Pretty Garlic Pottery

After Auntie Grace passed away, my cousins Arnold and Walt generously asked Mom and Auntie Dorothy to come and take home anything they might be able to use. 

One of the things that caught my eye was a garlic container, brand new and still in its box.

We normally just have our garlic lying on a plate on the kitchen counter.  I loved the look of this clay garlic container.

It really does look pretty on my counter.

Now what do I do with the ginger root?  Do you use ginger root?  How do you store yours?

POSTSCRIPT 1:
I just checked online as suggested and found two ways to store ginger.  One site said to put the ginger in a plastic bag and store it in the crisper drawer of your frig.  If the ginger has been cut, make sure the end is dry with a paper towel before putting it back in the drawer.

The other way is to freeze the ginger.  Now I know.  :-)

POSTSCRIPT 2:
Goodness!  My cousin, Arnold just emailed to tell me this wasn't a garlic storage container after all.  It's a garlic baker!  He'd tried roasted garlic in New Mexico and had enjoyed and wanted to try it.  Hmmmm... Who would have guessed?  Well, I still rather love it more as a garlic storage container.  But who knows?  I may just try roasting some someday.

Carry-Out vs. Restaurant Zippy's Saimin

I'm afraid this post is geared more for Island locals, but then again... should you decide to come to Hawaii and try this local favorite, it would be good for you to know.

Saimin is a local noodle favorite and everybody has their favorite place to get it.  Lately, we've switched from Shiro's to Zippy's with Shige's (Wahiawa) in between.

Last week we were in a rush so we thought we'd grab a carry-out saimin.  We ordered the large size with extra garnishes.  Yes, it was only $3.60 (I think), but it was pretty darn small.

I didn't see much garnish so I asked them about it.  They said that the extra garnish for 43 cents was two more slices of fish cake.  Seriously?

This isn't an accurate photo because I took the above photo after I'd already eaten half of it.  I wasn't planning to do a post on this.

The broth was also very tasteless and frankly, it was bad saimin.  We'll never order take out saimin again even if we plan to eat it there.

The bottom photo is what I usually order.  It's a small size saimin in the restaurant for $4.45 plus extra garnish and is more than enough.

I can't understand why the broth should be different.  Don't they make the food in the same kitchen? 

Ah well... I've learned my lesson. 

Grief Can Hurt You

For the past three weeks Mom has been saying that her left eye was blurry and that her optometrist had told her in September that she had the beginnings of cataracts.  However it was getting blurrier so she thought she might need the surgery sooner rather than later.  Therefore a couple of weeks ago I made an appointment to see an ophthalmologist. 

A couple of nights ago we were watching TV with her and she said she could see only the bottom half with her left eye.  That sounded really strange.  I didn't think that was how cataracts worked, but didn't know for sure. 

I talked to Art about it and he asked Mom if he could check her eye.  He lifted up her eyelid and we could see a cloudy mass.  Now that was a shock!  Is that what a cataract looks like?  Art was dubious so he looked online to see what cataracts are supposed to look like.

In the morning I called the Kaiser ophthalmologist's office and the advice nurse got back to me at noon.  She said we should bring her in right away instead of waiting for her appointment time.

At the eye clinic, I asked the doctor if it was possible that this was due to Mom losing her sister three weeks before.  Mom has high blood pressure which is controlled by medication.  I wondered if the shock, trauma and grief raised her blood pressure too high and caused the eye damage.

The doctor looked and said it was branched retinal vein occlusion.   In layman's terms it was like a mini stroke in her eye.

He said that the damage was permanent, but she needed treatment to mitigate further vision loss.

This involved injecting a medication called Avastin into her eye.  I had to work hard to translate what the doctor was saying to convey the message as gently as I could.

I went with her into the room and asked the doctor if he needed me there.  He said it was up to Mom.  I asked her if she needed me to stay or if I could just wait outside.

Wouldn't you know she wanted me there?  I heard a little chuckle in the doctor's voice when he said, "You'd rather not watch, hunh?"

He had me put on a mask and I stayed but turned away when he did the actual injection.  It was fine.  She and I both survived it.  However, she will have to get another injection every month for several months before she's out of the woods.

And yes, said the doctor, it could easily have been her grief that caused this, especially since we know it happened soon after her sister passed away.  Mom doesn't show grief beyond telling us about happy memories with Auntie Grace.  Her broken heart, however, must be hurting more than we can easily see.

On the long way home in horrible traffic I thought she'd be upset, but she was cheerful.  She thanked Art for checking her eyes, insisting on medical attention and taking her in as soon as we could.  She was grateful that further damage could be hopefully averted.  And when she saw the dinner that Art picked up for her she was very, very happy.

It wasn't an easy day, but it could have been worse.

Pretty Petty Politics

I try to stay away from politics and religion on my blog because I don't know remotely enough to write intelligently about it.

However, recently I've seen Art get really annoyed with things he's been reading in the paper.  To be honest, it annoys me too.

I know there's much that I don't know or understand, but here are a few things that have me puzzled.

When our economy was still not doing well a year after President Obama was elected, he was constantly criticized.  When there were too many people still out of work, he was blamed as well.  However, now that the economy is doing quite well, housing prices going up, and many more jobs are available I don't see people giving him credit.

And now we've got our representative to congress, Tulsi Gabbard criticizing President Obama on FOX news.  She is the first Hindu representative to congress and is probably quite well known for being beautiful.

She is getting a lot of coverage saying that President Obama is wrong in not emphasizing that ISIS or ISIL are Muslim.

Frankly, I think Obama is right in not making Islam the enemy.  The US does have allies in the Middle East who are Muslim.  Do you really want to make this a religious war, even against people who are not terrorists?

I've been really disappointed with Gabbard.  I hope she'll do a lot more thinking before she says anything else.

Friends in Need

When we went to tai chi last week, our friends, the two Cals and Myra had day brighteners for us.
One Cal had a bonsai library book for Art to check out different ideas for citrus bonsai.  The other Cal and Myra had a beautiful orchid to give mom a smile and would you believe special homemade vermicompost for us?  Perfect!

I guess you might laugh to think that compost which is actually dirt might not be what you would think would cheer someone up.  Actually, it really showed what good friends Cal and Myra are in knowing this would indeed make us happy.  The other Cal knew Art would enjoy the citrus bonsai book.  In fact, Art was out this evening once again wiring his lemon tree grove.

Cal and Myra knew we were babying our Satsuma tangerine and parted with a bagful of their precious natural fertilizer for our tree.

And mom?  There was indeed a big smile on her face that friends she hadn't even met yet were kind enough to think of her in her time of sorrow.

Lunch Buffet at the Oceanarium

Our tour group to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand last year was filled with wonderful people.  Because there were so many people, we were broken up into Groups 1 and 2.  We belonged to the larger Group 1.  However we met several of the people in the smaller Group 2 and found we really enjoyed each others' company. 

When we returned to Hawaii last spring they invited us to their get-together which we really enjoyed.  Ron, Mary Ann and Caroline organized this year's get-together at the Oceanarium in Waikiki on Sunday and invited us once more.

It was fabulous seeing everybody again.  Art had always wanted to try the buffet at the Oceanarium, but we've never had the chance.

The big draw at the Oceanarium is the snow crab legs and deservedly so. Yum!

There were also a lot of seafood items which we really enjoyed and the selections were varied and delicious.  We didn't overeat, but we weren't hungry for dinner later either.

Art was in charge of taking photos for this post, but as you can see we don't have many photos.  We were too busy eating and chatting.

Do you see that diver in the tank wishing people a happy anniversary or birthday?  Wouldn't this be a great place to do a proposal? 

(I've blurred out photos of people who are not familiar with blogs and could not give informed consent.)

Ron, Mary Ann and Caroline were such wonderful hosts, taking care of the bill and making sure everybody was having a great time.

And yes indeed, we were loving every minute, including (especially) the desserts!  Tour friends, Nora and Phyllis told me that if I drank a lot of water after the dessert, I could dilute the glucose in my blood.  I should try this before my next blood test.

Everyone commented that we hoped we could be on another trip together again someday.  Who knows?  It's possible!

OK... I going to go and drink more water now.

POSTSCRIPT:  I was talking to my cousins, Arnold and Walter tonight.  Alas, they have burst my bubble.  They said drinking water to reduce my glucose will not work.  In order to reduce the glucose, I need to exercise.  And according to Arnold, I need to sweat. Shucks!

Kunia Orchid Show

For many years Mom has enjoyed growing orchids; so when someone offered us tickets again to the  Kunia Orchid Show, we really had to go.

The Kunia Orchid show is actually at the Leilehua High School gymnasium in Wahiawa.

There was an endless variety of orchids.

Mom spent a lot of time looking at each type of flower.

Mom kept pointing out orchids that she felt we needed to take a photo of.

I enjoyed the flower arrangement display even more.

I was surprised to see these plum or cherry blossom twigs.  I wonder where they got it from.

This display had a Mardi Gras theme.

Are you getting over saturated with orchid photos?

Just a few more to go.

There was also a bonsai display.

Mom was skeptical that those were real tangerines on the tree.

I'm sure they were real.  They certainly gave Art hope with his lemon trees.

Yup!  There were also anthuriums!  Mom pointed out that black one which I didn't care for, but lots of other people were captivated by it.

What a surprise!  Hawaii's governor, David Ige was there enjoying the orchid show with his wife so we got to take a photo with him.

What a fun Saturday!  I wish I had Flat Stanley with us.

We Did It!

After hounding my son-in-law and brother for advice and almost driving them crazy, we did it!

We bought the darn TV for mom after dithering back and forth and back again.  This has been one of the HARDEST decisions we've ever made.  I don't think we had this much trouble buying a house!

It's a 60" Sony Bravia.  Why?  In the end I think it was Art's gut feeling.  I was prepared to buy the LG or Samsung which had a better discount last week.  My son-in-law and pretty much everyone thought Samsung was the best brand.  However, we were able to get a larger TV for a lesser price this week so that's what we ended up doing.  My son-in-law approved.  My brother already has a Sony.

When we brought in the TV Art said, "Happy Birthday!"

"But it's not my birthday," said a thoroughly puzzled mom.

I thought we'd get a bigger reaction, but she wasn't curious at all.

When we took it out of the box, she was still not showing much interest.

"Where are you going to put the table?" she asked.

"Table?"  No wonder she wasn't excited.

When we showed her that it was a TV, and not a table she was shocked.

"Oh no... You shouldn't have done this.  I don't need a new TV.  The old one works fine.  This must have been expensive.  You shouldn't spend money on me."  And so on and so forth.

We'll be mounting the TV on the wall later, but for now it's replaced the older, extremely heavy TV.

We were amazed at how clear the reception was with just our antennae.

I checked up on mom later.  She was watching a video while doing her treadmill and there was a big smile on her face.

"This is so wonderful!  I can see it much, much better.  I really like it.  Thank you so much!"  And so on and so forth.

And whose idea was all this.  Actually, it was Art.

After Auntie Grace passed away, Art wanted to do something to raise her spirits.  His other motivating factor is that life is too short and he wanted mom to have some enjoyment now while she was here to enjoy it.

I'm very grateful.  Mom says he's the best son-in-law.  That's what she tells everybody.

Bumped on the Road

We were stopped at an intersection recently, waiting for the light to change when suddenly we were jolted very hard from behind.  I didn't know what it was at first.  Art went out to check.

Our rear bumper had these two screw indentations and a horizontal line from the other car's license plate. 

The woman driver came out of her car apologizing profusely.  It seems a cockroach ran over her foot and she panicked.  I felt sorry for her.  Art said he'd just let it go since the damage was minor.

The next day we saw my brother and sister-in-law and told them what happened.

"Oh, wait until you see what happened to us," said my sister-in-law.

They had a huge dent in their rear bumper!  Apparently a speeding motorcyclist ran into them and went flying over their car leaving a dent at the top also.  The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet and survived.

And you wonder why I'm afraid to drive.

Hawaiian Style St. Patrick's Day

When we lived in Chicago, St. Patrick's Day was quite a big thing.  There's a lot of Irish in Chicago.  They even dye the Chicago River green.  It's not quite the same in Hawaii but we like to celebrate it remembering all our Irish friends in Chicago and especially to celebrate my sister-in-law, Nancy and our nephews.

This year was no different.  We had the traditional Irish American repast of corned beef and cabbage.  However, we also added cucumber namasu, kinpira gobo, Okinawan purple sweet potatoes, a huge green salad, kabocha and my cousin brought Liliha Bakery's famous coco puffs. 

Nancy made a mint chocolate ice cream cake that everybody loved.  Notice the chocolate shamrock?

And yes, there was Guinness beer and it was very good.  Mom finished her bottle without a problem at all.

Did you notice she's wearing green too?  So is Art, but he's taking the photo.

We hope you all had a fabulous St. Patrick's Day!

Back to Work on the House Renovation

After seven years of working on the renovation of the house, we're now down to the baseboards.  It seemed as though seven years ago we were up to the task.  However, I'm finding it's not so easy now.

The bottom of the wall looked like the photo on the left for such a long time we've gotten to used to seeing it unfinished.  We finished three fourths of the bottom floor this past week and we're very pleased with the effect.

Art's job is to saw and nail in the baseboard molding and quarter rounds.  My job is to patch the nail holes with wood putty, caulk the spaces and then paint it.

We're pleased with ourselves, but I was really aching from bending over yesterday.  Now there's just the little bit more to finish on the first floor and then we're on to the second floor which will take four times as long. 

Ah well... Art says we're retired so there's no rush.  Besides, I wonder if anybody will notice.

It's Cooooold in Hawaii!

We were out early going to the Open (Farmers) Market and I was really feeling chilled.  I even had my hoodie on.  Art thought it was hilarious.  We have spent 35 + years in Chicago after all.

On the way home he happened to check the outside temperature on the car dashboard and took a photo of it.

Yes!  55 degrees!

We texted our daughter, Tif a few days ago saying how cold it was for Hawaii at 60 degrees.  She laughed and told us that everybody was saying it was unseasonably warm in Chicago at 50 degrees.  Warmth is relative, I guess.

Bunny on the Loose

Mom came bursting into the kitchen a couple of mornings ago shouting,  "Art!  Kay!  There's a bunny running around outside and he won't leave me alone!"

I didn't quite believe her.  I figured she'd mistaken a mongoose or feral cat for a bunny.  I've never seen a feral rabbit running around.  Wild rabbits let loose and multiplied by irresponsible owners have caused quite a bit of destruction in the islands in the past.

I got a laundry basket and Art trapped the bunny.

Now what to do?  Call the Humane Society?

We asked several neighbors and discovered that the bunny belonged to some neighbors up the street.

We were told that if we let it go, the bunny knew its way home.

It didn't feel right, but Art let it go and chased it toward its owner's home.

The next day, the bunny was back and must have imprinted on mom.  It followed her everywhere as she watered the plants.  It was also eating my decorative dwarf mondo grass. 

Mom said it was a little spooky because the bunny nearly caused her to trip.

I saw what she meant.  When I went outside to take photos of the bunny for this post, it went around and around my legs as I walked.

I texted a photo of the bunny to my brother who said it might be the ghost of the bunny that a friend gave me for an Easter gift when I was in college. 

I kept my bunny indoors and took him outside on a leash at night.  I never let him loose.  My bunny was white and lived a happy life for about 7 years.

POSTSCRIPT:  It was raining hard last night when the black bunny's family came to our door asking if we'd seen it.  I told them that I was concerned about it being run over if they let it run loose.  I also said it's nearly tripped my mother several times.  They said they didn't like keeping the bunny in a cage and thought it would be happier to run free because it knew its way home. They were actually just bunny sitting the pet for a relative.  Now that the bunny seemed to be lost they realized that they needed to keep the bunny within their yard.  They are a very nice family and I was happy to meet them.  I was worried about their bunny too.

This morning, there was no bunny prancing around mom and Art said he missed seeing him. I sure hope he's OK.

Buddhist Memorial Service

It seems like our family has been attending quite a number of funeral or memorial services lately.  This past weekend we attended a 7 year memorial service for Art's uncle at the Hongwanji Buddhist temple.  It was great to see Art's wonderful extended family again and catch up on each other's lives.

In the Buddhist religion there is a ceremony before the body is cremated and then more services after the 7th, 49th and 100th day.  It's gotten a bit cumbersome so services are often combined which make it easier.  There are then memorial services at the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 13, etc. on to the 50th years.  I know we've combined some of those too.

There were parts of the Reverend's sermon I found meaningful.  For one thing I liked the fact that the Reverend was a woman.  This was a first for me.  I've seen Buddhist nuns, but not priests.

She pointed to the statue of Buddha and said, "That Buddha statue you see there is not an idol.  You don't ask it to change things.  It is only a symbol of self actualization.  It is something you must work toward.  Your husband, father, relative, friend is still here in spirit helping you toward that goal."

"Life," she said "is impermanence.  Everything changes.  You cannot stop it.  Therefore you must treasure each day and make use of that gift."

I have a few friends who have converted to Christianity.  They seem to believe that any religion other than their own is wrong.

I also have two very good friends who happen to be Christian ministers and they have studied Buddhism religiously.  One of them even gave us a book on Buddhism that they felt we should read.  We also have many other Christian friends who are very accepting and respectful of others' beliefs.  It's just those few that have me feeling a little sad.

I looked at this page during the service and remembered seeing it when I was growing up.

Is there really anything here that you would consider wrong?

If there is no tolerance, acceptance and love between religions, can there ever be peace?

Bruising Work!

Art has been working on finishing the renovation of our house.  OK.  It's true that we did the renovation in 2006, but with all the trips we've taken, finishing the renovation has been in fits and starts.

Right now he's working on the baseboards.

This photo shows how the baseboards and quarter rounds are missing around the house.

A couple of days ago Art must have banged his hand, but he doesn't remember doing it.  When he got ready to take a bath he was shocked to see what his hand looked like.

I was shocked when he showed it to me.  See that lump between his ring and middle finger?  It really freaked me out. I know it's because of the low dose aspirin he has been taking every other day.

I looked online to find out what we should do.  Then we put ice on it for a day and then a heating pad.  It seemed to help and it's looking better and better.  I'd sent this photo to our nurse practitioner earlier who said it was the right thing to do.

Don't you love technology?

Putting a Lid on It

We have this little annoyance about pot lids.

We have both the handle and knob type of pot lids for our stainless steel pots.  Don't even get me into talking about the pitting on my stainless steel pots.  Annoying!!!

Anyway, we soon discovered that the knob types presented a problem.  Moisture would seep under the knob after we washed it.

See that water?  See the rust starting?  Not very stainless, is it?  For a while Art used to insist on unscrewing the knob after every washing to dry.  However all the screwing and unscrewing wore out the threads on the knob until it got too loose and couldn't be used. 

Now we only buy pots that have lids with handles.  Do you have a favorite manufacturer of stainless steel pots that don't cost an arm and a leg?

Which TV to buy?

Mom's TV is large, but is an older one that we bought her before we moved back to Hawaii 7 years ago.  We had to get the analog to TV conversion box for it.  It's still working great except for the fact that it's suddenly refusing to provide audio for her Japanese KIKU channel although the picture is clear. We've tried changing wires, jiggling.... everything.  We get the channel upstairs and in the kitchen but not in her comfortable family room.

However, now that we're planning to get cable, we thought it would be time to upgrade the TV for her.

This is really aggravating and I'm dreading it.

Arrrghhh!

I've also read on the Internet that you can't go to the store and compare picture quality by what's in the showroom.

Arrrghhh!

My poor son-in-law, daughter and brother are probably pretty tired of hearing our groans of indecisiveness.

I made a spreadsheet of all the possible TVs we could buy from several stores.  I've listed the specifications, size, 4K/HD, unit numbers, sale price, brand and what is included.  We've made up our minds a half dozen times and then changed it.

My son-in-law said to just buy the most reasonably priced model.

Buuuutttt...

But what about the Consumer Reports rating?  What about the viewing angle?  What about the USB inputs?  What about picture quality?  Sound?

Sigh...

Loving Tapes

Auntie Grace was 14 months younger than my mother and Auntie Dorothy was 14 months younger than Auntie Grace.  Mom often chuckled that when they were in school there was always a sister in three grade levels.  There are two other siblings in Japan who are several years younger than they are.

Since we returned to Hawaii almost 8 years ago to take care of mom, a reciprocal system somehow developed between mom and Auntie Grace.

My cousin, Arnold had subscribed to cable and bought his mom the premium (expensive) NGN2 Japanese channel.  We used our antennae (in the attic) and mom was able to watch the free KIKU Japanese station on a large TV (with analog to digital conversion box).  You couldn't get that many Japanese shows, but mom was spending more time then reading and writing letters to her siblings.

Eventually Auntie Grace wanted mom to see certain shows on her NGN2 channel so she began recording them for her.  She recorded so many of them that both Arnold and we had to keep replacing the overworked video recording machines every year for them.

This system had some added side benefits.  It insured that we would have to drive mom to town every couple of weeks in order to exchange the already watched and newly recorded tapes.  We always brought Auntie's favorite vegetables that we would purchase from the farmers market and Auntie enjoyed sharing dishes she'd made.  She was an excellent cook!  There were times that we needed to do something in town so we would drop mom off at Auntie's house and pick her up later.

Less than a week before Auntie passed away we'd gone to wish her a happy birthday and drop off some of those boiled peanuts she liked so much.  February was so busy that we hadn't been able to stop by.  Therefore there were three bags of videos piled up for us to pick up.

Mom is gradually watching them and thinking of her sister choosing these programs to share with her.

I'm dealing with regrets that we didn't bring mom over more often to visit in the last couple of months, that we didn't get to take them to the Museum of Art like we planned, etc.  Art says I shouldn't think like that.  We should be happy with what we were able to do.

Art did tell me a couple of nights ago that we'd better get cable.  I've called Oceanic and have been asking around for the best company to get that NGN2 channel. It's so complicated that it's got me cross-eyed.

Mom keeps saying we don't need to do this.

Oh no.  We definitely need to.

Shock, Disbelief and Sorrow

I've written and rewritten this post several times and just couldn't find the right words.  It's too painful.

We lost our Auntie Grace suddenly last week and her sons, family and friends are heartbroken.  My stoic mother crumbled in the emergency room.  As she stroked her sister's head she cried out plaintively, "What will I do?  She was like my left arm.  Where will I go to have fun? We were like twins." I didn't realize tears were pouring down my cheeks.

Auntie Grace lost her daughter, Charlotte several years ago and then lost her daughter, Joan this past December.  Yet despite all that, she would not burden everyone with her sorrow.  She wanted everyone to be happy.  When we traveled together to Japan, mom had a knee injury.  Auntie Grace insisted on being the one to take care of her.  "She is my sister.  This is my job," she said with a happy chuckle.

The last image I have is of her smiling, cheerful face, waving goodbye to us when we'd gone to wish her a happy birthday a few days before.

Mom hasn't been sleeping well since she lost her sister.  Neighbors and friends have been bringing her treats to raise her spirits and she is touched by everyone's caring.

When I was compiling their family history, Auntie Grace said that she'd died during the war when she contracted typhus.  She remembered rising above her body and then returning to it.  She reassured me that she's never been afraid of death since that time.

And you know what?  I can somehow feel that strong, always buoyant spirit of Auntie Grace still here.

I see her gentle smile and concern in her eyes for her older sister and all the people who loved her.  I hear her voice telling everyone to be happy and take care of each other.

I know everyone who loved her is in shock right now, but Auntie would expect us to help each other.

And we will.

Art's Lemon Tree Grove

In summer of 2013, my sister-in-law sent us some California Meyer lemon seeds after we tasted how sweet the Meyers were, unlike our Hawaiian Meyer lemon which are more tart.  I called the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, reassured them that only seeds were sent without any dirt or other material and they said it was OK to try planting them.  At first they wouldn't germinate, but then a blogger sent me to Jalna's blog where Jalna showed how she got seeds to germinate.

It worked!  But then two or three weeks later, the other seeds began germinating also.  We gave away a bunch of the seedlings with the understanding that it would be a decade before they might fruit.

Then we learned that trees grown from seeds don't necessarily come out tasting like the fruit the seeds came from.  Arrrghhhh!

Two of the plants in the bottom photo are not lemon trees.

I planted rosemary and basil in pots for my brother also.

However, the other eight little trees are all the California Meyers.

So what the  heck is Art planning to do with these little trees?  It's not like we don't already have TWO Hawaiian Meyer lemon trees already in the ground and one non producing Satsuma tangerine tree.

Have I mentioned before that Art just likes trees?

Unfortunately we just don't have any space for a tree in our yard.  That's why Art got into bonsai.

Notice the teeny tree at the end?  Yup!  Art is trying to turn the lemon tree into a lemon bonsai.

We'll see what happens in another decade...

More License Plates

I found more fun license plates to share with you.

I spotted this one while leaving the hospital.  Seemed appropriate at the time.

I saw these Mercedes around town.  I guess some lawyers and doctors are doing quite well for themselves.

Tutu is Hawaiian for grandmother.

Hmmm...  British?  So why drive a Toyota?

Does the personality of a clown go with a Cube?


There was a toy skeleton hanging under the HAUNT license plate.

OK... I'm back to collecting more photos for my next license plate post.

Transforming a T-shirt to a Blouse

Every time we participate in the Great Aloha Run we end up with four t-shirts.  We get two Training t-shirts and two Finisher t-shirts.  I think I've only kept one.  I've given the others to Art who really likes them because they're white and are cooler to wear in Hawaii.

I'm not fond of t-shirts because they're too boxy for my taste.  This year, Art said I should keep mine and just modify it like I've done with some other t-shirts.  Some turn out looking better than others.  Here's what I did with this year's Great Aloha Run t-shirt.

I cut off about 3 inches from the bottom and 1.5 inches from the sleeve.  Then I cut off the crew neck, folded and sewed it down to finish the neckline.

Not bad.  I think I'll probably wear it more often now.