If You Rest You Rust

Rainfall where we live - 140+

Rust is! When we lived near the coast in Eureka, California, the dampness, rain and fog were a given; and for 20 years or so we made garden art from all our rusty tools. Emily, the woman who bought our charming Victorian home, got a kick out of all the rusty shovels, rakes and trowels adorning the weathered fence. For many years I loved using rusty items in many of my quirky assemblage pieces.

While there are places on the Big Island of Hawaii that get only a few inches of rain annually, the district of Puna is not one of them. As you can see from the rain map, we get a lot of rain. (see note below **)Fortunately, our elevation and distance from the ocean places us where our rain falls mostly at night. But that rain, coupled with the terra-forming projects we have done in the past 4 1/2 years have been hard on all our tools.

Our 1st rusty wheelbarrow
now holds iris

Still working (sort of) after many
reinforcements and repairs 

We inherited a rusty push-power mower that we ran until it fell apart, but have since bought a second and a third mower (the last has power-wheels.) This last week we realized we have gone through FOUR wheelbarrows and THREE mowers. Just last week Phil purchased weed eater number THREE. Since we had great discount coupons at ACE Hardware, we also purchased shovel number FOUR as well. (All in just four years.)

Ready to work in La-VA LAND!!

This news may raise an eyebrow or two back on the Continent, but for most people living in the Puna District on the Big Island, this would be par for the course here in LA-VA LAND!!

And speaking of LAVA, below is a link to a short video taken TODAY (3/6) of the lava flow.  And a reminder to our friends "over there" -- this lava, only a few miles away, has been flowing non-stop for 30 years.  (Mahalo to Big Island News, Tropical Visions Video and to Paradise Helicopters.)
Click link: VIDEO OF TODAY's LAVA FLOW

** SO, we must be in some kind of DENIAL to wrote we "get lots of rain" - or wishful thinking as we are in a drought -- right here, right now. In fact the weather report stated the last time the first quarter of the year was this dry was -- 1948!!!  (the year i was born...oh shit!!)