autumn?

It is the first day of November and okay, the weather has been weird. It is raining today but the days before were hot, but not humid (whew!) Very warm during the daytime. At least when you are in the shade it is cool. The early mornings and evenings are nippy.

Satoshi is samugari, this means that he is sensitive to the cold. Ask Satoshi and he'll say that he hates this time of year. And dreads winter even more. On the other hand, I love this time of year. We don't have the fall foliage in Hawaii or change in seasons. I love layering my clothes. And if it snows or flurries, watch out...you'll see me dancing and jumping up and down with excitement and see Satoshi rolling his eyes or pulling his blankets over his head.

But it is November and still warm. The other week I took out a warmer fleece blanket because the early mornings were nippy, but not my thick futon (down comforter). Satoshi teased me and said "you must be from Hawaii". But a couple of days after that, the weather turned a teensy bit colder and look at him he has taken out his futon, the fleece blanket, a thinner blanket and wears two shirts to sleep, all the while perspiring like he has a fever because it isn't THAT cold yet...oh well.

My plants are also loving this time of year. In fact they have kind of gone wild. The lavender is flowering and has stems about a foot tall/long. Cherry tomatoes are popping up here and there on the vine (how long do they take before turning red?). After cutting back my basil to prepare for the cold the other month, it has come back bushier than ever.

And the strawberries, they are getting bigger too. I found some info on the internet that said strawberries need LOTS of water. So we've been seeing the berries get bigger and soon we'll be able to try them.

My Italian parsley is also getting nice and full. I'll have to cook up something using both the basil and parsley soon. Either that or I'll dry both.

The mini cyclamen thinks it is Spring. It has started to produce leaves that are really HUGE!

That isn't the only thing that is huge, this pear is called Niitaka and comes from Oita prefecture. I put it next to a steak knife to show you just how big this was. This one was actually small, there are some that are a kilo (2.2 pounds)! It was juicy but not very sweet. I think with the other half I'll make bulgogi.

Yesterday, the weather guy mentioned that the clouds were uroko kumo (clouds that looked like fish scales)...they kind of did look like scales, don't you think?

How is your day going?