Pink!

今年も母が庭に咲いた河津桜の写真を送ってきてくれました。
こちらは暖冬と言っても、毎日マイナス１０℃からプラス３℃くらいを行ったり来たり。新鮮です。
My mom sent me this cherry blossoms photo a few days ago. It looks so pretty.
This cherry blossom tree is "Kawazu" cherry blossom tree, it is famous for blooming very early(usually cherry blossom trees bloom end of March to early April) and also famous for the bright pink colour(common ones are pale pink and white). My parents have this tree in their backyard and my mom sends me photos of its flowers every year. I love cherry blossoms so much.

「やばい、やばい、もう２月の中旬になる」とカレンダーで大安をチェックはしていたけれど、桜の写真でエンジンかかりました。１８日の大安にお雛人形を出しました。今年はリビングの大きな棚の上に置けたので、ジュリもお人形も嬉しそうです。これから２週間、家に来てくれる友人や知り合いに見てもらうことができます。
I know this photo from mom is a kind of a reminder for me that I have to take out and display Juliett's dolls for Girls festival. We have Girls Festival on March 3rd in Japan(boys is May 5th), and parents start displaying their daughters dolls beginning of February.
I displayed them last Thursday. When Juliett came home from school the day, she was very happy to see her dolls, she admired them, danced in front of them, and talked to them.  

桃の節句だけれど、ジュリのお雛様の屏風には桜が描かれています。これは、ジュリのミドルネームには、桜の国で生まれたということで「桜」という漢字を入れたいと言う母の願いで、桜が入っています。それで、桜の描かれたものを選んでくれたのでした。
The Girls Festival is also known as peach blossoms season.
I imagine they have plum trees blooming about this time in Japan, then time for peach trees to bloom, then cherry trees start blooming, then Iris(May), Hydrangea(June), and so and so...  I like that we have seasons for flowers very clearly in Japan. I found that we could see lots of beautiful flowers in late Spring and Summer time in Alberta, but it's not like Japan. It's like eating gorgeous dishes at once compare to eat full course dinner.

plum blossoms

桃、桜、もう日本では梅が咲いているのでしょうか。こちらはまだまだ、なにせ花が一斉に５月６月にまとめて咲くので日本のような季節で花を感じるという感じではないのですが、あまりにもうちの中が「冬」なので、梅の手ぬぐいも飾りました。
So, peach blossoms are common for the dolls accessories.  But my parents chose to buy the folding screen with cherry blossoms drawing(unusual) on it because Juliett's middle name has a meaning of cherry blossoms. Juliett loves cherry blossoms too.

この季節になると、ピンクがかわいいなと思います。
I think pink is so pretty in Spring. Our rooms still look very winter-like, I should start changing some decorations to Spring ones, maybe with something pink.