. One of the customer told me that he had never seen that many before, for the other, that seemed the first time to see fireflies. Glad I could show them this. Maybe they added something "mysterious" about Japan. This observation party will have been until July 17th 2006.

As it was a bit cloudy, we didn't find anyone enjoying kayaking, canoeing at Lake Aoki.

We found some people drawing pictures instead. I have not drawn any for long, gotta be ready to do some again!

At a bit northern point. You can see Aokiko ski slopes at the opposite side of the lake. Water temperture of this lake seems to be cold even in midsummer. They say there's some water come out from the bottom the lake which is one of reason why. I guess the shape of this lake bottom and the depth are also reasons.

Dyers camomile is a perennial plant with golden yellow flowers.

Dyers camomile was used to dye some clothes by its yellow color that's why they got this name. Dyeres camomile doesnt have so strong perfume like german camomile does. We have just some, probably it looks like a golden yellow carpet if we could have a lot more.

In a TV program, they showed us how to enjoy herbs and pork cutlet together so we also tried as we have many herbs in our flowerbeds and farm.

The left one ( 6 kinds of herbs ): lemonberm, nastatium, oregano, peppermint, sparemint and italian perceley in clockwise from upper left. The right one ( 3 kinds of herbs) : Top -- Aoshiso (Japanese basil if i could say ), right - basil and left - thyme.

Prepare some lettuce, put some pork cutlet in the middle of the lettuce. Put some tonkatsu (pork cutlet ) sauce on it and add some favorite herbs, wrap then with the lettuce. This above shows a combination of lemonberm, peppermint, thyme and oregano. Clearly saying, thyme is the best of the 9 herbs we prepare today. So we mainly put thyme first then added some other herbs each time differently to check what was the best combo. We would like to try rosemary next time though we didnt prepare it this time.

A kind of camomile which survives just less than a year. Has lots of flowers and smells like apples. Looks like below around 9 a.m.

Does like this below around 11 a.m.

They say we had better harvest the flowers in the morning of sunny days. Use some for herb tea, herb bath or dry some out to stock. Other camomiles e.g. Roman camomiles, Dyers camomiles are also availavle, they are perennial plants. We have all of them in our garden!

It's Russia beyond the horizon, there's a regular service from Nakhodka. There seems a watering place just right away. Japan sea look really differen - severe and tough - in winter.

It's getting warmer and warmer day by day, snow at some ridges has been melting little by little.

The closest one to this side is Ichiyasan, the second one is a ridge in Hakuba 47 ski slope, the next one with some snow left is a ridge from Happo-one to Mt.Karamatsu, the furtherest one is Japan North Alps.

What flowers are they?

Answer : flowers of potatoes!!!!

Went to Obinta outdoor hot spring this morning. This one is a completely ourdoor, but not available in winter because of the snow. Click this picture to see a short clip.

It was a little bit colder then expected but anyway it's an outdoor one, open to surroundings so it's very nice. We have many in Nagano prefecture which is excellent!!