May 14 - Roses in Suma Rikyu, Hyogo (1)

My husband and I visited the Sumarikyu park, Hyogo Prefecture yesterday. 

 

Please enjoy the photos of their collections of roses below.    

 

All the photos were taken by my Nikon D3300 (SLR) camera

with Tamron 18-270mm lens.

 

 

 

No.1 - The oster for the Rose Festival Event

 

No. 2 - "Nahema"

No. 3 - "Garden Party"

 

 No. 4 - "White La Vie en Rose"

 

No. 5 - "Gold Bunny"  

 No. 6 - "Edelweiss"

No. 7 - "Tchin Tchin"

No. 8 - "Grey Dawn"

 

No. 9  - Sorry that I couldn't find its name plate.

No. 10 - Sorry that I couldn't find its name plate.

No. 11 - the big fountain beside the hall

No. 12 - "Music" 

No.13 - 15 :  "Matilda"

No. 14

No. 15 - The fountain in the center of the park

 

No. 16 - "Love"  

No. 17 - "Bridal Pink"

 

 

No. 18 - "Rendan"

 

 

 No. 19 & 20 - "Lili Marleen",

 which was named after a German song sung by Marlene Dietrich during the WWII.

No. 20

 

 

No. 21 - "Graham Thomas"

It was made by a famous English garden designer David Austin.

 

 

No. 22 & 23 - "Nicole"  

 No. 23

* * * * *

No. 24 - "New Wave"  

No. 25 - "Murasaki no Sono,"

which can be translated to "Purple Garden"

No. 26 - The shutter speed: 1/30 seconds with F29 (ISO 100)

No. 27 - The shutter speed: 1/1600 seconds with F5 (ISO 100)

No. 28 - This poster illustrates this park's special collection of the roses

which have the names of royal families and others in honor. 

No. 29 - "Queen of Sweden"
 

No. 30 - "Michelangelo"

No. 31 - "Princess of Wales"

 No. 32 - "Diana Princess of Wales"

 

 No. 33 - "Queen Elizabeth"

No. 34 - "John F. Kennedy"

No. 35 - "Maria Callas"  

 

 

No. 36 & 37 -  "Pierre de ronsard"  

 No. 37

No. 38 - "Madame Pierre Oger"  

 

 

No. 39  - "Countess Celeste" 

No. 40 - "Chapeau de Napoleon" 

 

 

No. 41 -  "Jubile du Prince de Monaco," 

or the husband of the late Grace Kelly

  

 

No. 42 - "Princesse de Monaco"
This was dedicated to the late Grace Kelly.

No. 43 - "Stephanie de Monaco,"

the daugher of the late Grace Kelly

 No. 44 - "Princess Aiko," a Japanese Princess

 

 

  No. 45  - "Highness Ai"

 

 

No. 46 - "Masako" which was named after

"Japanese Princess Masako,"

the mother of Princess Aiko 

 

No. 47  - "Princess Michiko,"

which was named after the current Japaness Empress or

the mother-in-law of Princess Masako  

 

 

 

 No. 48 - "Johann Strauß", an Austrian composer who lived from 1825 to 1899 

 

 

 

No. 49 - "Auguste Renoir"

 

 

No. 50  - "Ceasar"

 

 

No. 51  - "Maurice Utrillo"  

 

  

Before visiting the rose garden, I thought the roses with Japanese Royalties' names were most popular among visitors.  

 

But I felt that when I was in the front of picture No. 32, "Diana Princess of Wales," it was mostly crowded.  I thought many Japanese people loved the late British Princess.     

 

- You will find more pictures on the next page -

May 9 - The Spaghetti & Rose

My husband got pneumonia, and he was confined in the hospital from Apr. 23 to May 5.  During this period, I was busier visiting him almost everyday.

I took the 1:38p.m.bus to Himeji station, and walked 3 kilometers to the hospital, wiped his body with hot towels, and shampooed his hair. 

Carrying his dirty clothes, I walked another 3 kilometers to the station, and took the 4:55p.m.bus to our place.

Each day my pedometer said I walked 14,000 steps, and I was totally exhausted upon arriving home.

I like birdwatching, and I enjoy strolling for more than 4 hours in parks.  Sometimes, I walk more than 14,000 steps to take good pictures of wildbirds, but I make it a rule to take a whole day off the next day to rest my feet. 

This time, I couldn't take a good rest because of my husband's sanitary needs.

I have been sleeping for many hours after he came back home on May 5 because of two reasons.  
First, I'm badly tired of the long walks and second, I feel relieved of his recovery.  I could already sleep for many hours knowing that my husband's health has recovered.

* * * * * * * * * *

 

My husband cooked this special spaghetti for lunch today.  I was fully satisfied with the tasty Italian dish.  I asked him for the recipe, but he kept it a secret.

I took the pictures below with different settings of my SLR (Single Lens Reflection) Nikon Model D3300.

 No. 1 - AF Mode / F4.5 / ISO 400

 No. 2 - Special Effect: POP, ISO 400

 

(Compared with the Picture No. 1,

the sause looks more tasty, but the pasta looks a bit too yellow.)

 

 

This morning we were happy to find the blossoms of our yellow rose in our garden.   The air had a tinge fragrance of the flower. 

 

 No. 3 - Special Effect: Miniture, ISO (auto) 400, F9.0

No. 4 - Close-up Mode, F 8.0, ISO (auto) 400

 No. 5 - Cloudy, AF mode: F6.0 / ISO 400 / Hosei +1 

No. 6 - Cloudy, AF mode: F6.3 / ISO 400/ Hosei 0

Among the pictures, the No. 4 and No. 6 captured natural color of the rose.

I slept for almost 10 hours today, and I did the same yesterday and the other day. 
I feel somehow refreshed after sleeping.

May 7 - Shirahama beach, Himeji

May 2 - The Himeji Castle with The Noh Play

The Noh play, Japanese traditional play was held as one of the Golden Week's special events in Himeji.