take time to smell the roses

my housemate, jason, works w/ both taro & flowers (heliconias and gingers, primarily). he sells them by the stem, in a bundle, or in an arrangement. it's a wonderful art and i had my first go at it the other day. behold, my first flower arrangement.

it's not too bad, if i do say so myself.  (and, yes, that is a portrait of reagan on the wall, in case you're wondering ;)


here are a few flower quotes for your enjoyment :)

*Earth laughs in flowers. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

*The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers. ~Basho

*The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. ~Tennessee Williams

*When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. ~Chinese Proverb

*Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul. ~The Koran

*We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses. ~Abraham Lincoln

*In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends. ~Kozuko Okakura

the farming life for me!

...so here's what i've been up to since my return to the sandwich isles (click the links for more info). 

~this is where i live (there is a house in this picture):

~a lot of my time is spent planting and harvesting this stuff .

















~i'm also surrounded by oodles of heliconia and ginger flowers like these (which we cut to sell to local florists):

















~i'm propagating and planting fruits & veggies, too!

~i wash my hair with this:

~i make yumminess w/ the abundance:

~i'm forever smitten w/ nature: 

~and i rarely go into town in fear of being ostracized for my dirty fingernails (keeping them clean seems impossible these days, true story, hehe):

~plus, i'm in good company.  so far, so good!  :)