Braddah Smitty

This is a picture I took at the Paniolo Country Inn Restaurant, tonight. The guy in the center is Braddah Smitty, who turns out to be a well known Big Island 'celebrity.' He's known for his great musical and vocal ability as well as his big heart. I didn't know any of that until I came home and looked him up on the Internet (On the right is Sonny Lim, another pretty well known musician. The guy on the left was with him a couple of weeks ago; his name is Dwayne, I think, but I didn't catch his last name.)

Two weeks ago Tom and Linda were with us when we came up to Karen's house to see the exact procedure for feeding the dogs and the cat. After our instructions in feeding the animals, we went to the Paniolo Country Inn Restaurant to eat. We were pleasantly surprised that there was a 3-man band playing. In the middle of their performance a young girl (12) got up and did a couple of beautiful hula dances. Then her mother joined her for another beautiful one. Again, I didn't have my camera with me, but Tom got some great pictures and some videos, which he shared with me. When I get home I hope I can put some of them onto the blog. We thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment and our dinner. I asked about the group and they told me that they play every Friday night except for last week because they would be off island that night. So, we waited and then went back tonight. I asked who the group is, because there was a different guy tonight and one who was there before was missing. They told me that Braddah Smitty plays every Friday night and different guys join him. The girl and her mother, who did the hula dances are just followers of Braddah's and we got lucky to see them. It was really a pleasure for me. Don isn't as hooked as I am, but he's sweet to take me. We'll be doing this again as long as we're here, I hope. I found a video on UTube of Braddah, so if you have high speed, you may want to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGyEM3HHpxo

Today was clean up day. I changed our sheets and all the bedding for the dogs. There were no instructions for when to clean their bedding, but I figured when it started smelling like dogs in here, it was time! So, the beds are all clean and the dogs got baths, too. Those dogs are SO good. They're easier than babies to bathe. They didn't even jump when I turned the hair drier on them to dry them. They really amaze me. However, as I was giving them their baths I was reminded that I should never offer to house-sit if it involves dogs, except here. I can't imagine giving any other dog a bath. These dogs are more like toys. If they didn't smell like dogs I'd almost agree with them that they are people.

I thank God that I got a nap today! Making our bed and doing all the laundry, plus baths for the dogs got me off to a big start today. I started early so that the laundry could hang out in time to dry; I was ready for a nap before lunch. I slept right through lunch time and woke up in time to make a late tuna sandwich. Late was okay, since we were eating supper late to catch the entertainment that started at 6:30. What a fun night; missed you, Tom and Linda!