Where's the ice cream??

I can't find my favorite ice cream flavor this year. And this is the time of year it should be available. I'm going into mourning if Edy's isn't making peppermint ice cream any longer. Deep mourning.

Yes, I know there are other brands. I don't like them, they aren't as good. 

So many bags

I have been on a sewing tear lately, but not clothing. Instead I've been making bags and most of them are gifts for others.

First up is a bag for Fiona and family. She's pregnant with their first child, a boy, so I made her a bag that can be used as a diaper bag but doesn't really look like one. Kent was invaluable in making this bag because how the pattern pieces got placed on the fabric really made everything come together well. I left that in his very capable hands. I also made some bibs, burp clothes and a terrycloth towel/blanket.

Outside fabric is all from the same piece of cloth

The green in these items does go with the green in the bag;
you just can't tell that very well from this photo

Next, I made a bag for my manager, who is leaving by the end of June (and sooner if her replacement can be found). She's been an amazing manager, the best in my entire career and I will miss her dreadfully. This picture doesn't really do the bag justice because in real life, this is probably the cutest bag I've ever made.

 And finally, I made this one just because I had enough of both materials and felt like it. The interior material is actually remnants from cloth Kent is using to make a shirt. What can I say, the man loves large, one-way plaids. While I love the look of the fabric on the inside, getting that huge one-way plaid to match about made my head explode.

The top is tucked down so you can see the lining fabric

Damn squirrels

With apologies to my friend Donna Sue, I hate squirrels. I've hated them for years, ever since they ate all my geraniums out of the pots on my balcony in midtown Kansas City. I hated them vicariously when they chewed the wires in my son's car, causing I don't even remember how much damage -- just recall that it cost a lot.

Now they are biting through the wires for the lights on our pergola. Just look:

Click the picture so you can see ALL the dangling wires

See the three wires here??

So now I think we get serious with our squirrels. Only I don't know how to stop them from biting wires. Anyone have any good suggestions?

Of leis, rain, and the Arizona

Last Friday it was raining in Honolulu, but as I posted on Facebook, rain in Honolulu sure beat the freaky out of season snow that was going on in Kansas City.

Here's what we received as we got out of our car at our hotel:

Mine is the one on the left;
Kent's is made from kukui nuts

I'm not a juice girl, but at check in we were given some juice that was amazing. It was a mixture of pineapple, lemon juice and hibiscus flowers -- so good and refreshing that I was a pig and had two glasses. I've searched online to see if I could find the recipe, but alas I've had no luck.

Our room faced the ocean and instead of having curtains over the glass doors, the balcony had sliding louvered doors that let in the air but kept out the (very persistent) birds. We could hear the sounds of the waves so we left the glass doors open the entire time we were there. Oddly, our toilet had -- well it wasn't exactly a bidet although it operated in a similar fashion. Suffice it to say you could get a nice cleansing for light, medium or heavy situations. I didn't try it.

Saturday morning, we decided to try to see the USS Arizona. Kent had done some research and learned that the tickets generally get fully booked a good six months in advance. Well six months ago, we didn't know we wanted to go to Hawaii. But the website also said that some day of tickets would be available. So off we went and stood in line to get into the park the moment it opened. And to our utter surprise, we got tickets to the first boat ride of the day! I am so very glad we were able to see the park and the Arizona.

The rest of the day, we spent on the beach under a big sun umbrella reading and people watching. You see some amazing things at beaches, that's for sure.