IASA #3-3

New kitchen window with same openable area & twice as much viewing area.

 

New Kitchen Window

Today Chris & Spencer worked on replacing the old kitchen window on the north side. The original open area for the window is the same size as the new open area. But in order to make that happen, I had to order 2 slider windows each the size of the original open area. Why? Because the original windows slid in a track along the wall. If I just had a slider window sized for the opening, I would have lost half of the actual openable area. Which would mean I cut off half of the main inflow of air that cools the house down; not a good idea for the summer! With the 2 windows, I keep the airflow, but Chris had to do additional carpentry to resize the window opening & create new trim. It's worth it! I retain the airflow plus I have more view of the  outdoors & more natural light indoors. I am happy with it & glad I paid the extra money!

I had to move all this away from the window.

The safe on left & range on right will be moved when needed.

By lunch wall opening has been widened & new windows temporarily placed in opening.

By end of work day finish framing is almost complete.

Here is what it looks like from the outside. The 1st photo is at lunch break. The 2nd is at the end of the work day; still needs a little more trim to be installed & painted.

 

I am now 100% sure that the buds on the Makali Ahu ʻōhiʻa are flower buds. At least the round ones are. And that's what makes me so sure. One of the buds I was originally seeing has become elongated & is turning in to leaves. The buds in the other cluster have remained small & are getting rounder & plumper. I hope I have not stressed them out too much; I do not want the flower buds to dry up & fall off before they get a chance to bloom. That would be very sad.  

I also checked on the "light pink" ice plant. It is much more pink now; almost as pink as the "pink" one. So the color does appear to change based on how much sunlight the petals are exposed to. I should try an experiment & cover half of a flower to see if I can create a half light pink-half white flower!

The eruption at Kīlauea is still on pause. Scientists say another episode is "most likely to begin in the next 3 days."

Those scientists were right! Episode 11 of the December 23rd eruption of Kīlauea started up again about 6:30 this evening. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Paul, Greg, & Justine! This blog is also 9 years old today!

Yay! dGP2045 is Pau!

Well, the Leeward Planning Commission is done with our part of the process anyway. We completed our review & amendments of the draft General Plan 2045 this afternoon at 4:28 p.m. I think Kelsie said there were a total of 51 amendments to the draft document that we passed. Once all the information is summarized, our favorable recommendation will be sent to the County Council. When they have the recommendation from the Windward Planning Commission, which must be sent to them by the end of March; the Council will begin their process. I think the timeline is for the draft General Plan 2045 to be adopted by the end of the year.

(Screen shot from You Tube video)

If you're a glut for punishment you can watch the nearly 7 hour long You Tube video of the final session here. (We met on 5 previous days also.)

On the way to Kona, I ran in to a traffic jam in Kawaihae! Fortunately, it was a very short wait. There was work being done on the overhead power lines so there was just a very short section of road that was down to just 1 lane. 

I stopped at Home Depot to see if more units of the replacement light fixture for over the kitchen sink had come in; they did! But it was down to just 1, which is more than they had last time; I quickly picked it up & went on with the rest of my shopping. I also checked out step stools; I have not been able to find the one I brought with me. I think this is the likeliest candidate.

By the time I got home it was 7:30; I had been gone for a little over 12 hours! Moʻo was very glad to see me. I fed both of us dinner. While I was eating mine, I was watching the evening news via the internet. Then I realized, I had finished dinner & the monitor was silent ... at some point I had fallen asleep! I did not think I was so tired that I wouldn't even know I had fallen asleep. I then got in to bed for reals. 😴

I was so tired, I didn't have the energy to collect more than the basic information that the eruption at Kīlauea was still paused. 😿

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Rich & Christian! (Christian is one of the planners that has been helping with the review of the draft General Plan. We made him work on his birthday.)

IASA #3-2

Hale at Lapakahi State Historical Park.

 

More dGP2045 Reading

I spent most of the day going over the draft General Plan 2045; tomorrow may be the last day the Leeward Planning Commission will be reviewing & amending the document before it gets forwarded to the County Council. 

While I was lying in bed, I saw an ʻIo glide by the bedroom window! It looked like it was in hunting mode. Oh, oh, I only saw Roger & the gray hen again today so I am thinking that is the fate of the yellow hen. (It went by so fast I was unable to get a photo of it.)

The yellow-flowered ice plant was blooming today! It was not in bloom when I bought it so I was unsure what color yellow it would be.

The Makali Ahu ʻohiʻa is still looking like those round ones are flower buds.

The eruption at Kīlauea is still on pause.

 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Barb, Rachel, Susie, & Everett!

Aloha e Hale

This morning I picked up ʻAnakē Maile & we went to Lapakahi State Historical Park. Tomorrow the haumāna of Papa Auwae will be taking down the hale that he had built in the 1960's. I spent over 2 hours on the phone yesterday talking to several people who did not want it removed. I had to explain to them that I was a volunteer at the park & had absolutely no authority to do anything! I also explained to them that Papa Auwae had given the land to the State for the park, in exchange for being allowed to continue to use the hale & also retained the right to determine what happens with the hale, including maintenance as well as removal. The argument given back to me was, "Doesn't the community have a say in this?" My answer is, "No". It was an agreement between a private landowner & the State. If it were still in private ownership, would the community have a say in what happens to a structure that was put up by a contemporary individual? No. 

For those thinking, "What about structures such as those built by Frank Lloyd Wright? They can't just be torn down." Partly true; some are on a Historic Register which is a government-sanctioned program dictating what happens to those structures but the majority of the over 1000 that he designed are not. FYI Not everything that meets the age criteria for "historic" (i.e., 50+ years), is afforded the protection that those on historic registers have. Something significant must have taken place there or it must be an exceptional example of the architecture of the time. But that still does not afford it protection, it just meets another of the criteria to be named a "historic site". The most important piece is actually being identified by the government & officially placed on the Historic Register at the state or federal level. This hale only passes the age test; no significant historic figures such as Queen Liliʻuokalani are known to have stayed in this hale. (She is known to have come to & stayed at Lapakahi frequently but this hale was built about 40 years after she died.) Nor is it a prime example of this type of structure since it has not been maintained & is in danger of collapse; hence the need for removal. (Even though barriers, caution tape, & no entry signs have been put up, some tourists still think its okay to go around those & go into the hale.)

I was there with ʻAnakē Maile because Dane wanted to mahalo the hale separate from what Papa Auwae's haumāna might be doing tomorrow. Dane's spirit guides have directed him on oli & hoʻokupu. Yesterday I was told more than what we are doing today needs to be done; I responded that those specific protocols for the removal of the hale were the kuleana of the haumāna. What we are doing today is the park staff's mahalo to the hale & akua associated with it, under the direction of Dane's spirit guides. ʻAnake Maile brought several blue jade lei for us to leave as hoʻokupu. Michelle had brought some of the ʻolena I gave her to share with others as medicine; I left my piece as hoʻokupu.

My ho'okupu in foreground; others in background.

ʻAnakē Maile's blue jade vine is amazing! I think she said it is only 2 years old. It is covered with a lot of flowers. She said she picks enough everyday to make several lei. I am hoping to get a start from her later in the growing period after it is done flowering. So I should get started on building a trellis for it right away. 😬

Apparently it likes its leaves in sun & flowers in shade.

ʻAnakē Maile works on lei while we wait for others to arrive.

After I got back from Lapakahi, I went to Susan's house. I dropped off about half a pound of ʻolena for her to grow. I also got to see the new place she is renting; there are several fruiting & flowering plants around her place that she is looking forward to working with.

When I got back from visiting with Susan, I found an email from Immi; they said my package had been delivered! Not! I actually picked it up from the post office this afternoon before I went to Susan's house.

I only saw Roger & the gray hen today. The yellow hen is still AWOL.

The eruption at Kīlauea remains paused.

VMAP Vog Forecast map.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e David & Tammy!

Where's the Little Yellow Hen?

This morning I only saw Roger & the gray hen walking around Jessie's backyard; the yellow hen was no where to be seen all day. This is the 1st day I can recall that I did not see all 3 of them. I hope she is just off somewhere sitting on a clutch of eggs. And not somewhere in a mongoose or cat's belly. Or in an ʻIo. Although if it did provide a meal for an ʻIo I would not be too sad.

This morning I received several phone calls about Papa Auwae's hale at Lapakahi State Historical Park. It was people wanting me to stop the hale from being taken down; why do people think I have any power to do that? I'm only a volunteer! Anyway, the hale is being taken down by Papa Auwae's haumāna; it was built in the 1960's by Papa Auwae & his haumāna so it is not an archaeological structure. When he donated the property to the State for the park, Papa Auwae had an agreement that he & his haumāna would retain the kuleana to maintain the hale & the pākaukau. After Papa Auwae died, his students continued with the kuleana. So if his students feel it is time to take the hale down, I think it is none of anybody else's business. I said that & it seemed to frustrate people that I would not do anything; which, like I said, I can't do anything any way. I'm just a volunteer! And why call me & ask what to do if you do not plan on following the advice? WARNING: If you ask me a question, I'm going to answer the question based on the information I am aware of & you may not like the answer. I have provided answers to people that even I did not like; but based on the information I know at the time, that is the logical conclusion. FYI For those of you who are wondering, Papa Auwae is a lineal descendant of the land, he held the deed to the land, he donated the land but retained the kuleana for the hale & pakaukau & the right to have the park shut down each year for 3 consecutive days for him & his haumāna to perform cultural practices.

The eruption at Kīlauea remains paused. The 9th episode ended about 5 days ago after about 22 hours of activity. Scientists anticipate another eruption will likely start in 1 to 3 days.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Marc & Dixie!

Nirvana Day Service

Today was the Nirvana Day Service at the Kohala Jodo Mission; we also offered prayers for Susan's brother Jerry who passed away in early February. As usual, it was followed by a potluck; I brought an assortment of things from Motek Bakery. I got a mix of savory & sweet. 

(clockwise from upper L) orange sticky bun, cinnamon swirl, cardamom knot, cream cheese blueberry danish, blueberry turnover, & scones.

(Clockwise from upper L) pear honey scone, brownie, linzertort, & banana spelt bread.

Sauce for bourekas (L) & spinach feta bourekas (savory).

Pumpkin soup (savory).

Others brought things as well; Arlene brought a soursop from their house. It was a little too tart for me at its current stage. I like mine a little sweeter & softer; placed in the freezer for a couple of days & it is like a sorbet.

Arlene cuts open the soursop.

The Motek breakfast special today was shakshuka, which I had for dinner. They have started putting up some labels for the pastries. Here are the ones that were out today.

I got an email from Immi this morning saying my order was out for delivery ... on a Sunday. This is quite odd since it should just be sitting at the post office waiting for me because there is no home delivery in this part of the island.

I don't know why it is saying it left the post office.

And Lowe's is again telling me I need to pick up the heater on the 19th. I wonder why they don't update the system to show that it will be picked up on the 20th? It's quite annoying.

 

Here's the answer to yesterday's question on whether you could figure out where the test patch was for the brown paint that Bill mixed up for me for the exterior door of ka Lumi Pōpoki.  

The Kīlauea eruption is still on pause.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Liz!