Makawao blockparty, fundraiser and art show

Aloha,



This weekend's fun and fundraisers in Makawao were a great success. Two very different and worthy causes drew large crowds at either end of town.


Midtown was featuring a blockparty for the Pacific Cancer Foundation on Maui. There was live music, a silent auction with amazing donations from lots of folks. I bid on a pilates class from my friend's great new OnCore Studio in Makawao.

This was a wonderful community effort to support our breast cancer survivors. All proceeds were donated towards breast cancer education and screening in Hawaii. Desiree from the boutique Pink by Nature did a wonderful job organizing this successful event.


At the far end of Baldwin Ave, near the Makawao Steakhouse, is the fantastic Viewpoints Gallery. They featured the long awaited "Malama Wao Akua" East Maui Watershed art opening. The show was well attended, overflowing with artists, fans, friends and family.

The Haleakala Watershed folks have highlighted their wonderful efforts of conservation of our mountain slopes with this uniquely informative art show. The quality and diversity of the show was very impressive and inspiring. My woodcut and watercolor piece was selected for the show, and you can tell by my smile that I was pretty excited. The image, is the harvesting of Naupaka seeds.


This show will hang for a few weeks, so if you are Upcountry, do stop by and spend some time enjoying the beautiful art at Viewpoints, and learn a few things about where our water comes from.


Honor the aina, take care of each other...




With much Aloha,

Cherie

Princess Ka'iulani Festival

Aloha,

What a busy weekend on the Valley Isle! Today, the Second Annual Princess Ka'iulani Festival was held at the upcountry Haleakala Waldorf School.

This sweet festival is one of my favorite, celebrating the beautiful princess of a Scottish father and a Hawaiian mother. Much literature and stunning photographs are available on the life and story of this remarkable young woman lovingly known as the Peacock Princess.

It has been a year since I started blogging, and I did share this great festival last year. This year I am posting some photos of the hula dancers from our Kula halau performing today. Today's performances brought a little tear to my eye. From the keiki ( children) to the tutus (grandmas), these dancers put their hearts into their homage to Princess Ka'iulani.

Great music by Hapa and the Isle of Maui Pipe Band completed the afternoon....gotta love Maui.

More great events will top off the weekend with a free Ukulele Festival at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. Everybody brings beach chairs and relaxes to sweet Hawaiian music on a sunny afternoon.

Maui no ka oi, with all the rich diverse offerings for residents and visitors!
For all the up to date information on Maui happenings, keep your eyes on Maui Calendar.com

Here's to enjoying your community, and ours.

Aloha for now,
Cherie

Sweet and Sour

Aloha,

Each season in the islands yields different fruit...Today I realized that we are in the "sour" season. The lilikoi, aka, passion fruit is Going Off!! This is the time of year that they drop from the vine onto the cul de sac and escape down the hill, rolling their way to Makawao Ave. I have the more common yellow lilikoi, and the sweeter purple ones. Sweet is a relative term here. They are actually lip puckering, palette cleansers. I like them, and right now I have a guest who loves them. He is in lilikoi heaven, and feeling quite satisfied at breakfast.

The Surinam Cherries are also falling from the bush. They are super high in Vitamin C, and their flavor is face wrinkling, eye squeezing good. I can eat them all day, but then, I like adventure. The same guest also got a kick out of the cherries as well. They are tiny and bright red and really pack a punch. Today I learned that there is a dark purple version of this fruit that is a lot sweeter. I hope to get one of these growing soon.

The 2lb Winter Pear Avocados are my main meal right now as well. They are so buttery, creamy and delicious. My guests laugh when they see them. I always hear about the scrawny $5 avos that people buy "back home".

After sour season is pau, it will be sweet season. I am including a shot of my beautiful, luscious mangoes that are getting bigger by the day. This is a high altitude mango that is usually ready in time for the holidays. They are so juicy and sweet.. Something else to look forward to!

As always, the land provides, and I am blessed. I love sharing my garden bounty with my guests.

I look forward to breakfast with you soon!!

Mahalo, a hui hou......

Cherie

Brilliant Shower Trees of Hawaii

Aloha Folks,

I have had my eye on a few blooming Shower Trees lining Baldwin Ave heading down to Paia for months. They are show stopping, and today I finally stopped to take pictures. The golden yellow ones have lost most of their blossoms, but the Rainbow Shower Tree will sport blossoms up until Nov. Their blooming season is quite long with the peak of color happening in July. The trees are tough and adaptable, great landscaping statements.

The official tree of Honolulu is the Rainbow Shower Tree. The sunset color of the Rainbow Shower Tree is a brilliant fusion of pink and yellow.

I used to have a very, very large, old fashioned Pink Shower Tree in my yard. . It had the big messy pods, and I spent alot of time cleaning them up. Now, the hybrids have been bred to be pod less. A few years ago on a very windy Kona day, the big old shower slowly fell over into my koi pond. It was quite an operation to clear the tree. I called on my wood worker friend, Cole Waren, to come and cut the massive precariously perched trunk. I enticed him with the goods in exchange for a large salad bowl. I had a feeling he would be able to turn a number of bowls from the thick trunk.

What a great trade! I am so happy with my beautiful bowl. The curly grain reminds me of koa. The bowl started out a golden color and is a bit darker now. It is really handsome and I feel lucky having a bowl from a tree that grew on this property for probably one hundred years.

Hawaii is so bountiful! I am also posting a picture of the Awapuhi ginger that a friend just gave me. These are the largest and juiciest blossoms I have ever seen. The Hawaiians used this succulent flower to shampoo their hair. I have been using the same few blossoms for a couple of days, and they have such a sweet fragrance.

I have always made it a practice to utilize all that I have, and re-cycle and re-use as much as I can. It only makes sense to me living on an island, and it is fun, re-warding and challenging.

So, as our own Jack Johnson sings for the school kids, "re-duce, re-use , re-cycle" and I'll add "re-think."

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend enjoying time with loved ones!

Much Aloha,
Cherie