Tag Archives: Sunday Stills

Chairman Meow

A ragdoll cat in a garden — On high alert on a trellis with Chilean Glory Vine (*Eccremocarpus scaber*)

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Love Your Pet.’ See more responses here. We don’t have pets currently, so here are some archive photos of Chairman Meow, our cat from our old home in Washington State.

He was a Ragdoll, a breed noted for its mellow temperament. Happily, he was not a hunter, though he would stare intently at birds, except for hummingbirds, which left him with a bewildered expression! He also shed boatloads of fine, soft hair. A thorough combing would produce a wad of hair, but when he walked away, more would fly off him.

In the mornings, he’d climb up on the bed and sit on us until he was let out. One house had a screen door and it was common to hear a thud against it in the morning, a sign he wanted to come in again. When I opened the door, looking down for him, he was nowhere to be seen. But when I looked up there he was, hanging halfway up, his claws gripping the screen. The old lady who lived across the street said it gave her a great deal of amusement to witness this daily ritual!

We were going to bring him with us to Hawaii, but he used to end up frothing at the mouth on the two mile car ride to the vet! So he stayed behind in a good situation until he passed away a few years back.

Sticky Buns

Recently, one of our local bakeries shut its doors taking with it our source of sticky buns. They were a favorite treat of ours, so my wife looked into making our own. She’s had good luck with recipes at onceuponachef.com and found a promising option there. Yesterday, I got to try it out. Actually, I started on Saturday as the dough needs a while to rise, but can be refrigerated overnight.

We immediately made a change to the recipe, subbing macadamia nuts for pecans. It is Hawaii after all. But the whole process went fairly well. I only had an 8-inch square Pyrex pan rather than the 9-inch square cake pan called for, and I think that’s why the buns were climbing the pan’s side when I removed it from the oven!

I was also not prepared for the enthusiasm with which the buns shot from the pan when I inverted it onto a parchment covered tray. It got a bit messy, but the crucial question is, were they any good?

They were indeed. Soft and chewy, but crunchy with nuts. A sticky bun crisis has been averted and all is well, at least in this little corner of the world.

Posted for this week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme, which is ‘Sweet.’ See more responses here. You can find the recipe here.

Amethysts

This week’s Sunday Stills color challenge is ‘Amethyst.’ See more responses here. Just a couple from me this week. The top photos is a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air auto looking very clean and shiny, though a closer look shows a few signs of age. I know the feeling!

In the second photo, we are amethyst even if the look of this sign in a window doesn’t exactly lure one in.

They got it at Costco

Rosy-faced Lovebirds and others feeding in the parking lot of Costco in Kailua Kona, Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Feed the Birds.’ See more responses here.

Just the one photo this week, of a recent encounter at the island’s Costco. These Rosy-faced Lovebirds and others were snacking in the parking lot. I’m not sure whether someone threw this there or accidentally dropped a bag of seed or something similar. Either way, this was the only photo I got because every time I was ready to take another one, a car would come by and the birds would scatter!

All kinds of storms

A great frigatebird flying off Upolui, Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Storm.’ See more responses here.

I’ve gone with a few different kinds of storms starting with a Great Frigatebird or ʻIwa, which is known in Hawaii as a storm bird as they are considered indicators of approaching storms. Below is a rain storm in North Kohala on the road to Upolu.

The next two are scenes at Kawaihae port when the winds are whipping. A dirt storm above and a sand storm below.

Ten years ago

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Ten.’ See more responses here. January of 2016 was the first full month for this blog, so I thought I’d post a few photos that ran back then.

A Gold Dust Day Gecko encounters a Black Witch Moth. Full sequence here.

Planters

This week’s Sunday Stills color challenge is ‘Aquamarine or icy blue.’ See more responses here. I’ve gone with the icy blue option with some planters I saw at the airport in Kailua Kona.

A look back at 2025

A humpback whale and her calf swim in the waters off Lapakahi Historical Park, Hawaii — This Humpback Whale encounter was probably the highlight of the year (here).

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Year in review.’ See more responses here. As usual, I’ve picked a photo from each of the past 12 months and included a link to the original post.