Woodstove in action...

Throughout my 20 over years of residing in Japan, I have never been really fond of the winters...

Too cold for me... and I get cold rashes sometimes... 

For some 'wintry' folks, the winters here may be considered 'mild', with the temperatures just hitting zero in the coldest times...

Still, as in the last winter, it could go down to minus four or five...

Till we installed the wood stove, that is...

Thanks to this stove, winters are more 'fun' now...

We started putting on our woodstove a few days ago...

My suweeto haato is becoming quite an expert in handling the stove...

The flame was burning really well as can be seen in the picture above...

While my missus specializes in handling (starting the flame, maintaining it, cleaning the glass, the ash, etc) the stove, the responsibility of yours truly is in securing the firewood...

Sometimes I fell trees, other times, I get the cut logs from someone who just wanted to get rid of them...  

These were cut and piled up to dry from last February...

It takes about a year to have the logs dried up...

And for wood that are not split, the time needed to dry them is even longer because moisture in the wood finds it harder to escape through the bark...

Wood that are split, dries faster...

And we can literally hear the 'pichi-pichi' sound that the wood constantly emits as it dries...

Walking the hills in mid November 2011

One morning mid November...

Was blessed with an opportunity...

Some moments, to accompany my love... 

The paddy fields, naked...

A farmer's house or two...

An 'out-of-place', over-sized villa...

Japanese pampas grass...

gracefully dancing...

Up the hills we walked...

a fishing village, vaguely...

Perched high up a concrete wall...

Cheering his heart out...

Stood Daikokuten, the god of wealth...

 

A few meters nearby... 

Ebisu the god of fishermen, smiled... cheekily

We carried on... unhurried...

A pond appeared... 

I took a deep breath...

listening to the soft wind, speaking...

At a corner, a mirror stood, overlooking...

I tilted my head up...

Greeting me, a big round eye...

I held my love's hand, whispering... 

Life is so sweet...

Takamatsu Station, Gifu Station...

Had some business to do at Takamatsu JR Station the other day...
Why not grab the opportunity to shoot some pics, I said to myself...
The above picture shows the 'Sunport Symbol Tower'...
They used to allow the public to go up to the top floor and the view was really good from there...

This was shot from inside the JR station...
The building on the left is an ANA hotel...

Was at Gifu at the end of October for a seminar...
Slept one night at a business hotel in front of Gifu JR Station...
Didn't have my tripod with me, but managed to shoot a night shot from the window sill...

And the next day, took this limited express train to Nagoya on the way back to Takamatsu...

Fishes... angel, bat, butterfly, among others...

Actually have loads of underwater shots that I need to sort out and post...
I suppose I will have a lot to do after I retire from my day job in 12 years' time...

This blue faced Angel fish was busy looking for food...

A coral trout resting on the corals, posing for the cameraman...

Think this is a juvenile bat fish...
Very shy and 'unsettled' at the approach of the camera... 

And this, a mature bat fish...
It looks like the pomfret fish and I sometimes wonder if they are sold in the markets...

Beaked or Copper-banded Butterfly fish...
A very attractive fish, and it seems like they like to move about in pairs...

Think this is some kind of cardinal fish...
They appeared to be very comfortable hanging out in the artificial reef...

Right below the jetty, a staff member found this moray eel...
Apparently, it tried to swallow its prey but got entangled with a net...

Ferry boats, fishing boats, etc...

Derive a lot of pleasure looking at boats that ply the routes around here...

Takamatsu Port aka Sunport is serviced by several ferry companies... this particular one connects Takamatsu Port and Shodoshima... 

Sometimes the Japanese Navy (or is Self Defense Forces?) boats dock at Takamatsu Port... 

Nearer to home at Aji, fishing boats moor at the fishing port in the center of the little town... 

Always a joy to see the reflection of the fishing boats in the mornings...  

The water surface, still as a mirror that morning...

This orange colored fishing boat kind of like, stands out among the others...