A Letter from Blue Sky and Sea - Izu Shimoda Photo Diary

2014/02/06 White eye on Sakura tree

Yesterday it was freezy day here in Shimoda and we had a little snow.

Today it's still very cold, but Sakura tree in our garden is almost fully blooming!!

And some couples of white eye came to this tree to have lunch!

2014/02/04 White eye on Ume tree

There were 2 couples of white eye on Ume tree to get its nectar in our garden this afternoon.

It was still warm this morning, but it's getting colder now.

2014/01/30 Sakura and Rain

It was sunny this early morning, but now we have rain here in Shimoda as the weather forecast said.

2014/01/29 Sunny day in Shirahama

It was sunny again, but we had a little north wind today.

I walked along the seaside to Sotoura Beach.

The sea water was really beautiful.

 

 

 

And Sakura tree in our garden has a lot of fat buds which are getting to bloom.

We will be able to see the fully blooming soon!

2014/01/27 Kawazu Sakura has just bloomed!

It was sunny, but we had a little strong cold wind here in Shimoda today.

We found out Sakura which has just started blooming in our garden.

2013/12/25 Red flowers around Pension Sakuraya

Have you ever see these flowers?

They are flowers of Aloe.

In this season we can see a lot of Aloes which have red flowers, because we don't have any snow in winter.

2013/11/23 Yellow small flowers in Shirahama

I walked on the road along the seaside this afternoon, and I took this picture at the tip of Mihogasaki cape between Shirahama beach and Sotoura beach.

 

2013/10/28 Cosmoses this morning

In this season we have some autumn flowers "cosmos" in front of Pension Sakuraya.

 

2013/06/27 Weeding at Aloe field in Shirahama

Weeding the slope took place at Aloe field in Shirahama today.

We have a beautiful view looking over Shirahama Beach at this place.

Click here to see the other photos.

2013/06/03 A long intermission of rainy season

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that Tokai area including Shimoda got into the rainy season on May 28th, but now we are in the long intermission.

The weather forecast says the sun will stay in a next week and it's getting hotter and hotter over the weekend.

By the way, I took this picture on the slope on the other side of Pension Sakuraya.

The flowers of hydrangea are changing its color and getting more beautiful.

I love this stage of coloring better than full colored and full bloomed hydrangea.

2013/05/31 An interval of good weather - - Hydrangea native to Japan

Even though we are in the rainy season now it was sunny all day long.

When I walked on the seaside I found out the wild hydrangea on the cliff down the road.

This is a native one to Japan and we can see this kind of hydrangea on the coast of Izu peninsula, Boso peninsula, Miura peninsula, Izu seven islands and so on.

This hydrangea exported to China from Japan long time ago, and exported to Europe in 18 centuries.

Nowadays the most of hydrangea which are seen at the many places in Japan are the breed improved in Europe and they were imported to Japan again.

It means this is the original species of the hydrangea which you usually see.

2013/05/29 Rain drops on hydrangea leaf

Shimoda had gotten into the rainy season yesterday, but the rain came on Shimoda today at last.

It's still small rain but the hydrangea leaves look like glad to get water in our garden.

2013/05/16 Shirahama Beach today

I wento the beach this afternoon after 3 days.

It was sunny and very hot here in Shimoda today.

Our customers from France were going to go to the other beach by bike, but they changed their mind and went surfing to the nearest beach because of the good weather.

Click here to see the other photos.

2013/05/08 A Small Red Princess in Shirahama

We had a little wind but it was very warm today.

When I was walking on the beach I found out a small red bug.

Yes, she is a ladybug.

Click here to see the pictures which I took today.

 

2013/04/17 タンポポ

In last about 10 days I have been looking forward the dandelion by the sea everyday, because I wanted to take pictures of dandelion backed by the sea.

But I couldn't find it out.

I took this picture this morning.

2013/03/30 Cycling on the river side in Minami Izu town

I went to Minami Izu town with my son to ride bicycle.

Sakura trees on the riverside were fully blooming and we could see the rape blossoms as well.

We rode bicycle to the beach on the riverside and came back to the parking lot.

It was almost 2 hours, but he was very excited and had a fun today.

Click here to see the other pictures which I took today.

2013/03/28 Spring messenger "Dandelion"

It was sunny and very hot in Shimoda today.

When I walked along the sea I found out a lot of yellow flowers.

They are dandelion flowers which tell spring has come.

Click here to see the other pictures which I took this afternoon.

2013/03/26 Sakura trees are fully blooming in Shimoda.

I went to the Sakura Park on the river side in Shimoda.

There are a lot of Sakura trees along the river, and they are fully blooming now.

Ths week is the best timing to see Sakura blossom in Shimoda.

Click here to see the pictures which I took today.

 

2013/03/23 Sakura blossom in Shimoda

I took this picture at Rendaiji in Shimoda this morning.

A lot of Sakura trees in Shimoda are blooming now.

It is good timing to see them this weekend.

2013/03/14 Green leaves of Kawazu Sakura

We have very cold rain here in Shimoda this morning.

The TV news said that they had first blooming of Sakura in Fukuoka in Kyushu island, a southern part of Japan yesterday.

There are a lot of kinds of Sakura in Japan, and the most famous and popular 'Someiyoshino' will start blooming from now.

I took this picture in our garden this morning.

This kind of Sakura called 'Kawazu Sakura' is now going to finish blooming, and this tree has already had fresh green leaves.

2013/03/12 Blue and Pink in Shirahama

It was very very warm here in Shimoda today, and we could see Amagi mountains and Izu Seven Islands clearly.

When I walked on the top of mountain behind Pension Sakuraya I found out a lot of small flowers called Greater Henbit ( or Lamium amplexicaule?).

This flower is one of messengers of Spring!!

Click here to see the other photos which I took today.

2013/03/06 Narcissus and Blue sea

I took this picture when I was walking on the seaside this afternoon.

There are a lot of narcissus flowers in Shimoda, but almost of every flower are still blooming.

I don't know why, but we can not see its blooming in March.

2013/02/19 Kawazu Sakura in the rain

Today we had cold rain here in Shimoda.

I saw the pictures on the live camera of Izu peninsula this afternoon, and they had a lot of snow on the mountains.

Sakura blossoms were freezing today, I think.

2013/02/18 Cold rain in Shirahama

As the weather forecast said it has been rainy here in Shirahama since this morning.

And also we have strong wind.

But Sakura tree is fully blooming in our garden.

2013/02/17 Sakura tree in our garden

There are some kinds of Sakura tree in our garden.

One of them is now fully blooming and we can see it through the window in the dining room.

2013/02/12 Sakura is blooming.

I took this picture in our garden this afternoon.

This winter, aloe, narcissus, rape and sakura are blooming at the same time in our garden.

These are Sakura blossoms raised from seed of Kawazu Sakura, and bloom earlier than Kawazu Sakura.

They are deep in pink color, and are blooming 40% now.

2013/01/30 Narcissus Festival at Tsumekizaki cape in Shimoda

Today I walked to Tsumekizaki cape in Shimoda to see the flowers of narcissus.

This festival has been held since last December 20th, and now it is good timing to see the fully blooming there.

It was sunny and we didn't have cold wind, so it was very warm here in Shimoda.

I took some pictures on the way to Tsumekizaki.

Click here to see the pictures.

2013/01/24 Sakura tree in our garden

I took this picture today.

This tree is Sakura called 'Kawazu Sakura', which blooms earlier than the other kind of Sakura in Japan.

Kawazu Sakura Festival will be held after February 5th.

Here is the information of Sakura festival.

 

2012/11/27 Rainbow on the waves

We had heavy rain and strong wind yesterday, but it became a beautiful today.

The rainbow on the waves was made by the strong west wind.

Sunshine and blue sky makes us very happy!

Click here to see the other photos.

 

2012/11/14 Walking with the nature

This morning I walked after our chldren went to school.

In this season we can see many kinds of flowers along the road.

Yellow flowers and blue sea are beautiful.

Pension Sakuraya in Shimoda, Japan