Vicky Durand’s Adventure Blog 13

BLOG #13

May 6, 2023

Welcome to Blog #13! Time has been flying by and hard to believe this is number 13. This has been an amazing and productive week here in paradise. Other than long drives to town on Tuesday and Wednesday lots of progress was made here. After four weeks of Chris telling me he would bring his machine here it finally and very happily arrived on Thursday. Getting the excavator here lets the big long awaited jobs finally happen.

The windows are all now framed in wood so upon arrival they will hopefully slip right in. The two sliding doors will be framed this week.

Bradley finally showed up to level the gravel pile. The small plastic shed that Bob and I put up for storage got moved to the other side out of site right next to the cat greenhouse. For years it was home for rats so I will power wash and then paint it and use for storage along with my new red Honda lawn mover.

The 5,000 galloon water tank got moved near gutters on ag shed. That was a hairy move as four men were holding it in place after Bradley removed the log hold it up while he got it in place on his tractor forks. The tank would have flattened all four if it had gotten away and there would have been four “Flat Stanley’s.” I was holding my breath as I watched. Then we realized the tank top was above the gutters. So Chris had to dig an alternative place for the tank. This meant removing an avocado tree and carving out a level pad-days work.

After dreaming about finding four ten foot kiawe logs to support the heavy old growth cedar beams on the patio I finally found them thanks to Rich at Whispering Winds. They were delivered on Thursday. These logs have gotten very hard to find, but will add a special rustic touch to the patio.

The driveway matting was laid down with a layer of gravel on top. I am hoping this will reduce the mud during the next big rains in the winter months. Lately we have had just the right amount of rain for filling the tank and planting.

While in town I found tiny river rocks and added them to half of the pathway and in the outdoor shower. This makes a big difference in appearance and stability.

And, speaking of making a big difference I bought a small washing machine on Amazon. It is hooked up and will be fun to see what happens on the spin cycle.

My tomatoes are producing like crazy with the best tomatoes ever. The basil is also flourishing and we have been loving the pairings with mozzarella cheese and balsamic vinegar. Plans are to enlarge my vegetable garden.

My step daughter Sarah is out here for a few days. Yesterday afternoon we went to the Friday farmers market first concert series and then on to the bamboo pizza restaurant for Friday night music. We sat with new friends and it was great music and delicious pizza. I am really loving it here in this small community.

I am starting to investigate grant possibilities for restoring the ancient lo’i on this property. Friday I met with Lipoa the director of the local high school building, gardening and food service programs. The school has amazing programs and we are hoping to eventually collaborate with them for our project. Along with meeting Vili, Lehua and others involved in the program we had a special meeting as her mother is also named Vicky and a surfer.

Time to do some planting and move on with the day.

Thanks for tuning in. Please remember all great projects things start with a dream and it is never too late to have a dream. This was my mother ‘s (Wave Woman) philosophy during her life. With this thought she accomplished a great deal and had a meaningful life. And, I might add a lot of fun.

Aloha Nui

Vicky