Cat Run Deconstructed

The big project for today was deconstructing the cat run; it needs to be taken down for the house painting next week. When I built it I planned for it to be temporary but I thought I would be taking it down when the cats & I moved to Kohala. Since I thought it was going to be taken down & not put up again some parts of my construction sequence will make it more difficult for reconstruction after deconstruction. When The Roommates put it back up I will advise them of a construction sequence so the cat run will be easier to put back up if it needs to be taken down again. Yes, I am making them put it back up rather than putting it back up for them.

Before.

Gate end removed; working on netting.

Netting removed. It was getting hot.

Shelf end removed. I got a little too much sun doing this.

My morning walk was invigorating! But I did notice that my knees were hurting more. That's knees, plural, not only the left one that I tweaked when I was sprinting a couple weeks ago.

Twelve minutes before sunrise on Maunalani.

Six minutes after sunrise on Sierra.

During my cool down stretches I realized I could see the tree in the lower parking lot that the Red-crested Cardinal is nesting in.


After I finished stretching I went to the lower lot and started looking for the nest. I found it! I also found a parking spot where I can sit in my car & see the nest. I also stood under the tree to see the nest; the bird moved its head so it was not visible from the ground.



I hung out the laundry when I got back to the house. I saw that Mom's orchids are doing great! I also saw that the Opuntia sp. cactus is fruiting; I hope these mature so we can eat them!

L to R: Momʻs last gift orchid, last orchid Mom raised.

I started on the cat run deconstruction after the laundry was hung out. I worked until I took down the gate end of the cat run; it took about an hour. It was a good place to stop & get ready for my mid-morning walk. Before my walk, I stopped at the bank to deposit the rent checks from The Roommates; I couldn't get the key out of the ignition! It took me 5 or 6 tries to get it out. Then when I parked for my mid-morning walk it did the same thing!

Fortunately the mid-morning walk was more positive than the parking. I checked on the
hāpuʻu, it's doing great! It is now almost 15" tall!



When I left Maunalani, I went straight to the Subaru dealer to have them fix the problem of the key getting stuck in the ignition. And guess what, it came right out of the ignition, no problem! So they wouldn't look at it today; I had to make an appointment for Monday morning. When I got home I couldn't get it out of the ignition again! Aue! (Duolingo says that's the way "Auwe" should be spelled, so that's how I will be spelling it from now on.)

For lunch today I ate the leftover quiche filling. When I made the quiche yesterday, I put too much egg into the egg mixture. It called for 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks; I put in 4 eggs because I kept thinking I needed 4 eggs. So I ended up with too much to fit in the pie shell. Even with just egg & cream it was great for lunch! Next time though, if I have leftover egg mixture I'll at least put in some cheese before I bake it.


After lunch I planned to finish taking down the rest of the cat run. But it took more time than I had planned, I had originally planned to just tear down the netting because I thought the ultraviolet had deteriorated the netting; the zip ties had gotten brittle and would easily break so I thought the netting was also affected. The netting I used said it was UV stabilized for longer life and it is certainly doing well! I ended up pulling out each staple individually. I also lost time dealing with the key getting stuck in the ignition. I ended up not going to Maunalani to help with Dad; I also skipped my afternoon walk.

One of the things I discovered as I was taking apart the cat run is that apparently all the male cats in the neighborhood were marking the grass growing at the end of the cat run. It was very smelly! But I needed to pull out the grass in order to move the end of the cat run. I took a shower, washed my hair, & washed all the clothes I was wearing immediately after finishing the deconstruction to get rid of the smell.

While removing the cat run I checked out the strawberries I planted a couple years ago. They only did well the first year but I let them continue growing; one is still gamely trying to provide fruit. The planting medium in some sections has been washed out by rain from the roof but most areas are okay. I found moa growing in a couple of areas; I will have to wait until they are larger to figure out which species it is. There was also an area that was covered with a nice growth of moss.

This plant is still trying its best to fruit.

Young moa fern.

Beautiful moss carpet.

I have decided to use my new pair of Hokas. I think perhaps the pain I am feeling in my knees is because my shoes have worn down again. It has been a few days more than 3 months since I started wearing this pair; I wore out the last pair in about 3 months as well.

L to R: currently used shoe, shoe retired in January 2019.