suddenly this week i really have a strong desire to go to an onsen. we don't really live near any so we don't go often. *sigh* maybe because it's hot and humid, and i'm sweaty, so i want to take a bath. or maybe, i first arrived in japan in july so i am getting nostalgic about that time and want to do things i enjoy in japan. oh well. hopefully we can go soon.

my pumpkin is turning green again. good news!!



pretty rose:



and does anyone know what this is? or what it becomes? it REALLY loves my pansies:



ok, time for me to get hiro off to bed (for the second time....)

having trouble connecting to blogger via my computer. happy thursday

EDIT: did you notice tommy's pony tail? more like pineapple! LOL i trimmed his hair last night....

...when do you know if a pumpkin is ready to be eaten?



as you can see, it has become a dark green color (check this post for a lighter colored pumpkin). i don't think it has become bigger in the past few days, either. but then, it has been raining hard since monday night. also, the bottom is yellow. i looked at it monday morning and i don't remember it being so yellow. you can seen the puddle of water it was in.



i'm going to harvest it this evening anyway (making tonjiru and i think pumpkin will be a nice addition!) but i thought i'd just pop this question out there for all my gardening friends....

EDIT: so, i went ahead and cut it off the vine. the vine seems to be dying (too much rain??), there are a lot of pumpkin vines in the garden and well, slugs seemed to be interested in the stem. so, cut it off and am going to try this:

(from wikipedia)

When kabocha is just harvested, it is still growing. So, unlike other vegetables and fruits, freshness isn't as important. It should be fully matured first, in order to become flavorful. First, kabocha is ripened in a warm place (77°F) for 13 days, during which some of the starch converts to carbohydrate content. Then it's transferred to a cool place (50°F) and stored for about a month in order to increase its carbohydrate content. In this way the just-harvested, dry, bland-tasting kabocha is transformed into smooth, sweet kabocha. Fully ripened, succulent kabocha will have reddish-yellow flesh and a hard skin with a dry, corky stem. It is heavier than it looks. It reaches the peak of ripeness about 1.5~3 months after it's harvested.

so, i will keep it in the kitchen for two weeks, then try putting it in the yuka-shita for a few weeks. phew! lots of work for something that supposedly easy to grow....

sorry about last week's fluffier than usual posting. we were all pretty sick. hiro had a fever on tuesday, and i had to go get him from school. sadly, when i got the call, i had just arrived at a shopping center in kita-q, tommy and sasha were hungry so we didn't get to the school for nearly three hours. then, on wednesday i had a terrible head cold. thankfully it was only really bad for one day, but on thursday sasha and tommy were sick. friday we were all recovering. then it was the weekend, what can i say?

we've been slowly easing into this week (hello wednesday!) but the rain has pretty much kept us housebound. i am slowly going insane! i think we will go to a shopping center today (hello mr. donut!) with covered parking just to get out and do something. *sigh* LOVE the rain (reminds me a bit of home) but hate the rain. you know?

ok, hopefully back to regular not too fluffy posting from now on!

...and can't really chose a favorite song. but this is a good one, and a good performance (yay moonwalk!) *sigh*

i think he's rather pretty

11:04 pm. i shoulda gone to bed earlier....

edit: i get my typhoon info from the japan meteorological agency, and they have an earthquake section, too.

our neighborhood has pheasants. such a noisy bird!! we have heard it often, and also last year (i may be wrong but maybe even hear it over winter!) so it definitely stays around. it's cautious of people, but we have seen it from time to time...just never when i have a camera with me! the other day it was in front of the house so i quickly got the nikon and went out to shoot it but! the battery was dead. bummer. i looked for the compact camera but by the time i got outside again, i couldn't see it.

later that day i heard it again so i grabbed the camera (the little one) and found it down the street. i used the zoom but really couldn't get close so these are the best i could do. hopefully next time i see one, the nikon will be all charged up and ready to go!

i should have picked this yesterday, but didn't have the time! ah well, it's even bigger today!