Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Going to Town, Part Two

Here we are, standing in the tourist section, looking at these cute tiles. I think I like the "Hale, Sweet Hale" tile with the little shack, but tell me which one you would like.....hey! Where'd you go?? Trying to sneak off to the fabric section again, huh? You're hopeless. But let's get going. Do you feel like lunch?

We'll turn down this road from Wal Mart and go down to Nawiliwili Harbor. The mountains around the harbor are looking fine today, but there is still some vog in the air, as you can see. We've had vog for a couple of days now, and it makes things a little hazy. What is "vog" you ask? When the winds are occasionally blowing Kona, volcanic fog--a "haze" really--drifts over from the active Kilauea volcano on the Big Island. You can't smell it, but you can see it a little bit. When the normal tradewinds resume, the air gets sparkling clear again. It doesn't happen very often, luckily. We should get our normal tradewinds back tomorrow.



Surprise! I brought you to J.J.'s for lunch. That table over there looks good to me, how about you? I think I'll get the French Onion soup and the Grilled Ahi salad. How about you?



(I didn't take pictures of how much we ate--or that fabulous dessert you had all to yourself. I didn't want to embarrass you by showing that you ate that whole Hula Pie by yourself. How on earth do you keep your beautiful svelte figure? You're amazing; I don't know how you do it!)


As you recall, we came into town because...hey! Wake up! Perhaps you shouldn't have had that third Mai Tai. Oh well, you're on vacation. I'll drive.


As you recall, we're on this outing because I heard an amazing rumor via the Coconut Wireless (that's how we get all our good gossip) that our own Ben Franklin may have gotten in something unusual. Let's just peek down this aisle. Lei yarn, lei yarn, lei yarn...

Looking....looking...aaaaaaauuugghghgh!!! There it is! The rumor I heard was true!


Wool...REAL WOOL...has landed on the Garden Isle. I'm nearly dizzy with excitement! What colors do I want!?? Rats! I should've brought my mitten and hat patterns! Oh my...this stuff IS as soft as they say! And look at the colors! This is Cascade 220...is that good? Okay...I shouldn't go overboard, I'll just grab me up some orange and yellow and scram before the dream ends and I wake up at WalMart surrounded by acrylic!!! Whoo hooo.....ack...I think I'm hyperventilating....


Wow! All this excitement has tuckered me out! Let's get back out on the road again.

Ahhh...back to Lydgate for some swimming and sunshine.


I hate to leave my yarn in the car; perhaps I'll just take it with me to look at. I wish I would've brought some knitting needles with me! I'll just sit here and pet it. Wha...no one else brought their wool to the beach with them?


If we look out on the ocean, we're sure to see some whales swimming by. Peak whale migration season here is February and March. It's easy to see them when they swim by. Sometimes they do the blowhole thing and sometimes they breach right in front of you, closer to the shore than you might imagine! The shore drops off quite steeply here on Kauai, so the whales swim relatively close to shore. Well, it LOOKS relatively close to shore anyway. Whales are big, you know. Just like that piece of Hula Pie you ate for lunch. But you still look darn good in that bikini for a 29-year old!


Uh oh...another family is moving in on our spot.


Mr. and Mrs. Chicken and their peeps. No...these are not the same chickens we saw at WalMart or the library. And no, I'm not transporting chickens in my trunk just to make my point. There really are a LOT of wild chickens here. And as you can see, they like the beach, too!


Ah...I'm feeling so relaxed! I feel so free....I'm starting to doze off....but uh oh. Did I remember to turn off the iron in my sewing room?


Gee, look at that. You can see my beach dream on your screen. Good thing too, because I was challenged to show both my ironing board and iron on my blog. I made my board myself--it's a piece of wood that I covered with a couple of layers of cotton batting and two layers of mattress ticking. When it gets ratty, I just re-staple some more ticking on. I put the board right on top of my ironing board because I like it at that height.


My iron is a Rowenta. I used to like my other Rowenta before this one, but now I have this one and I'm conflicted. I hate/love the automatic timer feature. I hate it when I'm quilting, but I love it when I forget to turn my iron off. So I really never lay on the beach and wonder if I turned off my iron.


I stick with the auto off feature because electricity is so expensive here on Kauai. Our electric bill last month was over $400 and we don't even have air conditioning or an electric stove. Four hundred is what we pay for lights, appliances, fridge, hot water, and washer/dryer. And yes, I have all energy-saving appliances and I only do one hot water laundry load once every two weeks!


Whaaaaa? Did I fall asleep and dream about our electric bill? I need to come up with a better beach dream! Where's my yarn....ahhh...there it is.....zzzzzzzz.......

Our outing continues tomorrow....

Reminder! Be sure to comment on the post "Hawaiian Rainbow Basket Giveaway" by Saturday March 8th at nine p.m. Hawaiian time to be eligible for the giveaway. One comment per person, please.

28 comments:

ladydi said...

Thanks for sharing your outing with us! My sympathy regarding your electric bill - aak! I have discovered in my countless years of doing laundry that cold water works well for everything, and you can add a cup of white vinegar for disinfecting purposes. I promise the clothes don't end up smelling like vinegar. Can you hang your clothes outside to dry? I guess a treadle sewing machine is out of the question ;>}.

Tine said...

Oh I like this outing!
With all those chickens running around, do you get eggs??
I love the walmart! Guess grass-skirts really wouldn't make sense anywhere else, but that aisle does make my local store look pretty boring :-D

The Calico Cat said...

O.K. I'll bite, what is a hale?

zizzybob said...

I would have bought that hot pink yarn or possibly the purple next to it.
Thanks for the tour.

CONNIE W said...

I'm enjoying your weather on my visit, it's much nicer than our winter stuff. I knew prices in general are higher there but I wasn't aware of the cost of electricity...ouch! I like your WalMart. Last time I checked in mine there were no grass skirts or tiles like yours.

Cathi said...

The tour is so much fun! Even if we have snow and more snow, going on your tour makes me feel as though it has to be over soon.

Sally said...

Oh, this outing is fun! I certainly miss the beach! I get migraines in the sunshine but I love the beach...with an umbrella! Who would have thought that Ben Franklins would have Cascade 220? Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring on the tour!

Suzy said...

I'm really enjoying my outing with you. Can't wait to see what troubles...errrr...fun we get into in your post tomorrow. *Hiccup* Ugh! I think you're right...I shouldn't have had that huge chunk of pie all by myself. Aloha! :o)

Rhonda said...

Thanks for the hilarious tour! Thank goodness we don't have wild chickens running around here or else my kids will want to bring them home as pets.
Ohh... those yarn colors are scrumptous!

Mar said...

$400 !!! I choked on my coffee, ahh the price of paradise! I love these little outings, we should do it more often! and what kind of pie was that?

Anonymous said...

You have a real Easter chicken place there! Sorry that I wrote about hawaiian flower basket quilt instead of rainbow quilt earlier! I returned today home, so I´m still quite mixed! Craft Fair in Helsinki was small but ok. I bought some chicken and rooster fabric there ... and some other little items for Easter crafts.

Elaine Adair said...

My, My such a lovely afternoon we had ... the rooster is my favorite memory - his colors should be in a quilt!

Anonymous said...

Yea, off to Ben Franklin.
I would love to meet for lunch so you don't have to eat the hula pie alone. Had dinner at JJ's last Sat. and had opakapaka--yummy.

susan said...

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susan said...

sorry about that, but been having trouble making a comment. i enjoyed the road trip, fond memories...just talked with mikko, so it was a mixed deal. i really liked the thing on scrap quilts...and i know how you will answer all those teaching replies unless scotty gets the transporter on line real quick :-)

Opal said...

Are you sure you've only had vog for a couple of days? Here on O'ahu we've been plagued with it for what feels like weeks. It's wreaking havoc on my allergies. *blech!*

Cathie said...

I quite agree with Elaine! That rooster does need to be in a quilt, whether as a design or just as colors! Am I remembering my breeds right, are they Araucauna chickens? Do they lay colored eggs? My brother raised one who laid blue eggs once.

I sure am enjoying this vacation! Thank you so much! You have admirable self-restraint; only two colors of wool, wow!

Things like $400 electric bills are the reason I live in Kansas rather than Hawaii. Tis okay though *grin* since you share the Islands with us. I would share the cold, but I suspect you might not appreciate it so much, lol!

Cath

Busy Little Quilter said...

I have always wanted to go to Hawaii. I just never knew it would be you that I would go with! lol You're a great tour guide. :)

What makes it even more fun is after we eat Hula pie, and layout on the beach, we can go to your house and sew! What a perfect vacation!

Kat said...

My husband read my blog and clicked on the link to *your* blog and enjoyed the tour, too!

He wants us to come for a visit. :-)

floribunda said...

I love reaqding about Kauai, since we vacation there every couple of years. Here's my last chicken post: http://floribunda.blogspot.com/2007/09/lazy-days.html

Cascade yarn is great to work with -- enjoy!

Salem Stitcher said...

Just leave me out there on the beach. I'd love to see the whales. Maybe a couple more Mai Tais and I will...

cinnamongirl93 said...

Wow! I got to take another vacation! Thanks for the tour! You did an awesome job of showing me around. Too bad I didn't have any pie! Maybe next time. Glad to see you have a Ben Franklin on the island. You can't go wrong with Casscade! It is what I use when I want to make a felted purse. Congrad's on your prize!

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh one of my favorite things were the wild chickens! Just look at those babies! Soooo cute!

atet said...

What a fun day -- thanks for taking us along on the trip. And yep, Cascade 220 is lovely wool. It's also great for felting!

Denise (Nour) said...

Thanks for the beautiful lunch...next time it's on me, OK? ; )

Kristin said...

The Mai Tais were delicious, the yarn is gorgeoius, the chickens were polite, your dream was a bit odd, and your driving was superb. Thanks for a great virtual trip.

Angie said...

I'll pick the tile with the surfboards on it ---please. How did you control yourself with just two colors of yarn? gosh, it's beautiful!
Hula pie! what is that?
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's pics. Thanks for this fun trip to town.

Pieceful Jane said...

I love the mattress ticking on your ironing table. Mine just has a muslin covering...for now. I have been inspired to spiff it up a bit. :)