Weed Cloth Pau!

I finished the 2nd course of weed cloth, the part that went around the reclining hāpuʻu that the Coelogyne is growing on. Shortly after I finished that, it started to rain. But today is my last day to finish off any outdoor work so I kept on working until it was done.

Second tier done.

I have no idea why this pipe is sticking out of the ground.

All pau!

Got that part, too!

The Saffron Finch was a little late this morning; I think it was because the rain clouds made it stay a little darker later than it has been.

Birdrise at twenty-one minutes before sunrise.

Thirty-seven minutes after sunrise & drizzling.

I had started the last load of laundry for this trip before I went out to finish the weed cloth. I washed my sheets; which means I will have slept on the new set of sheets one night before I leave. I also washed most of the towels. I will be taking back a couple of dirty towels and some really dirty clothes that I was wearing this morning while putting down the weed cloth! I was glad I had put up the clothesline in the garage since it rained most of the day!

Looking out the back porch at 10 am.

Looking out my bedroom window at about 4:30 pm.

While I was doing the weed cloth I took breaks every 15 minutes or so to stretch my back. During those breaks I checked the gray water pipe to see how far the water would flow in the little trench I hastily dug yesterday. After I was done with the weed cloth by the anthurium beds, I put some around the kalo to keep the grass from overrunning them again. Before my next trip back I need to do some research to find out what to do for the kalo.

The laundry water flowing through the kalo.

I put some weed cloth down.

Delphin's kalo patch near the other property line.

I also propped up a couple of the hāpuʻu that I am concerned will eventually fall over like the one over the path and the one that was leaning up against the garage.


And I took reference photos of all the "new" hāpuʻu that were planted in the ground and potted up. I want to document what they look like now so I can compare their growth when I return. The photos below are in the order they were planted.

This is the tallest trunk of the one that needed to be moved.

This is the main trunk of the one that was leaning across the path.

This is the 2nd largest piece from the one that was moved.

This is the base of the one that was moved.

Not exactly sure which these are from.

Or these.

The ginger flower opened! And it's not yellow ginger, it is the closely related white ginger (Hedychium coronarium). Like yellow ginger, it is also fragrant. And also like yellow ginger, it is not a good cut flower.


I got so wet and dirty I had to take a shower before going to the Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center to pick up the carriers. The UPF 30 shirt that I have been using when I do outdoor work seems to stretch more when it is wet. It seems twice as long than when it is dry!

When I went to open the gate, I found a feather and some dried grass at the top of the gate post. I think a Cattle Egret flying over must have dropped some of their nesting material. I have been seeing a lot of them flying over this month.


Before I went to HWC, I went to Sunshine to get another pot for the poinsettia; I also got 2 screws for the piece for the shower doors. And I also stopped at the cemetery to repot the poinsettia; it was looking a lot better since it has been raining on it for almost 2 days! It still needs the glazed pot so it can handle the drier stretches.

I think it will do better in this pot.

As I was leaving the cemetery I noticed that one of their red ginger plants had lodged over. And there were red ginger keiki in the bracts! I picked one of the bracts so I could start the keiki to have some red ginger plants (Alpinia purpurata). Red ginger makes a sturdy cut "flower"; the bracts which hold the true flowers are the part that turns bright red & is treated as the "flower".

This is a bract before the flowers open.

I took chips, salsa, and something called avocado salsa to HWC; Takata had a sale on guacamole and were totally out of the fresh guacamole I usually get so I had to resort to the bottled stuff. The avocado salsa was actually good; if I have to to do that again I know to get more than 1 jar. The chips & salsa lunch started as a joke when Patrick was here; I have continued it every time I pick up carriers.

Forgot to get a photo with the chips, etc., on the plate.

Marie brought these in.

On the way back from HWC I saw that Laurel & Bill's gate was open; I did not see the red truck. Which meant they were already on the way to my house! Auē! I was going to be late! And, in fact, as I pulled up to the house Bill had just unlocked the gate and was driving in; I went in right behind them. We had a nice visit; they also gave me a cool pop-up card with a monarch butterfly. And a very nice sterling silver & shell necklace that Laurel made as a thank you for helping out with Uncle Kazu.


I also glued the orchid pot back together this afternoon. I used a waterproof wood glue so we shall see how well that works. By the time I return the popcorn orchid should be done flowering so I should be able to separate part of the root mass and split the plant. The larger part will remain in the pot; I want to attach the smaller part to one of the vacant old hāpuʻu stumps in the anthurium garden.

This is how I kept pressure on the joints while it initially set, gravity.

Today was Papa ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, lā 3. They started class with a photo of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other marchers in Selma, AL, wearing lei as they marched; the Reverend Abraham Akaka had brought them with him when he went to Alabama to march with Dr. King. They also taught us the words for prejudice (hoʻokae) and racism (hoʻokae ʻili).




They also talked about Joseph Kahahawai Jr. who was also a victim of racism here in Hawaiʻi in 1932.  

As usual, we started with pronunciation lessons. 

Oh, oh; Kai better watch out how he tells people to pronounce his name.

Sleep vs. threadfin shad.

Women vs. time + weak.

Lei vs. lazy.

Octopus vs. papaya.

Today's new lesson was on Nā Māmala ʻŌlelo Pōkole ( Short Phrases). We learned words like alia (wait), kuli kuli (be quiet), and kāmau (cheers).




Then we reviewed past lessons.




I like how they have incorporated teaching us about other things when they provide examples. Today they taught us names for some plants used in cultural practices. I knew the names for 2 of the 3 plants they used.

This is wauke.

I did not know this one.

For this exercise, they had us pick someone who had commented and ask them a question based on one of the objects in the photo. Interestingly, Linda & I chose each other. She asked if I had a kinipōpō pōhīnaʻi (basketball); I asked if she had a kelepona (telephone). Of course, there were only 5 of us out of over 100 who were viewing the live feed that had given any type of response earlier.




This is one of the problems I have. I keep saying I am something when I really mean I have something! Auē!





Laurel & Bill got to see Martina eating the guava when we walked in to the kitchen. Neither Martina nor Spot came around while I was doing papa ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. But Martina did come by again after dinner but I didn't get any photos.

I did not see the cats earlier in the day since I was working outside, later I was gone, and when I came back I was talking with Laurel & Bill. I saw Mom Cat a couple hours after dinner; I heard a cat meowing so I went to put more food out again. I had put food out right after papa 'ōlelo Hawaiʻi and it was gone. I usually only feed them twice a day, but since I am leaving tomorrow I wanted to give them extra.

I received an email from the Oʻahu Medical Reserve Corps Coordinator; I have been signed up for their online training classes. I am also going to be part of their support services for people who have tested positive or are suspected of being positive for COVID-19 while they are in quarantine. Basically picking up supplies from MRC and dropping them off at the person's residence. The supplies are left on the doorstep and the person is called by the MRC coordinator to let them know the supplies are there; there is no contact involved. 

There were 4 new COVID-19 cases reported today, bringing the total known positive cases up to 685. There were no new deaths but there was 1 new hospitalization. Just under 91% of people have been released from isolation.

Cases reported in the past 28 days.