Sadly, we cannot see the planetary conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter as we have been beaten by the mizzle as so many full astronomical events are in Cornwall. Nevertheless, I send Solstice Greetings to you all and a picture of the conjunction sent to me by my sister in Hawaii where the volcano, Kilauea, also woke up today. How auspicious!
Halemaʻumaʻu happening tonight! by Mary Strong
Our Advent Candle is nearly done…….
1 Some good advice here – a philosophy that I heartily believe in. Thank you, Robert for the photo.
Live quietly in the moment
2 I love the delicacy of these very pale daffodils.
Pale daffodils in a Jane Hamlyn salt-glaze jug
3 This artefact was dug up in our garden when I was a child but we have never known what it was. Any ideas? It is about 4″ high, made of metal and quite heavy for its size.
What do you think this could be?
I have written a diary recounting my recovery from my Total Hip Replacement. You can read it here or go to the horizontal menu at the top of any page.
Turtles come up onto the black sand beaches to rest. It is just beautiful to watch them from a good distance so that they are not disturbed.
At dusk, the vog from the lava lake at the bottom of Halema’uma’u , lights up the darkening sky and makes amazing shapes in the sky.
Thank you, Daisy.
This is the beautiful black sand beach at Kalapana. It was overtaken by the lava flow many years ago, but it is now reforming.
Thank you, Deborah, for another beautiful photograph.
The Mauna Kea silversword, Argyroxiphium sandwicense subsp. sandwicense, is a highly endangered flowering plant endemic to the island of Hawaiʻi (Big Island) of Hawaii. It is the “crown jewel”[2] of the volcanic mountain Mauna Kea,
The magnificent Silversword fern, grows for between 5 – 40 years and then, when it blooms, it dies. It is very rare to see it in bloom and my sister saw it and captured it for you to see.
Isn’t it amazing?
Being on crutches makes it quite hard to take photos! My beautiful sister who lives on Big Island, Hawai’i , is sending me photos so that you and I don’t miss out on beautiful things. Here is the first one she has sent for us all to enjoy. Isn’t it absolutely glorious?
Lovers in the sunset Thank you, Deborah, for helping me out, very much appreciated.
The colours of plants and creatures on Hawaii were stunningly beautiful, enhanced probably by the clear blue skies and sunshine. If you suffer from Scoliodentosaurophobia, a fear of lizards, I have put them all at the end so that you don’t have to scroll down that far and can miss them. The gallery at the end is not for lizard haters either. For the rest of you, I hope it’ll be fascinating!
Help with identifying any of them would be much welcomed.
Now for the Lizards/geckos.
I spent a fascinating few minutes watching the little gold dust day gecko, Phelsuma laticauda,changing its skin! Click on the first photo and scroll through to see the whole process and the detail of the skin and his tongue!
I hope you can share some more of our adventures in these galleries. Please hover over the photos for a description and click on any photo for detail.
Rain forests and beaches on Big Island and Maui, Hawaii.
Volcanoes and Waterfalls, Hawaii
Sunsets and just one sunrise on our trip
We ate some truly delicious food …. Here is a very small selection.
This is where we are spending our last afternoon on Maui, in the lush back garden of Pineapple Inn, by the pool and in a warm breeze!
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