Piggly Wiggly

Have you ever been to a Piggly Wiggly?  Well, if you haven't and you don't know what a P.W. is, here's a hint...You can buy ham there.  And Kraft products if you are so inclined.  This illustrated recipe was done for a Sargento contest.  Oops, I mean Kraft.  Obviously. And the hula pigs are wiggling and waving and having a grand old beach day.  If only they knew what's in a sandwich.  Da Dum.  All hell would break loose.  They might even give the wraith of Pele a run for her money.

Wiggle is the theme for www.illustrationfriday.com this week.

Surviving driving in Managua, Nicaragua

Our jeep on the big island of Hawaii

When ever we travel we always rent a car.   And we have had some real adventures.  My husband has even gotten blisters on his poor hands from holding the steering wheel. We've been to Central America 6 times.  And survived them all.  Even the short cut to Montezuma through the mountains of Costa Rica.  We asked for directions to this "short cut" at a gas station.  The employee didn't speak English, but pointed us in the direction of a dirt road.  We took it. 

 And for miles we forged bridge-less mountain streams and rivers following little more than a cow path. We encountered no other cars. Only some locals on horse back.  And the worst part was we were never really sure if we were going the right way.  It still ranks as our biggest off road adventure to date.  But...it was the right way!  

The reason I'm posting this today is actually a hilarious quote from a travel book we just checked out from the library.  The Nicaragua Handbook written by Richard Arghiris.  Here's what he said about driving in the city of Managua.

In the Managua battle-zone the visiting gladiator must steer clear of axle-breaking holes and city buses- smoking beasts, filled to the ceiling with sweating commuters and professional thieves and manned by some of the most aggressive drivers on earth. 

 The crazed and ruthless driver mounts his challenge, horns wailing, sharpened metal spikes spinning from chromed wheels.  The bus driver will never slow down, yield or even acknowledge anyone, except a boarding passenger.  Taxi drivers too must be respected for what they are: rogue messengers from planet anarchy, routinely breaking every rule of legal driving in ways previously unimaginable.  Don't be surprised by the crash-the-red-light-by-driving-into-oncoming-traffic-to-overtake-waiting-cars-at-the-intersection manoeuvre or their maniacally obsessive horn usage.  

Rogue messengers from planet anarchy.  Ha!  Well, we still plan on driving when we go to Nicaragua.  But if you don't hear from me again after that trip you'll know what happened.

Our first big driving travel adventure started here.  On the lava fields of Hawaii.  I remember gripping what ever I could and thinking if we got a flat tire we would have to walk for miles over jagged hot lava.  Would our marriage have survived?  Who knows.  But we made it to this green sand beach.  Whew.

This green sand beach was a little easier to get to.  Just a bumpy dirt road.

But do you see that person on the rocks?  When we got there the real adventure began.  Climbing down to the beach.

But look at that green sand.  Beautiful.  I think green will be the color of our face if we ever drive in the city of Managua.  

To be continued someday...

P.S.  Be sure to stop back on Wednesday for an extra fun recipe post!

Paradise Lost...

I've been busy with a little home improvement project.  I used to have my studio in one small room.  Now I've doubled my space and use two rooms in my house.  One for painting and one for a home office.  Now the fun part is underway.  The decorating.  I used to have a banner of old Hawaii photos spreading clear across one entire wall.  Twelve 8x10 photos attached to foam board.  I still love them.  But those trips were over 10 years ago.  And well before I had a digital camera.  I've given the Hawaii photos the ax.  But this is why I love blogging.  I can share the photos before they are stashed away.  I scanned the old photos so you can take a little trip with me today...

You've seen this one before in my stacked rocks post.  It was taken in a crater on the Big Island in Volcanoes National Park.

A resting Sea Turtle on the Big Island.  

Red hot lava on the Big Island.  That's where all the activity is.  Fierce!  

Charming Rainbow Eucalyptus trees on the Big Island.  

 Sunrise in Hilo.

Hi'ilawe waterfall on the Big Island.  It is a whopping 1,600 footer.

Black sand on Maui.

A tourist ship in Lahina, Maui.

Me on a rickety bridge.  Maui. 

Dean inspecting a peely paint tree on Maui. (Made up name)

Bamboo on Maui.

More Rainbow Eucalyptus on Maui. That's all folks! 

The story of stacked rocks continues...

I'm re-re-posting my old stacked rocks (cairns) post.  Why?  Because after almost 6,000 hits and counting, it has turned out to be somewhat controversial.  I've started to get negative comments from people that feel that cairns are destructive to National Parks. So even though I feel they should get a life, they may have a point. So I left the comments and you can be the judge. If you want to be enlightened about the madness of moving a rock, read my comments.  

That being said, I think it is O.K. out on your neighborhood bike trail, beach or gravel road.  Good grief.  Unless I start getting new haters.  

  I  received an inventive and meaningful piece of art from my high school art teacher Mr. Urness.  Or Don to his grown up friends.  Geez, I guess that's me now!  He has been building Carins for some time now. And posting them on his blog www.donurness.blogspot.com   Now he and his wife Eileen have started to collect small flat stones to incorporate into necklaces.  And if you purchase one they will mark which beach the stones were collected from.  Hopefully not Hawaii though because that would bring bad luck.  And we don't want that! 

But for now here's my (controversial.  See comments) story of stacked rocks... 

                                        Lake Harriet.  Right on my doorstep.

I'd been meaning to do a blog post for a long time about stacked rocks. I've photographed them for years in my travels. And last Summer I caught this man stacking rocks right on my doorstep at near by Lake Harriet. Last week he was there again. But I didn't have my camera. He has a magical talent for stacking. Does he keep gorilla glue in his pocket? The top 3 photos here are his handy work.

Stacked rocks in Duluth, Minnesota

These stacked rocks were found on the super hot Montezuma beach at the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica.

                      It was the mother load of stacked rocks!

This is mother nature's attempt at stacking rocks. I thought I'd     include it just for fun. This photograph was taken near my   hometown.  Alma Center, Wisconsin.          

These stacked rocks were photographed near the entrance to one of the world's most famous hiking destinations. Kauai's rugged Na Pali coastline. It's a beautiful, but very grueling hike. (Although my blogging pal DJan would have no problem!) Even when you're on the trail the only way to really see the coast is by helicopter or boat. I'll always remember a lady that was hiking on the muddy trail. You actually had to cross through waterfalls and up and down steep inclines. Well, she had long white pants on. And darn it all if they didn't have a spot on them. Was she an angel? Did she have hidden wings that carried her across the muddy parts?

This photo was taken in the crater of Volcano's National Park on the big island of Hawaii. It has the honor of being my first stacked rock photo. And it really was an awesome hike full of steam vents and surreal sights and sounds. 

P.S. Be sure to read my comments on this old post for a different perspective on cairns.  They may be beautiful.  But some say they are destructive.  I say the worry warts should get a life.  But it is a good reminder to be respectful of nature.  

To see a new post on stacked rocks click here!

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Maui Luau Sandwich

click to enlarge

There's a big Kraft recipe contest going on over at www.theydrawandcook.com  And here's the link for my Luau Pigs!  http://theydrawandcook.com/recipes/maui-luau-sandwich-by-sharon-wagner 


 Please waddle on over to view my illustrated recipe full size and also to check out all the other krafty recipes. Did you know that the Hula dancers tell a story with their movements?  Well, obviously these pigs are waving the recipe your way.  Kind of like sign language.  But if you don't understand the hoof gesture, there's sub-titles. Oh, and keep your fingers crossed.  I hope I don't have to wait till pigs fly for a win!   

Island Paradise

Is there anywhere in the world more beautiful than Kauai?  Well, it might surprise you to know that I just vetoed my old framed Kauai photos and replaced them with Costa Rica.  But it is not so much as Costa Rica has a leg up on Kauai as much as I'm completely running out of wall space.  And our Kauai trip was many moons ago.  In fact, I had to scan in these photos.  I took these before we had a digital camera.  So I may be saying goodbye to gazing at these travel photos on a daily basis.  But at least I can share them with you today.  The top photo is a taro field set against a mountain backdrop.

The Coconut Coast.

Norfolk pine.

Bamboo

 A peek at the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Inn Paradise.  

Old Hawaii.

 The majestic Na Pali coast. 

Now you may or may not favour my new travel pics that replaced Kauai in this frame.  But a girl has to do what a girl has to do.  Or maybe I need a bigger house??????

Lots and Lots of Lava!

Can you believe there's a road beneath this lava?

Here it is. And after hiking around 6 miles over this hot and rolling moonscape, they definitely don't need a speed limit sign!

I took many closeup shots of the exotically textured new land. The photo on the right looks like Alligator skin.

Is it too hot for a close up? Only if your camera melts!

My husband and I have had many fun hikes and vacation adventures in our travels. But I think this lava hike still rates at the top. Have you guessed where we are? No, we didn't go to Iceland last week. It's the Big Island of Hawaii. We had to hike around 6 miles round trip to get to the hot stuff. And the endless fields of rocky lava land made for one grueling expedition. A man hiking ahead of us had a big stick protruding from his back pack. And when he got to the flow he stuck it in to see it burn. We wondered what the heck he had that for. One guy was carrying action figure dolls. They turned out to be his version of the traveling garden gnome. He posed them in his lava photos.

But the best part of our adventure was our planned night hike back to the car. Thankgoodness we had our flashlights. That's when you could see the path of the lava spewing from the crater in the distance. WOW! And the best part is we survived!

The Original Akua Nani at Inn Paradise

When we found our new cats at the Humane Society almost 2 years ago we had Hawaiian names already picked out. Hana, a beautiful town on the island of Maui was our first pick. And our 2nd pick was Acua. Acua was a sweet and friendly cat that belonged to Major and Connie, the owners of Inn Paradise on the island of Kauai. http://www.innparadisekauai.com/ We loved our stay at Inn Paradise. My favorite memory was simply making breakfast and eating it on the lanai. A good breakfast would always include Papaya and soaking up the peaceful scenery of Major's backyard. If you look closely at the photo you'll see wild pigs at play. But years later when we named our cat Acua, we weren't sure if we were spelling it right. And we always wondered what Acua meant in Hawaiian. So we emailed Major this week and he got back to us right away. It turns out we've been spelling it wrong. Here is what Major said. "Akua Nani (Beautiful Spirit) is her name. Akua means God, Goddess, Spirit, image, supernatural. So it is how it is used in a sentence that the meaning is determined. Nani means beauty, beautiful. Ho'Nani means to beautify" Thanks Major! But Goddess? I think I might owe my Tomcat an apology. But I'm certainly not changing such a beautiful name! For more Cats On Tuesday visit http://www.gattinamycats.blogspot.com/