August 9 – Rain!!!!

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Mokihana

 

So happy for rain tonight at sunset. Rain to cut the dust, rain the help the fire danger, rain to freshen the fields and sweeten the air. I love the rain in summer!!

Rain clouds, sunset, and Echinacea.

Posted in 365 Days, Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin | 1 Comment

August 6

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Mokihana

Wassap wit dis? Oni stay August and awreddy da trees stay changing color!! Still summah, u lolos!!

Posted in 365 Days, Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Wassup Wit Dis? | 1 Comment

A Tale of Two Wheels, Chapter 2

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Mokihana

We first started on Numbah 20. Iwakalua in Hawaiian. Maybe that will be her name.

Continue reading →

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning | 4 Comments

A Tale of Two Wheels, Chapter 1

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Mokihana

Well, it started with my lovely Joe Jorgensen myrtlewood spinning wheel, which I bought from my spinning teacher. I’d always wanted a myrtlewood wheel and she wanted to sell hers. So. It became mine.

Continue reading →

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning | 27 Comments

365 Days – Catch-Up Yet Again

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Mokihana

K’den. Hope dis da lass time I gotta do dis!! Get on da kini popo, Moki!

17 July: Spinning for Tour de Fleece. Actually, I think I should call it Tour da Fleece. LOL.

Continue reading →

Posted in 365 Days, Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning, Knitting | 2 Comments

Montana Road Trip 2010 Part Nine

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Mokihana

Eh, who like go back to Montana? ME!!! K’den. We go!!

Last time, long time ago, we had just left the Best Western Motel in Orofino, Idaho. Best motel we’ve ever stayed at by far! I easily could’ve stayed there for days!

There is a reason why this is called the Clearwater River. I picked this route to Bozeman because I knew we’d love travelling along this route. It meant taking much longer to get there, but it would prove to be well worth the extra hours.

Clearwater River

Continue reading →

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Holoholo Pacific Northwest | 2 Comments

Catching Up Yet Again. Sheesh.

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Mokihana

Ya know, Tour de Fleece was just wonderful. I did some handspinning every day, and I accomplished a lot, learned a lot, and had a lot of fun. But I also got ‘way behind on my posts, and I really didn’t want that to happen. But alas, it did.

So to recap, here are some TdF photos. Then we’re on to other exciting journeys.

Yes, Kalakoa jumped onto my lap while I was spinning and her fur got caught in the twist of the fiber! It came out easily though. Good thing!

More photos:

This is my favorite collage: On July 4th.

Love these colors!

Close-up of spun yarn.

Everything I spun during the Tour de Fleece.

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning | 2 Comments

July 14-16 – Getting in da hay

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Mokihana

My neighbor around the corner has been busy haying for the last three days. I love watching them, love the aroma of the fresh cut hay. I always love it when there are no cars behind me so that I can take photos of the whole thing.

First the hay was cut (no photo), then after a few days, it was raked into rows for drying.

After drying, it was baled up. My neighbor used to make the rectangular bales that used to be so popular. Nowadays, more and more farmers and ranchers are making these round bales.

It took a couple of days for all the hay to get baled; I wish I’d had the chance to just sit by the side of the road and watch the baler. But today I did see the bales getting loaded onto trucks. This young man was sitting in one of the trucks, waiting for a few more bales to get loaded. I bet he was using his cell phone, unlike farm boys before technology came along who probably used the time to take a nap, seeing as how they’d probably been up since before dawn doing the milking.

When I came back from town, the truck was gone, but I saw others off in the distance.

The hay got baled just it time; it was looking like rain all day long today.

Posted in 365 Days, Farm Stuffs | 1 Comment

Giving up on catching up on 365 Days

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Mokihana

I decided there’s no way I can play catch up, so if you’d like to see my July photos till today, try go here.

The Tour de Fleece is going on right now, same time as the Tour de France. Who woulda guessed, right? This is a time when handspinners all over the world challenge themselves to spin something wonderful. Some people elect to be on a sprinters team, spinning fast and furious. Speed is of the essence here. But it’s not for me. Others are on a breakaway team, spinning all kinds of wonderful art yarns. There’s a team for rookies, those who’ve never joined Tour de Fleece before. I’m not on either one of those teams.

Instead, I’m in the Peloton, spinning happily along with other spinners. I’m also on several wildcard teams, which are specific for things like the brand of spinning wheel we use, or the fiber we use from a certain company. One of my favorites is the My Knitting Has Cat Hair In It team.

Each day we spin, except on the designated rest days just like those on the Tour de France. Some people spin anyway. The main thing is to challenge yourself, and I’ve done that. So far I have two finished yarns, and while I was spinning them I really learned a lot.

I am inordinately pleased with this yarn. It was a challenge for me and it just makes me feel good!

This makes me feel good, too. My Bird of Paradise bloomed again out on the deck!

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning | 3 Comments

July 1 – Aloha ʻoe e Puakea

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Mokihana

Seems like we’ve been having more of our fair share of saying aloha to beloved pets. Today we said it to Puakea, one of our sweet Maremma Livestock Guardian dogs. She was twelve years old, and for all this time, along with her sister, Pikake, has protected our sheep and goats from marauding coyotes and other varmints.

Today we took Puakea to the vet because she was getting so thin, and Dr Haveman diagnosed her as having a very large tumor attached to her spleen. He was very candid with us and said that Puakea’s chances for survival were not great. So we decided to do the kindest thing for her and the hardest thing for us… and we had him put her to sleep.

I drove up to Bellingham to get her twelve years ago when she was just a three-month old puppy. She’d been raised from Day One with sheep and goats, and after being introduced to Lani, our grown Maremma and spending about a week in the barn, she was out guarding our livestock. Lani showed her the ropes, and at three months of age, here she is, looking out over her domain, watching for danger. This is my favorite photo of her.

Here she is again as an adult, still watching over her flock.

Aloha ʻoe, our faithful companion. You will be dreadfully missed.

Posted in 365 Days, ʻOhana, Farm Stuffs | 5 Comments