Er Hu 二胡

Have you ever heard relaxing sounds coming from this musical instrument "Er Hu"?

I took the four-time lessons for beginners.

Er Hu is a Chinese instrument having two strings. In case of violin, the horse hair on a bow is separated from its strings. On the contrary, Er Hu's hair on a bow is inserted between two strings. Players move the bow to the outer string for higher sounds and to the inner string for lower sounds.

I enjoyed many Er Hu performances on Youtube, but I never knew at all the bow is not separated from the strings. 

In the first step, we had to learn how to pull and push the bow smoothly to lessen the screech noise, blurred and unstable sounds.

In the second step, we practiced the scales. This instrument has no fingerboards. The teacher taught us how to stop the strings with fingertips.

Anyway, we managed to play "Twinke Twinkle Little Star" with a certain noise pollution.

New try brings new joy.

 

The Sea In The Rainy Season 2024

I went to see the sea last Sunday. This area is in the rainy season. The horizon is not clear. Some children are playing on the beach.

This is the same beach in last December.

Waves come up to the sand from the front and side.

 

Rose Garden

All the visitors are enjoying a great variety of roses in the harmoniously mixed fragrance.

Tall pine trees surround the garden. 

Old kinds were registered in 1920's and new ones were in 2010's. I didn't know that breed improvement of rose was so popular.

Have a nice weekend!　

 

A Bowl Of Green Tea

 

One tall cherry tree stands in the garden. Visitors can enjoy the gorgeous silence here.

The gate to the tea house. The mud wall is made with old roof tiles piled up.

The guests wash their hands here before entering the house.

The white confection is "manju". Sweet red bean paste is enclosed in a wheat dough and steamed. Both sides are baked. The fresh green tea has a good harmony of bitterness and sweetness.

Cherry Blossom

Somei-yoshino is in full bloom.

Probably because of global warming, the fcull bloom time has been in the end of March today. It was in the beginning of April in my childhood, 7 to 10 days later than the present.  This year, it turned cold suddenly in the 4th week of last month, the blooming delayed and just came to the time not having been affected by such warming.

A new school term begins in early April. Luckily, new students of this year had a rare chance to take commemorable pictures under the gorgeousness. 

I like to enjoy the blossoms from under the tree.

This kind named "Gyoiko 御衣黃櫻" has yellowish green blossoms.

 

Some Kinds of Cherry 各種櫻花

Cherry has quite a lot of kinds. I only know Somei-yoshino (crossbred), Yamazakura (wild) and some others. This photo is Somei-yoshino, the most gorgeous and popular kind now. You can see them at parks and gardens in many cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. 

When I took this photo, the tree had just started blooming. I will show you the full bloom in the next post.

You can see Yamazakura in low mountains. 400 years ago, Somei-yoshino was not born yet.  People had enjoyed this kind having big petals on its high tree.

This is called Usuzumizakura, classified in Edohiganzakura. In West Japan, there is a famous big one which age is over 1500 years. 

Another tree's branches of the same kind.

❤

Followings are other kinds. Petal colors and shapes are different. 

People have loved cherry blossom's beauty and ephemerality since long ago.

💝

 

Cymbidium 春蘭紅花

A reddish flower has opened. 

The original kind has greenish ones. Even now we can see them in coppices. Sometimes they have flowers in different colors such as yellow, violet and red. 

 

A Sudden Snowfall Surprised A Green Rabbit 春雪嚇了碧兔一跳

Though pink cherry blossoms opened, we had a snowfall last week. The lovely petals would be very surprised. It melted in the afternoon under the sunshine.

In my garden, two tulips have been growing well. They would shiver with the cold for a while.
 

Pink Cherry Blossoms And The Tough Whisk Fern

I found pink cherry blossoms have opened already. This would be Cerasus x kanzakura 'Kawazu-zakura' 河津櫻. Pink ones bloom earlier than white.

This cherry tree is Cerasus x yedoensis 'Somei-yoshino' 染井吉野, which is the most popular kind.

The buds are still small. They bloom in end March.

 

You may still remember that I found a whisk fern on the cherry a few years ago.

Last autumn I saw this fern turned brown. It looked dried-up in the heavy heat of last summer.

On 1st March I looked up the cherry tree and was very surprised to find a green stem.

I don't know whether this is a new stem or old. Whisk fern probably has a stronger ability to survive than I have expected. It has no leaves or roots, only has two parts: overground and underground stems. When we say plants, we think unconsciously  they have roots, stems and leaves. This species is mysterious for me.

Following two posts showed the whisk fern on the cherry. 

https://roughterrain193.blogspot.com/2022/02/

https://roughterrain193.blogspot.com/2021/10/i-found-whisk-fern-psilotum-nudum.html

I took this photo in Oct 2021.

Happy March to friends!