７月７日（火曜日）２０２６

　７月に入り、これから本格的な夏の始まりです。
さて、今回は夏を超えて秋のイベントのお知らせです。

私ども多賀あさひやでは今年もドイツから一時帰国の布谷史人さんを迎えてマリンバコンサートをいたします。
昨年、TV番組「グッと！地球便」で紹介されてから、布谷さんのマリンバを聴きたいという方が増えて多賀コンサートにも
数人お申し込みがありました。嬉しいかぎりです。

　布谷さんのマリンバを古民家で聴くという他にはない企画です。世界のマリンバ業界を牽引する布谷史人さんの丁寧に語られる音楽の世界を素晴らしいテクニックとともにどうぞご堪能ください。チケットのお申し込みはFB、taga.asahiya@gmail.comまたは0749-48-0186まで。

It's July and the real summer has begun.
Now, I would like to announce the event at my place which will be held this autumn.

We will invite a marimbist, Mr. Nunoya, who will return to Japan temporarily from Germany and have a marimba concert at Taga Asahiya this year too. Last January, Mr Nunoya was introduced on the TV program "Global Messenger" and I received a request for the tickets of his concert at my place from a viewer of that TV program.

It's a very valuable concert that presents the audience the opportunity to listen closer to his playing at the Japanese traditional house because usually Mr. Nunoya has his concert at the music hall in Japan. I hope you will enjoy Mr. Nunoya's marimba. He is a top marimba artist in the world and people praise the music which he creates as well as his wonderful skill. I am proud of having his concert at my place.

Please contact to get the ticket to taga.asahiya@gmail.com or 0749-48-0186.

６月２９（月曜日）２０２６

　朝から陽が差して洗濯日和。仕事も一段落ついて買い物に出る前に一息ついていると、ピンポーンと玄関でチャイムの音。出てみると、彦根のNさんがお連れのMさんとご一緒でした。手には赤い実のついた枝をお持ちで「はい、ヤマモモ」と手渡してくださいました。お二人はカフェが定休日であることをご存知なかったようでしたが、せっかくだからとカフェを開けて中に入っていただきました。

　ヤマモモは初めて見る枝で、小さな赤い実がたくさんついて何とも可愛らしく嬉しくなります。Nさんに勧められて赤い実を口に入れてみると甘酸っぱい味が口の中いっぱいに広がりました。早速、壺に入れて床の間に飾りました。地味な書の掛け軸の床の間にヤマモモの朱色が心を弾ませてくれます。

　ネットで調べると、ヤマモモはヤマモモ科の常緑高木で、赤い実に比べて花は茶色で目立つ色ではないようです。カウンターにお座りになったNさんとMさんのお二人はもっぱらヤマモモで作る果実酒の話で盛り上がっていました。

It was a beautiful day and when I was taking break after finishing my daily work, someone pressed the doorbell. It was Mr. N and Mrs.M from Hikone. Mr. N brought branches which I had never seen before. He told me it was "Yamamomo (Japanese Bayberry). Although they didn't know that it was a regular closing day of my cafe, I opened the entrance and let them in and served coffee for them.

There were two branches and each one had many red berries. They looked so cute. Mr. N said I should eat one, so I did. It was sweet and sour. I put the branches into a vase and placed it in the alcove of the guest room. The red berries are a beautiful accent to the modest calligraphy behind.

According to the net information, the flowers of the Yamamomo are brownish and don't stand out. Two people, Mr. N and Mrs.M were talking at the counter seats about how to make fruit wine from these berries.
It also seems to taste good.

６月９日（火曜日）２０２６
　雨にはならなかったものの、肌寒い不安定な今日のお天気でした。

　豊郷町のN様から、珍しいトケイソウと可愛らしい紫陽花をいただきました。トケイソウというのは３つに分かれた雄シベが時計の針に似ているところから名前がついたようですが、英語ではpassion flower (キリストの受難(passion)の花）というそうです。雄しべはキリストを貼りつけにした釘、糸のように広がる副花冠は茨の冠、１０数枚の花びらは弟子たち、ツルは鞭にたとえられているとのこと。花言葉は信仰（聖なる愛）。花は一日花で朝開花して日暮れとともにしぼんでしまうようです。

　細長い花瓶に挿して、高い台に乗せたら、ツルが垂れ下がり素敵に飾ることができました。茶道や華道の先生でもいらっしゃるN様は、お庭に咲くこうした花々を時々お持ちくださり、何も知らない私に色々教えてくださいます。

Although it wan't rainy day, it wa a bit cold and unstable day.

I received branches of passionflower and hydrangea from Ms. N who is living in Toyosato town. Passionflower's Japanese name is "Tokei-so (clock flower) and it is because three stamens look like clock hands,but it is flower of the Passion of Christ in English, and three stamens are likened to nails of the Cross, corona which looks like a crown of thorns, petals are apostle and vine is like a wip. The flower language is "faith". It is one day flower which opens in the morning and closes at sunset.

Since it has a long vine, I put it in a long vase on an elevated stand, then it looked very nice. Ms. N who is a master of both ikebana (flower arrangement) and Tea. She often kindly brings these flowers from her garden and I am so happy to learn about them.

６月６日（土曜日）２０２６
　朝のもんぜん市で土付らっきょうが出ていたので購入しました。カフェの合間に甘酢漬けの作業開始。

先ず、らっきょうの土を水で綺麗に落として、両端を切り取り、更に何回も水洗い。塩を揉み込んでしばらく放置。その間に保存容器を煮沸消毒し、分量の砂糖を水で溶かして冷ます。鷹の爪を輪切りにし、分量の酢も用意。この間、台所中らっきょうの匂いでいっぱいだったので、カフェのお客様の反応が心配で聞くと、全然気にならないとのことで一安心。塩揉みしたらっきょうを水洗いしてから熱湯の中へ数秒入れ、冷ました後に保存容器に入れ、鷹の爪と甘酢も入れて完成。

　らっきょうの甘酢漬けは定番のカレーライスのお供になる他に、私はコールスローを作る時にピクルスの代わりにらっきょうを刻んで入れます。らっきょうは腸内環境の改善や血液をサラサラにする効果があると言われています。子供の時は好んで食べませんでしたが、歳とともにこうした保存食を自分で作って食べられるのは嬉しく思います。

I found an unwashed Japanese pickled scallions at the local morning market, so I bought them for making homemade sweet and sour pickles.

 
Washing pickled scallions first, I cut both ends of each of them and washed them again and again. Rubbed them with salt and left for a while. I also disinfected the container in boiling water. Dissolved sugar with water and cooled it down. After washing pickled scallions again, put them into hot water for a second. Then put all of them into the container with hot pepper and vinegar. I need to wait a month at least to eat.

I like sweet and sour pickled scallions. People say they improve gut health and make blood thinner. I didn't like to eat them when I was a child but I like them now and I am glad to make homemade ones by myself.

６月５日（金曜日）２０２６
　私の曽祖父は澤田久蔵(1854-1899)といい、明治5年(1872)に学制が発布されて明治７年に多賀小学校ができてから、校長を約１１年間務めていました。当時は多賀のほかに、敏満寺や久徳にも小学校があり、その後統合されて今の多賀小学校になりました。（「多賀小学校百年のあゆみ」より）敏満寺小学校の初代校長は久蔵の兄の澤田醇一でした。醇一、久蔵共に彦根の寺子屋で学んだのちに師範学校を経て教職についたようです。家には久蔵氏が使っていたと思われる書物や書いた物が残っており、明治の人々の教養レベルの高さに驚きます。

　さて、私が多賀の実家に帰って色々整理している中に古い書ばかりの掛け軸があり、見ると最後に「一茶O︎OO︎」と書いてありました。えっ？と思ってネットで調べてみると、小林一茶作と言われる勧農詞であることが分かりました。農業の大切さや勤勉さを説く内容で、当時、道徳心を養う教材としても用いられたとのこと。久蔵氏はこれを学校のどこかに掛けて子供達に教えたと思われます。当時は小林一茶作と信じられていましたが、後に原作者は宮下正岑（まさみね）であることが判明しました。

　いずれにしても珍しいものなので、眠らせておくのは惜しいと思いましたが、掛け軸の下はボロボロで、書の部分もシミがついて、とても掛けられる状態ではありませんでした。修理にはお金もかかるし、結局そのままにしておいたのですが、昨年、野洲で京表具の仕事をしている辻芳弘さんが横田順さんの墨画展に来られたので、掛け軸を見せて、思い切って修理をお願いしました。そして先日それを仕上げて持ってきてくださいました。シミも綺麗に取れて見事な掛け軸として復活しました。

　ネットでは文字起こしはされていますが、現代語訳がないので、私には詳しい内容はわかりません。けれども、美しい文字の流れはいつまでも見ていたい程素晴らしいです。しばらく、我が家の床の間に掛けてありますので、興味のある方は是非見にいらしてください。

My great grandfather is Kyuuzoh Sawada (1854-1899) and he served as principal for 11 years in Taga Primary School since the Meiji government promulgated the school system in 1872. At first, there were three schools in neighboring areas and later they were integrated as Taga Primary School. Junichi Sawada was the first principal in Binmanji Primary School which was one of three and he was the elder brother of Kyuuzoh S., and they both had an education at Terakoya (temple school) and teacher's school after that. Kyuuzoh left several books and papers in my house. I could understand how he was a highly educated person by those books and writings. People in the Meiji era were putting so much effort into learning History, Chinese poetry, Math, etc. They were really amazing.

Well, when I returned my native home ten years ago and cleaned up things which were in the house, I found an old hanging scroll. I saw the name "Issa ....." which is very famous as a Japanese poet in the Edo period. Looking up on the internet, it is "Encouragement of Agriculture" by Kobayashi Issa. It seemed that educators used it as an educational material for developing a sense of morality at that time. People believed that it was Issa's work but actually it was proved later that a different person, Miyashita Masamine, worked for it.

In any case, I thought it was a very interesting and valuable scroll, but I just put it away for years because it was old and ruined the lower part. Last year, Mr. Tsuji, who is a mounting specialist, came to me so I decided to ask him to fix it. He finished the work and brought it to me a couple of days ago. The cloth frame was renewed and many spots disappeared. It appeared totally beautifully.

It was written in beautiful classical cursive Japanese, but unfortunately I can read only a few words.
Even though I understand partially, I am still happy to watch such a beautiful scroll.

５月２８日（木曜日）２０２６
　運転免許証更新のために高齢者講習を受けに彦根自動車学校へ行きました。実は免許証を持ってはいるものの、この１０年間日本で車を運転したことがありません。ボストンでは運転していますが、今年は手術後であったことと大雪のために車に乗ることはありませんでした。それで、ほぼ１年間、私はアメリカでも運転からは遠ざかっていました。

　アメリカでは年齢に関係なく事務的な手続きだけで更新は済みますが、日本では７０歳以上は高齢者講座、７５歳を超えると認知症テストを受けなければなりません。私はどちらも何とか無事に終わりましたが、今回は更に視力検査と運転実技にパスしなければなりません。日本で運転したことのない私にとってはハラハラもの。ブレーキとアクセルは右？左？エンジンスタートはブレーキを踏み込んでからだったっけ？など不安になり、急いで出かける前にネットでチェック。

　幸い、試験管が優しい方で、車の中で現在の運転頻度を聞かれた時に日本で運転していないと伝えると、珍しがって世間話をするなどリラックスした雰囲気で色々な指示を出してくださったのですが、最初は右折の方向指示は上手に出せたのですが、その後２度も間違って左のレバーを操作してワイパーが動き出し慌てました。（アメリカでは左側に方向指示レバーがついています。）右側走行に慣れているので右折の時に注意したのは勿論です。終わって試験管の方から「クセのないいい運転」と褒められたのは気分よかったですが、疲れがどっと出ました。

It is the time to renew my driver's license and I need to take a special lecture for drivers who are over 75 years old, so I went to Hikone Driving School. Actually I got a Japanese driver's license ten years ago, but I haven't driven a car in Japan since then because I don't have a space to park a car and I don't need it very much in my daily life. Although I usually drive a car in Boston, when I was there this February, I didn't drive because it was just after the surgery and I was afraid of going out in the snow.

The renewal system is different between the US and Japan. It is much simpler in the US, but we have to take a lecture for the people when we are over 70, and we need to take a Cognitive Function Test on top of that. I passed both of them, but I was very nervous about the practical driving test. I needed to remind myself of the position of the accelerator pedal and brake pedal and other things before the test.

Fortunately my examiner was generous and he asked me how often I am driving. I said that I hadn't driven at all in Japan although I drive in the US. Then, he was curious about me and talked in a relaxed atmosphere and continued to give several instructions. I was relieved of my anxiety but I used the left lever instead of the right lever which was a direction indicator when I turned right or left. In the US, they are opposite. I was panicked to see the wiper suddenly move at the corner of the road while I intended to put the direction signal. I was very careful to run on the left side which should be in Japan. My examiner said that my driving was very good when the test was over and I was glad but at the same time I was very exhausted.

５月２１日（木曜日）２０２６
　気になっていて果たしていなかった実家の墓地掃除とお参りを今日こそはと昨日の門前市で花を買って、夜のうちに父が裏に植えておいてくれた下草を合わせて何組かの御供え花を作っておきました。今朝はモタモタしていたら日は既に昇って結構な日差しになっていました。

　子供の頃は裏道を上がって赤坂山の墓地に行っていましたが、もうずいぶん前から皆さん別の道を車で上がるので、裏道は殆ど行く人がなくなりました。荒れた道は私も怖いので自動車道を自転車で上がっています。しばらくお墓に行けなかったのは私の股関節の痛みがあったからで、手術後ずいぶん回復してはいるものの不安でした。それでも自宅の裏庭の伸び放題の雑草を見ながらもう待てない、早く掃除に行かなければと本日決行した次第です。

　電動アシストのギアを１にして何とか上まで上り切りました。雑草は思ったほどではなく有り難かったですが、それでも持っていった「しまむら」の大きいビニール袋がいっぱいになるまで草取りをしました。供養の花と燈と線香で墓参ができほっとしています。周りは墓じまいをしているところが多く、我が実家もそんな話が出ています。寂しいことですが、私もいつまでお世話できるか自信がないので受け入れるしかないと思っています。

There was a thing which I had been wanting and hadn't done yet, that was going and cleaning my parents and ancestor's grave. But I could do it a few days ago. I bought flowers for an offering at the local market the previous day and prepared a divided bunch of flowers.
When I left home, the sun had already risen high up.

There are two ways to go up to the graveyard where it stays on top of a lower mountain called "Akasaka-yama". One is the way near my house and we used to use it with my family and many others when I was a child but many people do not use it nowadays because it is narrow and became run-down and they go up to the grave on another, wider, well-maintained way by their car. I also don't like to walk the narrow one alone now. However, I hadn't gone up to the grave for a long time because I had a problem with my hip joint and didn't have the confidence to go up the slope even after the surgery. Since I was very worried about the condition of the grave where weeds must be growing, I decided to go there and clean.

I could go up the hill by my battery-assisted bicycle and I was relieved because it was not that terrible with weeds. Cleaning the grave of my family for a couple of hours, I offered flowers and prayed. Many people are closing their family graves these days because younger generations are living in different places and they tend not to visit their graves anymore. It is also our family's problem.

５月１１日（月曜日）２０２６
　洗濯と掃除とどちらが好きかと聞かれたら私は間違いなく「洗濯」を選びます。今や殆どの家がドラム式や縦型洗濯機を使っていますが、
私はあえて昔ながらの二槽式洗濯機を気に入って使っています。つまり洗濯と脱水が別々の洗濯機です。家を改装する時に設計士の方にお願いして洗濯機を台所に設置してもらいました。朝、台所でカフェのケーキを焼き、注文のお弁当やいなり寿司作りながら、私の後ろでは洗濯機が回っています。

　今日は定休日なのでケーキ作りもお弁当もないかわりにシーツや布団カバーなども洗濯。洗濯機はフル回転で仕事をしました。天気の悪い日は家の中に干している洗濯物を、今日のような晴れの日には物干し竿に掛けます。洗濯バサミで止めてから、シャツもズボンも靴下もシーツも枕カバーもしっかり並んでいるか点検して眺めると爽快感でいっぱいです。洗濯好きは母ゆずりかもしれません。シーツは糊付けをし、シャツやズボンはシワにならないようパンパンと手で叩いてから干すなど昔は手間をかけていました。時代とともに洗濯も楽になりましたが、よく乾いた洗濯物をいっぱい抱えて取り込むのは今も変わらず嬉しいものです。

お昼すぎに久徳のうぐいすこども園に行って読み聞かせの見学をさせていただきました。建て替えられて４年目とのこと。りっぱな園内にびっくりしました。また、周りの環境の素晴らしいこと！ため息が出るような美しい里の景色です。

If I was asked which one I like better between washing of cleaning, I would definitely choose washing. Nowadays most of the houses are using front loader washers or top loader washers which are both automatic washers, but I have a two-tub washing machine which I like to use. It is a washing machine which has a separate wash and spin. When I renovated my house, I asked the architect to place the washing machine in the kitchen which is not usual in Japan but I wanted it.

It's Monday and the regular closing day. I didn't need to bake Mochiko-cake, so I washed more than usual such as sheets and comforter covers. Since it was a beautiful day, I hung the clothes on the laundry pole outside. After clipping clothes with clothespin, I felt so good to look at all the clothes, sheets and others. I remember my mother liked washing, too. She starched the sheets well and dried them very neatly. Laundry became more convenient with the times, but it is so pleasant to hold the dry laundry which absorbed much sunlight in my arms.

In the afternoon, I went to the local preschool to observe story-telling. It's the fourth year since the building was rebuilt. The facilities were amazing and I was also amazed by the surrounding scenery. It was breathtaking and beautiful countryside scenery.

５月５日（火曜日）２０２６
　端午の節句、こどもの日！昨日とは打って変わって朝から明るい晴れやかな一日でした。カフェはお子さんの姿はありませんでしたが、東京や三重、愛知、京都、大阪など県外の方がたくさんお見えになり、もち粉ケーキもいなり寿司も用意したものは全部なくなり、白玉あんみつや白玉ぜんざいなどの注文もたくさんいただき大忙がしでした。

　数日前に夕方近所の男の子、Hちゃん（４歳）が保育園で作った鯉のぼりを見せにやってきました。お兄ちゃんのS君（６歳）も一緒です。それを見た私は思わず「やねよ〜り」と歌い始めると、Hちゃん、S君もすぐに大きな声で「たーかーいこいのーぼ〜りー」と一緒に歌い出しました。ところが、「おおきーな」まで歌って、次が私自身、あれ？まごい？ひごい？どっち？と分からなくなり、Hちゃん、S君も途端に声が小さくなり「..??... 」それからまた大きく「ちいさい....??...こどもーた〜ちー、おもしーろーそ〜におよいーでーるー」と三人とも歌詞が曖昧なところはごまかして後は大きな声で何回も歌いました。おもしろくて楽しくて、男の子たちの素直で無邪気な声に大いに元気づけられました。因みに後で、大きな真鯉（父）、小さい緋鯉（男の子）と調べたので、次はしっかり歌えると思います。

　カフェに飾った鯉のぼりは、朗読サークルでご一緒のAさんが、毎週ボランティアで行っている高齢者施設で利用者の方に教えた鯉のぼりで、Aさんが作ったお手本と材料の色紙を持ってきてくださいました。S君たちと一緒に作ろうと思っていましたが、しばらく来なかったので1/4だけ私が作りました。

It was Tango no Sekku (originally it was a Boy's day and became to Children's day). It turned out to be a beautiful day in contrast to yesterday. We didn't have children customers in the cafe but we had many people from places such as Tokyo, Mie, Aichi, Kyoto and Osaka. Mochiko cakes and Inari-zushi which I prepared for the customers in the morning were all gone and I also received many orders of other sweets from customers. I almost got in a panic to serve them but I could get through anyhow.

The other day, young H, who is four years old, and my neighbor came to me to show paper carp streamers which he made at his nursery school. His brother S, who is six years old, also came with him. When I saw his paper carps, I sang a children's song of carp streamers. Then two boys started singing with me. However, there were parts in the song which I was not confident about so I had to make my voice small. Interestingly two boys also made their voices down because of the same reason. But except for that part, we all sang very loud and pleasantly. We had a very fun time. By the way, I checked the lyrics on the internet, so I can sing all parts with confidence.

The paper carp streamers decorated in the cafe are from Ms.A who is in the same Read Aroud group with me and she goes to elderly facility in the town and teaches origami to the elderly people as a volunteer. Ms.A brought origami carps which was the same one she taught to elderly people, and she also brought several colorful origami papers for me to make with the children of my neighbor. Since kids hadn't come these days, I made one of them.

５月４日（月曜日）２０２６
　お天気がコロコロ変わる珍しい一日でした。昨夜は雨風が強かったのに、朝になったら陽が差してお天気。喜んでいたら、昼すぎから雲行きが怪しくなって雨が降る気配。外を見ると雨が線のように降っていて、カフェにいらしたお客様も慌てて車へ傘を取りにいかれたり、しばらくすると、ビショビショの傘を畳んでカフェに入って来られるお客様。やがて、その雨も止んで曇った空の下では冷たい風が吹いていました。
　大型連休中でもあり、定休日を返上してカフェを開けており、県内外から多賀大社へ参拝の方もたくさんお見えになるようで、お帰りにカフェに立ち寄ってゆっくりしていかれる方も結構いらっしゃり、ありがたいことと思いながら今日も頑張って乗り切りました。このところ予約は「いざなみランチ」がほとんどですが、ひとまわり大きいお膳にお皿を並べる「あさひや御前」の注文をいただきご用意しました。愛知県からのカップル。食事を楽しんでくださり、「ゆっくりできました」と喜んでくださったのが何よりの励みとなりました。

Today, It was a rare day which changes the weather many times in the day. We had heavy wind and rain last night, but it cleared up in the morning and had a beautiful sunlight. However, it turned cloudy in the afternoon and looked like it started to rain. When I looked outside through the window, the rain was falling quietly like thread. One of the couples rushed out to take their umbrella from their car. After a while, a customer who was drenched with rain came into the cafe. The rain stopped soon, and later a cold wind was blowing under the cloudy sky.

Since it is a long holiday from the end of April to May sixth in Japan, I decided to open my cafe during this term without taking any closing days. There are many visitors to Taga Taisha from inside and outside Shiga prefecture during this season. Some of them stop by my cafe and relax. By the way, when I have requests for lunch, most of them are Izanami-lunch (Bento style), but I was requested Asahiya-gozen this time and prepared for that. It is served with several classical dishes on the larger tray. The customers were a couple from Aichi. They enjoyed the meal and had a relaxing time in the Japanese room.

５月２日（土曜日）２０２６
　左股関節の手術後３ヶ月検診で玉川病院に行ってきました。受付を済ませてすぐに地下のリハビリセンターで可動域や筋肉の検査をして、次はCTとレントゲン撮影、そして最後に主治医の先生と会って経過状況を話していただきました。順調に回復しているとのこと。先ずはほっとしました。整形外科のロビーは相変わらず患者の方でごった返していました。久しぶりに会うリハビリ担当のSさんは変わらず優しく丁寧に色々測定してくださり、担当医のF先生に「お忙しそうですね」と言ったら「そうなんです」と少々お疲れ気味の返事が返ってきました。本当に皆さんにお世話になりました。
　五月を前に床の間に武者人形を飾りました。

I went to the Tamagawa Hospital for 3-month post-op checkup of my left hip-joint surgery. After checking in at the front desk, I headed to the rehabilitation center in basement to have the range of motion of muscles examined, and I was taken in for a CT scan and an X-ray. Then I received an explanation about the progress after surgery from the doctor. He said I am making good progress which makes me relieved. The lobby area of the orthopedic surgery was crowded as always. I met Ms.S who did my rehabilitation for the first time in three months, she was very kind as before, and I met Dr. F who did my surgery. He looked a little bit tired, so I said to him " you seem busy.". ”That's right." he replied. I am grateful for these people.

Coming back home, I decorated the alcove of the guest room with two warrior dolls for the Tango no Sekku (Boys' Festival) in May.

４月１４日（火曜日）２０２６
　新しく出来上がったカフェの暖簾の紹介をしようと、これが３代目であることを申し上げて１０年前の初代のものと一緒に写真を載せたら、多くの方から１０周年のお祝いを言っていただき思いがけない展開に恐縮しております。数々の温かいお言葉、ありがとうございます。私自身は１０周年などまったく自覚がなく、のんびりやってこられたことを喜び、色々な方の応援のお陰だと感謝の毎日です。

　ところで、暖簾の製作染色家の方お二人をご紹介した時に、「多賀あさひや」という屋号を書いてくださった方のご紹介をしていないことに気づきました。この題字は私の小学校の恩師の北村百合子先生にお願いしたものです。それまでも折に触れて先生とは交流させていただいていましたが、当時すでに８０代半ばでいらした先生が引き受けてくださるかどうか心配でしたがお願いしてみたところ、快くお返事をいただき、何枚か書いてくださり、その中から選んだものです。とは言っても、実は暖簾の字は先生の元の書体とは若干違っています。それは染色家の方が文字を布地にプリントコピーしたのではなく、コピーした書を横に置いてそれを模写して書かれたものなのです。北村先生が書いてくださったオリジナル版は店内に置いてある多賀あさひやのパンフレットに縮小版として見られます。

　普段の流れるように美しく優しい先生の書体は小学生の時から子供心にきれいな字だなあと思っていました。お便りも文字の配置などおしゃれな感じで先生の美的センスが溢れ、そして潔い真っ直ぐな先生らしいお人柄が書体や文面に出て、頂くといつもわぁっと嬉しくなります。今はご高齢でお手紙をいただくことは少なくなりましたが、代わりにショートメッセージで優しい一言を送ってくださいます。お元気にお暮らしなのが何よりで、こうして小学校の恩師が今でも応援して下さっているなど稀なことで、こんな幸せなことはないと思っています。

I just wanted to introduce the new shop curtain and put two photes of the first one which was made 10 years ago and the new one. Then many readers sent celebration message of 10th anniversary of the cafe. Thank you for the warm messages. As a matter of fact, I didn't even think about it for the past ten years.

By the way, I already introduced two dyers who made the shop curtain of the cafe, but I didn't give a name of the person who wrote the title of the cafe with a brush. Ms. Yuriko Kitamura, who is my former elementary school teacher. She is my favorite teacher and I have been contacting her occasionally. I knew that her calligraphy was wonderful but when I asked her to write it for me, she was already in her mid-80s but she kindly accepted my request. If you look closely, the calligraphy is a little bit different from the original one because it was not printed out by machine. Each dyer reproduced the original one.

Since I was a school kid, I have always thought teacher Ms. Kitamura's handwriting was beautiful. We sometimes exchange cards or letters. Hers are different from others. She arranged the layout beautifully and I liked it very much. She is now in her mid-90's and there are fewer opportunities for her to write letters, but she sends text messages to me instead. It is amazing that she is living healthy and pleasantly. I know that it is a rare case and I am so happy because I am still able to get warm support from my elementary school teacher.

４月１３日（月曜日）２０２６
　多賀あさひやが古民家カフェとして２０１６年暮れに開業して、今年でほぼ１０年になります。経験も何もないままスタートして、あっという間に月日が経ちました。何とかここまでカフェを続けてこられたのはただただ地元の皆様、県内外から来てくださるお客様のお陰と感謝するばかりです。

　多賀あさひやの素敵な暖簾を最初に作ってくださったのは永源寺の野田浩二さん。四年ほど経って色が褪せて二代目をお願いしたいと思っておりましたが、残念なことに野田さんはお亡くなりになり途方に暮れておりましたところ、野田さんのお友達の京都の北島桂子さんがまさに救世主として暖簾を作ってくださいました。琵琶湖から朝日が昇ってくるイメージの暖簾です。その暖簾も年月の経過とともに色が薄くなってきたので、北島さんにはまたまた無理を言って三代目をお願いしました。

　多賀大社の春の古例大祭を目前にした先日、北島さんが深い色合いの新しい暖簾を届けてくださいました。東近江市ヘムスロイド村の鉄作家の石倉兄弟によるカフェの看板、またメニュー台や友人のHさんの季節にあった鉢植えが加わり、開業当初と比べると多賀あさひやの玄関もずいぶん賑やかになりました。
　これからも皆様に一息ついていただける場所としてささやかながら飲み物やお食事を提供していけたらと願っております。今後ともどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

It's been almost ten years since Taga Asahiya started as an old folk house cafe in December 2016. Time flies so quickly. Without the warm support from people in this area and people from inside and outside the Shiga prefecture, I could not do anything because I didn't have any experience running a cafe. I really appreciate everyone.

Mr. Kohji Noda was the first person who made the wonderful shop curtain of the cafe. However, it gradually lost the color in four years and I wanted Mr. Noda made the second one, but it was too sad that he passed away due to cancer. I didn't have any idea who I should ask to make the second shop curtain. Then luckily Ms. Keiko Kitajima, who was a friend of Mr.Noda, offered to make it for me. She made a new one which she imagined the sun rising from Lake Biwa. It passed several years and the shop curtain lost its color again. I asked Ms. Kitajima to make the third one again.

The other day she brought the new one to me. Compared to ten years ago, the entrance of the cafe has become much more lively. There are several things added such as the sign of the cafe which was made by Tan Forge Works of Hemslojd in Higashiomi, Menu stand and seasonal flower pots by my friend, H.

I wish I could continue to offer the place to relax and serve some drinks and meals to the people. Thank you for your support.

４月８日（水曜日）２０２６　
　しばらくカフェでお客様がいらっしゃらなかった時、食器棚の整理やガラス窓を綺麗にするなどすることは山ほどありましたがイマイチ気が乗らず、かといって、ぼんやりしていると（いつものことですが）眠くなってしまいます。そこで、タガが外れて使い物にならなくなった竹籠の再生を久しぶりにやってみようと思いました。

　先ずは、緩くなった籠の縁を何とかカタチにして洗濯バサミで止め、古新聞を無造作に貼っていきます。全部貼れたら、今度は虫食いの古い謡本をその上に貼る作業。糊は木工用のボンドを薄めて刷毛で伸ばします。洋紙に比べると和紙は糊がよくついて、仕上がりがいいです。

　晴れ上がった今日、柿渋を塗って、それをお日様の下に置いておきました。ボロボロの古籠がしっかりした物入れに蘇りました！

While there were no customers in the cafe, I had a lot of things to do such as organizing the cupboard, cleaning glass windows, but I was not really in the mood. But, if I just sat without doing anything, I was sure to get sleepy. Then some work came up in my mind. That is fixing old bamboo container and I decided to do it.

First, I tried to fix the edge of the basket using clothespins, then paste the newspaper on the surface of the basket. After that, I put very old Japanese paper on it which had been eaten by insects. I used wood glue which is diluted with water. Japanese paper sticks much better than western papers.

It was a fine day, so I applied persimmon tannin on the surface of the basket, and dried it in a sunny spot. The old waste basket transformed into a lovely, useful container!

３月２６日（木曜日）２０２６
　雨で冬に逆戻りしたかのような昨日のお天気も今日は穏やかな日となりほっとしました。家の外も中も掃除や整理で気になるところばかり。股関節の回復ぐあいを見ながら少しずつ始めるも、雑草や散らかりのほうが先行しています。

　さて、多賀町役場が毎月刊行している「広報たが」が届く度に最後のページのクロスワードに答えてはオンラインで送っていますが、たまに抽選に当たると５００円の図書カードが送られてきます。今日も役場の封筒がポストに入っていたので、何だろうと思って開けたら図書カードが入っていました。嬉しいです。

　彦根に買い出しに出た後、自転車を置いて、リハビリ散歩に多賀大社とその周りを歩きました。種類は分かりませんが、森のあちこちで赤い椿が深緑の葉の間に見えて美しく、立ち止まって見上げました。

It was a rainy cold day yesterday and we felt as if we got back to the winter, but we were relieved today because it became a fine day again. Recently I am worrying about messiness both inside and outside of my house. I try to start cleaning them up depending on the recovery condition of my hip joint, but I can not catch up with the speed of the messiness.

Well, today I received a book gift card in an envelope which was from town hall. Every time I receive a monthly booklet of Public Information of Taga from town hall, I enjoy Crossword Puzzles which are on the last page of the booklet and send the answer to them online. When I win the lottery occasionally, I get a bookstore gift card of 500 yen from our town hall and today I got it. I was very happy with it.

After coming back from the supermarket in Hikone by bike, I went out for walking to Taga Tisha shrine and around there for my hip joint rehabilitation. In the shrine woods, I saw red camellia flowers here and there. They were beautiful and I stopped walking to appreciate them.

 

３月１９日（木曜日）２０２６　
　あっという間に３月も半ばを過ぎました。ボストンから日本に帰って一週間経ちました。時差の影響で午後６時を過ぎると睡魔が襲い、夕食と入浴を済ませた後は早々にベッドへ。朝は３時ごろには眼が覚めるといった不規則生活が続いている外は、至って元気に過ごしています。

　友人Hさんの買い出しの車出しや掃除の手伝いには感謝の言葉もありません。三日目からカフェも開けています。長い不在で地元の皆さんにはご心配やご不便をおかけしたこと、申し訳ありませんでした。足のほうは完全復帰にはまだ時間がかかりそうですが、日々回復しており、恐々試した自転車も大丈夫でした。勝手を言ってお休みいただいていたお弁当も再開しました。

　リハビリ散歩を兼ねてコンビニと郵便局に行って、郵便局では忘れかけていたお年玉年賀はがきの当選切手もいただいてきました。庭の紅梅が明るい日差しの中で美しいです。

It’s already the middle of March. Time flies quickly. It's been a week since I returned to Japan from Boston. I am still struggling with jet lag, and I get so sleepy after 6 p.m., so after eating dinner and taking a bath, I go to bed much earlier than usual.

I thank my friend, H,very much for helping clean up the house and taking me to the supermarket by her car. I opened my cafe on the third day of my return. I apologize to many people for the inconvenience of not opening the cafe for a long time and thank them for their patience. It would take a few more days to recover my legs completely, but they are getting better day by day. I cautiously tried to ride my bicycle, and I was able to make it. I also restarted the box lunch service by appointment.

Taking a walk to the convenience store and post office as a part of my rehabilitation, I received a prize set of stamp sheets at the post office which I won from New Year's cards. I am also happy to feel spring watching red plum blossoms in my tiny Japanese garden.

３月８日（日曜日）２０２６
　２階の寝室にある時計を見た時は午前８時で、階下で携帯を開いて飛び込んできた時間が９時過ぎだったので、あれっ？と思っていたら娘が「今日からday light savingね」と言ったので、ああそうか、ここはアメリカなんだと改めて思いました。

　day light saving (time)とは夏時間のことで、ハワイやアリゾナなど一部の州を除くアメリカ全土で３月の第２日曜日から１１月第１日曜日まで、午前２時になると一斉に時計が１時間進んで午前３時になります。これは夏の間、太陽光を有効利用して、省エネや余暇の向上を図るためとのことです。今はパソコンや携帯がその日がくると自動的に時計を進めてくれるので、それほど間違いはないのでしょうが、私のようなうっかり者は人に言われるまで気が付かなくて、過去に時間通りに職場に行ったのに誰も来ていない、というトンマな経験をしたことがありました。変更になる日が日曜日なのもそのあたりの理由からなのでしょう。

　夏時間になる時は時計の針が進むので時間に遅れるということはありませんが、これが冬時間になるとその反対なので注意が必要です。また、夕方などは５時が４時になるので、もう暗くなっていたのがしばらくはまだ少し明るい日が続くといった具合です。とにかく日本のように夏時間も冬時間もない（日本も1948-1951までサマータイムが実施されたそう）ところから来ると間違いなく混乱してしまいます。

When I saw the clock beside the bed upstairs, it was 8a.m., and when I opened my smartphone, it was after 9a.m.. I wondered what was going on. Then my daughter told me that daylight saving started today. I understood that it's the US.

All over the US except Hawaii, Arizona, etc., DST started the second Sunday of March until the first Sunday of November. At 2am, the time becomes 3am. According to the net info, the reason is that by making effective use of solar energy during the summer, we could save energy economically and much more enjoy leisure time. Nowadays we do not need to worry about changing the time because computers and smartphones do it automatically when DST comes, but I had an embarrassing experience about DST in the past when I was working in the US. I, like a careless person, went to my work as usual then nobody was around because other colleagues knew the time had changed.
Maybe that is the reason that DST starts Sunday.

When DST starts, hour hand goes ahead, so we don't worry about being late in the morning, but when it goes back to the regular hour in November, we have to pay attention not to be late in the morning. Anyhow, people from places like Japan which have no DST will definitely be confused by this sudden time change. (Actually Japan did have summer time from 1948 to 1951 introduced by GHQ, but the system was abolished in 1952 due to public complaints.)

３月７日（土曜日）２０２６　
　リハビリ散歩が終わって、いつも通り裏口から入ると、靴箱の上のショッピングバッグに目が止まり何だろうと持ち上げるとずっしり重く、中を見ると、アルミホイルに包まれたケーキのようなものでした。夫はヨーグルトなどを作る時によく室温で放置するため家族の誰にも触らせないように袋を被せたりしているのでその類かもしれないと思って聞くと自分ではない、自分も何だろうと思ってたと言います。

　とにかく、中に入って開けてみるとそれは１ローフのバナナケーキでしたが、誰からか名前がどこにもありません。心当たりは先日バレンタインデーの日に小さい贈り物をお隣のドアのところに置いたので、そのお礼かなということ。お隣は９０歳以上になるアイリッシュ系のご夫婦です。この数年は特に親しくお付き合いをしているわけではありませんが、きっと奥様のMさんが私たちのために焼いてくださったのだと思います。子供さんたちが頻繁に訪ねてきているのが車が止まっているので分かりますが、ご夫婦もそれぞれ車を運転してお出かけになっています。窓越しに見る姿はお歳を感じますが、向こうも私たちを見て色々感じているに違いありません。

　美味しいホームメイドケーキは娘がブランチを約束していた友達にも少しお裾分けしました。春らしいカードを日本から買ってきたのでお礼を書いてお隣に届けることにしました。

When I came into the house from the side door of the garage after coming back from my rehabilitation walk, I noticed a shopping bag on the shelf of shoes. It was not light and something wrapped in aluminum foil was inside. My husband often makes homemade yogurt by himself and does not want anybody to touch it by putting the shopping bag upside down in the middle of making it, so I thought it was his, but he said it was not and he was also wondering what it was.

Anyhow, I opened it in the kitchen. It was a loaf of home-made banana cake but there was no name anywhere. My only idea was that it was a thank you gift from our next door neighbors for whom we put a small Valentine's gift at their front door. An Irish couple who are more than 90 years old are living next door. We don't communicate with each other very much these years, but maybe the old lady, M, baked the cake for us and put it there. I often saw a car parked in front of their house that shows their children coming to see the couple. I also see the couple drive their car. When I see them through our window, they look old these days, and I am relieved they are well. Probably they are also looking at us from their window and feeling something.

We decided to share the cake to the person whom my daughter was going to meet on that day. Since I have a nice spring card from Japan, I wrote a thank you message for them on it.