Goddess of Dead Gloves

It took only a day or two upon our arrival to realize any gloves I used in Eureka would be unsuitable for gardening on the Big Island of Hawaii!  Today I was sorting through the gloves to toss the old ones which have now been replaced with "lava gloves" complete with leather reinforced fingertips!!

We live on land created from lava -- in the garden it is our primary building material.  Here in Puna, we generally dig right into the lava (red and/or black) to plant, and often have to use the pick axe to break up the lava down 2-12 inches.


In fact, now that we are clearing overgrown vegetation and excavating areas around the property, we have found a place where lava flowed across the property several feet deep -- decades ago.  To create our driveway many years ago, this flow area was broken up, and divided leaving large formations on either side.  It is a very interesting feature that we hope to enhance with flowers and shrubs.

The lovely statue is a Frank Lloyd Wright Collection reproduction that moved with us when we came.  And just in case you are wondering, YES, the green you see is our lawn -- growing on crushed red cinder.  Now that summer is here, we are going to have to mow a little more often to keep up with it!