Moonlight magic

I was awakened by moonlight the last 3 nights. The third night, I took a camera upstairs in case it happened again. Tonight it's overcast and raining, and then the full moon will be done. The water is about 2 miles away.

Our belongings arrived yesterday. They parked the shipping container half a mile down the highway, and shuttled everything to our house in 3 truckloads. The truck barely fit into our driveway. Everything arrived safely and we have days of unpacking and organizing to do. After weeks of downsizing before we left, we're still unpacking some things we could have left behind. So it goes.

Paragliders circled overhead as the movers were unloading our stuff. They jump off the mountain high above us,  glide down apparently over the water, catch an updraft and circle back up. More magic.

Before and after photos of the vegetable garden. This is about 4 months of weed growth over the winter.

Pineapples in the front, strawberries in the middle, and the rest is ready for planting. The view isn't too bad,  either, makes weeding enjoyable. It reminds me of "The Secret Garden".

Our third week

I started work last week at Hospice of Kona. The people and the organization are wonderful. Other than that, we've been working in the garden and around the house.

Harvest of avocados and purple sweet potatoes

Mark built a nice compost bin

A removable screen on one end of the bin, to remove finished compost

Amaryllis popped up in the garden after a rain.

Django with rosemary bush and amaryllis

I didn't know begonias could grow so large! With standard poodle for scale.

Evening view from kitchen

Early outing

One of our first outings was a trip to the Place of Refuge where interpreter Charlie gave a great monolog, and then the nearby Painted Church. All the people depicted in the paintings are white, hmm. The outside might make a nice Van Gogh sort of painting...

Life at the farm

Each night we are treated to a chorus of coqui frogs - singing "Ko - KEE". The house is open air so they are quite loud. They start at sunset and go on for hours. There is a quiet time from about 2AM to 5AM. Before sunrise the roosters and chickens start, soon followed by bleating goats, cardinals, myna birds, and a dog barking somewhere. Here is what I see from bed when I open my eyes each morning:

Paragliders fly down in front of our house in the mornings. They launch off the mountain somewhere above us.

We have more avocados than we know what to do with. These are about six inches long.

The garden is quite overgrown. I've weeded out the 2 beds in the rear. Next week I'll post photos after cleanup, next month, salad!

This is about the time the frogs start singing, and the house cools down. This is the view from the kitchen while making dinner. Sunset is around 6:30PM.

Arrived!

We arrived in Captain Cook, Hawaii on April Fools Day. We were welcomed by housesitting friends and our dog, Django, who arrived 3 days earlier. The cat, Tigger, flew on a different airline and was delayed overnight in Honolulu. He arrived in good shape the next day, and appears to like Hawaii just fine. We've had a busy week of socializing, shopping, cleaning, gardening, and getting to know how things work.

Tigger in motel room in Columbus before his long flight.

Our first afternoon at home with friends

Sunset at the ocean