The Cacti Garden.

When I was a little girl I loved cacti. I'm not sure why, I just did. I remember every time my parents took my to Home Depot I would go into the garden section and ask my parents to get me a new one for my collection. I had a little set of mini cacti which being 7 or 8 years old was a manageable amount of responsibility for me. It took a long time before my black thumb killed off the cacti. In fact, I believe that my parents still have one remaining cactus from my childhood.


The other week when I went to the farmers market I passed this magnificent cacti garden that put my childhood collection to shame. I think I spent more time walking around the garden looking at all the varieties then I did in the whole market. Unfortunately, it was overcast and the pictures do not give the garden justice.

 

Check out the album I made of the garden.

Saturday at the KCC.

 

Some of the pretty local flowers.

 

The KCC (Kapiolani Community College) farmers market is the most well known on the island. It happens every Saturday from 7 to 11 am at the base of Diamond Head. I ventured out there last week to see what they had. It was quite large like they said and there was plenty of produce to choose from. I was not looking for produce, but was interested in what other vendors were there.

Knowing the food vendors would be there I did not eat before I went, I wanted to save lots of room for what I might find. Unfortunately, I was on my own so I didn't have anyone to sample the treats with and I had to be picky. I had a few fried green tomatoes and zucchini to start. After making another loop I went for a piece of grilled pesto pizza. I had had it before and knew that it was worth the wait!

 

The North Shore Tomato stand that sell the best grilled pizza!

After my breakfast I got some cranberry walnut bread and some fresh butter. I also bought a few Christmas presents that I can't tell you about right away.

 

He uses his hands to make the great big snow cones.

 

All in all I thought that the market did have a great select of local produce, but it seemed just to be a collection of vendors from all of the other farmers market. So I don't think I will travel there again unless I go for a hike up Diamond Head.

I would say that my favorite market is the Sunday morning one on the North Shore.

 

This big guy was patiently waiting.

A Visitor on My Door.

I came home the other day and this guy was on my front door.

An Advent Calendar.

Last week I received the most amazing package in the mail. It was from my parents and it was a new and very creative advent calendar! I opened the box and the first thing I received was instructions:

So after I did steps one through five (yes, Morris did get some cookies!) I started in on number 6, unwrapping the actual calendar. I instantly recognized the material used to create it, moulding from my parent's house. After I read the little blurb on the back confirming this I thought I wonder what door they retrieved this wood from and hoped the didn't do it to an obvious place! After talking with them I discovered that they did not demolish a current door in their house and that the moulding was removed during a project years ago! phew!  

On the back my mother had written a little notation about the wood and the purpose of the project: 

For Emma Elizabeth Hartsog - Christmas 2010
This is crafted from door moulding that was removed from Emma's childhood home in Laurel, MD. The house has no date of when it was built, but we know it was standing 1880s.
This 'Advent Calendar" is being sent to Hawaii -- hopfully to cheer up Emma during JJ's first deployment.
The main theme of this calendar is Joy -- So appropriate, as Emma has always been the Joy for her parents.
With all our Love,
Mom and Dad

I must admit that the thoughtfulness of my parents was a little overwhelming and at this point I needed to take a moment to absorb it all. Feeling a little more in the Christmas spirit I dug into my storage to retrieve some of my Christmas decorations. Not going all out this year, I just grabbed my feather tree and a few other decorations. 

After getting my mini tree up and looked around my living room to find a location for my "Joy Calendar." I wanted to put it out in the open so I could constantly see it. I hung it up in my foyer under my knickknack shelf.

 

I forgot to take a picture early on, but it looks so pretty with the tags/days hanging from it!

Aren't the tags pretty and creative!

Now everyday, I get to come downstairs and pick up a little something under my tree for me!  It is making the distance between Hawaii and Maryland not seem so vast and it is a wonderful feeling to know people are out there, thinking about me. I am also enjoying opening the packages that sporadically arrive with more days on them and organizing them under my little tree. 

 The calendar is truly achieving it's purpose, everyday it brings a little more joy into my life. I hope that your holiday season is filled with joy. I am thinking of all of you often and I miss spending loads of time with you. 

Mele Kalikimaka

Shoes and Wednesdays

So after a long hiatus from blogging, I'm back to it! I'm refocusing this week on all of my goals and the first one was to get back on track with 52 Wednesdays with Deanna. Check it out!

 

My next goal is to update you on my advent calendar! Its pretty much amazing so check back soon!