Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/120 sec, ISO1250 “Xmas Breakfast” Cedar Park, 2020
Following another of our family traditions, we had bagels, cream cheese, salmon, pastrami, roast beef, homemade pesto, swiss cheese, and sliced onion for breakfast. And lately, we’ve also had Scotch Bonnet on the table for those who like to add a little heat (that would be me). When we meet with our extended family, we also have corned beef, but I skipped that this year. But one thing that made it very special for 2020 is that the bagels were homemade. Super yummy, with good ingredients.
The timing of the breakfast varies… sometimes happening before opening gifts, sometimes after, and many times both. This year it was before the gifts which is fine with me because that gives me more time to wake up and have coffee! I guess the older the kids have gotten, breakfast seems to come first as they have more self-control with their gifts and can wait a bit longer. 😊
For those celebrating, I hope you had a nice Christmas!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO640 “The Tree” Cedar Park, 2020
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1250 “Hawaiian Dinner” Cedar Park, 2020
Each year on Christmas Eve, we have a Hawaiian feast. It’s usually at my parents’ house in California, but this year we decided not to travel due to the pandemic, so we just had a smaller 4-person version here in Texas. Instead of the usual lau-lau, I made a char-siu-style chicken, and also our staple kalua pig. Kalua pig is really easy and simple to make following this recipe from Foodland, and it turned out perfect! Mariko also made poké and mac salad for a delicious, traditional (to us) Christmas Eve dinner. 😊🎄🍴
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/11, 5 sec, ISO400 “Soprano and Concert Sizes” Cedar Park, 2020
My new Kala KA-C Concert Ukulele arrived, and I couldn’t be more satisfied with it! I knew that the mahogany wood and cream binding would be the same as my Kala pineapple ukulele (which I love), but I was not expecting the metal tuning knobs to feel so nice, and the sealed gears were completely unexpected. Also, the new ukulele comes with a peg to attach a strap… a welcome surprise! I attached a fabric ribbon that I had saved from some packaging and it matches the cream-colored binding perfectly.
Like other Kala ukuleles, this one comes with Aquila Super-Nylgut strings which are good quality so I will not have to replace them. It’s fun to go through the new ukulele tuning process which can take several days as the new strings stretch out. I noticed that Kala included a note in the box to explain that it could take a few week or so to hold tune… I’m sure many ukulele beginners aren’t aware of this and might think they got a poor-quality ukulele, which isn’t the case. I bet this little note prevents many potential bad reviews or calls to customer service. 😀
Anyways, the ukulele sounds wonderful. The longer neck and more widely-spaced frets force me to stretch my fingers a bit more. With my small hands, it’s more challenging to play the concert size vs soprano size, but when I switch back to the smaller ukulele, it’s a lot easier! I suppose it’s like when baseball batters put the donut weight on their bats while warming up in the on-deck circle. When they go up to bat without the donut, the bat must feel super-light.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/25 sec, ISO800 “Soprano and Concert Sizes” Cedar Park, 2020
I knew the soprano size fits me much better, but I wanted the concert size so I could play the notes higher up on the fretboard that the the soprano ukulele’s smaller fretboard cannot provide. The sound that the concert-size ukulele is supposed to be louder and fuller, and I’m sure that’s the case, but honestly my ears can’t tell that drastic a difference between that and the smaller ukulele.
Overall, I’m very pleased with the Kala KA-C Concert Ukulele. It’s certainly an upgrade over my old Hilo brand concert ukulele, and a great addition to my ukulele collection, which is now dominated by the three Kala ukuleles.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1600 “Kala Concert Ukulele” Cedar Park, 2020
Here’s a bonus photo of the cats enjoying the shape of the ukulele box:
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO3200 “In the Boxes” Cedar Park, 2020
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO1250 “Making Pizza” Cedar Park, 2020
Koa helped with today’s pizza class, and on his pizza he put on plenty of Scotch Bonnet pepper that my mom had sent over to us. It was SPICY!!!! 🔥 But so yummy. 😊
