To Everything There Is A Season

One of the spacious carports -- beginning rock walls

...even for catching up our blog followers with the latest month of news. (Can't believe it's been over a month since our last blog update.)

From Ecclesiastics come the the words:
To everything there is a season...and
a time to every purpose under heaven..
a time to cast away stones, and
a time to gather stones together.

For over a year we've been "casting away stones"... from the lava/stones that changed our lives too suddenly and dramatically last year.

Now, both figuratively and literally, we are gathering stones together.

Things are moving quickly on the building projects and beginning landscaping. As our regular blog followers know, the art studio was completed many weeks ago; we are both spending happy times there.

Next came the carports: Completing both of the new carports meant also providing large spaces to work even if it is raining.

New table -- without the 3 leaves

Sheetrock done

The purchase of this house included all the furniture -- except a large dining room table. We've known what we wanted -- something solidly classic in wood, with leaves to expand space for dinner parties. We began what we expected would be a long search, but found the perfect table on our second stop!!

Work on the lanai (just off the back porch) began in earnest in September: framing in the space, exterior walls first, then windows, drywall inside, texture and painting. We have beautiful tiles for the floor and assembly has even begun on our new cedar hot tub.

Carving first on Monkeypod wood

Lanai walls textured and painted -
 Phil inspects the extra deep tub

Phil has been continuing his new art direction -- carving and painting -- similar to those we shared on our July 1st blog entry. The one pictured here is of the 'Apapane bird - an endemic Hawaiian honeycreeper who drinks the nectar from the lehua blossoms of our ohia tree forest that surrounds our home. They live in packs and their lovely songs echo in the forest. Their crimson feathers were once used to adorn capes, helmets and leis of the Hawaiian nobility.

Adding color

A time to gather stones together!!

Lunel still works on pages in her journals, but is spending more and more time in the yard; it's a whole new big canvas for her, but her approach this time will be tempered by wiser maintenance choices -- more trees and flowering shrubs -- less weeding.

One of her projects is utilizing the beautiful chunks of lava our excavator dug up for electricity and water to the art studio as well as clearing spaces for the two new carports.

During September we also sold and bought a different truck -- one day! Our contractor needed a new work truck and friends in Leilani just happened to be selling theirs. Even though we planned to eventually replace the older work truck -- we were pleasantly surprised when it all came together so easily.

Although cooler seasonal fall weather is slowing coming, we still have many bright sunny days with temperatures between 70-80 and we both are enjoying it. Nice that the lanai and hot tub will be done before winter season!
(yes, we DO have 'winter' here in Volcano, Hawaii -- at 3500 elevation)

'Apapane -- Good Luck Bird

Healthy trees with blossoms 2013

When we moved to the Puna District on the Big Island of Hawaii, friends had given us a "Birds of Hawaii" book that we used to identify the birds who were living in Leilani Estates subdivision. While still getting acquainted with our new home and property that first week, we found a small dead bird on the ground, which, with the help of our guide book, we identified as an 'Apapane.

Although our property was filled with vibrant beautiful Ohia trees, during only our second year many of our trees began to die from what is known as Rapid Ohia Death ROD. By the end of our second year, 70 % of our trees had died causing many of the native, local bird species to migrate elsewhere. (Nectar from the Ohia trees being the primary food source for them.)

Well-known photographer Jack Jeffery, took the above  photo, and this link will introduce you to Jack and his passion for taking amazing bird photographs.  8-minute video about Jack's passion

While living in Eureka (Humboldt County CA) Lunel developed a special collection of bird wings that she hung from the ceiling or in windows -- including egret, heron, hawk and other smaller ubiquitous species.

Dead Ohia a year later

Marian Berger, Artist

Eventually, she developed a simple taxidermy technique to preserve smaller dead birds she had found by using the "warm" setting on the toaster oven which basically dried out their innards. So, the little 'Apapane bird we found in 2012 floated in our kitchen window, wings spread as if in flight, for over 5 years. Oddly, we always felt it was a good luck symbol.

The other day, after leaving a walk-through of our new rental house in Volcano, we were both amazed to find,another 'Apapane on the ground by our parked car. We didn't have the inclination to attempt a repeat process this time around, but gently moved the little dead bird into the nearby ferns.

To hear one of the 'Apapane's songs follow this link:  Apapane Song

Bird-Bird-BIrd! Bird is the Word!

While we were still living in Northern California's Humboldt County, we enjoyed watching the birds from our kitchen window.  We had some really amazing sitings and enjoyed the annual return of many species.  Naturally, when we retired and moved to the Big Island, we made sure our library was well stocked with books to help us identify our new bird family.  One of the first birds we "met" was the lovely Honey Creeper, the 'Apapane; we found a dead one in our driveway when we first moved in.  We preserved it by dehydration and its sweet form graces one of our windows as a reminder of the island's fragility.

The story of both flora and fauna here in Hawaii is really a sad one.  Like other places on the planet, the birds (and plants) of Hawaii evolved for millions of years.  The isolation that produced such a distinctive array and variety did not serve well when that isolation was lost at the introduction of colonization. The birds had no predators or disease.  Even with the earliest waves of Polynesians, things began to change, but that change has reached exponential levels in current times.  Invasive plants, insects and  mammals, as well as human beings, have resulted in mass waves of extinction in the bird (and plant) population.

  "Today, the rate of colonization by alien species is estimated to be about 10-20 species per year," says Jack Jeffrey, local bird photographer (of bird guidebook below), whose website is full of fascinating history, and photography.  Check out Jack's beautiful website! 

Jack's photos in Guidbook

At our bird feeder

MYSTERY BIRDS

This week while watching the comings and goings at our feeder, we discovered a new pair of birds.  After a few tries, we were able to get some photographs to help begin identification.  Now, you may think this is easy -- but it is NOT!  

At first we got really excited because the birds appeared to be a very RARE endangered and nearly extinct Palila, but of course we suspected that was not the case. (Just look at their similarities!!)


Half the fun was the "Quest for the Bird's Identity."  We are "faceless people" that is we don't partake in Facebook.  However, just in  "tossing it out" to a small e-mail world of ohana we received a pile of helpful replies.  There are 2 (but not mutually exclusive) answers:  They are juvenile Saffron Finches (from our "regulars" the bright yellow adults pictured in our ohia trees) or they are one of many kinds of Saffron Finches (we did find an EXACT match) -- but it could go either way. 

6/6 Update:  Saw the new pair gathering nest materials - suspect that they are not juveniles.