Flora

One of the things that amazed me here was the flora. Things grow here that I've never seen before and in ways I've never seen before. For example: Hibiscus. I remember my mom's hibiscus plants. Potted plants and always combating some kind of plant lice. Here they grow hibiscus BUSHES and HEDGES! and so many different varieties. I especially love this variety, which is a Hanging Hibiscus

I know, almost the same pic, butI'm so pleased with these two pics because of the depth of field AND how well the red came out. Usually when I photograph a red flower the details get blown out.

Naturally there a lot of palm trees here and a lot of different kinds of palm trees.

Once the leaf goes brown it gets cut 

starts to dry out. 

Over time, this is all that is left over.

If in Hawaii you learn quickly, no rain, no rainbows...so it's natural to get a bit of rain here or there. Love to capture water droplets on leaves and I was lucky to get a couple of shots on my outing too.

That's all for today. Hope your day is a great one!

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Surf's Up!

Spent some time at Haleiwa taking pictures of the surfers. This is the spot where Roger and I used to meet up with a few fellow scuba divers and have a picnic on labor day to "celebrate" the end of the North Shore shore diving season. After labor day the ocean gets a bit rough and makes shore diving a bit less....let's say "pleasurable".

I've always wanted to take pictures of the surfers, so glad I was able to get a few shots today. I've never gotten on a board myself, but it sure looked fun!

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Finally Found it's Way!

After a lot of back and forth with UPS and scheduling issues it has finally worked out that our Bun Baker could be delivered today..

When I ordered the oven the people from Obadiah's said that we have to check it right away. Make sure the soap stone is all intact and the oven part is too. If anything was damaged or broken during transportation, NOW is the time to discover it.

After unpacking the pieces, Lisa and David determined that everything was intact. WOO HOO!

This is what it all looks like:

look how nice and shiny!!

Has a rack and a drip pan

Did you notice that our front room is PACKED with stuff! Time to get some more projects done so we can make some ROOM!

This is the stone you can roast and bake on

The Vermont Bun Baker soapstone surrounds are made to order, so this is totally our baby!

This is the stone surround - interesting pattern

Another piece of the surround

Now on to the next step! Which would be, determining which floor tile and which stone (for the wall) matches/compliments the bun baker best.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Struttin His Stuff

There hasn't been much happening at the house and there won't be for a bit, so I thought I'd share someone my pics until I can post some more progress or news about the house.

Thought I'd start off with my special day off that I had on Thursday. Living where you work is not a good recipe for a day off to turn off your mind and get away from all thoughts that have to do with work. So I asked my hubby if I could join him when he drives to work on Thursday and just spend some time out of the house...and that's just what I did. Driving with the top down, I stopped off at a few spots along the North Shore...not thinking of anything...just looking around, taking in the sound of the waves, filling my lungs with ocean air and soaking up a bit of sun....taking over 400 pictures while I was at it.

Here are some from time that I was able to spend at the public area of Waimea falls. I knew I didn't want to walk all the way back to the waterfalls, but could enjoy the front garden and maybe get lucky with the peacock.

Being there on my own time, not having to worry or think that I am taking up someone else's time doing something that they have no interest is - was very liberating and it paid off. I was able to spend  20 or 30 minutes with this fella and get, what I think some great shots.

May I introduce: Mr. Peacock:

Is it a wonder that I love blue green combinations? Just beautiful. I had him almost all to myself and was able to get dozens of photos. It was very hard to choose what I wanted to share here. He was turning this way and than for me...at least in my mind I'd like to believe he was doing it for me. Hey! A girl's gotta dream, right?

Hope you enjoy the photos...more of my day off to come

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Sewing question

I have a pfaff creative 1475 sewing machine and am trying to sew in a rubberband (kind you have for your hair) between two layers of fabric.

As I sew the straight stitch, no problem. But as soon as the pressure foot goes up to go over the rubberband the bottom thread goes crazy, all long and loopy.

So you can see, I just ran two rows over the rubber band and from the top it looks ok

But turn it over - loopy mess

I am sewing a straight 2.5 stitch, upper tension is on 3.

Any thoughts?

Aloha a Hui Hou!