Another mail haul

I'm back with another mail haul! It's so great getting fun mail instead of bills, isn't it?

The first card is a Halloween card from Sprinkles the Bear. Very cute and I hope Sprinkles had a fun Halloween!

The next is a photo card from Little Fox. One of the photos is Little Fox on a hiking trip as per usual, and the other is... a picture of him visiting Sandy. Or wait... is that Sandy visiting Little Fox? I can't keep track because I know there were some stuffie swaps over the past summer!

Next is a big Halloween card from Sandy!

There are a lot of fun stickers inside this card so I'll show you the inside also.

The next card is also from Sandy! It's a foam sticker postcard of an astronaut, yes that's perfect for me! I'm still waiting for my space shuttle after all these years...

Thanks for all the mail everyone!

Piñata

So, my bearthday was back in August and I received a piñata that I've been meaning to post about.

In case you don't know, piñatas are filled with candy inside, so I'm going to fill mine with leftover candy from Halloween.

This is a bunch of chocolate candy. I think Twix is my favorite from the selection here. What about you?

Next, I am going to blindfold myself.

No, I'm not peeking! Okay, well maybe just a little bit.

Next, I am going to swing at this piñata with a stick in hopes that the candy will come out.

*SWISH*

And another *SWISH*

Okay, I am really going to hit it hard with this last stroke...

*SWISH*

*WHOMP*

I completely missed and landed flat on my back.

Hey, you know what? This is a lot of work. I think it's a lot easier to just take the candy out and eat it. Want a a piece?

Mail haul

Hey everyone! Long time no chat! I have a TON of things to catch up on, including several international adventures, but my secretary is a bit *slow*. Here are some mail letters I received a few months ago.

The first is a birthday card from Little Fox. Yeah, my birthday was August 31 and I received some fun stuff for that, which I need to post about!

Little Fox also sent me a postcard of Oregon. He had a great summer!

Finally, I got a postcard from Jerry and Ben. They traveled to Lisbon, Portugal and it sounded like a great time!

Thanks for the cards, everyone! I will ask my secretary to post updates soon!

Puzzle

 Last Christmas, my friend Droopy gifted me a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle... of myself! It's a photo from my visit to see the bluebonnet field in spring of last year.

Let's open it up and get started on it!

First, let's flip all the pieces right side up.

Next, let's do the edges. Done!

I think I'll start with my shirt. I'm wearing a red plaid shirt and a jean jacket in this photo.

You know what I learned from working on this puzzle? That my fur is beary complicated! My face is more complex than it looks.

*A COUPLE DAYS LATER*

I insisted to my secretary that we keep working on this puzzle nonstop, but I finally gave in and took some breaks for food and sleep. Now, we have finished the most important part of this puzzle - me!

Let's start on the background of the bluebonnet flowers. The orange flowers are Indian Paintbrush flowers. It's a rather challenging background with so many flowers and some are blurry. There's lot of green grass too.

Alright, we just have one piece left!

There it is. Do you see it?

Oh this is exciting!

The puzzle is completed! What do you think? I'm going to find a frame and hang this puzzle up on the wall. Thanks Droopy, for a great puzzle!

Spin art

What's up everybody! It's been a while since I've done crafts so today I'm going to try this spin art kit. I've got my trusty craft apron on for this project, and it looks like I'll need it too!

First, let's cover our workspace with newspaper and lay out all the materials. We have a spinner, some paint, and circle paper that will be our canvas.

I'll first add three drops of blue paint onto the paper.

Then I pull the little lever on the side of the red spinner and get it going! When it spins, the paint flies out to the edges. Whoa, be careful it doesn't get on my fur!

Let's add more paint to it and see what it will look like.

Cool! Each design is unique. It is getting a bit messy here so I have to be careful.

I made several of them. What do you think? Do you have a favorite one?

Hawaii, part 5

And then, we finally made it to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. This is a sacred place that was a place of refuge for defeated Hawaiian warriors and those sentenced to death for violating kapu, the code of conduct.

This sanctuary was protected by Lono, the God of Life, as the native Hawaiians believed. Once you made it here, no physical harm could be done to you.

There used to be several platforms built from rocks on which dances and songs were performed.

We can still see what life was like back in those days. Here is a hut for canoe making. They were very resourceful and used whatever they could find in nature.

Alright, let's go check out our next AirBnb. This is on the western part of Hawaii island. This property has several papaya trees growing. What a view!

I also stopped by a fruit stand and bought a cacao fruit. This is what chocolate is made from. Let's open it up and have a nice big bite of choc--

Wow, this is not what I expected at all. It's very fibrous, and white, and has a slightly sweet taste. A lot of work has to go into this before it turns into chocolate.

For breakfast, we had a scrumptious meal with fresh fruit from the backyard! Yes, there are banana trees here also! I've gained quite a few pounds on this trip.. but it's been worth it.

We highly recommend this place if you visit. It's called Hale Hoola: http://www.hale-hoola.com/

I've really enjoyed my time in Hawaii and I hoped you liked following along.

I'll leave you with a nice sunset view...