Aloha Friends!

This is the sunrise I woke up to this morning. I ran outside to take a photo. It was so pretty until it started to rain...haha! We’ve had some strange weather lately. The trade winds are blowing the wrong direction and it’s been really humid and warm. It was 80F when I dropped the keiki off to school this morning! As I was driving home the rain stopped and there was a beautiful rainbow. The sun shining brightly in the sky. I got my laundry drying on the line now. Fingers crossed it doesn’t rain again or our clothes will get a second rinse! Have a wonderful day....no rain no rainbows!

Aloha Friends,

Yesterday was such a nice day here on Kauai. The weather was a warm 80F with a light breeze and cotton ball clouds filled a blue sky. As soon as my husband got off work we packed a cooler, slathered on some sunscreen and walked to the beach.

It was great spending time together, enjoying a cold beer and talking about how much we love living here. We've been here 3 months now and I gotta say that I can't imagine living anywhere else. It took a lot of courage to make the move but, I'm so glad we did. Kauai has been good to us.

Someone asked me if I feel like I'm on vacation all the time. No, it's not like being on vacation. I do pretty much the same things I did before back in San Diego. I make breakfast and lunches, get the keikis to school, do laundry, bake bread, shop, prepare dinner. My life is much like it was before except for one huge difference... it is absolutely beautiful here. Oh, and one tiny difference, we live in a much smaller home. So, it doesn't feel like I'm forever on vacation but, I sure do love getting out for a few ours at the beach.

Well, our lovely afternoon weather began to change. We noticed dark clouds approaching from the north. Rain was threatening. Just as we were thinking we should gather our belongings and head home a huge rainbow appeared on the horizon! It was so pretty! I wanted to share it with you.

​Thanks for reading my diary!

Aloha friends!

Even with the craziness of moving I still had my every day housekeeping to do. Laundry stops for no one! :) Especially with 4 kids. Anyway, I found myself nearly out of laundry soap so I made a new batch. I've been making my own laundry soap for about 7 years. I'm sure I've saved hundreds of dollars and saved the Earth from a bunch of plastic. Laundry soap is super easy to make and takes just a few minutes. Here's what you do...

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (don't use baking soda)
Fells Naptha or Zote Soap (both of these bar soaps are made specifically for laundry)
Borax

Grate the soap finely. Measure equal amounts of grated soap, washing soda and Borax. So, if you have 1 cup of grated soap, you'll use 1 cup washing soda and 1 cup Borax. Mix everything together in a bowl. Put into air tight container. Use 2 tablespoons per load of laundry.

For folks who have machines that require liquid detergent you'll need to put the dry mixture into a large pot and add twice as much water. If you have 3 cups laundry soap, add 6 cups water. Heat the mixture and stir with a wisk until dissolved. Once cooled put it into container. Use 1/2 cup liquid soap per load.

Once you wash your clothes in your own laundry soap it's great to use a "solar dryer" when you can. I hung my clothes out often in San Diego. We had a lot of sunny days with low humidity...clothes dried fast there! On Kauai I've noticed items take considerably longer to air dry but, electricity is expensive here so I think it's worth the extra time.

Thanks for reading the coconut diaries!