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Four sunny days in a row and I am filling the tank again for watering the orchard. At least we have a solution to keep things alive. The waterproof shed for the tools is nearly constructed and poles are set for the playhouse with a roof that will shed water into the tank. Once that roof is in place we will have a more permanent solution. Besidfes, Nick needs a shady place to play and nap while I am gardening. Our neighbors have generously donated an old unused slide for the playhouse... should be great fun. I am building out of ohia from the land and bamboo from down the road. Should look really rustic, though I admit to using plywood for the floor and roof support. Just an other little piece in the grand adventure. Next is the vegetable garden for me! Already have starts in a window greenhouse here at the rental. Peas are almost ready for the ground. Others are just sprouting. Better get back to work.
 Happy Hawaiian mountain life for me.... Pam
May you live in interesting times.
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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are there high waves at this time?
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Gary.... Supposedly West facing beaches are still hasving large waves. Since I am in the mountains I can't really attest to that.
On a good note, it rained a bit today; not heavily but here at 4 Pm after sprnkling for a couple hours, the clouds are still here and I am hoping for heavy rain tonight. The orchard will be happy.
Got the generator assembled (minor work) this afternoon but with the wet didn't want to fire it up for the first time and electr4ocute myself... so I will wait till tomorrow morning and get started drilling the wood for the cachment roof structure and play house. Yayyy, it is coming together. Also, I may have found a framer for my house. Will keep you all posted on that process.... P
May you live in interesting times.
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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Hi Pam,
I have to tell you: I’m a nut when it comes to having a vegetable garden. And I really like peas. Please post their progress! I’ll have to wait another 2 ½ months before I can start planting here. Lately I’ve been thumbing thru seed catalogs, like I do this time of year, and wanting to get my hands dirty planting. I has been a miserable wet winter here near the Bay Area.
I’ll have to keep thinking warm Hawaiian thoughts!
David D
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Adventures are continuing.
I met a wonderful couple from the web/freecycling: Joy and Jim. They came and visited the property and brought me a "gift' of some ceiling fans they were getting rid of. wonderful to share the aloha spirit with everyone, and totally fun to show someone new around.
We had some good laughs as I pointed out where I dropped the truck into the hole, where the house will go, etc... You are all welcome to come visit me should you get this way.
I have also met a wonderful young couple who came here from New Hampshire. He is a Carpenter and they have a 5 month old little girl. Job didn't work out for him that he came here for and they simply had no place to go, so they have set up camp out on the property and we will build them a tent/cabin to live in for a while. When we start building the house I have a good framer on board! Live is fun. Should anyone have any old/used/ recyclable building materials we might use for this cabin, I would sure love to score them, so please be in touch. thanks for all your interest and support.
ALOHA & MAHALO
May you live in interesting times.
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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If they happen to be vegan, there is a family starting a community north of hilo who need folks to come and live and help with skills like building. Their website is g0v.org (thats a number 0) If they are staying and are vegan, they really should contact that family.
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Just another day in Paradise....
The Vet messed up the date on the dog's health certificate and the airline refused to take him this morning in San Diego. What a mess. Hubby hauled doggie back to the vet, rather enraged.... got him scheduled on a flight for tomorrow; I rebooked my flight to Honolulu for tomorrow... the airlines makes lots of money and we are trying to let it roll off our backs. Wow, everyone seems to do such a good job at this and we sure messed up. Ah, well, such are the adventures of life.
Just goes to show you that when shipping an animal, not only read the AG regulations carefully but the airline regs as well. Dept of AG wants a health certificate current within 14 days, but Hawaiian Air wants one only 10 days; thus the problem. Ours was dated 11 days ago.
So the worst of it is I have a day in Kona to lounge around and enjoy. Just another day in Paradise....
May you live in interesting times.
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
Posts: 2,189
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Joined: Sep 2004
Wow, lots happening. We got some nice windows from a fellow remodeling and ceiling fans from another. Today I gave in and bought roofing material, but got it at a really low price from the newspaper (1/3 the cost from Home Depot). Someone brought in a whole conatiner full. Anyway, Randy has the cabin going up. It is great so far. Three walls up and it is on 8 foot stilts. That means we will have a downstairs workshop there eventually. Right now it is just up high away from the pits and wet and has storage space for his tools. Hope some of you get by to see it. From what I see, he's a great framer.
After so many days of dryness it stormed like the dickens last night, complete with thunder and lightening. Tons of water fell, the ground is really soaked and the orchard is happy. I will order the new trees and replant starting tomorrow. Hubby is here to help and all is right with the world. Just another golden day in paradise!!!!!
May you live in interesting times.
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
Posts: 2,189
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Joined: Sep 2004
Today the replacement trees for the ones that didn't make it in the orchard arrive. Yesterday was spent digging out old/dead trees, enlarging holes, rippingout happu'u to mulch for planting mix. Misadventure of the day: Hubby is here and helping out. He is definitely a city boy. Managed to runover the chain saw with the tractor. Went to town last night and just bought a new chain saw. Old one is probably repairable but we need those trees in this afternoon and there is a lot of cutting and mulching to be done. Now we will have a backup... what the heck!
Randy, our carpenter, has the cabin half finished. It is looking great with a Hipped roof and 6 foot deck out front. He should be able to move in by this weekend.
Ed, the Ranch Hand, has been tempermental. He is such a great worker but just wants more out of life than I have to offer. Hope things settle down. If not I will be looking for a new ranch hand, so if anyone knows anyone looking for work......
Have had to adertise for general laborers. We have heavy work that just needs more hands. Good laborers are hard hard hard to find here. Should be interesting.
We bought fresh manure from the local Indian Reservation. Now it sits and cures for a couple weeks. Didn't really save me any money over buying bagged manure from Home Depot and cost me extra time but the reservation can use the money and we all need to help one another out. Remember to keep that spirit going as you make your decisions. It's part of the "Pammie Philosophy": If you can do something nice for someone else and it doesn't cost you anything, JUST DO IT---- and if it does cost you something, sometimes DO IT ANYWAY!
Keep your comments and ideas coming. I find them most encouraging.
May you live in interesting times.
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
Posts: 2,189
Threads: 295
Joined: Sep 2004
Hubby has been here for a couple weeks now. He is loving the land. The trees are all planted; we even got the fence/trellis up and the passion fruit in the ground. I have a watering system that I can run from my Jeep now to deep water the roots when we have a few dry days.
Labor problems are sorting out. I hired a couple local guys that work in a farm production business here that has closed down for 8 weeks. It's a good chance to get some heavy labor done, like nice digging and soil loosening for a 6 foot circle around each of those 40 trees! We have been mulching and will continue to produce lots of mulch plus we have begun a manure pile. Mulch and manure are the basics for a fruit orchard.
We will be breaking ground for the vegetable garden tomorrow I think. Should be another fun adventure. The cabin has the roof on and two of the windows in. there is just no end to the possibilities now.
The drafter phoned me and said the plans are approved by the archetect and will go to county as of tomorrow. My lender phoned and needs plans for the loan. things are moving along now!
Relocating to Puna has been hard work with many things to be achieved but it is truely the best thing I have ever done in life. Every trial and adventure brings satisfaction in the long run. Every failure is a learning experience and an opportunity to do it again with success next time. People I have met have been wonderful. Hopes and dream seem very realistic here. Puna is a little piece of Paradise...
May you live in interesting times.
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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