Brazilian Cardinals

This morning I heard a lot of singing and found a pair of Brazilian Cardinals on top of the neighbors' roof. They were introduced in Hawai'i in 1928 on O'ahu. There are also Northern Cardinals in Hawai'i, also introduced in the early 1900's; so we have cardinals from both the northern and southern hemispheres here.

Brazilian Cardinals (Paroaria coronata).

I got a call this morning from Aunty Jeannie. She is in town for about a week. And she was staying about 6 blocks from Bick & Ron. I dropped in to see her & her sister Carolyn before I picked up Bick & Ron to take them to the airport. She'll be coming over for dessert on Friday evening so she can get together with Curtis and Aunty Judy also. I might join her & Carolyn at the Spam Jam on Saturday and the Lei Day celebration on Monday.

On the way back from the airport I stopped in at Lowe's to get copper tape to keep the slugs and snails out of the lettuce & other plants on the planting table. While there I stopped at the nursery to see if they had any English lavender, I've been looking for starts for a couple of years and haven't been successful. I kept getting told it wasn't the right time; but I found it today! However, the only variety available was Hidcote, which is a culinary variety. I wasn't able to find any Grosso, which is a hybrid lavender that I grew for crafts; it has a high lavender oil content so it retains its fragrance for a long time. I guess I'll have to learn how to cook with lavender. I will be planting the lavender in the red cinder area by the driveway; I had planned to do that ever since I cleared the area out since Mom liked the color purple and the fragrance of lavender.

Hidcote variety.

I also picked up a pakalana start; I love the fragrance! I'll be planting it by the papayas so it can climb on the fence. Pakalana is my favorite flower for making lei. After it gets established, when you come to visit me I'll make a pakalana lei for you!


I also bought a catnip plant. I'll be planting it out in the cat run. Hopefully it will be able to survive for a while.


Happy Birthday to cousins Karen, Daniel, & Kenley! (I didn't know until now that they shared the same birthday.) Happy Audubon Day, Help A Horse Day, Kids & Pets Day, Pretzel Day, Richter Scale Day, and Administrative Professionals Day!