Evening light as rain approaches, a rainbow framing the scene. 🌈
Photographs
Reflecting at the end of another day.
I’ve dropped the ball with Micro.blog’s current May Photoblogging Challenge, not getting past Day 1. Then when I do sit up and find a photo for one of the prompts, I am a day late!
So this one is for yesterday, Day 22 textile, from my wife’s online store for vintage textiles and ceramics, Cloth and Goods.
I watched Licorice Pizza last night and enjoyed it. Maybe dragged a little in the middle? I’ve been listening to the soundtrack today, a rewind to the early 70s. 🍿
Menehune Mayhem
Monday, May 16, 2022
I spent yesterday at the Menehune Mayhem competition at Ho’okipa Beach Park. This is a surf competition for kids established a number of years ago by pro-surfer Ian Walsh. The thin sliver of a beach that Ho’okipa is was packed, with all visitors and competitors being focused on one end of the beach where the competition was taking place. With little space to sit, I was perched on the water line, a victim to any big waves that broke that day.
I took this photo of what I’m calling a Ghost Rainbow at around 8:15pm this evening, and it had just been raining.
I think that this plant is an Agave Vivipara L.?
For the last week we have been watching this stalk grow out of the center of one of these plants, with absolutely no idea what final result will be? We are assuming a flower or flowers of some sort. It has taken approximately five years to get to this stage.
We took our grandsons and their cousins to see a movie last week. As I stepped into the cinema I realized that it was probably my first time in a movie theatre for over two years. With COVID having been the reason for the absence, I could feel my trepidation as we stepped in.
This is not a droid sitting on a wall, but a movement sensor switch for a light sitting above it. My first entry for the May 2022 Photo Blogging Challenge.
Be nimble…catching up with some photos from our March visit to Porto.
Sunset while walking at the cliffs a few evenings ago.
Today’s distraction.
Today’s wet weather has brought out the Aseroe rubra or Anemone Stinkhorn fungi, that I wrote about last week, in greater numbers (the red dots in the photograph).
I didn’t have much luck with the quality of video uploads earlier to convey that the rain is really coming down now, and so sharing a few photos. 🌧🌧
Nature is an amazing thing. I’m seeing more of these fungi growing out of the mulch in our garden. Some searching online revealed that they are Aseroe rubra, more commonly known as Anemone Stinkhorn or Starfish Fungus.
They omit a foul smell that attracts flies through the black, sticky, spore bearing substance that can be seen at the base of each arm. The flies injest and trample the spores which they subsequently distribute further afield, thus spreading and helping to propagate the fungi.
I step outside this morning to drink my coffee, a US Citizen. More later...
This was not a large puzzle, both in physical size and in terms of number of pieces - one hundred - and subsequently did not take long to finish. The puzzle was not a big challenge. No, what drew me to it was the striking depiction of a Japanese Macaque. 🧩
Deja vu of Britain on the back streets of Porto.
Another beautiful sunset over Porto this evening.
The Sahara’s presence was still felt here in Porto today at the Cemitério do Prado do Repouo.
The Carmelite Church in Vitória, Porto.
And a side wall of that same church.
This evening a fierce red sunset over the Atlantic ocean courtesy of a dance between the sun, Sahara and the atmosphere!
The still orange sky. The bell towers are from the Igreja Matriz de Massarelos. Construction on this church began in 1776.
And finally, night by the Douro River on a walk to dinner.
This morning’s view, the Ponte Dom Luís bridge from over the rooftops in Porto, Portugal.
A friend sent this video taken from her house in a remote part of West Maui. The house is on a cliff that surrounds a bay and at this time of year whales come into the bay with their young. The sound like a fog horn that can be heard in the video, is from the whales. You can also make out where some of the whales are by the white water in the middle of the beautifully blue ocean.
Wednesday, February 23, 2022 →
This morning’s new arrival, an iPhone 13 Mini (PRODUCT)RED. This will be my first new phone for 5½ years. I’ll be saying goodbye to my trusted iPhone 7 Plus. The battery on the 7 is not holding its charge as well, and the charging cable is not connecting reliably to the phone. In getting a new phone, I decided that I wanted to go with a physically smaller device, and so the Mini.
Earthy smells of mushroom dashi and Japanese curry roux fill the kitchen.
I wrote this on Monday evening but was then distracted and did not have time to finish my writing. I was cooking dinner for Valentines Day, a Japanese curry ramen. According to the cookery book Vegan Japaneasy this is not a traditional Japanese dish. I have enjoyed cooking recipes from this book, and while I don’t normally reach for cookery books, this one repeatedly calls me back and, even if I say so myself, I have had good amount of success in what I have created.
I enjoy making the bases that make up many of the dishes. In this case the mushroom dashi and the curry roux. Monday evening’s dish meant mixing the two bases and the result was richer than I expected. I was also not successful in getting all of the roux to dissolve into the dashi, (note to self, less roux next time). However, overall I found the resulting curry taste was just right. An exciting mixture of textures and tastes.
Here’s a photo of the finished dish.
I love the smell of freshly picked lemons, and am grateful that I have them growing in my back yard.
A Sunday adventure to the South East side of Maui
Monday, February 7, 2022
The south east side of Maui is a place of the elements. Wind, sun and ocean meet in strong presence at that place where the vast flanks of Haleakala descend from its 10,000 feet summit to meet the Pacific Ocean at the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel, meaning aptly “great billows smashing.” A 30 mile channel of ocean lying between the Islands of Hawai’i and Maui, wind and water are funneled between the two land masses.
Morning rainbow 🌈
Cattle trough on the cliffs.
Now this 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle was a challenge. Satisfying to finish, to put in that last piece, but a challenge. 🧩
Here’s a modern day paradox that has just arrived. A Christmas card from a Tibetan monastery.
