Typhoon Number 12 rips through Shikoku

This is quite a record, to have a second, massive, vicious typhoon ripping through the Japanese archipelago within such a short span of time... 

The eye of the typhoon had cut across Kochi Prefecture in the south and through Kagawa Prefecture, and is now slowly creeping towards Okayama Prefecture...   

After experiencing blistering winds and rains for hours, it was surreal to witness a momentary calm as the eye dawned upon where we live... 

I changed into my rain-gear and made a quick inspection of the potager...

Oooh, how heart-wrenching it was to see damage inflicted...
the okra plants, twisted...
the purple corn plants, contorted with some stems broken in the middle... 

the moroheya bush, mutilated...
the Fuji-mame (hyacinth bean) vines, badly torn... and the pumpkin plants, brutally beaten... 
Oh well, this is god's way of doing things... 
Luckily, other 'low-lying' plants like sweet potatoes, chillies, malabar spinach did not suffer much damage...
The rains and winds began to resume...
I promptly harvested some okra, amaranth, long beans, and chillies...
and made a quick dash back into the house...

Anyway, two days ago before cycling off to work, I recorded this Hime-hasu, literally Princess Lotus...

This is a gift from an elderly gentleman whom I have known since 1997...

It is actually a mini lotus, rather small compared to the 'normal' large ones...

This was the only lotus flower we had this season...

I had requested my sweeto haato to cut the flower and bring it into the house...

The following day, to our pleasure, it bloomed beautifully...

I was quite intrigued with how tiny the seed pod is...

The seeds do not develop into the roundish seeds we see in larger specimens... 

Now, our pear trees are pretty pathetic...

Or rather, their fruits are...

They are so 'teeny-weeny'...

In the words of my missus, 'the size of ping-pong balls'...

Harvested a few days ago this Kodama Suika aka Mini Watermelon...

Their skin is exceptionally thin when compared to the 'normal' watermelons...

They tasted just as good and we have kept the seeds for next season...

And like the Hime-hasu, seems like the Japanese folks are doing a great job creating mini versions of such plants... 

In addition, there is also a Bochan Kabocha, mini pumpkin so to say...

Will definitely try to grow them as well, from seeds next season...

Flowers... of plum, pear, rocket, peas

Glorious flowers from a neighbor's plum (peach) tree protrudes into our potager...
For me, this must be one of the prettiest plum (peach) blooms I have ever seen...
Rich colors, perfectly (almost) shaped petals...

On the other side of the fence comes our very own plum (peach) blooms...
I am so intrigued by their varying shapes and colors...

Our pear trees are flowering again this year...
I think this specimen is called 豊水 literally, 'Abundant Water'...
It supposedly has a tinge of sourness in its taste...

Similarly, I imagine this specimen to be 幸水 literally, 'Happiness Water'...
The staminate (male flower) is a little reddish and the shape of the petals, different...
Apparently, they taste sweeter compared to the specimen above...

The rocket that we have remained thin as we harvested them...
I have always marvelled at the shape of their flowers...
Besides their cross-shape, just look at how pretty their veins are...

We tried three types of peas last year...
'Snow field' peas, green peas, and snap peas...
My suweeto haaato tasted them all...
After which, she 'summoned' me to narrow down to just snap peas...
She says this caption looks quite scary for her while I think it looks somewhat cute...

Actually took this wild grape shot last season...
Their buds are now sprouting and I hope to harvest them in autumn...
Am I counting my chickens?

Grape juice is what I make them out to be...

I am dedicating this post to Theanne, who graciously spiced up my humble blog with this... I am really honored.... thanks Theanne!