Otto's blog

Succulent Flower

4月

29日

My succulent (多肉植物) plant is flowering now. The flowers are small, but pretty. I read online that if you cut the flower stem (茎, くき) and plant it, it will grow into a new succulent plant. Sounds easy - I might try it.

Vocabulary
- flower (名詞) = 花 flower (動詞) = 咲く
- plant (名詞) = 植物 plant (動詞) = 植える

#園芸 #植物 #花

Isuzu 117

4月

26日

I saw this car yesterday, while I was out riding in Ogaki. Although it`s rare to see this kind of car on the road, I`ve seen one before, in Gifu City: https://en.bloguru.com/otto/370164/isuzu-117-toyota-crown

Grammar
- I saw ___ (yesterday etc). OK
- I`ve seen ___. OK
- I`ve seen ___ before. OK
- I`ve ever seen ___. WRONG

#車

2001: A Space Odyssey

4月

20日

Recently my kids watched the movies Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, and Toy Story 2. I was surprised that they both contained references to the famous 1968 movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, so I said to my kids, “Let`s watch it – it`s interesting.” My sons liked it, but my daughter was bored & confused.

Grammar:
- I was bored/confused/interested
- The movie was boring/confusing/interesting

#映画

Gifu Monkey News

4月

16日

Police are trying to catch a wild monkey near my school in downtown Gifu. Can you see it in this photo that I took (behind Gifu City Cultural Center)?

Pronunciation:
monkey = マンキー (not モンキー)

大阪ラムネ Glass Boat

3月

17日

My daughter found this small glass boat under a tree near the park. On the bottom, it says '大阪ラムネ (Osaka Ramune), so I guess it contained ラムネ candy, but I`ve never seen this kind of container before. How about you? Have you ever seen a glass ラムネ boat like this? This is all I could find on the internet: http://bikki.blog103.fc2.com/blog-entry-680.html?
Maybe it`s rare...? Well done, my daughter!

Vocabulary:
- this kind of ___ = ___ like this = こんな ___
- 'ラムネ' comes from the English word 'lemonade'

#趣味

ぼろぼろ Birdhouse

3月

15日

I actually made this birdhouse a few years ago, but it was in pretty bad shape e.g. gaps, loose pieces, rusty nails, rotten wood, etc. So I fixed it & made some changes e.g. I added a retractable (引き込み式) roof. I also made the entry hole smaller i.e. more suitable for small birds. I`ll let you know if a bird moves in.

Vocabulary:
e.g. = for example (例えば)
etc. = etcetera 「エトセトラ」 (とうとう, など)
i.e. = that is (つまり)

#趣味

Grilled Rice Cake

3月

10日

I was cleaning my kids` bedroom and I found a New Year rice cake (かがみもち). It looked okay, so I made a small barbecue outside & grilled it. It tasted...great!

Pronunciation:
barbecue: バーベキュー
BBQの発音も『バーベキュー』です (ネイティブは誰も『ビービーキュー』と言わない)

#グルメ

Porsche 911

3月

9日

Do you like my new car? Haha – I`m pulling your leg (= joking). It`s not mine. I had just finished shopping when this old (1970s?) Porsche 911 pulled into (= drove into) the car park and pulled up (= stopped) right beside me. When the driver had gone, I pulled out (引き出す) my camera & took a photo.

Sorry I haven`t blogged recently. I need to pull up my socks (= stop being lazy)!

#車

Stock Cube Heart Mark

1月

20日

I found a stock cube with a heart mark on it. Maybe it`s a sign (気配) that my stocks will do well this year. Or maybe there will be a stock market crash and I will have a heart attack (心臓発作).
I hope it`s the former (前者), not the latter (後者).

stock cube = 固形スープの素
stocks = 株式
stock market = 株式市場

#グルメ

Why Wire?

1月

12日

I used fine wire to repair the broken strings on my kids` badminton rackets. It was easier & cheaper than replacing the string. I came up with* this idea myself. I couldn`t see it on Youtube.

come up with = 考えつく, 捻り出す
come down with (a cold, Covid-19) = 倒れる, (風邪を)ひく