Yet Another Delivery

We got another delivery today. It included wiring which will allow Chris to start with the wiring & fixtures. That gets us another step closer to closing up the walls. Hūlō! But then Chris discovered whoever pulled the order got the wrong wire; we were sent 14/3 wire when we purchased 12/2 wire. I talked to David about dropping in Wednesday or Thursday to exchange the wire & also pick up the 10/3 wire for the demand water heater; Chris will send me that info later. FYI We were also sent 3/4" copper pipe rather than the 1/2" we purchased, but the size for the short run we are working with is not as critical as the incorrect gauge of electrical wire.

TJ brings in pallet with paint, drywall mud, & other small items.

TJ with load of facia board, pipes, & gutters.

Instead of running a water line all the way from the large demand heater in the garage, I figured it would be more efficient to install a small point of use electric water heater in the Cat Genie room. Since it will not be used constantly & there is no need for a whole lot of hot water when it is in use, it made sense to have a small demand heater installed there. I also would not need about 60 more feet of pipe running from the garage to the Cat Genie room. As it is, it takes about a minute for hot water to reach the shower, which is only about 30 feet away from the garage; so it would also not waste both gas & water to get hot water to the Cat Genie room. Using an electric heater also means no extra gas line needs to be run; we just need to install a dedicated 120v 30 amp line for it which will be much easier.

I found out Hakoda's does not carry demand heaters & neither does Home Depot. So I went on-line & checked out what Lowe's in Kona had. And was pleasantly surprise! I am going with the Eemax Thermostatic Water Heater; it heats 0.9 GPM. If I have it delivered I have to pay an extra $80 so I will be going to pick it up sometime around the 11th when they say it will be available.

It's smaller than a shoebox.

While on-line at Lowe's, I also checked for the laundry sink & exhaust fan unit for the Cat Genie room. I chose the Rugged Tub utility tub, it comes with the faucet, water connectors, drain pipe, & a removable  drain rack. I am not allowed to pick it up, but it would be delivered ... for free. Which is interesting since its shipping weight is listed as 18 lbs & it is very bulky; while the demand heater weighs 4 lbs & is about the size of a shoe box but costs $80 to deliver! 🤷‍♀️ Go figure! And its on the same island, no crossing of large bodies of water; just driving.

I like the extras that are included.

 

Chris worked on preparing the outside walls for painting. He added most of the exterior trim, then began  priming the walls. He also started installing the boxes for the interior outlets & fixtures. And he started on the cat door, but I asked if he could move it a little closer to the door; so he is.

While Chris was working on priming the exterior walls, I was working on logistics for moving furniture in to the office/study/library/studio. I think the 1st thing to be moved will be the long futon couch. So I cleared all the boxes off of it; nearly all of them were empty. I nested as much as I could & placed them on top of the stacks of book boxes. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a before picture, so just imagine the couch is piled so high with boxes that you can't really tell there is a couch under there. Why so many boxes? Many of them are smaller, the size that would hold 5 to 10 lbs of fruit; that's how I deliver them to people I share fruit with. 

Here's a photo of the leaf buds opening up on the Cherry Nani ʻohiʻa. The buds that I believe to be flower buds on the Makali Ahu are just getting rounder & fatter.

The North Kohala CDP Advisory Group meeting was this evening; it started at 4:30. The meeting usually takes 1&1/2 to 2 hours so ends about dinner time. Since the meeting is essentially across the street from Kings View Cafe, I decided to get dinner there whenever I make it to the meeting; I want to help support local businesses. My favorite dinner meal is their Mahimahi Salad. 

While I was waiting for my meal to be prepared I got a text from Lowe's; the demand heater was ready for pick up right now! Auē! Due to other things I am running around doing, I can't get to Kona earlier than the 11th, which was perfect timing for me. I called & talked to Jordan who said the policy is to hold it for 7 days, with Day 1 starting tomorrow. He also said to call closer to the pick up day & explain to them what I told him tonight. 

When I got home I saw I also had an email from Lowe's; it provided better information. Including exactly what was ready for pick up, how long they will hold it, & how to get it out of the pick up locker. Turns out it is the water heater isolation valve that is ready for pick up; the heater is still not ready. So I would not be going to Kona until that is ready anyway; not making 2 trips if I can avoid it. 

Kīlauea is still erupting. Or, at least, it was when I began writing this post. It started last night about 9:45 but no status report was issued until about 11 pm. Fountains were said to be about 100 feet high today, about half of what they were last night when it started up again. Then, just before 7:30 tonight it paused; it had been erupting for about 21&1/2 hours. The items below start out with the status report from last night that came out after I went to bed but ends with the status report that came out just before I went to bed & screen shots of the pause.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Crilly, Karen, & Ben! Kai's Subaru Outback is now 5 years old.

Kohala Heritage Center

The Kohala Culture & History Advisory Group does a huakaʻi every other month. This month we visited the Kohala Heritage Center, which is located in the old Bond Memorial Library. KHC Board President Aunty Pat & KHC Board Vice President Aunty Sharon shared about the work that went in to the center & future work that needs to be done. They are having a soft opening on March 26th, Prince Kūhiō Day.

(L to R) Lehua, Libby, & Leia walk along commemorative brick walkway to entrance.

Libby takes a photo of Kanani & Lehua pointing out their family brick.

Panorama of interior of center.

In the gift shop.

After the tour, we held a quick meeting since there are some grant deadlines that are quickly approaching & we also need to keep momentum going for the Kohala Reunion. We used the Hawaiian Reading Library table for our meeting. Kanani shared his vision for the Front Porch talk story area; he did another drawing that includes the seating area for visitors. We also briefly discussed the ahupuaʻa project. During the meeting Boyd reported that the Agribusiness Development Corporation made a presentation to the Kohala CDP Agriculture committee. The ADC is looking to purchase 3 properties in North Kohala with the intention of keeping the land in productive agriculture. I learned that the 94 acres behind us is 1 of the properties they are looking at; it would be great to have that land be kept in productive agriculture. Once you start building houses, its difficult to turn it back in to productive agriculture. 

Kanani's new plan for Front Porch.

Map of North Kohala ahupuaʻa.

The 94 acre pasture behind us is outlined in yellow.

Here are some photos of the ice plants in the sun. Their flowers close up in the shade so looked kinda sad in yesterday's photos. As they go through their bloom periods, I will try to remember to get photos of each species. Since they are species & not varieties, their bloom times are not all the same so don't anticipate seeing a photo of the planter with all of them in bloom at the same time.

The purple (L) & the pink are still blooming.

The yellow & light pink were in bloom when I bought them but not now.

Still no email from Immi about my order. I will assume they are not charging the shipping fee since I have not been contacted about increasing the charge to my card. Now I wait for the package to arrive. 

There is still snow on Mauna Kea. It appears it will be with us for a little longer as another cold front will be here before the end of the week.

(From IRFT web cam site)

(From Subaru Telescope web cam site)

The eruption at Kīlauea volcano is still on pause.

(VMAP Vog Forecast map)

As I was getting ready to finalize this post, I was watching the late evening news. They announced the eruption was active again! I searched my email but did not find a status report from Hawaiʻi Volcano Observatory. But the web cams showed the activity. The fountains are apparently 50 to 80 feet high.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Susan & Fran!

Uncle Yosef

Today's breakfast special at Motek Bakery was the Uncle Yosef. Yael makes a depression in a piece of flattened dough & fills it with several cheeses, fresh spinach, & seasonings. She tops it off with a fresh egg & pops it into the oven to bake; it is served with the Israeli version of a salsa fresca made with tomatoes, onions, & bell peppers. I also got an orange sticky bun which David says is his favorite; it is a new offering at Motek now that they are finally able to get their pastry oven hooked up at the bakery. (There was a problem with needing more power but HelCo needed to extend a line in order to do that. It finally happened, only one year after they opened. 🙄) Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the orange sticky bun. Oh no, I guess I will have to eat another one...

Around lunch time the clouds had cleared enough so I could see the upper portions of Maui. There was still too much cloud cover to see the east side where it goes down to the water. (The view of the west side is blocked by the house.)

I took a closer look at Grandma's old Singer treadle sewing machine. The metal parts look okay. But the wood has had so much termite damage; I'm not sure how much will be salvageable.

After the sun went behind Raymond's house & the planter box was in the shade, I worked on filling it up with more soil. It took another 1&1/2 bags, so almost double what my calculations showed would fill it up. I think all the rain washed the fines out of the planter lowering the soil level. I planted the 6 ice plants (Lampranthus spp.); I've decided to use the English name rather than the Hawaiian name since it misleads people in to thinking they are the native akulikuli (Sesuvium portulacastrum).

Colors (L to R) purple, yellow, light pink, orange, red, & pink.

 

I saw on the news that the Maunalani Nursing & Rehabilitation Center where Dad was living celebrated its 75th Anniversary! Curtis said he received an invitation but was not going to be able to attend. In the news blurb I saw several of the staff that I recognized; I did not recognize any of the residents.

(HNN screen shot)

Still no word from Immi about an error on the shipping. But its Sunday, tomorrow is a regular work day so someone might catch it then. We shall see. My order is anticipated to arrive sometime between the 7th & the 22nd; I'm not complaining if the shipping is free! With the free shipping & Capital One coupon, I am paying $4.53 per packet. If I was paying the full price with free shipping, the cost would be $4.88. And without free shipping, I would be paying $6.26; which is still cheaper than Whole Foods where it is $6.99 plus an airplane flight. I'm hoping Immi continues to allow me to use the free shipping.

I kinda did not do as well on Duolingo this week; I got demoted. Auē! I am now back in the Pearl League. Will have to pay more attention this week & do more lessons to work my way back up to the Obsidian League. Then on to the Diamond League which is the top level.

The eruption at Kīlauea is still on pause. The status report anticipates something may happen this week.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Jennifer, Ginny, & Sean!

Another Rainy Day

When I woke up it looked like it would be a somewhat sunny day. But within a couple hours it started to rain. I had originally thought about going to the Waimea Heritage Cherry Blossom Festival today, but they get more rain than we do so decided against it.

Weather prospects around 7:30 am.

Turned in to rain by 9:30.

It stopped raining just before lunch & cleared a little. As I was in the office/study/library/studio measuring to see how the different pieces of furniture I had planned on moving in to it would fit, I saw an ʻIo flying over the neighbor's back yard. By the time I was able to get my phone out it was on the other side of the road, headed for Hāwī. I hope to have more experiences like this. 

With telephoto function.

Here's what my new bedroom window looks like from the outside; they're the double windows on the right. The single window on the left is an old window.

Rain gutter ends here; its keeping people on the ramp from getting soaked.

Wayfair sent me an email. Apparently I bought the cat gate about this time 2 years ago so they want me to celebrate that anniversary by buying something else. I really do not understand that logic. I only bought it from them because they were the only 1 of 3 that would actually ship to Hawaiʻi, even though they did charge for it. But I really needed that cat gate so I paid the fee.

So far so good on the Immi front. I did not get any notice from Immi that a mistake was made & I need to pay an additional amount for shipping.

The eruption at Kīlauea is still paused. The scientists think it may erupt again sometime between the next 1 through 3 days. Sounds like I've heard that before.

VMAP Vog Forecast Map.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Alison & Keala! Keala is 6 years old today. I got her from Sherry who fed the strays & ferals on Maunalani Circle. One of the cat-hating neighbors had threatened to kill Keala so I took her home. She changed the dynamics between Smoresie & Luna with her mellow personality so the Roommates asked if I would leave her in Honolulu when I moved to Hawaiʻi Island so I did.

Snoozing in the family room. (12/03/21, yes, I know, I need to get more current photos)