Leaving Moku o Keawe

I spent most of the morning cleaning, packing, & saying my Good Byes. I also did a little more clean up in preparation for Hurricane Olivia or any other system coming through during this storm season. A lot of that involved moving things away from the windows as much as possible, then covering them with plastic. At least if a window breaks the items off the floor won't get wet.

Boxes, chair, & fan have been moved away from the window.

Boxes have been moved away from this window.

The screen was originally in front of this window.

The kitchen; this is what it usually looks like when we leave.

Living room: before.

Living Room: after.

I also picked up the stack of pots that the ants were in last night. It looked like they were out but when I went to move them I found they were now under the pots rather than in them. I gingerly put them into the wheelbarrow and wheeled the whole mess in to the garage. I didn't want to put them in the car to go to the transfer station and then get bitten by ants on my drive to Kona, but I wanted them to not become projectiles; keeping them in the garage seems like a good solution.


I spread out the macadamia nuts that I collected yesterday. Their husks need to dry to make it easier to get them out of the husks. Then I will be using the macadamia nut cracker that Lem made to crack the shells open; it's much easier & safer than using a hammer. And the nuts don't end up being mangled.

Drying the mac nuts.

The mock orange (Murraya paniculata) hedge is starting to bloom; the blossoms are very fragrant & I can smell them in my bedroom. Fortunately the fragrance does not aggravate Jessie's asthma; I found out pakalana & pikake can trigger her asthma attacks so I will have to plant them on the other side of the house. She's fine with gardenias, which is good since Grandma had planted one along the fence.


I marked the miniature anthuriums that I planted on the hapu'u. This way, if they die I will know it instead of wondering if I just forgot where I planted them. I also marked the moa (whisk fern, Psilotum nudum) so that the landscapers know I want it kept.

I closed everything up, put the bags outside the front door, got in the car, and headed up the driveway ... to see the 2 jars of salted limes sitting at the end of the ramp! It's a good thing I put the salted limes there in the sun; I figure the concrete pad will also hold the heat and help the fermentation process. I would also have to trip over them in order to load up the car.


I gave the left over pie from last night to Jessie and I took the Meyer lemons to the Ohtas. I told them about the person who came and cut the shrubs, calamondin, and pua kenikeni; they had a suspect but he was a very big guy so it probably isn't him. They said they would make sure they call Jessie before they go over to pick calamondin or other fruits.

I also went to the cemetery to put the portulaca on the other Takatani family gravesite. The first portulaca had even more blooms on it than when I arrived; I think its because I emptied out the excess water and it has been somewhat sunny for 2 days now.

The 1st portulaca.

The 2nd portulaca.

I went to see Uncle Kazu; he had just started his after-lunch exercise so I walked the 3 laps with him before I left. It's great to see him taking his health seriously; I think he is better off than sitting around just watching TV like he used to when he was at home.

On my way to see the Ohtas I passed the slide that blocked me during the early part of my trip out to the Hawaii Wildlife Center. It is rather large; no wonder the road was closed off for a while.


When I stopped in to see Patrick at the Hawai'i Wildlife Center we decided to look in to another option for transporting birds to & from HWC. We are going to see about timing the transport so that I take the bird to Hawaiian Air Cargo to have it put on the plane I am flying on. Then when I get to Kona, I pick it up from cargo and take it to HWC on my way to the house!

Curtis took us out to dinner when we got back to the house; we went to Zippy's. Curtis had the Chili Moco, The Potential Most Favorite Roommate had the TeriBurger with fries, The Roommate Who Likes to Wash Dishes got 2 scoops of chocolate ice cream, and I tried the Kim Chee Fried Rice with Kalbi Sausage. If you like kim chee fried rice, don't get this one; it's terrible! But the kalbi sausage was great!

I forgot and started cutting things up before I took the photo.

Chili Moco.

Teriburger with fries.

Chocolate ice cream.

Shiro spent last night at the Veterinary Emergency + Referral Center (VERC). The Roommates took him there on the recommendation of Shiro's regular veterinarian, Dr. Sylvester from the Cat Clinic. Because I am a good customer both the Cat Clinic & VERC let me have someone else drop Shiro off and give my verbal OK over the phone to charge my credit card. As soon as I was able to I went to see Shiro; I was pleasantly surprised to see him so active. In fact, the vet tech said the doctor said we could take him home with us; so we did! According to The Roommates he looks 10 times better than when they first took him in. I stopped to pick up some canned cat food on our way home.

Shiro eating at the vet's office.

There are sooooo many different brands of cat food!

Once again the TSA checked my suitcase. This time I think it was the carrier from the Hawai'i Wildlife Center that I had in there. They had to search through the dirty laundry to get to it.


Hurricane Olivia is just barely a Category 1 and is expected to maintain its strength over the next day but diminish after that. It is about 660 miles east of Hilo and is expected to be near the islands late Tuesday night; exactly where is not yet known, all the main islands are covered by the cone of uncertainty. Because of the uncertainty, O'ahu, Maui County, & Hawai'i County are all under Storm Watch.

At 11 a.m.

 
Happy Birthday to Claudia! Happy 18th Anniversary to Bruce & Monava! And Happy 18th Anniversary to Sensei & Mrs. Pierce!