Going Green and Healthy...i think

For the most part, we have always tried to live healthy by getting lots of exercise and trying to eat right. Recently, I came across a list of 10 superfoods: garlic, tofu, yogurt, blueberries, spinach, beans, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries and walnuts. I was happy to see that from that list, we eat at least 8 of those items regularly! (Hey, isn't wine supposed to be there!?)

Every morning we have smoothies for breakfast (after our wake up cup of coffee). That's already 3 items...blueberries, yogurt and soy milk (that's like tofu right?). I was never one to eat breakfast but I just loooooove smoothies and they're fast, easy to make, travel well and just perfect for on the go.

Our friend and neighbor, Holly, gave us a juicer a few years ago and told us to try it. Well, we've been hooked ever since. I swear, if you had a hard work out or feel run down, drink a cup of fresh carrot and fruit juice and you'll feel re-energized. We have our cup of juice every afternoon for that extra boost and it taste good!

With the juicing, we have lots of organic left overs. ONCE in a while I'll make carrot cake and this stuff is great for thickening and adding flavor to stew, chili, ect...

As kids, we used to throw our left overs in an empty milk carton which would eventually end up feeding some kind of animal. Chickens were the best, especially when there was spagetti or saimin. If you've ever seen chickens running around trying to steal the others' noodle, it's hilarious!

Anyway, even though we have a ton of chickens in the neighborhood, we took a composting class last month and are doing our small part to minimize the landfills and hopefully, we'll end up with lots of good stuff for all our plants!

4 ingredients for composting: nitrogen (fresh yard clippings and veggie/fruit waste), carbon (brown leaves, twigs, shredded paper), water and air. We'll see in a few months......

Aluminum, glass and plastic. We really only need one big container because they ALWAYS get mixed up. O well....

Now this is the hardest one...remembering to bring the green bag with you INTO the store. Besides this pile, we have 2 in each car and still we forget.

Now, which one of those superfoods were for memory????

Lauhala Strippers

Our new batch of koe or handheld lauhala strippers are done. Mahalo to Junior's Jewels for the beautiful craftsmanship (Junior does all our koa wood items).

These koe have a neat feature where the blades are stored inside the plug.

This is how you would use this type of stripper. I love the handheld ones because they are so compact and easy to use.

Since we're on the subject of lauhala weaving, here are a few of the very first items I made. I started weaving in 1997 while attending the lauhala conference Ka Ulu Lauhala o Kona. It's an awesome experience to be totally emmersed in weaving, learning from na kupuna and just listening to their stories..... I highly recommend attending if at all possible.

This is my first papale done under the guidance of na kumu Lynne Hanks and Aunty Malu. The hatband was made for me by my friend and hula sister U'i Naho'olewa. So special.

Some tools of the trade.

The hat block is called lona, pahu or ipu.
By looking at the shape, it's easy to see how ipu were used to shape hats. I've made a couple of keiki hats from ipu....it worked perfectly.

The little stick tools called hi'a are used to push and pull lauhala strips into tight places.

Some of my papale.

Before anyone even asks, I don't sell any hats or baskets. I weave purely for pleasure. I haven't woven anything in a few years.....only because to me, weaving becomes like reading a book. I have to know how it's gonna end up, forget about working, eating, bathing, sleeping....must finish.....

Still, my New Years resolution is going to be start weaving again (in moderation) and attending Ka Ulu Lauhala 2009.

Today's 'Olelo No'eau: Puna paia 'ala i ka hala/Puna, with walls fragrant with pandanus blossoms. Puna, Hawai'i, is a place of hala and lehula forests. In olden days the people would stick the bracts of hala into the thatching of their houses to bring some of the fragrance indoors.