Visiting Aunty Doris & Uncle Tom

If I have enough time, I always like to go to Hilo to visit with Aunty Doris & Uncle Tom. Especially since they no longer do long drives; it's easier for me to go & see them. We went to lunch at their friend's restaurant Sunlight Cafe. Aunty Doris had the Shrimp Burger, Uncle Tom had the Tonkatsu, & I had the Beef Curry. The curry was good, it was like the kind they have in Japan. I also got to talk to their youngest daughter Kellie; she called right after we got back from lunch. Kellie & her boyfriend are thinking about buying a condo in Kona.

Aunty Doris with Shrimp Burger. I will have to try that next time.

Uncle Tom & Tonkatsu with fries.

Beef Curry.

When I got up this morning I was easily able to see the saffron finch that was on the roof by my window. In the other room configuration I would have been too close to the window to see the bird due to the angle and the glare.

Sicalis flaveola.

I think I found out what they were doing on Tuesday when the traffic was stopped. I think what I saw today was what they were doing, however, something must have happened so that they were blocking both lanes.

Maybe on Tuesday the dump truck was sticking out further in to the roadway?

Here's what the grass & trees are looking like after the 2 weeks of rain at the end of October. Normally this area looks yellow & brown. Same with the Kona area; Janice said people had been telling her how dry Kona was so she was confused when she stepped off the plane and saw all the green around.


On the way to Hilo I stopped at the Alae Cemetery to visit the grave for the Mayahara side of the family. I left a cookie.

On the way back from Hilo, I decided to take the Saddle Road. I had never been on the Saddle Road before; it used to be a dirt track used by the military. (And rental car contracts did not allow taking cars on the Saddle Road.) But it was recently paved and opened to the public. It is really nice & didn't take me much longer than going along the Hamakua Coast. I stopped to get photos of Mauna Kea & Mauna Loa.

Mauna Kea.

Mauna Loa.

On the west end of the Saddle Road, I could either go northerly to Waimea or westerly through Waikoloa. (Southerly to Kona was not an option since that took me farther away from my destination.) I decided to go westerly since I had never been through Waikoloa & I thought it would be faster. It turns out I ran in to traffic leaving Kona so it probably was not any faster than going through Waimea.


When I got home I still had enough light so I started taking measurements for the addition to the sewing room. The plan is to enlarge it so the cats have their own room that has access to the anthurium garden area, which will be fenced to keep the cats in. (The fence will also keep the wild pigs out; they like to eat the center of the hapu'u & root around & could easily destroy the anthurium garden in one night.)  

The window will be replaced with a door, there will be a landing under the window, with stairs coming down along side the wall on the left.

Surprise! One of the avocados is ripe! It was one of the smaller ones that turned a little purplish. I have been checking them every morning & this morning it was soft! I had it for dinner; I made an avocado sandwich. In Hawai'i avocados are eaten plain or with sugar, shoyu, or ketchup. Sometimes you put it on bread & sometimes you just scoop it out of the skin. Yum!

This is topped off with another slice of bread to make a sandwich.

I had to do surgery on my Solar Helix this evening. It has not been staying open when I unfolded it. Even hanging it & letting gravity do its work on the bottom half did not work. And the vinyl of the body was starting to crack open. I used old waribashi, blue tape, & clear tape.


Happy Birthday to Leslie, Bob, Trish, & Maribel!