Bromeliad Hill Project

When we bought our Hawaii hale, there were a lot of junk trees on the property, introduced species that grow really fast, are unstable, and have a propensity to fall across roads, over power lines, and onto houses.

Early on we had professional tree trimmers come and take down several albezia trees (the worst offenders) as well as others that were too close to our newly installed power lines.  At the gate you see samples of them as well as a massive wall of undergrowth of bushes, guava and vine.  What was cool about this "corner" of the property was the fact that it was a 15' lava hillside with LOTS of potential.
 




Once the big trees were removed and we could get into the area, we spent a few weeks pulling old roots and removing lots of accumulated debris.  Here you can see the far left 1/3 of the area which Lunel has now planted with colorful bromeliads - with Dexter's help, of course.

On-Going Projects Going On

There's not really a "list" as such, at least not like the lists we lived with as business owners, or as people selling a house, planning for retirement, buying a house, selling a business, or planning a mega-move.  We approach each day simply asking what needs to be done, and what we would like to do. There are always a few ongoing projects going on.

Variety of Bromeliads

We have been collecting bromeliads, some from local growers, but many from our generous next door neighbor Sam.  A few weeks ago he gifted us with a huge pile of various bromeliads and ti plants.  These don't hold his attention like his passion for his unusual Nepenthes, however,  If you want to see some really wild plants, visit his website: http://www.leilaninepenthes.com. 

One of Sam's true loves!

Preparation for just the right spot for the bromeliads has been ongoing for several weeks as we have been working on an amazing steep hillside at the front of our property that was totally overgrown.  Today, after many days of clearing out, cleaning, removing old roots and rearranging lava, Lunel began to plant the 15' hillside with bromeliads.

Of course building a new addition, means we are working with contractors who needs supplies, and since we are trying to keep costs down, we are doing a variety of projects.


Although we have had a clothes line up, strung between two trees, we built a more permanent one that is attached to the back side of the house (below the two smaller windows.)  We are also house painting, but doing it the easy way!  We are painting all the 4x8' siding pieces before the contractor puts them up - how smart is that!  Today, while Lunel was working on the bromeliad hill, Phil spent a few hours painting the long board that will be used at trim around the windows and edges of the addition.  Here you can see the clerestory windows peaking up over the addition on the west end of the house.

How do you measure your wealth?

In Eureka, we used to chuckle about measuring our wealth by our com- post piles; we had three of them--rich and deep!  Having lived in our house for 20 years, surrounded by so many big trees, hedges and bushes, the compost piles frequently overflowed to friends' gardens along with an amazing community of earthworms.

 
Here in Hawaii you could easily find a bumper sticker saying "Compost Happens" because it does, and quickly.  Consequently, the single pile grows and shrinks, grows and shrinks, so we have concluded that we need another measurement for our wealth....but, something equally.....poetic!

It didn't take long to find a suitable replacement for our retired status.  What we have now, rather than three compost piles, is THREE HAMMOCKS!! 

We have a hammock in the recently cleared woods (seen above.)  Up near the house, under the ohia tree, there is another one, that, although purchased many years ago, is covered with tropical flowers.  Finally, the third (a lovely one from Guatemala) is a queen bed size, hand crocheted in deep wine and forest green that goes perfectly in our art studio where it suits the room full of breezy windows.

Thinking about how a hammocks feels (not just on the outside, but the inside too) I decided to try an draw not only how they look, but how it feels to lie inside one - cradled, rocked, safe and cozy.  These two little sketches are from  the art journal I doddled in while we were first getting settled-in.

"Many Rivers One Ocean" Lantern Ceremony

The 15th Annual Lantern Floating Hawaii Ceremony took take place on Monday, Memorial Day, May 27, 2013. More than 3,000 candle-lit lanterns bearing individual and community remembrances and prayers illuminated the ocean off of Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park.

The event brings together more than 40,000 Hawaii residents and visitors from around the world and from various cultures and traditions who cast afloat lanterns at sunset in remembrance of loved ones who have passed, or as symbolic prayer for a harmonious and peaceful future. The ceremony will also recognize those who have passed due to various causes afflicting humanity throughout the world. The theme of Lantern Floating Hawaii is
 "Many Rivers, One Ocean."

The 90-minute ceremony and program included Shinnyo Taiko, Kuana Torres Kahele, Hâlau Hula Kamamolikolehua, and the Shinnyo-en Shomyo Ensemble. At 6:45 p.m., Her Holiness Shinso Ito, Head of Shinnyo-en, addressed the audience, followed by the lighting of the Light of Harmony. After the lighting, the lanterns were set afloat onto the waters of Ala Moana Beach by the general public and volunteers. At the conclusion of the ceremony, as in past years, all lanterns were collected from the ocean and restored for use in the upcoming years. 

The first Lantern Floating Hawaii Ceremony was held at Ke‘ehi Lagoon on Memorial Day 1999 and has grown each year in response to community demand. Shinnyo-en and presenter Nâ Lei Aloha Foundation have nurtured the community event as a vehicle for cross-cultural cooperation, understanding, harmony and peace, which engages hundreds of volunteers and tens of thousands of participants annually.

For the full story and lots of photos check this out:   http://www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com

(Information above taken from Hawaii News Now Honolulu, and several travel and info sites.)

 

F U N E X ??

FUNEX  (have you any eggs?)

50 years ago (or so) when we were kids, there were a lot of these abbreviated letter-sentences; who'da known then we were fortelling the advent of "texting!?!"

You will never believe where we actually found each one of these eggs -- on the ground just about where Phil is standing in our front yard!

There are birds nest w-a-y up in the ohia trees.  When the wind blows, it occasionally knocks an egg out and it falls to the ground.  The ground (in this specific area) is covered with moss that is several inches thick, so when the egg lands on the ground it bounces a couple times and remains intact!! (Several kinds of birds have blue eggs, and we don't know who the nest belongs to yet.)

Collected in a locally made koa bowl, they are a lovely reminder of both fragility and strength.

Hawk Visitation

The Hawaiian Hawk is called 'Io -- the only hawk that is native to Hawaii.  The fossil records show that at one time these raptors also lived on other islands, but only live on the big island at this time.   They love the native Ohia trees which grow prolifically in our area.

This appears to be a different hawk than the one that visited us about this same time last month.  There is protected forest land near here -- across from the geo-thermal plant, so our subdivision is in their range.

Phil just completed a painting (see below)
featuring the light hawk who came for lunch in April, and now he is inspired to do another painting of this one.

On our first visit to Hawaii a few years ago, one of the things we purchased was a painting by a local artist of a baby 'Io under the moon.

Roof Shape

The roof shape is taking place now. This represents only about 11-12 days of actual building!  Here you can see the shape of the roof line that will obviously be taller than the original house.  The new addition will feature a set of clerestory windows at the roof peak.  The back half will have the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom with the living/dining area at the front -- south facing.  It is really beginning to take shape as the framing takes place.

Put da lime in the coconut

When we first began to talk with some folks about our relocation to Hawaii, we found that many had a pretty stereotypical image....white sands, coconut palms, etc.  However, Hawaii has almost all of the 13 world's climatic sub-zones...or as some info sites say, 4 of the major 5 climate zones.  No matter how you count them, the thing to remember about the islands of Hawaii is zone DIVERSITY!  It is not all white sand and palm trees.
 
When we first moved on to our wooded one acre in the Puna district of the big island (BI) we told everyone that we didn't even have one coconut palm tree on the property...which WAS true until today!

Oooops!  Today, while we began to clear out yet another small area of the yard, we found......ta DAH -- not one, but TWO small coconut palms....one of which was just sitting on the ground under a pile of brush.  And, since we DO have a lime tree, that means all we need now is some high class rum.  

The picture below is what our property looks like and features Lunel in  the wonderful tub that will go into our new ohana addition.  We are surrounded by amazing beautiful trees, wild rhododendron, ferns, vines and orchids.

Anniversary Guava Passion!

Today is our 27th anniversary and we are celebrating with "guava passion" - and what does that mean?

One of the many ubiquitous plants growing in the Puna district are wild guava trees that grow so thick you can't even walk through a patch.  We decided to make good use of them as raw materials for projects.

Here's Phil with some guava trees from our property that he has striped bark from and sanded.  Some we will be using along the front of the new addition -- as a railing.

Since we have two passion vines of Liliqois, we have built a fence for them to grow on using a dead ohia tree at one end (that also serves as our clothesline.)  Phil is attaching a stripped guava tree for the top railing.

Also, see that BIG tree in the background?  That is one of the invasive albezia trees that have invested Puna.  One of our first project on the property was to have several of them removed due to their tendency to fall over in heavy rains and wind.

It is not uncommon to have 2-3 brief power outages during the week because a tree -- somewhere along the lines -- has fallen across the road.  The one you see here is growing on the acre next to us (no threat to us.)  We enjoy it because it reminds us of the beautiful large acacia tree that grew in our yard in Eureka.

Liliquoi is one of the most loved favors in Hawaii and is used in desserts of all kinds as well as juices.  This is a picture showing the two kinds we have -- one of which has blossoms just in time for our anniversary!  Yum! -- liliquoi cheese cake!!

Hawaiian Style Graduation

Our neighbors just across the street invited us to attend the graduation party this week for their daughter Kahealani, who just graduated with her BA in Anthropology and Psychology from Hawaii University at Hilo.  She has been accepted for her graduate studies at Cal-State Northridge.  When she found out Lunel's BA was also in cultural anthropology, they decided they had lots to talk about.

This extended Hawaiian family includes lots of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  In addition to mom and dad (Donna and Kenneth), we know one of their boys who works at a local auto repair shop in Pahoa, and their daughter who works at the local Ace Hardware.

Entertainment included a couple of local bands playing traditional mele (songs) and some informal dance groups also performed.  Many people told about knowing Kahea as she grew up -- including her Kumu (Hula Teacher) who sang a special song for her.  Everyone took turns dancing, including a group of about girls in traditional Tahitian costumes.  Kahea did a special dance that was dedicated to her family.  Here's a picture of the family who were able to attend the gathering.

The Tin Man

Life in Hawaii includes living with an aluminum roof -- a material that will hold up in rainforest conditions.  The side effects include an intriguing array of audible manifestations ranging from subtle to percussive.  It took some getting used to the first few weeks -- and we joked about "living with the Tin Man."

With a constant range of temperature, there is little sound.  However, since we have enormous billowy clouds passing over all day long, the roof temperature can change dramatically in a few moments.  When the sun is out in all its glory, the roof heats up and expands with syncopated fillips at every joint.  When the sun goes behind a big cloud and the temperature drops, there are snap-crackle-pop sounds the full length of our 100' house.  Expansion and contraction happens throughout the day, but is especially noticable in the morning and evening.

When it rains, which it does nearly every day (although frequently at night) -- the sound can vary from a whisper to a roar.  During the heaviest rains the only way to converse is to shout.  Fortunately that doesn't happen too often, although the monsoon-like rain we experienced in December and in February created a background noise like standing next to a waterfall.  To add further to the back-beat sounds of our rock and roll, we discovered shortly after moving in that the former owner and builder did not adequately secure the roof panels along the north side.  So, in addition to all these described noises, the trade winds will frequently lift up a panel or two, slapping them down with a crash that startles all of us -- especially Dexter.  (Our contractor has promised to fix this while working on our 2-story addition.)

Dance Floor!

Today, our contractors got the whole sub-floor done for the ohana -- just look at this great "dance floor."  There will be a cantilevered front that will have big screened windows for view and to allow the breezes in.  Phil liked one of the houses our contractor built as it had a charming tree branch railing at the front of its porch.

So, Phil has been busy thinning out some of the abundance of wild guava growing on the property.  He has been stripping the bark off and sanding it -- it will be very pretty and very natural along the front of the unit.  Lunel is standing at the south end which will be the lanai and living area. The white "tent" you see is what we have been using as a temporary shop for Phil -- but is mostly being used by the contractors for now.

We've been shopping for windows, floor, countertops and tub fixtures for the charming clawfoot tub that we bought a few months ago.  We have confirmation that the actual square footage of the unit will be 680 square feet -- a nice size for a small one-bedroom apartment.

We are increasing the pitch of the roof (on the north side) and will be adding a clerestory at the top, again to capitalize on the trade winds for increased ventilation.

 

Addition - Day Three

 

WOW -- this is only day three of the work being done by our fabulous construction duo, but as you can see, Phil is looking through the window frames in what will be his new wood studio.  The front will have double doors into the shop, and there will be a cantilever at the front adding 100 sq ft to the apartment unit that will be the second floor.  Phil is helping by doing sanding and other jobs, and Dexter....well, Dexter is always a willing helper.

New Moon Beginning

Phil finished drawing up plans and elevations for the addition which will be two stories.  This addition will add over 1000 total square feet to the house.

The bottom half will be Phil's wood shop and studio, and the top part will be one bedroom apartment with full kitchen and bathroom.  The front of the apartment will be a screened in lanai that will have a beautiful private view of the ohia forest at the front of the property.
 
Phil spent most of April drawing up plans and elevations and at the end of the month he gave it to our contractor, Rob, who cleaned everything up in his architect/builder computer program.  We had a chance to see several of the lovely homes he and his son, Jordan, have built.  We really liked their energy and their eye to staying within our budget.

Yesterday we took delivery of the first load of building materials including an enormous beam that is 24' long, 16" deep and 4" wide!!!  And, it weights a ton!!  Here is the BIG first step -- placing the huge beam that will be the main support for the project.  Hoisting it into place took all of us, including Phil who helped to stabilize the beam while the contractors secured it to the house.

Visit to Kilauea

We took a day off to visit our local volcano -- the youngest of the five that have created this island as the tectonic plate has shifted over the earth's crust and hotspot.  Here we are overlooking the big crater (Kilauea) with the smaller crater inside (Halema'uma'u Crater.)

Lava is not visibly flowing from this location, (4000' elevation) but just a few weeks ago, scientists were very excited because lava was moving up higher in this location -- just under the crust.  Lava IS and last been flowing from the east rift vents -- check out the USGS map below.

We have included two pictures we took, one that NASA took from space, and a final from USGS that shows where we are in relation to both Kilauea as well as the active flow from Pu'u O'o.  The most recent flow began in 1983, continuing until now!! This represents  the longest lived and continuous active flow on the planet.  We have yet to personally witness the current flow as it is either a helicopter ride, boat trip or long hike.

It is pretty easy to see where our hale is in Leilani subdivision.  Pu'u O'o is about 12-15 miles due  west of us and flowing continually down the slopes and into the ocean. Go to the link below for unbelievable images of current flows,

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198591/Daredevil-photographers-brave-boiling-waters-capture-drama-searing-hot-lava-crashing-seas-Hawaii.html

Dogs and Kids!

Here's one sure fired way to meet the neighbors -- through dogs and kids.

Yesterday afternoon after we'd come inside to cool down a little, Phil announced, "There's a big beautiful dog in our yard!"  We went out and sure enough -- a big golden retriever girl was bouncing around the yard.   She was gentle, playful and obviously someones pet.  It was getting late in the evening, so we fed her, gave her water (after playing for a hour) and closed her safely in the laundry room....until we figured out what to do.

So, the most obvious first step was to simply walk her up and down the street to see if she belonged to one of our neighbors, many of whom we have met casually.  Our neighbor across the street was out mowing yesterday, and so we figured maybe the dog was out with him.  Sure enough!  Walking up their driveway, Donna and Kenneth both came out exclaiming "Mya!!!"  Where have you been?"

Well, the people who lived here before us also had a dog -- a red retriever named "Rusty" and it seems that Mya and Rusty used to be best friends and that Mya frequently came over to play!  Well, it all has a happy ending, and we have been invited to birthdays and graduations in the Walker family -- with grandchildren and children numbering 18!!!  Now that's Hawaiian style!
 

May Day Rhododendron

May Day was today, so planting some flowers we got at Maku'u Market last Sunday was the perfect task for the day.  Here's a picture of the variety we chose to colorize the south side of a 12 foot section of our long driveway....the very same one I was cleaning out a few days ago --see previous entry "Transformation."
 
In preparation for planting, I had already cleaned off a long bed and had removed lots of old vine and roots from between all the small chunks of lava.  We used chainsaw to create 2-foot long segments of the old log as a border for one end.


Today, I thought I was ready to plant, but as I began to dig out holes for the one-gallon plants, I found there was yet another layer of lava about 6-8' down that had been covered by lots of small broken pieces left from the original clearing for the house and driveway.  Anyway, I used the pickaxe to break through the "crust" that was about 3-4" thick.  Below that was a wonderful mix of earthworms, and soil!!! What a great surprise for our new plants -- "Jock's Cairn" is the variety.