Tanning your octopi

So, we're driving along Oneawa Street, going back home from Sunday brunch at the crepe place and.......Whaaaaat!?

Screech! We slowed way down, then had to drive round the block, and drop me off to take a few shots of this batch of octopi drying in the sun. I could have sketched this, I guess, but sometimes it's just better to take a photo.

Tanning a batch of octopi

Closer, closer, closer! Sorry, but I just can't stop looking at it! It's so typical of Hawaii, yet to a mainlander like me these look so alien hanging there on the line, securely attached with clothes pins!

A Relaxing Day at the Beach

We spent a wonderful day at the beach. Our son and his family built a beach "snowman", complete with a yellow pepper schnozzola. It has been tropical-style rainy lately, so today was a welcome respite.

Here's one view of my South Pacific "studio".

Green Sea Turtle cupcakes

Triple chocolate fudge cupcakes, cream cheese frosting, gummies for decoration. 

Leila's friend, Charlie, came over and I made some "green sea turtle" cupcakes for everyone. After all the baking, frosting and letting the kids decorate them, it was a matter of moments and there was not a crumb left! This was so much fun!

Photo credit: (Top) turtles dot com (Bottom) National Geographic Kids

The real turtles live nearby. I know a place where I can swim out and watch them graze on the seaweed on the ocean floor. When they come up for air, you can hear a loud exhale while they rock around in the waves like a platter with feet.

Kawai Nui Marsh

Just before sunset

This is a beautiful natural marsh--the largest on Oahu at 800 acres.  As such, it is a protected Wildife Sanctuary, and that fact by itself deserves respect when visiting this site. There is a nice, somewhat lengthy, flat trail on the floodwater control levy. This levy, however, has no shade, so plan for an early morning walk, and bring water. There is no wheelchair access, no store or food access, no bathrooms, very limited parking. The marsh is a cultural and scientific historic treasure, and was considered a major sacred site by Hawaiians for centuries as a giver of Life--Was able to sustain thousands with fish, kalo-[taro]- and fowl during Hawaii's chiefdoms and later, monarchy period. WW11 marked an era of rapid change for the face of the windward area of Oahu, with the introduction of marine corp base Hawaii, and a change in economy. The marsh fell into disrepair, but in the last 20 years has seen several improvement programs that are helping return this natural area back to its healthy, productive state--fish, fowl and wildlife populations are slowly increasing in healthy numbers.-quote from tripadvisor

It took only a five minute drive down Oneawa and through a neighborhood to find this natural sanctuary. I saw people fishing, cycling, running and taking photos. There were quite a few bird varieties, including waterfowl. The moment the sun passed over the crest of the Koolau Mountains the still, glassy surface of the water became densely pocked with mosquiotos. 

A Day Late and a Latte' Short

Possibly you've heard the old saying, "A day late and a dollar short". I'd like to amend that to "A day late and a latte' short." It expressos my recent experience here in Kailua. (Ha! Pun intended!)

My fellow sketchers back in Seattle met at the new Starbucks Roastery on Capitol Hill yesterday for their usual Friday meet up. Sadly, I missed it, since I am "stuck" here in paradise for just a bit longer. :) In a show of solidarity, I decided that I would also sketch at a coffee roastery. I knew just the place right here in Kaiua! Morning Brew Coffee House and Bistro, or simply "the Brew" as locals call it, is 5 minutes from where I'm staying....3 minutes if you don't worry about make-up and your shoes are flip-flops. 

My morning at "Morning Brew" Coffee House and Bistro, Kailua

So I really was going to go on Friday morning, but the "fam" wanted pancakes and I do make the yummiest, fluffiest ones ever! We also slept in. Then laziness and island time took over and before  you know it, it was pizza night already! I'm a day late with my coffee roaster sketch. Sigh! It's just so busy here on vacation!

Anyway, here's my Saturday sketch of the Morning Brew roaster for their in-house coffee. There's a small curved rail in front of it and a sign asking you not to touch. It's nowhere near as elaborate as the one in Seattle, but quite a piece of machinery nonetheless.  I understand that their coffee blender uses locally sourced artisan coffee and that the beans are roasted on sight in this very same equipment.

Local artists are wholeheartedly supported at the Brew. They have live music from 6-7 p.m. on Fridays and hang the work of local artists on the walls. Currently, the work of Mark N. Brown is still up from his December show. I have painted on location with Mark before and hope you get to see his large plein air pieces before they come down. The shop also sells logo merchandise like shot glasses, T-shirts, mugs, etc. I love the tasteful designs they come up with each year and the Hawaiian style hieroglyph of the sun for their logo. 

The "latte' short" in my title for today refers to the fact that there is no such thing as a small cup at the Brew. That is, unless you want to count the shot glasses. Espressos start out as a double shot. Sizes start at 12 oz. then 16 oz. for medium and 20 oz. for large! Huge! And it's great tasting coffee, too!

Note: For technical reasons I only added color to a few of the brass fittings and tubes. Anything left white on the roaster is really brass.

Last sketches of 2014

Fireworks, dim sum, and Lily in the laundry. 

New Year's Eve in Hawaii is a whole different experience than in the Seattle area. The day started out ordinarily enough. We met for lunch at Jade Dynasty Seafood for Dim Sum. The majestic bronze horses at the entry doors wore festive wreaths with red bows. We tried some new dishes and enjoyed our favorite Char Siu Bao. Then we shopped a bit, since the restaurant is located at Ala Moana in Honolulu.

At home in Kailua, the after dinner firecracker and booming explosions start in earnest. Our ears are ringing. By the time dusk arrives, the air is foggy with smoke and it smells like gunpowder. We've put Lily the family pug in the bathroom to lessen the noise for her, but she still shakes and tries to hide in the laundry basket.

Then the neighborhood show begins. All around us there is a constant display of cascading, starlike clustering, bursting fireworks. It builds to a crashing, booming, blinding crescendo at midnight and finally peters out with only an occasional blast for the next few hours. Lily and I finally can go to sleep.

Update: On Jan 2, #klsketchnation featured this sketch as one of their sketch inspirations #mysketchinspiration on Instagram. They wrote these very nice comments:

"Get out, travel and make a journal out of it. You are your own story. So why not have your own storybook."

KLsketchnation is an online community of sketching enthusiasts out and about in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Winter in Kailua

These two pages describe winter in Kailua this past week.

A glass float with light coming in through a window while it rained outside, a sunset walk on the beach and a marshmallow snowman who sat in a big cup of hot chocolate.