All posts tagged: Hawaii

Holiday traditions: Winter in Hawaii

Most people don’t think of Hawaii as having seasons, but it does.  They are just more subtle than in the less equatorial regions.  In winter the air is cooler.  Rain washes in and out in a matter of minutes.  Certain trees bloom, and others don’t.  The christmas tree bushes are loaded with bright red berries, perfect for making wreaths. Every year in September or October my parents would plant roselle bushes.  Also called rosajamaica or jamaica, roselle is a relative of hibiscus, and what you are drinking when you have hibiscus tea.  You also see roselle tea in taqueries. By December the red stems of the roselle bushes would be laden with fat red rosettes, ready to be boiled and sweetened with honey to make the most delicious, bright pinky-red seasonal drink. Some years we would have so much roselle that we would string them into garlands to wrap around the tree. Storms are more frequent in December, meaning that the streams around my parents farm would swell with water, and come rushing down in …

Holiday traditions: The Christmas tree hike

I find this time of year very hard in NZ. I hate the changing of the seasons, because even though this is a good change (from cold to warm), it just reminds me that they will change again. I hate having Thanksgiving and Christmas in the summer.  It means all the heavy food and fun comes at the good time of year, and winter is one long, unending trudge with no holidays between June and October. I hate how commercial Christmas is here.  It’s nothing but ads on TV for consumerism, and spend, spend, spend. And I really, really miss my family, and all my family traditions. As a Baha’i, I don’t put a huge emphasis on Christmas, but I do have a great deal of respect for the religious origins of the holiday, and for all the traditions that encourage creativity, and generosity, and  spending time with friends and family. My family was big on that kind of traditions.  We had gingerbread house making parties, and cookie decorating afternoons, and we made wreaths together. …

Vintage patterns part 2

Here are the rest of my vintage patterns.  Most I inherited from Grandma or was given by Auntie Artie.   Now I just need the time to sew some of them up, though I have to say, I’m loving some of the commissions I’m working on right now!