ALOHA FROM HONOLULU, HAWAII

Hello dear friends.  It's been awhile since I last wrote and I really wanted to share with you the "completed" sweater I knit for my grandson. But....as you might know.... it didn't go that way.  I'm still working on it. So instead, this week I will share some photos of my trip last week to Honolulu.

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. It's on Waikiki Beach and has everything right there including shops, restaurants and even its own ABC store.

This was our second time to stay at the village and our family really enjoyed the facilities it offers.

My daughter, Heidi, took me to afternoon tea at the Moana Surfrider hotel. It's a beautiful historic old hotel right in the center of Waikiki Beach.

One afternoon I walked to the Ala Moana mall and these ladies were performing a traditional Japanese dance.

We drove up the east side of the island and toured the Tropical Nut Farm. Hawaii produces 80% of the worlds macadamia nuts. It was a fun tour seeing some movie sets from old movies.

I will leave you with some pictures of Waikiki Beach from our hotel room. It was a great time and perfect tropical weather with the trade winds providing natural air conditioning.

There's lots to see on the island of Oahu.  Pearl Harbor is a historic site not to be missed. There's also LOTS of high end shopping* in Waikiki; Bvlgari, Cartier, Rolex, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, on and on.  And there are numerous tours you can take. My favorite one from a couple of years ago was the island tour. It's an all day bus tour that takes you all around the island of Oahu

I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of paradise. Honolulu is approximately a five hour fight from the west coast of the United States.  I booked this trip via Costco Travel and it included the flights, room and airport transfers.

Until next time,  ALOHA
Pat

*I'm not a high end shopper..it's fun to see the items in person that you see in the fancy fashion magazines.   But, my heart is at TJ Maxx, haha.

I almost forgot, please remember to stop by Handmade Harbour.

Crochet Flower Blanket and Queen Anne Lace

It's been too long since I last wrote.  It seems that time goes by so so fast these days!  It has been warm down here.  Lilly seems to enjoy the weather no matter how hot or cold it is........

 

Here she is lounging by the pool with her morning coffee.  She is resting after her gecko hunting adventure.

I've been busy knitting a hooded sweater for my grandson.  I don't have it completed so I don't have any picture to share with you.  But, this week I went to my weekly community crochet/knit group.  We are a group of ladies that meet at the community center and knit for various charitable organizations.  It's been such a blessing to meet such nice people and get some great ideas.  

Here is a lovely crocheted flower blanket that my friend, Angela, is making:

Isn't it beautiful?  She made up the pattern (she's extremely talented in that way) and she is making these flower motifs from worsted weight yarn. She's attaching each flower as she goes along.

This is a Queen Anne lace crocheted blanket made by Mira.  Mira's needlework skills are amazing; this blanket was donated to the group half completed and Mira took over this project and finished this beautiful piece.  I love the way the Queen Anne lace panels have been incorporated into the design.  If you're interested in learning the Queen Anne lace pattern, the link can be found here.

Lastly, I will leave you with some pics of my homemade spaghetti sauce.  My husband grew tons of tomatoes in his little garden this year.  I made a simple sauce* with oil, garlic, tomatoes (which were put through a food mill) and some spices.

I hope it will taste OK..............

I would love to hear from you if you wish to leave a comment.  Or better still, sign up to follow my blog.  Lilly, too would like to hear from her friends out there.

Enjoy your week and please remember to stop by Handmade Harbour where you can meet lots of great crafters.  

Lilly sends you her best "meows",

Pat (& Lilly, too!)

*Simple Spaghetti Sauce Recipe:  Put about 2T olive oil in sauce pan, add in 4 minced garlic cloves.  Saute until garlic turn "light" brown.  Add in pureed fresh tomatoes.  (I put my tomatoes through a food mill, but you can skin the tomatoes and blend them in a blender).  I also added a teeny, tiny green pepper, cut up in small pieces.  Add in plenty of salt and pepper.  Simmer for an hour or so, until sauce becomes thick.  Lastly, I chopped a handful of mushrooms and sauteed them in 2 tsp of butter and added them to the sauce before serving.  It makes enough sauce for 8 ounces of paste.  Enjoy!