Phantom Pruner Strikes Again!

I headed to the Big Island this afternoon. When I got to the house the first thing I did was look for signs of the Phantom Pruner. I found that the 3 banana plants that had fruit on them were gone; they would have been ready when everyone was here for Obon. Aue!


A few minutes after sunset I happened to glance up and look in Jessie's back yard, I had seen a movement out of the corner of my eye. It was a feral pig! It was a half-grown pig and 2 of its buddies. They took off when they saw me but I got a couple photos of them.


Upon closer inspection, I think perhaps it was the feral pigs that removed the banana plants; I know that Grandpa used to feed the domestic pigs banana stalks & leaves. I will have to look more closely tomorrow when there is more light to see exactly what's going on. I know I did see a lot of pig poop in the back yard earlier.

Before I even got to Maunalani this morning I was seeing interesting things. Like this police action on Waialae; there were about 4 police cars stopped along the park. I couldn't tell what they were doing.


This morning I didn't see any regulars on my walk but I did see that there is a lot of progress on Art's boardwalk; it will probably be done by the time I return. I also took a photo of Tree #4 from my usual angle as I walk past the park on Sierra.  I shortened my cool down stretches since I had a bunch of things I needed to do before leaving.

Four minutes before sunrise on Maunalani.

Fourteen minutes after sunrise on Sierra.

I found this avocado in the strangest place; at the top of a hill where there are no avocado trees.

Tree #4 from across the way.

One of the things I needed to take care of before I left was the weeds around the napalapalai and hāpuʻu; some of them were getting ready to set seed & that would just make more work for me later if I let them go. After I finished that, Kelly told me the irrigation line had broken in the corner, so I went to repair it. We're not sure exactly what happened but a part looked like it had been melted & stretched and it had also snapped; no water was going to get through.

Before.

After; I still have more weeds to remove.

After I fixed the irrigation line, we had a nice chat about the Kohala house, what work I was doing on this trip, and my future plans for it. We also talked about being able to find contractors you can trust. And, of course, the Phantom Pruner came up in conversation also. He said perhaps I had a "secret admirer"; I don't need that kind of admirer, it feels more like a stalker.

The Potential Most Favorite Roommate dropped me off at the airport; we kind of decided the center of the area was probably best. I used the kiosk to get my boarding pass & bag tag. But when I went to drop off my bag I found I had to walk all the way over to the far makai end of the building! But getting dropped off on that end would not have helped much; I had to walk ALL the way back to the mauka end of the building to get in to the TSA pre-check line! Aue!




While waiting for the rental car shuttle bus I noticed the Designated Smoking Area. So even though Kona is an open-air airport, you still need to stay 25 feet away from the common areas. They put the Designated Smoking Areas across the street from the rental car shuttle stops.


I took the coast road because it looked like it might be cloudy up on the mountain road. I could see Haleakala in the distance.

Checking the weather on the Kohala Mountain Road.

Maui in the distance.

While I walked around the house I checked on the  mountain apples; they are still all green. I  also looked at some of the things I need to do while here, like take measurements for the remodel of the sewing room and what the front looks like now since the Phantom Pruner has been cutting things down.

Green mountain apples.

The sewing room.

Looking at the front from across the street.

Since I had Jenny's old bug zapper in my suitcase, I was expecting TSA to search my suitcase. They did not disappoint!