Getting the Mail

#1 From front porch -- heading out

$2 just across from our carport 

We have a lovely group of friends back on the continent who follow our blog.

Recently someone said they had not seen photos of this years landscape development (terraforming) along the long driveway. So we thought we would give you a "walk" down to get the mail -- following the South side on the way down to the gate and the North side as we come back up with the mail.

#3 Corgi tails wagging along the way

Several things contributed motivation for this years work. Most encouraging was the lovely summer we had -- not as hot as last year, and with a very steady rainfall averaging about 1/2 inch nightly. We will soon have a couple of mainland visitors which also gave us good motivation. After four years of work, there are very few "wild" areas remaining, but they can just wait until next year.

Enjoy the walk to get the mail with us! (If you want to see BIGGER images, just click-click for larger images.)

#4 - Dec 2015 after bobcat removed mounds of invasive species

#5 - After a year of work, creating lava beds for plants

#6 - end of the 66' lava wall and bed

# 7 Amphitheater area featuring Ganesh in front 

# 8 Reba, Poko and Lani at the gate

# 9 Newest beds completed during just this month 

#10 coming back up the drive - on the south side

#11 - 3 Ironwood trees (12" when planted in March! over 6'

#12 - shady beds with big Hapu'u ferns for shade

#13 is just before our 4-car parking area

#14 - ...and back home again!

Always on the Move

Photo from the HVO Kilauea Status website of Kilauea's inner crater.

Sometimes it is hard to explain the difference between living on the Big Island of Hawaii, and living back on the continent of America.  While there are fault zones and even earthquakes, the difference is that our land is not solid!  In fact it is always moving beneath us AND moving above ground as it has for the past 30+ years.

Even when we take visiting friends to Kilauea to see the inner Crater of Halema'uma'u the House of the Ferns, (pronounced HA-LAY MA-U MA-U) apart from the glow at night, it often seems static, but it is not. In just the last few weeks the lava level inside the inner crater has fluctuated a lot, sometimes dropping down and sometimes spilling over the top.

Lava stopped just before dividing out town in half!

While the most exciting view at the present time is the lava flowing into the ocean which we shared with blog viewers in our August 9th blog, there's a LOT happening down inside the inner crater of Kilauea all the time.

"Click" on this link from the US Geological Survey - Halema'u'ma'u Crater   This is a 12 minute video created by the USGS during July. (You have an option just to "click" and view, or to download the video.) It was lava from a Kilauea vent called Pu'u O'o that flowed directly at our small village of Pahoa just a couple years ago, stopping just at the edge of the town -- to the relief of everyone.

"There's puppies in my belly!"

"Hey mom, she sure smells different>"  Poko

"There's puppies in my belly, puppies in my belly." Lani

We must "share" something of our youngest's pregnancy and birth of CORGI PUPPIES because it will make us Great Grandparents.

"What?  There's room for all of them in there?"

"So Mom, did you really do this?"

Before the romantic excursion to Kona side, I'Ilani and Poko had been doing some normal "role playing" but after she returned, it was obvious that Poko noticed a difference.

Mom and Dad (Lunel and Phil) have been reading up on gestation and delivery, figuring out where to set up the "nursery," lining up the vet, mobile vet, and qualified friends to be on "stand by."

For those of you who don't know. REBA is the mom to both POKO boy and little Princess I'ILani who will be having puppies officially making us Great Grandparents for Thanksgiving.