My Summer Vacation: Red Lava Rock, Done!

It was a nicely overcast morning when I started working on the red lava rock. I first pulled the weeds that had come up on the weed cloth and along the edges, then I began spreading the bags of red lava rock. Bill had placed the bags a couple feet apart so I would not have to carry them as far, but I still had to do some lifting and moving. I am now down to near the gas tank; I need to install that last piece of weed cloth right at the base of the tank before the next shipment of red lava rock arrives.

The upper section, before.

The middle section, before.

The lower section, before.

The upper section, after.

The middle section, after.

The lower section, after.

The birds are taking turns! This morning it was the Saffron Finch singing outside my bedroom window well before sunrise! Just before sunrise the Northern Cardinal joined in.

Thirty-six minutes before sunrise. Darn birds!

Nine minutes after sunrise.

I was finding my feet were still picking up stuff after my shower, so I decided to do a little more dust mopping between my shower and my bed; then again in the morning as I got out of bed and started my morning chores. So that's what I did! And my feet are much cleaner!

On my way into the kitchen to make my morning tea.

This morning chores included lubricating the sliding panel in the front and back doors. These are doors that Chris built to replace the original doors that were so termite-eaten that you could see through parts of them! I had already tried Sil-Glyde, which worked for a short while; I would have to reapply it each time I got here. I think the wood absorbed the lubricant and it would start sticking again. I decided to see what would happen if I mixed graphite with Sil-Glyde. My reasoning is that when the Sil-Glyde gets absorbed the graphite would still be on the surface providing lubrication. I did not think just graphite alone would work.

After I spread the last bag of red lava rock, I began cutting the heliconia out of the heavenly bamboo that is growing on the south side of the house. The heliconia is so tall, and the heavenly bamboo is so short right now, it can't be seen unless you know its in there and know what to look for. It is now visible to anyone who comes down the driveway. I left a couple of the heliconias with flowers on them still in the heavenly bamboo; I will cut them to the ground when I harvest them to take to the cemetery at the end of next week. With more sun the heavenly bamboo should have more color in the fall. It should also get tall enough I can see it from my bedroom window.

The upper section, after heliconia trimming.

The middle section, after heliconia trimming.

Another section where I need to cut the heliconia is the pathway to the meter. Although they can read the meter from the ramp, a path and platform are required by the agreement. I want to get that area cleared out anyway.

While I was out working on the red lava rock and heliconia, I saw Wiley sitting in the shadows at the far edge of Jessie's yard. Neither Wiley nor Mom Cat came to get the food in the morning.

I put the weeds and some of the heliconia in the empty compost bin that Grey had made for me. One of my tasks for tomorrow will be to chop the rest of the heliconia into pieces about 5" or 6" long, then turn the old pile in to the new pile while while adding the heliconia pieces. Basically layering the green waste with the brown waste which helps with the composting process.

I also harvested a few macadamia nuts. And it looks like they are ready! I think I will rake up the leaves under the tree out to the dripline to make it easier to see any dropped nuts. I will also clear out all the rocks around the tree so that Masa can mow closer to the trunk; keeping the grass down will also make it easier to harvest the nuts.

Today's nut harvest!

Even though it was mainly overcast, I was hot and sweaty by the time I finished so I took a shower before I did anything else. When I walked past the food dish in the bathroom, it looked like Sir Purr had eaten a little more; but he still had not made use of the litter box.

I did a load of very dirty laundry; besides my grubby clothes I was wearing this morning, I also had the 2 Bona cleaner pads, the Bona dusting pad, 2 small towels I found outside by the laundry tub, and 2 other pads that look like they were home made for the Swiffer. I used the heavy duty towel setting; I am impressed with how clean things came out! I hung things up in the sewing room on the temporary line that Grey had set up in March.

I wiped off part of the top of the washer.

Here are the home-made pads; I used them to wipe off the top of the washer.

Heavy Duty towel load; note the towels now protecting the top of the washer.

I also tried to figure out where I should put the permanent lines to hang laundry out. I decided against an outdoor clothesline; I was finding a lot of sun damage on my clothes that I had been line drying. I am thinking of running lines from the end where the photo was taken to the area marked by the white line. The blue is a second choice. From red line to red line would be the least desirable alternative.

While I was in the garage doing laundry, I found a Hawaiian garden spider (Argiope appensa). It made its web just above head level (for me) in a high traffic area. If I was taller I would have taken out its web. I hope it is catching a lot of mosquitoes!

Hawaiian garden spider (Argiope appensa).

For lunch today I had fish sticks, also from the freezer, though not past its due date. These are the ones Grey left. One serving is 3 fish sticks, so that's what I made; I tried them with ketchup, mustard, and salad dressing. The one with ketchup was best.

I took a closer look at the orchids that are blooming; there are about 10 flowering stalks in bloom and another 2 that will be starting to bloom soon. After Googling "green orchid flower" I have determined that this is Coelogyne Burfordiense (Coe. pandurata x Coe. asperata), an orchid registered in 1911! So it is possible that my grandmother planted the original one when she started her anthurium garden over 50 years ago. The orchid here has a large pseudobulb, with more than 10 greenish flowers on each inflorescence with blackish-brown markings on the lip and yellowish-brown warts on the keel of the lip.

New inflorescence.

Note the number of flowers on each inflorescence.

Now that the water is really keeping the hapuʻu starts moist I can see a little more growth in the one that seemed to be struggling. I haven't seen anything in the other pots, but I'm not going to give up on them yet.

I had told Laurel about wanting to get more anthurium starts to replenish Grandma's garden. She said Bill had seen something about a place with great prices; when he dropped off the rest of my groceries today I showed him the garden. He said the place was outside of Hilo and was selling anthurium plants with flowers at $1 each if you buy 100. They sent me the info & I got in touch with the grower as well as Kamaka who lives about 10 miles away. Winner! Now I just have to get confirmation from Greg regarding when they will be here for the hāpuʻu moving and spreading of the growing material for the anthuriums.

I gave you some bad information on Saturday about the common ginger; the photos I showed you were actually of red ginger (Alpinia purpurata). It just didn't feel right, so I checked up more today and found some dried flower bracts that lead me to believe it is red ginger. And I also saw the common ginger, which has very different leaves (photos tomorrow). I had asked the Aikane landscaper to move the common ginger (Zingiber officinale) out to the sunny area by the ʻolena (Curcuma longa) so that the edible gingers would be together; they moved the wrong one. I'll have to find another place for the red ginger

I saw Mom Cat & Wiley when I went to feed them this evening; they were at the end of the ramp. I am not sure if they were waiting for me or if they just happened to be coming up to check out the bowl when I got there. I called them and then loudly poured the food in to the bowl. Then I came back inside and put my phone up to the edge of the door and waited. Within a few minutes Wiley came up to eat, Mom Cat was about 30 seconds behind. It's only been 4 days, by the end of this stay they should become used to me feeding them.

Is somebody watching us?

Who's there?

All pau!

Did I hear something?

Nah, it was nothing.

I did not see Sir Purr today; but I did not go looking for him either. My plan is to ignore him until he becomes comfortable with me. I do know that he did come out last night and ate some food; he left 4 pieces of kibble outside his bowl. However, he did not use the litter box; I am hoping for that to change tonight.

I used some smoked sausage I found in the freezer to make dinner tonight. I had picked it up at the farmers market last summer, threw it in the freezer and forgot about it. Until now, when I need to clean out the freezer. I used it in a Pizza Topping Casserole; I like the smoky flavor it brings to the dish.

The chunks are the sausage.

This morning I called the number Tricia gave me since no one had called to follow up. I got a return call after lunch and had a great conversation; just can't remember the name of the woman I talked to. But she told me if I was determined to be an "essential worker" my name would not be sent to them. But if I am on their list, it might take a little bit to get a call since the people doing the calls all have other jobs and are squeezing calls in as they can; that seems like a big weak spot in the quarantine system to me! She did say how each island treats the 14-day quarantine for "essential workers" is different, some islands are very strict, others are more lax. She advised me to go to the Safe Travels website and fill out the request for an "essential workers" letter. So I tried; I could not find where to get the essential workers letter. Aue!

I did find the contact tracing training information, though. I sent an email to see if I can get in to the training. It looks like after the training you have to sign up for the Medical Reserve Corps and you are deployed via MRC to do the contact tracing.

There were no new COVID-19 cases reported today so our number of known cases remains at 640. There is also no change in deaths or hospitalizations. They have changed the way they present the testing information and have also explained further about the number of tests; it appears I should not have been comparing it against the population. The clarification indicates that the test are not by individuals but by the actual number of tests and an individual could have been tested multiple times.