Aloha friends,
So standing in the line at the post office on Friday I saw a sign that basically stated I better get my Christmas cards out! Mainland bound needs to be post marked soon. I spent some time this weekend writing my cards and enclosing them with a Kauai calendar. Longs had a sale on these calendars for .88 cents, can’t beat that.

My favorite image from the calendar is January ‘s photo....so beautiful!

It’s always nice to send a little aloha to friends and family especially this time of year. Mele Kalikimaka!

Aloha friends!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! We had a nice day here on Kauai. The temp was pushing 80F, but we still baked...had all the windows open in the kitchen! On the menu was ham, augratin potatoes, sausage stuffing, and asparagus with pumpkin and apple pie for dessert. I was so happy about how well the pumpkin pie turned out. My last few attempts did not go as well. But, this one was nearly perfect. I think I got it down. Here’s a few photos from our day...

I hope that you had a good day and got to spend some time with those you love sharing food and laughter.
As always, thanks for reading my diary!

Aloha Friends!

It’s been a beautiful day here on Kauai. Really the complete opposite of last year’s rained out Halloween. The kids are excited for trick-or-treating but, first we had to carve our pumpkins and pineapple.

Pineapple are fun to carve. I think they have a lot of personality. They’re also tasty. And when Halloween is over I can plant his top in my pineapple patch.

We’ve been doing a little decorating for fall. Last week I made some bunting and hung it up in my kitchen shelves. I used scrapbook paper and ribbon. One of my daughters painted the haunted house. Nothing too scary here. We don’t have much Halloween decor because I purged most of it when we moved. But, I did keep our favorite pieces.

For Halloween dinner I always make chili. It’s a family tradition back from when I was a kid. I like this recipe because it’s an all meat chili. The beans and whatever else you want to serve with it are on the side. That way everyone can make their own bowl. It’s even better with corn bread. Here’s an old recipe card my mom gave me with the recipe...

The kids came home quite happy from trick-or-treating. They got a ridiculous amount of candy! Lots of full size bars. The people offering treats were very generous. The pile below is just one child’s stash!

I hope that you had a nice Halloween and thank you for reading my diary!

This morning I was looking out my living room window and see a Hawaiian Airlines jet. It was low and approaching from an odd direction. All of a sudden I hear the engines roar, the jet shoots up and takes off! I was so concerned, I had to look up the flight to see it’s path. Here’s what I saw on the website Flightaware...

The jet was down to 575 feet then up slightly to 625 before quickly jumping to 1575 feet in 20 seconds. How scary for the passengers on that flight. They thought they were floating in for landing. And then they’re not!

The Hawaiian Airlines jet ended up making a circle out over the ocean before returning back for a second try. I was relieved to see it land. I haven’t heard what caused the plane to abort its first landing. If I hear anything I’ll let you all know. I’m sure the passengers have a scary story to tell.

Wishing you aloha always...

Aloha Everyone!

This week I decided to do a little kitchen cabinet renovation. This particular cabinet had been troublesome. It’s in a tight corner and when you opened the doors it just felt like they were right in your face. Since it’s the only cabinet that’s deep enough to hold our plates, we opened it frequently. So, we decided to go ahead and remove the doors and just have open shelving. Here’s before photos...

First, I removed the cabinet doors. Then I pulled up all the old, yucky wood grained shelf liner. I was surprised how much stick it still had! Next step was cleaning all the surfaces thoroughly with soapy water. Then, I filled all the holes with spackling. When that was dry I sanded down the rough spots. Next I painted a coat of cover stain primer. The primer is oil based so I let it dry over night. The next day I painted 2 coats of Behr paint semi gloss in “painters white”. I let the paint dry a few hours between coats.

It was kinda fun putting all of our Fiesta dinnerware back. I love vintage Pyrex and tried to arrange everything in a attractive manner. I use the Pyrex bowls all the time so they had to stay on a lower shelf. The top shelf holds a set of Pyrex casserole dishes, a treasured gingerbread cookie jar and a set of Federal Glass atomic dot mixing bowls.

I really like the way the open shelves look. And it’s so much more user friendly! We saved the cabinet doors and hardware just in case we change our minds one day. But, for now I love it!

​Thanks for reading my diary!

Aloha All!

It it was an exceptionally beautiful day here today! Nice and warm with clear skies. Would’ve been a perfect beach day but, no time...busy day. I did stop and take a few photos.. Here’s one of my favorites...

Aloha Everyone,

It’s been hot and humid here the past week. Trade winds are down so it feels rather sticky. Saturday we went down to the bay to enjoy some cool air and watch the water. As we drove down the hill we noticed a new cruise ship in the harbor. It was a big boat! I think this is the biggest boat I’ve seen here. I had to take a photo. If you look closely at the pic you can see it has two waterslides! The Carnival Legend.

We ended up meeting some of the passengers later in the afternoon as they were walking back to the ship and we were parking our truck. They were quite a ways away from the boat but, still had smiles on their faces despite the muggy weather. I had to ask them about the waterslides and if they all had gone down them. They did! They were so excited to tell us about the waterslides. They were having a great time. Turns out they’re from Canada. The boat was at sea for 5 days before reaching Hawaii! I think the feeling was mutual when I say it was fun talking with them for a bit. We wished them aloha and waved as they walked away.

​Thanks for reading my diary!

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!

​I hope that you had a great July 4th! We had a lot of fun here on Kauai. It was perfect weather for a cook-out. My husband and son barbecued some delicious pork ribs and fresh corn on the cob. The girls and I made pasta salad, baked beans, steamed asparagus, and a tossed green salad. We kept it pretty simple so we all could enjoy the day.

After we ate a yummy dinner we busted out the fireworks. By the way, they sell fireworks everywhere here. I thought it was funny that I picked up ours at the grocery store! And the boxes at Costco are huge...nearly as tall as I am! Here’s what you can get for $199...

But, here’s what I purchased...$17 worth.

We had a good time playing with the fireworks, and nobody got burnt. We then made s’mores for dessert. Sweet and sticky goodness! We ate them up before I could take a photo.

Kauai puts out a nice fireworks show. I was really impressed as I’d never been on island to see it before. We watched a spectacular show from our backyard. They set them off from Vindinha stadium in Lihue which ironically is across the street from the airport! It’s actually a day long celebration with lots of venders, bouncy houses and entertainment, fun for everyone. The proceeds benefit Kauai Hospice, always a wonderful organization to support. I took a few photos that didn’t quite do the beauty of it all justice but, you get the idea...

Happy Independence Day and thank you for reading my diary!