Just for Fun

It was a totally perfect Sunday.  It began in the wee early hours with a waning moon and a light rain, followed by a a luscious sunrise, a little more rain, excellent coffee, a little music and off to "church."  That is to say, our weekly trip to Maku'u Market where, after nearly seven months, we running into more and more people we actually know and from whom we receive wonderful hugs.

There's Paul and Janet who sold us their wonderful yellow tub and who have a house here in Leilani, Terry and Nancy who are both multi-talented (herbalist, handyman, wood worker, member of hula halau, music lover and story teller.)  Scott and Corinne were the friends who sold us our new runner from the Afghanistan-Tajik Caucasus.  We usually buy our plants from Phil and Clifford, but we splurged today and bought a citrus that is a cross between a tangerine and and grapefruit AND a Valencia orange tree.  Our insurance agent, Michelle, who also creates amazing beaded jewelry has become a good friend too.  We also ran into our young contractor and friend Jordan, whose sister, Noel owns our favorite bakery in Pahoa.

Maybe the best hug of all was from Saskia -- a new friend who recently moved from Humboldt and who is setting up her new home in Kalapana, just down the road a ways.  We have been trading emails for months, but never seemed to run into each other.  Today, finally, we met face-to-face, and of course got more hugs!

After market, we continued working on sanding and painting those very long 16' 1x3" for the trim in the ohana.  Finally, we finished staining the deck of the balcony -- until the afternoon sun got too intense.  While Phil took a late afternoon nap, Dexter and Lunel took a short walk, read for a while in the late afternoon sun, and played with an image in photo shop -- just for the fun of it. 

Now, yams are cooking, spiced chicken is broiling and there's left over rice from last night.  Last night we watched a superb concert of Foreigner in New Orleans on AXIS-TV, so we are hoping for anther concert or good movie.....ahhhh.  Now THIS is retirement!

Warning -- Broken Camera

This pretty much says it all.  Our attempts to repair our camera have been for naught.  "what to do".
(It may be a few days until we can BLOG new pictures.) 

We are becoming quite familiar with on-line shopping -- this is charting more "unknown territory" -- but much easier than our relocation! We are amazing to seek just how much you can get on-line, and here on the Big Island, this skill is not only helpful, but essential.

OK then, fair warning.  Although we have ordered a new camera, it will be a few days until it arrives.  Fortunately, we found one just like our old one, which although we really liked, finally expired (we suspect) from simple abuse and neglect.

"The Shirt off Her Back"

Sometimes we amaze ourselves with our clever and inventive problem solving skills.  Case in point -- how to manage huge pile of 16-foot long trim boards, which the contractor would like as l-o-n-g as possible for easier installation.

Yeah, but WE have to sand them all -- there are about 24 of them -- and then paint them.  Keep in mind, now that it does rain here daily, and the first task was just getting them dried out; they were completely soaked.  This batch of lumber was also really rough - lots of goobers.  We were not looking forward to sanding each and every piece - on three sides (since it will be nailed around all the doors, windows, etc., and will also be part of the decorative wainscoting as well)

Rather than sand each one separately, we decided to run them through the planer first.  Great idea, but the big "vacuum bag" that went on the end, to collect all the sawdust had disappeared....and we have, now, gone through every single box from our move.

There's apparently a Yiddish saying, "what to do" that is not really a question, but an expression of...neutrality and simply wondering what to do .... next.  Well, Lunel simply pulled off her T-shirt and Phil grabbed the packing tape -- and voile' we had the problem solved -- instantly.  We got a little burned out after a dozen boards or so, so we moved the production line inside -- to set up for final sanding and painting.

The planer would only do the 3-inch sides, but not the edges.  So, Phil pulled out the clamps and secured the board together in clumps of 4 each -- the exact width of the electric flat sander.  Then, we flipped them over, and sanded the other edge, thankful we didn't have to do the fourth side.

The same solution worked equally for painting, but in this case, we could clamp all 12 boards together and paint them all at one time!  We finished in time for Lunel to go out and get some seeds in potting mix for sprouting, and Phil to go back upstairs to putty and sand more holes in the wall.

Heck!  We could contract out as "prep contractors!"  If pay our yard guy $12/hour,  we should be worth at least $15/hour.  NOT! NOT! NOT!  GET THE  ---- OUTTA HERE!

"The Week That Was"

End of week SEVEN!!  The week began with building the balcony, which the contractors did, however, our job was getting 2x4's for the railing stained and painting the support beams.  We have not yet begun to cut the stained and varnished guava branches - but that will come eventually.

Last week we changed our minds about using only big screens at the front (south facing) and decided to install windows and screens.  As we described earlier in the week, most of the work this week was electrical, but today, the "yellow submarine" (tub) got hauled upstairs and plumbing fixtures checked for the holes to be drilled.

It was really exciting to begin to really organize Phil's shop space below the apartment.  Just look at those nice tidy, organized shelves!  What's on the work table are quarter-round mouldings that will be going both on the outside of the building as well as those on the inside.  It is SO much easier to paint the wood BEFORE it gets put up around the windows.  Also, look at the size of that enormous beam!  That is the same beam we showed in our May 9th blog -- the very first week.  (It is 4" x 16" and is 24 feet long!!)  It is the main support beam for the whole upstairs.

Most of the work we did was for the apartment and shop, but we also found time to work on the garden area (we call the bromeliad hill ) which is just as you turn up the long driveway.

This week we cemented lava for a base to provide stability for our new Ganesh statue.  We are also in the process of painting and embellishing him. He is made out of cast concrete, and we plan to enrich his Rolly Rotundness with some color.  Here he has his first wash of light green.  Since it is too hot for lotus blossoms, he will be surrounded by pink and green bromeliads instead - and of course, shaded by a newly planted Hapu'u fern.  (Once we have finished the transformation we will send another picture - but it's fun to share the "before" as well as the "after.")

"Three Wheelbarrows"

We are a 3-wheelbarrow family!  There's the traditional one Phil likes best, my garden cart, and the old rusted one with the flat tire; each is appreciated for their perfect uses. 

Here Phil is hauling a load of soil (from the pile at the far front* of the property) to add to our compost -- at the far back, near the orchard.  In the foreground is Lunel's favorite -- one that's sturdy enough to haul chunks of lava -- and we sure have a lot of that!

The old rusty one is not shown, but is always full of rain water and comes in extremely handy for a variety of uses.  It's an easy place to wash of the dirt off your hands (or feet),  you can toss cuttings into it for days until you are ready to plant them (and, considering the prep involved, sometimes it takes a week.)  Finally, we keep a bucket in it to have on hand for easy hand watering of new plantings.

Photo on the right is the patch of pineapples.  You will notice the piles of lava as well as the yellow handled pick axe.  We use the axe to dig out the bigger chunks. The "red" stuff is cinder mixed with soil -- a great growing medium.  We add a shovel full of Phil's amazing compost to everything we plant.

Today we went down to Sea View, a few blocks from the ocean, where we bought loaves of homemade bread, english muffins, oatmeal and date bars (instead of birthday** cake), and amazing juice.  We drove around on some back roads for a while, enjoyed the views and hues of blues at MacKenzie Park, and came home for a little gardening, reading, nap and ... just one more bite of those amazing oatmeal date bars -- thank you Noel!


* You might not think an acre has a "far front" or "far back" until you have hauled 100 wheelbarrow loads of lava out and soil and cinder from one end to the other.

** Yes, it was Phil's birthday today!

"We're Wired"

The entire job will represent about 2000 feet of electrical wire!

RED WIRES  
 BLUE WIRES
YELLOW WIRES

To see the project from the outside, at the end of week seven, you would not notice much difference, but the big work is being done inside with the installation of all the electrical for the apartment as well as Phil's wood shop below.

 We are building it like we would be living there, with lots of outlets on all the walls, good overhead lighting, and with particular detail to the kitchen and bathroom.  Our contractor is amazing, and because of his skill level, he does not sub out the work to either an electrician or a plumber.  For us that represents a substantial cost savings.   (The view is:  left is one kitchen wall, the middle is the hall into the bathroom and bedroom, far right is a perfect corner for an office, desk, printer, etc.)

"It Takes a Team"

Here's a photo of our contractors (Rob left and Jordan right) dueling it out on their ladders with nail guns to see who will run out of ammunition the fastest!

This view is inside the stairwell the separates our main house from the ohana - so it is really private for our guests.  The walls on either side at the top will be framed in, but the clerestory window at the top, as well as two windows in the front side will bring light into this area.

Today we took delivery of the final windows and Phil is off to replace a compressor (for the nail gun) that blew out yesterday -- and some additional rolls of electrical wiring.  Considering the wiring includes both the 700+ square feet of living space upstairs, AND Phil's enormous shop downstairs -- it is a lot of wiring.

Also on the agenda for the day, Lunel is beginning to stain the upright posts for the railing on the balcony and get the final spar varnish finish on all the guava rungs.



Dexter, as always is awaiting the noon lunch break so he can lick out all the bowls. 

The myna bird couple who live in the birdhouse right by the new deck seem contended to let us all do our work - with only an occasional warning squack or squabble to let us know that "that is close enough, thank you very much."

New "Poop Deck"

When Phil built our deck in Eureka, we had a cool brass sign on it that said "Poop Deck" since it was the favorite place for the Corgi Kids to hang out.

When our contractor suggested that we add a small deck for the upstairs apartment, we hesitated not!  Of course, it would be a great, inexpensive way to add a lot of charm -- not to mention useful sunset-viewing square footage!

So, it is week seven and here's the beginning of the deck where Phil's sanded guava branches will serve as the railing.  In the meantime, however, it's a great place for a lunch break -- or to have a glass of wine for sundown!

(And the guavas are still there...thank you Rob and Jordan!)

"Letting Loss Lead"

Our move to the Big Island of Hawaii has been a grand adventure  no doubt!  But in addition to the thrill and excitement, we have clearly identified a series of obvious and more subtle losses in our relocation.

Since we were owners of Many Hands Gallery for 22 years, we know the retail term 'loss leader' as something that you sell at a small loss because it brings customers in who will buy other things; it is a pretty standard industry practice.  Identifying the losses we experienced has been a profound learning experience and we have encouraged our loss to "lead us" to learn more about ourselves.

We have each identified a variety of losses associated with our relocation and retirement.  There's the obvious loss of a working income - now that we are both on Social Security AND Medicare!  There were many obvious losses early on, as we let go of vast amounts of accumulated "stuff." Sadly, in the year before we left, we also experienced the loss of two of our family members, our sweet corgi kids - Abbey Ennis Puddin'chin and Chauncy R. Valentine.

Lunel created this image of a vessel

Letting go of Many Hands Gallery didn't feel like a loss at all  -- we were ready to let go of retail, although we had made hundreds of friends through the gallery over 22 years of business who will be missed. Other losses came in the form of Phil's divestment of his inventory of lighthouse note cards, lots of art, both personal and collected over 40 years.  Both of us let go of many family heirlooms.  Lunel felt she simply could not take nearly 100 precious boxes of assemblage treasures - which also meant leaving supplies and numerous completed pieces with a broker.  Finally, leaving friends is a clearly identifiable loss; we know it will take years to accumulate dear friends like those we left behind.

Perhaps the most illusive loss we both faced is the loss of our artist's identity.  Phil was creating and selling many redwood items through Many Hands, and Lunel was delighted in her growing skill, the number of galleries she was involved with, the great press coverage of her art and the fact she was selling pieces monthly.  Phil is committed to continuing his watercolor paintings and exploring the wonderful woods of Hawaii.  Lunel, though is a little lost and finding her current property development projects to be satisfying distractions.

It has been valuable to explore these cracks in our heart -- these losses we have experienced.  But we have also both identified "loss" as something that can lead us -- to explore our inner longings and the outward expression of our experiences.  We are reminded of the story about Rumi, who, when dealing with a profound loss and deep grief literally "spun" his sadness away by whirling!!   Rumi's quote about loss is appropriate as well; "The wound is the place where the light enters you."

Our dear friend and San Francisco Bay Area poetess Sherri Rose-Walker says it poignantly in her poem entitled:

"The Wisdom of Brokenness"

Among the People, it is said
broken vessels are holy.
Lightning cracks mended,
bound with twine
to hold the integrity of their shapes,
they are blessed, given grain
and sacred stones to hold.
The wounds of such vessels
see, breathe, allow
inner eyes to see out,
outer eyes to see within.
Cracks, fissures,
gaping mouths of broken doorways
are passages for mothering air
to bestow her luminous light,
stir new breath,
alter the alchemy of time.

Make of my wounds gateways,
breathing and seeing;
bind up my broken shape,
fill me with still music.

Sherri Rose-Walker
Copyright All Rights Reserved

September 2012

Paint Colors, Lava Tubbing & Steam Pukas!!

It was a full day today, and it began early in the morning with what we call a "Puna Squall" a  downpour of rain -- about an inch in a very short time.  By the time we were up and moving, we decided (as we have in the past) to turn the rainy day into an errand day -- since it is too wet to work outside or do much playing.

So, off to town to pick out paint colors for the new apartment/ohana.  The contractors announced that the next delivery of materials would include siding, trim and drywall so we needed to get our colors picked out.  That took about 2 minutes, since both of us seemed to be in total agreement with the color scheme and off we went to Home Depot - paint chips in hand.  And, just look what we found -- a color ad for the VERY colors we had picked.  (Of course Lunel had to create a little "title" in Photoshop, but there they were - the colors we picked.)

Of course the trip included a in-store check on delivery of last week's purchase of a refrigerator and stove, a pile of 2x4's, 5 gallons of new paint, a bunch of "blue boxes" for electrical wiring and switches, overhead lights for the living room and kitchen, and more wiring.  After delivering all of our supplies at the house, we decided that we needed a break for some play.  Besides, the sun was out and the trades were sweeping huge billowy clouds around creating awesome light!


Today's adventure included Issac Hale Beach, and a visit to an all natural lava hot-tub (only about 15' in diameter and situated just a stone's throw from a beach full of skilled surfers.  After a long hot soak, we headed back towards home via a side road we had not yet explored to some steam caves that are actually only ONE MILE down the road from us!   All in all a good day -- some work, some play, some rain and sun, AND a steam bath and soak in a hot tub.  Not bad for a retirement!

Week Six!

This is only the middle of week six of our ohana project and just LOOK at the results!  Everyone who sees it is amazed.  All the siding is up now, except for the far side...where you see the 2x4 studs yet.  The roof is done, and we got a quote for the gutters today that is very reasonable. 




From the inisde photo you can see the light coming in from the triangle open-screen ventilation windows...and a peek of the clerestory up at the top.  The window on the right opens over the double sink.  A 6' counter and bar will come out just to the left of that window -- with the bar leading out into the living area with a cool built in space for seating.

On Friday we bought the toilet, kitchen and bathroom sinks, light fixtures, fans, refrigerator, stove and big rolls of electrical line for all the lights and electrical plugs. Two more deliveries of supplies are coming tomorrow -- more lumber for the balcony, siding and drywall for the interior.

All in all it is coming along well thanks to two amazing contractors -- Rob and Jordan.  MAHALO

ahhh...sunset

While these are frequent evening sky colors, this is only a hint of the "show" of colors that change, sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically.  Mauve and pink, lavender and peach, blue violet, smokey quartz, cantaloupe and peach.  THIS is our view facing west, and the view from the soon-to-be completed upstairs ohana.  Tonight we had succulent pork chop (for Phil) and lightly cooked salmon in butter (for Lunel) with corn on the cob, lettuce, bell pepper and tomato, fresh from market today.

aahhhhh.SUNSET!

Ohana Door

This week we did whatever would help our contractors.  Last week we painted all the 4x8' sheets of siding.  Since the contractors got all the siding got up that we had painted, this week we painting all the 3" trim that goes around the windows  (you can see it around the downstairs windows.)  We also filled the nail holes in the siding and did touch up painting.

Phil spent a lot of time sanding, staining and finishing a beautiful wood door that will open onto the upstairs balcony. (You can see the hole for it ...but you will have to imagine the balcony that will go between the two windows.)  In the picture you will also see the guava tree branches that Phil has stained - those will be the railings around the balcony -- and they match the door beautifully! 

Although we orginally were going to use a double french door, we found it took up too much space on the little balcony, so we decided to use a single wood one instead. 

Here's a picture of Phil inside his spacious (2 car garage size) shop doing the final sanding on the door...with Dexter helping of course.  While working on the door he had a psychic "hit" from his childhood.  He remembered that his grandparents had doors like this in the house they lived in  right across the street from where Phil grew up as a boy. His grandfather build several houses in his home town of Charlotte, Michigan.

Baby Volano Earthquake!

Living in Humboldt County, CA for 22 years, meant living with earthquakes, but on June 4, at our new home in Hawaii, we felt a significant shaker!   Now we have small earthquakes frequently - every week.  We've had a couple in just the last week, one with an epicenter only 4 miles away at Pahoa Town, but they are usually, 1.4-2-8 or so. 

 

Tuesday, round lunchtime, we were in front of the house inspecting the great work on the new addition when we all felt a significant earthquake.  On the property we have a few areas that are solid lava, and that’s where we were standing. It was a 5.3 quake.

Checking more info on the USGS site, we found out that the epicenter 40 km down, was at submarine seamount “Lo’ihi.  The "rainbow map" shown abve is a shaded "Bathymetric map" of Loihi Seamount as it now looks, following the July 1996 eruption and seismic event. The 3 depressions in the summit area are "pit craters"; the lower-left most crater was formed in July 1996.  Map made by UH graduate student Nathan Becker using 1997 seabeam bathymetry and the GMT program.

Story of Polynesian Navigation

This will be the second talk we are going to about the living history of Polynesian navigation.  The information below is from the Imiloa (ee-mee-loa) Astronomy Center website.

We thought our friends would find it interesting.

‘Imiloa Astronomy Center will host its Summer 2013 Wayfinding Talk on Friday, June 7, 2013 featuring two presentations, one by Author Sam Low followed by Pwo Navigator Nainoa Thompson. The 2013-14 Wayfinding Talks are being sponsored through the generous support of Matson.

 http://blog.imiloahawaii.org

Starting at 7 p.m. in the Earl and Doris Bakken Moanahōkū Hall author Sam Low will introduce his new book, Hawaiki Rising. The book is the epic tale of the formation of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, the 1976 and 1980 voyages, and the initiation in 2007 of five Hawaiian men into Pwo, a sacred initiation in the hierarchy of traditional navigators.

The story of Polynesian voyaging has fascinated Low most of his life. In 1983, after traveling throughout Polynesia, he produced his award winning film, The Navigators – Pathfinders of the Pacific, shown nationally on PBS and internationally on television venues throughout the world. Hawaiki Rising is available in the ‘Imiloa Store and Sam will be at hand for a book signing.

Following Low’s talk, famed Hawaiian navigator Nainoa Thompson will speak on Mālama Honua, the upcoming “Worldwide Voyage.” He will share the ambitious plans to sail two voyaging canoes, Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia, around the planet on a voyage that aims to cover 45,000 nautical miles, visit 26 countries, and stop at over 62 ports.

Windows & Doors & Siding Oh MY!

Our contractors Rob and Jordan are moving right along this week!  They began with getting siding up that Phil and I painted the last couple weeks. 

The last two days windows and french doors in down in Phil's wood shop area were installed.



Tomorrow is a Hilo day; we will be ordering the cute french door that will go upstairs, where the big "opening" is - between the framed in window spots at the west end of the house.  Last week's decision to add a balcony opening out on this end will really make a charming addition.
 
Of course the living area also has three large screened in windows, and today we decided that there needs to be window boxes just below each of those three windows.

Bless them, they even managed to get the siding and windows installed and not butcher the producing papaya trees.  If you look closely, you'll see they are load with fruit too!

Melodious Laughing Thrush

Go visit the link below for the most beautiful song!

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlI2Gw6imE

 
We have a mating pair sitting just outside our front door RIGHT NOW as the sun is setting.  One of them calls out with a long song, and the other picks it up toward the middle, and they finish - together -- singing the same song!  We can her two distinct voice coming from two nearby trees.  We just listed to about 30 minutes of this enchanted serenade.

The Hwamei is also known as the Melodious Laughing Thrush is about 8 inches in length with a rusty brown colored body. It has a distinctive white-eye ring that extends as a line to its ear giving it an Egyptian appearance. Its bill and legs are yellow. Originally from Asia this bird was introduced to Hawaii in the 1900's as an escaped caged bird and is now established on the main Hawaiian Islands. 

Inspector Dextor

It has only been three weeks since construction began on the two story addition - on the new moon in May - and both stories are framed in and we have a real roof.

Here is "Inspector Dexter" checking it all out.  We asked the contractors to put in 6-inch deep steps rather than the regular 8-inch rise which will make it easier for us as we age.

Of course, Dexter thinks we put them in for his short legs since he loves running up and down the steps to the second floor.

We are really loving the look of it all, and in fact are a little jealous of the view from the upstairs apartment - a great place to take in the sunsets!

Last night we took our chairs upstairs and listened to some old Gordon Lightfoot music appreciating the view.  We are also appreciating the peace and quiet when the contractors take their three days off.