I kinda don’t know where to start.  It’s been a bittersweet past six weeks.  I love that word “bittersweet”; it’s that kind of word that says it all. Good stuff, not so good stuff, bad stuff.  All wrapped up in eleven letters.

Bittersweet. Everything all mixed up together, uneven, not linear.  Good and bad, fun and not fun, all in the same day, or the same week, or the same month.

So while I’m listening to Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, the Mākaha Sons, Keola Beamer, Led Kaʻapana, and all my favorite local kine artists, Iʻll highlight some of whatʻs been going on during this past month.

Fun kine tingie: I got a whole bunch of teal put into my hair.

Sad kine thing.  My friend who has ovarian cancer was not doing well at all.  She is a fighter, but it didn’t appear as though this was a battle she was going to win. She is an amazing quilter, and brought this lovely snowflake quilt to The Gathering so that we could see it.

Happy kine tingie: Pumpkins at Boring Bark.

Bittersweet kine thing: My friend brought another quilt to The Gathering. This is the quilt she made for her sister…and the last project like this she would ever make.

Horsie/pumpkin kine tingie: Olson Farm’s pumpkin patch just before Halloween.

Nani kine tingie:  Fog over the valley.

Fun kine tingie: Headed over to the beach with my Gathering friends for a retreat.

It was cold at the beach.  In the shadow, there was frost on the sand.

Fascinating kine tingie: I did some genealogy research for a friend of mine.

Creative kine tingie: I finished a pretty complicated hat.

Complete with snow kine charms.

Whew! kine tingie: We were finally able to get the sheep sheared.

Scary kine tingie: We had a High Wind Warning.  And ho da windy!

Not our tree; it got hit hard. Just up the road from us.

Oops! kine tingie: A driver hit the gas instead of the brake next to my dentist’s office.  Good thing the wahine in that office wasn’t there.

Bittersweet kine tingie: My friend’s cross-stitched mousie and box to sit on.  She kept doing creative things even as got thinner and thinner.

Decadence kine tingie: I made homemade marshmallows.

Kokua kine tingie: Gathering friends helped our friend’s mom decorate her tree.  She just didn’t have the energy to do it in the light of her daughter’s struggles.

Different kind of Christmas kine tingie: Leilani and Dick were really sick so we postponed our Kalikimaka celebration.  Nolemana and I drove up to Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge after having breakfast with Anela.

Frustrating kine tingie. Our heat pump quit working. Matt is working on it under the stairs.

Cold kine tingie: We are trying to stay warm using our old wood stove, space heaters, and emergency heat ($$$).

Very sad kine tingie: My friend is now on hospice and not expected to live too much longer.  My heart is aching.

Hūhū kine tingie: Our 3-year heat pump needs a new compressor. And a new reverse valve. Gonna cost about $1500 to fix it.  Richard had to work on everything when it was ‘way below freezing outside.

Really major hūhū kine tingie: The new compressor is junk! It seized up right away.  Not our service company’s fault; they’re awesome.  Practically new our heat pump, and even the new compressor won’t work. Matt has ordered a second new one.  This morning our house was 56° when I got up.  The manufacturer will be hearing from this tita!

Thoughtful kine tingie: We do have heat. And electricity. We are alive.  I fix meals for my friend’s mom and dad and will run errands for them if they need me to.  The sun is shining. Eventually our heat pump will get fixed.  Leilani and Dick are feeling better.  There are dozens of birds at my bird feeders.  We are not starving.  I have friends around the world whom I’ve met through this bloggie, Ravelry, and Facebook.  I am sad, yet grateful.

Bittersweet. That says it all.