My Summer Vacation: More Popcorn Orchids

I potted up the 2 popcorn orchids from yesterday and found I need one more orchid pot; there was an additional piece that needed to be trimmed off. I hope they like being separated in their own pots.

I thought I only had 2 more.

But they really wanted to be 3 plants.

The orchids in the holding area.

The Saffron Finch woke me up again; I turned over & went back to sleep again. I also decided to sleep a little longer after my alarm went off; my body is starting to feel all the work over the past 3 days and I decided to rest up a little longer. Although I am sore and a little tired, I am not feeling that overwhelming fatigue of a fibromyalgia flare-up. While I was resting I saw a Java Sparrow that had nesting material; I think they are building a nest over the bathroom window.

Birdrise, thirty-one minutes before sunrise.

My alarm goes off six minutes after sunrise.

Java Sparrow sits on beam over bathroom window.

It looked like it would be a sunny day so when I was ready to get going I started with the red lava rock so I could do as much as possible in the shade. And got it all done! I used 9 bags and had 6 bags left; I'm sure I can find other projects for the rest. When I was almost done I got a call from my friend Darrell; he was also on the birthday Zoom for Susie yesterday helping his wife Lorna facilitate the birder/environmental group. We had a great talk; I think that is one thing that is positive about COVID-19. It is helping people to connect in other ways than face-to-face; I know I have been having more phone conversations with people. And a whole lot more Zoom calls!

Looks like it's going to be a sunny day.

Before. Not sure why it would not come in to focus.

Weeding done.

All pau!

While I was in the weed pulling phase I kept disturbing ants that had started to nest under the weed cloth. I also disturbed a centipede; it was a small one, only about 4 inches long.

Jessie also called while I was finishing up the red lava rock. She told me about the COVID-19 positive case in the area. She had slightly different information; she knew who the person was visiting and said they were breaking quarantine and going all over the place. I sure hope her source for that information is wrong.

When I went to clean up a bit of floor to stack the extra red lava rock in the lanai I found another gold dust day gecko hanging out on the broom I wanted to use. It was much more flighty than Martina.

By the way, here are the other things I picked up at Sunshine yesterday. I decided to get fabric pins to hold down the weed cloth instead of rocks; less for people to trip over with more ability to stay in place. And I could use the bricks for the wall!

I finished the red lava rock and orchid potting just before lunch. When I came in I put food out for the cats. When I went to check after lunch, I saw a mongoose on the ramp coming up to the porch. I think I scared it off when I looked out the window. But I am wondering if it has been coming in to eat the cat food on other occasions; I have never seen it before. The only way I will know for sure is if I get a wildlife camera and set it up to watch the cat food bowl.

When I went in for lunch I also checked my email; Nicole had responded to everyone. There was a glitch in admissions and there was no Summer 2020 session available; she told people to apply for Fall 2020 (which I had done on Saturday). She also sent the attachment that was missing from the congratulations email.

During lunch there was a little agonistic behavior between Martina & Spot; I heard them making their agitated calls as I approached the kitchen table. They were under a chair. As they moved apart they made this weird body motion towards each other; I will have to see if I can find any information out about that.

They are twisting their bodies so that the dorsal side of their head, neck, and back face each other.

After lunch when I went to run errands; it was drizzling over the channel but sunny where I was. At Sunshine True Value I got another orchid pot and a shower caddy for the outside shower. I forgot photos so those will be in tomorrow's post. I also stopped at Kohala Grown Market to pick up a pound of lychee for Lori & Jenny; they did not look as good as the ones I got from Delphine but they are supposed to be fresher. We'll see which ones they like better.

Distant drizzle over the Alenuihāhā Channel.

My last stop on this foray was to drop off egg cartons with Toto & give him some omiyage. He had been wondering if I was back. I will have to stop by earlier next time. I asked Toto about his white cow, he says he has 3 but only one of them likes to go up to the upper end of the pasture by me. He said she is also the one that likes to eat all kinds of stuff; earlier she ate his squash plant! He was not happy about that!

Toto had also heard about the COVID-19 positive case. He said that's what was said initially but later they were told it was not correct. I think I'll just go with the DOH info that there was a new COVID-19 case on the Big Island on Friday. And wear my mask whenever I leave the house! (Or as Jonathan would say, your cloth face covering.)

I got home to find Martina looking for lunch. She started at my water glass, then moved on to some spilled peanut butter. She finally got down off the table and went off to look for other things.

Getting a drink from the condensation.

Martina on a mission!

She points her head in the direction she will jump.

I had texted Laurel & Bill when I got home; they came by with a koa sapling Bill had dug out of the yard. We potted it and set it out in the holding area. Then they helped me move some furniture out of the back bedroom. After I vacuumed and cleaned the floor of the back bedroom with the Bona, I set up the small futon couch. It is the size of a standard double bed. Moving the other futon couch out of the back bedroom also made the closet accessible. I will be moving some boxes in to the closet to free up floor space in the rest of the back bedroom.

Before. Looking in from near the doorway.

Before. From foot of bed; doorway in upper right.

Before. From head of bed; doorway in upper right.

The living room before the large futon couch moves here.

Living room before, taken from front door.

Large futon couch moved out.

I moved things off the recliner and table behind it.

Another centipede! This one is dead.

After cleaning the floor. Looks a lot better!

The frame, unwrapped.

The futon; still wrapped.

After.

A better view of the futon couch.

I had taken a shower in the morning after moving all the red lava rock. I had to take another one this evening after doing all the vacuuming, floor cleaning, and setting up the futon couch. When I got out there was a huge puddle of water on the floor at the plumbing end of the shower stall. I looked in the closet of the back bedroom where the pipes come through but it was dry there. (One of the benefits of the pipes not being enclosed in a plumbing wall.) I poked around and found that the leak is actually coming from where the shower pan and the surround wall come together at the bottom. I will seal it tomorrow after things have a chance to dry out.

Tropical Depression Douglas has formed in the Eastern Pacific region. It is predicted to cross in to the Central Pacific some time on Friday. In the meanwhile it is predicted to reach hurricane levels before dropping back off as it heads west.

Douglas is farther from the Central Pacific than Seven-E.

The predicted path, intensity, & timing of Dougla.

There were 12 new COVID-19 cases today, bringing the total know cases up to 1393. Thee were no new deaths but there were a couple new hospitalizations. Almost 76% of the cases have been released from isolation.