Clean-Up Day #2

I arrived at the house about 10:30 pm on Sunday night. And found things in much more disarray than I expected. The movers (who were all 1st generation Portuguese immigrants) had piled the boxes in the living room relatively compactly, the furniture was in the front bedroom. Chris had to move everything since the floors were not completed yet. (They were supposed to have been done by July 4th.) When he was done, it was not as compact, though it was easier for me to reach the highest boxes. Chris did a great job putting cardboard under the boxes and furniture so the new wood floors would not get scratched. Here's what it looked like when I arrived.

Kitchen, looking in from back door

Living room, looking in from hallway towards front door

Front bedroom

Middle bedroom

Back bedroom

Sewing room

I was glad I stuffed one of the Solar Puffs in my backpack as I was leaving Honolulu. Since things were piled all over I was not able to get to any of the lamps I had used previously; the Solar Puff was my light source for reading in bed.

Solar Puff on high; it also has low and blinking settings

On Monday I mainly took care of the social visits: Jessie, Uncle Kazu, and Lem. I also took flowers to the cemetery. I sent this photo to Curt so he could show Mom that I had taken care of the ohaka.


I also spent a bunch of time running to the hardware store getting sliders & protectors for the feet of the chairs and furniture, a tape gun, cleaning supplies, and more. So I did not get much sorting, unpacking, or reorganizing of boxes done. But I did put out the Terro liquid ant traps.

Terro, with captive ants

Since I had gotten all the social responsibilities done yesterday, I could concentrate on what I came here for. I had to use the shop vacuum since none of the stores at this end of the island carries a regular vacuum or even something like a Shark; so I ended up buying ear protectors instead. I also bought a Swiffer so I could "mop" the floors after I vacuumed. It's the regular Swiffer, not the Wetjet; need to talk to Chris more to see how much moisture the new floors can handle.

Swiffer, on the repairs table

Besides the ant trap, I also got a cockroach trap (for large roaches), and a wasp, hornet, & yellowjacket (WHY) trap. What I really liked about the trap is that it comes with an identification key so you can figure out what you caught! I placed it in the garage so that any that come in to build nests will get hopefully caught. I don't mind them around the yard, they just need to stay away from the back door and the clothes lines.

Unfortunately we also have mud daubers, not sure if I will catch any of them

I am taking a break now in the early evening, to access the Internet via the wifi at the Kohala Coffee Mill. My laptop and the internet at CSC Cafe do not play well together. And the internet at the North Kohala Public Library is down; has been for 2 weeks and they aren't sure when it will be back up again. The router that I am using right now belongs to the coffee mill folks, but it is closer to the Kava Kafe, so I am sitting at their table using the coffee mill's wi-fi! They're pretty laid back about it, there is no password and you don't need to buy anything, though they appreciate it if you do. Here's the wind turbines at the library, they also have solar panels.

Turbines at North Kohala Public Library

I will have to come back to Kava Kafe/Kohala Coffee Mill again later in the week when I will post photos of the completed rooms. (The living room should be done tonight.)

Happy Birthday to Keith, Pete, Alana, & Sumit! Happy 2nd Anniversary to Kai-Chin & Percy! Happy Belated Birthday to Sufayatu!