wonderwall.

i wanted to take advantage of the nearly three full walls of windows in my living room and make the most of the sunlight that pours in all day. i painted the walls white, but didn't want to get bored with it so i mixed pearlescent mica flakes (available at a well-stocked art supply shop like dick blick) into the paint. depending on the time of day/reflection of the sun, the walls change colour. here is what it looks like in the morning and through most of the day (you can just make out a silvery purple blue reflection); during sunset hours, however, the room takes on a lovely golden sheen like the beach below.

Saipan - willy nilly

Ai yi yi.... Old habits die hard. In the span of 3 months, my textile-collector-bug kicked in and I find myself with blue prints and a red bed. Chaotic bliss....

Saipan - Roger's abode

Saipan - Roger's abode, originally uploaded by *caramimi*.

Roger is a farmer who lives in a little shack behind my uncle's house. He helps tend to the big garden and banana trees, and will often accompany my uncle on his nightly hunts. Roger's one of the many folks who have stayed on the family compound for many years he's become an extension of our huge brood.

I took this during a visit to my uncle to gather the silk/cotton-like fibers from the kapok tree, known as Ceiba pentandra, or algidon in Chamorro, for use as stuffing for a plush animal project with my nieces. The kapok fibers are sometimes used as a "green" resource for stuffing. A pic of our kapok fiber harvest below.

Saipan - Algidon, kapok fibers

Saipan - Algidon, kapok fibers, originally uploaded by *caramimi*.

The harvest of silk/cotton-like fibers from the kapok tree, known as Ceiba pentandra, or algidon in Chamorro, for use as stuffing for a plush animal project with my nieces. The kapok fibers are sometimes used as a "green" resource for stuffing in pillows, quilts and the like - they are harvested from the dried pod fibers, with no harm to the tree.

The old algidon tree on my Uncle A'be's property is about 3 to 4 stories high, and has been thriving for over 60 years. A big thank you to Roger (shown above) for gathering this kapok harvest.

Kapok web sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapok
www.hear.org/pier/species/ceiba_pentandra.htm
www.blueplanetbiomes.org/kapok.htm

Saipan - Crusty x sustainable design

Saipan - Crusty x sustainable design, originally uploaded by *caramimi*.

I heard about a little land crab on our property, that uses a baby jar for a home. By sheer coincidence I found him hanging around the discarded coconuts last night. Apparently they hold nightly meetings between the trash can and coconuts. Funny huh?

This is an umang or hermit crab. Usually they occupy discarded snail shells to protect their soft lower bodies, but looks like this one decided to modernize. Very resourceful!

talk zori coming soon