I have returned to Arizona to take care of things here that needed my attention.
While in Hawaii, I accomplished a lot. I poured the concrete floor under the gazebo. I poured the concrete on the lanai extension of the gazebo. I hired the contractor for the septic system and he completed it. I will create an entire post just about that! I built a water storage tank to collect rain water from the gazebo roof. I moved a lot of rocks, built some rock walls, moved a lot of old cut down tree limbs, chipped a lot of branches, and built a set of concrete steps down to the lower section.
The travel refrigerator I ordered arrived and is working out . . . not the best solution, but it will suffice for now. I ordered a queen bed/mattress and it came. I have built a bed frame for it and now I don’t know what to do with the single bed and single mattress.
Leaving California
Flying above the clouds
Arrived in Kona
I ride the bus from Kona airport to Waiohinu where my neighbor will pick me up for the last mile and a half!
As I ride the bus out of the airport, I look at the brown desolate landscape outside the airport grounds towards Kona to the south. A mixture of dry wild grasses growing helter skelter within the lava fields. Later in the week, i learn that there is a massive wildfire burning on the Big Island north of Kona. With all the dry vegetation, I can see why!
When I get to the lot, I find that there is a tomato plant growing in the planter with the plumeria. and there are four little tiny tomatoes on it!
The smaller plumeria is doing very well also. There also is something growing in the other pot . . . perhaps some type of citrus? tangerines?
There are also a few guavas growing on the bush/tree in the middle of the house clearing.
And there are quite a few on the ground around the tree.
Everything is pretty much the same as I left it. The tarps over the kitchen area seem to be a bit lower. I’ll need to work on raising them up and tightening them.
The first order of business is to receive the order of lumber and concrete that arrives the day after I do.
Mainly concrete and rebar, but a few 2 x 4’s to build screens to go around the gazebo to block the rain and wind.
I get out all my kitchen stuff and get the kitchen set up, and take a few of the things out of the shed to give me a bit more room in there.
One project is to complete the floor of the gazebo. I have brought some color for the concrete I will pour around the islands I had created on my last trip. I set up a form to divide the gazebo floor into quarters so it would be easier to pour. I did not think I could pour it all at one time.
The islands seem to just blend in. Maybe if I acid wash the whole floor, it will clean them and make them stand out more.
The next project is the extension of the gazebo to the south – what I will call the gazebo lanai. Again, I divide this up into four sections to make it easier to pour. I gather a bunch of flat stones to embed in the concrete – kind of like a cobblestone effect.
I pour small round inset holes to facilitate installation of some kind of a railing in the future.
No trip to Hawaii is successful without visiting the shore.
Water is like gold. I am constantly hauling water. I have a gutter on the lower edge of the gazebo roof and I want to use it to collect rainwater. I will need something to collect it in, so I have decided to build a tank along the one side of the gazebo out of concrete block.
One day, the wind picked up and tore up the big old tarp I had hung up over the kitchen area. I guess it is time to move the kitchen up to the gazebo.
With the walls of the water storage tank completed (built but not grouted) I was able to place some pieces of plywood over the tank and put my kitchen there. I then built a lean-to shed roof over this to keep the rain off. I added a wooden screen from some 2 x 4’s and 1 x 4’s I salvaged from some pallets. This will help keep the wind from blowing out the flames in my stove.
Garden steps
I have started pouring individual steps or individual small pads spaced 5 1/2″ below each other as the hill descends. I have poured 12 of these to make it much easier to go up and down the hill. Also, I do not have to keep rebuilding the steps as the rocks that were the risers kept getting kicked out of place. Now these same rocks are concreted in place between the different slabs.
Tachikara
Tom Hanks had “Wilson” to keep, him company in the movie Cast Away. Well, I found my own volleyball and created my own companion. Fortunalely, I used red paint instead of my blood to create the face. Like Wilson being named after the manufacturer of Tom Hanks’ volleyball, I have named my friend “Tachikara”. I call him Tachi! He is quite the fashionista!
Wildlife
At the previous kitchen area, there were a half a dozen gecko lizards that would crawl up through the pallets to the working surface. I found that they really enjoyed the papaya and I would leave them small pieces. They did not really eat them, but would lick them. They also liked peach juice. After opening a can of peaches, the syrup that comes in the can was quite attractive to them. There were three that I thought were recognizable as they were frequent visitors. I started calling them Larry, Curly, and Mo. Then I noticed a smaller one. I called him Shemp.
After moving the kitchen up to the gazebo, I noticed the geckos seemed to have followed, and there were more of them. The new ones, I called Manny, Moe, and Jack. The one in the picture climbing into the peach can is not one of the original three Stooges, he has a darker tail. One day, I saw one that looked like his tail had been cut off as he just had a short stump of a tail.
The septic system is completed. The gazebo floor is poured. the lanai extension floor is also poured. Concrete steps have been installed through the garden and down the hill for easier access. The random piles of cut branches have been gathered up and cut into small pieces. These small pieces have been stacked behind some rock walls to continue to deteriorate and create compost for planting in these areas.
The time has come to return to the mainland for a short time.
TTFN
TropicalCastaway 