Hakuba cozy accommodation Pension Hayaokidori English Blog - Earlybird Express

2011-12-22T20:59:00.001+09:00

Hakuba Goryu & Hakuba 47 ski slopes have gained totally more than 100cms of snow up there. Most of slopes are now available except a few. Enjoy your 3 days holiday from tomorrow!!!

Hayaokidori website

Gaining some bunch of snow!

2011-12-17T07:02:00.000+09:00

Had not gotten enough snow this season yet but finally we got some!! Snow removing bulldozers are wor ing! Pangies in our garden are under the snow as you see.
Weather forcast says it'll be snowy all day long today, seems winter has come. Grand-prix course at Hakuba Goryu ski slope will be scheduled to get available today, check it out Japanese only though... :(
Looking forward to meeting you here in Hakuba,especially at Hayaokidori :)

Hayaokidori website

Hakuba Goryu &47 Today

2011-12-11T09:45:00.003+09:00

Hakuba Goryu & Hakuba 47 ski slopes are partially available. Goryu panorama course, 47 along Line-E lift are.
Here's a live cam
Here'sGoryu ski slope report

Have fun at Hakuba!

Hayaokidori website

Ski slopes open for 2011-2012 season

2011-11-25T22:33:00.002+09:00

Hakuba Goryu & Hakuba 47 ski slopes will be partially available from tomorrow Nov. 26th 2011.(This pic is the one taken at the panorama course at Goryu in March 2008)

We provide some valuable plans with ski passes.

Twin room

Quadruplet room

We look forward to see you again at our place :-)

Hayaokidori website

Chervil

2011-11-06T22:31:00.001+09:00

It has been hotter or colder than usual this year, a bit strange weather here and there in Japan. Everything seems to be harvested less than usual, our black beans in the tiny farm have not been ready yet. But chervils in some of our pots grow alright. As you see, they look sensitive and weak but actually they grow well you provide everything they like. They survive in the snow! Most herbs love strong sunshine but they are one of a few exceptions. They prefer cooler place where there's some shades like just a bottom of big trees. They prefer moist and fertilized sand. We put some leaf mould for it to keep them that way. If it's November, strong sunshine like in summer never kills them, so sometimes we put them in sunshine to grow.
They smells good in your mouth, just slightly though. One of our favorite herb for cooking :-)

Hayaokidori website

The old JNR/JR express trains running the layout.

2011-09-21T00:07:00.002+09:00

A family guest enjoyed running their own trains in our layout the other day.

Good to see long trains running the layout slowly!

Hayaokidori website

The typhoon 15th(Roke) is hitting entire Japan

2011-09-20T16:55:00.000+09:00

The typhoon 15th (Roke) is now hitting entire Japan. Regional goverments inform inhabitants to escape to shelters. We hope everyone is alright there.

Hayaokidori website

Tomatoes 2011

2011-09-13T22:26:00.002+09:00

Maybe because of the much rainfall and lacking of sunshine in the last half of this previous August, tomatoes had not grown enough much. Look as if they were mini tomatoes but not. Beans also look smaller than usual. I believe it firmly that sunshine is really important to grow vegitables. How about your house farms?

Hayaokidori website

Peach pudding

2011-08-20T21:00:00.001+09:00

Tried to make some peach puddings and done :-) Expected a lot more beautiful in color, but tastes good because enough much cream were used. Also tried some cups for it. Small ones for individual demands and large ones for party size. The one in the pic here is served from a large one by adding a couple of mints.

Hayaokidori website

2011-08-10T22:14:00.001+09:00

Our online shop is now available.Click hereAt the moment, it's only in Japanese. Have to find a shopping cart which works with English as well. We will add goods little by little. Thanks for your concern.

Hayaokidori website

Japan won at the women's world cup soccer!

2011-07-18T16:41:00.001+09:00

Japan won at the women's soccer world cup 2011 held in Germany.
A good news after a long interval for Japanese people! Pitty it was around 3-4 a.m. when the game was broadcasted here in Japan. I was not able to watch it due to sleeping. Thanks for encouraging us all.

Hayaokidori website

Echium bluebedder is now in bloom.

2011-07-12T16:47:00.003+09:00

I have tried to have some echium bluebedders get in bloom this year as well as I failed it last year. I found some are in bloom today, yay! As the name says, I guess it would be very beautiful if a lot many more are in bloom, but just some for now. Blue flowers like delfiniums, echium bluebedders are in bloom one after another at this moment in my place because our house is painted in red, so red flowers can't look gorgeous in front of our house :( This could bother us sometimes.

Hayaokidori website

Fireflies at Snowharp

2011-07-02T21:20:00.001+09:00

Hayaokidori website

What's the name of this flower?

2011-06-27T20:34:00.003+09:00

I felt it lazy to transplant flowers every season every year, so I just seeded "wild flower" in which some kinds of flowers seed were. One of them still gets in bloom every rainy season at this time of the year. But I have no idea the name. Does anyone know the name of this flower? Thanks in advance.

Hayaokidori website

Delfiniums against strong wind

2011-06-24T13:04:00.002+09:00

It's rare to have this strong and warm wind here in Hakuba. I guessed maybe a typhoon was getting close but it did not seem like that when I checked weather forecast.
But anyway this strong wind would hurt delfiniums especially tall ones. As you see, some are now taller than 2 meters tall but poles are only 1.8 meters and some part of them - probably 30cms - are in the ground. So I can not help being kinda nervous when the wind goes strong. I have already moved delfiniums in pots to my house side to avoid wind.

Hayaokidori website

How to grow delfiniums

2011-06-18T20:46:00.003+09:00

People sometimes ask me how I grow delfiniums. Not an unique way, just how people do when they grow flowers. I seed some delfinium seeds in autumn ( I used to seed some in spring before ). And transplant them again and again to do #8-#10 size pots or into flower beds. This pic shows the pots I seeded some into last autumn. Depends on each and ever delfinium, some grow faster and some do slower, so some of them still stay in the same pots even now.

Transplanted once into a bit bigger pots. I did it in this spring.

Some that grow faster are already transplanted into #6 size pots. Probably they don't get in bloom this rainy season yet, but may do in autumn. More than 1 year needed for delfiniums to be in bloom after being seeded judging from experience here in Hakuba. In average, let's say 2 years needed for it.
In cool place like Hakuba, delfiniums survive for some years, but they are not strong enough for hot and humid weather, so if it's along the Pacific ocean side western than Kanto region, they survive less than a year. Every year you will find some of them don't germinate, maybe 20-30 per cent of them don't.

If you would like to seed some delfiniums, pay attention below.　
#1- Choose when it's around 15-20 C, it's the best temperture for delminiums to germinate, but if it's over 23C, they don't.
#2- Their seeds don't survive long enough.

With reasons above, if you can get some fresh seeds, I recommend you to seed them in autumn. But if you "buy" some from seeds shop etc, probably it's harvested at the previous year, so maybe you are to seed them in spring.

Hayaokidori website

Delfiniums are in bloom

2011-06-17T22:05:00.001+09:00

Finally delfiniums are in bloom now. Just a couple of pots are in bloom now, hopefully it'll go one after another soon.

Hayaokidori website

Delfiniums are ready for bloom

2011-06-10T16:44:00.002+09:00

At this time of the year - just begining of the rainy season - delfiniums grow a lot to get bigger and bigger. Some of them reach 2 meters in height. Now they are ready for bloom, many buds are put around. I love their blue-azure color which changes time to time and angle. No other flowers can look like them.

I tried to seed them in autumn last year for the first time. I always did it in spring but found their seeds didn't survive long so I just tried and got better result.The pot in a black one is what i seeded last year and already replaced from a small pot. Now i have to transplant it to the bigger unglazed #6 size pot. With this way you can make a strong pot because when you transplant a pot again and again making the pot bigger and bigger, their roots grow constantly. Probably it takes around 2 years for delfinium to be transplanged in a flower bed by me. while they are small, I don't think they can survive in a flower bed.
I look forward seeing the blue-azure color this summer as well!

Hayaokidori website

My old ED100 is back!

2011-05-29T08:37:00.010+09:00

One of my blog reader offered me to transfer my old ED100 model train locomotive to him to get repaird as he saw the difficulty to replace the engine. It seems that the situation was tough even for him, my loco was transfered somewhere else again to get repaird. Finally it got back to me the other day to run in the layout again, yay!

Thanks for everyone who took care of my old ED100.
Wish I could do this kind of repairing by myself.
Seems that everyone has something good at and something not good at :(

Hayaokidori website

Dog teeth violet- Katakuri flowers

2011-04-27T21:19:00.010+09:00

Finally dog teeth violets are getting in bloom. As we got more snow than usual this time, flowers tend to get in bloom latter than usual. Dog teeth vilet is our village symbol flower, as you see, they look like bowing like cyclamen.
You may be able to see dog teeth violet, pheasant's eyes and zazenso flowers together around Golden Week time. Why don't you join us here in Hakuba!?

Hayaokidori website

We accept those who were suffered by the earthquake on March 11th 2011

2011-03-21T23:25:00.002+09:00

The subject line says it all, we are not a 5 star hotel, we have beds and baths.

http://www.facebook.com/ReliefHousingJP?sk=wall#!/ReliefHousingJP?sk=info

Hayaokidori website

Candle in the snow '2011

2011-01-20T14:14:00.003+09:00

Finally we got enough bunch of snow on our flowerbeds to enojoy candles in the snow there.
I put candles and make fire on them when we got enough bunch of snow which I remove by my snowblower. Let's say approximately when it reaches 1 meter tall.
Bored if we can not find anything fun in this cruel long winter to survive. What do you find to enjoy in winter?

Hayaokidori website

Snow removing whole day long!

2011-01-15T22:00:00.002+09:00

The biggest snowfall this season since last night. I needed to remove the snow, ready to go! 。
Around the front. Keep throwing the snow at the border with a path. Have to be careful not to injure anyone or any cars.

Our parking.

Look at the left caterpillar of the snow blower! We got 40-50cms snow only in a night! We are located along the main road which reaches Hakuba Goryu ski slope, so I always need to be careful passers by and traffics when I remove snow.

Opposite side of our house
No public snow removing service available there. So when we need to remove snow there, I do.... but if it's not needed, I don't lol

The roof of our warehouse is not steep enough for the snow to drop off by itself, so I need to climb there to remove it all. This picture is not the one this time, it's one in the past. But anyway I need to do the same every winter.

Now I am in my 50's, honestly saying it's a bit tough to do snow removing job whole day long. But have to enjoy it while I live here. If I lived in a warmer place, probably i don't have a chance to do.
They say it will be snowy tonight and tomorrow as well, probably i will do it again tomorrow as well.

Hayaokidori website

Cooked some apple pies and lasagna

2011-01-12T23:44:00.003+09:00

It was snowing outside today but no need to remove snow. I concentrated on cooking some apple pies and lasagna. The rum I bought the other day got chance to be used.

Making some apple fillings.

Wrap the apple fillings by a couple of pie sheets which are unfrozen in a confy room temperture.

alt="P1120008.JPG" />Grill them in an oven.

Done! Put some ice cream on top of an apple pie which is just done. What an amazing combination but I cant take it coz of my diet!
（＾＾；；；

Making some lasagna sauce.

I use this lasagna. Wave shape at the longer edge. The waves bothers the lasagna to get connected when they are boiled.

Anyway, they connect easily in hot water, so I use this kind of "secret weapon" to make it easier to cook!

Put some boiled lasagna then sause, repeat it some time and put some white sauce and cheese on top. Put them in an oven to grill. A bit of fresh rosemarry makes it richer.
　I cut the lasagna when I put them in the oven board, so it needs more time for me to cook but easier to eat when they are done.

Hayaokidori website

New digital camera

2011-01-11T22:55:00.000+09:00

I bought a new digital camera which enables to connect 3 pictures as one.
It's not powered by a lithium battery but by 4 size AA batteries. I almost said "huh? AA size batteries?" but might be convenient while I am out. It's not easy to charge a lithium battery there but easier to get some AA size batteries.　

First trial to make one.

Erm... I guess perhaps you can find the connection part very easily lol...
I have to train the skill how to do!!!
A bit wonder this is good or bad when we get this kind of useful stuff.

Hayaokidori website

A Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-01T22:57:00.000+09:00

Bought a bottle of Rum today as our stock went less and less. I don't drink alcohol in regular bases, just an occasional drinker. But I use some for cooking. Rum is a must to cook apple pie.

Hayaokidori website

Snow removing job for the first time this season

2010-12-27T00:06:00.002+09:00

Cold air comes down to Hakuba, it has been snowing here for a couple of days now. Finally I needed to play with my snowblower for the first time this season.
I did it at our parking, then our garden. A big noise of dropping snow on the roof..... needed some hours to remove it. It told me I needed to do that tough work this season as well.
(^^;;;

Now Hakuba Goryu ski slopes are available all over, night skiing is also available. Why don't you come to enjoy it? Drive safe on the snow.....

Hayaokidori website

Getting a bunch of snow!

2010-12-18T07:32:00.002+09:00

For the first time this season, covered all over with snow. Ski slopes will be available all over ( not partially any more! ) soon.
Stay tumed!

Hayaokidori website

33 men came back from underground!

2010-10-14T22:09:00.003+09:00

Great news,probably the happiest one at the moment. Hope this kind of accident won't happen in the future.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/8063794/Chile-mine-rescue-shaft-sealed-as-all-miners-freed.html
Hayaokidori website

Euro2012 qualification

2010-09-10T09:09:00.002+09:00

It's always busy in schedule when I watch football games. I thought the Wcup 2010 South Africa ended the other day, but the Euro 2012 qualification already started!
At this moment, Portugal seems to have hard time ( 0 win, 1 draw (against Cyprus), 1 lost ( against Norway). Italy seems to go alright though they lost the Wcup 2010 at the Group League.
In Europe, Wcup and Euro come every 2 year ( Wcup: 2006,2010,2014.... Euro:2008,2012...) but in Asia, it goes different. Both are scheduled very close. Must be tight and hard for players.

Hayaokidori website

Cyclon vacuum cleaner

2010-09-08T23:05:00.002+09:00

Cyclon vacuum cleaners have been getting popular maybe since last year. I am not clever enough about mechanic but like new stuff, so I bought 2 cyclon vacuum cleaners as an old vacuum cleaners did not work good.
　They said cyclon vacuum cleaners swallow better than old ones, so I expected how they worked. But they need me to clean inside almost every after I use them. This is kinda tiresome!!!! (^^;;;　
　They are powerful enough to swallow dust as I always clean the inside. It's like I always use a new dust pack for an old vacuum cleaner.
I wonder if anyone could tell me how I can make it easier to clean the inside of cyclon vacuum cleaners.

Actually one of old vacuum cleaners which I bought more than 20 years ago when I began this innkeeping work still works for us! Its ability to swallow dust seems a lot less than newer ones but I feel it as powerful as newer ones. Also, I feel products made in 1980's are steady enough to use for long. Is it only I who feels products nowadays are not steady enough to use?

Hayaokidori website

Ooito line Kiha52 DMU final running March 2010

2010-09-06T19:28:00.002+09:00

Took some pictures and movie clips of Kiha52 DMU at Minami-Otari station somewhen in this previous March 2010.

　When I checked an wep page to find which one came then, it said the red color one did. But the former JNR (Japan National Railways ) original 2 colors one did!!!
Box seats, rustic but steady handles in the control room and description that tells which factory built the car and when, its weight etc - everything tells this DMU was built in former JNR days.
　
　When I was young, there were many local lines which were not electified yet. The main railroad cars there to bring passengers were DMUs that had 1 or 2 DMH 17 series engines which this Kiha52 also had. I found this noise and step at the doorways of those DMUs wherever I went. Once when I got in the DMUs, the atomosphere there was pretty different from the 101 series electric cars I always got in at my hometown. I enjoyed the difference very much.

　As well as other railroad cars, this Kiha52 met the time to retire. I went to the station as I would have liked to take some pics and noise of this DMH17 series engine, Hopefully I would have made it to ride, but no luck because of my work.
I was just able to see the arrival and departure, I hope you also enjoyed the DMH17 noise!

Hayaokidori website

Pumpkin pudding

2010-09-03T22:47:00.002+09:00

It seems that some pumpkins are now growing in our tiny farm, I thought it's just one or two, so I asked my mom to harvest them. But...actually it seems there are more... :o

I am not ready to eat only boiled pumpkins, so I cooked some pumpkin puddings. We have some mint as well, so many of the ingredients are from our own :)

Hayaokidori website

Making a layout #45 -- maintainance : lake

2010-09-02T22:42:00.003+09:00

My HO gauge model train layout has a tiny lake in it. I used some "Realistic water" ( by Kato ) to represent water. It's anyway a kind of varnish, so it seems that it gets thinner and thinner by the time going.
So, I tried to fill some realistic water into the lake again to make it look fresh.

Tried to take kayaks in the lake, but it was as if they were glued to the lake! I was very careful to take them but see, the surface of the lake water was taken away :(

A vacuum cleaner was at work!

Painted some broken part to fill some realistic water. You have to fill the water slowly little by little.

Making it flat by a piece of wood.

Fresh water!!

Have to cover the lake all over not to get it dusty. It needs probably around 24 hours to make it dry. It's not like we need to wait for 3 minutes to get something to eat nowadays :o

I will take the cover away tomorrow.

Hayaokidori website

Things that are not sold in big cities

2010-08-31T22:57:00.002+09:00

After moving into Hakuba, sometimes I find something that are not sold in big cities.
　A set of net that protects agricultural products from deers. If it's in big cities, maybe you can find some nets for bugs, birds. But I have never seen ones for deers in big cities maybe because deers are not there! I tried to find ones for monkeys , bears but not available.

Hayaokidori website

Twitter

2010-07-01T22:55:00.002+09:00

Joined twitter.
　← This is our twitter.
Tried to put a twitter button in the template of this blog but I guess probably I did something incorrect. The button itslef showed up but when I clicked the button, another window showed up to say something like "a blank page".
I think I had better go to bed tonight, an old man should not invest some more hours to solve this kind of stuff by himself :)

(^^;;;

Hayaokidori website

Paraguay 0(PK5) vs 0(PK3) Japan : World cup soccer

2010-06-30T22:59:00.003+09:00

Japan missed to go ahead to the quarter final, scoreless 120 minutes with Paraguay.

PK: Paraguay 5 - 3 Japan

Japan's 3rd kicker Komano kicked a ball slightly a bit higher to hit it at the bar, Komano held his head with both of his hands.
He cried and cried a lot after the last kicker of Paraguay successed the kick to throw Japan away.
I am sure Komano can never forget this event entire of his life in the future, but would like him to remember that we all got brave feelings to go ahead in our daily life.

Hayaokidori website

Delfinium 2010

2010-06-30T22:45:00.002+09:00

Finally delfinium flowers are getting in bloom this year, too.
　Seldom find blue flowers for flowerbed. Our house is painted in red, so red flowers are not good combination with it. That's why delfinium flowers get our attention.

　As delfinium get tall, we have to have some pillars for support them. This is a little bit tough sometimes, but the flowers are very gorgeous in color and shape, no other flowers can not look like that.

When you grow delfinium, we don't recommend you to seed some if you were not patient enough because it needs around 3 weeks to germinate, not good germination(maybe around 50% or less ) and it takes more than 1 year to see the first flowers!

If it's in Hakuba, you need to seed some around the Golden week when cherry blossoms are in bloom here, then you will see the first flower at this time of the year ( rainy season ) next year. They survive under the snow.

Even when you get some pots, you need to put 4 pillars per one if it grows good. You tie the 4 pillars round and round by string to support the tall flowers. This is a bit hard work sometimes, so maybe you should not grow many pots for the first time.

Each and every pot shows slight different color. If you could have flower beds big enough to have many delfinium flowers, probably you can enjoy the difference.　

Hayaokidori website

Rental layout stamp rally 2010

2010-06-23T14:37:00.000+09:00

We approve of Model train rental layout stamp rally 2010 which is held all over Japan from July 17th through August 31st 2010

When you visit rental layout shops/stores to rent layouts there, you get a stamp seat to collect stamps. You'll get some prizes - sometimes for everyone, sometimes for someone by lottery.

Model train hobby may be a hot one this summer.

Hayaokidori website

Internazionale Milano, the winner of CL '09-'10

2010-05-25T21:04:00.002+09:00

Internazionale Milano won against Bayern Munich at the final of Europe Champions League '09-'10. That was the third time for Inter Milano to be a champion after 45 seasons' interval. It was a couple of seasons ago when a club in Italy got the champion - AC Milan if I remember right - , they say that Serie A is losing power comparing with England premier league and Lega Espanola while Bundesleaga has been
chasing Serie A.
But this time Inter Milano showed that Serie A clubs still have power to be a champion at the CL stage.
On the other hand, it's ironic that Wesley Snijder and Alijen Robben who got notifications to get out of the club at the begining of this season from Real Madrid met to play the final there in Sanchago Pernabeu which is the home ground of Real Madrid.

Hayaokidori website

Echium blue bedder

2010-05-20T19:41:00.001+09:00

I got 3 packs of echium blue bedder seeds today and seeded 1+1/2 packs.
A couple days ago, I happened to find this flower on browsing web with a keyword "Delfinium". I think blue flowers look cool in summer, so I ordered 3 packs of seeds at a web shop. They say Echium blue bedder is very popular flower in the U.K, I think it looks like a blue bed if I can grow it good.

As they are imported from the U.K, everything is described in English. It seems that it needs 7-28 days for them to germinate. 7 and 28 are very different and sounds very approximate :) lol
I ordered 3 packs of it and just seeded 1+1/2 packs today. It's first time for me to try seeding this flower, I will seed the rest a bit later so that I can avoid having them all dead.

Hayaokidori website

Cherry blossoms still in bloom.

2010-05-20T10:24:00.002+09:00

Sometimes I still find some cherry blossoms in bloom even at this time of the year while I drive somewhere in Hakuba. This one is what I took a couple of days ago. It's outstanding because there's no other cherry blossoms around. As the sunlight got in the camera, it looks a bit vague though.
Maybe I should walk around sometimes instead of driving a car to find something more.

Hayaokidori website

Yellow tulips '10

2010-05-18T22:59:00.003+09:00

Tulips are in bloom this year, too. They are covered with snow during winter but they survive with it. What if it was somewhere cold but dry without enough snow?

Hayaokidori website

Model train workship

2010-05-18T22:57:00.002+09:00

Model train geeks get together! The subject this time is "replacing engines". If you collect some model trains and would like to talk about this and that about replacing engines, time for you to join us!

Details

Looking forward to meeting you.

Hayaokidori website

Seeding some

2010-05-14T19:53:00.000+09:00

When you have some flowers, sometimes it costs too much more than expected if you keep purchasing flower pots. So, it helps if you try to seed something.

Short cosmoses. I expect they won't get down by wind.

Delfiniums. Funnels don't work good to give water to them because if you use a funnel for it, some delifinium seeds dropped deeper and deeper in the sand there. I've found sprayers work good for it.

Like this! You need to keep the surface of the sand wet until the gelminating. Seeds are covered with peat moss which keeps water around but if once it gets dried, it's almost impossible to get it wet again. The three factors for seeds to gelminate are #1-water, #2-oxgen, #3-suitable temperture, so you need to keep it wet 'til they gelminate.

Got a proxon mini router.

2010-02-17T12:30:00.002+09:00

Got a proxon mini router to cut shafts of canned motor. It's a bit tough job for a pair of far sighted eyes because it's really a tiny thing. I would do the work when my eyes work better than usual.

Hayaokidori website

Battle with snow

2010-02-10T18:13:00.005+09:00

We have tons of snow this season.
　As you see, snow is a lot taller than my pajero even though I threw some there.
(^^;;; Of course, I am not visible from the opposite side.

This is not the only story!
Most snow drops off the roof but we have a roof which is not steep enough, so I have to climb there to shovel snow. Have to put a tall ladder to reach there.Mo View from the top. The ladder is approxiately 3 meters tall but expandable. I expand it a bit to reach the roof. Have to climb slowly and carefully as it's sometimes windy all of sudden. The flat roof is roughly 6 tatami mats big ( 10 square meters ), so if I shovel the snow there often, it's not a hard work.　

But this time we got a lot more snow than expected, totally more than 1 meter tall on the roof. This made it harder to shovel even if it was just a 6 tatami mats big :o
The shovel in the picture is roughly 150cms tall, so you can guess how much snow was on the roof. I devide the snow into smaller pieces by the shovel to throw down.

As I throw snow on the ground, the warehouse entrance looks like this! Have to shovel there, too to get in and out.(^^;;;

Time for our snowblower to show up when I complete to drop all the snow off. Our snowblower since autumn 2002. 4 sylinder engine of 18 horse power. Our previous antique snowblowerhad a 2 sylinder engine of 16 horse power, it consumed much less gasoline. Our present snowblower exactly consumes much more gasoline but it can throw snow a lot farther, which makes it easier to remove snow. All the operation for example having the auger up and down, shooter left to right etc are controlled by oil pressure, so if anything goes wrong with it, the present snowblower never works :( The antique snowblower needed me to operate everything by hand, so it was exactly tough but less trouble.

Snow removing job is not easy, it's a danger work. Always have to be careful and need to stay safe. When we have tons of snow, we need to do this kind of job often to survive.

Hayaokidori website

Replacing motors of model train.

2010-02-08T23:21:00.002+09:00

Lately I feel I have to do something for my model train after a long interval. Anyway I have a layout, so what about replacing motors if some locomotives or motorcars don't run good?
This below is what we call "can motor".
They say if you replace an old vertical motor into this one, your locomotives/motorcars can go very slowly as well as fast running. Also, it consumes less electricity which works better when your layout is a DCC one.
But the problem is the long shaft - the right side thin pole. It's a bit to get in a worm gear, so I have to cut it a bit. I don't have a special stuff for it, seems I have to find a good rooter ( spelling?? ) for it.
Some bloggers of same hobbies adviced me to find a proxon one, so I have been browsing web sites to learn how it works.

Hayaokidori web site

How hanged flower pots are destroyed!

2009-07-22T22:10:00.002+09:00

Now everything was clear why our hanged flower pots are broken so easily.
The sand in the pots were covered by some hemp palm fibers which go bad easily.

I never imagined this, but...

White eyes pick the hemp palm fibers one after another!!!

I guess probably now it's time for them to breed, so they need some materials to make nests for it. Hemp palm finbers are probably good for them though, I almost laughed out loud. Never, never imagined they were the criminals :)

Even small living things work that hard to live on, why don't we?

Hayaokidori website

Puddings

2009-07-08T23:08:00.002+09:00

I made these puddings in some small souffles. I do cook, it changes that the way how to cook something depends on the time. For example something must be sweeter before than now but nowadays less sweet things might be preferred because of the diet boom. It seems that there are many ways to cook puddings, I have my way to do as well as others. So i always try to find the best way for it by repeating some failures and success.

This one is in a bigger vessel originally for baking some cakes. 30 minutes needed in an oven. 20 minutes for souffles but this is bigger, so needed more time.

Biggest of the three!Very big but shorter then the previous vessel, so it just needed 40 minutes being in an oven.
I guess you know you can enjoy puddings soon after you take some from an oven if you have ever made any. Usually we enjoy puddings taking them out from refridgeators but hot ones are also great!. This is only those who make puddings by themselves can enjoy because puddings sold in shops are usually cold.

Hayaokidori website

A grove ground

2009-07-06T21:51:00.002+09:00

A grove nearby which looks a little bit dark even in midsummer. Seldom found in big cities. If there were some bamboo grasses at the ground, maybe nitingales come to nest?

Hayaokidori website

A hornet?

2009-07-04T21:49:00.004+09:00

I think this is a hornet which often visits delfinium flowers that are in bloom now to get their nectar. Some people say it's not a hornet, so I am really not sure it is or not. They work very hard to get nectar. When I observe them hard, I find they prefer deep flowers which they need to get in to get the nectar. For example, delfiniums and Nasturtiums etc.
I guess those flowers hold very yummy nectar :)

Hana shobu in a misty day

2009-07-03T01:05:00.008+09:00

Went to the Hakuba Goryu ski slope alps daira gerande where some of botanical flowers have been transplanted by us. We need to volunteer to delete some weeds every year. Clowds surrounded the mountains so I thought it might be cold and no visibility. It said it was only 15C! Cold enough rather than cool at this time of the year. The flower in this pic are "Hana shobu" which is one of iris flower family. Hope it brings you some cool feelings in a hot and humid summer day.

20th anniversary today!

2009-07-01T21:25:00.002+09:00

20 years have passed since I started this inkeeping business here in Hakuba. As an old verb says, time flies like an arrow. Sometimes I feel it very quick but sometimes very slow and long. Maybe depends on what's in your mind.
We will keep our mission to provide cozy atomosphere!

Hayaokidori website

Seibu & JR trains running the layout

2009-06-19T23:01:00.003+09:00

A cuple of customers enjoyed the layout running their Seibu and JR trains soon after the Golden Week.
JR 183-1000 series limited express train.

Not easy to take a nice pic of running trains.

A F-class electric locomotive used to work for Seibu freight trains. Only Seibu owned some F-class electric locomotives as a private railway company at that time in Japan. But freight transportation demand has been decreasing little by little, I have not heard any newer F-class locomotives have been made after this series.

Hayaokidori website

Georgetown Loop railway

2009-05-03T22:15:00.004+09:00

An old railway construted for freight trains was transferred a sight seeing one in Colorado U.S.A I love the fantastic whitsle and the slow speed even walking human beings can chase!

When I check the train carefully, I find some freight cars without roofs and ones for transport animals! Wonder if I were told I should get on the one for animals judged my weight lol....

Perhaps thisis their website?

Hayaokidori website

Tulips are in bloom at GW

2009-05-02T21:50:00.006+09:00

Tulips in our flowerpots are in bloom this Golden Week. It has been warmer than usual and we did not have so much snow as usual this previous winter. I guess they are why.

Hayaokidori website

ETC - Electric Toll Collection system in Japan

2009-04-28T00:32:00.003+09:00

They say a special deal is now available for those "usual" cars which hold an ETC system. Huge cars like tracks, buses are exception.

You only need to pay 1,000 yen when you drive rural/country toll roads on Sats, Suns and national holidays. But this does not seem so simple, while I try to check the fee through this site ( Sorry, only in Japanese! ), it says

Hachioji (Tokyo) --> Toyoshina : 1,000 yen
Nagoya --> Toyoshina : 1,950 yen
Suita (Osaka) --> Toyoshina : 2,250 yen

It does not seem that 1,000 yen applied to every case. Anyway perhaps this could be a good news that now cheper fee is available. But on the other hand, ferries seem to have hard time due to this price competition. Some ferries might be out of service in the near future because some ferry companies won't find there's any business profits any more. JR (Japan Rail ) won't care the old lines along the new Shinkansen (bullet train ) line when it will get in service.
Probably I guess if we get some convenient services, we might lose something else. There won't be wide choices available any more, then.

Hayaokidori website

Rail cleaning cars

2009-04-13T07:00:00.001+09:00

I bought some rail cleaning cars at a web shop in the United States.

I subscribed myself at the newsletter of the web shop. They notify that they would provide some discount web coup'ons to their newsletter subscribers in a limited time. This limited offer got my attention and I had an access to their website to purchase some rail cleaning cars. Lucky it was just when Yen started stronger and stronger against the U.S. dollars, so my credit card was not charged so much even including its delivery cost :-)
Many American guests in my place have told me that post office delivery in the states sometimes does not work good. It might be late on time too much, sometimes the luggage might be broken! I was a little bit nervous because of that informations my guests gave me. But it was alright this time. :-)
Cleaning cars in this pic were sent from a delivery center in Illinois where Chicago is located.

The ones in this pic were sent from a delivery center in Nevada where Las Vegas is located.
　I have purchased some rail cleaning cars through some auctions but it was not timely, sometimes I missed to purchase ones. So I decided to get some from the manufacturer directly. Now I don't need to worry about rail cleaning cars for a while, I got a couple of them this time.

Hayaokidori website

Self-service train !?!?!?

2009-04-12T21:46:00.001+09:00

Found this English description at the closest train station. It explains how to get on and off trains driven without a conductor. Local trains here are a lot often in service without a conductor. We call this kind of trains "One-man" trains because the driver has to do the work all by him/herself.　
This sign says "Self-service train" for it. I am not sure if this were a correct expression or not. English is not my mother tongue, so I am not really qualified to mention anything but sounds as if I need to drive the train! lol....

I had better ask it to someone whose mother tongue is English.
　
Hayaokidori website

PC in the garden

2009-04-11T20:46:00.001+09:00

When you get older and older, you are to have a pair of far sighted eyes :(. This may cause it harder to work on computer. Maybe there's no way of it because usually there are many documents and books around when you work on computer in the house. Additionally you would like to save your time, then you try to type as quick as possible, which also might cause some stress on you.
Since we got a wireless LAN connection back in last December and I have already had a laptop PC, so why don't I work on computer in the garden?　

This is a lot easier and less stress!　

　It's so much easier to work on computer outdoor rather than in the house which feels too tight. I don't get so much sore shoulder like as when I work on computer in the house. I can take fresh air as much as I want, sunshine filtering through foliage helps to look at the monitor when I type something.
The only bothering thing is I need to move the table follwoing the shade when the sun goes on! But I guess this could be a good exercise to me lol....

Perhaps it will be my daily matter to type in the garden for a while.

Hayaokidori website

Symbolic Hakuba 3 mountains in early Spring 2009

2009-04-10T19:59:00.001+09:00

　Took this pic a couple of days back. It was so fine day, too brilliant for take some pictures for skillless man like me lol.... I even didn't adjust the exposure to take it. Spring will have come when some snow marks show up at the moutain surfaces.

Hayaokidori website

Repairing a DD54 -- worm gears wanted!

2009-04-10T13:01:00.003+09:00

As I succcessed repairing my ED70 loco, this time I've started doing a DD54. It's a powerful diesel loco with 2 pairs of inside gears plus vertical motors. But it does not seem to go ahead even then I slightly hear some electric noise when I turn the power pack on. I am planning to replace the motors into canned motors. I guess I have already gotten most parts for it but probably I need to get a pair of worm gears.

Tha parts in this pic is a pipe which has an iside diameter of 2.0 mms, an outside diameter of 2.4 mms. The shaft from a vertical motor seems to be an outside diameter of 2.4mms, so if I could use the worm gear at the shaft, the shaft from a canned motor is a slightly thin because it is an outside diameter of 2.0mms. That's why I need to put this pipe inbetween the worm gear and the shaft to fix it.

But the worm gear at the shaft is glued good at the shaft from the vertical motor, unable to take it out of it. So I need to get some pairs of worm gears but hey, then I really don't need to get ones which are 2.4mms outside diameter, right? I can get ones which are 2.0 mms outside diameter to set them to the 2.0 mms shaft from canned motors....? Echo model staffs say they don't have worm gears at all, so I guess probably I should ask the manufacturer of this DD54 Model Endo. I guess they would recommend MP gear system which makes a lot of $$$$$ to them lol.... :p

　Echo model staff also say the worm gears need to be good fit with herical gears which are located next to the worm gears in the gear box, so usually they are sold in a pair. I made a phone call at Katsumi model at Meguro but they said someone in charge for it were just out of the shop, would call me back when he is back. Now I am waiting and waiting and waiting, crossing my fingers :)

Hayaokidori website

Zenkouji Gokaicho

2009-04-10T11:19:00.002+09:00

You can see the buddah in Zenkouji temple only until May 31th 2009. This is what we call 'Gokaicho' which is held every 6 year.
Check it out in one of our web page

The year 2015 is the next chance for Gokaicho.

Hayaokidori website

To pass winter for plants with full of joy and sorrow

2009-04-09T16:16:00.007+09:00

I am a little bit confused why some plants were not able to survive winter and others were able to do better than usual. Maybe because of this warmer winter we had this season or maybe because of other reasons. This picture is a size 6 pot chervil. Not that bad condition to have another new Spring.

A lot bigger pots full of chervils. Looks a little bit tired :(

Tulips. Grows better than usual. Maybe because the warm weather in this winter.

Rosemaries. Also better condition maybe because of the warmer weather. But just wondering if the temperture affects even plants inside of the house in winter?

Delifinium in a flower bed. It showed up a little bit earlier than usual. An important kind of plants which survives for some plural years. Wonder how long it has survived.

Oreganos also seem to success surviving this winter. They survive outside of the house, so it does not bother me at all.

On the other hand, some plants were not able to survive this winter.
Narcissusesto which get in bloom in midwinter. For me, it's just natural to have this pops up in my mind when people say "Suisen" in Japanese. Daffodils pop up for someone, but narcissuses for me because I was raised up and lived in Kansai area where narcissuses were just natural and popular. Narcissuses get in bloom in midwinter when no other flowers get in bloom. They smells very elegant and have very tiny cute flowers.
I left them in some pots outside of the house. Not sure what was wrong. Maybe because snow got on top of the pots or maybe because of the warmer weather this winter. They even didnt have leaves at the time of blooming and finally went bad :(
In Kansai region where I lived before, we just put them in a flowerbed and waited for the bloom. They got in bloom in midwinter. Probably I guess they need very "dry" and "cold" situation. When snow covers the pots, it could provide some moist which bothers them to grow? I am not really sure but would like to know the exact reasons why.
I would like to have them in bloom next year to welcome our guests.

Thymes were almost annihilated. I thought it was one of the easiest herbs to survive winter, so it was a kind of shock to see them dead. What was wrong? :(

Pangies I transplanted into a flowerbed the other day. You can see some lavenders behind them.

A combination of yellow and orange pangies in a pot with a stand. A combination just to express joy to have another new Spring.

A combination of white and red pangies. I guess probably it's better to have ones without marks at the center.

Most rosemaries had some roots out of the bottom of the pots. I needed to transplant them into bigger pots. So I did it from 6 size pots to 8 size pots.

When I need to transplant 7 rosemaries, I need to more sand than expected. Need to place them somewhere sunlight does not reach for a while.

Hayaokidori website

Italy accepts help

2009-04-09T15:48:00.006+09:00

Big earthquakes keeps hitting central Italy.

Italy, with Berlsconi as a prime minister, finally accepts helps offered by other countries after has been refusing any since April 6th 2009 when the big earthquakes occured at the center of the country just about 100kms apart from Rome.
Japan sometimes has earthquakes everywhere in the country. If I remember right, Japan also did the same when we had a big one around Kobe in 1995. Some countries offered this and others did that but Japan refused the most of them. I have no idea why some countries do that when nations in the country need a lot help.
In my opinion, in these case politicians should not refuse any proposals for help if it's to rescue the nation. But probably a lot often the decision would be made in different point of view which I can never imagine.
Actually I had been worried until when Italy would refuse proposals because we had hard time at the time of Kobe earthquakes in 1995.

Probably I guess it needs much time to reconstruct the life there, every time when earthquakes hit somewhere in this earth I relly pray it will go alright as soon as possible as a human who lives in a country of earthquakes.

Hayaokidori website

Finished repairing my ED70!

2009-04-09T15:40:00.003+09:00

Finally I made it to repair my ED70 electric locomotive. It seemed that the motor itself was out of order.

I did stuff like followings.
#1 Took the loco into pieces.
#2 Checked the wires.
#3 Replaced the broken wires.
#4 Took off the motor and replaced it into a new one which one of our Japanese blog regular reader "Yamashina no Tecchan" presented me last year :-)

This is the original motor which my ED70 held. It wears a smaller gear box because it needed to supply the original gear box for ED70.

Hayaokidori website

All former JNR(Japan National Railways) colors!

2009-04-09T14:38:00.002+09:00

　A customer who stayed in our place a couple days ago brought many train cars, locomotives which were all painted in JNR color. Of course they ran the layout. The EMU train running in the clip is the former JNR 153 series train provided for the limited fast service around Kansai area - Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. Both end cars were with lower windows at the control rooms.

A streamlined train car 52 series which were built for Kansai area fast service train soon after the WW2 was over. They moved around here and there and at their last years, they were active in Iida line ( Toyohashi in Aichi prefecture - Tatsuno in Nagano prefecture ). In 1977 when I was a senior high student, I talked about getting on this train with my friends but we were not able to make it. We can not do anything after something disappears so we should do make it while they are avaiable!

Old passenger cars local train pulled by a DF50 series diesel locomotive. It reminds me of the old Fukuchiyama line, San'in main line local trains. DF50 was a type of diesel locomotive which holds motors as well as a diesel engine. The diesel engine worked as a motor generator to provide electricity to the motors. Then the motors worked to run the locomotive to pull passneger cars, freight cars etc. In short, the engine on this DF50 did not work directly to drive the wheels, just worked to provide electricity. This type of diesel locomotives seemed to be a major system for the former JNR but it anyway had more complicated mechanics and heavier weight compared to the other type of diesel locomotives like DD51 which drive wheels directly by their engines. So, the latter type of diesel locomotives got major.

DD51 diesel locomotive pulling an old passenger cars train. This kind of scene were available in the good old days anywhere in JNR lines which were not electrified.

A DD51 with a DE10 as a leading helper running uphills beside a cross country sking trail.

An Ozashiki(Tatami matt) train pulled by an EF65(500). I think this coloring is a best fit for EF65(500).

An old passenger cars train pulled by a steam loco C55. The white line at its waists looks cool.

DF50, C53?, DE10? (left to right ).
Just an usual scene in good old '60s.

I enjoyed the former JNR trains which I don't have after a long interval. Also enjoy our customers bring their own trains to drive in our layout. The customer this time seem to build everything by himself. I envy him, wish I could have that skill! :(

Hayaokidori website

Repairing ED70

2009-03-31T23:20:00.001+09:00

Unscrewed some to check the inside to see how lines are connected. Wrote it down to find what and where is wrong. Since I am not good at this kind of stuff and don't get used to it, accidentally I cut a line :( Also wrote it down. I need to check everything to find the problem.

Hayaokidori website

Train (model train) magazines

2009-03-21T21:54:00.002+09:00

Drove my car to Oomachi city today to find some magazines for references to repair my ED70 loco. But I did not find anything for it at all and bought 4 magazines that are not related to it at all. :(
I would read them from now on at my craft desk, hope I can find anything which helps to repair my ED70. It's rare for me to buy this many train magazines at a time.

Hayaokidori website

Repairing ED70

2009-03-20T17:30:00.002+09:00

　A little bit before I mentioned about my ED70 electric locomotive was bad condition. I am not good at electronics and as is often the case with that situation I just left it as it was. Now I got curious about it again and unscrewed it to check things.
I know I need to connect the motor to plus and minus even if I were so bad at electronics. But if there's something inbetween the motor and the rails, I really don't have idea what to check. I have a tester but not sure what I should check. I don't want to destroy anything when I go ahead not knowing anything right.　
Oh, I should have listend to what teachers told in the class in school!!
(^^;; I was so allergic when I heard "electronics".

Something just popped up in my mind now. The floor board of this ED70 does not reach to the end of the body, which may enable me to put another motor easily. If it's possible, I can make it way stronger to pull extra passenger cars.

Hayaokidori website

Hakuba model train - former JNR 457 series express train running the layout

2009-03-12T22:09:00.003+09:00

Now I have totally 10 passenger cars of former JNR 457 series, ran them in my layout.

2 green cars (1st class passenger cars) and 2 buffet cars, which looks alike the good old days for old express trains. I ran it a bit slower than usual and found it was better than doing it faster as it looked as it was. I hope I can find 1 more basic set of 3 passenger cars with engines of this series to make 12 cars.

Hayaokidori website

Went to a model train shop

2009-03-10T23:18:00.003+09:00

Went to a model train shop T&T in Matsumoto city. It's located in southern Matsumoto city almost at the border with Shiojiri city. I went there to get some stuff for DCC(Digital Comand Control). But in proportion to talking about it, the shop master wondered if there's any profit to make it for my plan.
He said it would be interesting if the truck was an endless one with some side tracks for escaping but if it's something I am planning like a tennis racket form with a singler track and a reverse line!
He and I looked at each other for a while without saying anything when both of us started thinking the difficulty.
I stopped thinking about it for a while and started looking around.

I found a basic set of JNR/JR 457 series express train in the original coloring. I have already had one but want at least 2 more because I have already gotten 2 x 1st class train car and 2 x buffet train car of this series. Someday I would like to run a train of this series which is probably 10-12 cars. Because when I was a small kid, this series connected Osaka and Kyusyu region, Osaka and Hokuriku region.
I decided to buy it. Should get anything you like when you find it because model trains are not like "available anytime". They always produce some certain amount and if all of them are sold out, we never know when they produce it again.

As a HO gauge collecter, it's a bit sad that I can not find as many stuff as N gauge ones. Now in Japan N gauge trains are popular and HO is not that popular. Probably because houses in Japan are not enough big to make a layout for HO.

Found an old track which I saw often when I was a kid. We called it something like "Auto-3 wheels". They express even stains on it.

Cherry blossoms. It's nice to have some of it to express Spring in a layout. But cherry blossom trees are not easy to find, so I was really lucky to find it.
It takes 1 and half an hour for me to drive from my place to this model train shop, but it was worth doing that yesterday. I found a lot.

Hayaokidori website

New snow after an interval

2009-02-17T11:51:00.004+09:00

It seems that it has been the warmest winter ever since I moved into Hakuba 20 years ago. We had some snowfalls last night, it made the scenery look like real winter as trees got some snow. Maybe because of some clouds around the top, lower slopes were crowded this morning.

It's always fun to find footprints of animals when we get new snow. I guess they are probably ones of a fox. If it's a rabbit's one, it looks pretty different.

Hayaokidori website

First sking in 08-09 season.

2009-01-15T21:49:00.009+09:00

Went to Hakuba Goryu on 12th and Sun-Alpine today with our customers from Melbourne. Young boys of 22 years old and an old fart of 48 years old. Must look as if a bad father took care of his sons. Unfortunately we had a heavy condition like a blizzard when we tried Hakuba Goryu but we did revenge when we visited Sun-Alpine.
I feel it somehow mysterious whenever I find new snow on a sunny morning.

Boys whom I went there together are from Melbourne, they are pretty young enough but I am not any more, so probably I am inferior to them in physically but this old man knows the ski slopes much better than they - where something is, where to rest etc. So he tried to have them all flat lane which snowboarders really hate. But actually we need to do that when we move from Sanosaka to Aokiko and opposite.
Being young is always nice, they kept getting in new snow which skiers can hardly do because it's difficult for skiers to get out of it when they get in there.

Most ski slopes in Hakuba give people some mountainious views but in Sun-alpine there are many woody tracks around. A bit unique.

Took a movie clip when the boys were snowboarding at one of Aokiko ski slopes.

Beautiful view of Aokiko from Sanosaka. It does not seem to get frozen yet. It could be because of the global warming. I bought a 1 day pass but needed to stop skiing earlier. Age sucks!!!! Can not hold sore muscles for some days. When I got back home, I found snow on the roof dropped off. Extra work to remove it. Probably I would have sore muscles all over tomorrow.

Hayaokidori website

Wireless LAN available :)

2008-12-22T00:17:00.002+09:00

The subject line says it all. Not easy to set it up for an old man but you never know what you can do till you try!

You can have internet access through your own PC with LAN card in our place while you stay here.

Hayaokidori website

How long can a computer survive?

2008-12-22T00:09:00.003+09:00

5 years? Most of my computers survived only around 5 years.
My main laptop was dead previous October, I needed to repair it with some $$$$.
Got it back this month but the problem occured again.
I went to the pc shop I had bought it and a staff worried if I had installed any softwares or not. He said it might have caused the problem.

I thought if we still lived in a primitive time! If it were 10 years ago, it might cause it because I was often told that. But can we survive with computers not installing any softwares? I don't think so.

I just tried to control my emotion when he said that. Went back home and reformat the C drive but the problem occured again and again.
I gave up and ordered one online. The $$$$ I paid is just for the lesson fee!

Probably we need to be ready to get a new one every 4-5 year.
:(

Hayaokidori website

Hakuba ski slopes available!

2008-11-20T22:28:00.002+09:00

The subject line says it all, some upper ski slopes in Hakuba will get in business tomorow - Nov.21st 2008. Hakuba Goryu, Hakuba47, Hakuba Happo one, Tsugaike are ready to go! Stay tuned!

Hayaokidori website

QR code

2008-10-08T19:43:00.003+09:00

Finally I created a QR code which leads cellular phone web accessings to one of our web pages for cellular phones when it is scanned right by your cellular phone camera.
Since I just renewed my cellular phone, still have hard time to handle it.... I am not sure this QR code was created oorrectly to work or not lol....
Does your cellular show the page right?

This is the page you should see in your cellular phone monitor.

Hayaokidori website

A mysterious fax

2008-10-07T19:36:00.003+09:00

I got a mysterious fax today. It says it's from IRS(Internal Revenue Service). I don't run any business in the states, don't invest any stockmarkets there. So I really wonder why I have to get it. Made a call at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo to ask it. They sent an e-mail with some references.

One of them

The fax might be a phising, not sure. I have to make it clear.
It's getting more convenient day by day lately but at the same time, we also get some mysterious things. We need to judge correct things carefully.

Hayaokidori website

New mobile phone

2008-09-28T20:13:00.002+09:00

Got a new cellular phone today. It seems that this is what we call "Kishu Henkou" - something like "replacing a cell phone (to new one)".

Actually I had not had a cellular phone for long. If I remember right, I got the first one somewhen around 1999 or 2000. I don't care the model number or the function because I think anyway I am too old to understand how the functions work completely lol....

Also, I don't make calls so often through my cellular phone because usually it means I need to make calls somewhere outside where usually it's noisy. A lot harder to listen to what the other says. So my monthly fee for my cellular has been just a tiny bit.

I was surprised that my monthly fee will be 1/5 ( one-fifth )than before by this replacing with some plans, some discounts etc. I wonder what I have paid for.
I advice you to think about it to replace your cellular phone into new one which means you will get a new contract. This might improve your expense :)

Now I am reading the explanation to learn how this new one works, which is tough for an old man like me :(

Hayaokidori website

At Milan central station in 1990

2008-09-04T23:11:00.003+09:00

Found this below in YouTube.

Several trains arrive/depart there from / for neighbour countries. Good old days, I am not sure this kind of scenery is still there or not.

Hayaokidori website

Harvested potatoes

2008-08-02T22:50:00.000+09:00

At this time of the year, we always harvest potatoes we grow. It's the hottest time in the year. But Hakuba provides comfortable climate so it's okay. Thanks god we are not in Tokyo! :-)
　After harvesting potatoes, we have to dry them in the sunshine maybe for some days. If you didn't do this, they go bad. We don't want to miss them so we have to do it.
Sometimes ravens steal some while we put potatoes in the sunshine, I didn't know they steal even potatoes.

Hayaokidori website

Small green frogs

2008-08-01T20:42:00.000+09:00

I am not good at sepcifying what kind of frog it is. A small green one which is found here and there around our house and farm. In the farm we can find other kinds of frogs as well, they are definately a lot bigger and different color. Probably this small frog try to hide itself from any enemies which would like to eat it! When it is on a green leaf, perhaps hard for enemies to find it though it is not that hard for human beings. Perhaps our eyes can judge a lot more colors.
At the time of transplanting rice pots, they sing a lot one after another. It's a kind of countryside symbol.

Hayaokidori website

Pronounciation and description

2008-07-31T22:52:00.000+09:00

When we Japanese people pronounce Japanese words described in English alphabet, we just do it as it is described.
For example

OBI ( Kimono belt/s )
ODAIBA ( An area name in Tokyo )

How do you English speaking people pronounce above? :-) Actually the BI for OBI should be pronounced as in BI for BIG, not as in BI for BI-LINGUAL.
But in most cases, English speaking people pronounce that BI for OBI like BI for BI-LINGUAL, so there's always confusing with Japanese people especially if what they pronounce had other meanings. They never accept Japanese way of pronounciation for that OBI lol.....
And when Japanese people say OBI in their own way, English speaking people always write it down "OBE" :o This has been a big "why?" to me, but I noticed that BE is just like BI for BIG for English speaking people. They always pronounce BE as in BI for BIG e.g. "Would BE", "MayBE" etc.
When we say ODAIBA, English speaking people often write it down "ODIABA". I think because a lot often a consonant plus "i" sounds as if that consonant plus "ai". Like Giants, Bi-lingual, Simon, Like etc.

When we notice this tiny thing, we can pressume it easier what English speaing people would describe. But I am not sure when English people notice the correct way to pronounce Japanese words which Japanese people describe in English alphabet :p
Maybe it needs more time :-)

Hayaokidori website

Companion plants

2008-07-30T21:56:00.000+09:00

Some plants could work for other plants to avoid harmful bugs. This marygold is a kind of companion plants for our cucumber. Marygold smells strong, it smells like a mosquito coil, but a lot stronger. It's getting the time to harvest cucumber, actually reliable because it's we who grow the cucumber but when it's harvesting time, usually we are to keep having them for a while which is a bit tough sometimes :(

Hayaokidori website

Summer greetings

2008-07-29T20:41:00.003+09:00

Summer greetings from Hakuba.
It seems that it's been hot in big cities in Japan, I hear something like the max temperture in a day is 39C somewhere in Japan, sorry to hear that.
Like as usual I hope this cool picture helps them to feel cool.
Though it's very cold and snowy in winter in Hakuba, we spend easier time than in big cities in summer. Hope everyone could make it to spend some time here in summer.

Hayaokidori website

Blueberry 2008

2008-07-29T20:36:00.003+09:00

We have some blueberry trees in a tiny field and grow them. The flowers are white, just look like what we call suzuran ( lily in the valley ?) flowers.

Blueberry fruits look like pomegranate fruit but a lot smaller. They look light green in this picture but actually dark blue.
I hear blueberries are good for your eyes but I think it's too late for my old far sighted eyes lol...

Hayaokidori website

Scenery from Kaufbeuren station.

2008-07-21T21:41:00.000+09:00

When I traveled in souhern part of Germany called Schwaltzewalt, I was on local railways which needed me to change train some times. Not so many services available, perhaps once in 2-3 hours while express trains in major lines provided frequent services like once an hour. Needed to spend some hours at tha station but if there's this kind of beautiful scenery around, it never bored me.

Kaufbeuren is located on the way from Lindau to Augsburg.

View a bigger map
Here's a scenery from a train from Lindau to Kaufbeuren. The second picture is that.

Hayaokidori website

A ladybug with many stars

2008-07-20T23:07:00.000+09:00

Found a ladybug walking around in our garden. It was enough big and outstanding for a couple of far sighted eyes of an old man :-) If the black marks on its back were 7, we call it "Nanahoshi tentou" because this "nana" means 7. But this one had a lot more. Wonder what's its name though.

Hayaokidori website

Mulberry jam

2008-07-19T21:41:00.000+09:00

Picked some mulberries and made its jam. Mulberries are sweet but look like almost black rather than red. So if you don't brush your teeth after having some, your teeth look like almost black which is like Ohaguro that married women had in old Edo era here in Japan:-) Maybe good for women to avoid sukebe guys around lol....

Hayaokidori website

Airconditioned!

2008-07-18T19:42:00.004+09:00

Finally all the guest rooms in our place got airconditioned. Hope everyone likes it.

Hayaokidori website

Passing through Kuwabara siding

2008-07-17T16:28:00.002+09:00

A 383 series limited express train "Shinano" running downhill from Obasute and passing through Kuwabara siding. It's a siding with a double crossing point. When trains pass through it, they make a noisy sound which could be interesting to train fans!

A 115 series local train running uphill for Obasute

115 series train has a traditional face which began at 153 series. That face looks cozy to an old man like me.

Hayaokidori website

Playing with web map

2008-07-16T23:17:00.000+09:00

When we try something new, we just had better try it before wondering this and that too much. See what infants do, they always try anything new with curious eyes. We can learn someething from them :-)

I just tried to customize a google map for our location.

View Larger Map

Hope this helps you to find us!

Hayaokidori website

Vertical motors transferered from Yamashina, Kyoto

2008-07-15T22:05:00.000+09:00

One of regular poster in my Japanese blog "Yamashina no tecchan" sent me 10 vertical motors the other day. This type of motor was main one when I started collecting model trains 40 years ago. The gear system is called " inside gear" I guess because gears are all set inside the two wheels. I have never heard "outside gear" yet and I don't think they can set gears outside of the wheels lol....

But anyway, this motor is a bit bulk for HO scale train cars, so it occupies rooms in a train car or a locomotive. Nowadays people tend to enjoy putting interiors as well, so they prefer other system motors which are smaller and they can put them under the floor so that they can put interior in the car.

Hayaokidori website

Checking ED70

2008-07-03T14:01:00.000+09:00

Been checking a model train locomotive ED70. When I do this, I make it into pieces to see what is wrong. Usually some dust are around gears because sometimes we need to put some oil there.
With my old eyes, it's a bit tough to keep doing this kind of things for long hours. Need to finish in an hour or two then keep trying next day or later...

Hayaokidori website

Inpatience after raindrops

2008-07-02T05:59:00.000+09:00

Japanese sometimes talk about baby bamboos after raindrops because they grow very fast after raindrops. I have never heard of it if it's impatience but they seem to grow faster after raindrops than in fine dry days though they don't grow that fast while we give water when it's not rainy. This shows how nature works.
I made this pot full of vermilion flower since I would have liked to make a small vermilion spot in green.

Hanging baskets. A combination of vermilion, pink and white. Hanging baskets gets dry sooner than other pots which are for example unglazed pots. We need to manage water for them. From my experiences, as far as we put inpatience in the shade or half shade, we had better keep them a bit dry rather than moist. If it's moist, impatience tends to die.

A combination of vermilion, red and white. White makes its contrast very clear. But hum.... looks each and every pot grows as they like lol.... Maybe I had better cut them a bit sometimes to keep the looking better.

A combination of vermilion, red and pink. There used to be a kind of pink which was a bit dark and was in good combo with white. But I have never found that pink anywhere recently. Probably they don't grow that one any more.

Hayaokidori website

Fine day at Hakuba Goryu Alps daira

2008-07-01T21:46:00.003+09:00

Went up to Hakuba Goryu Alps daira botanical garden to pick up weeds there. I prepared some towels to protect my neck from sunburns and a hat to do my head. Noticed that when we get older, we prepare something different for different purposes which we never needed when we were young lol......
Pay attention at the left side pole which is a bit vended. Some pulleys for chair lifts wire are hanged at the middle that may look a bit funny for skiers and snowboarders who visit ski resort in winter. They hang the pulleys lower in summer beause if they leave them at the top as well as in winter, passengers are to move very high in the air which might be a bit danger. This is why they hang them lower in summer if the lifts were in service. Only for this event, they need to get an authorization, Japan is full of authorizations here and there!
As we get 2 - 3 meters snowfall here in winter, they need to hang them upper in winter.

The altitude of Alps daira is around 1,500 meters. It was 20C today with cool and dry windblow which made us comfortable to do the work.

Hayaokidori website

Spain the winner of Euro 2008!

2008-06-30T23:37:00.002+09:00

They won the Euro 1964 which was 44 years ago, this is the second tire for them to be the winner. Congratulation!

Final : Spain 1-0 Germany
Semi final : Spain 3-0 Russia
Quarter final : Spain 0(PK4-2)0 Italy

ED70 doesn't work :(

2008-06-29T23:34:00.002+09:00

One of the couplers of my ED70 was replaced into American one as it started to work to pull an American rail cleaner car. But suddenly this ED70 seemed to get some troubles and now it does not work right. I overhauled this one.

No wires are disconnected, so I really have no idea what is wrong :( Perhaps I had better take another similar locomotive into pieces to compare! Wonder how it will go though...

Hayaokidori website