I know, I've been a flake!

But with good reason!

We did it! We moved! We are now enjoying the country life at our Never Rush Ranch. Have a few more things to get organized and then I'll be posting again.

Hope you all had a wonderful mothers day!

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Rain, Rain Go Away

I'm sure you haven't heard, but we've had a bit of rain over here.

We're not called the rainbow state for nothin, ya know.

Anyway, we have a stream that runs behind the apartments and we've had so much rain that the stream and the marsh are now one.

Bad thing is it makes the water really dirty and don't think it's a good idea to harvest any of the avocados that are falling in there right now. Pretty bummed about that.

Good thing is that the there is a lot of water and on this wind still day the reflection of the mountains is just beautiful.

Just takes your breath away.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

New to the Family

Browsing Craigslist I came across this beauty

All real wood and a sweet deal at just 20 bucks. Texted the lady, paypal'd the 20 and my friend picked it up. It's now a part of the front room furniture family! Yay!

Now, my painting friends - What to do? As you know, I am going for the beach cottage feel (should make us feel great in the winter months - lol) 

The hutch will stand where the trunk is now.

and I know I want to leave the top and the bottom edge as is. 

I want to paint the middle. The hutch that I bought off Craigslist last year is white and hope that some day the carpenter will put a wood top between the upper and lower parts (or I'll save the money and someday give it a shot myself)

More about the hutch here

I guess I should match it to the color of the hutch, since they are in the same room. But think I would go for the chalk paint version, maybe a bit of stressing to bring out the weave pattern in the door.. What do you think?

Also, is this something that I should save for a Summer project? or could I do this, lets say in December or January  (I'll be painting in our unheated shop or our cool slightly heated basement)?

Oh and btw, sorry for the absence, my daughter is here for an extended visit and we are always on the go.

Looking forward to your suggestions!

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Shared with:

Its So Very Cheri
Ask Anna

Cupcakes and Crinoline

DesignDreams By Anne

Setting For Four

Three Mango Seeds
Funky Junk Interiors

DIY - Rag Quilt

I've had the fabric for weeks, ever since I discovered a blog entry by Northern Cottage called

you'll find the instructions there

This week I finally got around to it. It was a lot of sewing and was a bit awkward to sew because my sewing table is really small and the weight kept pulling me off track.

I wanted to use up all the fleece and wound up with 9 - 10" strips and 2 - 8"strips

I do want to mention that I changed it a bit by using fleece instead of flannel (The only flannel I could find was in kiddy patterns and I wanted Aloha prints) and did not include the extra, in between layer. Sorta like this:

 Snipping wasn't nearly as much work as I thought it would be. It is thicker than the flannel version, but I think it looks just fine.

Even the fleece has an Aloha design.

All in all it was a fun project and I'm really, really pleased how it turned out. I have some more fabric that I can use to make a couple of full size pillows and a few decorative pillows.

Should look great on our guest bed.....

Or on the couch.

Not sure which yet.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

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Click Away Monday #4

Last Friday we flew over to Maui to visit a friend and we did a bit of sight seeing.  We saw a lot of beautiful things, but I wasn't feeling too good, and you can see that in my photos, but I did get one that really made me smile. I hope it makes you smile too.

Looks like someone made the best of  a bad situation.

Aloha A Hui Hou!

On a Clear Day

You can see clear over to Maui 

and Molokai

and Lanai'i

This pic was taken at Lanai'i Look Out, just past Hanauma Bay.
We don't often drive around this way anymore and the visibility isn't always as great as you see here. But when we do and it is....it's a beautiful day.

Also wanted to share this ham with you.

When we pulled up there were a bunch of doves sitting on the rock wall of the look out. As we got out of the car they flew away...all except this guy. He totally hammed it up for the camera and let me get a bit closer than most birds.

Look at those Red/Pink eyes!

Usually I take pics of things that don't move, that is unless the wind moves it...So I'm very pleased to have gotten this fairly sharp portrait of a live object.

Aloha A Hui Hou!

Click Away Monday

I do hope that I figure out what I did wrong with my link up last week so that everyone can share more easily.

Anyway, here are some of my pics from last week:

This is the Fisherman's shrine near the Halona Blow Hole. Amy, over at Mama On The Move, researched the topic and posted this about the shrine. 

Look what the salty air does to the coins.

This is the Halona Blow Hole in action, as seen from the shrine. You can't really see it in the pic, but the beach at the bottom of this cove is called "Eternity Beach". This is where the famous rolling in the sand kissing scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr

There, your Hawaii/Hollywood tidbit for the day!

I've been busy sewing this past week too. I'll be joining 2 other creative women at a craft fair next month at the Blaisdale called "Made in Hawaii".  Hope to sell enough to at least break even.

Notice my tiny pineapple - from my yard. The stem holding up the fruit bent so I had to harvest it. It smells great, but I have to let it sit a day or two to soften up. 

Found the pattern for this thru pinterest (or was it a blog?) and thought it would be a fun, quick item to sew. I was almost right, at least it's been fun! lol

I've decided to call these Kope Covers, Kope is the Hawaii word for Coffee. 

Your Hawaiian Word for the day. 

Looks like this is turning out to be an educational post too, huh? 

No names for this one yet...

I'm open for suggestions...

Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to!

This post was shared with

Coastal Charm
Under the Table and Dreaming
Never Rush Ranch
I should be mopping the floor

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Darwin Awards

Living in Hawaii you often hear how tourist get themselves in bad situations by not following paths, not heeding signs. Some people get lost for days. Search parties are sent out and helicopters have to fly in to get them because of the location and situation they got themselves in.

I remember a few years back, crews working in the jungle below the Pali lookout and found the skeleton of a backpacker that slipped off the trail years ago - still wearing their backpack. So sad...

Knowing this, it never ceases to amaze me that people think they are above the safety rules put in place by people that know the area. Know how crumbly our rock/ mountain sides are. How slippery it is in the jungle and how unexpected nature can be.

They don't have the proper foot ware for this environment and have no idea that waves HAVE swept people off the rocks into the ocean.

Sad to think that if something happened to them they expect someone else to put their lives in jeopardy to save them.


Aloha a Hui Hou and stay safe!!

Just what is Shave Ice?

The other day I headed towards Haleiwa and stopped at the world famous M. Matsumoto Grocery Store for a Shave Ice

They have a gazillion flavors to choose from and you can add vanilla ice cream (That gets added first), a red bean (japanese thing that I'm not brave enough to try) and/or have them pour condensed milk over it.

For those that don't know, Shave Ice is something totally different than an Icee (or Slush Puppy - depending where your from).

Where an Icee is a bit soup-ie or slushy, a Shave Ice is more like crystalized water - much more solid.

Shave....

What? 

No, not shaved, it's Shave and it's a Hawaiian thing....

Shave Ice is made by freezing water into a round, triple size hockey puck.  The puck is put in the green machine you see here. By cranking the machine, the ice gets a shave by the blade below.

Glad I could clear that up for you...

After the ices gets a shave the Shave Ice Tech (Yes, that's the title I'll give him) grabs the shavings and fills the cone. Then, right on top, he forms a big snow ball.

Next comes the flavoring and it's my turn to enjoy. Today my choice was Watermelon and Raspberry with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Had a little bit of a brain freeze, but it was oh so yummy.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Click Away Monday #1

So, since there isn't much working being done at the house right now and nothing has changed with our situation, I've decided to structure my blog a bit different - just to keep in the habit of posting for me and maybe generate some fun and interest for you.

For now, and until something major comes up, Mondays will be Click Away Mondays where I'll be sharing some of my recent photos and you can link up below to share your best pics of the week. More details at the end of the entry.

WARNING: This post has A LOT of pictures..

This week Hubby had to work on Saturday. I didn't want to sit at home on my mostly day off so I joined him for the ride up and spent the day treating myself to some much deserved time away from home, doing things that I like to do.

On the way over (left the house at 5AM) we were treated with an amazing sunrise.  I had to stop for this one - the ocean was flat, flat, flat and the sky mirrored off the surface. It was a bit too dark for my little point and shoot to get a good pic, but you get the idea

While Hubby was unlocking the gate, I looked back and saw the sun coming up thru the trees

As we reach the 2nd gate I saw this magnificent cloud.

One of the lagoons - Lovely, just lovely.

While I waited for it to be early enough to head to some stores I walked around the lagoons and took a few pics - farted around with a water spout

I know

it's a bunch

but each one has something different that makes it special.

OK, let's call it a study.

A study of a faucet

A faucet study.....yeah....sounds good...a faucet study...

After making my way around the plant I landed in the maintenance buildings where I found all kinds of cool stuff - that I think look best in sepia or in Black and White.

Love the reflection of the mountain side

Cool stuff, huh?

Then I made my way over to the golf course and took a couple of pics there.

So that's part of my Saturday that I feel is share worthy.

Now it's your turn!


Shared with:

Under the Table and Dreaming
Sumos' Sweet Stuff
I should be mopping the floor (I actually should be mopping the floor....lol)
Sugar Bee Crafts

Aloha a Hui Hou!