Merry Monarch Festival 2010

Every year,Easter Sunday marks the beginning of a week long celebration of the Hawaiian culture here in Hilo. We have hula exhibitions, competitions (said to be the "Olympics of hula") Hawaiian crafts and lots of "ono" (delicious) Hawaiian food! It is always one of my favorite times of the year mainly because everyone's decked out in their mu'umu'us & aloha shirts...many wearing leis, either around their neck or as hatbands on their lauhala(woven pandanus) or good 'ole cowboy (paniolo) hats! Such a joyous time! The lady on horseback is typical of our pa'u riders in the parade during the festival...The riders have a whole unit on horseback, each unit representing one of our islands in color...she is representing Kaua'i...purple..and the green lei she wears is the mokihana berry from Kaua'i...Beautiful!

While I've been away....

Oh my! How time does fly! The past few months have been such a whirlwind...I've been mainly in a cloud since the start of this year...when it became very obvious that yes, indeed, my husband would have to leave us for his job transfer to another island...So he has been gone since February, leaving ME to hold down the fort!!! It has been very trying at times, but it IS such a great thing that I DO KNOW WHERE MY STRENGTH COMES FROM!
So...hopefully soon...I will get out of this slump & be able to focus, once again, on sewing...or my needlework...or SOMETHING! In the meantime, thank you all for the inspiration! I do keep up with all of your beautiful creations & lighthearted moments that you all share on your blogs! Thank you friends!
Oh! Happy Spring to all! And I thought I'd share this picture of some of our well known quilters here on the Big Island...see our pretty Hawaiian quilts!

HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!

Falling behind.....lots of catching up!

Whew! Where did the time go???!!! It seems that only yesterday summer began...and now..it's already October, with ONLY 80 days til Christmas!!! I have been so busy babysitting now & then...TRYING desperately to finish painting my room so that I can finally sew my curtains, etc!!! And of course, doing my PIFs & Advent Swap gifts in between! I will try to post pictures of my goodies soon AND I have NOT forgotten about my giveaway that I had planned a while ago...Oh my!
I also have my grandaughters doing "shoe boxes" for the kids in Samoa that were affected by last week's earthquake & tsunami...We were on a "tsunami watch" here in Hawai'i on alert in case we neede to evacuate as well..because our home is located near the shore, we go thru this often..But, PRAISE GOD that the watch was called off when the Pacific Tsunami Center announced that there was no threat to us here!!
My family has now officially joined the ranks of so many others in this state & nation...The economy seems to have warranted our Governor to call for job furloughs AND layoffs!! My husband is a State employee and therefore received notice today that he is required to relocate IF there's even an opening in his department!! That means he'll have to move to another island for work...And we can't possibly afford rent there & our mortgage here! I am leaving it in God's hands..Somehow our state is in deficit of millions, if not billions of $$$! Oh well!
Thank you ladies, once again, for all your inspiration! It is always a pleasure to hear from you as well as visiting your blogs!
~~blessings~~
Leona

FLASH! ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

Nicole over at Our Cozy Nest is having a giveaway!!! It's a great one especially if you have a baby shower coming up soon, because she also has a tutorial for some cute gifts! While you're there, check out her other tutorials!!!

AMONG THE GUM TREES GIVEAWAY!

Wow! Go check out the F~A~N~T~A~S~T~I~C giveaway that our friends from down under have put together! Hurry on over~winner will be named on Oct.1!

GIVEAWAY!!!

Hey there girls! Head on over to see Bonnie's AWESOME giveaway! You'll find her at calamityjanescottage.blogspot.com!! What a nice summer's end project for some lucky lady! Thanks Bonnie!
Hmmmm.....That reminds me, I WANTED TO DO A GIVEAWAY for my 50th posted & I got so caught up in life that I overlooked it!LOL! So I guess I'll have to do one for my 56th? OR maybe for my 60th!!! Stayed tuned!
~blessings to you & thanks for visiting!~
Leona