Driving Miss Daisy

Aunty Daisy, Scott, & Wakana arrived in Kona this morning. On the way back to the house I took them along Hwy 190 between Kona and Waimea; its on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa. This would have been the road that Aunty Daisy would have traveled on when she was living here; she didn't recognize anything. We had lunch in Waimea at Village Burger. Scott, Wakana, and Aunty Daisy shared a couple of Big Island Beef Burgers, I had the Upcountry Lamb Burger.

Upcountry Lamb Burger.

Before we left Waimea we stopped at the farmers market. Scott wanted to see what types of fresh fruits & vegetables were available. We spent too much time taste testing the jams & preserves! I picked up 2 different types of avocados for Wakana to try; she was surprised to see avocados that were not Hass avocados.

L to R: Wakana, Aunty Daisy, & Scott.

Since it was cloudy we took the 'Akoni Pule Highway from Kawaihae to Hawi instead of the Kohala Mountain Road. Along the way we stopped at Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company, Mahukona Harbor, and Takata Store.

It's powered by the sun! Makes sense.

We also stopped at Mahukona Harbor; if Aunty Daisy left by boat, this is the most likely place she would have left from. We did the same with Upolu Airport.

L to R: Scott, Aunty Daisy, & Wakana.

Wakana checking to see how warm the water is.

While in Waimea Scott needed to stop for some beer, just in case his brand was not in the stores in Kohala. So on the way in we stopped at the grocery store I usually shop at, Takata Store; they had his brand! The Island Style Grindz trailer was parked in their parking lot, I went over to get us an order of poke nachos! They're so ono!


For dinner we went to Bamboo Restaurant, I have been told it is the best restaurant on the island. But since I don't eat out much in Kona and Hilo I don't really know if that's true. What I do know is that in the 3 times I have been there, I have greatly enjoyed everything I tried. This time was no exception. Wakana had the Crispy Polenta with Fish, Scott had the Coconut Crusted Fish, Aunty Daisy had the Pot Stickers, and I had the Thai Fish Salad. Bamboo is in the old Takata Store building.

You can buy a kit at the gift shop to make your menu cover quilt piece.

Crispy Polenta with Fish. (Photo by Wakana)

Coconut Crusted Fish with mashed potatoes. (Photo by Scott)

Potstickers. (Photo by Scott)

Thai Fish Salad.

L to R: Wakana, Scott, & Aunty Daisy. The gift shop is in the background.

Complimentary shot of tomato soup with Parmesan cheese.

Later we spent time in the gallery & gift shop portion of the building. I had a great time talking to Tama, comparing notes on people and places that we knew.

It was a very busy day, packed with lots of sights and food. Tomorrow there will be less driving but more visiting with people. We are also going to walk around in town more to see what Aunty Daisy remembers. I have had the good fortune to be able to fill Scott in on some of his family history, like how Aunty Daisy ended up in Chicago. I only know the history because of what Mom told me about it.

For me the day started out watching the sky slowly turn a rosy pink  color from my bed. I went to check the cat food on the front porch; it looks pretty certain now that the cats that were around in July and September have left. I also took the Solar Helix apart; the plastic housing is disintegrating; the solar panel and LED lights work without the housing.

Photos just can't capture the true colors of the dawning sky.

This bowl was out overnight; it wouldn't have lasted even 30 minutes when the cats were here.

The disintegrating housing on the left; panel and LEDs on the right.

Happy Birthday to Cheech, Dean, Geoffrey, & Sho! And Happy 9th Anniversary to Judy & Keith!

ProVision Solar

Elmar from ProVision Solar came by this morning to get a detailed look at the roof, the location for the Tesla battery, the existing panel, and the existing meter. We talked about placement of the various parts; Chris & Adam were here to start work on reinforcing the wall that the  battery would hang on. Elmar asked if it was okay to have the base on the floor and just anchor the top; I said sure. That made Adam's work really simple; instead of beefing up the whole wall all he had to do was install 2 studs as anchor points. There will be other work for them to do.


I woke up to find 2 green anoles staring at me from the window. They were stuck on the inside of the screen. I'm not sure how they got in but they couldn't find their way out so I had to catch them and put them outside.

It turned brown because it was stressed from the handling.

This one was much easier to catch.

Free at last!

While chucking the last one out I noticed a gray francolin walking down the driveway. There's one that does that early in the morning and makes its funny, almost turkey-like call as its walking down the driveway. This one was silent.

 
While Elmar was on the roof I went around and checked out the plants in the anthurium garden. I also took a close look at the hapu'u that has to get moved. It is very healthy and has a lot of keiki. When I meet the person that owns the tree fern that I am 90% sure is the invasive Australian tree fern I am going to offer to cover the cost of removing and replacing it with a hapu'u. If we can't find one on O'ahu, I am going to offer to make a cutting off of this hapu'u that needs to be moved before the expansion of the sewing room; there are about 6 large starts and a whole bunch of smaller ones. I am kind of thinking I want to see about making a bunch of starts off of it and planting more hapu'u in other parts of the property. Because they grow so slowly I know I won't be able to see the results but I can imagine what they would look like; the one that needs to be moved is over 50 years old!

Big, healthy tree fern.

Some of the smaller keiki.

I had the 2 very big junipers that were shading the calamansi & Meyer lemon removed. It has also opened up a view to Maui from the living room. I am now reconsidering what I replace them with. I am still thinking about something native but also one that doesn't get so tall that it blocks the view of Maui.

On a clear day I should be able to see Maui out this window now.

I spent a bunch of time cleaning up the house in preparation for Aunty Diasy's arrival tomorrow. While doing that I realized the rotating bar on the vacuum cleaner was a tangled mass of hair! It's a combination of my hair and Kai's hair - his is longer than mine. The vacuum is working much better now.

Before.

The stuff that was removed.

After.

If I pay attention I should be able to see from the top side when it gets all tangled with hair.

While cleaning up one of the rooms I found a mummified slug; it had crawled in the window and died on the window sill. I think it got baked in the sun & dehydrated.

Dehydrated slug.

I also installed the LED bug zapper lights that I got from Hammacher Schlemmer; we'll see how well the one on the front porch works. I discovered that the one at the back porch won't work very well; I forgot it is on a circuit with the garage light so if I leave the bug zapper function on that means the garage light is also on. I will have to install that light some where else.

With LED and zapper on.

With only zapper on.

I ate the other omiyage from Barbara for breakfast. It' a piece of cake! No, really it is; a piece of castella cake. It came with its own little plastic folding knife! It was excellent!



I ended the evening on the treadmill. I set it for 3.0 mph and walked until I had covered 4.2 miles; which is my daily goal for this week. Good news, I did it all at once, not in 3 walks like I do up at Maunalani. I felt great when I was done so I know I will be able to walk at least half the course all at once!

It's supposed to say 84:20 minutes but some of the lights are burned out.

Happy Birthday to Kai-Chin!

KOA Bound

I am posting this from the gate while waiting for Hawaiian Airlines flight #398, heading for Kona tonight. Tomorrow I am meeting with ProVision Solar; on Wednesday Aunty Daisy, Scott, & Wakana arrive & I take them around in Kohala, Hilo, & Waimea.


This morning I walked with LaVie for one lap around Maunalani Circle before we split up and went out separate ways. I saw Dawn, Chloe, & Coco down at the park; I also saw Maggie & Bella and Gwen. It was a nice morning for walking!


I checked the mushroom by the bus stop; someone mashed it but I could still tell that it was turning a little green. The ones at Jimmy's weren't doing much except turning brown & drying up. But I did find another one that I picked and put in a white bag; later it was turning green. They're both Chlorophyllum molybdites, the inedible one.

Mushrooms at the bus stop.

Mushroom at Jimmy's.

Jimmy's mushroom.

Close-up of Jimmy's mushroom showing the gills turning green.

I also found a flattened bird. I still have not figured out what it is.

Unknown flattened bird, possibly a White-rumped Shama.

When I arrived a bunch of the CNAs were taking photos for Halloween. I like that they do a lot of celebrations and include the staff as well as residents.


Dad got up and ate in the Orchid Dining Room today but didn't eat much. He also went to the Namaste massage today; he was quite active this morning which was nice to see.

Okay, so he spent more time sleeping than eating.

During my mid-morning walk I met Mimi; she lives just uphill of Jimmy. Although the strip next to the road in front of her house is clearly in the right of way, I asked her for permission to pick mushrooms; her mailbox is in the hedge & I didn't want her to think I was trying to get her mail! It turns out she is taking mushroom-derived supplements from Fungi Perfecti; she told me it was OK to come on to her property & pick mushrooms in her yard. She said she would even call me to come and check on mushrooms she finds!


Across from Jimmy's house I saw a few other mushrooms in the parking strip. One of them had a slimy cap, I mean a really slimy cap; think 'personal lubricant' slimy. I'm not doing a spore print on that one because not many mushrooms are slimy when they are not wet from precipitation; that narrows down the possibilities significantly.

The one on the right is the slimy one.

Lunch today was Oriental shoyu chicken, Steamed rice, Malibu blend vegetables, Garden salad, Peanut butter bar, and Tomato red pepper bisque soup. Dad ate one bite of the peanut butter bar and drank all his supplements.


For most of the day it has been overcast. In the afternoon there was one small patch of intense sun. I spent some time taking photos of a couple of the decorations I have seen while walking

Skeleton dog on Lurline.

Jack has a headache on Sierra.

At my weigh-in this morning I was pleasantly surprise to find that I had lost 1.3 pounds since Friday! And that was with eating dinner out last night and also having Dark Chocolate Sorbet from Via Gelato! Hopefully working out on the treadmill will keep me in track for my walking schedule as well as help with the fat-burning. I rewarded myself with trying one of the omiyage from Barbara; I tried the one shaped like a chestnut; it tasted like chestnut.


I'm still not sure of whether the guacamole keeper is useful or not. What do you think? Which one looks better?


I am lucky to have great roommates! The Roommate Who Likes Washing Dishes will be giving Shiro his prednisolone & feeding the cats. And The Potential Most Favorite Roommate is taking Shiro in for his 2 vet appointments while I am gone.

Shiro's med basket. He's only got one med but in 3 different forms.

Happy Birthday to John & cousin Aimee! And Happy 13th Anniversary to Jeremy & Karina!