Monday, April 17, 2017

New beginnings new directions on blogging


New beginnings new directions on blogging


It's been awhile since I have updated this blog and I also closed my Hawaii blog called A Big Island Life since I just got very tired of writing new posts with little traction. Instead I have been working on my main travel blog at Travel Photo Discovery and really getting more effort into updating the site and traveling around the world. In case you have visited, my newest post is called Top things to do in Miami. It's about the wonderful attractions,neighborhoods, cool trendy places and things worth doing and seeing in Miami.

I love traveling and have enjoyed the progress of this blog which I've spent a few years working on. But I do have a new Hawaii Centric blog that I will be starting up within the next few months and just thinking about the new design directions and focus of what I want to do regarding a Hawaii focus. Meanwhile, please check out my Travel Photo Discovery site and I plan on posting more relevant topics covering plants, landscapes and being outdoors in general, even if it is not based in Hawaii.

Stay tuned for more new updates.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Here's my new blog on A Big Island Life





Introducing A Big Island Life



I've been so busy lately with my new website, it is called A Big Island Life, a site dedicated to everything about the Big Island of Hawaii and living aloha.

It covers every facet of Big Island living including: lifestyle and culture, gardening and green living, events, music and art, recreation and sports and special interest to living or just visiting the island.

Please come and visit the website and if you would love to see more, subscribe to my updates and newsletters via email so you will get all the latest updates for free.





Aloha and enjoy A Big Island Life!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sunrise in East Hawaii




Sunrises are so amazing in Hawaii when you make a little effort to greet each morning in paradise.


Everyday and each sunrise is quite different.


 

 


     Each with a new story and colorful start of the day to experience in person.




Most people are still asleep when this happens, but when you physically there -  it's magical!




Another morning in paradise....its so sweet seeing this and greeting the new day.






Don't you agree?


 

Saturday, August 31, 2013

A sweet art garden in Mendocino town.


A quirky and fun garden in Mendocino
A colorful mosaic with local wildlife

 

A sweet art garden In Mendocino

I love being surprised just happening into someplace unusual or quirky, it really makes discovering a new place a wonderful experience. So when I walked into this fun and creative art garden in Mendocino, it totally put a smile on my face. The garden is located on the grounds of the Mendocino arts center in downtown Mendocino. You'll have a wonderful time walking around the garden and discovering all the surprising little bits and garden art hidden throughout the property and so cleverly infused into the landscape.


To continue the rest of the story on Travel Photo Discovery click link below http://travelphotodiscovery.com/a-quirky-and-fun-garden-in-mendocino/

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Volcano Garden Arts, a garden tour



A garden tour in Volcano

When I'm visiting up in Volcano village on Hawaii Island, I love stopping by my favorite art gallery/café with this whimsical garden. Open to the public everyday, the Volcano Garden Arts center is a fun place to see beautiful art work and crafts, and also explore the colorful garden surrounding the gallery. Filled with sculpture, art objects and other art inspired vignettes sprinkled around the garden walks, its a fun and place to walk around. Eclectic tropical plantings and quirky garden art here and there creates interesting spaces to explore and soak in the tropical ambience in this center.

 
The owner, an artist and collector of sculpture including these large porcelain ceramic pieces were placed in various places along the grassy areas facing the café. (maybe to illicit tea time or grabbing a bite to eat). They are interesting objects to admire while viewing the various elements in the garden from the café views.
 
 

 
 
 
While hidden behind some giant alocasia plants another hidden porcelain warrior is standing guard.
 
 
 
 
 
There are many small water features like this little fountain with fresh tropical flowers placed below the water to break up the fall into the pottery. In the entryway to the gallery, it is a warm symbol of aloha before entering the building.
 

 
 
 
 
 
Also around the walk up entry lanai are beautiful potted geraniums and this begonia filled with pink blossoms.
 







 There are many giant hapu'u or tree ferns close-by, most of them planted with bromeliads which love attaching to the limbs and getting its nutrients directly from the outdoor elements.







On this hapuu fern a shocking red miltonia orchid is blooming with new spikes just starting to unfurl its petals.


 I love this half sunk Thai Buddha submerged in this water garden.

 
 
 
 
And another garden feature with a sweet smiling boy admiring the tropical flowers.
 

 



 
 Here's a collection of succulents I found in a partially covered gazebo, I love the whimsy of the last two pottery and plant vignettes with the oriental statues.
 











The garden is even popular with locals who like to visit the café or just hang out in the gardens where its nice and quiet, a great spot to relax and read a book like this guy below.



Another whimsical detail with these little mosaic birdhouses, who wants to take one home with them?






 
 
 
There was a ceramicist giving a pottery demonstration in one of the pavilions, here she is showing how to create an opening hole for the tea spigot with this tea pot. Below is one of her colorful teapots on display, aren't they so wonderfully detailed?

 






Nearby is the meditation garden, which has these tall pine trees that are formed in a large rectangular space with nothing in the middle except for pine needles and a tall column filled with tropical flowers....very zen wouldn't you say?



 
 
Close to the entry of the zen garden sits a small Buddha . I love when the bromeliad plants and buddha are almost buried in weeds and overgrown areas, like something neglected and disappearing back into nature and adding a nice old patina to this section.
 
 



One last Buddha, greets us on the way back to the parking lot with another flower offering on his folded hands.

 


 
 
Well there were quite a lot of treasures and sculptures to be found in the garden. Next time your here in Volcano, do drop by and also see the beautiful artwork for sale in the gallery. Here's some more information on the Volcano Garden Arts center for you to visit.
 

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Black and White Study

 

 

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. -Albert Einstein


 

Saturday, June 22, 2013

A gorgeous garden in Barcelona



I just wanted to share an excerpt of my new blog called Travel Photo Discovery, hope you take a look..

Montjuic Park (27)

Mossen Costa i Llobera gardens

I love discovering unusual or quirky things while visiting a new city and Barcelona does offer exciting and appealing sites to see. Some of these places grabbing my attention early on was when I visited Montjuic and the beautiful gardens that I saw in between the myriad of amazing museums.  My favorite garden to visit in Montjuic was this expansive desert garden, Mossen Costa i Lobera (named after famous poet Miguel Costa i Llobera) on the slopes of Montjuic overlooking the Miramar area with its scenic bayfront and beaches.
Unlike any other urban garden I’ve been to, the Mossen Costa i Llobera garden hosts an extensive collection of cactus, succulents, mediterranean, tropical and sub-tropical plants to create an exotic garden in the midst of this urban jungle. In fact, it is one of the most important cactus and succulent collections in the entire plant world. Surprisingly, there were only a few people visiting this magnificent garden when I visited and that’s probably due to the fact that it is not on every guidebooks top ten list of things to see in Barcelona. Personally, I consider this garden tour and the luxury of having the garden mostly to myself an absolute treasure. It’s worth spending some time here to enjoy the mature garden and take your time with your photography without a mass of tourists clamoring to be in the same spot.

Continue reading below on my new travel site
http://travelphotodiscovery.com/mossen-costa-i-llobera-garden-in-barcelona-an-exotic-garden/
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