Letting all of you know that I've added more photos at last!
Use the link on the sidebar to get to my Picasa albums. (Oh wait, it doesn't come up as a real link, does it? Well, copy & paste; that'll work.)
The newest albums are 'Building the Studio 2' & 'How Does My Garden Grow'. They're best viewed as a slideshow, so you can read the captions.
More coming soon, so stay tuned!
Aloha!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Holiday Greetings!
A big Kona storm hit last week with winds gusts up to 70mph! A Kona wind blows from the southwest instead of from the east. This brings a lot of extra-moisture-laden air up from the tropics and also allows the vog from the volcano to settle over Hilo area, except that these winds were blowing way too hard for any settling to occur. We spent much of one night restrapping the canopy over the open part of our roof where the studio addition ties in. Very exciting and more than a little harrowing with lightning flashes and thunder booming all around as well as the big winds! So no more cutting off the roof during the rainy season! Fortunately for us, we didn't have any damage beyond a few smaller branches; not everyone was so lucky. We lost power off and on for a while, and the water system lost their main pump so we didn't have water for a couple days, but everything's back to 'normal' now, with trade wind showers (read: downpours) blowing through, and all utilities working again. Mauna Kea still has a mantle of snow above us all.
We spent yesterday looking for something to use for a focal point inside for the holidays - think 'Christmas plant' rather than 'Christmas tree'. What I had in mind was a decorated palm tree, and there's actually one variety called a Christmas Palm, but it was nowhere to be found. There are plenty of fresh cut Northwest trees shipped across the ocean in container loads, but since we're living in a tropical locale, I wanted something entirely different. Besides, to me a Douglas fir looks so much better when you've been tramping around the woods behind your house for an hour or two, through the snow, looking for that perfect specimen to bring down the hill and into the house. And I'm having a hard time now and then with NOT having all the aforementioned traditional family-oriented holiday activities this year, so there's another reason to do something new this time around. In the end, I chose a huge 4-foot wreath, big enough to hold my ornaments, maybe some lights, and not take up too much space in our cozy little livingroom. I think it's just perfect!
Pahoa puts on a darn good annual Christmas Parade, and we had a blast watching it last weekend, even in the rain (tail end of that storm). There were marching bands, many, many decorated floats from various groups and clubs, bellydancers, pirates, horses & llamas dressed up as camels led by three wise women, all the while being narrated by the funniest emcee talking in pidgin most of the time. Santa arrived on his outrigger canoe! It was great! They passed out bubbles to the crowd beforehand, so we could blow to our favorite parade entries; there was a pretty steady stream blowing the entire time which lent a festive atmosphere to all of downtown Pahoa. Well done!
The Winter Solstice is coming right up. Solstice has always been a pretty big thing with our family. That's when we would have our big holiday gathering with fireworks, family & friends, and a huge bonfire to bring back the sun. Some of our new friends here have invited us to join in their celebration of this ancient winter rite. We're all very glad to have that to look forward to soon!
Here's wishing all my readers a lovely and loving holiday season, whichever way you choose to celebrate it!
Aloha, Liz
We spent yesterday looking for something to use for a focal point inside for the holidays - think 'Christmas plant' rather than 'Christmas tree'. What I had in mind was a decorated palm tree, and there's actually one variety called a Christmas Palm, but it was nowhere to be found. There are plenty of fresh cut Northwest trees shipped across the ocean in container loads, but since we're living in a tropical locale, I wanted something entirely different. Besides, to me a Douglas fir looks so much better when you've been tramping around the woods behind your house for an hour or two, through the snow, looking for that perfect specimen to bring down the hill and into the house. And I'm having a hard time now and then with NOT having all the aforementioned traditional family-oriented holiday activities this year, so there's another reason to do something new this time around. In the end, I chose a huge 4-foot wreath, big enough to hold my ornaments, maybe some lights, and not take up too much space in our cozy little livingroom. I think it's just perfect!
Pahoa puts on a darn good annual Christmas Parade, and we had a blast watching it last weekend, even in the rain (tail end of that storm). There were marching bands, many, many decorated floats from various groups and clubs, bellydancers, pirates, horses & llamas dressed up as camels led by three wise women, all the while being narrated by the funniest emcee talking in pidgin most of the time. Santa arrived on his outrigger canoe! It was great! They passed out bubbles to the crowd beforehand, so we could blow to our favorite parade entries; there was a pretty steady stream blowing the entire time which lent a festive atmosphere to all of downtown Pahoa. Well done!
The Winter Solstice is coming right up. Solstice has always been a pretty big thing with our family. That's when we would have our big holiday gathering with fireworks, family & friends, and a huge bonfire to bring back the sun. Some of our new friends here have invited us to join in their celebration of this ancient winter rite. We're all very glad to have that to look forward to soon!
Here's wishing all my readers a lovely and loving holiday season, whichever way you choose to celebrate it!
Aloha, Liz
Thursday, November 29, 2007
End of November Update
Quick, while it's still November, time to update my blog! It's not that nothing is happening: We have been busy with Life and I haven't taken the time... At the moment I'm trying to cool down with a tall glass of lime-water, after spending a long hour in the Outback (beyond the fence) pulling out tanglefoot fern and in-sensitive plant (see previous blogs for descriptions of these). The mosquitos and biting gnats are fierce this afternoon. So it's a good opportunity to finally spend some time here again. I've transplanted several of the birthday orchids into my garden areas, some wired to ohia trees and some set in between big lava rocks. This is a perfect climate for growing orchids inside or out, and they seem to be enjoying their new locales. The tomato seedlings have just about all succumbed to rot from too much moisture here. But my squashes and chayote are growing well in their beds, the green beans are starting to climb the chainlink fence, and I can hardly keep up with the basil! Still need to transplant the bananas, ulu, and cacao, hence the work in the Outback.
Mike's brother, Matt, flew over from Maui for Thanksgiving weekend. We had the big turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and for an island touch I cooked the local sweet potatoes - they're purple inside! A wee bit drier but with the usual delicious flavor. For dessert, we had a pumpkin pie and a pineapple cheesecake. It took us several days but the 15# turkey is but a fond memory. While Matt was here we had great weather the whole time, perfect for doing a few sight-seeing things, soaking in the warm ponds, and getting most of the beams up on the roof of the new studio.
We didn't get the huge storm that hit the other side of this island and some of the other islands yesterday. In fact, it was a lovely day, overcast a bit with nice tradewinds. We spent the afternoon at Panaewa Park with friends from the homeschool group. Mike & Kerry both got a little worn out playing soccer with Pohaku, and I had a wonderful neck & shoulder rub from Molly, and we all got in some good visiting.
Kerry's job search has yielded nothing so far and she's starting to get discouraged. But we have been finding other ways to occupy our time. We're both taking a tai chi qigong class twice a week, just up the road in Pahoa Town. We've been learning some interesting Chinese Traditional Medicine, practicing good gentle exercise, and meeting new people who live close by. That's a big plus right there. And soon she'll be getting her first aid/cpr certificate from the Red Cross, and is looking into the possibility of CNA training, too. Seems like something will come through for her sooner or later.
We found some gorgeous 16" ceramic tile just north of Hilo through craigslist, drove up and bought 4 boxes of it for the studio bathtub surround. I guess we'll be learning how to do tilework before too long! Well, it actually may be a while before the finish work gets done. The roof beams have slowed down Mike's rapid progress. He's at the part now where each beam must be measured separately and tied into the existing roof; very time-consuming work and a very long slope to work on. Meanwhile, that part of the roof is protected from the rain by a high canopy. It's working well, but we're all looking forward to getting the tin up so the whole place can dry out.
Mike's brother, Matt, flew over from Maui for Thanksgiving weekend. We had the big turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and for an island touch I cooked the local sweet potatoes - they're purple inside! A wee bit drier but with the usual delicious flavor. For dessert, we had a pumpkin pie and a pineapple cheesecake. It took us several days but the 15# turkey is but a fond memory. While Matt was here we had great weather the whole time, perfect for doing a few sight-seeing things, soaking in the warm ponds, and getting most of the beams up on the roof of the new studio.
We didn't get the huge storm that hit the other side of this island and some of the other islands yesterday. In fact, it was a lovely day, overcast a bit with nice tradewinds. We spent the afternoon at Panaewa Park with friends from the homeschool group. Mike & Kerry both got a little worn out playing soccer with Pohaku, and I had a wonderful neck & shoulder rub from Molly, and we all got in some good visiting.
Kerry's job search has yielded nothing so far and she's starting to get discouraged. But we have been finding other ways to occupy our time. We're both taking a tai chi qigong class twice a week, just up the road in Pahoa Town. We've been learning some interesting Chinese Traditional Medicine, practicing good gentle exercise, and meeting new people who live close by. That's a big plus right there. And soon she'll be getting her first aid/cpr certificate from the Red Cross, and is looking into the possibility of CNA training, too. Seems like something will come through for her sooner or later.
We found some gorgeous 16" ceramic tile just north of Hilo through craigslist, drove up and bought 4 boxes of it for the studio bathtub surround. I guess we'll be learning how to do tilework before too long! Well, it actually may be a while before the finish work gets done. The roof beams have slowed down Mike's rapid progress. He's at the part now where each beam must be measured separately and tied into the existing roof; very time-consuming work and a very long slope to work on. Meanwhile, that part of the roof is protected from the rain by a high canopy. It's working well, but we're all looking forward to getting the tin up so the whole place can dry out.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Work, work, work!
All of you who were holding your breath waiting for pics can go ahead and gasp for air now!
Photos have been posted at this site: http://picasaweb.google.com/elizacacia
Work on the studio proceeds apace. The floor is all done, the first inspection has occurred, the Trex porch is on (our 'deck' has a porch!), and at this very moment Mike is sawing off the roof overhang - VERY noisy as his saw cuts through the corrugated metal. Remember, there is no insulation in the walls in these climes, and windows are single pane, so every noise comes right on in even with the doors and windows closed. Thank goodness for those noise-cancelling headphones that we got for airplane trips! They really help during some of the more noisy bits of construction.
We had our first snow! Yes, even in Hawaii! At 13,796' elevation, Mauna Kea (white mountain) does indeed get snow, although the locals say it didn't get any at all last winter. It's very pretty and just far enough away that we can appreciate it. Mostly though, we've been getting lots of rain. It is the rainy season after all. But seldom does it rain all day long. Or over all the island at once. So we just enjoy whatever comes our way.
Kerry passed her PADI SCUBA certification yesterday! Yipee! It has been a life-goal for her for years now, and although there was a bit of a rocky start to the program, she has ended up really learning a lot and enjoying the experience. She says she'll definitely do more diving, and soon! Winter brings in some of the best dive conditions for this island, so I guess the timing was pretty good after all. (We kinda wondered with all this rain and runoff and flash flooding.)
My garden now has 2 kinds of bananas, the baby cacao tree, and an ulu (breadfruit tree) awaiting planting. Oh, and a coconut palm that we got from a local school at their Arbor Day giveaway. I thought Arbor Day was always in April, but apparently it's in November on the Islands. It makes sense when you think of the right time for tree-planting; since this is the start of the rainy season, it's time to plant trees... and gardens. All my many seedlings are growing rapidly and, as they get big enough, being transplanted into the free-form beds I'm creating. I've also been hard at work - and it IS work, believe me - clearing the Outback, as we call our land beyond the chain-link fence. It's full of shoulder high tanglefoot fern and sticker vines - I refuse to call it sensitive plant anymore but that's what it is. Every part of the plant from roots, to vines, leaves and even seed pods, is covered in little thorns that scratch you, or worse, break off and irritate the skin. 'Insensitive plant' would be a better name! The tanglefoot fern is almost fun to pull out in comparison! I'm making paths through this jungle to get to the spot where I want to create my tropical garden, with the fore-mentioned trees and other jungly fruits & vegies.
Lest you think we are working at the expense of playtime, let me put your mind at ease. We take our morning and evening walks almost every day, especially enjoying the flocks of little birds, the sunrise/sunset colors, and getting to know our new neighbors a little. We've been spending time at the beaches and took the whole day off on my birthday to meander about along the coastline, exploring every little pocket beach and even discovering more lava-tube caves to explore further. The warm ponds are only a 20 minute drive from here, and we take advantage of that every now and then; not nearly often enough I'll grant. And we're all doing a lot of reading when it really is too rainy, or too sunny, to do anything else. Now that's luxury!
Photos have been posted at this site: http://picasaweb.google.com/elizacacia
Work on the studio proceeds apace. The floor is all done, the first inspection has occurred, the Trex porch is on (our 'deck' has a porch!), and at this very moment Mike is sawing off the roof overhang - VERY noisy as his saw cuts through the corrugated metal. Remember, there is no insulation in the walls in these climes, and windows are single pane, so every noise comes right on in even with the doors and windows closed. Thank goodness for those noise-cancelling headphones that we got for airplane trips! They really help during some of the more noisy bits of construction.
We had our first snow! Yes, even in Hawaii! At 13,796' elevation, Mauna Kea (white mountain) does indeed get snow, although the locals say it didn't get any at all last winter. It's very pretty and just far enough away that we can appreciate it. Mostly though, we've been getting lots of rain. It is the rainy season after all. But seldom does it rain all day long. Or over all the island at once. So we just enjoy whatever comes our way.
Kerry passed her PADI SCUBA certification yesterday! Yipee! It has been a life-goal for her for years now, and although there was a bit of a rocky start to the program, she has ended up really learning a lot and enjoying the experience. She says she'll definitely do more diving, and soon! Winter brings in some of the best dive conditions for this island, so I guess the timing was pretty good after all. (We kinda wondered with all this rain and runoff and flash flooding.)
My garden now has 2 kinds of bananas, the baby cacao tree, and an ulu (breadfruit tree) awaiting planting. Oh, and a coconut palm that we got from a local school at their Arbor Day giveaway. I thought Arbor Day was always in April, but apparently it's in November on the Islands. It makes sense when you think of the right time for tree-planting; since this is the start of the rainy season, it's time to plant trees... and gardens. All my many seedlings are growing rapidly and, as they get big enough, being transplanted into the free-form beds I'm creating. I've also been hard at work - and it IS work, believe me - clearing the Outback, as we call our land beyond the chain-link fence. It's full of shoulder high tanglefoot fern and sticker vines - I refuse to call it sensitive plant anymore but that's what it is. Every part of the plant from roots, to vines, leaves and even seed pods, is covered in little thorns that scratch you, or worse, break off and irritate the skin. 'Insensitive plant' would be a better name! The tanglefoot fern is almost fun to pull out in comparison! I'm making paths through this jungle to get to the spot where I want to create my tropical garden, with the fore-mentioned trees and other jungly fruits & vegies.
Lest you think we are working at the expense of playtime, let me put your mind at ease. We take our morning and evening walks almost every day, especially enjoying the flocks of little birds, the sunrise/sunset colors, and getting to know our new neighbors a little. We've been spending time at the beaches and took the whole day off on my birthday to meander about along the coastline, exploring every little pocket beach and even discovering more lava-tube caves to explore further. The warm ponds are only a 20 minute drive from here, and we take advantage of that every now and then; not nearly often enough I'll grant. And we're all doing a lot of reading when it really is too rainy, or too sunny, to do anything else. Now that's luxury!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Above and Below on the Big Island
Two days ago, I planted some seeds to start a container garden... they've already started to come up! Marigolds, cucumbers, chard, & tomatoes in little pots; an entire planter of mixed lettuces; and another container with basil & parsley starts from the farmer's market, along with cilantro from seed, and garlic that was sprouting in the kitchen. A nice little beginning to keep me going until the big garden beds decompose enough to be planted. That should take about 2 months in this climate. It seems odd to be starting seeds in October; I would never have done that in North Idaho! But it is prime planting season here in Hawaii, so lucky me! I have to get used to the idea of planting just enough to eat from fresh, as opposed to enough to can and freeze and store away for the long Winter and on until next harvest season. Here, we'll be able to eat from the garden all year long, so I guess I only need a couple tomato plants at a time, huh? And how long a row of green beans??
I also bought a cacao tree from which I hope to get the pods to make my own chocolate. It takes about 3 years for a cacao to begin to produce pods, and these pods grow directly from the trunk! They'll start out yellow, turn orange, then red and will have these fruits in all stages at the same time; sounds colorful and exotic. There's quite an involved process getting from cacao pod to bean to nib to actual cocoa and then on to chocolate. It's all so fascinating and I love the idea of being able to produce my own. I have the keiki (young) tree in a pot for now until we get an area cleared out back. Cacao want to grow in the shade of other taller trees - it's an understory jungle tree - so we'll tuck it between some of the big ohia.
We had fun visiting Volcanoes National Park with the local homeschool group this past week. Explored all around Crater Rim Drive: the Jaggar Museum, the Visitor Center, took a guided walk with a ranger who had grown up in the Park during the 70's when the caldera was full of lava curtains! But the highlight was exploring the Thurston Lava Tube. The first half of this huge lava tube has been smoothed out somewhat and lit up for an easy walk. The fun part comes at the mid-point of the tube where most people go on up the stone stairway to ground level and continue their hike back to the parking area. That's where we open the gate (it's okay, you're allowed), turn on our flashlights, and explore the second half of the tube where it's been kept in a more natural - and very dark - state! This section twists and turns as it crawls deeper into the earth; there are drop-offs, chunks that have fallen in, ledges and cracks. Ohia roots dangle overhead and rainwater drips through tiny cracks in the lava. It is awesome! And, I'll admit, a little scary to me, although Kerry absolutely loves it inside this earth-womb. The littlest kids and most of the moms opted to stay up at the surface in the sunshine, but all the teens and big kids (including Mike) went all the way to the furthest reaches of the tube, another 330-some yards; even little Kyla at 5 years old, was all smiles and excitement on this, her first trip inside the earth. I went partway in and then took a scared little Cedar back out to Mommy; then went back for another go, and ended up helping a tourist in the midst of a panic attack back to the surface. I understood her completely: been there myself, so it was interesting to be able to help another soul through it.
Progress on the ohana/studio has been slow but is picking up speed now that we're done running around every day. The delivery of our first load of materials arrived on Wednesday, as scheduled. Everything was off-loaded, accounted for, and moved under the carport before it rained again. Mike has drilled holes in the concrete and in the foundation blocks for rebar to connect the two and keep them in place. Right now, he's setting each block on its own mound of mortar mix so it'll rest level, then filling the hole with epoxy and sliding the rebar into its hole... it'll all set up and stay put even in a hurricane should one pass by! The siding on that side of the house will come off and be saved for reuse later. Then the beams and joists and all that can go up. I'll keep you posted.
So, everything is here now, and only 2 casualties: my golden elephant figure and my favorite mug from my good friend Karen :-( I was sad about that, but if this is all we lost I must have done a pretty decent job of packing and the sea must've been fairly calm to bear our cargo along smoothly. :-)
The only glitch now is the Post Office; they have completely screwed up our mail now. If anyone has sent us anything and it has been returned, keep trying. You have our correct address, and if it is on a lucky day it will get through to the Pahoa PO and then be delivered to us. Otherwise, it seems that somewhere along the way, it gets caught in the wrong slot or who knows what; we know that there are bills, checks, and dvds gone missing. :-( If anyone knows of any tricks besides calling the local PO, filling out their paper and online forms, let us know!
I know I should be posting photos here, and I plan to, but I need a chunk of time when my local computer genius (aka Kerry) can help me decipher the instructions for doing so. Don't hold your breath, but pics are coming eventually! ;-) And don't worry Mom, and anyone else on dial-up, I won't overload it!
I also bought a cacao tree from which I hope to get the pods to make my own chocolate. It takes about 3 years for a cacao to begin to produce pods, and these pods grow directly from the trunk! They'll start out yellow, turn orange, then red and will have these fruits in all stages at the same time; sounds colorful and exotic. There's quite an involved process getting from cacao pod to bean to nib to actual cocoa and then on to chocolate. It's all so fascinating and I love the idea of being able to produce my own. I have the keiki (young) tree in a pot for now until we get an area cleared out back. Cacao want to grow in the shade of other taller trees - it's an understory jungle tree - so we'll tuck it between some of the big ohia.
We had fun visiting Volcanoes National Park with the local homeschool group this past week. Explored all around Crater Rim Drive: the Jaggar Museum, the Visitor Center, took a guided walk with a ranger who had grown up in the Park during the 70's when the caldera was full of lava curtains! But the highlight was exploring the Thurston Lava Tube. The first half of this huge lava tube has been smoothed out somewhat and lit up for an easy walk. The fun part comes at the mid-point of the tube where most people go on up the stone stairway to ground level and continue their hike back to the parking area. That's where we open the gate (it's okay, you're allowed), turn on our flashlights, and explore the second half of the tube where it's been kept in a more natural - and very dark - state! This section twists and turns as it crawls deeper into the earth; there are drop-offs, chunks that have fallen in, ledges and cracks. Ohia roots dangle overhead and rainwater drips through tiny cracks in the lava. It is awesome! And, I'll admit, a little scary to me, although Kerry absolutely loves it inside this earth-womb. The littlest kids and most of the moms opted to stay up at the surface in the sunshine, but all the teens and big kids (including Mike) went all the way to the furthest reaches of the tube, another 330-some yards; even little Kyla at 5 years old, was all smiles and excitement on this, her first trip inside the earth. I went partway in and then took a scared little Cedar back out to Mommy; then went back for another go, and ended up helping a tourist in the midst of a panic attack back to the surface. I understood her completely: been there myself, so it was interesting to be able to help another soul through it.
Progress on the ohana/studio has been slow but is picking up speed now that we're done running around every day. The delivery of our first load of materials arrived on Wednesday, as scheduled. Everything was off-loaded, accounted for, and moved under the carport before it rained again. Mike has drilled holes in the concrete and in the foundation blocks for rebar to connect the two and keep them in place. Right now, he's setting each block on its own mound of mortar mix so it'll rest level, then filling the hole with epoxy and sliding the rebar into its hole... it'll all set up and stay put even in a hurricane should one pass by! The siding on that side of the house will come off and be saved for reuse later. Then the beams and joists and all that can go up. I'll keep you posted.
So, everything is here now, and only 2 casualties: my golden elephant figure and my favorite mug from my good friend Karen :-( I was sad about that, but if this is all we lost I must have done a pretty decent job of packing and the sea must've been fairly calm to bear our cargo along smoothly. :-)
The only glitch now is the Post Office; they have completely screwed up our mail now. If anyone has sent us anything and it has been returned, keep trying. You have our correct address, and if it is on a lucky day it will get through to the Pahoa PO and then be delivered to us. Otherwise, it seems that somewhere along the way, it gets caught in the wrong slot or who knows what; we know that there are bills, checks, and dvds gone missing. :-( If anyone knows of any tricks besides calling the local PO, filling out their paper and online forms, let us know!
I know I should be posting photos here, and I plan to, but I need a chunk of time when my local computer genius (aka Kerry) can help me decipher the instructions for doing so. Don't hold your breath, but pics are coming eventually! ;-) And don't worry Mom, and anyone else on dial-up, I won't overload it!
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