Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #4

Welcome to Vicky Durand’s Blog #4

March 4, 2023

This week it has been very cold, windy, and rainy here in the mornings and evenings. I think the cats are even cold in the early morning and evenings. Luckily, I am keeping dry but things are a tad damp and dirty. Winds coming from Mauna Kea have made for a chilly situation. The rain is tolerable because it usually pours for ten to fifteen minutes and then the sun comes back out. Yesterday things changed it poured almost like flood conditions. In the pouring rain I had to dig a small trench in front of the green house to divert the muddy water from running through. Luckily it worked, but I got drenched. The catchment water tank was overflowing and it seemed to be raining most of the night. The sun is finally out now and supposedly, we will have some sunny days in front of us.There has not been enough sun to dry up the muddy driveway. So, I just must wait till the rainy season is over to fix the driveway. The cats are hanging in like troopers. When it rains some stay in the green house and many run up under the hau thicket. I am trying to get more cats to go in the cozy greenhouse.

Tuesday, I went to yoga at a beautiful retreat center and met some new people. As time goes on, I am looking forward to getting to know more like minded people in this small community. Tomorrow I am hoping to go to book club with neighbors Beth and Grant. The post office which is only open five days a week from 11- 4, but seems to be a gathering place.

Everything is a drawn-out process living here. And, last week I forgot to tell you about my experience trying to get a mailbox. I bought a nice big black locking mailbox to put at the bottom of the driveway. When I went to the post office and asked about putting it up the women said, “oh you have to get a permit for that.” I asked how to do that and they said, “Oh, you get it from us.” I said OK how to do that? Then they informed me my driveway was in a dangerous place for the mailman to stop and I had to put a box way back down the road with the last box. I don’t want to do this as the main purpose was to designate my address. I have had some groundwork done and I don’t think it is dangerous, but I am not going to argue with them. I will use a PO Box instead where Amazon delivers most mail. If getting shipments from FedEx, they go to the market for pick up where a list is posted outside. It is an interesting system, but it works. Being so far out I get everything from Amazon-even ice cube trays, towels, boots, etc. I know some people don’t like Amazon, but they are a life saver out here where a jar of mayo can be $14.

There are often cows on the road and on my way to the post office the other day I encountered a man in the road herding a cow. Turned out to be Brandon who I had met at the farm store many months ago right after I purchased fencing. I told him my fencing plan to bring in helpers Edwin and Silipei and he proceeded to tell me why that would not work. Scared me, but air tickets were bought and they were coming the next morning. Thank gosh I didn’t listen to him and went ahead and it turned out perfectly. This week Brandon told me “Hana eats people up and spits them out”. He always has something great to say.

Today my builder called in sick, so I am patiently waiting for he and his two helpers to put up the siding. They seem to get sick every few weeks, so am not sure, but need to stay diplomatic which is often a challenge for me. And, my daughter once told me that I am not diplomatic. Maybe that was from spending so much time in Waianae. On the positive side, the project is progressing as they have laid the metal pieces along the foundation and the metal sides are next…. and hopefully soon. Without the right attitude this could be a frustrating situation.

Friday is the weekly Farmers market where there are lots of greens, fruit, homemade bread and fish if the seas are fishable. On these days I check mail at the post office and do banking. Interestingly, the only bank- the Bank of Hawaii is open five days a week from 3-4:30. The bank is attached to the post office and is the smallest bank I have ever seen but, it does seem to function.

The days pass by quickly here as there is always so much to do-future projects and just keeping things semi clean and organized. I am washing in buckets with a toilet plunger to swish the clothes around just like I saw some homesteaders do on You Tube.  I rinse them in another bucket and then take then up to the greenhouse where I have a clothesline for drying. Luckily there is no shortage of water. Makes me think and appreciate what my great grandparents must have gone through as they were crossing the plains in a covered wagon heading for Salt Lake City with little or no water trying to keep clothes clean.

In between the rains I am making a cut coral path to the bathroom and shower houses. These coral pavers have been sitting in storage in Kahului for at least eight years. Next I must figure out what to put in between the paver gaps.

Next week I will tell you more about this week, show you the finished paver project and more pictures of the cats like a reader suggested. Meantime here is one of a cat buffet.

Time to sign off for this week and wait for rains to stop. Thanks for reading Adventure Blog # 4 and please leave a comment on WordPress if you feel like it.

Aloha Nui

Vicky