Dehydration Success!

The sliced tangerine sections were nice and dehydrated by 10 this morning after only about 15 hours of drying. I tried a slice that had some cinnamon on it as suggested by Grey; it was delicious! I think when I do this later for myself I will also add cinnamon. I also removed the very thick slices that had the rinds on them; they have now had about 36 hours of drying time.

15 hours.

36 hours.

When I woke up today I decided to make today mainly an indoor work day; it was overcast but not drizzly, but I had indoor things I needed to do.

Twelve minutes before sunrise.

One of the first things I do in the morning is to put incense on the butsudan; it is one of the agreements for being steward of the family property. I noticed today that there were only 3 pieces of incense left in the holder. When I went to fill it, I discovered that the last box that my mother had opened was empty. I opened a new box; I am the new keeper of the family traditions.


The Roommate Who Likes to Wash Dishes sent me a photo this morning; it was the contents of a COVID-19 Care Kit that arrived yesterday from my friend Janice. She said it had chocolate in it so it needed to be refrigerated; I asked The Roommates to open it up. Janice was supposed to come and visit in May, but with all the uncertainty of travel at that time she & her friend are cancelling their trip. Some of the things in the package were things she was going to bring as presents for us.


A couple of hours later I got an e-mail from The Bronco Dude, he said, "The other day my wife shared a care basket for ER Nurses, Doctors and First Responders at a local hospital near where we live. On our way back home, she asked if I would light up the front entrance of our house with festive lights. She said that will help lift her spirit during this difficult period. I jumped at the opportunity. What we both discovered was how good it made us feel to see the lights displays around our front entrance of our home. ... Sometime, lights give and bring us hope when things around us seem dark and sad. Thinking about those of us who are sick, shut-in, who have loss someone or just lonely or scared. Someone who spirits are down and need the spirit of lights to pick them up. Light it up in the name of solidarity, support, remembrance, caring and of unity. Light it up for our first responders and for our country. Light it up to bring joy to someone who may need it. ... Our request of you is to start a movement with your family, friends and neighbors. A movement of hope, peace and love. A movement to think of those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Display your festive lights around your windows or doors. Help lift someone's spirits and maybe you will discover the benefits looking at the lights from your window. Light it up! Share your story!"

 
After I removed the dried tangerines from the dehydrator I decided to reposition the cart it was on. I turned it 90 degrees; this allows access to the shelf & lower cabinet. The shelf is where I put the reusable bags for grocery shopping; though in this time of COVID-19 Takata Store is providing new paper bags to minimize transmission from bags of people who may not be as meticulous as they should be about hand hygiene. In the cabinet below, I keep the Food Saver & its supplies for vacuum sealing.

This got bowed from the microwave.

I had a brainstorm last night, I also have a Cuisinart food processor somewhere in a box. Using the food processor to slice sliceable things would make prep work for dehydrating them easier; plus they would dry more evenly since the slices should be more uniform. I will talk to Grey when he returns to see if that would be helpful for them. In the meanwhile, I will look for the food processor, which will also allow me to figure out what is in my boxes again.

FYI About a year ago I was having problems with my phone. The Verizon tech that was "helping" me deleted apps he thought were unnecessary without telling me what he was doing. I found out too late that he deleted my Moving Planner app where I had meticulously entered data on each numbered box as I packed them. Since it was a free app it was not backed up somewhere. Now I am careful to tell the tech right up front that they need to ask permission before they start deleting things from my phone! On the plus side, it's like getting a present every time I open a box!

For lunch today, I finished my leftovers from the Chile Colorado that I started yesterday. And I do know that beans and tortilla chips have carbs. It was my bad for thinking it would be easy to find a low carb alternative to a Mexican restaurant meal! So I blew my carb budget yesterday & today. Aue!


Once again during lunch I listened to videos of officials talking about COVID-19. Today I listened to a press conference that Honolulu City & County Mayor Caldwell presented. He talked about the 14-day inter-island travel quarantine, how testing is the 3rd highest per capita in the nation, and how we all need to practice social distancing.

 

I did not see the pigs today. I did find one tangerine skin that looked like ones I found when the pigs had unfettered access to the back yard. But that was the only one out of 3 that were on the ground. The other fruit that had been partially eaten was gnawed on by a rat.

The one on the right looks like a pig might have eaten it.

Today I also changed all the Damp Rid dehumidifiers; I use the hanging ones in the closets and the tubs in a couple other places. I also have a dehumidifier rod in the sewing room; but someone thought they were helping me conserve electricity and unplugged it and the surge protector. Aue! I plugged it back in and also attached a little sign to the cord for both so people would know to leave them on.


In the early afternoon I got a frantic call from The Roommate Who Likes to Wash Dishes; they were unable to find S'mores and feared she had gotten out of the house and was lost. They tried calling inside the house and shaking the treat bag but she did not come to them. They also tried it outside but no luck there either; so they wanted to know what I did to look for Momo. After a bunch of questions I told him I didn't think she got out of the house; I thought she was either trapped somewhere and couldn't come out on her own or she was getting uncomfortable having them around all day with the stay-at-home order and was doing her own social distancing to get away from them. He texted about 10 minutes later; she had been accidentally trapped in his dresser drawer!

In each of the bedrooms there is the same style of dresser that has 5 drawers. I have designated the top 2 drawers as "Guest" and left them empty; Grey noted that and put some of his stuff in those drawers for the time he is here. The next drawer is labeled, "Towels", "Sheets and Pillowcases", and "Beach Towels". The 4th drawer is not labeled and will be for my things that I keep in the particular bedroom. The bottom drawer will either be for Kai or Tomiko, depending on which bedroom it is; they have their preferred rooms. Today I cleaned out the 3rd drawer in the bedroom Grey is in and put the towels, sheets, pillowcases, and beach towels for that room in the drawer. My goal is to have each room have its own supplies that guests can use; they would also have access to sheets and pillowcases to change the bed linens just before they leave.



I had forgotten what was in that 3rd drawer. I found some of my art supplies; my brushes, tubes of watercolor pigments, tubes of gouache pigments, brush cleaner, art masking tape, a natural sponge, and a travel palette. Also in the drawer were reference photos for artwork, notes from a couple of art classes I had taken, 2 inspirational calendars featuring artwork, and a piece of watercolor paper that I use to test my pigments. There were also a bunch of blank CDs. The nicest surprise was finding the tuxedo cat wind sock that used to hang in our living room.

Five brushes on left and black handled brushes near center are Dad's old brushes.

My old tubes of watercolor pigment; before I started using a limited palette.

The 4 round spots are where I was experimenting with dropping pigment on bubbles on the paper.

An unfinished prairie storm painting.

I also found a pair of gloves I had made for Kai one year for Halloween. He wanted to be one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; there were a lot of them in his class that year. But he was the only one with 3 fingers and a shell! I made the shell by covering his snow saucer with mylarized green wrapping paper and threading the straps of his backpack through the handles so he could wear it on his back.


There was also a sheet of pi wrapping paper; I bought it to wrap the prize for one of the March Against Hunger Pi Day Pie events. March Against Hunger is a fundraiser for the food bank that we did at work that runs during the month of March; it was cancelled this year due to COVID-19.


I talked to RN Maryka from Kohala Hospital on the phone this morning; she said Sadie & Cheryl are in the midst of setting up ways for residents to have Internet contact with their relatives. She said they should know by the end of the week how I can be able to get in touch with Uncle Kazu! She said he still goes out every dry day to exercise on the completed wheelchair path in the front of the hospital.

We are now at 224 confirmed cases with 13 hospitalizations, 1 death, and 58 recovered. The 1st photo is the way the media has been presenting the information; the 2nd is from the Health Department. I will be switching over to the Health Department table since it provides more information. The 3rd photo is an epidemiological graph from the Health Department; it tracks cases by the day symptoms started occurring not when the test results came back, which could be up to a couple of weeks. The graph provides a much more accurate picture of how fast things are happening and also accounts for the lag in testing




Our first death from COVID-19 was reported today. And on Kaua'i they arrested a tourist for ignoring the 14-day mandatory quarantine; he was out sightseeing. I think that's why the City & County of Honolulu Mayor and others are sending a letter to the President asking for the Federal government to step in and halt all flights to the state.



Grey got back well after dark; he said he had a good time and accomplished quite a lot during his trip to Hilo. On the way back he decided to drive around the island. As he unloaded the car he came in saying he had 2 surprises: farm-fresh eggs and pistachios!



Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Peter & Steven!

SliceOMatic, Not

I checked the tangerine slices first thing this morning, a few of the thinner ones were dry enough to try. The skins were really intense! I turned the rest of the slices, redistributed them since they did shrink, and put them back in for a total of 24 hours. In the meanwhile, Grey & I decide to try a batch without skins. "Slicing should be easier!", I thought. "I can use the Slice-O-Matic that Vivian gave me just before I left Washington!" Unfortunately, when used with citrus you end up with juice rather than slices. Of all the sliced things pictured on the box there was no citrus; there is only a whole lemon hiding amongst the platters of sliced veggies on one end of the box. I guess I should have figured out from that photos that it couldn't do citrus. Aue!

It looked promising.

But it was a big disappointment.

Juice, anyone?

Cutting with a knife didn't work much better.

I ended up just slicing the segments in half. I am also drying the peels for cooking.

I put about half of these from yesterday back in for another day of drying.

FYI Running the dehydrator all night drew the Tesla battery down to about 35% before the sun came up and started providing the power to run the dehydrator and charge up the battery. I like being able to provide all the power to run the household!

I got up really early this morning, but went back to sleep because it was a little wet. When I got up later it was drier.

Thirty-three minutes before sunrise.

Nine minutes before sunrise.

Grey asked me if I could dehydrate the pineapple he bought when he first got here; it was getting overripe. When I peeled it the flesh looked okay. But then, I sliced it in half and found it was rotting from the center outward. Aue!


Grey took off about mid-morning; he's heading back to Hilo to pick up the parts and equipment that he ordered earlier. He is also going to see if he can do a short day hike around Mauna Kea. He'll be back on Tuesday night.

As I went out to start on the weed cloth work, I noticed a small pig in the back yard. It might be the same one I chased the other night because it started to run as soon as it saw me. I wasn't able to get close to it so I threw my trowel at it just as it streaked through the break in the fence. As I turned back to see what damage it had done, I saw another small pig! It was standing kind of still since I was between it and the break. It started to run up towards the front so I went after it trying to cut it off, it got by me and looked like it was going through another break in the fence by the bathtub but it bounced off the fence! It tried a little further up and bounced off again! It finally ran straight for the gap by the gate and escaped. No photos of the pigs since I was busy chasing them but here is what they were after; they pulled things out of the compost bin. Aue!

In the meanwhile, because it was a little drizzly, between showers I finished covering most of the area we weeded on Saturday. I have one small section right around the gas tank that needs to have weed cloth installed. I have been moving the rocks my siblings, cousins, and I had brought home from various beaches and fishing spots for Grandma to help her keep weeds down around the gas tank. I will still be spreading red cinders in the area.






I checked out the ferns at the edge of the house. I think one might be a maidenhair fern though I don't know if it is the native one.

I think this is a type of Maidenhair Fern.

Not sure what type of fern this is.

I went to Sunshine True Value to pick up a surge protector for the dehydrator. It was originally plugged directly in to the outlet. With the surge protector there are more outlets that are now more accessible; I zip tied it to the side of the shelving unit next to dehydrator.


I also went to the post office to check my mail, send off a package to friends, and get the smallest Priority mailing boxes for the salted limes. I also made a trip to the credit union to deposit some checks. At the credit union entry was only through the mauka door where there was a staff member opening & closing the door, like there was at H & R Block.

On my way back up the hill, I noticed that there was no precipitation at the top of the hill. This is what it usually looks like.


Lunch today was from Mi Ranchito Mexican Cuisine, it is the place Jim suggested when I met him at King's View Cafe a couple days ago. They had a limited menu for their take-out so I had the Chile Colorado rather than my usual Pollo en Mole which is how I judge the quality of any new Mexican restaurant that I try. (I also found out they only serve Pollo en Mole on Cinco de Mayo.)

Order window for take out.

Chile Colorado without rice.

There was a cat at Mi Ranchito; it was out back lying on the railing in the sun. Siesta!


In the afternoon I worked on putting some temporary obstacles to keep the pigs out of the yard until Grey & I can add hog wire patches to the breaks in the fence. For the next couple of days these things will have to do.

The gap under the fence is now their only access. I think.

I found an ant nest when I went to move the pallet to use it to temporarily block off the gap by the gate. The ants keep making nests around the yard. I am trying to discourage them from nesting so that I have an easier time checking for Little Fire Ants which have come in to some areas nearby.


I also installed the chain and lock. I think may be I should have gotten a slightly longer length of chain.


For dinner I made another Pizza Topping Casserole. I used pepperoni since Grey is not here; I also added sun-dried tomatoes that I had brought with me and dried garlic flakes that I picked up at Takata Store. They did not have any Italian Seasoning.

While I was eating lunch I was watching the live press conference headed by Governor Ige. I think we have a really good pair of leaders for this COVID-19 pandemic. Lt. Governor Green is a practicing emergency room doctor so he has a good understanding of the pandemic, how critical it is to act fast, and what needs to be done to get the State through this with less mortalities. With the aggressive testing program of up to 1500 people a day Hawaiʻi is now 3rd in the country with percent of testing done per capita and is aiming to become the leading state with the highest level of testing. He showed a graph & went through numbers showing why social distancing is so important at this time. On March 26th, when the shelter-in-place and mandatory 14-day quarantine for all out-of-state arrivals went in to effect, there were 95 positive cases; on the 27th it was 120, on the 28th 151, on the 29th 175, and today 204 with 6 of them in the ICU and 2 on ventilators. Lt. Gov. Green said if people ignore social distancing in the next 2 days the number would increase by 8% (then there would be 220 cases on April 1st), 2 days after that it would increase to 15% (or 253 cases on April 3rd) and 2 days after that it would increase 43% (or 456 cases on April 5th). At that point we run the risk of not being able to properly care for everyone who needs hospitalization for COVID-19. I will be keeping an eye on these numbers.


The Lt. Governor indicated that there are only 534 ventilators in the State, so flattening the curve is essential to have enough resources available to help the most critical people especially on the outer islands. Like Curtis, our Governor is an electrical engineer; he has convened a group at the University of Hawaiʻi which is collaborating with others around the world, to look at how existing ventilators can be re-engineered to support more than 1 person, and its looking like each could possibly aid up to 4 people. The group is also looking at what other technologies are available.

The Governor did say that a 14-day mandatory quarantine for inter-island travelers will go in to effect on Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. So when I return on 04/09, I will have to go in to quarantine. They did say, you could go walking for exercise; I will have to find out exactly what that means.

Currently there are 204 COVID-19 cases in the state with 139 on O'ahu, 25 on Maui, 12 on Kaua'i, and 15 on Hawai'i Island.; 55 people are considered to have recovered. One of the O'ahu cases is a TSA screener who has tested positive; fortunately for me the last day the screener worked was about 10 days before I went through the airport. I viewed several other live videos of Q&A sessions with the Honolulu Mayor as well as the speaker of the Hawaii State House of Representatives; all the speakers as well as media were participating from home or an office if they are an essential service (like the food bank).



I also watched a video several friends sent me via Facebook. It is a video by Dr. David Price from Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. He is a pulmonary specialist and his days are now spent working only with COVID-19 patients that have severe breathing problems. He gives very practical advice about what each of us needs to do to keep yourself and your family safe. It is about an hour long but it is worth listening to.

"Wash your hands."

I talked with The Potential Most Favorite Roommate today; he was actually calling about coffee and not cats but the conversation turned to cats. It appears that Keala is settling in nicely, there have been no fights of any size and no aggression on her part. Even when Luna hissed at her and S'mores came up an grabbed her by the neck; she just walked away from both of them. But she'll still go up and be friendly with them. The Roommate Who Likes to Wash Dishes said he did see Keala and S'mores playing for a short while the other night. Or at least, he thinks they were playing.

The Roommate Who Likes to Wash Dishes texted me a photo of some artwork he found while cleaning out the closet in the middle bedroom. It is one of Dad's drawings that Curtis & I have been wondering about. He said there was more artwork hidden in that closet and he will wait until I return to do any further work in that closet.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Bob, Marisa. & Delaney!