WEEDS AND PIZZA!!

 Good Morning California!  I admit, I would much rather be saying ALOHA!  Even though it was warm there, it was much cooler than here!  They had a breeze blowing 24-7 and we had the quietest overhead fan I have ever known.  Turn my ceiling fans on here and they grind so loud it keeps me awake.  I guess there is something to be said about BOTH locations.

It was early when I headed out for a run so I would beat the heat.  My inner clock has moved forward an hour for some reason, so it's plenty light at 6 am.  In spite of no rain and lots of heat, the sunflowers are in full bloom.  It took a bit to get my lungs to open up, but I see progress.  There was more running than walking this time.

It was a mistake to go in the back yard when I returned. The weeds around the outside edge and into the flowers beds were epic.  I once again have a gardener that mows and goes.  I pulled 10" high handfuls and threw them on the lawn.  I want him to SEE what he should have been taking care of.  Either hit them with the weedeater or spray.  This is unacceptable.  The worse part ... ants take up residence underneath the weeds.  Just walk near and see how many bites you get!

Kitters tried to make it all better.  She marked her territory by rolling in the sandy corral before coming in the doggy door and depositing a PILE of sand ... and I mean a PILE!!  I thought I must have drug all that back from Maui in my clothes.  Were did that come from?  One quick pet of her back and I knew.  I had to sweep the entire hallway it was so bad.  She is quickly becoming a pain in the patoo!!!

I spent the next couple of hours sewing the binding on this 250th celebration quilt.  It will be auctioned off at the Elks Lodge to make money for our Veterans account.

Yeah, trying to look all innocent after bringing in all that dirt.  She spends most of her time on the arm of the couch .... keeping VERY close.  She literally follows me to every room like a puppy.

Time went by very slowly and I was bored to tears.  In Maui you are going and going.  Always something to see, something to investigate, going out for lunch ... keeping busy.  Here I'm sitting on the couch for hours wishing I was back on the island.

In desperation I finally decided to try out Shirley's cauliflower crust pizza.  You know what?  It turned out VERY good.  Who knew??  It doesn't TASTE like cauliflower and acts just like regular pizza crust.  There is actually a lot of pepperoni under there, but I put too much cheese on top.  Thank you for the tip Shirley!

Dessert was a little slice of that cheesecake I made before I left.  I put a little homemade plum jam on it for added flavor.  Boy was it GOOD!!!  Here's another good thing about being in Maui ... you don't eat dessert every day like I do here, saving me a few pounds while on that trip.

Finally, only out of complete boredom, I set up the quilting machine for the next quilt.  Of course ever since I had it "fixed", it doesn't work right at all.  The computer program hangs up here and there, I'm sure because they updated the program on an old iPad.  

I messed with it for two hours.  There are crosshairs that should move when you move the machine, and they do NOT.  There's no other way to line things up.  Though it stitched okay this time, it was way off by the end, meaning I had to delete the entire pattern and reenter everything from scratch, just to get the last row done.  

Add to that the instructions I have to do things like cropping, do not match what I see on the screen any more.  The buttons they tell me to touch, are not there.  It's become frustrating every time ... making me not want to quilt any more. 

I got this one finished, but I'm not happy with it.  I suppose no one will notice, but "I" will.  And of course it's not Cooper approved.

Kitters is doing her best to keep me occupied, but it's just not quite the same.  

Home Again, Home Again

You probably don't know this, but I am NOT a fan of flying.  I never have been.  When I was maybe 25-something and living at the ranch, which just happens to be located next to the airport, I was outside looking over the fence when I heard a bad noise.  When you live next to an airport, you know the sounds of airplanes.  

I looked up to see a plane crash in the field and burst into flames.  I jumped in my car and raced to the site.  Being the first one there, I found a man and a woman lying in the grass, badly burned.  I could hear the sirens, so I knew the medics were on their way.  The girl gave me her contact info and I called her father, the Sheriff of Fresno County at the time.  Sadly, the pilot died the next morning and she passed away a week later.  I love going places, but flying is very scary for me.  

Here we are, waiting to get onboard.  We flew standby this time, but had no problems getting a seat ... both times an exit row with plenty of room.

We were late taking off because people had so much baggage, it took them longer to get it stashed.  That meant other planes were landing while we waited to fly out.  I just kept taking lots of deep breaths!!

I happen to be a Southwest member, so I get WiFi when on the plane.  Oh look ... luckily we are leaving at the right time.  I don't think I have EVER seen a hurricane notice here.  It's going the exact same direction we are ... but thank goodness two days later!!!

Then there was THIS one!  I guess we left at the exact right time!!!

Anyway, here we are taking off over the water. 

Our pilot was a comedian the entire way, which made the ride more fun and entertaining.  He caught up on the time a bit and we flew over San Francisco Bay in 4.5 hours.  That's tiny Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge down there, but the smoggy fog was thick.

Now holding my breath, we are over Sacramento farmland getting ready to land.  Thank goodness this landing strip is longer than the one in Kahului, so we all didn't have to brake for the pilot.

Since we landed at 7 pm, I spent the night at Cyndae's house on the couch.  Lucky for me once again, the drive home was NOT filled with traffic jams.  Cyndae said I should stop in at McDonalds for breakfast, so I did.  A sausage egg McMuffin .... except it magically turned into a BAGEL egg McMuffin without my approval.  It was TERRIBLE!  Hard, tasteless and NOT what I ordered.  The frappe ... a little bit better ... all for the low price of $15.89.  I will not be stopping there again!

First things first ... I called Kitters.  Wasn't I surprised when she came from the house to the back door and stopped dead in her tracks.  I don't think she remembered me.  I talked to her, gave her a little pet and VOILA!!!  She remembered.  

Is that really you?  She was sniffing up a storm.

In no time she was patting me on the hand for pets.  Boy has her coloring changed.  In one week, she is much lighter in color.

She followed me everywhere the entire day.  I was not out of her sight even once.

She finally settled on the back of the chair, but every time I get up .... there she was.  I think she missed me.

And so I landed safely back home.  Thank the good Lord for that!!  I was also very happy to find that my new coffee cups survived being in my checked bag UNBROKEN.

ALOOOOOOHA!!!

BIG WINDS

There is one thing about Maui that never goes away, and that is the wind.  You land on one end of the low valley and stay on the OTHER end of the low valley ... so the Tradewinds just whip through the area like crazy.  The wind brings all the moisture from the ocean, and as it climbs up the sides of the mountains, it becomes clouds that obscure your view.  I won't mention the chickens and dogs this time! 

On rare occasion, such as this day, Haleakala volcano (which thankfully is dormant) can be seen from our yard.  Lava rolled down that big hill to become this island, and is where Cyndae's property resides.  Land is so expensive over here that every 1/2 acre has THREE houses on it.  They live in one and rent out the other two.  Rents run $2-3000 a month.  Pretty pricey.  

The good news is that up-country is much cooler.  The very top is at 10,000 feet, higher than you would think for an island.

Though I thought we might get one day to just melt into our chairs, we had things to do.  First stop was the bakery yet again.  Who can't use a few more pounds!!  We actually did very well on food.  Lunches at our favorite places ran about $25 each, but made two meals, so not too bad considering where we were.  Maui is more laid back and not NEAR as expensive as Oahu.  Food trucks are a big thing now, but they too run $25 for lunch.

Next stop ... a new to us beach with practically NO ONE in sight.  That's my kind of place to sit and watch the ocean.  Surfing was terrible because the waves were too small, and paddle boarding was terrible because the waves were too big.   

This doesn't look bad, yes?  NO ... it's BAD.  This was one of the smaller waves that came through.

Turn your sound up and you will get the idea.  Big rollers started coming in just when Cyndae decided to swim with a pool noodle.  Not me ... I already did my rollover.  She did fine until she tried to come back in and got hit by two HUGE waves that knocked her down to the sand.  I got up, but she was able to right herself and get out.  Everyone going out, even the kids, were getting slammed.  I stayed nice and dry on the beach.  Even sitting and watching the waves is worth the trip over here.

We checked out a couple of other spots, but they were all the same.  One local said the last set of big storms that came through has changed their weather patterns such that the ocean is too rough for just about anything.

Back home, I hung out with Baba for awhile before calling it a day.  You never know when to head in or when to go to bed with the 3 hour time difference.  My apologies to those people I called at 1:00 in the morning.

Days end found us packing, as the week was over.  We both have appointments to get to on the mainland.  Another trip is planned for August or early September.  Maybe we can stay longer next time.

The BEST news ... other than I'm possibly going back to Maui ... is that Kitters was not only here, but IN the house!  I called and she came running, though she stopped dead and just stared at me.  I'm not sure she recognized who I was.  More on that tomorrow!!   ALOHA!!!

NO BLOG TIL SATURDAY!

 

Traveling Thursday and Friday.  See you on Saturday!!!

ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE!!

 Mornings are dark and cloudy with the cackles and barking of dozens ... and I mean DOZENS of chickens and dogs.  I love it ... because I'm up country!

The first order of the day ... and it should be EVERY day ... is the bakery in Makawao.  It's native owned and the best on the island.  Don't expect big city buildings here ... these little towns are from the 1930's.

Donuts on a stick ... peach pear turnovers and a long John.

We ate outside on the deck to the sounds of this cardinal calling all the males in the territory to come take a look see.  We whistled back and forth for ten minutes before she flew off.

This is next door and there are three axis deer in this pasture.  Can you find them?  They are pretty well camouflaged.  

Baba comes over every morning now for her ear scratching.  She is just the sweetest thing!!

In no time we were off to the beach.  The whitecaps could be seen from high up on the road.  That's no bueno, so we headed over to Makenna instead.  It wasn't much better.  You can tell instantly by the brown water swirled up from the big waves.

You'll have to look close at this one.  There are abut six tiny birds on this rock.  They were trying to hit us up for some tortilla chips.

A little later, this fisherman came in on this very cool kayak boat.  He had quite a hard time getting it in to the beach.  The waves coming in were BIG rollers ... like the ones that got me.  He finally made it, but it took him 30 minutes to get the boat out.  We never did see if he got any fish.

The waves got even worse as we got a little damp from rain and sea water.

We met a nice tourist from Dallas with his family, and told him where to go on the island.  We also gave him the secret location of the turtles.  His family came back with BIG smiles on their faces.  YOU MADE MY DAY!!  

That's when I made CYNDAE'S day with THIS secret location.  I've been diving all over this island in years past and surprisingly remembered this diving spot.  This is a family cemetery with a secret walkway.

You end up here ... with water even crazier than other locations.  Lots of local divers go out here, as well as fish off the lava point.  

The waves they were a crashing!!!

There was one diver out ... that's the orange float all divers have to take with them so they don't get run over by boats.  It suddenly began to rain, so we left in a hurry.

Into town we went to the Paia (Pie-e-ah) fish house for some fabulous mahi-mahi.  No one makes it better on the grill ... with huge plates of the best potatoes and slaw I've ever had.  

From there we made a trip to the auto shop to get her car safety check so she could get new tags for next year.  Sadly, the insurance card was left home, so we drove all the way back to pick it up.  All this time I've been driving ... trying to get reacquainted with the island's new highways.  With that done, we finally crashed at the apartment for the rest of the night.   I'm so grateful that Cyndae and I get along good and I get to visit this island again.

In the meantime, I'm looking at a condo for sale.  It might take some accounting magic.  Not that I would live here, but I would put it on the rental market so it can pay for itself.  We'll see!!!

And no, this little guy is never far from my thoughts.  Every single day!!!

HOUSE HUNTING

 Good morning from Maui!!  There were no centipedes to be seen on this day, but I did kill one of my earplugs that fell to the floor.  Better safe than sorry.

The weather is a warm 85 degrees with clouds, including those that drop the wet stuff.  This is Haleakala, the volcano that made this island, most always covered in clouds.  We are about halfway up from the valley at about 2500 feet.  Don't let that fool you ... it's still HOT up here, even with the breeze.  

We are staying on Cyndae's property in a studio apartment.  On the same property are two rental houses that like all houses, require maintenance.  That's half the reason for this trip.

Looking the other way off the deck are the other side of the mountains and Yao Valley.  Rarely do you see these because of the clouds.  I've hiked both ... and you need to be in pretty good shape to do so.  

My favorite part however, is to meet Baba every morning for an ear scratch.  I called her over this morning and she actually came.  She did a lot of smelling, but let me scratch her head and ears.  Her eyes closed immediately.  Apparently I was hitting the right spot.  What a sweetheart she is.

The second reason for this trip was to look at houses for sale, so no ocean water on this day.  I was not disappointed since I wasn't into getting rolled by the waves anyway.  This is one of the trees we spotted on the way.  Plumeria ... a sweet smelling gorgeous tree covered in flowers.

I think every plant on the island has flowers of one kind or another, and they are gorgeous.  Most of the trees are in bloom too!

Wouldn't you know, the very nice realtor took us to the absolute BEST place first.  It made all the others look bad, even if the price was lower.  This is owned by a couple from Oregon who are retiring to travel, and apparently it's NOT to Hawaii.  

No kidding folks, if you come here, just do a few open houses and you will be amazed.  This one is an immaculate 4 bedroom 3.5 bath with all the furniture included.  It's designer furnished and fabulous for a measly $2,100,000.  It has a GREAT pool in back, dog runs, a huge patio ... it's number one on the list.

This was the second house where I snuck this picture of the pool.  I want one just like this in my back yard!!  This house ... it had a garage with GLASS doors.  Who does that?  On the other hand, the rest of it was old and needed repair.  It was priced at $1,775,000 and didn't hold a candle to the other one.

I know these sounds high priced, but everything on the island is HIGH.  Even the cheapest one bedroom condo runs $900,000.  No wonder three generations of family live in the same house.

This house was NOT for sale, but I loved the umbrella shaped tree.  

With beautiful flowers on it.

Next was a trip to Kihei for shave ice.  There is only one place here that is any good, and this is it.  The line was long, but worth it.  The price you ask?  $22.00 for two.

Here you go ... macadamia nut ice cream smothered in shave ice and syrup.  Mine was orange and red raspberry and Cyndae's lilikoi and mango.  YUM YUM!!  Someone in my town should get the machine and sell this stuff in the summer.  They would make a fortune.

That was it ... we stopped in at the Kihei Marketplace and picked up a couple of things, but nothing exciting.  We did run across this rainbow on the way home though ... which of course Cyndae said was a SIGN we needed to buy that house!!!  I'll let you know down the road.  I have to admit, it was the widest rainbow I've ever seen and touched ground on each side.

We came home to check on the contractor doing some repairs, ending a nice day out and about.  She says today we will be back at the beach, but I will most likely just be sitting on it.  The ocean is not cooperating.  

And so ended a lovely day in paradise.  It's now time for me to go scratch Baba!!!!