Monday, December 25, 2017. Christmas Day!

It just doesn't feel very much like Christmas. No presents, no kids, no wrappings, very few decorations, no Christmas attire. Above is Kay's Christmas tree. It's a LIVE tree, which is very unusual for Hawaii. It is fresh and smells wonderful.

I had made a list of stuff to do on Christmas morning, and it required an early start on Monday. Probably not as early as I set my alarm for, but we had a lot to do!

I threw dirty towels in the washer first.

Made breakfast.
Assembled lunch sandwiches and put them in the fridge.
Took out the compost bucket.
Served and ate Breakfast (toast, papaya, bananas, juice. I ate oatmeal.)
Cleaned the kitchen area.
Mopped up kitchen floor.
Hung out the clean towels.

Helped Kay make some leis to wear home (I only made one, actually).
Stripped beds and washed sheets.
Scrubbed the bathroom toilet, sink, tub and floor.
Mike shook rugs and vacuumed the bigger ones.
Emptied waste baskets.
Hung out clean sheets.



Finished Packing.
Mopped up the kitchen and dining areas.

I was a sweaty mess!  I got cleaned up and changed into my clean travel clothes, put on my makeup, and then it was time to go. It took us almost 20 minutes to get out of there. I gave Kay and Michael Wilson their thank you/ Christmas  gift from us (it was a gift card to Longs Drugs, dark chocolate and some Calendar Cards in a cute "Aloha" gift bag), we got our leis from them, took a bunch of photos outside, had a prayer with the Wilson's, loaded up the car and finally got on the road. It took some maneuvering to get all that baggage into the car because we were coming back with one more suitcase than we'd arrived with. I had packed our Medium Suitcase inside the Large Suitcase and we used all of them almost to the max. I actually did not have to use the zipper expansion on any of our blue ones, so that was nice.

Mike drove us to the airport. I returned the car after dropping everyone off curbside and making sure that we were checked in and wheelchairs were coming.

 The have lots of lovely flowers at the airport. I took these two photos before we went through security.

We knew that we would not be able to bring produce like bananas out of Hawaii, so we ate our lunch-time bananas out front before we went through security. What I did NOT know was that you have to unpack not just your electronics, but your FOOD before they go through the scanners so they could see what you have.  I had to dump the carefully packed lunch out into a tub. Oh well.  All our food passed. I also had little bags of Kona Kay's candies in a carry-on bag that was with us, so all of those came out.   Goodness! We traveled with a lot of food.  Gayela and her metal plates and screws were much more carefully inspected here than in other airports. They even took her shoes and sent them through the X-ray machine.

Once we were past security, we still had a bit of a wait, so that's when we at lunch. It was noon by then, and we'd had breakfast around  7:30 or 8 am, and I was hungry!

Boarding passes in hand, waiting to be wheeled out to the plane.

We had really spectacular views of Mauna Loa AND Mauna Kea and the snow on top of them. We tried snapping photos out the window. Meh.  But it really was pretty.
And then I went to sleep, basically.  We landed in LA. No issues there, just fatigue. 

We landed in Las Vegas and had this cute gal help us out to our car. The Wheelchair Gang. :-)

We paid a premium price for parking, but it was the only way we would have made our outgoing flights to Hawaii, leaving Cedar City as late as we did.  It wasn't a whole lot more than remote parking, but parking there (at the airport) in general is not cheap.  But it was sure easier and quicker!  Wow.  We just went out of the baggage claim (hiked halfway down the length of the terminal to the central area--remember when airports were smaller??), walked across a bridge, up an elevator and our car was about three parking spaces away. No waiting, no shuttles  Easy-peasy.  And Mike even stayed awake all the way home. Two Dr. Pepper's will do that. I had a half a Coke and helped keep him alert and attentive. I even stayed awake!  Usually even caffeine doesn't stop me from drooping after fatigue sets in.

We got in town, dropped off  Gayela and Berenice, switched vehicles, drove home. Our Christmas lights were on!  So welcoming. I fell into my bed at 5 am on December 26. And, boy, did I sleep!  Non-stop till 9 am, then rolled over and slept some more till about 11:40 a.m. That was one long day of travel!!! Never again.  Daytime, non-stop flights for this old lady (like that'll ever happen. ha).

Sunday, December 24, 2017. Christmas Eve

We had such a wonderful Christmas Eve in Hawaii.  The two wards that meet in the new Keei building were meeting together at 9 am for a Christmas program. They filled the chapel and most of the cultural hall overflow area!  It was a wonderful program with music and narration. It was really well done, beautiful quotes from prophets about Christ, beautiful music. I was afraid that it was going to be really long, as they first had different auxiliaries come up to sing a number, and logistically that just takes a lot of time.  But they had Priesthood men sing, then Primary, then Young Women and the rest was choir or soloists intermingled with the narration.   It really was well done and ended exactly on time. I could tell they had worked really hard on it for a long time. It's a good thing that the wards were split as they were a very large bunch ! There was one newer Christmas-y song called "All is Well."  It was lovely. Hmmm. Just looked it up. Simple words. I wonder if someone in the ward transposed it into a choral arrangement?  Anyway, I had not heard it before and I think it's a country music song but the words and music are lovely and I quite liked it, along with the more traditional Christmas hymns and solos that were shared.  Lovely.

After church, we had a light lunch of some chicken salad sandwiches I made from the Carls' left-over chicken, and then most just rested and napped, I got started packing to see just where all our stuff was going to fit since we leave the following day. We were going to a big dinner later in the evening.  The Nakamoto family hosts a HUGE dinner at Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Years!  We've been to the New Years Eve celebration in years past, but this was our first time to experience the Christmas one.  Junichi and Shirley Nakamoto are the elders in this family. Such gracious and generous people.  They have 7 grown children, most of whom still live in the area or with them. One is in American Fork. One son married the niece of one of Mike's missionary companions.  After these many years of visiting them in this season, they are finally starting to look familiar to me.  Jill and Shan, Sheldon and Holly, Shane and  _____, another boy whose name sounds like all those others, plus four or so girls whose names are like Jan, Jill, Jeannet, and _____. Good people, all. Bro. and Sister Nakamoto invites family, friends, neighbors and those who need to have family on a holiday. Everyone brings food and there is tons and tons of it.  Truly. I couldn't begin to name all the foods, and all the foods come in copious amounts. It's astounding and impossible to try it all. But I made a good stab at it. ha.

We arrived there around 5 pm. The farm is on the mountain, kind of hard to find and the car bottomed out a time or two getting there.  The food started to be served around 6, after eating came something of a talent show, then the nativity, presented by the children.  Most (many?) are Nakomoto grandchildren, but they will use any who are there, costumes and props are provided and a narrator says more than just the verses in Luke 2.  There's a bit more depth and some more soloists who have gorgeous voices, and there were a few hymns sung by all to ukulele accompaniment.  I think Berenice was freezing, but I was Okay with capris, sandals and a light windbreaker. Mike never even put on long sleeves. Oh, and the sunset.  Wow.  Pretty.  The kids were so cute.

When we got home, it was time to get serious about packing up for tomorrow's departure, so that's what I did. Mike and Berenice and Gayela played a few hands of cards. It is a good thing we brought an extra suitcase because we used about every square inch. I made my list of all that we needed to do the next morning before leaving. It was starting to get long, but Mike agreed to lend a hand. That was nice. And needful.

 Under the huge double pavilion at the Nakamoto's yard, there are lots and lots of tables. Some are picnic tables, others not. I looked under this one to see who had left bundles under there and found this clawed table leg.  With toenails!

 You can see how the grounds are on a slope. It is, after all, on the side of the mountain.  They mostly farm Macadamia nuts now.  Originally, it was chickens for eggs, pigs, nuts, and more.  Now just nuts as a side job. The sons all have careers of their owns to support their families. There are grass stairs up to the house from the pavilion level. I think there are lava rocks under them, but the grass is so well-established that the stairs are cushion-y.

 I thought that the sunset was pretty as I was standing in the lower part of the pavilion.   Not yet.

 Gayela, Kay and Michael Wilson, Me, Berenice, Mike.

 THIS is the beautiful sunset view from up on the lawn behind the pavilion.

 More lawn, ample parking, and plenty of kids.

 There's a built-in grill, plumbed sinks, florescent lighting and indoor-outdoor carpeting on the floor.

 Play area for kids and plenty of visiting going on as people gather.

 After eating, a cute and spunky little hula girl got the full-time missionaries to assist her in singing and dancing the 12 Days of Christmas, Hawaiian Style. Such things as FIVE big fat pigs, six shrimp a-swimming, and one Papaya in a tree. I have all the words. It's cute.

 Berenice, Kay, Nakamoto's in the background, and Gayela all enjoying the performances.

 This hula dancer was very talented. She did a couple of songs, and one was with another girl. She used the bamboo sticks, gourds, drum--the whole nine yards. The music her Dad was providing from the iPhone gave out and she just went on till he caught up.  Talented girl. I think she's a Nakamoto granddaughter, but I'm not sure.

 And we even had a ballerina! 

 This is one shot of the nativity re-enactment up on the side of the hill.  Angles, shepherds, wise men and the holy family. The shephers were actually shepherding a poodle/sheep-looking little dog.

 Moano Loa and Mauna Kea both have snow on top, and as we flew out on Monday the 25th, we got a good view of the scene!

December 23. Saturday, Christmas Eve Eve in Hawaii.

Today is my day to have some fun.  But first I had to do breakfast. I guess we had banana smoothies again. I really can't remember (typing this on Sunday). I had to meet the kayak people down at the beach at 11:15, but that morning, Mike and I also wanted to get some laundry done.  We gathered up our stuff and tore out of here  looking for the "Washereette" that we knew was somewhere nearby, as we'd passed it coming or going at one time or another. When we found it, I realized after watching he clock and timing our drive out of  Napo po'o po'o road (11 minutes) and how long to get to Washerette that we'd be cutting it really REALLY close in getting me back to the beach, not to mention back to Kay's in time for me to get changed and walk down there.  As it turns out, there was plenty of time cuz many other people in our group didn't show up at 11:15. I have no way of knowing since I wasn't wearing my watch, didn't take my phone.  Anyway, we just drove back to Kay's house.  It's Saturday and she'd gone to the Farmer's market to peddle her wares.  I had plenty of time now to get changed and ready. When I walked in the door, Gayela was just finishing up the breakfast dishes which I had totally forgotten about and ran out and left in the sink.  MIKE took the car and went to go do the laundry. By himself.  I tried to prime him for the experience, as I had just gone to a laundramat a week or so ago (for work, washing up the lost and found items before donating them) and he couldn't even remember the last time he'd gone to one.  It did end up costing quite a lot and he brought home wet clothes to try on lines and hangars here.  But we have clean travel clothes. yay.

While I was getting ready, I checked to see if my phone had finished charging and found that there was a missed phone call and a voice mail from the Carls'. Again.  They had been sitting out in front of Kays that morning (like around 8:30 or 9 am, never knocked on the door. They said, "We thought someone would be poke their head out, but I guess you're resting...."  Oh. My. Goodness. Berenice has been so anxious to meet with these people and they have been so elusive!  Whey don't they just walk in  the yard and knock or holler?  So strange. So I called and left yet another message saying we were there, we were just eating breakfast, they should have knocked, etc. I guess since they don't really have a "door" that is not in their habit. ha. Their home  burnt down, and the home had been a coffee shack.  There may have been a gate or something, but pretty sure there wasn't much of a door.   Any way, we got that squared away, I let Berenice listen to the voicemail which she could not hear or understand even though it was on speaker phone and Gayela across the room COULD understand it just fine.  I finished getting ready for my snorkel trip via kayak across the bay and left so I could meet up with the kayak company on time. It's just down at the "T" in the road where you get to the bottom of the hill.  Paper work, gear up, instructions, paddle, paddle, paddle. Sunny day, slight breeze.  Our trip was to last till 3:30 or so.  I was paired with Brian from northern Idaho. The others came in groups of two to four. There were 13 people, 7 kayaks. We landed at the little spit of land by Captain Cook Monument.  I was the first from our group to jump in the water.

And the fish were so pretty, but I was so sad to see the state of the coral.  30 years ago, I went snorkeling out there.  30 years ago the coral colors were vibrant and oh-so gorgeous. I was like diving in an aquarium.  Today? Not so much.  It is mostly just gray. Gray, gray, gray. So sad. I stayed in the water about 40 minutes or so, went all up and down (dodging other snorkelers and boats--crazy busy out there!) and never really got over my disappointment. I liked seeing the parrot fish and hearing them munch the coral, and there was a fair variety of fish, but I never saw a turtle or eel, I tried doing a little surface dive but succeeded only in getting water in my ears and nose. The snorkel and mask weren't perfect and my jaw is still giving me enough problems that I really didn't enjoy holding that snorkel in my teeth.

I'm glad I went. I'm glad I have some memories of the former days.  I only told two of the other people about the difference between now and 30 years ago. One started to say something about "Climate..."  but I interrupted and said, "Oh, climate has nothing to do with it. This is all people damage and abuse." And I really think it is.  I didn't take a camera since mine isn't waterproof, so I don't have underwater photos to prove it.  There were some places where there was light green coral.  But there was no fan coral, no pinks, nothing much but blah. I was just in tropical waters 2 years ago in Guam.  There was plenty of green there, Sea anenomes.  The sea urchins were fairly prevalent in some areas of the Kealakekua bay. I know they are trying to regulate things and improve, but it will take centuries. :-(  That photo is what I remember it looking like. I think it's pretty accurate.
The fish are pretty...and the water is mostly clear, but when gazing down the side slope, I was kind of creeped out. I couldn't see too terribly far. It's hard to judge distances in water, but it was less than what the visibility was in Guam, I think.

On a lighter note, when I walked back from the beach, I found that my family had only just returned slightly before I did. They had gone to see the Carls!  Apparently they (Carls) had called shortly after I left and as soon as Mike got back from the Laundramat, Mike, Berenice and Gayela headed up to the Carls' tent and had lunch together. They were there about 2 1/2 hours. They even brought me a plate of leftover food.

Since they'd eaten a late and big lunch, we cancelled our reservations for dinner out tonight. Oh well.  We have had plenty of big expensive meals out since being here.  And we need to eat up the food we purchased at the grocery store.  Mike and I did go out in the evening to purchase a loaf of bread so we'd have some for Sunday sandwiches, but after playing cards, shopping from Kay's truck for the nuts we wanted to bring home, we just retired early. And I needed that!  I was beat from my 2 1/2 mile paddle and 40 minute snorkel, plus the baby walk to and from the beach.  Long day. Fun day.

 A fellow kayaker from San Diego took these photos and emailed them to me.  We did have a bit of excitement on the way back. One of the kayaks tipped over. That had to have been hard to get back in!  Ours managed to stay stable, thanks to Brian and his experience in steering us across the swells. It was a bit rougher when we returned.  Since the two who tumbled in the water weren't feeling well, we just hurried back without stopping. Oh well. My arms were not even sore the next day!  Also, the Kayak in front of us had a little mishap while trying to get on the dock. One gal lost her balance and fell in, taking the guide with her. ha. We just sat back and observed the whole thing, as we were last to go ashore.  The water in Kealakekua Bay is 900 feet deep.  ! It is a volcano caldera, has collapsed lava tubs under the floor, and is very significant to Ancient Hawaiian Royalty. I honestly wondered how much of the stuff our guide (8 months into it and probably using Google exclusively) was accurate, but hey! I was just along for the ride. ha.

I snapped this photo down the street from Kay's place.  The little cove down there is so nice.  Rocky, but nice. I sat down there one afternoon watching kayakers come in. I thought if I didn't get any ACTUAL photos of me on the bay, this one would do and no body would be the wiser. ha. 

This is really me on Kealakekua Bay . I'm in front. We appear to be a bit low in the water. ha.

Just sitting there. Over 900 feet of deep blue ocean water. No dophins in sight. No whales. Not even any fish. Yet.

Friday, December 22, 2017 in Hawaii

I had such a surprise this morning, very early.  It was a usual night's sleep, and we'd planned to be up and about by 8 am. The Carls were supposed to call us , yes CALL us, like on the telephone, at 8 am and we were looking forward to making arrangements to see them today.  Mike and Joanne Carls spend half their time here in Hawaii, half their time in Washington state. Berenice was so looking forward to seeing them.  At 7:30 a.m., I could hear people out and about in the yard, cars coming and going.  That's not unusual, as it was Friday and Kay was going to be going to the Farmer's market and her husband, Michael, frequently leaves very early as he works on computer stuff from town on California time.  But I thought I heard Joanne Carls' voice!  I poked Mike and said, "I think the Carls' are here!" I showed him my phone and the time of 7:35 am.  We were kind of groggy, but I got up and got some clothes on and went inside to the bathroom to get cleaned up. I didn't see anyone around when I went from my shed to the house.  When I came out of the bathroom, I talked to Gayela. She hadn't seen anyone. Berenice got up and went into the bathroom, MY Michael got up and went out to talk to Michael Wilson and Mike Liebhardt brought in a box of fruit that the Carls had left for us (bananas). Michael Wilson had said they (the Carls) didn't want to wake anyone, so they just left their gifts (they also brought honey that was brought in later, after the banana box) and went away.  Berenice was so sad she didn't get to see them!

I made us breakfast of smoothies (Bananas, Pineapple, Star fruit, Papaya, Milk) and we ate some Malasadas, too. They are not quite as lovely as when they are fresh from the fryer at Tex's Drive-in at Honoka'a, but I still like them. ha. (It's a donut! what's not to like???). Mike had gone out in the morning before breakfast to pick more oranges off the trees to juice. We've been drinking lots and LOTS of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Mike's been really good to pick the fruit and juice them for us. Kay does have lots of citrus fruit trees in her yard and in the rental house yard next door that she owns.

We determined that we had room for Berenice to purchase one case of chocolate -covered macadamia nut candies to bring home, and some cans of nuts, so Gayela and I went to town.  But not until after lunch. I made tuna sandwiches for lunch. That was the end of our $5.35 loaf of bread.  (Food's pretty pricey here). We had chips and sandwiches and rootbeer for lunch because the orange juice wasn't quite chilled yet, I cleaned up the dishes and then Gayela and I headed into town. It's about a 15 minute drive to the closest place to shope, I think. I've never really timed it.  But one DOES have to travel that very windy and steep Nap'o po'o road for some of those miles.

But first I had to make a dump run.  This morning before Kay left to go man (woman?) her selling booth at the Farmer's Market, she'd asked me to please take all our garbage, and the garbage and recycle that she'd set out by the gate, out tot he dumping station. It's a quarter mile down the road.  So I did. I had to hunt high and low to find some trash can liners so I could portect the seat of the car. The trunk in our car couldn't accommodate such a round-ish parcel, so it had to go on the front seat.  Flies and all!! Yikes.  I tried to let them all out of the loosely-tied rather stinky bag, but for the recycle bag, I just trapped them all in and took them along for the ride. I was glad there was another car there at the dump, because it wasn't initally very clear where to put what stuff, so I asked them. I did realized as I dumped one bag of trash trash that there was a person (dump employee) in a little hut who was there to direct people. I heard him yelling to a truck driver where to put their yard trash (green stuff).  There are many of these "Solid Waste Transfer Stations" all over the island.  You dump your stuff into a large Matson Shipping Container-sized metal container, then it's compacted down. Those are the containers that our friend, Doug Barton, hauls around. He showed us a video clip of one of his hauling trucks attempting to lift one of those onto the truck for hauling. It was SO HEAVY that it lifted the front of the truck (cab, driver, and all) clear up into the air). Trash day on the Islands. I was back before 10 minutes had passed.

I didn't know how many Longs Drugs stores we'd have to hit to find what we needed, but luckily the one at the Keauhou Shopping center had a case, and had some nuts, too, so we were on on way again quite soon. I stopped (Gayela waited in the car) in at the KTA grocery store to see what I could find to take to the Nakamotos on Sunday Night. (I got desserts--no real food. We are so "mainland"). I also made a spontaneous purchase of a small container of sushi. It just looked so good. I do love California Rolls, and they were about the same price as my Smith's store in Cedar City!  So I brought some to go with our Saimin noodles I planned to serve for dinner. I picked up a newspaper for Mike. I think he's kind of been going through withdrawals from papers, news and Sudoku puzzles. But that's OK. He still has his Dr. Pepper. ha.

Our afternoon was VERY laid back and relaxing.  Such nice weather, a cool breeze if you sat in the right spot. Berenice was perched out in the breezeway, just in case the Carls came by, saw the car missing when Gayela and I were gone, so she could catch them in case they came back. I did call them later in the day. Joanne answered, and basically said they were very busy and to have a nice vacation!  I don't think Berenice is going to get to see them this trip. She's still talking about going to see them on Saturday.  The Carls have not been to Church in years and years. But they do correspond with her and they had said (in an early December note to Berenice) that they looked forward to seeing her. . . I'm sad to see Berenice so disappointed. Perhaps they will stop by. One never knows.

I decided in the late afternoon that I was rather tired of just sitting around, so I took a walk around the neighborhood, to at least dip my toes into the water. I walked around the rocks, waded a little. I finally was able to see that there are, indeed, yellow tangs in the water there. I saw crabs and snails, so that was comforting.  Oh, and I took a photo of some sea urchins, too. I was beginning to think the beach was totally devoid of sealife from my previous walk.  I sat down there and watched Kayakers coming in after a day (or an afternoon) of paddling and snorkeling in the bay (me, tomorrow!). I asked one lady, as I was walking back to the boat ramp area, if she kayaked or paddled regularly at home? She said, "No."  I just wondered how dead my arms were going to be after paddling across the bay and back. She said it wasn't really hard, and, Yes, she could FEEL her arms and may be sore tomorrow, but it wasn't too bad. So, we shall see how this old lady fares tomorrow! ha ha. Someone ELSE may have to haul suitcases around in the airport when we leave.  But that's not for a few days, so hopefully I'll be recovered by then. I walked the rest of the way around to the shore at the end of the road, watched some snorklers get into the surf from that rocky shore. It's tricky, very dangerous and there are warning signs all around. Those two guys obviously knew what they were doing. I'll bet it's gorgeous out there.  There were several people out on the bay, on stand-up-paddle boards, some on kayaks, and just some swimmers.  But compared to Kailua Kona beaches in town with all the people, it is not busy or crowded. There were few people there. It is so isolated. When I went to the dump earlier in the day, there were many MANY cars parked on the street out in front of Kay's and further down the road, so I'm guessing there were more people in the water earlier in the day. My walk was from about 4 to 5:30. I also attempted to photograph the local flora and fauna.

When I returned from my walk, it was time to fix dinner. I summoned up memories of an old film called "Ramen Girl" and did my best to fix some yummy and beautiful bowls of ramen or Saimin noodles. And we had left-over tuna sandwiches and sushi and start fruit, too.  Saimin, Sandwich, Star Fruit, Sushi...an "S" themed dinner for the evening. The ramen did turn out pretty. I had two tiny corn cobbettes  left overs from what Kay brought down with her Chili and Rice dinner the previous night, I had some (as in 3 slices only) bacon that I cooked and crumbled, some thin-sliced ham luncheon meat that I cut in skinny strips, broccoli florettes and cauliflower and carrots from a California Mix frozen veggie pack. So, with all those things arranged on the noodles, it was attractive and edible and really quite tasty (because of the bacon, you know).

Then we played cards till bedtime. Gayela taught us how to play Kings in the Corner, and since Mike and I knew very few card games, that's what we've been doing. Michael Wilson stopped by and visited for a bit, too. That is the most I've ever heard come out of that man's mouth. He is very quiet.  Soft-spoken, too.  I'm sure Berenice didn't hear anything that he said.  He was just talking about one of the dogs getting out and chasing a cat, having a missing cat, etc. Nice fellow.  Kay is so pleased that he IS such a nice fellow and is quick to say that he treats her well.  Kay didn't come in from her work and errands until after 9 pm. She was done with Market by 5 - ish , but then went shopping at WalMart, etc. Then she had to load/unload her van for Market tomorrow. Such a busy lady. WE are such a contrast as we just laze around on vacation mode.

I made reservations for dinner out on Saturday evening. This is our gift from Damian and Tandy for Christmas. We're going to "Bubba Gumps", and its right on the ocean. Should be nice!

Again, I'll have to add photos when I return to the mainland and have wifi and can find/download photos.  I took some of the shore while I was walking. Rocks and water, but it will give you an idea about the "Beaches" here. Not your typical beach, by any means. ;-)

Look closely and you might be able to see some yellow fish.

Rocky shores.

Sea urchins in the water.

The water is so lovely here.

Front of the apartment/shed.

Mike and his mom relaxing on the back porch area.

Just relaxing for a few minutes in the backyard.

There are lots of tiny snails on this rock. I sat here for quite a while watching kayakers, crabs, waves.  

I later walked around the bay area again and saw these cute little birds.

Looking straight up into a cluster of hanging trumpet flowers.

Trumpet flowers.

I just love this swing in the yard. Usualky their gate is closed so you cannot see, but on this day it was open and pretty inviting, don't you think?

I dont know what these white flowers were that hung from a vine, but they were pretty.

A vkew from the lava where I went to dump our 5 gallon bucket of compost. Mike kept picking and squeezing tbe fresh oranges daily, so we always had lots of wonderful fresh juice.