Just short and without pictures. After not having any cloves (well, about 3) all year last year our tree started producing the first buds in the middle of last Fall (when we finally started getting some rain). I got the first cloves in January, quite unexpectedly, because they are completely out of season. Normally I find cloves heavily interfering with me picking lilikoi, in the mid-late Fall when the days are getting shorter and the weather gets bad and the time for me to deal with outdoors things is too short to begin with (it's normally during coffee picking season too). This time, the first cloves having appeared in January and that I'm starting to get what I call "fat cloves" now (somewhat pollinated but not enough to produce viable seeds), I expect clove seeds starting some time in May.
However, there are still some very small new buds as well and it may very well be that there will be some more in the Fall/Winter too.
Everybody who contacted me about cloves seeds before is on the current list and will receive an email when I have clove seeds (it will be from my work email because I find it easier to maintain). If anybody else is interested please, rather than leaving comments and exposing your email to be harvested by scammers and spammers (I cannot edit the posts when I approve them, please email me at
hilobeads at gmail dot com (take the spaces out and replace the "at" by "@" and the "dot" by a period.
I may put some of the cloves (not the seeds) into my Etsy and Artfire shops - if I ever manage to get some suitable pictures.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
My seeds are in an Etsy Treasury: 'longing for home' by jenflower
'longing for home' by jenflower
a beautiful collection of Hawaiian island finds that remind me of home
 Ali'ipoe $15.00 |  Tropical Coconut Ar... $6.00 |  Surfing Silver Sign... $85.00 |
 BREADFRUIT- "U... $32.00 |  Honu - Hawaiian Tur... $19.99 |  Green Cottage print... $10.00 |
 Hawaii black lava s... $7.50 |  Peach color High Lu... $40.00 |  MORNING AT MOKULEIA... $175.00 |
 Twin Palms Hand Cut... $9.95 |  Curly Mango Tenor U... $275.00 |  Tropical fruit and ... $17.00 |
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Pastels for Spring: one of my bracelets is in an Etsy Treasury
'Pastels for Spring' by secondarycreations
All items are from members of the Prayers on a Wire Etsy team.
 Pink Chocolate Kiss... $7.25 |  handmade silver ros... $50.00 |  Weight Watchers Cha... $14.00 |
 Chinese New Jade Cl... $7.95 |  Blue/White Easter B... $15.00 |  Flower Bouquet Neck... $27.00 |
 Rosa de Guadalupe $27.00 |  Real Unblemished Aq... $22.00 |  Job's Tears bra... $15.00 |
 Bumpsters Bumpy Lam... $30.00 |  Rose Quartz and Coi... $45.00 |  Fairy Dream ... Set... $17.90 |
 Green and Pink Cath... $20.00 |  Personalized Name R... $44.00 |  Precious Rose Child... $12.00 |
 Barely Pink Rose Qu... $99.00 |
Friday, March 25, 2011
My first big hole bead
Well, my first big hole bead that didn't have a cracked end. It's long gone because I made it explicitly as a birthday present for a friend, almost 3 months ago.
My dots quite obviously need more practice. The big hole bead has dark ivory 'dots' on dark aqua, the spacers on the side are ink blue (and they are more even in size than it looks in the picture). All the glass used is Moretti/Effetre, and all my beads are annealed in my digitally controlled Glasshive kiln.
As I made this as a birthday present for a friend who doesn't make jewelry I just strung it on a ready made chain necklace.
My dots quite obviously need more practice. The big hole bead has dark ivory 'dots' on dark aqua, the spacers on the side are ink blue (and they are more even in size than it looks in the picture). All the glass used is Moretti/Effetre, and all my beads are annealed in my digitally controlled Glasshive kiln.
As I made this as a birthday present for a friend who doesn't make jewelry I just strung it on a ready made chain necklace.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Some family history - in perspective
This post came about because somebody on Lampwork Etc. posted something about knowing all of his great grandparents. I never knew any of mine.
People sometimes wonder about my age and a bunch more things. I am currently still 55. My parents are both still alive and in their 80s. My youngest grandparent would be 110 now and my oldest would be 139. Those are my grandparents. You can bet that I have never met any great-grandparents (the genes to live long are on the side that had children late).
My parents have a few grandsons (the youngest are about 3 now, they're twins) but only one granddaughter, our daughter, who currently works at icannwiki.com after graduating college last year.
My parents at some point realized that they have children belonging to two different generations. They have grandchildren almost belonging to 3.
My husband is the youngest of his siblings and has a nephew whose oldest is almost the age of our daughter.
I kinda doubt my husband's parents ever had the chance to realize that they had children of different generations. He was the only one who didn't get married until "later in life" - he was 36 when we got married. And they had their first grandkid when my husband was 9.
My youngest nephews could be my oldest nephew's grandchildren by age.
This happened in only two generations, and my husband's parents were only about 10 years older than mine.
Sometimes this strikes me as odd.
People sometimes wonder about my age and a bunch more things. I am currently still 55. My parents are both still alive and in their 80s. My youngest grandparent would be 110 now and my oldest would be 139. Those are my grandparents. You can bet that I have never met any great-grandparents (the genes to live long are on the side that had children late).
My parents have a few grandsons (the youngest are about 3 now, they're twins) but only one granddaughter, our daughter, who currently works at icannwiki.com after graduating college last year.
My parents at some point realized that they have children belonging to two different generations. They have grandchildren almost belonging to 3.
My husband is the youngest of his siblings and has a nephew whose oldest is almost the age of our daughter.
I kinda doubt my husband's parents ever had the chance to realize that they had children of different generations. He was the only one who didn't get married until "later in life" - he was 36 when we got married. And they had their first grandkid when my husband was 9.
My youngest nephews could be my oldest nephew's grandchildren by age.
This happened in only two generations, and my husband's parents were only about 10 years older than mine.
Sometimes this strikes me as odd.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Storing botanical beads, revisited
Botanical beads are made from natural organic (as in plants, not necessarily "certified organic" or even "unsprayed") materials and as such are biodegradable. This will happen in most climates unless you prevent it.
That said, from my own experience, the worst experience I have had was that Job's tears stored in our storage locker were smelling a bit musty after a year. They were OK after I aired them out, and I never stored them there again.
This morning I got a phone call, a lady right here on on the Big Island made a necklace from mgambo/weleweka/velvet seeds and noticed some sand like substance. I told her to stick it in the freezer (as the freezing temperatures will kill any critters inside the beads) and my husband commented after I told him what the phone call was about "termites". Storing the beads in the freezer for a while will kill termites too. (I did not get whether she bought the beads from me or not)
Another thing I am aware of because a co-worker showed them to me (I actually have them here) is mold on weleweka seeds. I don't know how wet her earrings got, but she aired them out, here in Hilo, and that didn't prevent the mold. If you live in a humid/wet (and warm, even if only at the time, think even northern states/provinces/countries in the summer and in the southern hemisphere in what is winter here) climate and your botanical beads get wet you may want to dry them in the fridge or freezer.
Botanical beads may look like beach jewelry and if you only want to wear them while you're here/there that's fine, but they are not made to get wet. They may germinate if you get them wet enough for long enough if they're made from seeds. After all,l that's what they are.
That said, from my own experience, the worst experience I have had was that Job's tears stored in our storage locker were smelling a bit musty after a year. They were OK after I aired them out, and I never stored them there again.
This morning I got a phone call, a lady right here on on the Big Island made a necklace from mgambo/weleweka/velvet seeds and noticed some sand like substance. I told her to stick it in the freezer (as the freezing temperatures will kill any critters inside the beads) and my husband commented after I told him what the phone call was about "termites". Storing the beads in the freezer for a while will kill termites too. (I did not get whether she bought the beads from me or not)
Another thing I am aware of because a co-worker showed them to me (I actually have them here) is mold on weleweka seeds. I don't know how wet her earrings got, but she aired them out, here in Hilo, and that didn't prevent the mold. If you live in a humid/wet (and warm, even if only at the time, think even northern states/provinces/countries in the summer and in the southern hemisphere in what is winter here) climate and your botanical beads get wet you may want to dry them in the fridge or freezer.
Botanical beads may look like beach jewelry and if you only want to wear them while you're here/there that's fine, but they are not made to get wet. They may germinate if you get them wet enough for long enough if they're made from seeds. After all,l that's what they are.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Seed beads in an Etsy Treasury: all local to Hawaii
'Straight From the 8-0-8, Big Island Style' by littlemaikoboutique
A collection of items created by talented artisans from the place I call home - the Big Island of Hawaii <3
 CARLY Triple Knobby... $16.00 |  Repurposed Kau Coff... $45.00 |  Hawaiian Petroglyph... $5.20 |
 MALAMA KE KAI ON ET... $49.00 |  PRIMO blue Stroller... $40.00 |  Girls A Line Peasan... $38.00 |
 Hapuna Beach in Win... $5.50 |  Natural Coral, Aqua... $36.00 |  Indigo Bell Flower ... $12.00 |
 Baby Wild Boar Rubb... $5.00 |  Czech Ornela seed b... $7.50 |  A Hawaiian wind chi... $60.00 |
 Mgambo /Mgambo Seed... $47.00 |  Green Sea Turtle 5X... $15.00 |  BLUE LAGOON $25.00 |
Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.
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