I went to the community garden today

This morning was a very pretty morning. I went to the community garden with Sue. There were several volunteers there today. Alice, Missy, Sue Jennings, Marta, Doug, Linda, And Diane. And of course Sue. She picked me up early and took me there.

I made an apple pie for the lunch. Doug, Missy, and Marta had to leave early to go to a farewell luncheon, so we stopped for a break to have the pie before they left. Everyone likes my pie.

Doug grows the tomatoes at the garden. These are his first tomatoes from the plants. He wraps each one in a sock or a plastic baggie to protect it from the fruit fly.  Otherwise the fruit fly would ruin them all.

Today for lunch we had sloppy joes made from local grass fed beef and vegetables from the garden. We also had vegetables from the garden: fried sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, stringbeans, and salad. Every week they make lunch using mostly things from the garden or things produced locally.

I am making scarecrows for the garden. So far I have three almost done.

Memorial Day Weekend

I knew that this weekend was going to be a long one. So I decided that if I kept myself busy that it would pass quicker. So this weekend I did all sorts of things. I cleaned the refrigerator. I mended my clothing and did 2 loads of laundry. I turned the bed mattress around. My pillow were rather flat, so I got the better pillows out of the top closet shelf and exchanged them with the ones on the bed. Outdoors I cut the weeds out of the fence line that were interfering with my flowers. I hosed down the back of the house trying to get rid of the spider webs. I got the dust and dirt washed off but those spider webs are really strong. Even with the hose on jet spray, those webs still survived. I made a pillow for my back for the lounge chair. Cleaned out the freezer. And importantly, I killed a centipede that I found in my bathroom. Probably the most important thing I did this weekend. I rearranged and sorted about 200 of my books. And I did four of the hard  jigsaw puzzles. I didn't have time to read like I usually do. And I cleaned my closets and bureau drawers to see if I could find any clothes that needed mending.

Today is Tuesday and the weekend is over. And I'm tired!!!!!!!!!

Oh I forgot to tell you. I found an anole on my back fence. It was beautiful!!!  It was all green, but when it blew up its throat I could see pretty bright pink. It is the first one that I have seen here. I frequently see geckos and chamelions on my big tree out back. I have a hugh kukui nut tree.

Now a subscribe feature

Sue said that she put a subscriber/follow by email button on the blog page. She said that if you type in your email address and follow the short instructions that you can now have my blog entry delivered to you via your email. I don't know how this works but Sue said it is simple. It is suppose to be like I am sending an email to everyone at once. I hope it works ok for you.

Grandmom

I visited the community garden

This Monday I went to the community garden to see what it looked like. I met many of the volunteers there that day although Alice, my friend, wasn't there this time. But Sue Jennings was there and I know her.

I made a cake and took it. Everybody eats lunch together there when they are finished working. Almost all of the food comes out of the garden for the lunch. This week they had a vegetable soup, bok choy stir fry, friend sweet potatoes, sauteed green beans, beets, and egg salad.

I spent most of the morning talking with the women who were working in the greenhouse. They were planting seeds and transplanting little seedlings into bigger pots.

Here I am digging a little in the garden. I didn't do much. But now I can say that I worked in the community garden !

Another Flower Just Started Blooming

This flower just started blooming in my garden. The bush now has 6 flowers on it. I don't know what it is called, but the flowers smell very nice. It smells very much like a lily of some kind.

I've Got a Job

Here I am sitting in my lounge chair doing my latest job. I'm shelling bean pods for Sue to save the seed to be planted in the community garden. This bean is a special one. It is a purple stringbean that turns green when you cook it. It is called Purple Teepee. It is no longer available in the seed catalogs, so the community garden has to grow its own seeds.

Inside My Friend"s Home

Here we are enjoying time at Dick and Judith's home. Judith makes the most delicious roast turkey and often invites us over. Bob took this picture. From left to right, there is Sue, Judith, Dick, and me.

Judith frequently invites me over and she is a very good cook. She also keeps bringing me flowers and plants. She is one of my best friends here.

Sunday Dinner with Friends

Sue, Bob and I were invited to my friends' house for a special Sunday dinner. Judith baked a big turkey and made mashed potatoes, gravy, filling, and peas. Ice cream for dessert.

In the photo I am sitting on the sofa with Dick. The dog is Bella, a German Shepherd Sue gave Dick and Judith 4 years ago. Bella is a very nice dog but she is very strong and energetic. She is a good watch dog for Judith.

Judith likes to do flower arranging and ceramics. So there are many flowers around the house. The cups we ate the ice cream from were made by Judith.

Company for Lunch

Bella

Judith

Today I had company for lunch. They brought the food.... lasagna, ceasar salad, orange juice, pasta salad. The food was good and I ate too much.

Dic

Carmen sat the whole time on the sofa. She won't come down the whole time that Bella is here. Bella wants to be friends, but Carmen doesn't like her.

Judith and Dick are good friends. I have known them for years. They come over on a regular basis to visit.

Puzzles Today

I did this puzzle yesterday in my spare time. I usually work on it 2-3 hours a day. I was able to do this one really fast. It use to take me 4 times as long but it goes along a lot easier now. I'm a lot more mentally alert now than I was a few years ago. 

This is the one I am working on today. 

Over the years I have collected dozens of puzzles. Some of them I have done several times, but months apart. The ones that I didn't like I did them, but then I donated them to the market table the sells things to raise money for the Ka'u Hospital. 

Easter Dinner

Out for Easter

     Sue and Bob frequently take me to the Naystation for dinner. It is like a museum with about 10,000 small items on display. It is very interesting and you see more each time you go. John Nay use to work at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. He's always bringing in new items.
     I meet a lot of my friends up here. I never saw so many different kinds of butterflys from so many different countries. John has hundreds on display. There is one large butterfly that when you turn it upside down it is completely different in coloration and pattern. I think it is from Peru. He gave me one from Peru that I have in a little glass case. It was a present for my 86th birthday from John and Myrna.

A Cup of Tea

I have not been on the computer for a while. It has rained twice since the last time I posted on my blog. Rain is not too common at my house. So two rains in one week is unusual. The rain will be good for my flowers. I won't have to use a hose for a week.


I am working on a new jigsaw puzzle today. A 1000 piece one! These big puzzles take me a week to do. They take up the entire table. That I why I don't like 1000 piece puzzles. I don't have any room left on the table to work.

Sue and Bob came today. So I stopped to make some tea. I have to make sure that I remember to drink enough liquids. So I make tea or drink something between meals.



I like living here ok. Bob and Sue make sure that I have what I need. I think about my grand children. Sometimes I wish I lived closer to them. Sue says the this blog is a way that I can share a little of my life with them. I hope you like it.

Apple Pie

I made an apple pie for the market. It is always popular. Every piece sells. People like my apple pie a lot. I forgot to have Sue take a picture of it. I told her that next time we have to remember to take a picture to put on this computer so that you can see it.

I usually bake something for the market. I sometimes make a sour cream pound cake. Other times I make an apple pie or a cherry pie.

Funny Day Today

Today is a funny day. There is not a breathe of air stirring. Not a bird flying or singing. Nothing moving, and there is no sun and no rain. It's just still. I don't think we've had a day like this before since Daddy and I moved here. There is a thick mist on the hill so that I cannot see the cows, or the hill. Sue said that it may be raining up there. It is very pretty here but not today. There is no sun to make the flowers look pretty. I hope tomorrow is nicer.

Naalehu from Up Above

Just before we drive down off the mountain I can see my town. It looks so far away. I can not see my house because it is hidden by the trees. But I can see the shopping center and the school. And a few houses.

Bob and Sue own some land in Mark Twain. You cannot tell exactly where their land is in this photo, but it is on the plain beyond the town. It is in the trees. It is only a little piece of land and does not have a house on it. They plan to retire there. When they sell their present home, they will build a little retirement house there.

Retired Horses

There are a lot of horses here in Hawaii. We see horses all the time when we drive back from Pahala. Sue says that these two horses are very old and are retired. It is a very pretty place to spend  your retirement years. But there is no barn for them to get into in the bad weather. Sue says that they do not need a barn because it never gets cold and never snows. I guess she is right.

All the horses and cows are fat here. The grass in this part of the island is very good for the animals. That is why there are so many cows and horses here.

Cows

When we come home from paying the rent, Sue takes us on the upper cane haul road. It is a beautiful drive way up the side of the mountain. (Sue corrects me and says that it is the volcano, but I still call it a mountain.) It doesn't look like Hawaii up there. It looks more like New York to me. There are big pastures and lots of cows and horses. Not a palm tree in sight. Just cows and horses.

When Daddy and I first moved here this road was not paved. It was very bumpy. After a rain storm the road was washed out in places making it very hard to drive. Daddy would not drive up here, but Sue would bring us. She is not afraid to drive on a bad road. Sometimes she had to get out of the car to check the road to see if the car could make it. We never broke down or got stuck. It was a miracle.

Me in the VW

Here we are parked in the lot in front of the bank, where I pay my rent. We take Bob's car, his red VW. It is comfortable to ride in. It gets windy with the top down but it is fun. People sometimes walk by and ask me if the car is mine. I tell them no, it belongs to my son-in-law. I wonder if they really believe that I can drive? I turned in my drivers license when I was 82. So I don't drive anymore. Amyway, I don't think I could drive his car. I don't know how.

Kau Coast and Ocean

 Sue took some photos on my trip to Pahala. This is the coast from the road going to Pahala. The ocean is really blue blue, not like the Atlantic Ocean at all.  Sue and I like to stop here on the trip and look at the ocean. It is so pretty. Sometimes we get to see a whale, but not today.

Daddy's ashes were spread down in the little cove there. It is hidden by the hill so you can't see the cove in this photo. But it is very special. He liked this spot the best on the whole island. We use to stop there and eat lunch on our way back from Pahala. Sue would set up a cardtable and we would eat sandwiches and malasadas.

What I'm Doing Today

I have to go to Pahala, the neighboring town, to pay my rent today. Sue drives me over. We're going to take Bob's car, a VW convertible. It is a very pretty drive right along the coastline. The scenery is beautiful! The ocean here is very blue compared to the Atlantic Ocean. And very clear. You can see the fish along the bottom of the coast, many feet down.