The Poop on Sir Purr

Actually, it should be The Poop of Sir Purr! He did it last night! So I do not have to worry about him finding some little corner of the living room to turn in to his private litter box. (He left quite a large deposit.) He also ate all the food I had put out for him last night. But still no actual Sir Purr sighting; I'm still ignoring him.



I'm sure the birds were up singing at 0-dark thirty again, but I slept through it. I woke up when the rain started, or when I thought it started. It might have been raining earlier, too, I just may not have heard it. I slept well!

Ten minutes before sunrise.

As I was getting my tea I noticed something moving near the door; it was a roach. A dead roach; it was being carried by a bunch of ants. They were headed towards the baseboard of the cabinets. About 10 minutes later they were headed in the opposite direction; seems the ants are making decisions by committee just like humans! Since they were unable to decided which direction to go in, I helped them out. As in, out the door; I grabbed that leg that's sticking up and tossed the bunch of them out the back door!


It rained hard at times this morning. And throughout most of the day on and off; it slowed down about dinner time and tried to be sunny. Today was definitely an indoor work kind of day.

At 6:48 am.

At 7:30 am.

At 7:43 am.

At 9:40 am it was only lightly drizzling.

At 11:38 am it was still only lightly drizzling.

At 12:31 pm it was still lightly drizzling.

At 1:11 pm it got a little heavier.

At 3:02 pm the rain got even heavier.

At 3:38 pm it was still raining.

At 5:21 pm the sun came out!

Fortunately for me there is a lot of indoor work to be done here so I was not bored. Here's how it looked at the start of today's box purging project.


There are so many interesting things that Grandma had here that it takes me a lot longer to unpack and put things away or purge them. Like this electric wok. Since I have an abundance of solar-generated electricity (even on this rainy day which generated 9.6 kWh by 5 pm and easily powered the house throughout the day), using an electric appliance will not increase my energy costs. But because of the plug-in, washing the electric wok would be more difficult than for my old-fashioned, stove-top wok. If it works it will probably end up in the 'donate' pile.


Or this strainer with its own dish for later; I think it might actually be for serving soba. In a pinch I can use it for a colander; when I had to drain the shirataki noodles I initially restricted the top of the bag and poured. Then after boiling the shirataki, I made a small opening between the pot and its lid to allow water out while keeping noodles in.


Both of those were on top of Box #266; here's what it looked like when I opened the box. The first batch of stuff I removed included a plastic bowl with lid, a stainless steel mixing bowl, and an angel food cake pan. Grandma was known for her angel food cake; she made it look easy but Mom said Grandma tried a lot of times before she finally succeeded.

The first peak into the box.

The stainless steel bowl in the middle is very heavy & solidly built.

I also found 2 plastic bags with ice cube trays; I prefer using the 4 plastic ones to the left. I don't like the metal ones because the contents of the entire tray run together even with the metal dividers. The individual compartments in the plastic trays allow the tray to be used for more things; such as freezing eggs or minced herbs individually. The 3 on the left were in a plastic bag that had a hole in it and needed a lot of washing, plus a quick shot of bleach when done. The ones on the right just needed minimal washing.


There was also an electric can opener and a home made wooden trivet. I don't know if the can opener works or if you need a can in the mechanism in order for a circuit to be completed but I could not get it to start. I was never fan of electric can openers but I suppose if I had really bad arthritis I might like one. The trivet will be used in a couple of days; I have not been able to find one so that I can set my casserole on the table as it comes out of the oven. Instead I set it on a burner on the stove.


There was a lone lid for a pot with no pot in the box. There was also a vegetable platter that was neatly wrapped up in an intact plastic bag. It even has a space for your little bowl of dip!


I love this roaster! On eBay you could get one like this for $50. Because its nice and heavy I could have used it as a Dutch oven when I was making the Hearty Beef Stew with Cauliflower & Mushrooms last week. I had thought Mom had one like this but I couldn't find it; perhaps I was remembering this one instead? It will definitely be staying accessible for me to use here. I'm pretty sure Grandma used it for stewing the hens she had that were no longer producing eggs; I remember eating a lot of chicken.


I also found a rectangular Tupperware  container with a pour spout, a green vase, and a small Zojirushi Thermos carafe. Mom had the same type of Tupperware, they both probably got it from Aunty Florence who used to sell Tupperware. A similar Zojirushi carafe with a glass liner on eBay is about $20. I couldn't find out much about the vase; there is no imprint saying who made it or where.


These were the last things in Box #266; an Igloo insulated beverage container and a West Bend electric toaster-broiler. I had never heard of a toaster-broiler before. It's apparently from the 1960's and you can get one on eBay for about $30 to about $50. Perhaps they now call them toaster ovens? Toasting & broiling seem to be the common functions of those 2 types of appliances.

There was a small change in the landscape with Box #266 gone.


I decided to keep a bag of cat treats with me in the kitchen in case Sir Purr decided to come out of hiding and visit me. I went to see what Bill & Laurel had sent for him. No judgement here, but I think he might be a little spoiled!


Around lunch time I saw Wiley walking in the drizzle along the far edge of Jessie's back yard and disappear into the shrubs by the old chicken coop. Wiley and Mom Cat had come in about mid-morning and eaten the food I had put out earlier; I did not see them come in to get it.



I also saw the Gold Dust Day Gecko in the kitchen again. And I warned it about Sir Purr, again. About 30 minutes later I saw it in my room, which Sir Purr can't get in to. Smart move, gecko!


Throughout the day I would occasionally get a whiff of something dead; I smelled it yesterday, too. But at that time I thought it was the bag the chicken came in so when Bill came to drop off groceries I asked him if he could take the garbage to the transfer station and he did. And it seemed like the smell was gone; but in hindsight, I think it was just because there was not much breeze yesterday afternoon or last night. But there is today and the smell is back. I can't really tell where it is coming from but it is not constant and it is not overpowering when it does occur. I will have to be vigilant on my next walk around the yard. It might also be coming from the yard of one of the neighbors or from the pasture in back. Ahh, the joys of country living! (No, it's not manure.)

I watched Mayor Caldwell's live feed this afternoon on the City's plan to increase COVID-19 testing as well as contact tracing. They will be looking at 3 different types of testing, 1) diagnostic testing, 2) antibody testing, & 3) wastewater testing. Diagnostic PCR testing with cotton swabs is used to determine whether someone has an active case of COVID-19; a positive result would trigger isolation & contact tracing. The City will work with UH John A. Burns School of Medicine to set up a lab that can do both PCR testing as well as antibody testing (which will determine if someone has previously had COVID-19). Wastewater epidemiology testing can help tell what the prevalence is and what trends are regarding increase or decrease of virus in the wastewater. Their goal is to have at least 100,000 tests done, though they did not really identify a time frame for this to happen but by the end of summer was mentioned as the goal of the Rockefeller Foundation which is a primary funder for this effort. Testing will begin immediately and is free, though you must meet the criteria set by the  Health Department in order to be tested.

(From Facebook Live)

Interestingly, to me, is that for the wastewater epidemiology testing, they collected samples a week ago to establish baseline levels of COVID-19 in the 9 sewage systems around Oʻahu. What this means is that as the economy opens up they can measure the COVID-19 levels as residents move around more and more visitors come in from other areas that have more positive cases of COVID-19 than we do. It will help establish a prevalence and level of change rather than be used for trying to pinpoint where a hot spot might be. It could also provide a warning of a potential large spike caused by asymptomatic cases.

Today there was 1 COVID-19 case reported from the Big Island, bringing total known cases to 641. There were non new deaths or hospitalizations and just over 90% of people have been released from isolation. With the higher level of testing that will begin immediately, breaking out the number of tests performed per day will be more meaningful than the previous cumulative number of tests over time. With the goal of 100,000 tests completed by the end of summer, I'm guessing testing will increase to about 1,000 per day.






Hauʻoli lā Hānau e koʻu hoa hānau Scott!