A Whole Lot of Plantin' Goin' On!

Well, we have been living in our new Hawaiian Home for 10 days! Yesterday was planting day for our new fruit and spice trees. Last Monday we went with our friend Kelly to Plant It Hawaii, a wholesale nursery in Kurtistown to pick up the order we selected when we were here in November. Yesterday, Kelly's farm worker Abel (who I call the incredible hunk) came to plant the trees and vines. He brought lots of organic furtilizer, compost and cinders to aireate the soil. Here is what we got planted yesterday: 2 Eureka Lemons, 2 Improved Meyer Lemons, 2 Variegated Pink Eureka Lemons, 2 Moro Blood Oranges, 3 Buddah's Hand Citrons, 2 Calamondin Limes, 2 Kaffir Limes (they are going on the lanais, underplanted with herbs), 2 Tahiti Limes, 4 Minneola Tangelos (excellent for juicing), 1 Kahalu'u Avocado, 1 Sharwill Avocado, 2 Dwarf Meiwa Kumkwats, 1 KeittMango, 4 Vanilla vines, 1 Allspice tree, 1 Cinnamon Tree, 1 Clove Tree, 2 Nutmeg Trees, 2 large Curry Leaf Trees (going in large pots on front porch where it is more protected), 2 each of Yellow, purple and orange Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) vines and about 30 varieties of herbs and peppers which will go in containers on the lanais and front porch. As these grow, flower and fruit, I will share more pictures of the trees as well as recipes and ideas as to what to do with the fruit and spices!

A BIG Thank You to our friend Kelly Moran of Hilo Brokers for the plants and labor. Another round of thanks goes to Abel the "Incredible Hunk" who planted all of the trees and vines for us. If you ever need a great real estate agent, contact Kelly at:

www.hilo-brokers.com
kelly@Hilo-Brokers.com
Office: 808-969-9400 x11
Cell: 808-938-5757
Fax: 808-969-7900
Toll Free: 800-769-4456

Visiting Akaka Falls

We drove down the road the other day to visit Akaka Falls. It is about 10 minutes from our house and nestled in a spectacular gorge. We tried to time the trip so that the cruise ship passengers were already gone, so we went late in the afternoon. However, it is said that it is even more spectacular when you go early in the day, so we will make a return trip to check that out. The circle trail was closed for construction, so we took the shorter easier trail to get there. Still, there are hundreds of steps to go up and down as you make your way to the viewing area. The entire trail was paved, wandering over streams and beautiful vegetation and most of it had hand rails, but I do have some friends that might find it too physically challenging. The view was spectacular. The water falls over 420' into a huge pool. Coming and going to the falls you drive through the little plantation town Honomu. There are about 2 blocks of commercial buildings, a few shops, a cafe and a very old theater. It is easy to imagine what this little town was like back in the Sugar Days of Hawaii, as not much has really changed there in those many years.

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

Aloha!

No pictures on this post. We have arrived on the island and we are getting settled in. But I promise many pictures are to come!

Our "goods" are on a container ship and won't be here for a few weeks yet. It was quite an ordeal deciding what to bring and making sure that it all fit in the container! Our movers, West Point Relocation specialize in oceanic moves and most of their customers are moving to/from Hawaii, Japan and Thailand. They did a terrific job and were superb at packing up our art and high value pieces of furniture.

We had a series of very successful garage sales in November and December. We also donated hundreds of books (they don't do so well in our humid Hawaiian climate) and clothes to charity. It is amazing how many things we really will not need in Hawaii. We got rid of many cold weather clothes as well as most of our leather goods. I could not bear to part with a few hand bags and sandals, so they will get a frequent wipe down to help preserve them. But leather jackets and most shoes went out the door. Finally as we were packing we discovered many other things that we really did not need and had a final pile of donations that filled an entire 1 car garage. After living here just a few days now, we are discovering that we need even less than we thought we would.

Hilo had over 30" of rain since we were here in November. It is very green and lush of course. The stream and water fall on our property are flowing too. On Monday when we arrived, we were delighted to find a bright sunny day! Tuesday was another sunny one and then we had a good rain Tuesday night and it cleared in time for me to go to the farmer's market at 9 am.

Speaking of the market... THIS is one of the reasons we love Hawaii so much! The market in Hilo is small by California standards. What it lacks in space, it supersedes all California Farmer's Markets in abundance and fantastic fruits and vegetables. I have to say only the Mercados in Mexico City & Cuernavaca have impressed me more than our little Hilo Farmer's Market. I brought home so many wonderful things. I will be sharing about each of our local fruits and veggies in the future. Some I have never seen before and others, like the fern fronds were only seasonal treats we had to forage for on the mainland. Here they are available year round.

We find that as each day passes we affirm the notion that we really do belong here and that some unseen force has drawn us to this beautiful island. It is hard to adequately describe the affinity I feel for the land, ocean and people of Hawaii. Living so close to the ocean, surrounded by sights, sounds and fragrances of such incomparable beauty brings me to the conclusion that this is truly one of the most special places on earth. I am honored to be one of Hawaii's newest citizens. I hope that I can make some contribution to this island and her people, whom we love already.

Sunrises!

Everymorning in our Hawaiian Home brings a different view of the sunrise.

These pictures were taken the first few days of November.

Sunrises on Hilo Bay

Fun Saturday in Hilo Town!

We had a great time with our friends Marsha and Ray on Saturday November 8th. They had spent the night at our new house the night before because we had gone to Black and White night in downtown Hilo (see pictures above of Ray and Marsha as well as our great friends Sharon and Kelly and one of many local bands who were playing in many venues).

On Saturday morning we went to the Hilo Farmer's Market and then went to Mo'oheau Park in Hilo for the E Malama 'Aina Sustainabilty Festival. There we ran into our friend Sonia Martinez who was running the Freecycle Booth at the festival. Freecycle is a network of people who post items that they have available for free to takers. Living on an island makes sustainability extremely important and Freecycle keeps things out of the land fills while also providing needed items to people.

The Hilo Veterans Day parade went right past the park and there were free folding chairs to use, so we sat and watched the parade, clapping for the various soldiers as they came by. The marching bands were also fun and I especially liked the ones in bright shirts and white pants or shorts... so Hawaiian.

It is great to be part of a town that is such a close knit community. While Hilo has 50,000 residents and it is the second largest town in Hawaii, it retains a very small town feeling. It is like going back in time at least 40 years. There are very few tourists and those that are there fit in with the locals, not your typical tourists, instead they are people interested in the volcano or other natural wonders that you can hike or kayak to around the East Coast of Hawaii. It is a land of adventure and incomparable beauty as well as lovely people from so many cultures.

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany