Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog #11

May 22, 2023
Happy Earth Day and welcome to Blog 11

I am finding that every day is Earth Day here in this heavenly paradise. It has been a pleasant week and thanks to the big rain storm on Wednesday the ground is soft for digging and I have been planting trees. This property has a lot of rocks and digging holes and be challenging. The catchment water tank was getting low, but it is now back up so that makes for a good time for planting. After some weeks of sitting in a pot I finally got the tangerine and orange tree in the ground. Also the jade tree at the base of the trimmed monkey pod root base and a zinnia garden. I have five pakalana plants ready to put on a fence where the cows cannot get them. A twenty year old papaya tree all of a sudden fell across the driveway yesterday and I had to get the chain saw and move it to drive out.

I harvested a few more tomatoes and green beans. I have a garden full of arugula so things are good. My neighbor and new friend Sutton grows squash, eggplant and the best sunrise papayas which she and Nick share with me.

I am learning to live lightly enjoying the time between solitude and company. My friends Chuck and Kathleen came out for a few days and we had some nice times. I also reconnected with Karen a neighbor who is a paper sculpturer and creates some beautiful wall pieces. I will show some of her art next week.

This week I met up with my water exercise friends and also spent some time with my friend and step daughter Sarah. We both learned about camping from her parents Clara and John Elwell. I met Sarah and her friend Javier for dinner at one of my new favorites-Colleens in Haiku. We ate at the bar and it is a super fun place with the Maui “vibe”-everyone seeming happy, friendly and in good shape.

Audible is a new favorite as night lights for reading don’t work as they attract too many bugs. Our book club read The Last of The Moon Girls which I loved. It is a strong woman’s story based on herbs, plants, bravery, and love. Yesterday I was sorry to finish a story about Charles Lindbergh’s life. Although he was not on everyone’s favored list he had some interesting thoughts and insights. Charles along with Anne and Amelia were Wave Woman’s inspiration for taking flying lessons and heading to the air.

Wood framing for the shed windows is now made. They can all be put in place upon arrival in a few weeks. I also got my permit for a septic system this week. Boki has already moved into the shed along with a few others. The cats are really starting to explore the place and seem happy with their explorations. They have a lot of space to cover now that they are out of a neighborhood.

I better end this now as Karen kindly offered to do a load of wash for me and I need to go pick it up. The closest laundry mat is hours away and things get pretty dirty here. I ordered a tiny washer on Amazon due to arrive this week. So that should be interesting.

My books just were put in Hasegawa’s General Store, a market with a little bit of everything. They are right up front next to my buddy Stuart Coleman’s Eddie Would Go. Lots of people pass through this store everyday. Pictured is Neal Hasegawa a multi generation congenial store owner.

I am still patiently waiting for the small plastic shed to be moved and the new water tank to be placed among other projects. Hopefully this next week and I will have more news next week. And, my sweet daughter Rennie suggested I use her for an editor so she can correct any spelling, but she is on the East Coast and it doesn’t really work with our schedules. So just ignore if posssible.

Thanks for tuning in.

Aloha Nui,

Vicky