Blog — lauhala

The Hawaiian Church of Hawaiʻi Nei is putting on more workshops to help with the care of Iwi Kupuna. My cousin had sent me info for when they were doing workshops in Hilo back in September 2021. I wasn't able to go. Instead, I sent him one which he took to Maui. I probably won't be able to attend this one coming up at Huliheʻe Palace in March either, but will try to make at least one hīnaʻi lauhala for donation. While one won't be able to keep the finished product(s), this is still a great opportunity to learn the skills and enjoy...

I stopped by Kimura's Lauhala Shop the other day to pick up our coffee. Yes, I buy our coffee from a lauhala store. We drink 100% Kona Coffee. It may be considered premium coffee, but it tastes great "black" and we love supporting local agriculture. Also, the natural caffeine levels in fresher coffee makes it more cost effective and convenient, IMHO, as one doesn't have to drink as much to get the same wake up kick in the morning. Kimura's prices are very reasonable. The coffee doesn't travel far from farm to roaster to their store. I digress... Stopped by for...

Today I went to Māʻona Community Garden after about a month hiatus. I was delayed by road resurfacing and loading perforated cardboard so instead of the usual two hours, today I had 45 minutes to work on the puhala.  In the following pictures one can see the "before" and "45 minutes after" of the puhala I worked on today.  I will chip away at it until it's cleaned and has good ventilation around it. The blue arrow points to barely visible hala leaves. The next picture is 45 minutes later in the same area. As I was leaving, I heard a...

 Day 1 For the month of October, artists/sketchers draw with ink and share it in their social media. There are Inktober Rules & Prompts, but one can use their own prompts or themes. This is my first time participating in #InkTober. I was inspired by Seattle Urban Sketcher "Fueled By Clouds & Coffee" Tina Koyama. After reading her blogs and going down the rabbit hole of sketching with fountain pens, I bought my first fude nib fountain pen. An inexpensive Jinhao pink shark. After finding that I enjoyed sketching with a fude nib, I invested in a better quality Franklin-Christoph 02 (F-C...

Mālama:  nvt. To take care of, tend, attend, care for, preserve, protect, beware, save, maintain; to keep or observe, as a taboo; to conduct, as a service; to serve, honor, as God; care, preservation, support, fidelity, loyalty; custodian, caretaker, keeper. [https://wehewehe.org]  "Before"  "After" two cleaning visits.  Once the vines were cleared one could see its "feet."  The person who planted this puhala made a little rock "wall" around the base. There was probably more space between the puhala keiki and the rocks at that time. I do this when I plant things in my yard to create a protective boundary...