The perpetual post

So I totally get that I've shirked my blog duties. I have so much backed up that this is going to be one long perpetual post. Enjoy!


Ok - I've found my favorite spot on earth. These are pictures of Poli'hale beach on the west side of Kauai. It is the longest beach on Kauai - 17 miles. Because you have to take a very bumpy, poorly maintained dirt road to get to it (and rental cars are not insured on this road) there are rarely tourists. More often than not, we are the only ones on the beach as far as we can see in either direction. There is a very reverent, spiritual feeling at this beach. I almost feel as though I am in an alternate universe. It is so beautiful, it is almost mesmerizing. These are pictures I took with my phone, so just try to imagine - if this is what it looks like through the teeny tiny lense on my phone...


One direction...

and the other direction...only us!



This is said to be the best beach to find the much sought after and very valuable Sunrise shell. You are said to be blessed if you find one. I have been looking for several weeks each time we go and finally yesterday I found 2!!! They were first named Sunrise because of the gradients of colors - pink to yellow, like a sunrise. Now they say the meaning has changed because if you are not up by sunrise, someone else will find them.


Introducing...The Ali'i Strings - my new string quartet! We had our little moment of fame a couple weeks ago when we had a nice big picture in the paper publicizing a benefit concert. We have a lot of fun together and after much rehearsing, sound pretty darn good. The concert was awesome and we had a nice big turnout of about 200 people. I feel extremely grateful to have found music on this small island. There are some perks to being a big fish in a little pond. The last time I played a quartet concert was in college. I had a blast!


At the Kilohana Plantation there is a guided tour train ride that will take you all around a beautiful old plantation. They are lots of fruit orchards, great views of the mountains at in the middle of the ride, they let you get off the train and feed the goats and wild pigs. The kids love it.


This is a rare thing - that mountain in the distance is Mt. Wai'ale'ale - known to be the wettest spot on earth. While we were on the train, the tour guide brought it to our attention that you could see the top of the mountain. Since it gets 465 inches of rainfall a year, it is almost always in the clouds. This is only the second time I've seen the top of the mountain since living here.


Travis brought some "witches fire" (aka dry ice) home from the hospital a couple days ago. It was a lot of fun. Veda said it smelled like her great grandma. (????)

I had a great birthday this year. I turned 30 last year, so this one was no big woop after that. I was extra spoiled by family and friends. Travis gave me beautiful flowers and a new violin bow. It is carbon fiber and unbreakable which will come in handy now that I am teaching 5 little violin students. We got a sitter and went out to a nice dinner.

Veda's violin finally came on my birthday. I couldn't have gotten a better present. We'd been waiting over a month for it! We were both so excited.


My sweet quilting friends sent me this beautiful fabric. Good taste girls!

Check out this gorgeous dessert we got after our dinner. Travis is friends with the waiter and he always treats us like royalty when we are there. He brought me this dessert sampler with a candle in it. There is Tiramisu, mango gelato, and creme brulee. YUM!!!