Home Again, Adventure Taken

 My adventure took me to the Big Island, Hawaii to visit a friend. Each morning we started with a visit and tea. Then an adventure!

Day One

The beaches are volcanic, but I wanted to see the beach. Off we went down the road to the nearest beach to my friends house. Though it wasn't the type of beach to lay out in the sun it was beautiful to listen to the waves touch the ground at the shoreline.

Then because we were sitting on a volcano on the Big Island there was a hike to see the caldron steam.

A stop at a local fruit stand intrigued me with varieties I had never heard of.

A walk in my friend's garden and we spotted passion fruit hanging from the vine. One ripe one was enjoyed by me. Oh, I do love passion fruit (lilikoi). I enjoyed it fresh from the vine, but also in a jelly and shaved ice. 

The fruit from the palm trees in my friend's garden were not edible, but looked beautiful hanging from the tree.

Day Two 

 A friend of my friend invited us to come for lunch and a walk in her garden.

From the time I stepped off the plane the vegetation of the island amazed me. It was like a tropical paradise or maybe Jurassic Park live and in person.

I almost forgot to tell you about stopping at a garden nursery.

OK, I was besot/enamored by the flowers.

Day Three

We visited a chocolate farm where the owner/farmer gave us a tour. Beside growing and producing chocolate, the family has a farm to table restaurant in town where the food comes from this 3 acres farm. I was amazed at the variety of fruits and vegetables grown here. There were even beehives with busy bees producing honey, a pond for the frogs and dragonflies, and a small rice bog.

The farmer said there were wild pigs hiding in the vegetation. The island has quite a population of wild pigs and some wild chickens. I did see one family of pigs along the road.

Here is the rows of chocolate plants. Can you see the pods?

The farmer sharing his stories that were fascinating to hear. The farm is organic. They have a program where they bring in high school age kids to work on the farm and learn about bio-diversity.

Even vanilla grew here. It wound it's vines through the trees. All very lush.

Again it felt like walking into the jungle. I did bring home a few chocolate bars and mosquito bites.

Since I took so many pictures to share, I will continue on another day this week. For now all I can say is my adventure was about spending time with a friend and amazing vegetation, plus good food coming from my friend's kitchen.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Seek JOY

 

”Every morning starts a new page in your story. Make it a great one today.” -Doe Zantamata

Recently I read that kindness and joy are as important to a long life as a good diet. I tend to agree with that. What do you think? I have a friend that just turned 93 and he still seeks joy and adventure. He is a delight to visit with and soon I will invite he and his girlfriend to come for tea.

I am in the midst of re-reading Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher. It's an oldie, but goodie. I went to the library recently to see if they had it on the shelf, but it wasn't there. I probably could have ordered it at the library, but since I want to share from it I bought it. In June I will be speaking at TeaFestPDX (June 27th) on tea in literature. Winter Solstice takes place in England and has so many references to having tea I thought it was worth a re-read to get me into the spirit of offering tea when a friend stops by. For me, sharing a cup of tea with a friend brings a quiet joy. As the next quote says it does make for a smile, a grin.

"Joy is the feeling of grinning inside." — Melba Colgrove

Next week I will be seeking joy and a bit of sunshine/warmth by going on an adventure. See you in 2 weeks. Can you guess where I would be going for a bit of sunshine? Some of you are still buried under winter. Stay warm and find a cup of warm tea.

Now there is only one picture here today, but I thought it was a good one. It is on the Main Street of the town I live in and is also the office where my daughter works. I thought it was perfect for a counseling center.

Sending Love,

Marilyn

March Blessings!

 I love March! I just do! I think March is my favorite month of the year and February is my least favorite month of the year. March gives me hope and a smile.

Daffodils are probably my favorite "happy" flower. They come up in March and just shine for me. And strawberries start showing up in the market in March. What could be better than daffodils and strawberries?

The yellow green fuzz of new leaf buds and pink blossoms begin to show their beautiful faces. 

Even white blossoms rain like snow. 

New Leaves on a Willow

by Ethel Romig Fuller, Kitchen Sonnets

Where yesterday were bare gold stems,

March's windy stratagems

Have today miraculously

Wrought new leaves on a willow tree.

New leaves so mistily winged and small

They seem to spray from a waterfall;

Water cascading headlong to stop

Midway down on its breathless drop.

New leaves so sudden-green they scorch

The somber sky with a fiery torch;

New willow leaves...new dreams again;

New high resolves in the heart of men.

Can you see new life sprouting on those branches by the sea?

And camellias are bursting with beauty?

A friend took me to a new tearoom yesterday to celebrate my favorite month. Oh! Did I say I am a March baby too. This new tearoom is a winner. They serve their tea with low sugar sweets. What could be better?!!!! The white cookie was like a moist shortbread with rose petals. Yummm!

What's your favorite month and why?

Oh! And not to forget, I just finished Nora Robert's book, Mind Games. I quite enjoyed it.

Sending love,

Marilyn

A One Day Adventure

 If you have followed along with me for a long time you will know that occasionally I like to have an adventure with my grandson. Sometimes his mom comes along and even my "live-in gardener". Most often our adventures happen in the summer. Since he didn't have school on Friday I planned an adventure for the four of us. In the first picture you will see the Portland train station. We were up early and caught the morning train, going north.

The train ride took 3 1/2 hours to arrive in Seattle. My grandson had never been to Seattle.

I loved just having time together, plus watching the view out the window.

The weather was perfect, no rain!

We arrived at lunch time and walked to the International district for lunch. Then ordered a Lyft ride to the Seattle Asian Art Museum. None of us had been there and we thoroughly enjoyed it. What a beautiful museum.

Of course you knew if I spotted a tea pot I had to take a picture.

And since grandson, D, hadn't been there before, we made a stop at the Seattle Center to see the Space Needle and do a bit of walking. By now my feet were tired, but there was more walking to be done.

Off we were to Pike Place Public Market. This is definitely a tourist draw. We paused at The Crumpet House for fresh made crumpets. Some crumpets actually came home in my bag.

Oh I should have taken a picture of the fish market, but I did capture a few flowers. The market is near the downtown area and in my daughter's words "a vibrant place". It was very active with people out enjoying the day.

What a special way to spend time with someone you love. We were home by 9:30PM with another adventure together, creating memories.

And that was one extra special adventure day for me this past week.

In the middle of two very different books this week, more later on them. I did finish reading The Perfumer's Secret by Neroli Lacey. It was pretty good, I enjoyed it OK; but not as much as the last book I read before this one.

Sending love,

Marilyn

"Look and See"

 

One of my all time favorite Mary Oliver poems:

Look and See

This morning, at waterside, a sparrow flew

to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back

of an eider duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.

The duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might say, 

was laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over

our house was casually scratching

its stomach of white feathers with one

pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us, 

if we only look, and see.

Visiting the Lan Su Chinese Gardens this week just to "look and see". I must go searching to find those little bits of nature that just make me smile. Isn't it amazing what you can find when you pay attention, opening your eyes?

Sending you out and about to "look and see".

With love,

Marilyn