12-12 HO HO HO!

What's in the PINK BOX??

In December of 2012, when we bought our one-way tickets to The Big Island, we thought it would be cool to arrive at our new home on 12-12-12! We arrived just as it was getting darK. For some reason, NONE of the keys we were given opened the front or side or back doors!!  Lunel actually had to crawl in the bathroom window to open the house!  We just figured that it might be the first of many tests (we were warned) that Pele might offer to see if we really had what it takes to live here and join the "Punatics' Clan"** We survived Hurricane Iselle and the lava of 2014. Now, after losing literally everything we sure hope we FINALLY past all her tests!!   Welina Tu-Tu Pele!

CK's "Little Pink" --W&J's  Hale Akala 

While the year may be different, this week is a RADICAL12/12 too! We signed our insurance check from Lloyds' AND all the processes involved were completed today on our new fully furnished rental home in Volcano!  If you read our Nov 22 blog entry, we gave you a sort-of hint -- it was in the PINK box in the photo.)
And here's the rest of the story.

Once Upon A Time...

Cozy living room with fireplace

...we had NO IDEA how our lawsuit against Lloyds' of London would turn out when we signed on with our amazing attorneys, but we felt we had nothing to loose, and we couldn't stay in 400 sf studio with three corgi dogs for a year while we waited it out.  So, we began to think about renting a furnished home here in Volcano to see if this is where we'd might eventually like to live. Then, the day before Thanksgiving, imagine our surprise when our attorney called --Lloyds' was honoring our claim IN FULL!!

While it is sufficient to buy a house, we immediately realized that neither of us is ready to do that -- emotionally or psychologically, and we really did fall in love with this very cute, fully furnished two bedroom house. (Even the idea of buying furnishings for a whole empty house right now would be too much.)

In the middle of an Ohia forest
(Mauna Kea in back)

We have enjoyed it here in Volcano at 3500 ft elevation, more than we expected, particularly as there are lots of retirees here and even more artists. When we got here in August and the months that followed, I was delighted to spend hours a day beautifying the already stunning gardens -- even this last week. Yes, it's chilly in the winter, but ta DAH - we have a fireplace!

One of the two bedrooms

So, here's a few of photos of our new place. It is in "Ohia Estates" a very tiny (two street) subdivision on a street named Nahelenani (beautiful forest)...and so it is. Two thirds of an acre surrounded by ohia trees. Even though you can't see it, there's lots of room in the back yard area. Phil is drawing up plans for a wood shop (with the owners OK) and Lunel will have a greenhouse!

We got bananas! and soon a greenhouse.

We have met the sellers who have been very kind and helpful and we already know several neighbors and have even been included in holiday festivities! We could hardly wish for a better closing of this most peculiar year, moving in on 29th and 30th -- Happy New Year to us!
We wish everyone a particularly wonderful holiday season.

(PS Remember that our address book with birthdays and such is gone....it may take a while to reconstruct all that information.)

** We are STILL "Punatics" because the district of PUNA extends all they way up here to Volcano.