Darling Annette and Martin...

First of all, we have to pronounce their names correctly. It's like Annetta and Marteen. This tiny couple from Wiesbaden, Germany had been married only three years. Cute, fun loving people, engaging, and smart. She worked at a bank, and he worked for that little company called Microsoft.

They loved Bob's fresh bread. And the Almond Poppy Seed muffins. They were amazed at our Microwave POPCORN. And they loved us like mom and dad. Everything Bob suggested as a place to visit, they went to see. When we invited them to The Green Church Sunday morning, they came along with us. They were Roman Catholic, and were used to entering church quietly and reverently. So their eyes were wide open as they watched the people greeting each other with a hug and "Aloha" as they gathered for the service. Then, as was customary, the leader asked all the guests to stand, to give their names, and tell where they are from, and what church they attend back home.

By the time 15 or 20 people have introduced themselves, and sat down, everyone is mellow. The leader asks everyone to go greet each one and give them an aloha hug. So, for a few minutes, people are stepping across the aisles to hug and greet each other. Annette and Martin heard someone at the back of the church say they were from somewhere in Germany, and attend the Catholic church, so they went back there quickly to greet them, and then stayed there. :-)

After church, Alice and Don (an earlier blog) suggested we all go to The Dolphin Restaurant in Hanalei for lunch. That's the first place you come to on your right, when you drive down from Princeville. Great fresh fish chowder, wonderful salads and bread sticks, and lots of other good stuff. We took pictures of all of us on the green, where people can be served at picnic tables on a clear day, with a beautiful catamaran docked there on the Hanalei River. This was one of those rainy weeks I wrote about earlier, and there was threat of tsunamis coming up river and washing away boats anchored in the Hanalei Bay, so the owner of the boat had brought it upriver.

Then, Alice and Don invited us all to come up to their place on Anini Beach, to play the card game, "Square 9," and stay for the TV program "Touched By An Angel." Annette and Martin were eager to join in on the fun. Of course, Alice insisted on making her famous supper, called "Awful Waffles." (Also, an earlier blog). They loved it.

The following year, 1997, Bob and I got to travel to Germany, and stayed with our daughter Joanne and Scott, who were stationed there in the military. They took us to Wiesbaden to meet Martin and Annette, who treated us to a fine lunch at a quaint Tudor style house made into a restaurant in the forest. They gave us a tour of Wiesbaden, and took us shopping for goodies to bring home. Then they took us to their beautiful condo, and served us two delicious home made cakes, and coffee. We brought them a case of Microwave POPCORN from Costco, and Joanne brought them a big jar of Peanut Butter from the base, for their "Awful Waffles."

We were just amazed to be in the home of someone in Germany whom we had met half a world away on the tiny island of Kauai.

We still exchange letters and now get pictures of their little son Kim via the internet.

Microsoft most likely.

Greg and Michelle...

Advertizing on the internet was still quite new, so part of my job was to find out how guests heard about Hale 'Aha. The Bockelmans generally advertized in B&B directories, Home and Garden type magazines, Christian magazines like Christianity Today and Moody Monthly.

So, when Greg and Michelle arrived on their Honeymoon from Florida, it was a novelty to discover they'd found us on the net. Greg works full time with computers, so it shouldn't have been a surprise.

But the surprise was when everybody gathered for breakfast, and Bob asked if it would be all right if he asked the Lord's blessing on our food. Greg's mouth dropped open! "You mean this is a Christian Bed and Breakfast?" He couldn't believe it. Then he told us of their wedding, and how when they arrived at their hotel that night, their reservation had been cancelled! But the manager "bumped them up" to a first class honeymoon suite, with a jacuzzi tub in the middle of the room, and baskets of fresh flowers everywhere, and wedding decorations to add to their celebration. He knew that God was doing something special for them. Finding out that this B&B was owned by Christians was like icing on the wedding cake.

The following morning Herb fixed breakfast. He asks guests to guess what the surprise ingredient was in his special dish. It's a wonderful concoction of leftover bread, eggs, cheese, milk and cinnamon, but the unusual taste comes from some orange juice. I took a picture of him serving it to Greg and Michelle at the "honeymooner's table," a little table for two that we use when there's more than 8 people to serve.

A day later, Herb and Ruth left for California for their vacation. I didn't realize it until putting their photos in my album, that Greg and Michelle were the last guests Herb served at Hale'Aha. He died suddenly from a heart attack, after a wonderful Thanksgiving reunion with their family of 8 kids and 20 grandchildren.

Greg and Michelle have kept in touch with us, via email and Christmas cards. When Greg had business in the Bay Area one time, Bob arranged for us to meet them at a cute hotel in Sausalito for breakfast. Michelle was feeling queezy and hoped it was because she was pregnant. And not too many months later their son Gabriel was born. Another time, Greg visited in our home in Sunnyvale and our daughter Joanne and Scott were here from Colorado. Nice to have some of our family meet friends we made on Kauai.
Then, one more time, he and Lee, an associate, met us in Sausalito for breakfast. Our son David was visiting us from San Diego that time, and it was fun to hear the guys all talking computers, and about their faith in the Lord.

Afterwards Greg had to shop for some little gifts to bring home to Gabriel and new little sister, Victoria Rose. And a cute sweatshirt for Michelle. I saw one I should have bought for Bob. The sign on it said, "Now don't make me have to stop this car and come back there!" When I showed it to Bob and David, they howled with laughter. That was a rather common phrase when our kids were growing up.

Ne Ne Geese...

Just about the last instructions Billie and Gary gave us, before going to the airport for their vacation, was that we should take the leftover bread to feed the Ne Ne Geese every evening, up on the north end of the golf course. Billie and Gary are the new owners of Hale 'Aha. They discovered that the little fellows gather there every evening after sundown, about the time Billie and Gary like to take a walk. Ne Ne is pronounced Nay Nay and they are Hawaii's State Bird.

So, we took a bag of bread pieces, and our umbrellas, and walked up along the edge of the golf course, behind the house. Clouds were rolling in, and a rainbow formed just over the edge of the cliffs over the ocean. As we stood watching the spectacle, a young woman came running from the nearby condos, waving her camera. "Wait, let me take your picture!" she called. She thought it was so sweet to see this old gray haired couple holding hands, walking on the golf course. She said she'd send us the pictures. She was getting married the next day! (And sure enough, a few weeks later, we received some prints of us framed by a rainbow, and also of her in her wedding gown with her new husband on their wedding day.)

It was starting to sprinkle as we hunted for the Ne Ne Geese. Billie said they would be near the shelter. We finally found them, and they began to gather around us. They were expecting us. So, when we brought out the bread, they quacked softly to each other and moved in closer, but were very polite, waiting their turns for a morsel of Bob's good bread. If you have a bread machine, copy down this recipe. It's adjusted for the tropics, so you'll have to adjust it for wherever you live.

BOB'S 3- SEED OAT 'N' WHEAT BREAD

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for breadmakers... makes 1-1/2 # loaf

Liquid Ingredients...

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1-1/8 cups water

4 TBSP oil (Safflower recommended)

1 TBSP molasses

2 TBSP honey

Dry Ingredients...

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1-1/2 tsp salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

1-1/2 cups bread flour (unbleached)

1/3 cup rolled oats

2 TBSP Gluten flour

2 TBSP Sesame seeds (raw, unhulled)

2 TBSP Flax Seeds (raw)

1/2 Sunflower seeds (raw)

3 tsp Red Star active dry yeast

Crust setting: Light or 1-1/2# wheat

Enjoy plain or toasted

Excellent served with Herb's Guava Butter (see earlier BLOG)

Or eat it just as it's handed to you, like the Ne Ne Geese do. They weren't at all fussy. By the way, we got soaked by the time we got back to the house.

Banty Roosters....

The last thing you would expect to be wakened by at a Bed and Breakfast, is a banty rooster. Especially on Kauai. Especially at 3:30 in the morning.

Legend has it that the hurricane of 1982 must have swept up the local farmers' hens and chicks and swirled them around in space and dumped them out all over the island. I know that we were greeted by them everywhere we went, in 1992, whether at the top of Waimea Canyon, or down at Ke'e Beach parking lot.

As they encroached on Anini Beach, where so many posh mansions have been built, our friends Don and Alice allowed their little "rat dog" (as we called Benji) to chase them away. He was a good controller. He knew what to do.

Then, as they began to crow on OUR street, up on the bluffs of Princeville Resort, Bob felt we needed to run the roosters out of the area for the sake of our guests. So, we went to Walmart. (Yep, they are even in Kauai). When he purchased a strong sling shot and some steel pellets, the clerk said, "That's not going to do it!" The Hawaiian knew why we were buying it. He said we'd be back for something more lethal.

Well, you can't legally shoot them, and it didn't seem like a very good idea to be shooting anything at 3:30 in the morning, anyway. So, Bob practiced with his slingshot, and eventually got the hang of it, even encouraging some of the guests to try. Once or twice, he hit the tail feathers of that proud cock, and you should have heard the squawking and seen the rascal run! But all we did was train the cock to start running the minute he saw Bob start to take aim.

Steve and Carmen from Australia had the most fun trying the sling shot. From that time on, they called Bob, "The Great White Hunter."