Hand made beeswax tea candles

Here are some candles I made last year for Christmas presents.

I am thinking of making more this year.Trying to get inspired. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I was actually dreaming this morning about putting pretty candles in my Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. I have never heard of anyone putting candles in their shoe box before. I am making 3 teenage girl boxes so maybe a teenage girl would like or need a candle?I probably won't include matches, although they would probably be useful to a child in desperate need.

This is national collection week for Operation Christmas Child, so if you forgot, this is your friendly reminder to get your shoebox ready and take it down to the collection site in your area.

Here in Hilo, if you don't have your shipping fee, Big Island Toyota will pay it for you if you drop your box off there!Thank you Toyota!

Kava Kava Kava Kava

Here on the Big Island is a lovely little cafe,Bay Front Coffee Kava & Tea Co. We went last night because my friend Jen was the featured artist. Jen did a wonderful job. I had some Alii Kava, which is Kava made with fresh coconut juice instead of filtered water.

The last few times I have sampled Kava, I have tried to describe how this drink makes me feel. The first time I drank Kava(at a birthday party) I could not get over the taste, and had no more than maybe a half cup.It reminded me of carrots and dirt with water. It really did nothing except make my mouth numb. Since then, I usually would have a nice iced coffee when I would visit the cafe. For the most part I only eat things that taste good.

Recently I have been trying Dave's Kava at Bay Front, last night being my 3rd try. The Alii is my favorite, and after a pint, or about 2 shells, the best I could describe the Kava experience is to compare it to when I used to run and get the runner's high, only with Kava, I don't feel tired, just relaxed, and I have this really strong urge to grin. It took away a headache on one occasion, and on another a neck ache went away.