Relocating to Puna II

[pslamont]

Good Morning everyone and welcome to a new beginning!
We purchased land in Puna in October 2004 and have spent the first year developing a portion of the 30 acres as well as building a home. The story begins with the posting "Relocating to Puna". The saga continues here with a new beginning - the blessing of our home and land.

Our blessing went really well. The Kahuna was marvelous. Pig was incredibly good; a 250+ pounder imu'd in the grand Hawaiian tradition. Friends were plentiful and spirit was solid and positive. Thank you all for your support whether in presence or thoughts.
We were told that if we got a little rain on our day of blessing it was a special blessing on our house. It did indeed sprinkle just before the Kahuna began his ceremony, then it stopped for us all to gather on the lawn, go through the events and head for food. It rained a good shot as dark came again. Guess we are twice blessed!

Our roof is on, the deck to the large lanai is nearly complete and the finish work is just beginning. We have learned much to date and the old log will tell of many adventures and more importantly mis-adventures!

I hope this continuing log is of benefit to many as either entertainment or source of information... maybe both. Please, everyone, feel free to contact me directly should you desire... pslamont@yahoolcom


Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[mella l]

May we be the first to congratulate you on the beginnings of the new Lamont saga. Hopefully in July we will hear from the Bob Lamont also! That should be enlightening! LOL

We love the saga and were wondering if we would be invited to the 3rd but hopefully not final blessing ceremony!! Merry, Merry now back to the kitchen wench! Mella L

mella l

[pslamont]

We have learned that one should have three basic blessings when building a home. First the land should be blessed. Second is when the roof is on, called a topping off party and lastly as the home is finished but before any personal belongings are moved in. We missed the first one all together so our Topping Off party included a general land blessing as well. We used the real Hawaiiaj Kahuna IkaIka 808 895 9123 (ikaikaola@hawaii.rr.com). He did a truely lovely ceremny and spoke to us from his heart to ours about the land and the meaning of perservig Hawaii. I will always remember the words "this is a place where your children can run in the fields to play without fear and be truely safe. Let us keep it that way".

Christmas brought our family close together as it was our first in Hawaii. We joined neighbors for a morning Brunch that filled us so we couldn't eat for another full day. It was NOT a day filled with gift giving except for a few small items, and this made it one of my happiest Christmases ever. I made holiday stockings to hang by the fire with a hawaiian twist and hope to develop them for sale by next Christmas. Should be another fun sideline.

Our pigs have been hilarious. Hubby Bob refers to the "soul train" that tromps through the pastures when we let them loose. It consists of three pigs, two dogs, a few roosers and sometimes a momma hen with her babies. I have NO idea how/why they do this but they form a parade and wander trails through the various pastures. This week they foud the road and were wandering around out there. Neighbors phoned so off we tromped to herd them all back onto the ranch. Our New York Executive son was the funniest chasing them with a stick but all three of us must have been a sight to see. They are so used to us that we stand in front of them, make noise, wave our arms and they just stand there looking at us like we are crazy. I finally gave in and whacked one to turn it around. She doesn't like me very much this week!

The drywallers promises have been fruitless. Thgey promised the drywall would be hung before Christmas day... we are still waiting. It's about half hung. It is now impacting the rest of the crew because after a day or two they will have no work to do until drywall is finished. Timing is everything on some of this stuff. Guess I have to call the boss man. I hate to do that but...

We had a grand bonfire on the imu spot last night as we ate a simple supper and relaxed. It is really wonderful having Hubby and Son here for the holidays even though I like to tease about them. I will miss them when they leave this week. Then it is back to me and the cabanaboys trying to get it all together.

Aloha for now. Pam

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[pslamont]

It is still dry; drought now I guess. Neighbors are ordering water. I have learned it costs $120 to have 4000 gallons delivered. We have only a 500 gallo tank for the cabin so I haul water in a 70ish gallon container... over and over... but it is getting me by.

For those of you who have never been on catchment before, let me explain a few things. Because of thre sulfur that is in our air from the volcano, one does not drink the water from a catchment system without significant filtration systems. Generally one uses it for everything but drinking and just goes to the twon spigot for drinking water. Here on the east side every little town has a water spigot and everyone lines up... yep... just like in a third world nation. Difference is that there is a lot of water available this way here so the spigots usually have from four to eight spigots. The county was smart; only one or two take a hose adapter for us to fill these big containers. The rest have to be hand filled. MOST people have 5 gallon blue jugs they use and it is not fair for them to wait in line while someone pumps 50 gallons... or 250 gallons. Although the signs all limit one to a 50 gallon container no one pays attention to that. If you are watering animals as well as running a house you need what you need. It all seems to work out well. For the most part people are friendly and helpful with one another.

We continue to meet wonderful new friends and many of our "old" friends from here joined us at the blessing. Many more were away from the island for their own family gatherings over the holidays but we surely felt their spirits with us.

My husband and son have been here for about 10 days now. The time goes much too fast. There has been so much work to do for the blessing and such that there hasn't been too much play time. We found both the truck and jeep in the shop during this time too, so..... Still we are having fun and they are both getting a taste for country life. Our son Josh has no idea what being in the rainforest is really like as we have been in drought the whole time he has been here. Boy is he in for a surprise next visit! He has learned marginally to deal with pigs but like the chickens well enough. He thinks there should be a voicectomy procedure for roosters.... LOL

I had to be the "bad guy" and call the owner of the drywall company to rat out the subcontractor. Once the owner came over with a new crew, there has been more work done in two days that the sub got done in two weeks. Of course showing up has a lot to do with it! It is really moving along and the house is beginning to have the feel I wa designing from the outset. I imagine by the time Hubby returns in February it will be close to a real home and ready to furnish and decorate. Oh, gosh... another lifetime of decisions!

No other disasters to report. Just chugging along and enjoying the land as much as we can.

Pam



Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[pslamont]

Vacation is over and it is back to the regular grind... well almost. Hubby caught a plane back to the mainland this morning and my 31 year old son drove over to Kona for a few days. He will return Sunday and be on a plane by Sunday afternoon back to Manhattan. The caretaker Billy is off with friends for the holiday weekend so I am on the ranch alone. It's rather nice.

With no rain for two weeks we are hurting for water. I drive up a 70 gallon continer that can't really hold 70 gallons, move the container into the bucket of the tractor, lift it up above the catchment tank and then drain it into the catchment tank. Then I drive back to town and do it again... and again.... With just me and the pigs and the chickens and the dogs it was only a two container day and there is even water left over. Yayyyyy...

I liook around me and see so much to be done. With the family here we didn't do many of the things I had hoped for. We did, however, stay busy. There is just a lot to running a ranch.

A friend brought me about 10 starts of ti plants and I have about 10 more I gathered so it looks like some gardening for me this weekend. That will be good. I can do that on my own.

I have found some marvelous plants on the side of a back road next to a rock quarry.... pretty out in the "nowhere' so I feel fairly safe in "gathering" them for the landscaping in the yard. They are huge with leaves shaped like big feathers standing up rather than handing from their stems. Very dramatic. Hope we don't get in trouble for transplanting them...

Hilarious day with the pigs today. We woke to take hubby to the airport and the pigs were missing from their pen. The pen gate was closed so I couldn't quite figure out how they got out but we didn't have time to deal with it. When the carpenters arrived they said they found them on the road (they have found an unfenced section of forest to sneak thru off the property) and shooed them back onto the ranch but let them run free. By the time I got hubby on the plane, son off to Kona, two trips for water, two trips to the transfer station to get rid of drywall and one to the quarry for sand for the base of the water tank everyone was leaving for the day. Pigs were still out. I did my best to find them and did so but the darned old boy dog Gumbo decided to become a herding dog suddenly, heading them off into the back 20 instead of where I wanted to go. Ah, well, "Old Guys Rule" so what could I do? I put fresh water in the pen and food in hopes they would wander down there on their own later. I went to the cabin to tend the last water transfer and take a break.

Bark, Bark, Cluck, Cluck...Snort, Snort.. suddenly the little cabin was surrounded by pigs dogs, roosters and chickens all in a flurry. Haviing my wits about me for the first time in a while i grabbed a plastic bowl and filled it with the corn version of chicken food called scratch and shook it. Everyone stopped to listen... FOOD!

Tossing a couple handfulls to the chickens, to send them in one directuin, I hand fed a pig with some (they love it) and began rattling the bowl. Pointing a finger at Gumbo to behave, he backed off and the pigs began to follow me. Little handfulls on the ground every 15 yards or so with shaking and rattling the bowl and the three little piggies followed me down to the pen. They knew what I wanted and being GIRL pigs, actually went into the pen unassisted. Okay, I am teasing about the man bashing stuff but I am really so good at it, it just slips out...

Anyway, the pigs were given plenty of pigchow, fresh water, some corn and rice and sweetstuff as a treat (mixture of corn, molases, oats and a few other things that all the animals seem to like). More fresh water and they are tucked away for the night.

Back to the cabin, no husband , no son, no caretaker... yayyy. JUST ME AND 100 GALLONS OF WATER. I took a good hot shower and curled up here to listen to the crickets make their sounds and the chickens settling in for the evening. Even the dogs have settled onto their sleeping bag on the porch. It's all of 7:15 Pm but dark is dark in the primitive world and we are all happy t be tucked into bed for the night.

Simple adventures are the best and this one is just great. Thanks to my neighbor Neil for the Ti starts...

Aloha, Pam.

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[Naomi W]

Pam,
It may sound silly, but you might start call "pigs, pigs, pigs" when you feed them every day. and they might if you are lucky over time start to think the words mean food and come if they get out again. We uses to call the cows for food when I was a kid that way.
We lived on 20 acres in the country. One corner of our property butted up to the high school. A couple of time the cows found a whole in the fence and decided the football field had great grass. The only way to get them home was the call and randle the grain bucket.

Many of the stories you tell bring back memories of the great adventures of country life.

Thank you very much for taking the time to post!

Naomi

Edited by - Naomi W on 12/31/2005 13:41:45

[pslamont]

Naomi, not only is it not silly, it works! I shake that corn in ther plastic continer and call "pig pig pig" and after just as couple times they follow me down from the cabin to the pig pen. Once we are 3/4 of the way thrre they have started taking a different trail from me past the garden and still meet me at the gate to the pen. Gotta love how smart pigs can be!!

Today my son takes off for the mainland. He observed that in the three weeks he has been here the baby chicks are really growing. He sure is right. They have probably tripled in size. This whole country lifestyle is so fun, so fulfilling and so healthy. I find myself walking more than ever and enjoying the responsibilities of work. Of course, there is way more work than I can do alone and things are suffering somewhat during the olidays here but it's coming along....

The weather continues to be mostly sunny and dry and neighbors have warned me to expect at least four more weeks of this. Although hauling water is no fun, it is a great chance to mow and do work so it's all good.

A neighbor found me on the internet IM's recently and so contacts me now often. Today he came over with his coffee cup and we walked and drove all over the property. How fun.... Life continues to be good. I look forward to sharing it with more of you and LOVE those of you who have stopped by to see what is happening. I get great ideas from you all and it just makes the whole thing fun.

So....Mahalo and ALOHA.

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[pslamont]

Some back breaking work for me has begun. Finally, after needing to start for weeks I have begun the long slow process of preparing the slate for laying in the house. there is about 2500 to 3000 sq ft. by the time we do the floors, the showers and the kitchen countertops. Each 12 x 12 tile is hand washed in warm soapy water, rinsed, set out to dry, patting with a towel to speed up the process. Once dry, a coat of Jasco Gloss stone and tile sealer is applied with a paintbrush and allowed to dry. This is done a second time. NOW the tiles are ready to sort according to thickness (as a natural stone product, there is a lot of variation).

We finally got rain last night. Not a tremendous amount but my garden will be happy and the catchment got enough to give me a days water gathering reprieve.

The workers seem to have settled down after the holidays. The drywall is finally hung and the tapers are nearly finished; maybe 2-3 days I figure. This is excellent.

Safeway had full hams (from shank to butt end) on sale so I had thr butcher cut one into two nice roasts and a few steaks. The whole thing cost $22!!! We cooked one roast on the grill with baked potatoes for the workers dinner. It was a good chance to relax together. We sat in the house for thr first time with a meal; it was kind of cool! I sat on the hearth to the fireplace and it worked out much like I planned in its design (even though it isn't finished) as extended seating. Very comfy.

Oh, and just so you can all have another laugh (because I don't remember if I put this in or not and am too lazy to go read the last post) I drove the truck the other night after dark through the pasture to the cabin. Been doing this for weeks with it so dry. I managed to find the ONLY HOLE and dropped the front end right in. Fortunately the tractor pulled it out the next day. Man, I am getting a reputation with this truck into a hole thingi.... You all should have been proud of me, however. I did not curse, get mad, yell or any such thing. I just looked at it, shrugged my shoulders and figured to take a look in the morning, walked the rest of the way to the cabin after making the sideways climb out and went to bed. How Hawaiian of me!!!!!!

Pam

Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!

[pslamont]

More antics today.... the pigs were let out to roam. I figured since it is raining they would have fun tromping through the forest and eating slimy stuff. First thing they did was make a run for the food barrel with the sweet stuff and eat that.. sheesh. Got them shooed off toward the back of the property and cleaned up that mess. By mid day it seems a wild boar was chasing them across the back yard at the construction site. One of the carpenters shood him away and they asked me what i wanted to do. I sure don't want that boar herding them into his harem and not being able to catch them, so off to their pen they went. I figure they must be in heat. Our young construction helper, Joseph, took it upon himself to chase the boar away, ran spiritedly into the brush got about 100 yards and stopped short; there were three males waiting for him. Hmmmm.... the dry waller asked if he could come hunt them here. i said sure if I get half the meat. Just another fun day at the Lamont Ranch. Because of the rain which has finally hit, the drywaller has said he won't be back tomorrow; too much needs to be left to dry. Rain is back!!! Air is moist. Sheesh, timing. If that darned drywall hanger had done his job when he was supposed to.... but this IS Hawaii after all, and it just never goes that way.

Painter came back today. He is getting ready to bid painting the inside of the house. I want it all white. He gave me a color guide that says "whites" on the outside. So... where is the white? I see yellows and blues and greens and browns... all pale but not white. Appanrently I a the only person in America who wants white walls to be white, ot "Blush" (faded pink) or Silver Plum or Lilac Blue or Green Hint.... Why are these simple things so complicated?

Oh, and Cat/PunaCat came and visited today... she got the mini-tour as I was busy washing and sealing stone tiles but she seemed to have some fun. Have to ask her what she thought if you see her. She seems like a great lady and it was my pleasure to add one more to our crazy group of Punatics having so much fun together.

Well, that's the adventure for today. I am tired, my muscles ache, I am too sore and tired to walk down to the shower so I am in bed and it's oly 5:30.... is this normal? At least we are having rain. Pain though it is to work in, we sure need it.

Aloha, Pam

[David M]

Geez Pam, your drywall guys must be related to my electrician. Had the plans since Aug, been yappin (me beggin) on phone past 4 weeks to get started, so today he comes to do rough-in and complains about all the rain. Rain? What rain, me and tractor moved 40+ tons of rock today. Gotta love it. At least electrician got those two slabs done.

David

Ninole Resident