Still Trying

Our strategy with Dad is to try to get him to eat his meal; but if he doesn't eat much then we tell him he has to drink all the Boost Breeze & Boost Plus supplements that he is given along with that meal. For breakfast this morning Jessa even got peanut butter for his pancake but he only ate about half of it and nothing else. So I got him to drink 240 ml Breeze "juice" and 240 ml Plus "milk". Lunch was similar, he only ate 1/4 of his peanut butter & jelly sandwich, but drank another 240 ml of Breeze and 180 ml of Plus. Dinner was also primarily liquid with 240 ml Breeze & 120 ml of Plus. Today is Dad's 10th day on the Remeron; May 8th will be 2 weeks. If he's still not eating by next Wednesday, I will talk to Dr. Gries about adjusting the dosage.

Breakfast.

Lunch.

Dad stayed in the wheelchair for almost 4 hours; the Royal Purple seat cushion is really helping! He ate both breakfast & lunch in the wheelchair. We also spent about half an hour sitting in the hazy sunlight on the patio; Popokilani wasn't around so I watched the brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) displaying & catching bugs while Dad took a nap. Then Dad spent an hour listening & singing along when Lynn & Gloria were playing the ukulele. I think the ukulele time is a very good activity for him; it is the most engaged he gets with any activity.

Napping at the viewpoint.

Brown anole (Anolis sangrei).

At both breakfast & lunch Dad was sitting at a table with a Mrs. Keliikipi. At lunch I asked her if she had any relatives on the Big Island; she said yes, in Kona, Hilo, & Kohala! But she couldn't remember their names. There was a Keliikipi family that was good friends with Grandma & Grandpa; they lived a couple houses away. I remember Mrs. Keliikipi teaching me how to steam the kalo and pound it on a papa kuiai with the pohaku kuiai to make paiai, then make poi out of it. It is one of the memories I have where my brother & sister are not around. I am glad I was able to visit with Mrs. Keliikipi the year before she passed away; one of her grandsons lives in the Kona area, her granddaughter lives in the Hilo area. So the Mrs. Keliikipi who is at Maunalani might just be related to them.

On my walk to Maunalani Park today I saw a pair of White-rumped Shamas right at the park. I took a couple of photos and also listened to a recording of shamas calling so I could, hopefully, recognize their call. I also Googled to see what their nests looked like; they nest in tree cavities. (Which probably means the dead baby birds I found were not shamas.) So now I need to look for holes in trees.

White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus).

On the way to the mailbox I found a part of an eggshell. I think it is a mejiro (Zosterops japonicus) egg shell, its about the right size. I checked the mango tree above where I found the  shell for a nest but I could only see mangoes.



The LifeProof case arrived today!!! I actually didn't see it when I got home. One of The Roommates found it on top of the mattress that we have stored in the garage; it was above my eye level. Once I got it I followed Eric the customer service guy's recommendation and water tested the new case; he also recommended retesting it every 3 months if I was planning on being around water with the phone. I never tested the 1st one since the Verizon guy installed it. And the customer service guy for the 2nd one said nothing about water testing it. However, if I had read the Owner's Manual, I would have found it starting on Page 5. Case No. 3 passed with flying colors!

Newly arrived LifeProof case!

Water testing the LifeProof case; it stays under for 30 minutes.

While I was eating dinner tonight, Chibi decided to give me a little present. It was nice and warm.

I didn't step on it, I saw it being produced.

On Day 2 of the Kilauea eruption last night's fissure stopped spewing lava but 6 others opened up. As of tonight's news cast, they were still spewing. Apparently 2 houses have been at least partially burned. There was a magnitude 6.9 earthquake about 12:30 this afternoon. They say some people on O'ahu felt it; I didn't, I think I might have drifted off in a short nap while sitting in the chair in Dad's room. There is no prediction on how long this eruption phase will last.

(Screen shot from KGMB)

(Screen shot from KGMB)

(Screen shot from KGMB)

Happy Birthday to Mary!