Month / February 2019

by princesshotflash

Mom said

“I want you to take a picture of my irises in the back. They are in bloom.”

Irises

Mom wanted the 2 buds in the shot
close up
other bunch

And like a good daughter, I took the pictures. Yes, pictures. I even took more than one. The crazy daughter I am, I took pictures of the flowers in the back. And yes, the irises are beautiful but there are other beauties back there, too.

Orchid

Not sure what these are called but they are quite striking.

Joe McGyver

Can’t be in the backyard with seeing a gadget that my dad, Joe McGyver, made up. This is a papaya picker when they had a very tall papaya tree. Made with items around the house. Now hidden by the calamansi tree.

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hand woven wire basket

Speaking about calamansi, that was the whole reason for being in the back yard, to pick and prune the calamansi. I got out the rickety wooden ladder and climbed up to prune the branches that were leaning into the neighbors yard and one that were too high for use to reach. I did cut away a few branches with flowers on it. Oops! Mom thought the pruning would help the tree produce more fruit. Not that we need more.

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our bounty

Here’s our small papaya tree with fruit on it. Mom said that it isn’t really doing well and not sure if the fruit will do well.

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More flowers

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Akulikuli came to mom’s garden by way of Uncle Robert. She is always getting plants from him. This flower in made into leis–beautiful pink lei. I got on from for my HS graduation many moons ago.

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Anthurium patch with this unusual bloom. Kind of a plum color not your usual red.

 

by princesshotflash

Flower in the Front

Killing time as my parents get ready for an outing to Costco, I roamed around our small front yard and decided to take pictures of the flowers in bloom.

Desert Rose

Desert Rose

There’s a row of these rimming the front of the yard. They are odd looking plants. The stem and base are grayish, gnarly, and tangled with leaves here and there topped with bright dark pink blooms. Mom likes these plants they are all over the yard. Notice in the bottom left corner of the image, the orange-yellow pile of stuff are the papaya that Mom feeds the birds in the morning and then turns into compost.

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea

The bougainvilleas are potted and run up the side of the front yard. They are very old and a few have worked into bonsai by my dad. Most of them in old cement pots some of them made by my dad (That’s another post). There are all sort of colors from this fuchia to lilac to orange.

Cup and Saucer

Cup and Saucer

The finches favorite, at different times of day they come to get the nectar from the flowers and play. These birds blend in with the plant and are hard to get on camera–no pictures. I usually know there because the cats are staring out the window at the tree.

Ice Flower plant

Ice Flower Plant

This beautiful intense magenta colored flower is so delicate and last for a day. The plant looks like a succulent and I don’t know why it’s called ice plant when it seems to love the hot dryness of Waipahu.

CAT BREAK!!!

Orange watching me. And yes that is purple on the trim and I had nothing to with that choice
Lady’s Slipper

Lady’s Slipper

Since I arrived I wonder what those long leafy plants were. There were no flowers. Mom told me they were lady’s slipper and will bloom in the winter. As winter starts to arrive, buds start poping up. Then these fabulous flowers appear.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea

Almost missed these, the flowers almost blended in with the leaves. Just that little hint of pink made me give it a second look.

Azalea

Azalea

These bloom like crazy in NJ in the spring but it’s in the middle of February in HI there are few blooms on this azalea bush. Big blossoms.

Rose

Rose

Last but not least this pink rose plant. Two buds plus a bloom on the plant. The bloom was already spent so that’s why took a picture of the bud.

by princesshotflash

Sitting in the patio

As I wait on my faux instapot, feeling guilty that I’m not exercising.

Shoe: why don’t you put me on and go for a walk?

I notice one of my dad’s handmade frames with a painting I did a did a long time ago. So long that I don’t even remember painting it.  If you look around the house, you’ll see the many handmade frames he built. Many holding my paintings I did when I was young.

I don’t even remember what I painted this for.

This is the painting I don’t remember painting but I’m sure I did it because it reminds me of Grandpa Nakamura.

from foundation color class, many moons ago

Another frame my dad made on a painting from a foundation color class, learning how to work in grays from Two Callas by Imogen Cunningham 1925.

no sure if this is one of Mom’s anthuriums
I think this is late 70s

A couple more frames made by my dad. I think all of the frames were made out of redwood to match the wood of the house. He was McGyver back. Only wish he could still do a little of what he did then.

I hope my reminiscing of when I use to do things without no fear. Sparks an idea to start a new project. Maybe something to replace those old pieces.

by princesshotflash

Mom and Netflix

I introduced Mom to Netflix about 3 months ago. I showed her all the Korean dramas they had. Well, that “sparked joy”.

The only problem–she doesn’t know how to turn it on. Mom is very unsure of the TV. She knows how to do the cable but to turn on Netflix, there are just too many buttons to press. She thinks if she presses the wrong combination it may blow up. So, my job is to turn on Netflix on and put it on the right program. I also help her select the new program by thumbing through each show for her to read the description.

Yes, I created a monster. But at least, she watches them slow one or two episodes per day. And Korean dramas go on forever (the first one she watched had 30 episodes), so selecting isn’t so bad.

Here’s the start of a new monthly feature called Cora’s Pixs. A summary of mom’s selection and review of the show she just watched on Netflix. FYI she loves the dramatic family dramas with a lot of fighting, screaming, and crying.

Mom’s Korean drama rating scale
  • This is so good!!!
  • It’s good.
  • Can we change to another one?

Heaven’s Garden
This drama is about a mom takes her two daughters to live with her estranged father that lives in the countryside after her husband goes to jail for bankruptcy.

This got a “This is so good!!!” from mom. It had lots of fighting amongst the villagers and family to keep. It also has an estranged mother comes back into the picture, gossipy neighborhood family, ghost and bunch of funny kids.

Immortal Classic
Two culinary families fighting to have the best chef and keep their kimchee recipe secret.

This has a mean grandma that starts the drama off the secrets and fighting, her new daughter-in-law who carrier of all the secrets, an evil daughter who may have murdered the father, another runaway daughter that was banished by grandma, and a goofy dr/chef “Cinderella” character. All amongst a group of handsome male doctors to calm everything down.

It almost got a “this is so good!!!” but wasn’t as good as Heaven’s Garden. Too many time period changes for mom to get top honors but still “It’s good.” plus.

This is it for now. More to come from Cora’s Pixs.