2015 Bonsai Party

Saturday was our Annual Bonsai Club Holiday Party and it was loads of fun!

The party was held at the Pearl City Country Club and club members from all over the island arrived.

We all donated prizes for grab bags.

Many people look forward to attending because the prizes are  really fun.

Let's face it.  We come for the food too... and the camaraderie.















After the luncheon, we took out our tickets and waited to see what we might win.

We won this squirrel plant in a pretty bonsai bowl, some candy, a Walmart gift card, a bonsai planter and would you believe... a dozen fresh eggs?

The bonsai planter is ummmm.... not exactly for a novice.  Art has a ways to go before he can create a bonsai masterpiece on such a shallow bowl.  As for me and the eggs?

Hmmmm...  Any suggestions?

How to Know If a Battery is Dead

I saw a really helpful video on Kathy G's The Second Half of My Life about testing AA alkaline batteries.

I tried this out using some batteries I had in my recycle container and sure enough, it worked... I think.  Looks like I had some iffy batteries that must still have a little charge in them because they kept teetering for a long time before falling.

I checked on this and found PetaPixel

"Unfortunately, this will only work with alkaline batteries, so don’t go dropping your Lithium-ion rechargeables. The reason this works is that, as alkaline batteries discharge, the chemistry inside changes and produces Hydrogen gas, creating pressure and making it easier for the battery to bounce and topple."

This is all so interesting.  I'm going to try this again next time my batteries seem to lose its charge.  I wasn't very scientific.  I need to get some new batteries and see if they stay standing.

It's so much fun to learn something new from cyber friends.

How to Take a Photo With an iPhone

I don't know if it's the same with all smartphones, but I learned something about my iPhone 4s when we were in Illinois last fall. 

I thought my iPhone 4s was just OK for photos.  I couldn't really rely on it all the time to take adequate photos.  I'd been nagging Art that I wanted an iPhone 6 to take better photos.

In Illinois, I saw that my son-in-law had gotten Tiffany the larger iPhone 6 on the left for her birthday.  He has the iPhone 5c or s in the middle.  My iPhone 4s is on the right.

Anyway, I learned from Tif that I could tap on the camera screen to focus where I want. 

What?  How long have I had this iPhone and I didn't know that?  Nobody told me.

The iPhone takes the best photos in bright light.

Still, I needed a photo for this post to illustrate how to focus so I had Art take this photo in the dim light in our hallway for me anyway.

He used my new Canon camera.

And here's the shot of the poinsettia taken with the iPhone.  Not bad for dim lighting.  I've been taking photos in sunlight and they've been really nice.

Uh oh.... What am I doing posting about this?

Now Art will take even longer to agree to upgrade to the iPhone 6.

Ditherers

Yes, it's true.  Art and I are chronic, dyed-in-the-wool, confirmed ditherers.  As we left Sam's Club, I had to laugh at the process we went through to just buy a bag of coffee.

Entering store (seeing display of sale items):  

Art:  "Oh good.  There's a sale on Lion's Coffee.  Hmmm... But it's Vanilla Macadamia Nut.  Do you like vanilla coffee?"

Me:  "I don't know.  Do you think there's that much of a vanilla flavor?"

Art:  "No, let's  not get that.  It's only 10% Kona.  It's not 100%"

At the coffee aisle:

Art:  "Look at the assortment."

Kay:  "Anything will do.  How about this one?"

Art:  "No let's not get French roast.  It's a bit bitter."

Kay:  "How about Folgers?  Mom drinks Folgers."

Art:  "No, absolutely not Folgers."

Kay:  "Look there's Gevalia.  I remember the commercials with the suave guy selling Gevalia coffee."

Art:  "Nah..."

Kay:  "Here's 100% Kona!"

Art:  "Whoa!  Look at the price!!!  I don't think so."

Kay:  "Here's Starbucks."

Art:  "No, too strong.  Then again, maybe it doesn't matter.  The coffee is for you anyway and you add chocolate milk to make mocha."

Kay:  "OK, but you drink coffee twice a week also.... black."

Art:  "You're right."

Art and Kay:  "Sigh....."

Art:  "We'll just get this one."

And what did we end up with?  Did you guess?

Yup!  It's what we started with.  We almost didn't get it after all because it was whole bean, but discovered that Sam's Club has a machine that grinds it for you.  (Yes, we do own a grinder.  We're just too lazy to use it.) Then the Sam's Club grinder wouldn't work until we discovered it wasn't plugged in.

When we got home mom asked, "What took you so long to buy coffee?"

An Ilima Lei for My Cousin Joan

Art enjoys doing his Meals on Wheels every Friday and has grown to really care about his clients.  Several of them have wanted to repay him for his volunteer work.  He has told them all firmly that he cannot accept payment for his volunteering.  However, there are some things he hasn't been able to refuse and the organizers have said it's OK for him to accept. 

Mrs. M. gave our granddaughter a box of cookies this past summer that just happened to be KC's favorite.  7 year old KC wrote her a beautiful illustrated thank you letter that Art has been told is still hanging on this kind lady's refrigerator.  Mrs. M bemoaned the fact that so few young people acknowledge gifts these days.  She is still touched by the effort KC put into her letter.

Mrs. M sews ilima leis for stores.  For the longest time now, she has repeatedly asked Art to tell her when he needs a lei because she wanted to sew him one.

We were finally able to ask her for a lei to place on the urn for my cousin, Joan's interment of her ashes on Saturday.

On Friday, Mrs. M asked Art if he would help her with the ilima flowers.   I was going to go but at the last minute stayed home because I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to pass on any possible germs.

Art took these photos for me with our iPhone.  The ilima bushes are all around her yard.  Each teeny tiny flower looks like a miniature hibiscus.  Mrs. M has to pick them early in the morning when the sun is barely up.

It takes about 500 flowers to make one lei.  Mrs. M is paid very little for the leis.  The flower shops hike the price almost 75%.

Here Mrs. M is showing Art how to pull off the sepals of the flower.  I think that's what you call that green part of the flower.

Art said it took quite a bit of time, but he enjoyed learning about 92 year old Mrs. M's life experiences.

He watched as she began stringing the flowers together and thought she was almost done, but then she told him to come back later to get the finished product.

I was feeling better by then so I went along to thank her.  We brought her some eggplant which she said she really loved.

I was very happy to meet her and promised to come again another time to help.

What a shock to discover when we came home that she didn't just sew us one lei, but three strands.  I know one strand costs about $25!

Although everyone at Joan's interment on Saturday admired the lei, I know there was just as much pleasure for Mrs. M because there is happiness in giving as well as receiving.

As we were leaving her house Friday afternoon Mrs. M called out, "Please bring KC with you the next time she visits so I can sew a lei for her."

A Day at the Museum

For Art's 70th summer birthday, he received a Honolulu Museum of Art gift card from a dear friend.  We had a free day so we decided to go.

We'd gone there a little over a year ago when Marianna (Hattie's Web) and Terry treated Cloudia (Comfort Spiral), Hank, and us to lunch but we didn't get a chance to see the exhibits.

The first Wednesdays of each month is a great time to go because there's free admission.

At other times, there's a required "donation."

The horse sculptures made of driftwood outside the museum are pretty awesome.

A docent greeted us saying that there was an "Ummmm...hmmmm.... old and more modern Japanese erotic art exhibit". 

She told us we could skip it.

Ummmmm...

OK... after we left that exhibit.... which was....ummmm... interesting we decided to purify ourselves with some religious art.

This is a Northern Song Dynasty wood carving of Guanyin, c. 1025.  It's supposed to be a male bodhisattva with a Amitabha Buddha crown.

It really is an amazing religious piece and radiates serenity and peace.

I did ask a docent if it was OK to take photos.  He said I could so long as I didn't use a flash.  I didn't bring my camera, so I used my iPhone to take all these photos.

Art took this photo of me looking at some netsuke.

There was a small collection of African, South American and Polynesian art pieces.
















This Hawaiian figurine display is obviously modern.

This Mayan terracotta piece was really exceptional.

There were also a Chinese and Mediterranean courtyard.

This one led to the Mediterranean.

We stopped in the gift shop and bought this calendar for mom to put in the kitchen.  Since her father was a zen priest, we thought it would be perfect.

And yes, she liked it.

It was a lovely way to spend the day. 

Our Tangerine Tree is Growing Up

Back in Illinois there was a wall in the closet where we charted our children's growth throughout the years.

Now we're got our Satsuma tangerine tree.

Looks like it's been almost two years now since we got the tree from Home Depot and planted it.

Our baby tree has sure grown, but it is still a juvenile and has not shown any signs of blooming.  Like my son, it is now taller than I am.

I'm really waiting for the time when I can post about our first tangerine... and it better be a sweet fruit for all the care and love we've given it.

More Costco Flubs

Before we left for the Mediterranean cruise in October of last year, I ended up buying three Costco shorts (different colors) because they were such a good fit.  Then I discovered that the buttons on the side of the leg were not the same.  I wrote about it on my post titled Another Costco Flub.  I got the shorts changed without a problem and was content.

Then we left for our Mediterranean cruise.

Well....

After returning I decided to wear one of the shorts to Zumba and discovered they were too big.  I had to wear a belt with the shorts.

Good grief!  I know I actually GAINED weight during this trip... not so much in the Mediterranean perhaps, but when we got to Chicago.

So could it be that just my tummy got smaller?  OK.  I know that's not true because well... let's not go into detail here.

It was a head scratcher.

This morning I decided to wear another of the Costco shorts and was surprised to find the shorts fit perfectly.

Hmmmm...

Did my tummy suddenly get bigger?

I decided to check.

The sizes on the label were the same.  However, when I lined the pants up next to each other, the waist band was about a inch bigger on the olive shorts.

Oh aggravation!

My daughter, Tiffany tells me that Costco should take it back even though it's been worn.  She said our purchases are in their computer system even if we don't have the receipts.  Really?

Sigh....

We'll see.

POSTSCRIPT:
We were able to return the shorts without a problem.  I'm going to have to be a lot more careful when I buy clothing from Costco.

Sued for Non-Attendance?

My daughter sent me an article from the UK newspaper, The Guardian. (Here's the link.)  It seems a 5 year old boy wanted to go to a classmate's birthday party held at the Plymouth Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre and then was unable to attend.  They had not informed his classmate's parents of the conflict in schedule which would prevent him from attending as he said he would.  Apparently they lost the invitation or something like that.

The boy's parents then found an invoice in his backpack later from the birthday child's mother for 15.95 pounds which is about $24 US and threatened with legal action if they didn't pay.

All their names are printed in The Guardian.

Good grief!  I would be mortified.

 Most people commenting on the story felt the birthday child's mother was being pretty ridiculous.

It is.  I know that.  BUT, isn't it irritating when people say they'll come to a party and then not show up without informing you?

Weddings are the worst, I think.  Often times, the receptions are close to $100 a person and it's painful when people don't show up.  There are also times when invited guests show up with more people than were invited.

But a 5 year old's birthday party?  Legal action?  Wouldn't you call this a frivolous law suit?  Small claims court?  I would almost venture to say this child will be hard pressed to find children willing to attend his parties from now on.  We always had our children's birthday parties at our house with games, lunch, cake and ice cream.  $24 a child for a birthday party is pretty darn steep. What kind of birthday parties did you have for your children?

Hopefully Not a Lemon

We were looking at our Satsuma tangerine tree and I saw some new growth near the bottom of the trunk.

I told Art we should just pluck it off since it doesn't look all that great to have a second branch there.

When he did, we were surprised to see large thorns!  The rest of the tangerine tree has no thorns.  These look like lemon tree thorns.

Let's hope we get tangerines someday soon and that we didn't get a lemon of a tree.

Something to Look Forward to in 2015

I still can't believe it's 2015!

2014 was a year filled with adventure, great happiness, a family reunion, fun with friends, lots of travel and then sadness.  

2015 is a clean slate.  My traveling husband has already planned trips, changed his mind, planned more trips and solidified a couple.

Mom never asks to go on a trip.  She keeps telling us she's too old.  However, last year for the first time she said she would like to see the Northwest again and Canada.  We were pretty darn shocked. 

She wants to see Butchart Gardens again.

She wants to see the Skagit Valley tulips again.

Although Art was worried that she might be disappointed if we go again, we're going to take her.  We'll keep our fingers crossed that we will go just at the right time again.  We'll hope that the weather will be perfect again and that our health will be up for the travel.

This won't be her last trip.  We have another one planned for 2016, but don't tell her yet.

Organizing Fetish

Yes, yes... It's true.  I like things to be in its place.  I feel unsettled when things are undone, unfixed, unorganized.  Is it part of being a control freak?  I want everybody to be happy whether they want to be or not.

Good grief!  Where was I going with this post?  I was really wanting to write about my kitchen drawer.

Art noticed that the drawer organizers were getting cracked.  It's something about the salt air in Hawaii that makes plastic crack.

When we renovated the kitchen 7 years ago, I threw together these old drawer organizers to store our utensils.  It was a mishmosh, but it worked out OK.

We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond with our 20% off coupon (and gift card from my brother and sister-in-law) and bought kitchen drawer organizers.

I like it a whole lot better, but I suspect nobody will notice.

Mom looked at it and said, "I like it the other way better."

Sigh... "Why?" I asked.

"I need the chopsticks for cooking and all kinds of stuff," she insisted.

Sigh...

"OK" she agreed.  "Now it's better."

And now there's just the rest of the house to organize. 

Don't Judge the Gift By the Wrapping

A while ago Tif called us with special instructions for a gift that she and our son-in-law had sent.  She said that when the box came, they wanted us to turn it over immediately and not look at the address label so we wouldn't know where it came from.  It would be too much of a give-away.

We did as she said. 

Tif said we must remove the present from the  back side and just enjoy it because they paid quite a bit extra to have it specially gift wrapped.

I was a little surprised at the wrapping and Tif was rather irritated to see the job the mystery company had done for what they charged.

OK I confess, I shook the box a couple of times, but couldn't figure out what they'd send us.

A fruit cake would fit in the box, but it wasn't heavy enough.

On Christmas day, our curiosity was at its peak so we had to open that mystery gift first.

We have a gift exchange system with our kids so that we each only buy gifts for one person.  We take turns every year so that we get a different person.  We also have a somewhat strict limit.  Our system does not apply to our granddaughter.  She gets presents from everybody.

When we were in Illinois in October with our daughter and family after our Mediterranean cruise, I said that I needed a new camera.  We are notorious wafflers, changing our minds, researching, window shopping, checking the Internet until it drives everybody crazy before we actually buy something.

My son-in-law decided to put us (me) out of my misery and bought us a new Canon SX50HS. 

Can you believe it?

We went right out to the Moanalua Gardens on Christmas day just to take some photos.

Then we went home and I took some macros.  Oh yes!  I'm really pleased and really happy.



OK...

I'm ready for our next trip.

And my son-in-law?  Oh I'll definitely be making his favorite dishes when we return to Chicago.

Breakfast Mish Mash

When I went down to the kitchen for breakfast I saw that Art had already prepared everything.  I had to laugh.  Art's sister had sent us a bunch of healthy additions for our morning meal so the table was loaded.

The clear container holds my mixture of cereals that I concoct for myself. We always add some dried cranberries and a prune or two.

Then there's Art's All Bran and flax seed.  Now we've also got dried apricots, two kinds of granola and hemp seed.

Then I've got my fish oil that my nurse practitioner wants me to take along with multivitamins, calcium, bananas and a papaya.

Please ignore the mocha I always make myself.  It's my morning vice.  Art has a healthier green tea.

How do you start your day?

Celebrating #42

We don't often celebrate our anniversary with too much fanfare, but this year we thought we'd go to a movie and have dinner at Chili's afterwards.

We went to the Pearlridge Shopping Center to see Into the Woods.  I didn't really know the story line, but tried to explain as much as we knew to mom before the movie started.  We figured that mom would just enjoy the music.

Although the actors did very well and had lovely voices, we're sorry to say we didn't enjoy the movie very much.  It was okay.

 We then walked across to Chili's.  I chose mom's dish and asked if I could substitute the fries for broccoli on my dish.  I ordered an ice tea and then Art placed his order.

When the meals came, I realized that I actually forgot to order my own dish!

Our server, Angelo apologized and brought me a free cup of soup while I waited for my half rack of baby back ribs.  I told him it was my fault entirely, but he insisted on me having the soup anyway.

Would you believe they now have these little computers at the table where you can get your bill, choose what percentage of tip you want to leave and pay with your charge card right there?

As we were sitting there, we got text messages from our son and daughter wishing us a happy anniversary.

Angelo had asked us earlier if we were celebrating something and we told him it was our 42nd wedding anniversary.

What a surprise!  He brought this rather large glass of ice cream sundae for us to all share.  Mom was in heaven!

Angelo asked us what the secret was for a long marriage.  Art and I looked at each other and Angelo asked, "Love?"

I told him, "Compromise."  I should have added communication and humor....lots of humor.

As we were leaving Chili's Art said, "You know what?  This was one of our best anniversary celebrations yet."

We all left the restaurant smiling, ready for Year #43.

What do you think is the secret to longevity in a relationship?

No Socks, White Socks, Black Socks?

My friend, Joanne called me with a question.  Her generous son had given her several pairs of backless slip-ons.  I don't know exactly what you call these backless shoes.  I have them in Easy Spirit and Merrells.  Both are very comfortable.  I use the Merrells in Chicago as house shoes and love them.

OK... so now the question.  Are you supposed to wear these half sneakers without socks or with?

Joanne and I pondered this question for a long time.  OK... I did read some place that your sneaker socks should match your shoes, not your clothes.  I could wear shorter socks, but they tend to ride down my heel.  I must walk funny.  Don't ask Art if  I do.

Perhaps No Socks look better but doesn't that mean you'll be sweating in your shoes and make them stink eventually?  Ahem... I'm not saying my feet smell, but I do know someone close to me who just might have that problem.

What do you do?

Once I know, Joanne and I can step into the New Year with confidence.

POSTSCRIPT:

Commenter Sunny just sent this photo to me and I had to post it.  She said she saw this at Costco. 

I love it!  Not for me, mind you...  I don't think I have quite the guts to pull it off.  But I do love it!

Thanks, Sunny!

Wasted Packaging

When we were in Chicago, Tif bought me a box of hot chocolate mix.  When I opened the box I was surprised to find only half of the box filled.

I told Tif that she'd been cheated.

I was almost going to write gypped and looked up the spelling to discover on Dictionary.com:

"Gyp in the meanings “to swindle” or “a person who swindles” is sometimes perceived as insulting to or by Gypsies, since it stereotypes them as swindlers. However, gyp has apparently never been used as a deliberate ethnic slur, and many people are unaware that it is derived from Gypsy."

Anyway, we weren't cheated.  The box does clearly say 6 packages.  I'm just wondering why they need such a big box.  Doesn't it just waste space on the supermarket shelves?

Musings About Weddings

Last week overflowed with life's challenges and celebrations.  It began with a sad funeral. continued with hopes for a happy new year and ended on Saturday with a wedding day full of promise and joy.

Art's cousin's son was married at the Oahu Country Club.  We'd never been there.  The exclusive country club sits on a sprawling carpet of green.  The morning started out very stormy with dark heavy clouds.   We assumed the wedding would be moved indoors.

However, by the afternoon, the sun came out bright and clear.

The ceremony was different in small, but significant ways.

Instead of the groom waiting at the front, he walked down the aisle with both of his parents.  They had raised and nurtured him, loved and supported him throughout his life.  And now they would walk with him as he entered another stage of his life.

I've always disliked the symbol of the father "giving away" his daughter to a husband.  Excuse me, wasn't the child raised by the mother as well?  And besides... do you really give away your daughter?  Never.  Your daughter belongs to herself and loved equally by both parents. 

The bride came down next with two fathers.  One, I imagine was a stepfather.  How wonderful!  Why does it have to be just one?  Why not everyone who stood by her and loved her?

The bride also had a Man of Honor and a Matron of Honor.  I loved it!

The groom had his sister as his Best Woman.

And yes, of course.  The word "obey" was not in the wedding vows. 

I do believe some traditions are wonderful to keep.  I also believe that some traditions are made even more wonderful with some modifications and upgrades.

Weird Empty Feeling

The following post was actually written almost two weeks ago, but I couldn't fit it in so I had to post it today.

Written on December 22nd, 2014

My cousin, Joan passed away a week ago.  It's strange, but it feels like a long time ago.  And yet, it also feels like time has stood still.

Auntie Grace called this morning to ask mom if she would come and stay with her.  Mom was torn at first because she felt there was too much for her to do at our house with a Christmas get-together coming up with my brother and his family.

Art and I finally convinced her that she needed to go and stay with her sister at such a terrible time.

We dropped mom off and came home.  Art and I had lunch alone and the kitchen seemed quiet, too quiet.  We realized that this was the first time we'd been alone in the house since 2006.  Obviously we've been alone on trips, but our home is suffused with mom's spirit.  It was strange to have her gone.

Mom has her little quirks... like eating lunch at exactly 11:00 and dinner promptly at 5:00 PM.  She does laundry everyday and hangs them out on the clothes line if it's sunny.  She bustles around everywhere all day long going in and out of the house to work on the garden or whatever.

Now we're finding it's weird for us to just leave the house without having to tell her.  It's weird not to have dinner with her.  It's weird to not see her puttering around the house.  It's weird to know she won't be asking us if we have something to put in the laundry.  It's weird to just know she's not in her room.

It's weird and I don't like it.

Feeling the Chill

The last few days have been quite chilly.  Well... chilly by our standards.  Art checked the temperature and it read 62 degrees.  Let's tack on a wind chill and who knows?  It might have been in the high 50 degree F (10 Celsius) area.

This is the first time in seven years we've lived here that I've actually worn long pants (not counting when I'm on the way to the airport to board a plane.)

I sent this text photo to my daughter who immediately sent a photo back to me of her snow covered driveway in Illinois.

I sent a message back saying, "You win."

I then went downstairs and cooked up a huge pot of chicken soup.

New Year With Family

Although we missed having the holidays with our children, we loved sharing this special time with my brother, Dennis' family and a friend of my nephew's wife.  Unfortunately although my nephew from California came with his wife and son, my other two nephews had to work.

The supermarket lines on Tuesday were incredibly long.  For many descendents of Japanese ancestry, New Year is very, very important.

There are so many New Year traditions we somehow feel compelled to follow.

One of the New Year traditions is to put out a kadomatsu.

I got this from Wikipedia:

A kadomatsu (literally "gate pine") is a traditional Japanese decoration of the New Year placed in pairs in front of homes to welcome ancestral spirits or kami of the harvest.

Art's high school friend, Morris gave this kadomatsu to us earlier along with some mochi he and his wife had prepared themselves.

New Years Eve had the usual fireworks, but it wasn't quite as loud as previous years because of the ban against certain kinds of explosives.  It's so much more tolerable now.

My life long friend, Diane showed up with this wonderful treat.  She and mom trade food specialties every year.  Mom makes her macaroni salad and Diane gives us her cookies.  But this year she gave these orange slices as well.

Diane is an amazing cook and baker.

These orange slices are quite different from what you'd expect.

 The hollowed out oranges are filled with gelatin and orange juice.  Mom LOVED them!  We all did!

 Mom and I started cooking from early in the morning.

She wanted to be sure to prepare more of her macaroni salad as well as kinpira gobo (burdock root), lemon chicken, kamaboko (fish cake), yokan, kazunoko (fish egg thing), etc.

I was making a soba (buckwheat noodles) salad.  The noodles represent long life.

Our neighbor gave us honeyed kuromame (black beans).  She had to cook it for two days.  The kuromame represents good health for the new year.

Art and I got the table set up.

The flowers from Joan's funeral added so much beauty.

Joan's Japanese name means lily so whenever I looked at those lilies, I thought of her.

After everyone arrived, we dug into the food.  My nephew's wife had prepared nishime and ozoni which is always eaten at New Year.

We had some plum wine that my brother and his wife, Nancy had given mom.  They also brought a lot of sushi that everybody always enjoys.

There was so much dessert!  They were all fabulous.  Nancy made some sinfully delicious fudge.

But you know what mom just couldn't get enough of?  Yup.  Diane's orange jello slices.

It was a lovely New Year celebration.

I'd just like to wish you all a fabulously fun and very, very healthy new year!