Green Coin Pearl and Paua Abalone Shell Necklace

I finally got pictures taken of my latest necklace..it seems that morning time is very sunny up here on the volcano..too sunny for pics..then the clouds collect up at the top and start inching their way over. As they cover the sun that is the best difused light for me to take pics. Then they get too thick and dark and it often rains and is foggy up here for the rest of the day..so I've got a little window and really need to pay attention better.



This beauty is made with dark olive green peacock coin pearls and colorful paua abalone shell on tan silk cord. It will be priced and put up in my shop Jonara Blu Maui soon!

Monday at the Beach

We had a really nice day off at the beach last Monday. A huge group of friends and family met at one of our favorite beaches in front of Serentos in Kihei. We had two tents up as well as another on the beach below for those that preferred to be closer to the water to watch their kiddos play.






We arrived for lunch and stayed until after dinner..lots of yummy food and fun conversation. It was awesome to get our own kiddo out of the house..he has been couped up for so long. He actually swam and had a lot of fun just hanging out with some friends.



It's been really hazy here again from the vog..everyones alergies are going nuts. The views were not as nice so I didn't get any great pics. But the sun still was hot and water was so warm! We swam for a couple of hours it was so nice!




We stayed to watch the sunset..the sun was incredible..bright orange. for some reason my camera wouldn't pick it up though. This doesn't show it at all..it was a huge orange fireball.



In the way of jewelry..I've completed a new silk corded necklace with green coin pearls and abalone. I was going to get pictures done today but it's been foggy and pouring rain outside..so pics will have to wait. Hopefully tomorrow!

Morning Visitors - Ring Necked Pheasants

The last time we spoke to our new landlord...right before he took his red eye flight off to the mainland for a new life of traveling in his 5th wheel... he warned us very sternly "..and do not shoot the pheasants!"

Well I have to admit I have not completely honored my promise...I sure hope shooting with my camera doesn't count! We've had them visit much closer then these pictures..but they probably would have flown away had I opened the sliding door to 'shoot' them. So here are some shots from this morning..a male was taking in some morning sun as he sat on one of the fence posts across the street. I took these from my deck.





The Ring necked pheasant was introduced to the Hawaiian islands in the 19th century for sport. What makes me sad is that I've talked to some that say they don't do it for the meat but for the pelt(?). I see so many that have the taxidermist do whatever it is they do to it so that they can set up somewhere for show. It really is an amazingly beautiful bird and to see those feathers close up is a neat experience. But I am completely happy observing them from a distance... alive and walking around... and will continue to shoot them but only with my Canon Rebel ;-)

Funny Coffee Stories...

I needed some lighthearted fun this morning..so decided to get in on a silly little discussion over at Mama C's blog The 5 C Family she's got some funny stories about drinking coffee and has encouraged others to post theirs.

here is mine:

When I was in 5th grade I used to go to my friends house..her parents were never home. We would get dressed up in her moms full skirts that we would pull up under our arms and wear them like dresses and play 'coffee house'. We made pot after pot of coffee ..loaded it up with tons of milk and sugar and all the neighbor kids would come over and buy a cup for 5 cents..we would serve it in paper cups from the kitchen window in front of the sink. Her brothers went out and got customers by telling neighborhood kids..then word got around and we had a pretty good line going at times. When the supplies started running out her parents found out and put a stop to it!

For more fun coffee stories go check out Mama C's post: Coffee Talk and feel free to add your own there and here if you like :)

Medical issues...

Aloha everyone....I'm just checking in to let you all know that I have not disappeared. We are going through some medical issues in the family right now so I do not have as much time to be online as I did before. I put my shops on vacation for about a week and as of this morning I have opened them up again as things start to calm down a little. I am online for a bit each morning and more as time allows. I am able to take orders and will hopefully be creating more jewelry soon..jewelry making has always been great therapy!

Getting hit with a couple of life's whammys kinda knocked me on my butt and out of my usual routine for a while..but I'm hoping to recover soon and get back to a normal routine.

For now here are a couple of pictures..my first morning of getting back to work here at our new house. My beading room is not organized enough to work out of yet..so I had two custom orders to do and set myself up at our dinning room table to do them.



The view is so pretty..it was a nice place to get some work done. The bush with the yellow flowers you see is a pin cushion protea plant. It's blooming like crazy right now.



Here is a pic from our front deck..in the evening. We were above the clouds! This volcano I live on gives us such a spectacular view..I just hope it stays dormant!