IASA #2-48

Construction has started! Chris is doing window replacement while waiting for other materials to arrive.

 

Construction Materials

I went to Waimea to meet with David at HPM Building Supply who provided the quote to Chris for the building materials. I had to make choices on colors for the materials; I also paid for the construction materials. Due to the holidays, the delivery of the wood & decking will arrive 01/08. For the roofing, I chose Mauna Kea White; I wanted something lighter to reflect some of the heat but not something too white. Roofing will arrive around the 15th or so.

This is the usual plantation workers house roofing material.

I had already talked to Chris about using composite material for the decking; I decided to make a small deck & not just a landing for the stairs down to the garden area. I wanted composite rather than wood for the longevity & lower maintenance. I chose a brown color to hide the dirty cat paw prints & also to look more like wood.

Then I met with Jesika for cabinets. I chose the 'Ōhi'a series of Akamai Cabinets. The cabinets will be in the Cat Genie closet so will mainly be seen by the cats, who won't care that these are the cheapest cabinets with the most limited number of colors. I chose gray since blues & grays are what they can distinguish. I now have to talk to Chris about what size to make the cabinets.

The day had started out with a nice rain to water the plants! I did not have to water the ʻōhiʻa like I have been on the days when there was no early morning precipitation. On the rainy days, like the sunny days, the cats like to hang out on the window sills & watch for whatever is going on outside. I hope they will like being able to run around in the cat yard once it is finished.

ʻŌhiʻa outside my bedroom window.

Hoʻokoa waiting for something to happen outside.

Kīlauea is still erupting. The website for the live feed cameras seen below is here.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Bria!

Mochi Making & Hannukah

I started out the morning at the Kohala Jodo Mission, helping make mochi for the gravesites & members & volunteers. All total, Joy had prepared 25 pounds of raw rice; I have no idea how many pieces of mochi we ended up making. Mochi making was followed by a potluck lunch for the members & volunteers. There were 14 of us there to help with the work & enjoy the potluck.

Glenn & Joy setting things up for mochi making.

While at the KJM, I saw the damage that the feral pigs have continued to do to the lawn right in front of the church building. I'm not sure what they are looking for; this area is only grass so there are no tasty tubers underground.

About mid-morning cousin Leilani came by with flowers for the family graves; there are 3 in this cemetery. I gave her hand with cleaning the graves & putting up the flowers.

Leilani at her mother's grave; flowers are from her mother's garden.

I went home briefly to drop off the mochi for my house; the mochi for my ancestors buried at Kohala Jodo Mission will be distributed to the 3 family graves on New Years Eve. After dropping things off, I headed to Motek Bakery. David & Yael were hosting a Hannukah celebration for friends & customers. People were invited to bring their own menorahs which were lit in the window of the new bakery section that is currently under renovation. Later we had potato latkes & sufganiyot, the Jewish version of a malasada. I forgot to take photos of the food. 

Close-up of an oil menorah.

Kīlauea still erupting.

 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Jesse, Eric, Sarah, & Ava!

Old Books

I started on the pile of paper bags near the sewing room closet with the intention of tossing old things; the bags turned out to be filled with books. The 1st book I found was a really cool, old, leather-bound book that I decided I should keep. It was Audels Carpenters and Builders Guide #3 & has really nice line drawings; it also had a section on knots that will be useful. Initially printed in 1923, this is a copy from the reprinting in 1943.

I also found a book & several magazines in Japanese. The book looks like some sort of Who's Who, perhaps in Hawaiʻi since the cover art looks kinda like pineapples. The corner of several pages were turned down to mark them. But since I can't read Japanese I have no idea why these people were noted. I don't even know how old the book is.

All I can read is "2nd month" on the right column of characters.

Not sure if person on left or right is the "person if interest".

The magazines look like a Japanese version of Good Housekeeping with articles on recipes, home decor, crafts, sewing patterns, & what looks like a story for kids. All of this, of course, is my inference from the illustrations & photos in the magazine.

Left one is the February issue, right is March.

Looks like recipe for fish.

Looks like a story about a cat for kids.

A pattern for a child's top.

There was also an unabridged dictionary. I faintly remember seeing it around in my grandparents' house. But I don't think I ever opened it up. There was also a regular dictionary.

There was a box of novels, a California fish identification booklet, a kid-oriented book on reptiles, & a book of high school students that has cousin Val listed. 

Cousin Valerie is listed in this book.

As I looked through more of the packages I found other books, magazines, & pamphlets that were interesting; I also found a set of old keys hanging at the back of the door. I think these were things that Mom & her sisters set aside when they were initially thinking about selling the house 20 or 25 years ago. One book I did not find was the veterinary book about livestock & livestock diseases. As a kid I would spend a lot of time reading that book; I think my grandfather used it to help him with keeping his cows, pigs, & chickens healthy. According to Mom, Grandpa only had a 6th grade education; all the rest of it was self-taught or on the job training. By the time we came along, Grandpa had risen to level of "chemist" at the Kohala Sugar Company; he was responsible for figuring out when the boiling vat of cane juice was at the right stage to be ready to crystallize in to sugar.

The last thing I found today was 2 metal horse figurines that used to be standing on the shelves in the front bedroom (that is now the main guest bedroom). Unfortunately each horse has had 2 legs broken off & there were only 2 legs in the bag the bodies were found in; they belong to 1 of the horses. I am hoping I find the 2 legs of the other horse in some of the other boxes & bags in the sewing room.

For lunch I had a mushroom quiche from Motek Bakery. I went there today since tomorrow we are making mochi at Kohala Jodo Mission beginning at 8 am so I will have to miss the breakfast club & I would also be unable to pick up a loaf of sliced bread since it would be too warm for slicing in the morning. I did, however, find out David & Yael will let me pre-order a shakshuka & pick it up tomorrow; I paid for everything today to make things faster & easier for them tomorrow.

Around 6 this evening Kīlauea became more active again. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Jennifer & Gulshan!

What's Happening With the Maiʻa?

This morning I looked more closely at the volunteer keiki that popped up near the southernmost maiʻa. I am probably mistaken that this is a keiki that was left after the rest of the grove was dug up. I do remember seeing a small eye at the base of the root mass for that southernmost maiʻa. And I found another maiʻa keiki sprouting at the base of the middle maiʻa which is the tallest one. I also checked the 2nd maiʻa & found the keiki eyes are mushy & showing no growth.  My current plan is to separate the smallest maiʻa from the tall one & replant it in the spot where the dead maiʻa is currently at; it is small enough I can easily move it.

Keiki at base of southernmost maiʻa.

Keiki at base of tallest maiʻa.

I called Hakoda's Builders Appliance this morning & talked to Dan. Unlike Lake Appliance Repair, Dan did not immediately promise me a repair appointment. He told me that next week's appointments are all filled & they are just starting the scheduling for the week of January 6th. He said it would be either the 7th or the 9th & someone from Hakoda's would call me by the end of next week to let me know when my appointment will be for the washer repair.🤞 Dan also told me my washer was still under warranty which Whirpool said it was not! I am interested in seeing which business is correct on that. I also checked Hakoda's Yelp reviews; their average is 3.8. Over their time on Yelp they have only had 22 reviews & while 6 of them were 1 star reviews, only 1 was recent. The other 1 star reviews were prior to 2019, unlike Lake Appliance Repair that had a lot of 1 star reviews in 2024.

Just after dinner, Dan from Hakoda's called to say, based on my troubleshooting, they ordered a new control panel. When the control panel arrives, they will call to set up the installation. He said it might take a couple weeks for the part to arrive. It sounds like as they were developing the schedule for January, the information I provided gave them enough to determine what the likely problem was. I like that they are arriving with a part to fix what is most likely to be the problem. 

Emily is back mowing the lawn! Frank had been covering for her while she was on a medical leave. But she's back now! And I need to get back in to prepping Moʻo & the yard for her. Moʻo also needs to get back in to the habit of Emily mowing the lawn. 

I got an email from Chris with the cost of materials; it will be around $3800. That plus the labor & impact-resistant windows will bring the cost for the hurricane-resistant room to around $25,000. Which is kinda what I was thinking it would be; glad I have that Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)! He will be starting on the project on January 2, 2025.

In the morning Kīlauea's eruption was going but slowly. No lava fountains, but still plumes of vog. 

Later in the evening, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued an update. More vigorous fountaining started a little after 6 pm!

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Rosalinda!