Potager Y 'mascot' captured

Have been trying to capture this cutie for a long time...
The Daurian Redstart is a migratory bird, coming to our potager only in the winter season...
Each morning as we are having breakfast, he comes around...  

He was resting on a wooden pane for about 15 minutes...
Feeling comfortable and un-bothered by the clicking sounds of the shutter, the birdie let out droppings on three occasions...
Here, our Potager Mascot struts his wings and continues to frolick in the morning sun...

Been extremely occupied on the weekends with collecting and splitting wood for our newly acquired wood stove...
So much so that I had little time to attend to the potager... and blogging of course...
My suweeto-haaato as usual, cooks up a hearty dinner...
Shrimp-avacodo salad, with fresh lettuce from the potager...
Urmmm... lovely, lovely...

(As requested by Theanne and p3chandan, here is the recipe as narrated by my missus... very simple and easy, she says...)
1. De-shell and de-vein the shrimps... boil shrimps with a little white wine for about 2 or 3 minutes...
2. Cut avocado into bite size
3. Chop onions finely
4. Lay lettuce on plate, and put shrimp and avacado on the lettuce...
5. Sprinkle chopped onions on top of shrimp and avocado
6. Put vinegar on above
7. Add a little mayonaise, a dash of ketchup, and some black pepper for taste
8. Finito

We have loads of narcissus plants in our garden...
I just love to poke my nose near them as their fragrance is heavenly...  

I am quite amused to learn of the Greek mythology whereby the handsome Narcissus became overly obsessed with his own image... apparently he kneeled and gazed at his own reflection in a pool of water... he fell and drowned... 

Manuka tea tree, chrysanthemums, potager snowed...

We had about 3 centimeters of snow today...
Flights were delayed, and the transport system momentarily went kaput...
The last time we had 'so much' snow was 25 years ago...
Which means to say I can't be outdoors doing my thing...
So, photo taking it was...  

These flowers are from the manuka tea plant that my missus just bought...
We already have one in the garden and it is growing quite well... 

Think this one is called Burgundy Queen...
The flowers are about one centimeter across...

They are also called New Zealand tea tree...
Settlers apparently used the leaves as a subsititute for tea from China, hence the common name...
The Japanese called them 'gyo-ryu bai'... translated quite meaning-lessly as 'fish willow plum' tree...

They can grow up to 4 meters high...
And they tolerate poor soil, and dry weather like the one we have here...
There are the source for the well-known manuka honey, which we enjoy consuming...

Changing topic... these chrysanthemums are not from our potager...
My partner Y sometimes buy them as cut flowers from the local farmers' market... 

They have been sitting in the flower pot since the last days of December...
And they still look very fresh...

What more, this yellow beauty has even rooted itself in the pot...
I plan to transfer it to the plot when the weather gets warmer...

Back to the snow story... this picture was taken this morning at about 7:00 am...
Was shivering in the cold, but could not miss the opportunity to shoot this scene...

The fava beans in the foreground are covered with snow...
So are the lettuce in the back...
Luckily by late afternoon, the snow melted and up popped the plants again... phew...

Stylish Blogger Award... many thanks...

This photo-less post is simultaneously uploaded in my two blogs, Kedahan-Malaysian in Japan and http://potagery.blogspot.com/... the reason being, both these blogs were awarded the 'Stylish Blogger Award' by My Little Potted Garden and milka's jishiben respectively...


Before I continue, a brief note...

These past few weeks came by and went off like a 'whirlwind'...
We had our wood stove installed... and we are fully satisfied with the high standard of workmanship and professionalism of the people involved...
Through our new woodstove, we met so many people who were so kind, so friendly...
Experienced wood stove owners guided me on how to collect wood, how to fell a tree, and how to share out the cut logs...
The several folks in our hamlet who own forest land offered to allow me to cut their trees... to pick up wood that is of no use to them...
I bought a mini truck, a chain saw and many of the accessories...
Through the introduction of a friend, I knocked on the doors of three factories dealing with wood, asking if they have wood that needs to be disposed off...

Ok, now back to the award thingy...

I thank My Little Potted Garden and milka's jishiben for being too gracious to award me the 'Stylish Blogger Award'... Am very honored indeed...
At the same time, being the curious cat that I am, I did a check on the net to find what and who is behind this award...
There is not much information on this award...
Most of the folks who are selected for the award express happiness and that's about it...
Still, as one blogger commented, it is an expression of 'peer' support among bloggers and I think that is a very siginificant gesture...

Apparently, to accept this award, I must:
Post linking back to the person that gave you the award
Share 7 things about yourself
Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
Contact these bloggers and tell them about it

The seven things...
1. I love veggies, that is, the eating and the growing...
2. Photography is the hobby that has the longest hold on me... over 25 years now... and I intend to continue shooting...
3. I sleep early and wake up early...
4. I am not very fond of drinking alcohol... just a little bit, maybe...
5. My preferred mode of commuting is the bicycle... I take about 1hour 15 minutes one way to cycle the approximately 20 kilometer route to work...
6. I am still very much in love with my 'suweeto haaato' Y and I thank god and my lucky stars for my good fortune... we have no kids and we are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this coming April...
7. I would like to express my gratitute to all you nice folks out there who come to visit and comment on my humble blogs...

The 15 blogs, newly discovered or otherwise...
(For links to all the blogs, please see here)
1. Urutora No Hi
2. MyJourney
3. Photos by Senior Hiker
4. Foodie and Travel Bug
5. Pacific Islander
6. Life in the Land of the Rising Sun
7. books@me
8. Keats The Sunshine Girl
9. Adventures of
10. Photos by Senior Hiker
11. All Bout Food
12. Theanne and Baron
13. The Whimsical Gardener
14. Journeys and Jonquils
15. HAZEL DENE

I would like to offer all the folks above the option to (quietly) opt out of the game as I must honestly say that this is a very time consuming exercise... plus, some of the bloggers mentioned may already have been 'awarded' by someone else... so, please feel free to reject the 'award' as you wish it...

Oyasumi nasai (goodnight) from Japan, folks...

Roots and flowers for the festive season...

Today is the Lunar New Year...
For the Japanese, it is 'setsubun no hi', translated as 'Bean Throwing Festival'...
On this day, the Japanese people eat 'norimaki' (vinegared rice rolled in seaweed), sardines, and throw beans to ward off the devil...
In more down to earth terms, it merely refers to the 'day before the beginning of spring'...
Still, on a personal level, we are very excited to see our Dovre Woodstove (partially) installed on this auspices day...
More on this later on in my other blog...

Ok, now on to the main topic...

Red turnips given to my missus by a neighbor...
They are about the size of ping-pongs, but absolutely crunchy...

We love rosemaries...
There are almost ten species in our potager...
The cutie above is Tuscan Blue...

Think this one is Mrs. Jessops... or is it Miss?
I can't take tea or coffee from the late afternoons...
Their caffeine makes me go sleepless when I should be snoring...
So, I cherish sipping a hot cup of rosemary tea in the evenings...
It soothes the mind and the soul...

Could this be 'fringed' lavendar?
They are flowering so nicely even in the deep of winter...

Japanese 'daikons' (radish) from the potager...
This is the most successful season for me with regards to this root...

My wifey Y requested me to pull them all out...
And had them washed...
After which she cut them up, length-wise...
And had them hung on a string...
We are going to make kimchi pickles out of them after they dry out...

And to close the post, a quick shot at the (common?) geranium...
We thrash them, we pull them out, we leave them on the ground, without giving any care...
Still, there are tons of them in our potager...