Thursday, August 29, 2019

8月28日(水曜日)2019 
地元の友人から「ぼっちゃんカボチャありますが、どうですか?」とメールが来たので、カボチャらしいけどどんなものか分からないまま「いただきたいです!」と図々しい返事を送ったら、数時間後にわざわざカフェまで持って来てくれました。友人が手にした白いビニール袋には何やらごろごろボールのようなものが透けて見え、中を覗くと手のひらサイズのかわいいカボチャがいくつも入っていました。艶のいいゴーヤ3本とすんなり美人のナスが3本、それにやわらかそうなオクラも10本ほど入っていました。「ぼっちゃんカボチャ」、可愛らしい名前です。普通の大きいカボチャに比べて小さいので「ぼっちゃん」と呼ぶのでしょうか。滋賀県の豊郷名物だそうです。「坊ちゃん、嬢ちゃん」という日本語は今では日常で使うことはなくなりました。せめてかぼちゃの名前についていてよかったです。ついでに「じょうちゃん◯◯」という野菜もあればいいのに…。A friend of mine living in the same area sent an email asking "I have Bocchan kabocha (preppy squashes), do you need some?", so I replied "Yes, I would like some!", although I didn't know what exactly it is. Few hours later, she kindly brought them to my cafe. I saw several round objects like soft balls through the white plastic bag, and when I looked inside, there were five or six small squashes that could fit into a palm. There were also three bitter gourds, shining slim eggplants and some okras which looked fresh and soft. What a cute name " Bocchan Kabocha" is! I guess the reason for the name is because the size is small compared to regular big squash. I knew the fact from web info. It is a well-known product in Toyosato which is a nearby town in Shiga. The words "Bocchan & Joochan" (lit. boys and girls in a polite way of calling) are seldom used in everyday life nowadays. I am glad that the word Bocchan is left in the name of this kind of squash. I also wish there is another kind of vegetable named "Joochan ◯◯" ....





Thursday, August 22, 2019

8月20日(火曜日)2019 
夏も後半にさしかかりました。彦根の友人からスイカをいただきました。スイカは夏の代名詞のような果物です。スイカといっても大きいのや小さいの、中も赤いのや黄色いの、種あり、種なし、いろいろですが、やはり中が赤くて黒い種があるものが一般的なスイカのイメージです。実は、今回いただいたのは2度目で、前回は赤い果肉で黒い種のずばりスイカそのものでした。今回も同じです。店頭でまるごとのスイカは高価だし大人数でもない限り手が出ませんが、いただいたスイカに包丁を入れ、ザクッと半分に切って、小分けしていく醍醐味はそれだけで夏らしく何とも贅沢です。このスイカは5キロで、お客様にもお出しするためにしばらく棚の上に置いて眺めています。それにしても、こんな立派な、ドッシリしたスイカが畑にゴロゴロなるなんて考えても不思議で愉快です。ブルーベリー、トマト、ぶどう、桃、グレープフルーツ、バナナ、形も色も様々な野菜や果物が私達の周りに登場し、味も色も楽しませてくれることに今更ながら感動します。秋になればアメリカは巨大なカボチャが出てきますが、私は日本のスイカに王冠をのせたい気分です。It is already the latter half of the summer. The other day, I received a watermelon from my friend in Hikone. Watermelon is a representative fruit of the summer. There are various kinds of watermelon such as ones with red or yellow pulp, those with or without seeds, etc., but after all the one with the red pulp and black seeds is a typical image of a watermelon. Actually this is the second watermelon I have received as a gift this summer and the previous one was with red pulp and black seeds inside. I am sure this will be the same kind. At a shop, I just hesitate to buy a whole watermelon since it is very expensive and too much. It is a luxurious summer feeling to cut the whole one in half which makes me very excited. I scaled it and it was five kilograms (11.02 lb). I decided to wait until I could share this watermelon with the guests.I feel very strange and funny to imagine the watermelon field where these big and heavy watermelons are laying here and there. We can see many kinds of fruits such as blueberries, tomatoes, grapes, peaches, grapefruits, bananas, etc. around us and there are different shapes and colors which make us surprised and joyful. What wonderful natural creatures! In the US, huge pumpkins will appear in the fall, but I would like to put a crown on this watermelon in Japan.



Sunday, August 18, 2019

8月17日(土曜日)2019 
終戦記念日の日、西日本は台風の影響で大荒れに荒れました。夜になって強い風と雨が窓に当たって、先日までのカラカラでうだるような暑さの夜とはまるで違う様相、そして台風が去ってまたの猛暑に自然と共存する私達は戸惑いを感じずにはいられません。台風の日、昼間は買い出しに南彦根まで出かけるのですが、銀行など数カ所の外出以外は家の中でゆっくり(実にだらだらと)過ごしました。外出時に帽子とレインジャケット、それに傘をさして出ましたが、強風にあおられてさしていた傘が裏返ってしまう経験を久しぶりにしておやおやと思いながら傘はたたんで、雨の中人通りのない町の中を歩きました。多賀町も各種の警報や注意報が出ていたようで、山間部や川の側の方は大変だろうと思いましたが大した被害もなくほっとしました。我が家は幸いそのような心配はありませんでしたが、胸に留まる不安は嵐以外のものもたくさんあるものですね。On the memorial day of the End of the Second World War, the weather in West Japan was hit pretty rough by a big typhoon. During the night on that day, strong wind and rain hit the windows and it was completely different from the days which had been very hot and humid. Then after the typhoon had passed, the scorching heat came back again. We, as human beings, who must cooperate with the nature, are really confused by these natural changes. It was a regular closing day of the cafe and usually I go to Minami Hikone for grocery shopping but because of the weather I stayed at home relaxing (lazily) other than going out to the bank and other a couple of places in town. When I went out, I put on a hat, rain jacket and opened my umbrella. My umbrella turned over like an irregular mushroom which was something I had not experienced in a long time. Then I gave up trying to open the umbrella and walked in the rain on the lonesome street in town. I was worried about the people in the mountain side because there were several alarms and warnings about the weather in Taga, but I didn't hear any reports. There was no such worry about my house because it is far from mountains and rivers, but I still have a lot of anxiety for reasons other than the storm.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

8月14日(水曜日)2019 
私ども「多賀あさひや」が神戸を中心に購読者をもつ雑誌「ステーション9月号」に掲載されました!https://station.kobe.coop/reading/ 特集「ローカル列車で、のんびり旅」の中に「門前町に、麗しの古民家カフェ」としてカフェの写真5枚と記事があります。ステーション9月号は8月10日発売されたとのことです。この暑さの中、神戸、大阪、京都、名古屋 中には東京からも個別に多賀大社に参拝に来られ、カフェに立ち寄ってくださることもしばしばです。有り難いです。"Station" (September issue) introduced my cafe. "Station" is a magazine which has subscribers around Kobe area and they featured the contents of "Leisurely trip by local train" in this issue.https://station.kobe.coop/reading/ They wrote about my cafe with five photos, describing it as a "Beautiful old Japanese house cafe in shrine town, Taga Asahiya". The magazine was on sale on Aug.10th. Many people come to visit Taga Taisha from Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya and even Tokyo, and some of them stop by my cafe. I really appreciate being able to offer a place for them.



Friday, August 9, 2019

8月8日(木曜日)2019 
夏空を背景にサルスベリのピンクが鮮やかに映えています。「百日紅」と書いて「さるすべり」..... 初めて知りました。 うだるような暑さの中、この明るい花は私達を元気にしてくれるためにあるような気がします。 山々の深い緑、真っ白な雲、そして古民家の屋根、目下、サルスベリは一圓屋敷https://www.ichienyashiki.jp/の主役です。Crape myrtle is blooming brightly against the background of the summer sky. In Japanese we call it "Sarusuberi (lit. even monkeys slip on this tree)" and today I learned the Kanji of it as 百日紅 for the first time. On this boiling hot day, I feel as if the pinkish vivid flowers make me more cheerful. You will see mountains with deep green, white clouds above them, roofs of old Japanese houses, but this crape myrtle definitely stands out as the star at Ichien-yashiki https://www.ichienyashiki.jp/now.





Monday, August 5, 2019

8月4日(日曜日)2019 
昨日から多賀大社の万灯祭が3日間の日程で行なわれていて、夕方から絵馬通りはたくさんの人で賑わっています。 カフェは夕暮れになる少し前に寄って休んでいかれる方が多く、お蔭様で私は忙しく注文を間違えないように 気をつけながら頭と手を使って動いています。午後2時ごろまでは時間もゆったりしていて、そんな時、昨日は思いがけない クール宅配便が届きました。三陸の生うにとわかめでした。送り主は全然知らない方だったので、岩手の釜石といえばS.Yさんかなと思い、お電話したところやっぱりそうでした。漁師さんに直接送ってもらうように頼んで下さり、それが届いたのです。生わかめが詰まっていたのが何かの瓶というところが嬉しかったです。カウンターにお座りになったお客様に少しお裾分けして、今日、カフェを閉めてから お皿に出して頂きました。いつもなら、好きそうな仲間に声を掛けるのですが、今日はその時間がなく一人でいただくことにしました。 多賀酒造の純米酒「秋の詩」をヘムスロイド村のガラス作家、東さんの素敵なぐい飲みに注いで贅沢な気分でいただく三陸の新鮮な生うにとわかめは海のない滋賀では決して味わえない食材です。お心遣いありがとうございました、S.Yさん!美味しくいただいています!!Summer Lantern Festival has been held since yesterday for three days and the Ema-doori (front street) is crowded with people who go to the festival at the shrine. Many customers who have time before all of the lanterns are lit stop by my cafe and have a chat with coffee. I have been keeping busy with paying attention to not to misdeliver their orders. I, however, have more time until about two p.m. because there are few customers. Yesterday while I was chatting with a customer in the guest room, a delivery man came to me with one refrigerated box. Fresh Uni (sea urchin) and seaweed from Sanriku Coast of Kamaishi in Iwate were packed inside. I felt strange because I didn't know the sender at all. I thought it must be from Mr. S.Y in Kamaishi, so I called him. It was from him as I expected. He asked the fisherman to send them to me. I loved that fresh uni were in a bottle which were probably from the fisherman's home, and not in a labeled container for selling. I took a little fresh uni on a small plate and gave it to the customer who was sitting at the counter to share the kind gift and I, myself enjoyed them tonight. Usually I call somebody to share these special food, but I didn't do it today because of not enough time. I appreciated these fresh sea food from Kamaishi with local Japanese sake in a special glass which was made by Mr. Azuma who is my favorite glass artist in Hemslojd village. It was a really luxurious time to enjoy these sea food which we seldom get in Shiga which is not located facing the sea. Thank you Mr. S.Y! They are sooo good!!