Mahalo is a word you hear often in Hawaii. It means thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, respects. I am thankful and full of gratitude for this wonderful time with Mr C in this beautiful place. I didn’t realize how much I needed or would appreciate this time away from my normal life.

I have my computer with me because I have a job that requires that I keep in touch and be available to send bulk e-mails for the SDA reps, but I have really tried to keep my online time to a minimum. I am reading a very huge tome. I am spending quality time with Mr C and I am even doing a bit of stitching on my circle quilt – it is really sloooow cloth!

Yesterday, we visited the Lumahai Botanical Gardens. It was not peak bloom time, but we learned a lot about native plants and plants that have become a problem in the forests. I loved the colors of this Hibiscus.

When we got back to the cottage, Mr C went to rent snorkel gear and was told the water was too rough, and they would not rent to him. A really nice guy on the beach lent him his gear, and so the birthday boy got in a little snorkeling. Does that look too rough?

Then, he went on a hunt for the bananas that grow on the property. We found 3 different trees. They have a very interesting flower that hangs down from the banana cluster.

We went out to dinner for Mr C’s birthday, but were not impressed with the meal. We decided that from now on we will eat lunch out and dinner at home.

Today, we stopped at the Hanalei farmer’s market. I bought papaya, avocado and organic greens for a salad.

We headed for the Kilauea light house and wildlife refuge. We stopped for lunch and had fish tacos with a pineapple salsa – yummy.

I love this photo of a painting of the lighthouse in progress. We saw a lot of red footed boobys. They nest on a huge cliff that can be seen from the lighthouse.

I am going back to stitching for a bit before I crash for the night. There are lots more photos on my Flickr site.

Yesterday was a very long day and I did not sleep well before out flight yesterday. We arrived to wild trade winds and sporadic rain, but it was still balmy. Needless to say, I crashed early and got about 9 hours of sleep. Here is what Oahu looked like as we landed in Honolulu to get our connecting flight to Kauai.

Today was absolutely gorgeous – sunny and in the 70’s. The beautiful hibiscus, above, is right outside our door. There are also lots of fragrant Plumerias.

This is the seedpod of the Plumeria – almost as beautiful.

This is our cottage and the view from our little deck.

There are 5 cottages here, but only one other cottage is occupied so it is very private and really delightful having this beautiful spot almost to ourselves. The owner, who lives in Berkeley, was here for a few days. She brought us some wonderful small bananas from a tree nearby and also some lemons. The bananas are sort of lemony tasting. I had one with papaya and yogurt for breakfast.

We took a walk on the beach and I found some fun things to photograph.

Yes, that is a coconut.

One of the things I love about Hawaii is the variety of trees and other plants that can be seen.

I saw several of these perky Brazilian Cardinals today.

But, I think the official bird of the island is the chicken. They are everywhere!!

I am feeling so relaxed. I spent a little time in the sun, with lots of sunscreen, I have been reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and loving it. I have done some stitching on the circle quilt. We had lunch out, but cooked a delicious fresh Ahi tuna for dinner tonight.

Tomorrow is Mr C’s official birthday so we are going to a nice restaurant called Postcards. It comes highly recommended by friends.

I am signing off to watch Project Runway. Mr C is snoring on the other sofa. LOL!

If you want to see more of my photos, they are on my Flickr site.