Welcome, Kaia!

The big news of the day is that Sarah had her baby today! Kaia Simone Torich was born at 7:37 pm (PA time). She is 8 lbs 5.5 oz and 20 inches. Mom is now a great grandmother! She was asleep when I got back from the airport so I was unable to show her the photo and let her know. I showed Dad Kaia's photo and let him know he was now a great grandfather; he was cool about it.

Kaia Simone Torich (photo by Evan)

Last night, after I left Kohala Coffee Mill, I could see the moon over Hawi. I wasn't able to see the supermoon on Monday night, it was raining in Kapa'au; but I heard Jennifer & Travis had a good view from the Mauna Kea observatory. Here's the best moon view I had, a couple days late.

Moon over Hawi (I was parked when I took the photo).

When I got back to the house it had started to cloud up. Or maybe its just cloudier in Kapa'au than Hawi, which is about a mile closer to the dry side of the island. I could see the moon peeking through the clouds and the avocado tree.


When I got back I focused on getting the butsudan set up. Only problem, I could not remember exactly what was there and the placement. Fortunately Tomiko took a bunch of photos for her Passage installation, they helped me out a lot. Looks pretty good, though I haven't found all the pieces yet. (In case you're wondering, the fake flowers are so there are flowers there even when no one is there to put fresh flowers up.)


On Monday (Day #6) Chris had his helper Mike start painting the porch. Mike was able to prime the porch area, the railings, and the posts. Then it started to drizzle, then it started to come down in waves, so Mike had to stop for the day. He tried again on Tuesday (Day #7) and got the porch done before it started raining again. I asked them to skip painting on Wednesday so that I could use the ramp to get my suitcase out to the car instead of hauling it down the back stairs. The red matches the original color of the porch floor.


One of the few pieces of furniture that I brought with me is a rocking chair that was given to me by my friend Colleen. The chair belonged to her daughter Cathy, who had cerebral palsy. It fits me perfectly, which is why Colleen gave it to me. I sent Colleen's other daughter Laura a photo of the chair in the house and invited her to come and visit Cathy's chair!

Cathy's chair with Kai's cat pillow & Hawaiian blanket.

While I was at the Kohala Aina Festival on Saturday I got information on a number of things I was interested in, including solar panels. My intention is to put the panels on the garage roof even though it slopes towards the east. The south facing roof would be more ideal, however, it can be seen from the road. I'm willing to trade off a little efficiency to preserve the plantation style look of the house. Elaine & Matthew from Solar City came out this morning to measure the roof and see what kind of system they can design for me.

Elaine from Solar City. (Matthew is crawling around under the house.)

While Matthew & Elaine did their work outside, I did the final organizing and clean-up inside. It included making the beds in the middle & back bedrooms to get them ready for a trip in December with Mom if she is feeling well enough.

Living room, Day #8.

Front bedroom, Day #8.

Middle bedroom, Day #8.

Back bedroom, Day #8.

Sewing room, Day #8.

Art in sewing room, Day #8.

Kitchen, Day #8.

Counter, Day #8.

I was so focused on making the beds and organizing the boxes and moving furniture around that I skipped lunch. I ended up grabbing a croissant sandwich at the airport. It was both lunch and dinner.

Roast beef croissant sandwich at the airport.

On the ride back from the airport Curt filled me in on what has been going on with Mom while I was gone. He said Mom would complain about having the Safe Harbor caregivers; she said they weren't necessary. But by the end of their shift she was having such a good time with them she was asking for addresses so she could send them a Christmas card! Her thumb is looking good, the Mepilex Ag dressing is making a big difference. Tomorrow I take her in for the cross match for her transfusion on Friday.

Happy Birthday to Lopaka!