Ponderings on my Wanderings

What a Relief! Chapter 4: But First...Cherries.

2026-08-25T20:31:19.785-10:00

There was a pause after "Ladies in Waiting" in early June. I guess you could say this lady was waiting for inspiration to strike. I'd planned on one more in this series before I begin larger sizes and switch to oil based inks. I had a few subjects in mind but no eureka moments. I continued to wait on "the one" until while on an evening walk in early July it was revealed.

For about 5 years I was the event director for the Holualoa Coffee and Art Stroll where local coffee farmers were hosted by Art Galleries and storefronts for coffee tasting. For another 5 years I assisted on a coffee farm, walking down the rows of trees in every season and witnessing the whole pain-staking process of what it takes to get that dark rich pour of happiness in your cup every morning.

2/3 of Americans drink coffee but I wonder how many know what coffee beans look like before they are roasted or even that they are inside fruit?

The ripe fruit are called "cherries". They look a little like crab apples but oval. Wait, do you know what crab apples are? They look like table grapes but not translucent. They grow off the branches of the tree in little clusters and while they ripen they change colors. Many Many colors! Kona coffee beans do not ripen all at once and one branch could have many color/ripening stages on it. This is one of the reasons hand-picking is crucial here. Beginning with green, they begin to change to peaches, pinks, reds, yellows, magentas and wines. The cherries are hand picked when they've changed to the reds but not too dark. Inside each cherry are two beans that look just like a roasted coffee bean only they are ivory. The cherries skin and pulp are removed, and the beans are dried, then the hull/parchment is removed revealing a green bean which is then roasted.

I composed from several photos I took, but one branch in particular was showing nearly ALL the colors. And I'm all about ALL the colors. It showed the beginning to the end in all it's coffee cherry glory. And with that I found "my one".

Though in black and white, they did look like a branch of 'Boobs"

I began with a green, a bit bright, a bit lime.

Next I tried a metallic gold, and this was my first time to use a metallic. It placed as my branch brown as I didn't want to use brown and stood in for the yellowish green of the fruit.

Layer 3 was going to be a peach but it came out brick orange on top of the metallic, and also filled in parts of the green veins of the leaves, which I was not excited about. I decided I needed to finish the leaves and carve them out before the red and red adjacent mixing began. Layer 3 was switched to the dark green and I tried (also for the first time) masking off the cherry section with a piece of parchment paper.

To get back to the red family, I began layer 4 with a light peachy pink.

Followed by bell pepper red.

Then Scarlett red...the "pick me pick me's" of the group.

And ending with layer 7, a deep merlot.

The cherries just past their prime but they are still hanging on.

After it was finished I laid them out to dry for a couple of hours on long pieces of recycled costco boxes that are laid across my dad's table saws, then I hang them up doe a couple of days. If I go straight to the hang, I've found they curl and it takes much longer to flatten them out later. If I leave them flat, the wind will eventually blow them to the dirty ground, OR and much more likely, one of the wild cats will walk across them, leaving kitty pawprint evidence.

I choose not to do a full green background of leaves and yet the white was looking unfinished to me. I didn't know how to finish so I put it on pause and started carving a new piece.

My "oopsies" on the sidelines.

I came back to it in August and had the idea of faint, more shadow-like branches. Since this is a reduction print there is no block left, so I transferred the designs to the back of a previous block. I traced the branch of cherries over first so I'd know what space I had to work with. I came up with 3 different ones and the placement. I placed my pencil branches face down on the block and rubbed the graphite on. That was when I realized how much carving I'd need to do to keep only these 3 tiny branches.

With fine lines, it's very easy to slip and tear them off. Flooded by excitement when this did not happen and I was also able to cut very tiny cherries. I fell in art love with these tiny branches but I was having a hard time with the color choice. I started with black, nope. Very dark green, nope. Then I changed directions with a Mint green...nope. The tones were all wrong. Frustrated and all my "test ones" used up, but I refused to be defeated. I wanted these branches to work somehow and everything was saying no no no. I put the piece on pause again.

Desiring to finish in August, I pulled out the yellow, blue and black once more. And I prayed for a green. As I began mixing this time, the right green came. hallelujah!

"But first...Cherries"

7 Color Layers Plus 1 color Additional Block / Edition of 27

The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival events begin November 6th -15th, 2026 with a Parade downtown Kona at 6pm. Followed by Miss Kona Coffee Competition, KTA Recipe Contest, Concerts, Barista Training, Latte Art Showcase, Half-Marathon, Cupping Competitions and more.

The Holualoa Coffee and Art Stroll is November 7th, 2026 9am-2pm

It totally worked, like totally - DIY Corsage with Scrunchie and Tropical Flowers

2026-08-21T13:23:17.090-10:00

I'm in the midst of composing a new relief and though the flower is clearly a vertical, the best bits are comprised in the middle. I'm struggling in the decision to work it as a landscape instead. When pencils aren't leading to yes yes yes, I take a pause. I'll catch up on some little things that have popped out of the creative recesses recently.

My friend Mary's 80th birthday was last month. Knowing she'd be throughly garnished with leis and undoubtably a flower crown, I had the idea to make a corsage. I have made leis, flower crowns and boutonnieres but never a corage. On the way home from buying floral tape at the local hardware store (we don’t have a craft store anymore) I had the idea to make a scrunchie for the wrist part. Immediately following that thought, using the removable top of the cardamon spice jar I just finished off as the "frog". Supplies:

I cut a strip of fabric from the Sarahs Handmade Christmas project leftovers. I had elastic left from the custom mask making of 2020. The hardest part really was building the time machine to get me back to 1987. After I sewed the rad fabric and turned it inside out, it was time for this like major safety pin on the end of the elastic strip to pull through the totally tubular fabric followed by sewing the ends together. And I had a stretchy bracelet for my fresh bouquet.

I picked a number of little flowers from the garden. The big white ones (white ginger) though super delicate were used because they are also super fragrant. You smell that flower before you see it. They were the biggest gamble as the little stems are like tissue paper. At first it seemed like this was the best idea ever. But after wrapping the stems they no longer fit through the holes...so I started over and wrapped them after fitting through the holes which - double duty - prevented them from falling out the top when you turned it. Bitchin! However...I couldn't reach all of them without damaging others....I needed some glue. The only glue I could think of that dried fast was the hot glue gun. My mom was convinced that would cause the flowers to immediate wilt or fall apart. The internet read it would only work with a low heat gun and NOT straight from the gun. Ugh, that’s bogus and gag me with a spoon. But I figured the internet is never wrong and I should follow it blindly. Psych! I needed it to come straight from the gun and that gun was high heat, possibly “industrial”. Therefore, I proceeded to glue the crap out of it and it totally worked. Like Totally. Human 1 - A.I. 0

I planned to sew the plastic froggie to the scrunchie but I'd glued up all my holes, lame, soooo I glued that on too. Hey, It only needed to look rad for a few hours. I popped it in the fridge until we left for the party. I'm happy to report it made it to me putting it on her wrist! :) And an hour later it was still on..mostly. Not all the ginger petals made it through the dancing portion of the evening but I didn't expect them too. This is why they use roses and babies breath...much hardier stems to wrap. Happy Birthday to the totally Bodacious Mary!

While pulling out the left over elastic, I looked through my leftover assortment of mask fabrics. Mostly whimsical because…2020. As my hair gets longer and longer, and outside gets hotter and hotter…it's put up more and more. Maybe I need a scrunchie for "when I wash my face". Because it totally reminded me of the Ron Livingston episode of Sex and the City. I could have picked something understated and try to force chic something that's just not, in ANY fabric but I went another direction. It knows that it is and it's confident about it. Birdie was very interested in the scunchie making and watched every step very carefully as if she was going to make hers next.

Studious Birdie

Renaissance Birdie

What a Relief! Chapter 3: Marica x3 and Ladies in Waiting

2026-06-11T11:22:06.281-10:00

What a Relief! Series (so far) on display at Kohala Coast Fine Art, Hilton Waikoloa Kings' Shops, Big Island Hawaii FB Page / Insta

Welcome back if you are following along in this art journey. If not, here are

Part Two and Part One .

I wanted to create a hibiscus next but not a typical red, yellow or white. There's a very strangely colored hibiscus in my parent's neighborhood. It's enormous and in shades of lavender blue and sherbet orange with a fuchsia center. She's extra and a perfectly odd choice. I also wanted to try carving out the background to change up what I'd done so far with flowers.

After carving out the background, I started with a bright lemon yellow followed by orange.

Very early on this was reminding me of the Brady's set and the daughters late 60's early 70's wardrobes, and it was quickly named "Marcia Marcia Marcia". Next color, bubble gum pink.

Final Layer of the flowers before the leaf colors. The periwinkle blue or lavender blue (dilly dilly). I was a little scared at this point that perhaps I had made an ick color scheme mistake.

But when the avocado green saturated into it, I loved it yet again.

Going through my photos for this one I somehow missed documenting the mixing of the two green layers. I think I was rinsing my tools in the sink when I remembered. Shoot!

"Marcia Marcia Marcia"

6 Color Layers / Edition of 11

The next block began in another composition in May and titled "All the Single Ladies" with a carved out background and each flower apart. I liked the colors but not the ladies apart, it was just too much negative space around them. It no longer looked like a reduction but separate carvings put together. So "All the Single Ladies" became "Ladies in Waiting" in June, I started over with a new block and new composition, I added their leaves and put the ladies together in a garden. Because aren't we waiting together? I'm not all by myself, I've got ladies around me and extra foliage now too.

I began with the torch ginger as it has white lined petals. And PINK, which I realize now that some close shade of this had made it into every relief accept "In Florescent".

Orange was next because it's a key color in the Parrot Beak heliconia. I decided to trim the Caribaea Heliconia as well. Sure the one in our garden is trimmed in yellow but...artistic license. Also because I was omitting yellow on this one.

The third layer was bright red. Now this shouldn't be the next layer because it's difficult to cover and I had a lot of layers to go. However the Torch, being trimmed in white, will fill in with all the other colors making red difficult later, so it was a judgement call.

Because I just shot myself in the foot, color mixing wise, by using this bright, I just cut my finger with my fancy Japanese carving tool Red. I actually did do that on this one, my FIRST cut and thank God it was not the deepest. Quick rinse, peroxide and waterproof Band-Aid and I was back in the wood working room with a sharp blade in hand.

I decided to go with Mint Green next which kind of gave me a blank slate for the next two greens... Also I really like this mint green. It will make a more best supporting role in a future piece. And let's be real, probably alongside pink.

Art Deco Green and Kelly Green.

I never do this one-handed! ;p

The leaves and stocks of the Torch leaves are a deep wine purple.

Think Malbec. I realized I'd be shooting myself yet again if I went with it next but I needed the background color to be last and I needed a wine red (think Pinot) to be after the purple because of the big Anthurium and the Torch stock.

THIS WAS A VERY COMPLICATED ONE.

Much like Marcia 3X at this stage I thought...ought oh. As much as I like Wine, I was not liking it in this piece. Totally feeling Jan. I mixed up several colors that absolutely did not work with this red being beneath it. So before I got too frustrated, I stopped, cleaned all my tools and slept on it. The next morning I looked at my test ones and didn't like any of them. I prayed about it and waited for a knowing. There were no tests ones left to experiment on. I wanted a dark green for the background but the previous greens had not covered the red. One even made it very close to the previous purple. But even though it appeared like it would not work, I tried again, mixing up a very bright green then adding a smidge of black.

And Hallelujah, it covered the red! And Finished, 9 colors later. The most layers of any of my previous reliefs...so far.

"Ladies in Waiting"

9 Color Layers / Edition of 22

Gallery BTS…Laying the framed collection on the floor to arrange the wall layout.

What a Relief! Chapter 2: In Florescent She Carried a Torch

2026-06-03T19:17:20.311-10:00

I was born smack dab in the middle of the continental united states then catapulted to the world’s most remote island chain. Such was the bold contrasts and experiences I fought against in my youth and gravitated toward as I got older. As a photographer, I learned the art of composition. As an art restorer and resin jewelry creator, color theory. Culminating in the adventure into one of my favorite collected mediums, the block printmaking process of relief. And the challenges and surprises of reduction reliefs.

What a Relief part two…

While walking the mastiff around the property in my pajamas in the early Am mist I stumbled upon my next subject. And I had to begin immediately. This has been the beginning of each process so far. I see something and I have to carve it that moment. There has been no “hmm I’ll think about it”. I see it and start that day.

What had captured me was the lily white and cream bloom of a monstera and the bundle of fruit beside it. If you haven't tasted the corn on the cob looking fruit of the monstera, it tastes exactly like pineapple and banana mixed together. Some fruit flavors shouldn't be mixed together.

The hooded part is actually called “the inflorescence” which holds the spadex of tiny blooms. Inflorescence, from Latin inflorescere “to come to flower, to begin to bloom”.

I began by carving the hood then the spadex. The first two colors, cream and lemon yellow were barely visible on the paper.

Next I carved out what would remain lemon yellow and inked up a lime green.

I carved out what would remain light green then inked up a sky blue.

Dry time in between layering color.

Next I carved out the background and inked up a kelly green. I was quite ecstatic with these colors. Kind of amazing all the colors you can create from just using blue and yellow.

After Kelly, I mixed up a darker version for the 7th and final layer. But after sitting with it awhile I decided to embellish the spadex with a little painting. You could see the different layers really close up, but hanging on the wall it looked like a white circle in the middle of the monstera leaves. It needed a little oomph. I added some shadow and detail to the spadex.

Title “In Florescent”

(“bursting into bloom”).

7 layers of color Plus embellishment, Edition of 11

The torch ginger was always going to be part of this series. When you cut a flower and carry it, it’s hard not to run and pretend you're carrying the Olympic torch. We have two patches of torch ginger on the property. Gorgeous and dramatic are all stages of the 'Etlinger Elatior' named after a botanist and the Latin word for ''tall'. Creative like our wild cats Mama Kitty and White Foot.

Every petal is outlined in white, it was made for carving. London and I discovered Pink ones on one of our adventures last year. Barbie pink. They didn’t look real. And apparently they also come in white?!?! I haven’t seen those in person yet.

Though some ginger are ornamental, these are actually edible, comparable to lemongrass. I don’t think I’ve tried them. They are popular in Thai cuisine though so maybe I have and just didn’t know it. I also read a case study in the National Library of Medicine where they found extracts from the white one stimulated collagen production and wound healing and extract from the red had a number of anti-aging effects. Incredible!

And who of you by worrying can add one hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin wool, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these. Matthew 6:27-29

After carving out what would remain white, I mixed up a fruit punch pink.

Only a portion of the buds would be pink then it was on to red…strawberry? Or perhaps Supergirl red.

I now had to switch to greens but throwing a bright green on top now would not be a pretty mixture so instead I tried sage/army green first, since the stocks have some.

Now I could switch to bright green for the surrounding foliage.

I thought about doing all greens but then created this fabulous blue somewhere between an Azure and Cerulean and said yes.

Title “She Carried a Torch”

8 color layers, Edition of 11

Next up "Marcia Marcia Marcia" and the currently in progress "Ladies in Waiting". Art is imitating life. Come back soon!

What a Relief! Tenaciously Learning a New Art Medium

2026-05-20T07:17:15.496-10:00

Aloha, it's been a minute. Due to technical difficulties and a simple refusal to blog from my phone. Maybe it’s being Gen X but if I can't write by hand, I at least need a full size keyboard. This post is brought to you by the desktop at my mother's Art Gallery at which I now work (barely) part-time. I will tap out sentences between customers. There is no website but there is an Instagram Kohala Coast Fine Art. It's apropos I type this from an art gallery as that is what I have been up to these past couple of months. A-R-T

I've been reading, studying and doing a carving and relief process known as block printing, or linocut. My first experience was actually in Hawaii during my junior year of high school. A 4x6 piece of battleship grey linoleum, an x-acto knife and my selected colors of hot pink and green. I think I simply created a border to write notes within. I don't remember much instruction. Lo and behold I found myself drawn to Mid-century Swedish/Danish artists who created in this format unbeknownst to me that it was the same medium. I had another intro to the medium when I lived in the art village of Holualoa in my twenties. Studio 7 Gallery was a short stroll, where there were always woodblock showcases.

I've composed with a camera since I wore two braids in my hair. When I painted, it was abstract...always. Partly because that's what I like but also because I didn't think my drawing skills were anything to put down on paper...or canvas. Since I've been working in the Gallery, I've heard something said on a pretty regular basis. "I love art but I'm not artistic, I can't draw". As if you easily tap in or it is simply missing from your skillset.

EVERYONE CAN CREATE ART.

If you are alive, you can create art. That is really the only prerequisite. I'm carving my little blocks meanwhile my little brother paints masterpieces like this wave!

So if I'm not intimidated, you shouldn't be either.

Exhibit A: This is my attempt at sketching a beehive ginger, looking at a photo I took of a beehive ginger from our backyard.

Now, I felt this was enough for me to be justified in my statement that I can not draw. However, I refused to give up and tried again. This time I noticed there was a pattern in the flower and tried well...mathing it.

Better but no...and it doesn't look real, it looks like a math flower. Next I tried drawing freehand. And freeing up the restrictions I put on my hand gave me this.

Looking at the 3 of these images is wild to me. Especially since they were not done by 3 different people, nor by one drunk and two sober people. Au contraire, they were drawn only about 20 minutes apart with the same pencil in the same hand. Drawing just takes practice. Lots and lots of practice and the ability to let go of what you think it HAS to look like. I have a theory that those amazing impression artists actually paint that way because they think they are bad at drawing. Those are their "abstracts". If it doesn't have to be something realistic and specific, you are not committing to the comparison of what your eye sees vs what is on you paper. Comparison kills creativity.

Apparently I had a lot to say about that. I haven't even gotten to what I'm making....=)

When I began this adventure with my learners block, vintage lino cutter and black ink I realized that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the carving part. I found myself getting a composition on the block quickly to begin the carve the same day. As soon as I finished one, I began another. Sure I love coming up with the composition and choosing the color scheme and mixing the colors...all enjoyable parts but the carving is a whole other world. It's both soothing and electrifying at the same time. This process is so many art forms in one which I think is why I enjoy it so much. Plus it's art made in reverse and backwards. Which is just weird enough for me.

The two carvings of beehive ginger and the experimenting of inks and layering.

Title: "Ginger Has a Beehive"

In Block printing, you transfer your image to the block. You begin carving out what will not be inked. What is not carved will be inked with a roller. Your paper is laid on top of the inked carving and put under a printing press or if you are like me, you burnish it by hand with only your weight and a handy tool like a brayer or a big spoon. You then carefully lift the paper for the reveal.

I carved a single block of my parents lanai. There was a sky but it was total crap so I carved it all out. Single color tests:

Title: "Rockin' Lanai"

I am still experimenting with this one and am currently finger painting and roller inking various sunsets to go beneath this block so there will be a Variable Edition, like this one with 7 colors.

And after I got a few single block carvings under my belt, I blew some savings on professional swiss tools and tried my first Reduction Relief. The Reduction process is more complicated and uses the organizing part of your brain. I have this part in spades. =) It's not frustrating to me but incredibly challenging in a very satisfying way. You really never know what you are going to get with reduction. And each one is an original. No two will be exactly the same.

Reduction refers to the continued carving away of the block after each color layer beginning with the lightest color and working to the darkest...revealing more and more detail of the composition. Therefore you can not go back. Any mistakes made will forever be a part of it. Unlike a single layer carving, there's no making more. How many you choose to start with and that make it through the whole process is your edition size.

Here I've carved out for the first layer of color.

My first reduction print was created with 3 colors. Color One..

Color 2:

Initially this composition was going to be a peachy-nude, a cherry pink/French rose and Black. I loved the first two layers but hated the black. I think my lines were too thick for black and it took over. I then tried a mossy green which looked great with the other two colors but another caveat of reduction prints...you are stacking color. So the next color is on top of the previous color and therefore mixes and the hues change. You have to consider color theory when you are both mixing your colors and choosing layers. Organizing Brain engage! There's no going back with reduction and I could have gone though most of my run experimenting with colors so I decided to mix up a darker pink.

I made a point to do what's called a Suite of each one to show the layering steps. I also wanted a record for myself of the process ever since I saw one Picasso did and it was just so super cool. Unfortunately, the first layer was on my desk and I forgot to put it away before the daily early morning Jackson Pollock reenactment done by my Mastiff. So he added his mark to my first ever reduction relief block print suite. :/ another reminder there are no do-overs in reduction.

Title: “Love Mends”

So far, my reduction pieces have no more than 12 in the edition size and most have only 7. I always start out with more but with the suite, color experimentation and mistakes, it dwindles.

I currently just finished my 5th reduction relief and I've gotten up to 7 color layers. All tropical flowers so far. I documented like the mad photographer that I am. There will definitely be a What a Relief:Part Two. Come back soon for "In Florescent", "She Carried a Torch" and "Marcia Marcia Marcia". Naming things is also my favorite.

Sarah's Handmade Christmas - Quilted Stocking DIY

2026-01-26T07:47:00.001-10:00

Inspired by a binge watch of Kirstie's Handmade Christmas on Amazon, while my mom was sick with the flu, I got a fire in me to make something for someone for Christmas. Besides my own personal bakery of revolving pumpkin loaves, banana bread and various vegan desserts, I had not made anything non-food this season.

Then while glancing at our family's stockings hanging across the table beneath the viewing of Kirstie's Handmade Christmas, it occurred to me that my sister in law didn't have a stocking. EUREAKA! I thought it was possible she may have one at home but I personally have 3, made by relatives over the years, so more than one is perfectly okay! =)

I immediately knew it would be blue, it would be quilted and it would have her name on it.

But first Kimura's for fabric...

Family owned and operated since 1926, means they'll be celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. =)

Here's a great 3 min video about the store Kimura’s Fabric Store

My first dive into this pattern utopia was in high school, 30 years ago, for a sewing class at Konaweana High School. I mostly made 60's/70's inspired outfits and Kimuras was the only place to find florals that fit the esthetic. Most recently I was in for baby quilt supplies. Today I was on a hunt for Hawaiian or Japanese blue florals and blue seascapes. And Winnie Kimura who helped me 30 years ago, was still working the store to help me that day along with another very friendly woman and I wished I'd asked her name. We talked about our dogs while they cut my fabric.

My late grandmother and late aunt were seamstresses and dress makers. Most of my clothes growing up were handmade up until I was a teenager and I asked for a GUESS acid washed jean jacket and matching jeans with jean bow cut outs on the back for my 12th birthday. I remember my grandmothers sewing room being stacks, floor to ceiling, of fabrics. She also worked at a fabric store. She'd open up the door of her sewing room and say, "Pick out your fabric" and the next time I visited there would play clothes and at least one fancy dress for birthdays and holidays with lace or ribbon and because of Anne of Green Gables....puffed sleeves.

Birthday Dress, Snoopy piñata

Christmas Plaid Pinafore

Matchy Matchy

Another birthday dress (matching digital watch). And that snow cone maker was probably one of the most used gifts of my childhood.

Christmas in green velvet and my favorite Rainbow brite.

Striped summer romper and watermelon. I would wear this now. Actually I might have one like it now.

My other grandmother crocheted or quilted gorgeous blankets for many decades. She had an enormous quilting frame that hung from the ceiling and could be pulled up when the room was in use and lowered for hand-quilting work. She and I also designed and made my wedding dress many many years ago.

My fabric hunt ended up being very quick and successful. I narrowed it down to these 5 designs and batting, a quarter of a yard for 4 of them and a half yard for the one I choose for the cuff and interior.

When I got back home, I broke down a cracker cardboard box to draw out the templates: my stocking shape and a square. I decided on a 3x3 square because of the math. I could fit 3 squares on the quartered yard and 3 squares ran across the stocking front. I drew the stocking template from tracing a stocking I already had but made it about 1/2-1 inch larger all the way around for seam loss. I actually could have added 2 inches. The template ended up being 19 top to bottom by 8.5 across the top.

For the smaller prints I cut 3 down, 3 times across wasting no fabric with each cut but if you have a larger print, I recommend designing your square segments to get the desired elements. Example, this Honu print might have solid blues or just a sea turtle fin if I cut them 3 up. I used a silver color pencil to trace out what i wanted.

I used the template to trace the inside of the stocking and the batting as well.

Then I laid out the squares, picking one from each fabric stack of squares at first then mixing and matching until I found a pattern I liked. If you are making, be sure you don't make two lefts or two rights, as you'll need to sew fronts together later.

Next I sewed the squares together first in rows across.

Then ironed the seems down before I sewed the rows together.

I know ironing each seem, "seems" like a pain but the seems look so much cleaner and

straighter when you do.

So clean and flat.

All sewed together!

I laid the interiors on top to see what needed to be trimmed off.

Starting to take the stocking shape!

The three layers: Interior, batting and fronts ready for the sewing machine.

I sewed across each line already made from sewing the rows together.

Front and interior, Sewing machine quilted!

Next I sewed these two together, interior fabric on the outside so when it's sewn, I could then turn it inside out with the right sides facing out.

Other side!

Stocking sewn and quilted. Next the cuff...

I sewed the fabric together like a scrungie with no elastic. (Measure desired size and sew right sides together, leaving a little bit open to turn the fabric inside out and then hand sew the small hole)

Next was the trickiest part of the whole thing. Maybe because I'd been sewing all day but I kept doing it backwards. I pinned it, flipped it, nope wrong, Pinned it flipped it, nope wrong. Until finally, I Pinned the cuff to the top and INSIDE but sticking out, not tucked in, of the stocking and when I folded it over to preview, success.

I flipped it back and sewed my desired placement, once sewed, I could flip the cuff over the top of the stocking to complete.

Final stage: the Lettering for the name!

I made letters out of the same cardboard and then cut out the fabric.

Next I laid the letters on thin batting and cut around those.

I glued the fabric letters to the batting with book binding glue, as that was what I had and it worked very well. Fabric glue would be more appropriate. =P

The letters blended in a little too well to the stocking so I decided to add details with silver embroidery thread to add some shimmer.

Late night stitching.

A little extra and ready to be attached to the Stocking!

I used the book binding glue again to attach then hand-sewed the edges.

The hook also right side fabric sewn together and turned inside out.

I hand sewed the base inside the stocking.

FINISHED!

Time to complete: 2 days (approx. 12 hrs including buying the supplies)

We had one solitary poinsettia bloom in our backyard garden this year.

Just in time for Christmas.

P.S. My sister in law's name means "Blue".

A Walk in Color

2025-07-30T19:17:00.000-10:00

A Walk in Color.

This series was taken over one evening walk and one morning walk through my neighborhood. I wanted to shoot in both black and white and color rather than changing anything in post. I choose most frames specifically for one or the other. Very few edits were done in post.

Check out the previous post for A Walk In Black and White.

Iris

Passion Flower

Yellow Hibiscus, our State Flower

Hawaiian Snow Bush

Philodendron Selloum, papa and baby

Neoregelia Bromeliads

Allamanda Golden Trumpet

Plumeria, Croton, Bromeliad

Royal Poinciana, Flamboyant

Blue/Purple Trumpet Vine

Thunbergia Grandiflora, Sky Flower

Turmeric Blossom

Iris

Torch Gingers

Torch Ginger and Day Gecko (who was quite the poser)

Extended Lobster Claw Heliconia

Heliconia Psittacorum, Parrots Beak

A Walk in Black and White

2025-07-29T19:17:00.014-10:00

A Walk in Black and White.

This series was taken over one evening walk and one morning walk through my neighborhood. I wanted to shoot in both black and white and color rather than changing images in post. In doing this I choose most frames specifically for one or the other in the moment.

The following post will be A Walk in Color.

Canna Lily Seed Pods

Pink Flush Tea Olive, Monstera, Ficus Benjamina

Beneath a Monstera and Palm leaf

Palm Blossoms

Large Ficus Benjamina and Bromeliad

Agave

Golden Torch Heliconia, Monstera, Caribaea Heliconia

Scrambling Sky Flower

Ferns

Beehive Ginger

Turmeric Blossom

Canna leaf

Torch Gingers in various bloom stages.

Weeping Benjamina aerial roots

Light on Philodendron Selloum

Chicken Egg - Feral Chickens that roost in the trees

Photographers Legs in Nature

Birdie jumping into the laundry basket to smell my photography walking clothes.

Self portrait.

I'm using a 85mm lens and can't hold the camera far enough away to take a self portrait so I took this one with my feet holding the camera and my big left toe on the shutter release. Also a good ab workout.

The Rain Forest on the Moon, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

2025-07-17T07:47:00.004-10:00

Kīlauea Iki crater with view of eruption activity on Halemaʻumaʻu crater behind it.

Our previous roadtrip adventures took us East and North and now it was time to head south, destination: Volcanoes National Park.

A roughly 2 hour drive from Kona, leaving the slopes of Hualalai Volcano and wrapping around the coast on the slopes of Mauna Loa Volcano, we traveled across the now hardened lava flows of the late 1800s to the more recent 1950s. We'll be traversing 3 volcanos today. Not quite overachievers as there are 5 volcanos that created and some still at work creating this island. First stop Kayas for human fuel to ignite our eyeballs and conversation then back in the car where today's soundtrack is my eclectic life playlist to ignite everything else. There are two decades between when I was ushered into this world and when my cousin was but we have a surplus of music taste synch ups from the 1960s to the 1990's as well as life and health synch ups when I could remember that far back. =P

London, "I'm like little you".

Many coffee-fueled life stories albeit mostly cautionary tales later we arrived at stop two: Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach.

Mostly because it's on the way and not very far off the main road. Also, it's a sea turtle hang out with a dramatic coastline.

One turtle was basking as another swam in from the channel, and we watched it hurl itself up on to the black sand just as a third turtle swam in. The Hawkbill, one of the rarest of sea turtles and the Green Sea turtle are both on the endangered species list and all sea turtles in Hawaii are protected by State and Federal laws. These pictured are both Honu, the Hawaiian Green sea turtle, the largest of the hard-shelled sea turtles and the only herbivore. The average adult is 3 to 4 feet long and 300 lbs. According to NOAA, basking is a behavior unique to Hawaii and they really don't know why they do it but one theory is possibly thermal regulation, aiding in digestion. I think it just feels good to lay out on a beach in the sun, why overthink it.

Zoomed in...I'm quite far away! Safe distance viewing!

The clouds began to roll in around Mauna Loa cinder cones and I started to believe the scattered shower forecast I'd read the night before. I was hoping all this beautiful sunshine would cease as Volcanoes National park is best when it's dark and misty. Of all the times I've visited in the past 35 years, it was only sunny once. A rain forrest and lava craters adventure in full sun is miserably hot and humid. While 60s and misty creates an already unworldly atmosphere that much more dramatic. The cooler damp weather is more enjoyable for hiking, you just have to come prepared. My prep consisted of bringing a dry bag for my camera.

We arrived at the entrance to Volcanoes National Park and got right in. Kīlauea's last eruption at the Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Kīlauea's caldera was the day before Christmas eve last year and it's been sending up fountains of lava a thousand feet in the air for part of a day, about once a week on average and then on pause in between these episodes. They haven't seen the volcano do this episodic fountaining since the 1980s. We arrived during a pause, hence less visitors in the park.

Even though I've never missed walking down to the Nāhuku lava tube, I've never walked through it. Truth be told I didn't know you could walk all the way through it until a couple of years ago. I thought it just got small and smaller then you walked back out the way you came in. Before this day I only walked far enough in where I could still see the day lit opening as I am terribly claustrophobic. I think caves are awesome but only if I can see the entrance/exit. You won't see me crawling through dark holes, even watching someone do it in a movie makes me tense and close my eyes until it's over and they are out. Once we passed the lit part I started to regret my decision to a be brave and fearless female but almost as soon as I wanted to run back the other way, I saw the light at the other end of the tunnel. Life lesson.

Bridge into the Nahuku Lava Tube.

The beginning with lights before it goes dark and requires flashlights.

A lava tube is created after an underground lava (2K degree) river has ceased flowing at the end of an eruption. One of the tube systems from our youngest volcano, Kīlauea is over 40 miles long! NOPE! The accessible part of Nāhuku is 600 ft, but it continues on for another 1000 ft or so past the Do Not Enter gate. The vibrant red grabbed your attention set against the almost florescent green algae/mossy walls.

Next we hiked the misty trail down through Hāpuʻu fern, Kāhili ginger and Ōhi‘a lehua trees to the Kīlauea Iki crater floor. The crater, left by the eruption of Kīlauea Iki in 1959 is 3,000 feet across. During the 1959 eruption it was a lava lake and then solidified.

Kāhili ginger is invasive and continues to take over parts of the park but like most invasives it's beautiful and also smells amazing. The enormous Hāpuʻu ferns have always made me feel like I'm visiting Jurassic Park. We also spotted Hawaiian raspberry, Fuchsia and white Anemone blooming along the trail.

Japanese Anemone

The ‘Ōhi‘a lehua trees were covered in red blooms and the only plant life on the moonscape crater surface below. They've adapted for volcanic landscapes and are able to close up the pores in their leafs that enable them to breath, in the presence of harmful gases, and are also able to send out aerial roots from their branches to gather moisture from the air. Theme songs for the park today were Space Oddity and Life on Mars.

London on the Moon

Most visitors at the park were dressed in athleisure or something from REI/Patagonia. I own none of that shit or even hiking boots. Though hiking boots would be a smart choice here. Lava rock isn't forgiving. I'm always either barefoot or wearing Locals but I've also broken multiple toes over the years. We came in jumpsuits and full skirts and knit sweaters for the chilly bits. I think we were more comfortable than the masses and also smashing.

Flashback: When I hiked across this crater floor 30 years ago there were steam and sulphur vents on this trail. In hindsight that seems a little unsafe.

Steam Vents

Steam vents and sulpur vents along the trails around the eruption site at Halemaʻumaʻu crater kind of make you feel like someone is cutting up through the ground around you and at any moment the center is going to fall out from under your feet. Ground water seeps down through cracks in the earth reaching rocks heated by magma and vaporizes, then bellows up to the surface. The sulfur is coming from a deeper place, volcanic gases from the magma.

Steam Vents

Finding a wild orchid.

Bamboo Orchid

It was very steamy, cloudy and/or misty, hiding the crater almost completely at times as we walked the trail around the ledges. We could actually see the only activity visable better from Kīlauea Iki since the smoke/steam was coming from the back walls of the crater.

Halemaʻumaʻu crater inside the Kilauea caldera was also a lava lake at one time. You can see the swirls of solidified lava on the crater floor. Not a lake for tubin'! The summit collapsed in 2018 after tens of thousands of earthquakes, one being a 6.9 and Kilauea erupting in two locations. After the eruption, in 2019, it filled up with water creating an actual lake 430ft wide by 885ft long and 160 ft deep! The water evaporated just before the volcano erupted again in late 2020 filling the area with a 600 ft deep lake of lava.

The forests along the edge of the crater are absolutely beautiful and such a stunning contrast to what surrounds it.

Tiny Fairytale London

Lichen on Ohia

4 Stages at once

The mist/fog/clouds/steam (??) covering the crater and giving it a creepy vibe.

We emerged from the park with rain forest hair and ready to eat all the foods. We headed for the town of Hilo which is only 30 miles away, much closer than Kona and more yum yum restaurants. We decided on Cafe Pesto having both vegan and gluten free options and then on two of their three saffron risotto options. With it being my only meal all day after 5 hours of hiking I was afraid it wouldn't be enough but it was absolutely perfect. We sat in a cozy booth, in cozy sweaters and ate every last bite of our cozy meal. What a wonderful day. =)

Psalm 46:1-3

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present and proven help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains be shaken and slip into the heart of the seas, even if the waters rage and foam, and the mountains shake at it's turbulence.

Pololu Valley, One of the Seven Valleys of the King, Morning Hike

2025-07-07T21:09:00.000-10:00

Our third summer hiking adventure brought us to Pololu Valley. The northernmost of the Seven Valleys of the King on the Hamakua Coast. Sounding like a broken record at this point but every other time I've hiked down to the black sand beach it's been very muddy and/or raining. But just like our Akaka Falls day, it was all sun all the time. I'd planned on hiking barefoot and my cousin upon reaching the trailhead ditched her hiking boots and joined me. YESSSSSS

The biggest marginatas (yea, that house plant but it's great grandfather Goliath) filter the edges of the switchback on one side and enormous ironwoods on the other. I've climbed some of these trees on previous hikes. Examining those now, either there's been a lot of erosion and it wasn't that close to the cliff edge before or I was young and out of my mind. Either is plausible.

Even though it's full sun, the ironwoods provide shade for much of the hike down. Down is always the easy fun part. And we were mountain goating it.

We're halfway down here and this shoot would reflect that better if I didn't solely possess a 85mm right now. I could only backup so much and still remain alive.

Getting closer...

You can see a few of the other seven valleys here.

The black sand beach had a gold dust layer of olivine on it glistening in the sun. Fun fact: This volcanic eruption born green beauty is what gives us the August birthstone gemstone peridot.

I adore the contrast of black sand beaches. I don't just blend in here.

Mmmmm the contrast of black sand and white sea foam.

Lava rock comes in shades of black, red, blue grey, brown and yellow based on a couple of factors, one being cooling time. There's an intense surf break here and high winds changing these normally jagged rocks into smooth stones all along the beach.

Eeek! Portuguese man o' war! Not a jellyfish but a siphonophore which is super weird and cool..unless you get stung by one then you will not think it's cool..at all. It's basically a colony of clones with various functions that all work together as one. Creepy. It has a cute little cloud shaped balloon and below that hanging tentacles of tremendous pain. Those tentacles contain things called nematocysts, tiny teeny capsules with a Neopoleon complex as they are loaded with coiled AND barbed tubes that deliver paralyzing and deadly (to small ocean creatures) venom. And they can still sting you when washed up on the shore, disguised as a truck-stop vending machine condom. Which is a double edged sword as NO ONE will pick that up off the beach but people step on them ALL the time. We stumbled upon (thankfully not literally) two on this adventure, both suffering sapphire blue but they also come in hot poker pink and violent violet.

London Running from Man o'war..kidding.

Drift wood script font.

Full sun at high noon, I know better but we were ready for the climb back out and lunch in the artist community of Hawi so we set the timer and 3..2..1. Ohhh good enough!

Akaka to Rainbow Falls with Surprises In Between - Big Island Hawaii

2025-06-27T14:22:00.010-10:00

My cousin is in town and that translates to roadtrips to look upon beautiful spots I haven't seen since...well the last friend or relative visited. We emerged from our sleep cocoons early to be fueled by coffee and excitement for what the day might behold. It occurred to me this should be the case every morning as everyday is a humanly unplanned event. And yet...travel, even loosely planned travel raises the level of enthusiasm for the unexpected delight. Having lived on the Big Island (which is not all that big as I recently figured it is in fact 9% the size of Tennessee) for a third of my life I pretty much know my way around. There aren't that many roads and the main one will put you right back where you started...eventually. And YET...on occasion I stumble upon an area I haven't traversed before.

On this day it was a tiny trail marker sign off the scenic road just past the Botanical gardens near Hilo between the two waterfalls on the agenda. Blink and you'll miss it but as we said many times along the trail while seeing the Botanical gardens people over the fence in the distance..."we're on the free part!".

Onomea Trail (the shorter one) from Old Mamamlahoa Hwy to the ocean.

Wait...are we in the PNW now??

Schefflera bloom!!! I've never seen a pink one!

Lily flourishing in hard places.

Crinum asiaticum "Spider Lily"

Onomea Bay

The ocean has almost shaped this peninsula into islands.

London in Silhouette

It was a very sunny and very windy day on the East side of the Island. For most of my life Hilo was the Wet Side and Kona was the Dry Side. But in recent years that has seriously changed. It rains nearly every day in Kona in the upper elevations and very frequently on the lower. Enough for this desert region to not look deserty anymore. Green is the new beige.

So as we ventured up the road to Akaka Falls Park the sun was lighting up everything. I could even see the Observatory on the top of Mauna Kea in the distance behind it which is usually completely hidden by clouds! Though I think I prefer the moody stormy weather for Akaka Falls even if that requires ponchos. Tourists were huffing and puffing on the trail stairs and I needed some serious tinkering for my photos not to be blown out. The first view is from the parking lot in case you did not budget for parking and entrance fees. (Free part!)

Epic Parking lot Views

Some Serious Bamboo

First big glimpse of Akaka Falls

The Tallest Bromeliad Display

Akaka Falls

Akaka Falls is 442 ft tall. My lens couldn't capture the whole length from the lookout point.

She's Holding all the Things

We drove to Rainbow Falls after a late lunch or pre-dinner at The Booth Bar in Hilo. I've never eaten here soooo delightful surprise number 2!

Mouth watering Vegan Tacos - Lentil Walnut Chorizo, cortisol kraut, fire roasted tomato salsa, black beans and taqueria pickles. I had to forego the roasted jalapeño crema as it was cashew based. I'm sure it was awesome too.

We arrived just before closing time, but the falls are the briefest stroll from the parking lot and FREE. Rainbow falls is 80ft tall. Depending on rainfall, I've seen this one drastically change in width to the full rock face.

Rainbow Falls

Mango grove at the top lookout.

Banyan Tree

Driving back to Kona via Saddle Road we came upon a very strange weather phenomenon near Mauna Kea. At first it seemed we were above the clouds, then about to drive through them. The clouds started changing shape, resembling waves moshing against each other and other times white fire and before we knew it they were all around us. The moon came shining through right after the sun had blinded us. Later we realized it was perhaps the outline of the sun filtered and not in fact the moon. Though it looked just like the moon. Maybe we temporary drove into another dimension and it was someone else's moon.

Saddle Road, Big Island

Psalms 42:7-8

Deep calls to deep at the thundering sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. Yet the Lord will command His faithful Lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song will be with me. A prayer to the God of my life.

Rainy Sunday Afternoon

2025-06-25T15:38:00.005-10:00

The layering hues of green palms flutter about like parrot feathers in the mountain breeze. A faltering waterfall at the edge of the roof drips so quickly, the individual droplets nearly combine. The animals are napping, curled up on various soft surfaces in my room. A 10x10 of space I temporary and also seemingly indefinitely inhabit with a very large and very small creature that came into my care while waiting on an Island in the middle of the pacific.

A fog rolls in and the temperature drops low enough to warrant socks and a cardigan. I got dressed today as if I would see other people or perhaps hopeful a surprise event would spring forth. My gifted salt lamp from Liv is aglow and sits in a pool of water it pulled from the air. And modern hymns emit from the tiny speaker of my phone on the night stand. It's been raining every afternoon for 2 months now. Drowning in gorgeous green vegetation but also my bedroom carpet never fully dries and every surface of every thing not vegetation also grows a mini green habitat.

The kitten going on teenager grabbed the cord of my one ear functioning big purple headphones that had a heavy clip attached to function the non-functioning side. When she swung from it like a holler monkey I lost all sound. Bummed she’d now made them ear muffs, I removed the clip and replugged the headphones. Lo and behold, sound emerged from both sides.

Birdie bird: food bandit, orchid destroyer, tech genius.

She is now asleep on my camera bag. Perhaps next she’ll clean the mold growing inside the wide angle lens that crept up on me during my lax on recharging the silica. Fresh out of the oven the smokey opaque beads have returned to their resemblance of amber and ready to absorb moisture yet again.

Gold Leaf

2025-06-13T12:27:00.005-10:00

During an unexpected endurance hike with my second cousin, we came upon a muddy path of muddied leaves. Dramatic was the rich decomposing browns layered in black volcanic dirt. Then I saw the white one in near monochrome and gasped. Where did you come from? White as snow it was. How I wished I could jump as high as I can in dreams or a climbable tree had been planted on that spot so I could capture the great length of this path covered in inky leaves showcasing one solitary white one. As we continued along, some stories later, we saw the gold one.

Gold Leaf ~

Nothingness ahead, emptiness behind

A pit I dug to get away had swallowed up the light

Strangling my heart the invasive vines

had made their way inside

I sat at the bottom sinking in the sludge

Crying out for help in utter insolvency

Immediately I felt Your saving touch

Your steadfast love envelope me

A pin hole of light shining over my head

Yet still seemed too far out of my reach

But a far reaching hand pulled me out

Washing away the shame besieged

A river flowing continuously

Gently it flowed, wildly it flowed

Turning, sifting, healing

Hidden gold beneath

Was suddenly revealing

Isaiah 38:17~

Indeed it was for my own well-being that I had great bitterness, but You loved back my life from the pit of nothingness, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

Birdie

2025-02-14T07:44:00.025-10:00

Getting ready for bed I heard a cry from outside my window. An injured sea bird perhaps or maybe a baby had fallen from one of the nests that permeate that side of the roof near the big gnarly tree. A slow perimeter sweep by full moon light, in my pajamas and nothing caught my eye. But then I heard it again, and closer. I could have sworn I saw a blob on the ground move and quickly snatched my phone for the flashlight. The light revealed rocks and more rocks. I walked around anyway, maybe it hopped near the oyster plants. Nada. But at the dead end corner of the side yard just as I was about to call it a night, I saw a texture that didn't belong...fuzzy.

A wee tail on a wee bootie squished up between the sapphire paneling and the seldom used kayak. I reached down to pick it up, fully prepared to be bit or see fuzzy lightning sprint out of my reach or running speed. But instead it purred. I held it to my chest and it purred and purred and purred. If I lifted it off my chest, it screamed like that injured sea bird.

Rescued Feral Kitten

It started sucking on my fingers and kneading my chest, my face, my arms. It was still a baby and I only had food for enormous dogs. A friend left some heavy whipping cream in the fridge and I tried warming it with some water. I had a syringe and slowly gave it an oz or 2 and it purred and purred then fell asleep. I wrapped it up in my Costco sarong and tried to fall asleep holding it. This was touch and go. It was too scared to leave me so I didn't feel like it'd jump out of bed but every time it stopped purring and fell asleep, I'd wake up worried it'd died and wake it up to check. This happened over and over throughout the night. "Are you still alive little one??" It snuggled into the crook of my arm, and reached it paws up to my chin purring and fell back to sleep.

Baby Bunny Kitten

Morning came and I gave it a warm bath as I started thinking about fleas, mites, pinkeye, feline aids...all the things I didn't think about when I slept with a strange cat the night before and let it snuggle my face. The water ran red, even after a few rinses. I didn't see any injures except for a cut on the lip. Afterbirth? Did the mother get hit by a car?

Kneady Kitten

All clean, I took the sleeping baby to Petco. "Can someone help me with a little kitten" I said as I came through the doors. A young woman quickly took me down isles, grabbing things and explaining them as she walked, "You can get it formula then start to transition it to solids...Are you gonna keep it..cause if you are not sure don't feed it wet food, it all get spoiled.." and brought it all to the register. I refrained from telling her I'd probably feed it salmon and other real food as dry pet food it total shit. The cashier wanted to see and pet the kitten even after telling me she was "very allergic". "So am I", I said "I'm taking one for the team". The swollen face, itchy eyes and throat is not the best waking up experience and yet I keep kissing that fuzzy head.

It's just too cute.

We dropped by my parents house to borrow their pet carrier and show off the cuteness. Weighed it on the kitchen scale, 14.9oz. It met Ari, the feral kitten I raised during the pandemic. He was courteous but the look on his face after the hellos was "But that isn't staying here, right?" My family stopped me before leaving to pray for the kitten. For health, for being a possible Marlow buddy and for me taking care of it. Amen!

Full Belly of kitten formula.

Flea combed and bathed again to rid the teeny one of fleas. Olive oiled the ears to suffocate the mites and I had one happy baby. Purring and falling asleep as I did it. No more itching. Internet research on Kitten sexing...by the way I'm not a fan of that term or entering it into an internet search. But I'm pretty positive it's a baby girl. I was calling it Little Bird after thinking it was a bird. "Birdie' for short. It's proper name is now "Little Bird Polu" Hawaiian for blue, where I found her calling for me.

The $3 kitty fishing pole from the grocery store was worth it tenfold. She played the whole time it took me to make dinner.

Kitty Fishing Pole

Can the biggest dog and the littliest cat be buddies?!?! Stay tuned... When I tell Marlow that's his kitten, he gets a big smile on his face and wags his tail.

Marlow's Kitten

P.S. This is the second (and shortened )version of this blogpost..just as I finished it this morning, Birdie jumped on the keyboard and deleted the whole post.

But you sure are super cute.

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the gentle, the kind hearted, the sweet spirited, for they will inherit the earth.

The Nest

2024-05-17T19:42:00.008-10:00

The Nest ~

Home near the water and in the trees

Hear the birds and taste the seas

Bring moss and twigs and flowers

We'll be weaving and twisting for hours

Search out the world for green materials

Coastal edges, Mountain ledges, and ethereals

Finally, it is done, it is finished, but only almost complete

Soon A round one, then a new one, a teeny tiny tweet

A tiny Finch nest I came across today while pruning the Ixora. Barely big enough to hold one chicken egg. I was most impressed by the Moss. It's a dry coastal climate here. That’s a special order item, mountain trip for daddy bird or Amazon delivery. There's an array of Finches in close vicinity, some smaller than the hibiscus flowers or as big as the flying cockroaches. Some dandy in tuxedos, some flower lovers in yellow, or green or red. Most with a Hawaiian name beginning with "A".

Finch Nest Hanging in Ixora

Orange and Pink Ixora

Matthew 13:32

and of all the seeds, the mustard seed is the smallest, but when it has grown it is the largest of the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air find shelter in its Branches."

Perfect Timing

2023-08-07T09:47:00.021-10:00

The urge to be enveloped by the ocean depths was unusually strong in the late afternoon. As if I simply had to be in the water. It was a peaceful Sunday morning and for the first time in weeks the construction noise next door was on hiatus. I'd been writing on the lanai and watching the ocean, the surging fairly consistent and not the glassy stillness I'd been jumping into as of late. And yet I couldn't shake the longing to jump in. I walked down and stood on the edge of the rock face and watched, waiting for a lull, a settling. But the timing was too close together so I choose to wait longer on the shore, a little cove of sand with a shallow pool of salt water. Wearing my swim shirt I laid on my stomach thinking about my last dream.

My right shoulder became suddenly hot and I turned over to splash cool water on it. My legs now barely under water on the sand and I noticed something sparkle, then another and another. Star shapes were moving across the sand, perfect mini north stars. I looked above me half expecting to see someone on the rocks with faceted crystals or holding a pair of thick glasses. But it was only blue sky, the sun and a few puffy clouds. The sun was doing this but what was it shining through? Then I noticed a tiny piece of sea foam floating on the water above the star. It was shining through the tiny bubbles. Just then, a larger wave came rolling over the rocks, filling the tiny beach with agitated sea water. When the sand settled, even more stars covered the sand, slowly moving across my legs and feet. As I looked closer, each star enclosed a rainbow and each one unique in size. "Perfect timing" I thought.

And all the specific timing of things that had to happen in that moment to create this beautifully unique experience for me. A bright sunny day, the placement of the sun in the sky, the timing of the tide, the agitation of the wave, the angle of the light...me turning to cool my hot shoulder. Earlier there was no water in this area, the tide was lower. Minutes later the stars were gone, the sun had moved. Rainbows remind me of promises awaiting fulfillment. Dreams and heart desires. There were so many today, so many coming to reassure me, projecting on my physical body and dancing all around me. "You're only waiting on the timing, when it all falls into alignment...be still and notice the awe."

Psalm 65:7-8

Who stills the roaring of the seas, The roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples, So they who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs

You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.

Genesis 22:17 Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore...

This Beautiful Storm

2023-03-15T16:47:00.002-10:00

Storms bring about the most beautiful skies and seas. The highs and the lows.

The sea glass waters fold over into pure white as they pummel the coastline. The sun and moon pull them, the invisible wind pushes them. And in the stillness they are still.

The vigorous shaking of the sea and all that floats within it creates it's own sudsy edge.

The pink clouds unveiled amongst the darkest with small strokes of hope.

The sky watches the humpback whales below and mimics their breaching.

The ocean water isn't blue and yet blue is what our eyes see. Or rather all the colors we don't see. When the sun shines down all the colors of the rainbow unto the ocean, all the colors are absorbed except blue and green, giving our eyes turquoise. The depth of the ocean as well as what the foundation is gives us the shade of blue green. Isn't that marvelous!

Light in the Darkness: Monochrome After the Storm

2023-01-29T19:08:00.001-10:00

Lightning cracked open the sky and the heavens opened upon

our little Big Island.

Monochrome after the storm... January 2023

Burning the light at both ends.

Boom!

Contrasting fringe.

Capriole.

Coalesce.

Resound.

Extrovert/Introvert

Abounding.

Unfurled.

Unwavering.

Face-plant.

Luminary.

Trickled.

Fuchsia refused to be captured in monochrome.

Highlighted by the Sun

2022-10-15T14:16:00.008-10:00

Born in darkness and stubborn in nature, its growth is exposed to the light.
Obstinate it chooses the instantaneous and artificial in the mockery of its inheritance. The temporary perfection that can never be enough, becoming all consuming. A continuous submergence into darkness, masking the genuine and blocking the light. Yet it never stops reaching, longing to be restored.

One day it refuses the imperious serpentine in the howling wasteland and returns to whom it was meant to be, who it was all along. And the longer it spends with the sun, the more it longs to be like it. A little every day and some more than others, it soon dances in the wind, twirling in golden rays. The ends, the wiser of the strands, now assimilating the incandescence. And after decades it learns to be more transparent, wisdom birthing and radiating the light from within. No longer hiding in the shadows but celebrating the return home.

Proverbs 16:31
The silver-haired head is a crown of splendor and glory;
It is found in the way of righteousness.

Proverbs 20:29
The glory of young men is their physical strength; and the honor of aged men is their gray head (representing wisdom and experience).

John 15:20

So he got up and started back to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion. He ran and threw his arms around him and kissed him warmly.

My Lips Forever Salty

2022-08-25T18:40:00.004-10:00

The North Pacific and I share an ever-changing relationship built on elation, cloaked in a heavy respect I’d never turn my back on. Wild beauty in tremendous strength able to change the land as easy as it does ones character. Moodiest of the melancholy during the seasonal storms and celebratory as the sun that sparkles off it’s spirited glassy surface.

Mostly magnificently unexplored and delightedly unmapped, leaving a perpetual adventure of the unknown and home to millions of beautifully strange creatures.

Fixated on the water, surreptitiously building, I wait anxiously to jump between the tumult agitations that long to pull me into their influence. I take a carefully timed leap bordering speculation. Submerged in translucent envelopment I pause my breath until I break the surface again. Before my heart gets accustomed to the quickening I grab for the jagged coastline and find a foot hold. I sneak out quickly before I awaken the deep and it’s invisible grasp returns to pull me back in. Upright I wait on the edge and pour over the Pacific once more.

I drift off to sleep by it’s powerful devotion to keep moving, lulling me into the depth of slow wave sleep. It’s deafening rogues spring me awake with rebellious estrangement. I sink back

feeling the rumble of the island. The moon high in the sky yet pulling the tides.

The coast and my lips forever salty.

Grow with What You've Got

2022-07-18T16:46:00.002-10:00

Plants gone wild (Bee Balm, Echinacea, Kale, Squash, Concord grapes)

My vegetable and herbal tea garden in Tennessee would start with a fresh all dirt showing when it was still technically winter. After spring hinted its arrival, I started sowing and as the teeny seedlings began to emerge, it would quickly turn into a wild beautiful landscape filled with flowers, veggies, bees and butterflies. Okra as tall my fence, bergamot as tall as me, everything growing with everything creating a treasure hunt for each day's harvest. Every year it got bigger as I added and previous years plantings returned.

Seedlings in their starting rows - On your mark, get set, GO!

I've been yearning for my garden lately. Collecting plants in my head. I've tried things off and on here in Hawaii on the coast but most everything hates salt water. They seem to do well for a month or so until high surf arrives and the salt spray kills them. Among the deceased are a number of ghost pepper plants (not just a clever name) and jalapeño. Still hangin' on though are 3 pineapples (crowns started in a glass then put in the ground) and a couple of local chili peppers. I'm still waiting on them with bated breath to bring forth their pickable heat. It's a mini hot sauce garden really. Who doesn't love pineapple in their hot sauce?

Pineapples, Hawaiian Chili Peppers

I found a couple of what I thought were prickly pear paddles that turned out to be cochineal cacti on the bike lane just down the road. They'd taken a free dive off the mother cactus spilling over the rock wall border of a tropical domicile. I instinctively thought to save them since surely they'd parish on the concrete, and lo and behold one had grown roots to grip the road. Okay, that one is a survivor. I found a couple others that were more recent jumpers.

The Street-wise Cactus

I came home and found a terracotta pot of previously tried herbs that said absolutely not to the salt air and disintegrated into the dirt for which they came. The grow your own community said Cacti like succulent soil.. quick search on what's in that...but also keeping in mind that one was growing on the concrete. Is buying special soil really necessary? Prickly yes, but not picky. I decided to make my own concoction with "a little of this and a little of that" (my motto) in soil, sand and rocks around the property. They need to also set out and form a callus over the part that came off the mother before you set them in soil so they don't just rot when you water them. This can take anywhere from days to a month. Wrong again! Maybe it was the desert climate here combined with laying on the concrete but they were already callused. Moving right along...I stuck them in the soil, watered and waited. After a week they didn't appear to be rotting and by week two they had roots!!!

Father & Son

And then those babies bloomed!

This was a tad disappointing as this is the full bloom
and not what looks to be a amazing bloom about to break forth!

Next I wanted a hanging basket of mint. In my previous setup, I had hanging baskets of various kinds of mint just outside my backdoor. My coffee/tea area was just inside the door, making it very easy to pick a couple of sprigs to throw in my coffee or tea. The Salty outside had already killed the herbs so I wanted to try the sunny frosted window in the kitchen. It's not that the air inside the house is any less salty really but there's less without the additional spray from the waves. I found a couple of baskets but needed a plastic saucer with high sides since they tilted. Nothing workable in the recycle stuff, but surely I had a container in the fridge I could cut down soon that would work. The basket was in-between size for store bought trays but really there sides weren't high enough anyway.

Then I tried the Bitchin' Sauce tub that I was nearly finished with and it fit like a glove! A perfect water tray! And the Costco super sized Bitchin' was the perfect size to re-pot the square potted herbs! It's so satisfying to reuse food containers, especially when it's a staple item. =) This one needed a video.

When they cut back the coconut palms, they'd left me a couple stocks of green coconuts. I'd bought a nifty coconut opener on Amazon that is basically a corkscrew with a sharp end to pop the top. What I learned while opening green coconuts is all you need is a steak knife. It's like cutting into an apple. I also learned that you will get sprayed in the face, every single time. No matter where you do it or how slow. They are premature guys. No video for that one. There is so much yummy water in the green ones before they absorb it all and fully ripen into the brownish ones you see, which are more about the meat inside.

Pop the top stem and cut a hole in the middle...mind the overspray.

Choke full of water and a surprise days later when the water I'd collected from a few coconuts had turned PINK! I looked this up immediately. I had seen pink coconut water in the store but never from the fresh out the coconut kind. Oxidation and the sugar content are the culprits, which is why it started out clear and gradually got more pink...or should I say more beautiful. Another reuse...those Costco vodka and gin containers. This was someone else's!! I have a cocktail about 5 times a year these days. haha It was too cool of a glass container just to toss in the garbage.

Invisible Wonders

2021-12-16T19:18:00.003-10:00

The usual late afternoon heat has surrendered to the cool breeze of late autumn. The perfect in every way air embrace that my skin waits all year for. When the invisible wonders of peace and temperature float along side each other and wash over you in the gentlest of waves.

The ocean is calm today after a week of unusual storms and blustery days. The humpback whales have returned for the season. I find my eyes search for their evanescent fountains every time I glance out at the sea. Great whites have also returned and I haven’t been in the water since the sighting of a 15ft dinosaur descendent 1 mile down the coast from me.

Last week my left hand found itself caught between a window frame and large sliding window.

I’ve been doing everything one handed as the bruises, that I hope are not sheltering fractures, heal. I stripped and made a kingsize bed with one hand then made an espresso which made me think I was some kind of undiscovered superhero. Wrangling the Mastiff proved more difficult, and I kind of gave up fixing my hair but I adjusted to the rest of the daily needs. But even in my “everything’s okay, I’m fine thanks” superhero independence I had to let people help me this week. I said yes, to the kind Costco employee you offered to follow me all the way out to the back of the parking lot (because I never park close) and put the 40lb bag of dog food in my truck. Although I did say no when he offered to push the cart too. “I’m fine, thanks!”, as I used all my body weight against it. I managed to get the giant bag into the bottom of my shopping cart after an embarrassing amount of time one handed but I’ll admit I was a tad concerned about the cart to truck transfer. I said okay to my dad carrying a few large items for me. I said okay when my sister offered to braid my hair. (Or perhaps the state of my hair was crying out to her for help)

My sister moved back to the mainland this week. We had been leaning on each other far more than I realized until she left the island. And this considerable wave of sadness capsized me into a sea of jellyfish. I’m alone again, it’s nearly the end of the year, all the things I thought might happen didn’t happen, and my hand hurts.

Often rest is all I want when there’s chaos and yet still so hard to surrender to when it shows up.

This breeze though, this gentle perfect breeze becomes everything I need in the present. It swirls with peace and dives down deep into my lungs. It rests my muscles and eases my mind. And all the heavily detailed worries and cares of only moments ago become a Monet.

I don’t have to be perfect to feel it. I don’t have to be ready and capable and strong. I can be wounded and weak and heart broken and let it take it all off my shoulders until I’m weightless.

May peace rest upon you wherever you are.

Psalm 61:2-4 (AMP)

From the end of the earth I call to You,

when my heart is overwhelmed and weak;

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I

A rock that is too high to reach without Your help.

For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me,

A strong tower against the enemy.

Let me dwell in Your tent forever;

Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.

Philippians 4:6-8 (TPT)

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing.

Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests

before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life,

then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding,

will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.

Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real,

honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.

Honua‘ula Forest Reserve - Big Island Hiking - Makaula-'o'oma Trails

2021-08-23T16:43:00.007-10:00

Up above Kailua Kona is a cloud forrest much like the kind that you’d find at Volcanos National park. This reserve nestled at a high elevation on the slopes of Hualalai volcano invites you into cooler temperatures (68-72) than the sunny shores of Kona below.

A wet forrest to be sure as the trail is usually a little muddy and there is a fine mist or fog most days. If you attempt to come later in the day, it will probably be raining as most of upper Hualalai is beneath a rain cloud by late afternoon.

There is an upper and lower option at the trailhead. It's 4.5 miles around the whole length or by section about 2 miles each. I’ve gotten lost once and it was because I left the trail to the wider path that frames it (the other side of this path is private property). There are stacked rocks at any crossroads and markers if you pay attention. =)

There is also a map at the beginning of the trail and a quick snap of it, if you have your phone or digital camera with you, is a recommended move. I've also attached a photo of the new map below that was upgraded this year (2022).

The songs of birds harmonizing with the insects is the soundtrack that plays when you arrive. The sweet smell of Kahili Ginger takes the soft hand of the cool air that slowly dances down your lungs and fills you with peace. Roots reach down the path creating steps that lead the way into this wonderland of giant ferns, moss covered stumps, tropical flowers and ohi’a trees.

Dewdrops and rain drops caught in the fuzzy moss sparkle like precious stones. Endless textures mix with golds and fully saturated greens.

Outside amongst nature offers infinite places for rest and for quiet. Honua’ula forest holds out the offer of tranquility to it’s visitors. You can breathe here and let everything else fall away.

Take this Heart of Stone

2021-08-05T18:02:00.004-10:00

Yesterday evening as the sun began to set, I sat on a black jagged rock that was once red hot liquid. Transformed a few hundred years ago, unrecognizable as it's former self, by the cooling of the ocean. The water below me looked different than usual, a wind swell without the wind. The sun scatters across the thickening clouds searching for a place to break through. Tiny sparkles danced across patches of water like schools of fish quickly disappearing then reappearing in another location.

The traffic jam of boats busting at the seams with snorkel affixed visitors were no longer seen to the farthest left nor the farthest right. Just like me, the ocean was recharging in their absence. Elegantly timed sets now a mosh pit. Each one jumping up to bump the other in white tipped peaks. I watched the underbelly of the clouds darken in full contrast from the sky above them. A butterfly fought the invisible force that suddenly stirred up the leaves of every shrub and every tree, awakening the coastline. The wind brought the soft pattering of rain as the droplets increased enough to collect in my open palms.

It had been years since I let the rain soak me through. The beginning struck nerves with reactive tension in the same way being touched by a person used to feel. I needed to take deep breaths for it to subside, but it did subside. Tension released to a soothing rhythm. It washed over me with gentle mercy. My heart tender enough now to welcome this kindness.

I still rest in the swaddle as the light branches out from the core strengthening me by a new approach. The tiniest of shimmers slowly transforming it's neighbor and spreading out until they shine bright enough to break through to the surface.

My heart a lava rock in reverse.

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland

And I will give them one heart, a new heart, and put a new spirit within them. I will take from them the heart of stone, and will give them a heart of flesh that is responsive to My touch. Ezekiel 11:19

Patience with Paws...really really Big Paws

2021-04-28T13:48:00.014-10:00

I have what anyone currently residing on planet earth would describe as a dream job. It chiefly involves working remotely from a house on the beach and looking after a very large, by all standards, dog. I’ve always loved dogs. The first “when I grow up” profession was Veterinarian before I learned what that job mostly consisted of. I’ve had many dogs throughout my life starting with a St. Bernard followed by a Golden Retriever whom gave me the scar I have on my cheek, Chow Chows, and Labradors. As an adult there were two, Zoe a Chihuahua mix and Patrick, a Toy Fox Terrier/ Jack Russell. I loved these dogs more than anyone I was in a relationship with. I would choose them over people in a heartbeat. They were there to snuggle with me through every heartbreak and every trauma. When Zoe died in 2015 shortly after suffering a stroke at the age of 18, it was the worst grief I’d ever been met with. I’d see her everywhere. When Patrick died in 2019, it was after a slew of awful events and I think I was too depleted to handle it. Both dogs had died in my arms. My arms were empty for the first time, I was alone. I had no desire to start over with another dog. All my friends had dogs I could look after, and that was enough.

Enter the panther...IE Fila Brasileiro (Mastiff)

Some people come into your life to shake you up or turn your world upside down. I’m coming to realize the same can be said for animals. Even as I’m writing this, he is chewing on my arm. He studies my face. If my face is frustrated, irritated or anything other than smiling, the challenge is on. Bite and bark until I get up from that chair. He despises my cellphone. As soon as I pick it up, the challenge is back. If I’m talking on it, he barks, a loud bellowing you can’t possible hear over this bark. If I’m texting he bites my ankles, harder and harder until I yelp.

It’s not that he’s a bad dog. He’s in fact a good dog. I’ve gone through training with him. He knows how to sit, stay, lay down, shakes with the left or the right whichever I ask for and heals. He walks well on a leash, and he barks at strangers near the house but not on walks. He’s gentle with older people and with younger people. And though not my dog, he has bonded to me. He knows I am the bringer of food, but I have also been deemed his playmate in life. And he wants to spend all our mornings and evenings wrestling.

He surpassed me in size about 2 months ago. He has about 20 lbs on me now. My shoulders and arms have muscles appearing from simply handling him, usually in quick defense moves. My torso and legs are covered in bruises, often times just from run ins or him stepping on my feet. He has the Karate Kid move down and sweeps the leg while I'm walking to the kitchen. Let me set the scene... it's early am, I'm walking to the kitchen to make coffee, he walks directly behind me, then he quickly hooks one leg with his bear size paw and pulls out. And in my head he then laughs and laughs. Though technically still a puppy at 8 months, his size could be described as pony, jungle cat or velociraptor.

For about 4 years now I’ve been waiting for a promise to come to pass. I’ve been reading until my eyes blur on waiting vs patience. Waiting is sitting around frustrated with a big maybe, while patience is expectant with a willingness to wait as long as it takes. Patience does not come easily. Patience is a consistent work in you. Consistent. If you had asked me prior to now if I was a patient person I would have foolishly said, absolutely! My pet velociraptor knows otherwise. He doesn’t chew my arm to harm me. He chews my arm because he wants my attention and it is consistent. He doesn’t understand why I would sit at a computer for hours if I’m not chewing on it. I can throw the bouncy balls and fill the Kong with almond butter and excitedly offer the marrow bones but he will choose my arm or my ankles first. He wants a personal relationship with me. Much like a small child, he is teaching me patience.

And what a difference it makes when you recognize these challenges that are actually stimulating growth. What a wonderful gift it is to grow, to move in new ways with patience. When you can shift your focus off the frustration and on to the favor and the grace. When I typed that he jumped over the back of my chair, put his front paws around me almost as if hugging me, I smiled and then he bit my head. Consistent.