WOW! It’s July Already!

July 1, 2025

My neighbor had shiped his artwork and display racks to Oahu for the Haleiwa Arts Festival a couple of weeks ago, and then had to ship it back to Hawai’i island after the festival was over.

The shipping port is in Hilo, and he asked me to help him bring it back from there.

So off we went to Hilo. Mauna Loa was easily seen as we drove along the highway. Normally, the summit is shrouded in clouds, but this morning, there wasn’t a single cloud.

As we passed the National Park where I had first seen the lava fountain from Kilauea, there was still smoke billowing up from the caldera, but no tower of flame!

At the port, I could see a pretty good view of Mauna Kea even though there were a few clouds at the peak.

July 2, 2025

Today is an overcast, rainy kind of day. There is no steady rain, just a few sprinkles on and off during the day.

In spite of the weather, I was able to continue with the framing of the walls for the house.

I have all four corners framed up and defined, and now I’m adding blocking and bracing to stabilize it.

Under the floor line, I’m adding some diagonal blocking that will reinforce the corners.

I went over to check on the property at Ahi.

Along the driveway, I had planted some poinciana seeds from some of the large brown beans I had gathered at the airport. They have sprouted and I am coaxing three poinciana seedlings to grow. They will become huge trees with a fern type leaf, and overshadow the driveway. Of course, that will take a few years!

July 3, 2025

Once I had my diagonal blocking in place, I applied plywood to the outside.

And I picked up a few more pallets. I will be needing many more pallets as the roof sheathing and the final exterior siding will all be pallet boards. I can pick these up in Kona at various places, and I can also pick them up at the bakery in Naalehu. And the price is just how I like it – free!

Dinner is hamburgers and potato chips.

I also enjoy watching the geckos and the birds.

Click on the picture above for a video of the geckos and the birds!

July 4, 2025

Now that the plywood is applied to the bottom layer, I go back and fasten it on with screws –

6″ apart around the edges and 8″ apart through the middle. . . or something like that!

July 5, 2025

Next, comes the framing for the columns in the upper section.

They are an extension of the columns below so that they will be continuous columns from the ground to the roof.

July 6, 2025

Today, I play auto mechanic and change the oil in the truck.

In the afternoon, I help the neighbor Scott, mix up some fire ant deterrant to spray into the trees. This has peanut butter to attract the fire ants and a chemical called Tango that doesn’t kill the ants (and other insects as well like some fire ant chemicals will do) but it makes the queen infertile so she does not produce more fire ants. This effectively kills the colony – without disrupting the other species in the environment – at least that is the theory! Anyway, this mix contains three or four other ingredients as well as the peanut butter and Tango. The mixture is poured into a spray bottle and sprayed into the trees where the ants pick it up and take it back to the nest.

July 7, 2025

watching the birds is always entertaining.

Clck on the picture above for a short video.

For some reason, I am awake real early this morning.

I am rewarded with a gorgeous sunrise.

I head off to Kona to pick up some more building materials.

The Mormon Temple in Kona is undergoing a complete rebuild.

I load up the truck and I moved to . . . similar to the Beverly Hillbillies!

The weather in Kona is great!

Back at the property, I work on the plumbing system. I want to install a sewer line to serve the house. I borrowed an electric jackhammer to remove some rock so I could install the pipe.

July 8, 2025

With the plumbing pipes in place, I set up a form to pour a concrete stoop outside the bathroom door.

And it is time to go down to Honuapo and watch the waves!

Back in the 1850’s, the lava flow created a short wall where the waves crash against the shore line. When the ocean level rises due to climate change, the waves are up, or when it is windy, these waves create sprays of water that shoot quite high into the air.

Then when the ocean level drops – again because the climate changed – the waves don’t create such dramatic displays.

Today’s waves are about average.

click on the picture to watch the waves crash onto shore.

When I return to the property, I pour concrete in my forms outside the bathroom door.

July 9, 2025

Continuing with the concrete idea, I set up a form to pour another step at the top of the garden steps.

And another step at the bathroom landing as well, leading up to the house.

July 10, 2025

Time to do some laundry. The laundromat is in Oceanview – about ten miles away.

Along the road, there is a variety of vegetation as well as areas that are just black lava.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

I go back down to Honuapo to go swimming.

There is one parking place here that is under the trees.

Out on the point, there are two tidal pools that typically hold water. They are no more than two feet deep, sometimes they are quite low and barely have any water, but they are always a few degrees warmer than the ocean. A couple of nice little wading pools, that at times get to be bathwater temperature. Today, they are quite full.

There is also a pool here that is quite deep. This pool on the left has a section that gets up to 6 foot deep. A great little swimming pool. I would not want to go swimming out where the waves crash against the lava.

I brought a little refreshment. A mango.

As I drive away, I notice this poinciana tree in full flower.

July 11, 2025

The step at the top of the garden stairs and the one at the bathroom get poured.

I begin to install plywood on the interior of the upper sections of the walls.

Pouring concrete requires lots of water.

July 13, 2025

After finishing the installation of the tin on the roof of the storage shed, I install a gutter to capture water. Not for drinking, but for watering plants and mixing concrete.

I still need to install the 1 x pallet material as the exterior siding on this side of the shed.

July 14, 2025

As I drive around, to and from Naalehu, I see some small yellow birds. They are about the same size as the red headed cardinals and the Hawaiian Honeycrepers, but they are almost totally yellow.

I have often wondered what I needed to do to coax them to come to my feeder.

I figured that it was just a matter of time.

That time has arrived.

There are a pair of yellow birds that have shown up at the feeder once in the morning, and once in the afternoon for the past two days.

The heirarchy at the feeder has changed. The red headed cardinals give way to the pushy Honeycreepers. The Honey creepers even have a heirarchy among themselves that I haven’t been able to figure out, but they seem to take over the feeder and push the red headed cardinals out.

These new comers seem to be even more dominant. The larger Northern Red Cardinals have been the “rulers of the roost” and when they show up, everyone else gives them preference. The Honey creepers try to intimidate them, but they are rarely successful.

Not so with these yellow birds. I have seen this pair of birds chase everyone else – even the larger red cardinals – away from the feeder, until they are finished!

The papaya along side of the driveway at Ahi appears to have the flowers and buds of the beginning of fruit. Maybe if I can give it enough water, . ..

That will also help the poinciana seedlings growing in the same spot.

The tomatoes in the tires are beginning to ripen.

They are not very large, but they are tasty!

The ones in the tomato planter are not far beind.

A bit of cross bracing of the walls and columns to hold them plumb and stable so that I can install the beams.

The first beam is in place over the opening at the driveway side.

I have been storing the beams over at the Ahi property under a tarp. I brought them over on top of the truck.

July 15, 2025

Not very big, but there are quite a few of them.

My beams are all up and in place. Now I just need to secure them, and make sure everything is straight , level, and plumb!

These braces will keep the walls from spreading until I can get the roof framing in place.

July 17, 2025

I felt that the 2 x 4 exterior walls felt a little flimsy, so I have added a second 2 x 4 wall on the inside to make the exterior walls 8″ thick.

With the 1/2″ plywood sandwiched between these two framed walles, it creates quite a stable structure.

The exterior wall is baloon framed and resting on the concrete block wall. The studs go past the floor and up to the roof. I have installed blocking at the 4′ level and at the floor . There is a layer of 1/2″ plywood fastened to the inside of these walls, and the inner wall is also fastened to this plywood. The inner walls are platform framed, in that they rest on the floor and then extend up to the roof.

With the structure of the house as far along as I can get until I have more materials for the roof, I have gone back to concrete work.

I set forms for another step above and one below the entrance to the bathroom.

Also, some concrete to stabilize the top of the rock wall between the coumns at the front of the building.

I set up a form and will pour a slab about a foot wide.

July 18, 2025

My concrete at the edge of the house openings effectively locks in the top of the rock walls.

My pile of rocks and sand out by the road is diminishng, as I use it for my concrete!

Just a simple different project. The roads in our subdivision are not very well marked. In some places, people have put up a sign in a tree, or on a power pole, but there is no organized effort. The corner where Holowai and Palaoa Road meet is unmarked, so I cleared out an area, dug a small hole, filled it with concrete, rocks, and an old piece of metal that looks like maybe an axle from a trailer as a sign post.

This is a young Northern Red Cardinal, sitting on the branch.

The parent flys up to the young chick and it looks like they are kissing.

What is really happening, is the parent bird is feeding the young chick.

I have watched as the smaller red headed cardinals do this with their young and so do the Hawaiian Honey creepers.

It is comical to watch, as the young birds usually look larger than the parents!

July 19, 2025

I will need to build a porch with stairs to get up to the floor level of the house. I have started to build a rock wall to support this porch and stairs. Basically, it is two lines of rocks a few inches apart. Then I fill the gap with concrete.

July 20, 2025

I add signs to my street sign at the corner.

The tomatoes in the tires are doing real well.

As are the ones in the tomato planter.

Once the concrete sets up, I stack more rocks on the inside and ouside of the rock wall.

I start another wall to the left as the left side of the stairs.

More concrete is mixed to pour in my rock wall as well as to pour the next two steps in the sidewalk at the bathroom.

The white pipe is the drain for the shower. It will not drsin into the septic tank system but will be captured and reused to water plants.

July 22, 2025

Now that my time here is drawing to a close, my tomato plants are giving me quite a crop. he mangoes were a gift from the next door neighbor, Lorenzo.

July 23, 2025

I return to Arizona tomorrow, so I need to button everything up. I have build shelves in the storage shed to enable me to store the tools and stuff a bit more orderly.

I have a major portion of the back wall of the storage shed covered in pallet lumber as well. I don’t have time to build doors, so I will screw a couple of sheets of plywood over the opening for now.