plants – Diary of a Norwegian in Japan

We had our first mosquito in the house and I wasted no time in going online to find insect repellent. They have «anti-mosquito coils» here, or katorisenko. I also wanted the pig. You can use the coils with the holder that comes with it, but these pigs are very popular here (and cute!).

I had to cut back a lot of my plants (violets, roses, sanchu) due to these little bugs and some mold, and they are slowly coming back to life. I hope the bugs will stay away this time.

I also got some lavender from my mother-in-law, and I bought another one myself after a trip to the dentist. I must admit, I never realised that lavenders actually bloom! My image of lavender was just of the purple buds.

I also experimented putting a potato that had gotten a bit old in a pot and it is growing impressively! I might have to get a bigger pot for this, though I am not sure if this will even yield any new potatoes. I often go into things without any thought or research, it’s a weakness.

My little garden makes me happy, though I worry about the oncoming heat of summer, if my little plants will make it.

After deleting twitter and instagram off my phone, I have started a bit of a new morning routine. It consists of getting up as early as is possible (for me; 6am) and putting on the kettle. While waiting for the water to boil I out in a load of laundry (if the weather is nice) and then I go and clean off all the cat hair from my arm chair. After putting the hot water in the tea pot with the tea, I take out my dry mop and sweep over the apartment, and afterwards I use a brush on the carpet. Even with doing it every day it is amazing how much hair I get. Keeping a long-haired cat is no joke.

If it is a nice day I will also go out on the balcony and check over my little «garden» and water if necessary. Once the tea is done, I sit down in my newly cleaned armchair, put on something on youtube and knit. Or read, depending on the mood.

I have also started seeing hydrangeas around the neighborhood, signaling that the rainy season is close. Before coming to Japan I never paid much attention to the plants and seasons. It mostly was like, if the leaves were changing colour then it’s autumn, if it’s snowing then it is winter, if the snow is melting and dandelions are popping up it is spring, and if it is green and sunny and hot it is summer.

But here; hydrangeas (I wouldn’t even know the name of these flowers back home) mean it is rainy season, then comes summer with cicadas and sunflowers, maple leaves and cosmos and bright red spider lilies are autumn, violets and plum blossoms and camellia in winter, early spring with magnolia blossoms and full spring with its cherry blossoms followed by nemophila and wisteria.

Also wouldn’t be May without plums! Last year I made plum syrup which I enjoyed (more than when I made plum wine) so I got some plums and rock sugar to make again this year. I am thinking of doing it this weekend.

I have a mountain of correspondence to reply to and must apologize to all of my penpals.

I had planned to try to catch up this weekend but,

Saturday we were gone most of the day, and when we got home I barely managed to get a shower before going to sleep. I went to bed with my hair still wet, even though Teddy always gets cross about that. But what is a poor girl to do? Hairdryers aren’t the best for your hair and with this length it takes forever, and with a desperate need for sleep I wasn’t in a state to wait up another 2-3 hours for it to dry naturally. Sometimes you just have to go to sleep with wet hair.

Sunday I slept in, till the ungodly time of 11:30! And even having slept until this late, I didn’t even get up and make breakfast or do anything before closer to one o’clock in the afternoon. Usually unheard of for me but Saturday was a long day so I guess it can’t be helped. I spent the day cleaning, studying, watching Gray’s Anatomy, and planting. We had some more plastic bottles so I made some more planters.

We also went to the homestore and I got some cat-friendly plants for the living room. I want to make the apartment into a jungle. With plants everywhere, but I have to think about Darjeeling as well, don’t want her to get sick, nor mischevious and making a mess.

I would like to be able to write letters on weekdays, but finding the time to sit down properly and give the letters the attention they deserve is difficult when your after work schedule is full of trying to catch up on house stuff, like grocery shopping, cleaning, making dinner, and getting to bed in a timely manner.

Let’s face it, I have become a boring adult (tear).

I will do my best to get in some writing time this week (this weekend Teddy is having his second shot of the vaccine meaning we will be at home and so I will have time to write between taking care of him). I also want to get a headstart on christmas cards that I got a little while ago (and that I need to get more of, I only thought about my penpals, not my actual family when I was buying them 🙈)

Tag Archives: plants

Summer is coming

Falling behind