Mango Picker

This is our neighbor's mango tree.  See how a good part of it hangs over into our yard?  There is no way the neighbor can get to the mangoes on our side.  

On Mother's Day my family came over and a few of them wanted to pick some still-green mangoes, so I went next door and asked for permission.  Our mango picker was all bust-up but I improvised by attaching a small scoop net to it.  It worked okay when my brother got on a ladder and could reach the nearby mangoes, but for the far ones it was pretty useless. 



As the weeks went by and the mangoes ripened they would fall to the ground and mostly I would just throw them away.  A few weekends ago I decided that I should mend the picker and try to pick the mangoes before they fell.


We found this fishing net bag at Walmart.  I think it was around $6 something. 


It turned out to be the perfect fit.  I attached it with a wax-coated twine that I found in one of our cupboards.


It worked good.

Yesterday

This was the buy of the day at the swap meet yesterday.  Geri bought it for her granddaughter.  Can you tell what it is?  



So cute, yah!!!  It was only 10 bucks!


It was so hot yesterday that even though we were full from just having eaten filipino food we stopped by Waiola for some shave ice. 


They might not have the best syrup around, but I do believe that they have the finest shaved ice.  I ordered a Creamsickle. 


Geri ordered a Pickled Mango with condensed milk.


We also went to Marukai.  N, is this the liquid coffee you talked about?  I haven't tried it yet, but it looks good!

By Special Request

Leslie said that she wanted to see me shooting pool.  It's kinda blurry, but here it is.   

Wendell and I play 9 ball, and Wendell always spots me the 8. That means that if I sink the 8 ball then I win.  Here's the short almost 1 1/2-minute video.

Butterfly

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY GERI!!!!

Here's my butterfly video.  Hope you like it. 

Cocoon

About a week and a half ago, my sister Geri emailed us to say that there were "caterpillars galore" on her crown flower plant.  A few days later she said that the caterpillars had eaten most of the leaves off the plant, and she had to go and buy another one. Yesterday, two butterflies hatched from their cocoons. 

I never got to see her caterpillars, but yesterday I got to take home her menagerie for a few hours so that I could take some photos.











Geri took this short video with her phone of a butterfly just after it emerged from its cocoon. 



I hope to also have a video for you soon. Most of my video clips didn't turn out, but I might have a few that I can put together for you.

Donovan's Hike

Wendell's friend Donovan recently completed this hike. It took them 5 1/2 hours to complete.  I'm so glad that he provided these beautiful photos for me to look at because there is no way I would ever be able to even attempt such a thing. It looks pretty nuts to me.  These shots were taken with Donovan's iPhone.

DISCLAIMER:  DANGER DANGER DANGER.  Per Donovan, this hike is abunai (dangerous) and possibly illegal in parts.  Per Jalna, DON'T DO IT.

































In keeping with my theme lately, Donovan even provided a one-minute video!! 



Thanks for the blog material, Donovan!!!

Shooting Pool

Way, way back in the day when I was single I used to hang out at Holiday Cue.  It was a great place to shoot pool and play foosball. I even loved to play those nickel machines. Was choke good fun.

Later on, me and Wendell would shoot at Hawaiian Brian's.  We used to go there a lot. We even still store our sticks there in a little locker. I hadn't been there in maybe 20 years, but the other day I suggested to Wendell that we go shoot some pool.  Actually, I just wanted to practice video shooting, not pool shooting.  

Here's my quick one-minute video of Wendell in action.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention . . . the best thing . . . we got senior discount . . . $2.50/hour.  SCORE!



Hey Donovan!  Thanks for the music!  It's perfect.

My Energy Bars

Maybe I should call this an Energy Nugget instead of a Bar. I cut some of the bars into this size for me 'cause sometimes all I want is just one bite. 




I got the idea to make energy bars when I saw this trail mix at Sam's Club.  Good idea, right?  It was around $10. 


Here are the ingredients that I used. I used Biscoff cookie spread instead of peanut butter and I also sneaked in some chocolate chips. 


Heat: 2 cups oats, turn off burner
Add: 3 cups Rice Krispies and 4 cups of stuff (raisins, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, etc.)
Melt: 1/2 block of butter, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1 10 oz. package of miniature marshmallows. 

Pour melted ingredients into dry. Mix well. Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan lined with wax paper.  Spread out evenly and press down with a wax paper covering. Cut as desired.

(For this batch I used 3 cups of the trail mix, 1/2 cup peanuts and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Also, bigger-sized marshmallows were on sale at Foodland so I bought those and cut um up with scissors.)



I read a tip online about using a jar to help press down your mix. It works good.


In fact, maybe too good.  Look how flat it came out. 


I put a dish towel into a bowl to make this pretty shot.


And then I had to go and clean up the kitchen.

Fukushima Peaches

I was in Keeaumoku Market and saw this container of Fukushima peaches. Anything Japan related always catches my eye.  I had never heard of them before, so I whipped out my phone and googled it. Isn't that so amazing? I still can't believe that we can actually do that.  

It turns out that Fukushima is known for its peaches . . . except that that's where the stricken nuclear reactor is, and even though their fruits and vegetables have passed inspection recently, the public is still afraid of contamination. You can read more about it here.  

These peaches had a teal-colored label that says California and USA on it, so I realized that they were actually "Fukushima" peaches grown on the mainland.  I bought a container.

The container was scotch-taped shut so I couldn't inspect the peaches too good.  When I opened it at home I saw that every single peach was bruised. This particular piece is bruised on the bottom . . .  but still . . . look at it.  Doesn't it look so pretty?

It's soft . . .  not crunchy. And sweet sweet sweet.  Peaches 'n Cream!  Soooo ono. 

The peaches probably woulda fared better if they were individually wrapped in those styrofoam protective thingys, but woulda probably cost buku bucks then.  Even though they were bruised I'm so glad that I bought um.  

My Backyard

There was so much for me to learn in making this 1 1/2-minute video.  And there's still a lot more I need to learn. 

Shooting was a challenge because DSLR cameras like my Canon 5D only have one plane of focus.  Anything in front or in back of that plane is blurry. BUT anything in that plane is crisp. I learned that your shutter speed needs to remain constant: 1/50 if shooting at 24 frames/second and 1/60 if shooting at 30 frames/second. Exposure is adjusted by f-stop and ISO settings.

Editing too was hard for me. I kept messing up and had to start all over several times.  But like Pink sings, "You gotta get up and try, try, try-y-y. Uuuu . . . . u . . . uuuuu." But I digress . . . 

Here it is . . . a minute and a half of My Backyard.

Wendell's On Top Pork Chops

The recipe Wendell used is actually called Stuffed Pork Chops, but you don't really stuff the pork chop with the stuffing.  Instead, you put it on top.  So I changed the name.  You can find the recipe here. 

Wendell used Stove Top Stuffing Mix instead of making it from scratch.  It was still goooood.

Shopping at Marukai

Just a few pictures here from a couple of shopping trips to Marukai.



These were in the "health" section.  I don't know what Moromi Vinegar is good for.


Or Black Vinegar for that matter.


More healthy drinks . . . Young Barley Leaves and Kale.  I didn't buy any healthy stuff.


I bought MOCHI instead!!


I bought this Oyster Shoyu a few weeks ago.  It's good.  To the left of it is Konbu Shiitake Mushroom shoyu.  Interesting, yah.  Gotta wait for it to go on sale.  Wonder if it ever does.


These kanji caught my eye. Natto Konbu!!! Whaaaa?


Gagome konbu is already sticky.  This must be extra, extra slimy.  Ewwwww.  It was $7.


This was in their New Items area. Yaki Hoshi Ume!!! Grilled Dried Ume!!!  Say what???


And it was expensive.  $12 for 10 pieces.  Looks good though.


I love this apple juice.  I didn't buy any because I know that it's gonna go on sale soon.  I can wait. 


But this t-shirt.  I had to get it.  Even though it's gonna be almost $3 cheaper from July 1.  It's Totoro. And this particular design is Studio Ghibli's logo.  I just love their movies. Spirited Away is one of my favorites.  I didn't wanna take the chance that they might be sold out by the time I get to go there again. 


That's all for now.