• Daily Life - Strine - Strine Tucker - Strine Why Atorkin/Australian Methods of Speech/豪語の話し方

    Snot Block Odyssey

    Something was amiss with the start of the weekend when I was barely able to sleep, spending a restless night ahead of plans to head into central Tokyo to pick up some parts, but little did I know that a vanilla slice “snot block” was on the way to rescuing me. Using the restlessness to advantage, I got stuck into the garden, weeding and then being able to cut the lawn courtesy of a quiet push mower and getting down on my hands and knees to manually trim the edges. A quick clean of the Brommie, which has been squeaking…

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    Whetted for Wet

    Rain is falling pretty steadily and though the rainy season in Japan gets me down, on the verge of its start, the precipitation has whetted the garden’s appetite for the wet; at least for the onset of the season, which could go on for months, or not happen at all, as was the case last year. Snow in the summer is starting to bloom, greeting our large lounge room window with a view of dainty white flowers. Proteas, which had started with a bang in March then appeared to go dormant, have started to show signs of blooming, which would…

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    Just Flowers

    It’s a sodden day with rain punctuated by drizzle, but the flowers in Kangaeroo Corner are brightening an otherwise bleak day. The grevillea are simply gorgeous and our star tree is filling with flowers that I have to learn to deadhead so that we get even more. Snow in the summer made its first appearance for the year. More white came from the willow bottlebrush. And the linear-leaf grevillea, which has now been blooming for months. Perhaps an unsung star of Kangaeroo Corner is the coastal rosemary, which has also been consistently in bloom since pretty much the start of…

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    Get Your ‘Thinking’ Paws From Me, A Damned, Dirty Mate!

    One of my great delights over the past few years has become gardening, and unaccustomedly I’ve taken on numerous challenges, including growing plants from seeds, and the kangaroo paws I wanted to bloom and flourish more than any other plant have started to flower. I picked up dozens of different types of seeds when I last visited Australia in September-October 2022. I started growing them in February 2023. I’ve now got about half-a-dozen blooming in the garden, either in pots or planted in the ground. All but one is orange. Many of the seeds germinated and propagated, but of the…

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    A Pheasant Makes Things Pleasant

    Late May is nearly always an idyllic time with the glorious weather hiding the impending onset of the rainy season. This morning’s ride was made even pleasanter by getting to spend time looking at a glorious Japanese green pheasant reigning over its territory near the Asakawa River. Pretty much every weekday (when the weather is halfway decent), I get to ride my bike, mostly along the Tama River, and I love it. Returning home today was a delight, though as the grevillea are in full bloom. A row of the gorgeous flowers is simply breathtaking. Only one of the three…

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    Feast of Flowers

    There’s much to love about Tokyo in May–long, warm days with little rain (for the most part), lots of greenery and things settle down after the hectic early months of spring when much of the country starts and ends the business year. Little, though, can beat the delight that the month’s flowers bring. For me, at least. Of course, the real stars of the Japanese spring flora are the cherry blossoms, wisteria and azaleas as the main players, but they’re usually gone by the time May hits its straps in the middle of the month (and there are plenty of…

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    Reflections

    Today’s gonna be a demanding day, but hopefully a magical one in all sorts of ways. I’m connecting with wizards who I am hoping will whisk me away from the uncomfortable spot my professional life has found itself in, but the imposter syndrome is already really strong. At least I got a great ride in this morning as the last few days of the most glorious time of the year tick away. It was wonderful to ride along the Tama River in the early hours of the morning and greet the occasional Japanese green pheasant along the way. And then…

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    Fantastic Flora

    Slowly but surely the flowers in Kangaeroo Corner are putting on an increasingly delightful show. It was a sodden start to what is likely to be a demanding week or so as the company’s sole native English speaker in the office and the busy season well underway. But the flowers made a beautiful start as our bottlebrush continued to thrive and the grevillea starting to move into full bloom. Kangaroo paw buds are also evident, but the full flower is still some time away. And the other plants are enjoying the growing season by reaching skyward and looking great. I…

  • Daily Life - Unknown Nichigo

    Wings of Desire

    At Mrs. Kangaeroo’s whim, we headed off to the nearby U.S. Air Force Yokota Air Base to “enjoy” its Friendship Festival where it opens its gates to the general public and gives them a glimpse of what goes on behind its barbed wire. The huge crowds reminded me of how much so many Japanese adore the United States. It was my first visit to the Friendship Festival almost 30 years and things have changed significantly. We needed to line up for more than an hour in a queue more than a kilometer long to get in, then spent another hour…

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    Bees Knees

    One of the most striking aspects of my last visit to Oz (in the early southern spring of 2022) was seeing how honey bees swarmed around bottlebrush trees, clearly enjoying their presence and making me wonder if Japanese bees would like the callistemon in our garden. We got the flowers, but didn’t see too many bees until last week. Bees are great for gardens because they pollinate flowers and play a crucial role in diversifying the environment and attracting other creatures, such as birds. And the rumor mill must have been abuzz as the bottle brush in our garden is…