pianoheart

I am on swap-bot to make friends and have fun. If you would like to correspond with a friend from Hawai'i, please start by watching these two short videos and tell me what you think of them:

Simple Acts of Kindness

I love piano, ukulele, and stringed musical instruments from different cultures., I am interested in making/restoring ukulele. I make lei and jewelry using seeds from Hawaiian plants.

I welcome pen pals from the Hawaiian Islands who want to share friendship. I currently have tons of mainstream writing stationery, so no need to send more to me, unless you have written a pen pal letter to me on it. Email pen pals from anywhere on Earth are also nice. I am more interested in forming friendships than accumulating stuff. I would like to find some like-minded people.

I love to cook. I experiment with adapting recipes for use with local Hawaiian ingredients. I grow many kinds of tropical fruit and like to use them in recipes. I cook mostly vegetables, fruit and whole grains. I don't cook with dairy, eggs or meat. I have too many vegetarian cookbooks, so no need to send more to me.

I follow an Earth-centered path. Everything I do centers around caring for her - reduce, reuse, recycle, planting trees, beach cleanups, water conservation, sustainable agriculture, plant-based diet, reducing fossil fuel consumption, any efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and climate change, replacing plastic with Earth-friendly alternatives.

It is difficult to remove plastic from an island. watch this to learn more
To learn more about how a plant-based diet can help Earth, I invite you to watch this YouTube film

Some favorites:

• Ocean - I love exploring the beach.
• Earth - I love being outside, hiking to waterfalls and great views, planting native trees.
• exercise: walking, hiking, mountain biking
• big tree forests
• pen pals
• musical instruments

• natural fiber cloth hair scrunchies

  A agriculture, Anthony of Padua, additional ounce stamps, Amazon gift cards

  B beach, bicycles with fat tires

  C carnivorous plants, chew toys for a medium-size dog, cooking, composition books (blank, to take notes in school)

  D dog treats

  E Earth, essential oil soap bars, exfoliator, electric vehicles

  F forests, fruit trees, face scrub, forever stamps, friends, fossils

  G gift cards, global forever stamps, guitar

  H Hawai'i friends, herb seeds, highlighter pens

  I Ice sculptures

  J jars filled with shells from the beach

  K knots in wood

  L long-sleeved cotton t-shirts without words, Lowe's gift cards

  M music, musical instruments, magnesium bath salts, mbira, meditation

  N ngoni, natural fiber scrunchies (cotton, linen, silk, bamboo, hemp)

  O Ocean, oatmeal soap, origami, oven mitts

  P piano, pen pals, painting, postcard forever stamps, puka shells, Pigma Micron pens

  Q quartz crystal balls

  R rain

  S sundials, stretch tubes (for exercise), solar power, sumi-e, sterling silver jewelry clasps/rings/chains/findings/headpins

  T trees, travel, tea houses

  U ukulele, unused USA postage stamps

  V visitors, visual fireworks (colors, not loud sounds), violin

  W worry dolls, white whippets, watercolor, water, waterfalls, wild rice (lake rice that grows in Minnesota)

  X xylophone

  Y yellow highlighter pens

  Z zori, zafu and zabuton

  Things I Use:

• art supplies: No big craft stores here, so I love to receive tools and materials, like wood glue, small drill bits, wood and stone carving tools, decorative wide packing tape, white-out tape, small silver clasps, headpins, rings, and findings for jewelry-making.

• thin, durable bookmarks - I use them in my cookbooks, so ones that can be wiped clean are great.
• natural, plant-based essential oil soap
• For shopping gift cards, my favorite stores are Amazon and Lowes Home Improvement.
• I collect antique, old, and unusual switch plate covers and electrical wall plug covers (not plastic ones). If you would like to send one, please tell me about the type it is to see if I have a wall outlet that it will fit on.
• For flat swaps, I like: unused USA postage stamps, herb seeds (sealed and store-bought due to USDA requirements)
• I like new Pigma Micron artists' pens with black and colored ink, drawing, watercolor painting. I don't have much luck with opened pens, markers and brush markers as they seem to leak or be dried out when I receive them.
• Things for the puppy: dog treats, squeaky plastic (not stuffed) chew toys
• Things for the plants and farm: sharp hand-pruners , outdoor digital thermometer, solar powered anything, thick work gloves
• Sealed, unused packages of natural skin care samples/products, like exfoliator, face scrubs, face wash, moisturizer, essential oil perfume, magnesium bath salts, essential oil soap bars

• I collect old picture frames, mostly wood, but sometimes metal, to frame my artwork and photos of ancestors.

  Things I Don't Need So Much:

• fabric, stuffed toys, knick-knacks...the puppy chews them up

• skin sensitivities - parabens, preservatives, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate (common in liquid soap). Unfortunately, I cannot use products that are used, unsealed, or do not list ingredients.
• Paper crafts or paper crafting things.
• Please no food or drink (this includes tea bags), because some foods tend to melt, get weird in the tropical heat, or the gecko living in my mailbox gets to them first. I don't drink coffee. If a swap I am in has a food component, please send a treat for my dog.
  • Most plastic things. The exception is vinyl/rubber/soft plastic squeaky toys for the puppy because he tries to eat cloth stuffed toys.
• I do not collect artist trading cards, postcards, used postage stamps, kawaii things, recipe cards, book pages, ephemera, lettersets, tags, coloring paper, paper shapes, stamped images.
• I love useful handmade things, but I am not a fan of decorated paperclips, ATC/coins/tiles/inchies, paper pockets, scrapbooking paper or supplies, and most things made with a hot glue gun.

I listen to instrumental music from different countries. I also like folk music and instrumental jazz.

• meaningful friendship exchange with age 50+ women who like to travel

  • unused USA forever stamps: domestic and global

  • Amazon electronic gift cards

  • large, beautiful, mailable, handmade envelopes

  • something from my wishlist, favorites, or profile