Yellow Rose Arbor: February 2007

Monday

Beautiful Memories

One of the breath taking places we visited on the "Big Island." This scene is at Puuhonua O Honaunau.

The sign at the entryway of Puuhonua O Honaunau. This sacred Place of Refuge was a sanctuary for noncombatants and defeated warriors in ancient conflicts, as well as a haven for breakers of the strict kapu(laws.) Here gods could be appeased and wrongs put right by resident kahuna(priests.) This restored historic site has a helau(temple) that protects remains of past chiefs, along with an enormous rock wall that encompasses the heiau, palace grounds with thatched houses, and a small beach reserved for royal canoe landings. The following photos were taken here.

Tiki Joe

Tiki Joe!

Hawaiian Scenery

That's the "yellow outfit" again!

Sunday

Macadamia Nut Stand Print

Lallee, thanks for your comment on the nut stand. We always try to buy at least one print of the places we visit. I have a wall with most of the travel prints framed and displayed. I still have to buy frames for these. I'm posting three of the prints we found in Hawaii.

Roadside Macadamia Nut Stand. Artist: Patrick Louis Rankin

Pololu Valley Print

This print is of Pololu Valley. Artist: Patrick Louis Rankin

Coffee Tree Print

This print is of a coffee tree with a ladder for harvesting. Artist: Norma Lathrop

Saturday

Macadamia Nut Stand

We stopped at this roadside macadamia nut stand and bought two bags of nuts at $2.00 each. It was an honor system with a locked box with a slot for the money. We took this picture, and later I found a small painting of the same stand that I purchased. I love finding things like this when we are on trips.

Macadamia Nut Tree

Joe was so excited to find a macadamia nut tree on the grounds of The Painted Church. He picked up some that had dropped on the ground, and he picked a cluster from the tree. We brought them home and still have them, but haven't tried them to see if they are ready yet.

This Hawaiian man was so nice to us and told us we could pick the nuts from the tree.

Monday

Kona Coffee

Kona coffee is famous for the wonderful flavor, and because this is the only coffee grown in the United States. It is very expensive, so expensive you usually buy a bag with only 10 percent Kona coffee beans (and 90% "other." This is called Kona Blend) We thought Kona coffee was just one company, but Kona is a district and there's several Kona coffee companies. Most of them have tours giving the history.

My husband loves Kona coffee and we brought some bags of 100% coffee beans for him, and our children. (I'm strictly a tea drinker, but I do like to smell coffee!)

You can see the beans on the limbs here. They are not to be picked until they turn red. Then they are called "cherries," ripe for picking.

Coffee Beans

The lady was our guide, she picked the "cherries" (ripe beans) then popped them open for us to see the beans inside.

Joe holds the coffee beans, they turn brown when roasted.
I'm holding the limbs down to get a better look, and so a close-up picture can be taken.

Coffee beans orchard

Closeup of the coffee beans on the trees. These trees are fairly young. Some of the older trees are tall and a ladder is needed to harvest the coffee beans.

Sometimes you can buy Kona coffee at Ross or TJ Maxx, but I don't remember if it is 100% or 10% blend.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Today is Emma's 91st birthday! We took her to Shakespeare's tea room. Eight friends attended and brought gifts. Guess who forgot to take her camera! Nobody else had a camera either. It was a wonderful day for her, she was very happy.

This picture was taken of Emma about two years ago. She still looks about the same, still has her auburn hair, gets it done often! Emma is quite a lady, has lots of stories to tell. I enjoy working with her, we have become close friends.

Saturday

The Falls

Another high place to test my fears. This is Akaka Falls. We had to walk down steps of a deep revine to get to the falls. They were beautiful, but I would not get near the safety fence! It made me nervous just seeing Joe standing there!

Hawaiian Crafts

While we were at the Lookout we saw two native Hawaiians weaving Lauhala (long grass reeds) into bowls or baskets. We wanted to buy one, but there was a waiting line and we couldn't wait.

Thursday

Hawaiian sightseeing

Some blogs I've read reveal "Some things you don't know about me," or "Weird Things About Me," etc. I've often thought about doing one of those. Okay, here's one - I have several phobias! One is a fear of heights - acrophobia. My husband loves heights (he used to be a pilot!) and if there is a high spot anywhere he will find it!! Then he always wants to take pictures of me there! This cliff is Pololu Valley Lookout, a beautiful sight, postcard worthy. It is at the end of the road where you have to make a U turn. I am absolutely terrified to be near the edge of cliffs and even feel sick or dizzy at times. The third picture shows me trying to be a good sport, but saying "hurry up and take the picture!" (That's also the yellow outfit I had to wear three days while I was waiting for my luggage to arrive!) The other pictures show different versions of the lookout. I stayed out of the car while he turned the car around!

I hope you enjoy some of the sightseeing photos we took while on vacation.

Tuesday

Happy Valentine's Day

Hawaiian Vanilla

The vanilla is cultivated on the slopes of the highest volcano, in the most isolated island chain in the world. Hawaiian vanilla draws its essence from Hawaii's sweet rains, tropical sunshine, cool breezes and nutrient rich soil.

Hawaiian Vanilla beans are the fruit of the beautiful vanilla planifolia orchid. The delicate orchids bloom just one day a year, for only four hours. During that brief window of time, each pale celadon scentless blossom is hand-pollinated and through the "marriage of vanilla" produces a bean that is ready to be picked and cured nine months later. This labor-intensive process is what makes pure vanilla one of the most highly prized spices in the world.

Top picture: Planifolia orchid. Middle photo: Orchid plants in the hothouse. Bottom photo: The Hawaiian Vanilla hothouse.

Sunday

Afternoon Tea in Hawaii

When we travel we always try to find a tea room, my husband is very sweet about attending afternoon tea with me wherever we go. We tried to find a tea room, but were not successful, mainly because the times weren't good for us.

This is the closest we came to taking tea, but the time wasn't right for us. We visited The Hawaiian Vanilla Company at about 10 a.m., but they required a 24-hour reservation for the afternoon tea, and for the lunches.

We were allowed to take a mini tour without reservations (the full tour required reservations.) Some of the pictures of us with the tour guide telling us a little about growing the orchids that the vanilla beans come from. It was interesting that they do their own pollinating by hand. The

We didn't buy the vanilla because it was $15 a bottle, and I still have a big bottle of vanilla from Mexico that we paid one dollar for! We did buy some vanilla tea bags, brownies, and cookies.

Photos, Top: Tea Treats; 2nd: the dining room where brunch, lunch, and afternoon tea is served. 3rd: The entryway had a beautiful door! 4th: the side, with the marvelous windows that are in the dining room. 5th: Our tour guide. 6th: Framed photos of the pollinating process. Tomorrow I will post more about vanilla!

Hawaiian Vanilla Company website, check out their menus, etc:

http://www.hawaiianvanilla.com/tours.asp

Saturday

Cliff House Afternoon Tea (Hawaii)

This was another possibility of afternoon tea, but it was only on Saturday afternoon and we were leaving on Saturday night. It was located too far away from where the airport is.

We didn't get to go there, but the Cliffhouse must be a very classy place, it has been featured in a lot of magazines. In the article I read, it stated that no children were allowed to stay there!

Cliff House website:

http://www.palmscliffhouse.com/high_tea.htm

http://www.palmscliffhouse.com/

I think it would have been a nice experience to attend the afternoon tea!

Volcano Inn Afternoon Tea (Hawaii)

This is another place that advertised afternoon tea in the Tour Guide book, but I don't see it on their site. The day we went to the Volcano, it was pouring/blowing rain and we couldn't do anything. I didn't know about the tea at the hotel then.

The breakfast menu sounds yummy and has things that could be used at an afternoon tea. The recipes sounds delicious - Banana Macadamia Nut Scones, Mango Banana Bread, and the Island Chip cookies. I want to try all of them!

I thought it was interesting that you have to leave your shoes outside the dining room! I wonder if the Afternoon Tea would have been the same!

Visit their website:
http://www.volcanoinn.com/island%20style%20breakfast.htm

Child's Wicker Tea Table

I promised to show this child's wicker table and chairs. It sits high atop the shelves in the kitchen (over the pantry.) I had planned to take another picture of this, but it is so high up I can't get a better shot. I was going to get my husband to try to get a better photo, but found this one in the files and decided to use it so I can post it now. It could take a long time to get dh to do it!

A small tea set is on the table. A pretty little girl figurine is next to it on the left.