TAKING FLIGHT

Little Kekoa is growing up fast. In the 12 days we have had him he has more than doubled in size and has got brand new wings. He is able to lift himself off the ground now and manages to flit out of his corral now and then. I guess we better get that pheasant coop built. SOON.

Here is a pic of the day we found him and a few from today.

BIRD BRAINS

We must be nuts... or as our friend Marion describes us... CITY SUCKERS. We are now raising and caring for a baby ring neck pheasant. We wanted to wait to post about him to see if he made it through a few days.


Here is the story.

John was watering the garden Friday afternoon and heard chirping... when he turned to look he saw this baby... then mama came by...then ran off when she saw John. John then left the garden to give them some space and went to water a new hedge we planted when he saw mama and baby together again about 200 feet away. About a half hour later I saw little baby wandering the yard chirping it's fool head off all alone. They got separated. It wandered the yard for 3 hours chirping for it's mama. We watched it's every move from afar so that mama would not be spooked by us and so that we could protect it from the nasty clutches of the area cats (sorry D&E). We finally left it to it's own devices after 1 1/2 hours and went back to our chores. We could hear it chirping away.... our hearts breaking with every chirp.

When I walked up to the back deck around 7:00 pm Friday, it had just run underneath it where it stayed the night... which was cold and windy. It went so far under that we could not reach it.

We fought the urge to snatch it up earlier, thinking that it would surely reconnect with mama, since we had seen them together earlier. No such luck... we were afraid to touch it for fear mama will not accept it in the morning if she came around. So saturday morning we woke up and no chirping... we thought oh good.. it reconnected with mom. About an hour and a half later we heard it. John put on long pants and sleeves and shimmied under the lanai which only has a 12" clearance... nasty...

We kept taking it in the yard so it could chirp for mom... after 4 hours we ended it and decided to raise him on our own. We have taken him on outings to call for mom several times but no luck.

Saturday we packed him up and went to the feed store and bought wild game chick feed which he has been eating very well. Yesterday was a real breakthorugh as he started drinking from his dish on his own. No more drinking from my fingertip. He is also very active. They think it's about 3 weeks old. We are so happy to wake up every morning and find him still breathing.

After eating it's time to get back in the hand and pass out... Just to do it all over again in 30 minutes. He loves being in our hands to sleep... but I cannot have him in hand all the time so I have to carry him in my sweatshirt pocket which he LOVES!. When he sleeps he chirps so soft the entire time.Here is the heat source we have devised... a bottle full of hot water. HE LOVES IT as evidenced here... standing and sleeping. He could not even wait until we wrapped it. I have also made a hot water bed with a zip lock bag filled with hot water... and a tent over that. Another favorite spot.

We have named him Kekoa which means courageous one. Like we have nothing else to do...oh well. Too cute! We can't stand it!

Oh and save the comments about dinner! I know SOME of you too well!

ESQUIRE

Anyone who knows me knows that I have, perhaps, an unhealthy obsession with old magazines-mostly home, travel, and fashion mags-Esquire is chief among them. I have a bunch of issues ranging from the '50s & '60s. It was just the coolest men's magazine back in the day. In light of MoMA's upcoming show about famed ad man and Esquire art director/cover guru George Lois it seemed fitting to share this link with you. At the Esquire Cover Archive you can select a year from the dropdown menu and see all their spectacular vintage covers. These are just a few of my faves (not George Lois era but nice nonetheless--go and see his stuff too though, he writes a little background story for each one):

IT'S NOT JUST FOR BREAKFAST....

The other day while in Costco, I took notice of the 100 serving box of rolled oats and thought... "I should make some granola". And so I did. John and I used to make it all the time in NY, but have not made since being here. For those of you who have never made granola it is SO easy and it's more rewarding to eat homemade rather than a store bought brand. And you can customize it to suit your own taste. See I am not a fan of cinnamon which is in most granola. I prefer mine more exotic... spicy.

Below is my version that I have fined tuned from a few recipes. Keep in mind you can omit any of the "filler" ingredients or spice. If you don't want coconut, then replace it with an equal amount of something else. I like mine not so hard and chunky so i don't use all that much honey or sugar. If you prefer a chunkier granola, try doubling the honey or sugar.

3 Cups Rolled Oats
1 Cup Rolled Spelt (adds a bit more texture than oats)
1 Cup Coarse chopped Macadamia Nuts (or your favorite nut)
3/4 Cup Coconut Flakes (I like the LARGE unsweetened flakes)
1/4 Cup Flax Seeds
1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/8 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
(try cayenne, orange zest or anything else you can imagine)

1/3 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Honey

1 - 2 Tablespoons Chopped Crystallized Ginger
1 - 2 Tablespoons Chopped Crystallized Mango
(or try raisin, dry cranberries, dry cherries, dates, chocolate chips etc...)

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and honey and mix well. Do not mix in the dry fruits. That is your last step.
Spread out onto cookies sheets (this fills 2 sheets).

Bake for 30-40 minutes making sure to turn the mixture at least every 8-10 minutes. Spread back out on sheet. You'll do this at least 3 times. When it's done it should be a really nice orange red.

Remove from oven and let cool completely. At that point you can add in your dried or crystallized fruit. Mix well and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy with soymilk, milk, yogurt or my favorite way... Right out of the container all day long as a snack.

CRAFTY

It's been awhile since I've knitted, crocheted or even crafted anything for that matter, so I was extremely anxious to get started on a new set of Wunderkammer crocheted sea creature patterns by Jessica Polk. I got the patterns (and you can get yours there too) at The Curiosity Shoppe. Here is my version of the blooming coral which now resides in our new bathroom. I think it looks pretty much like the real thing. Next up is the coral branch. stay tuned.

MERRIE MONARCH FESTIVAL 2008

I almost forgot to mention....The time of year is upon us again for The Merrie Monarch Festival which is held every year the week of easter in Hilo on the Bid Island.

Above is last years kahiko kane winner. Simply boggles the mind and I am so envious to not be a part of one.

The festival is dedicated to the memory of King David Kalakaua, known as the Merrie Monarch. King Kalakaua came to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1874 and reigned until his death in 1891. He was a patron of the arts, especially music and dance.Kalakaua almost single-handedly restored many of the nearly extinct cultural traditions of the Hawaiian people. These included myths and legends, and the hula, which had been forbidden by the missionaries for over 70 years. The term hula refers to movement and gestures. Hula, however, cannot be performed without mele (poetry), the most important component. Mele are records of cultural information ranging from sacred mele pule (prayers) and mele inoa (name chants, many for chiefs) to topical mele ho'oipoipo (love songs) and mele 'aina (songs praising the land); the type of mele used is one way of classifying the dances. Allusion is greatly valued in the poetry, and hula gestures are a secondary level of abstraction; they do not tell the entire story but rather interpret key aspects of the mele. The concept of hula therefore involves mele and its recited realization in performance (there was no concept of "music" in Hawaiian culture). The chants, songs and dance tell stories of the Hawaiians' relationship with nature-the birds and fish, trees and flowers, mountains, oceans, rivers, wind, rain and Hawaii's active volcanoes.

American Protestant missionaries who arrived in 1820 introduced Christianity and prevailing Western values. With the support of converted high-ranking chiefs, they denounced and banned the hula as heathen. Declining numbers of hula practitioners therefore taught and performed clandestinely through the mid-nineteenth century. The art of ancient hula was nearly wiped out. The reign of King David Kalakaua (1874-1891) was a transitional phase for Hawaiian performing arts. Over the objections of christianized Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians, known experts were gathered at his court and encouraged to practice the traditional arts. In this favorable era, hula practitioners merged Hawaiian elements of poetry, chanted vocal performance, dance movements, and costumes to create a new form, the hula ku'i (ku'i means "to combine old and new").

Excerpts taken from International Encyclopedia of Dance.

You can watch the Merrie Monarch Festival Live tonight and tomorrow on KITV here in Hawaii.

REAP WHAT YOU SOW

Today I really want to inspire you to do what you can to make yourself a garden of any size this spring and summer. Be it a window box of herbs or a small corner of yard with as much as you can grow. The trick is to water!!!!! I cannot tell you how awesome it is to have food everyday that we grow. Yesterday we harvested, swiss chard, a mix of lettuces, scallions, chinese celery, parsley, basil and rosemary as well as bananas, lemons and oranges. Early in the week I made 8 jars of banana lemon jam and last night I made 1 banana cheesecake, 1 tray of banana cheesecake bars, 18 banana mac nut muffins and 3 loaves of banana mac nut bread.... what else was I going to do with over 80 banana's? Along with fruits and veggies we hauled in a BUTTLOAD of gardenias as they are going off right now. John and I are drunk off the aroma that is filling the house.
Below is some inspiration to get your little corner of goodies going!

Gardenias

Swiss chard

A mix of lettuces

Herbs

Banana cheesecake with shortbread crust and muffins

The fruity goodness

A WHALE OF A BIRTHDAY

Firstly, thanks to all who sent warm birthday wishes yesterday. I had a great birthday that included (finally) a trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation to spot whales as they frolicked in the warm waters of Ma'alaea Bay, the second windiest bay in the world. Each year, starting from November to May, Hawai'i is home to more than 10,000 humpback whales that come here to mate and give birth. Mothers and their newborn calves generally remain close to shore, to rest and nurse. Babies can gain up to 200 hundred pounds a day solely on it's mother's milk. They begin to feed on fish at around 6 months and are usually weaned after about 10-12 months.

Sometimes a mother and calf will be accompanied by a third whale, called an "escort." This escort, often a male, (but unlikely the father), is often observed in close proximity to the mother and calf, which we saw happening. And not long after, the calf breached about 100 yards from the boat. It was AMAZING! It shot out of the water, and flopped back down in the blink of an eye, pectoral fins flapping in the air. Breaches happens so fast that we could not capture them on film. Perhaps next time. Another highlight was when a mother popped up out of the water to blow. The sound was surreal and ominous. Just a giant creature!

We had lunch at the only Indian restaurant on the island, which just opened a few months ago. We hadn't had Indian food in over a year. The samosas were very tasty. Then we dragged our tired, Dramamine-d selves to Big Beach in Makena for a nap. Couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday. Oh, and delicious homemade banana cheesecake for dessert!

Whale 101.

Whale at 3 o'clock!

Thar she blows! LITERALLY!
They say the air being blown from the 2 blow holes come out at 300MPH!

A mother whale's tail as she dives deeper.

Detail of above image. Technically known ans the "fluke up dive."

A mother and calf.

The peduncle arch (hump) of the Humpback.

A view of the West Maui Mountains from about 4 miles offshore.


A panorama of Maui. From left to right:
West Maui, Central Valley, Haleakala, Molokini Crater and Kaho'olawe.

A green sea turtle.

A view of Kaho'olawe from Big Beach in Makena.

A relaxing, lazy, nap filled afternoon at the beach.