the "avocado chair"

It makes my day to see the "avocado chair"

out on the corner of the road.

I crave these local grown avocados!

I cut them open and eat them with a spoon

 with a little salt and pepper and fresh lime juice.

The family picks their avocados and puts

them in a basket on the chair with a

money jar on the side.

$1 a piece...on the honor system.

Everybody around knows

"the avocado chair".

They're usually gone by noon.

I lucked out...it's been a cloudy day,

so fewer people driving down the highway.

So, I got my pick!

"Beach" Hopping

That's what I have been doing the last few days...
going to the beach...
haven't been for a long time...
makin' up for lost time...
plus the weather has been gorgeous...
you'd go to...right!
so this is Ha'ena Beach Park
on the north shore of Kauai.
It's low tide...which makes it all the more dramatic.
wish you all could be here
and go to the beach with me.

 Bali Hai
(made famous in the movie "South Pacific")

 low tide...good time to look for shells!

Aaaaahhhh....livin' the good life

I confess...
it's nice to be able
to go to the beach
in January!

Another Sunset @ Ke'e Beach

I really hope my friends and family
don't get tired of these pictures!
I am always amazed how different
the beach and sunset is every time
I venture out to Ke'e.
Just to refresh it's location...
it is the beach located
on the northern most point
of the island of Kauai.
The road ends here.
There's been a high surf
advisory for the last few days...take a look!
But as the sun gets lower in the
sky...the waves seem to calm down too.
Your looking at the NaPali coastline here...WOW!!
My camera wasn't good enough to capture the whales spouting
in the picture below...sorry...because it was so amazing to watch!

Now, just enjoy the sunset on the NaPali Coastline of Kauai.

Wish you could all be here to see it!

Aloha from Kauai........... :-)

A Walk to the Post Office

We've had a lot of rain this last week...

but our weather is mild compared to

what I have seen on the news all over

the mainland...but especially the east coast!

At least when the rain stops here and the sun

comes out...it's instantly summer again,

no matter what month it is!

And today was one of those days.

The sun came out, and it was

a gorgeous warm day.

So, I decided to walk to the post office.

I was amused by what I saw along the way.

The garden in front of one house had this

most spectacular hibiscus growing in their garden!

And then not far from that, this was growing in their garden.

A different kind of beauty!
It was a great walk!

Happy 2011 New Year Everyone!!

from Polihale State Park on Kauai

(I dedicated this day to my friends Steve and Lily!)

They called and asked me to be sure and take a walk

on the beach for them on new year's day.

It's a great place to beach combe for shells, Lily!)

This beach is hard to get to...but worth it!

This was quite the test for my new "old" car...

but she made it through all the pot holes and mud

and got us there and back safe and sound!

I'm so proud of her!

My friends were happy,too, because none of them

had cars that would get us there...

Hope you had a great new year's day wherever you spent it!

Sea Turtles, Sand Castles, Sunsets, and a Full Moon Rising...

and it all happened in just a half an hour this evening!!

(between 6:30p and 7:00p)

WOW!!

The sea turtle came ashore for sunset...Staser thought it was pretty cool!

His sand castle was also pretty cool... And we turned around just in time to catch the full moon rising...

How cool was that!!

A perfect cool day on Kauai!

Then we were off to get a shave ice!

It was so scrumptous!

Another Island Car is making it's debut!

My husband saw a similar car at the craft show

last weekend and thought it woud be a fun car to

tool around in here. He kept buggin' me about the

idea until I finally looked at Craigs' List to see

if any were around...and low and behold,

there was one...it had just been posted...

looked really sweet...price was right...

so now it has a new home in our jungle.

Cute, huh!!!

perfect car to drive the beautiful road

between Wainiha and Hanalei!

(p.s. hope it doesn't leak when it rains though!)

"Christmas Tree" Bush

That's not it's real name...but it's what I have affectionately named it.
I just read that it only blooms in the summer months in the northern hemisphere...
it is native to the southern hemisphere...
however, the University of Hawaii horticulturalists are attempting to develop a
December blooming for the floral Christmas decoration business.
So I'm not the only one who thinks this is a "Hawaiian Christmas Tree"...only in June!
In the floral world...it is a "scarlet heliconia"...also known as a "hanging lobster claw".
It seems like overnight the flower appears...with it's brilliant red and yellow color...
and the edges painted with a hint of green.
Then, magically, each day the petals start to open up...

And then...magically...it looks like a Christmas tree!

It's amazing!

All things [truly do] denote there is a God

Look What Moved into The Neighborhood Yesterday!

Hanalei neighborhood...to be precise.

It all happens in just a few hours that

these "movie sets" move into town.

(It happens a lot here...for instance...

since January...there have been film

crews here for 3 different films. George

Clooney was here in March...we all tried

to catch a glimpse!)

I read online that the filming for the new

"Pirates of the Carribean" began here last week.

Parts of it are being filmed on the NaPali Coast. No wonder I've been hearing so many

helicopters fly over our place! The NaPali Coast

is just 5 minutes down the road from us.

It's our favorite place for incredible sunsets!

What an amazing backdrop for a movie!

I'm sure you'll agree...it's a beautiful place to work!

Set includes trailers for the stars...
A tent to serve food to the film crews...

I'll have to keep my eyes open for Johnny Depp!

All is well in Paradise!

It was brought to my attention this morning that

I haven't done a blog post since April 12th!!

Wow!! I thought to myself...where did the

time go this last 7+ weeks...what did I do?!

It's a cloudy, rainy day today...

good day to blog...so here's a quick recap...

Right after my last blog, our faithful and trusty

island car broke down. It's an older car, so the

tiny part that broke had to be ordered in from

the mainland (name used by us locals to identify

the other 49 states). It took almost 2 weeks!

That's when you really know you live in the

jungle. Timing is always bad when your car

breaks down. We were busy packing for an extended

adventure which would take us to the

"mainland" (Utah) for family events, and then to China.

(another "mainland")

It's takes too long to explain "why", suffice it to say...we accompanied

The Raging Red Choir from Dixie State College, (located in St. George, Utah),

on it's China tour to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing, and Qingdao.

We came back exhausted!! In 10 days, they did 9 performances...

they were way more exhausted then us! But they're young...right.

Since we've been back, Lar and I have both had computer issues.

Mine was minor...fortunately...and was an easy fix...

But Lar's was major...with lots and lots of hours on the phone with

tech support...missing a few naps, and not sleeping very well...

New parts are on their way for the old computer...

Also...a new computer is on it's way to the Jungle Cabana...

Our computers are our everything here.....

phone, tv, internet, video conferencing with the grandkids...

It's our big time link to all of you!!

So, they have to work!!

We've still been doing our QiGong 3 days a week.

Our weather has been stunningly gorgeous.

So, even with all the stuff that has broken and tried to discourage us...

All I do is get in our car and drive to Hanalei...

that 5 miles which takes me 10 mintues...is the

most stunning stretch of road anywhere!

It puts everything back into perspective.

I just can't get discouraged.

All really is well in Paradise!

Cleaning the floors---Hawaii Style

"New slippers" you may ask...

"Yes" I would answer...

But not the "kine" to wear to the beach.

This "kine" I wear around our cabana to clean the floor!

With my 409 in hand...I'm off to "dance" around our cabana...

and clean the floor!
I really can multi-task now!
It's the only way to clean...no more hands and knees stuff!
Just "Arthur Murray" my way around the cabana...Hawaii style!
Yes...living in the jungle...the floors get very dirty!
Yes...my cleaning slippers really do work!

More Road Signs....

2 more signs went up this week...
A Happy one...!

And a not so happy one... (I'm getting a little concerned about the safety of our street.)