Back from Hawaii...

Spent the last week visiting our son and his wife on Oahu.

This was the first day on the beach in Kailua:

Last night in Hawaii at a Luau:

DH and I at Luau (night pics)

In between we had a fabulous time visiting all the lava beaches and little coves around the east coast where they live. 

We also visited the north shore, Pearl Harbor, and saw where Jurassic Park, Gilligan's Island, and Lost were filmed. Visited a macadamia farm...

at Macadamia Nut Farm

and a Chocolate Factory. Did you know that Hawaii is the only place in the US that can grow cocao beans? They only grow within 10-20 degrees from the equator - so it's South America, Africa, and Hawaii. Isn't that interesting? They explained everything on the tour from the growing of the trees, harvesting and roasting the beans, to making the chocolate. And they had a tasting bar!!

 Loved the lava beaches and tide pools...

daughter-in-law and I

son and I

Especially loved having coffee on the beach in the morning...

DH of course loved visiting Pearl Harbor and seeing the battleships and submarines...  He was fascinated with the ship itself and the history - while I was most moved at the pictures on the wall of all those young men who died. They were so young.

The Kiss

And lastly...

This is me thinking about using the scooter to explore the island... of course I didn't do it.  Didn't need to... my son and his wife took us everywhere. We could have stayed longer and spread it out, but to be honest, I don't think we missed anything. We weren't interested in seeing Waikiki - too crowded. Enjoyed Kailua where they live. It's separated from Honolulu by the Koolau mountain range.

If you know Oahu, Hawaii... you may recognize some of these places. We visited:

Kailua beach
Bellows beach
Waimanalo Bay
Hawaii Kai-mal
Sandy beach
Makapuu beach
Blowholes lookout
Pearl Harbor
Heeia Park
Macadamia Nut Farm
The Ranch (Jurassic Park)
Turtle Bay Resort
Polynesian cultural center
Tide pools
Ka Moana Luau
Chocolate Factory

... all in one week (minus 2 days of flying)! I had my daughter-in-law write them down for me as I would never remember or know how to pronounce them.

It was the trip of a lifetime for us... and what happened at the Luau is a whole nother' story (which I may tell at another time). 

(I hope the pictures are not too large - but the scenery is just too gorgeous to see small and didn't know if everyone could enlarge them.)

Have a great weekend... and as always thanks for reading. If I could, I would share some of these wonderful macadamia nut products we brought home with us. And I learned that although I don't care for canned pineapple - I loved the fresh Hawaiian pineapple served everywhere!

Hugs,
Rian

Now I have to spend the weekend catching up on all the blog reading I missed...

just a few things...

I watched a movie with Judi Dench this morning, "Iris"...  story of an English author who dazzled readers and professors alike... both with her lectures and with her thoughts. She loved "words" and in her older years developed Alzheimer's. Story is especially sad because words were her life, but if it plays true, her professor husband is more than understanding and compensating... caring and doing his level best to give her what of life she has left. So yes, it was sad, but also comforting in a way. If any of you have seen it, I would love to hear what you thought.

Oh... also we were able to finally get our tickets to Hawaii to visit our son. It had to be postponed a bit to a later date, but that's OK. He lives on the central east coast of Oahu (at least I think that's right) moved there 2 years ago. Loves it!  The pictures he sends are gorgeous. 

I also have a friend who moved to Hawaii last year. She bought a house on the Big Island... and loves it too! Can't wait!

Currently in the studio:

Bird feeders which are on greenware shelf ready for first firing

These bird feeders will eventually be glazed and hung up with cord one on top the other like a mobile with beads - and  birdseed in the wings (to hang in trees). At least... that's the plan.

Silly seal I sculpted Saturday also awaiting first firing

This little guy wasn't planned, but since some of my clay works hadn't been fired, I didn't have anything else to work on... so I made this silly little seal.

Oh... great,  another severe thunderstorm warning for our location just announced.  Here we go again. Sky has turned black... Guess I need to shut down the computer. Have a good Sunday and thanks for visiting.


Hugs, 
Rian

Happy Cinco de Mayo Saturday!

I'm writing this Sunday. Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. We celebrated by taking the cats to get their annual vaccinations. They weren't happy. In fact they knew 'something' was going on from the early morning when we took their crates into the house.

Julie was upset and kept crying and following me around all morning, Tux was jumpy, and Ghost stayed away and hid in the bedroom. When the time came to crate them, we have to use diversion... finding the one that will be the most difficult to find if they take to hiding (that's Ghost), crating her, then the next one must be taken without the 3rd one seeing or hearing them protest (that's Julie). We usually leave Tux for last as he is a large cat and doesn't move fast or hide well. However, he did hear Julie complaining as she was put into her crate... and was on 'high alert' when captured. 

But they behaved well and were home again very quickly... and given treats to make up for having to put up with the indignities. Ghost was the last to let bygones be bygones. But as of this morning, she has forgiven us (a little chicken from my making chicken salad today helped).

My son (who lives on Oahu) is keeping us updated on the earthquakes, lava spills, and volcanic activity on the big island of Hawaii. Scary stuff!  Oahu is not affected... or at least not seriously. I think they said that the 6.9 earthquake Friday could be felt as far as Oahu... and if the winds are right, they may get some ash. I can't imagine dealing with volcanoes and earthquakes. I have dealt with hurricanes,  and the possibility of floods and tornadoes... but one cannot hide in a closet from an earthquake/lava. 

I have a friend in my pottery class that is/was planning to move to the big island.  She once told me that the area she planned to move to was far away from touristy attractions and was beautiful. However, there was the 'possibility of lava flows'...  

Keep these people in your prayers.