Now I Get It...

I've been in Foodland and even Malama and seen

tourist standing in front of the shelves with looks of wonder

in their eyes.

I got that same feeling today when I went to Albertson's.

So many choices...

it's almost overwhelming.

I get it now.

Even at our little Foodland or even smaller Malama

more than a few choices in cereal can actually be overwhelming.

Home Sweet Home, Again...

we got home last night from a very chilly Christmas in California.

glad to be home.

Comfort Food...

a taste of something that taste like home or brings back fond memories.

It's funny how I've seemed to find more of these places when I'm on the mainland.

There's a place in Dana Point, Stacks, that we'd been wanting to try because they

have a big sign in the window that says that they have gluten free pancakes.

I was surprised to see "Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice on the menu.

It was actually very good, not Rolandos, but close.

we took the kids to get some sushi that Lauren was craving the other night and 

they had ahi poke on the menu.

It reminded me of the poke our neighbor, Christine makes in her "poke stack" because

it had avocado in it.  It was also very good.

Lauren found her "comfort food" in the GF pancakes at Stacks.

She said they didn't even taste GF, (not that she would remember what regular

taste like she says).  They were the best, and she'd like to eat there

every day!

It's hard to just walk in somewhere and order pancakes right off the menu,

so this was happiness.

and she ate the whole thing!

Since Being Home...

flying in on a sunny day is probably the best.

I usually fly in at night, but since we changed our tickets

we got to see home from the air.

we went to one of our favorites...

Kakaako Kitchen

for a mahi sandwich on a taro bun...yum

all of the shower trees are in full bloom, so theres lots 

of places to park in the shade

ate Kahuku corn and watermelon two nights

in a row for dinner.

had to finally go to the market

and had to go to Lowe's and buy a new dishwasher...

yes, we've been busy

Homeward Bound...

packing up the MH for the trip home.

will be back next month...

it was a trip of 4 changes in age,

seeing dear friends,

grandparent pride,

and a trip of sighs...

a trip of changes.

I printed out 2 of my photos to put in the small bathroom...I like them.

Coming Home...

I've taken tons of photos of the North Shore.

I like to take photos coming down "snake road" or Kam Hiway

with the whole North shore laid out before me.  Sometimes it's so 

breathtaking with the ocean, Mt. Ka'ala and the green.

Last night on FB,my friend, Carol Phillips, posted a photo that I just

loved!  She titled it "North Shore Bound".  I just looked at it and 

thought of home.  So many times I've seen the exact same sight, but have never

taken a photo because usually if it looks like that, it's getting late and I just 

want to be home.

(mahalo Carol for such a beautiful photo)

even with the sun setting, the beauty of the North Shore comes out

but most of all it means I'm coming home...

Homeward Bound...

Sunday morning rain woke me up early.

I'd made plans to go out to breakfast with a friend.  We ended up going

early.  Another visit to "Hawaiian Style Cafe".  The amount of food you 

get there really is insane...we couldn't finish it all.

She dropped me off back at the hotel and I went to church. 

I'd asked the front desk for a late check-out and thought I'd be gone

by 3, but they said stay until 5...no problem.

Hilo airport was still crazy when I got there. A lot of people

waiting for flights all had the same look, exhaustion!

I found a quiet place to sit and it was perfect for people watching.

much easier to leave from Kona that's for sure.

lots of halau leaving on flight to Maui and Honolulu.

Hubby even tried getting me on an earlier flight, but every seat was taken 

and they even added 3 extra flights out of Hilo that night.

dancers carrying ipu, lei and costumes all anxious to get home.

I was talking to some kane members of a halau and they were telling me

that they'd only gotten 2 hours of sleep. 

finally got to board and was so happy to see the bright lights of Honolulu after 

the short 45 minute flight.

another Merrie Monarch full of memories...

now I have a full year to recover!

Rainbow Over Waialua...

I was up early Sunday morning since I was on CA time.

It was beautiful!

I drove down to Haleiwa Beach Park to see the ocean.

Even though it's the same Pacific Ocean, it's so much different here.

Mt. Kaala had low clouds resting on the top.

Everything was so Green!

After church hubby and I took a drive out to Kaena Pt. and commented on how

much greener and fuller the mountain was…it's all that rain.

as I came back down Kaamooloa Rd., there was the most beautiful rainbow

over Waialua.

It really was breathtaking and made me think about

the beauty of this place.  We want it left unspoiled, as it has been

for so long.  That's what we love about it…

and all the rainbows.

Shipping Home...

while looking on the internet for little treats for my upcoming 

Downton Abbey party, I came across an address that was 3 miles away!

I even bought hubby some of his favorite British/Canadian treats.

When you live on the most desolate island in the world,

it's hard to come by imported treats w/o them being very expensive...

so today I'm sending off 3 boxes of treats and 

various other things that we had here that were part of Terry's family.

I'm getting excited to share with my fellow

kamaaina Downton friends.

Home...

early morning Waimea

Enough said

Incredible...

the last few days there have been the most incredible sunsets.

I think it's a combination of a little vog, lack of trades and some

left-over clouds from the rain.

 (Heidi Luarca photo)

the other day our whole kitchen was filled with the beautiful golden light

of the sunset

all the signs are pointing to summer!

The New Wall...

Probably the one thing I've hated about our little hale, is that you could

see the side of the refrigerator as soon as you walk in the front door.  It made me crazy!

When we had the plans drawn up for the addition we were going to do (that never happened),

they were going to add a little wall to hide it.

Since hubby was going to be gone a little while longer, I decided to go ahead and have the

wall built.  I talked to Travis and Red about doing it.  These guys had worked on our street

while it was being redone.  Since Travis had wrist surgery recently, he asked Painter Mike

to come and help dry-wall.  

My only request was that they have it done before hubby got home...

Red nailed the final nail in at 7:30 and hubby landed at 8:30...close!

This "before" photo show the side of the refrigerator with my little wire cart that holds our

rice cooker and misc.

the new wall going up.  It was tricky because the travertine floor is

at an angle, so the wall followed that and then the cabinet had to be 

cut at the same angle.

Complete!

I un- loaded the wire cart to get it out of the way.  

It took hubby almost 10 minutes to notice the wall...he likes it!

I knew he would.  He'd be glad the he wasn't here for the building and

he'd be glad that he doesn't have to listen to me anymore about "I wish

we had that wall..."

Looks just like I imagined it would!

Thanks really goes out to Red, Travis and Mike...you guys rock!!!!

We love you!

Eating Machines...

When we were in California, our neighbor Molly sent us this photo.  She told us that our crown flower tree

was covered with them and most of the leaves were gone!!!  Every year when

hubby starts to see these little eating machines on the tree he sprays it.

They love, love, love the crown flower or milk weed.

The tree is very old and so beautiful.  You can

see it in all it's summer glory in this post from a few years ago.  Most of the

crown flower trees you see are purple, but this one is white and so healthy (thanks to hubby for taking care of it).

(Molly Garner photo)

One of the very best things about this tree is that it acts as a screen/barrier

to the crazies next door.  I'm sure it will be fine in a few weeks and it's

nice to see all of the butterflies in the yard and neighborhood. But until it comes

back, there's a lot more light in our yard.

HOME!!!

Did I mention it was 80 degrees?

Glad to be back.

Oh, the wonders in our yard...

(I had to get a pic off the web, our guy is too high up in the tree, but he looks like this one)

Hubby has been trimming (nothing new) in our yard. He called me out to see what he'd found in our Crown Flower tree. We called the neighbor girls over and Ash, our resident tree expert.

It was a "short nosed chameleon"

We have lots of brown geckos, green geckos, all kinds of stuff turn up, never anything like this.

He's about 8 inches long and seems very happy to stay high up in the tree. Which is fine with me.

Oh, the country life!

From this to this...

Today I'm going from this... leaving this behind...

flying over this tonight...

And will get to see this tomorrow...

HOME!

Home-Sweet...

Green Hills...
warm, clean water...
smell...
beautiful sunrise...
rainbows...

Home !

after being gone to the mainland for almost three weeks, I got home last night and spent today looking at everything I missed.