the surreeal life

we'll its a long time since i was able to do this. how the hell is everybody??

i have just got a new puter, of course i dont know how to use it yet, and i still dont have electric, phone or any of the other things one needs to go with it. i am in a little cyber cafe in a tiny town called pahoa. hopefully i will be able to catch up most mornings over a cup of coffee.

my son jacob is fine. graduating a year early and starting college in sept. he drives now, but almost immediately got stopped for speeding, so he will probably lose his licence when he goes to court next month.

we finally got the mustang on the road so i am driving a shiney red convertible which i LOVE.

My four dogs are happy, healthy, shiney, bouncy animals, who keep me company in my isolation.

hubby is still working on the other side, so we only see each other at weekends....and my marriage has never been better! poor man works really hard all week and then comes home to a honeydo list as long as your arm. but there is something magical about creating your own environment, so all is good in the rain forest. i have a sh*t load of pics of the land and the cabin, so as soon as i can downloads and sort them i will post some up so that you can all be jealous.

i have really missed coming here....it was the only chat site i ever visited. i am assuming everything is much the same.

i have a whole load of questions about my new puter, so if those who remember how hopeless i am with technology can find me on soft ware i will appreciate the help and advice.

i will say by-by for now, and hopefully catch up with some of you later. much aloha from the orchid isle.

 

Hi laurie.......Yes, it is good to hear from you. I will patiently for the awesome pictures I am sure you will post.
Glad you are doing well.

 

Was wondering about you as well recently. wow, maybe we willed you back
Nice to know all is good.

 

Nice to hear from you. Can't wait for picts! :cool

 

thanks everyone for the welcome back. its nice to see there are still some 'old faces' here.

spent most of yesterday downloading updates and trying to sort out antivir etc. i only hope i can work out how to use them!!!!! (i never did understand anything zone alarm did!!! now i have a different one....hopefully its either so automated it doesn't need my input, or its a bit more user friendly)

i love my new puter. its an acer aspire (if that means anything to anybody) it cost $600. that was about the price i paid for my old puter (an 'e-machine') and this one has more power/memory/bites/gigs/whatever.

so, living in the jungle has been trippy. the cabin has taken on a life of its own, and is no longer just a temporary structure to live in whilst we build the house. its seems unlikely that we will ever get round to building the house now. we have been here two years and we still haven't even finished the cabin. i have cleared approx 1/4 acre of forest by hand. by carefully pulling only one particular type of ground fern and leaving everything else in the ground, it has kinda landscaped itself.

.i have discovered (so far) five different types of orchids growing wild, only two of which are actually native to Hawaii. i have a bonafide garden! i am currently trying to find a way of growing edibles without them actually being eaten!!!! i have two rose trees that are also being eaten by something - Japanese Beatles - we think. (beware the inscrutable (and apparently indestructible) japs!!)

it rains in the forest - who'd have thunk it - but even that is spectacular in its own way. the rain is warm for starters. it comes down the the force of a power shower. we have luckily built on a little rise, and we are on posts, so we don't suffer from any flooding. we have seen some monumental errors in the building and planning of some of our fellow forest dwellers, putting down a concrete base and building with bricks being one of them. the ground is constantly 'mobile' and of course concrete doesn't 'give' in the same way wood does. people build in the little glens formed by the lave flows and the rain sometimes forms unpredictable and often powerful rivers that flow into these tiny gulches. (this mostly happens to people from the mainland, with lots of money, who have built quickly, mostly during the dryer summer, only to be surprised by the intensity of our weather).

the flat 1/2 acre that we are on, was in fact a collapsed lava bubble that has been filled in, as opposed to land that had been cleared and the rubble pushed to the edges as we had assumed. this means we are surrounded by a solid rock rise that protects us from the floods and the winds. (lucky eh!)

the cabin is well cosy. warm and dry, and light and airy at the same time. we lined the roof with wood so that i could keep the ceilings open plan and don't have to look at the underside of tin. this has had the added effect of forming a sound barrier against the noise of the rain which can sometimes be so loud you cannot hear each other speak. again - lucky eh!
i now have catchment for 110 gals, solar and genny for intermittent power to recharge things and watch the occasional dvd, a three burner propane stove top, a large propane BBQ grill thing that i use as an oven when i need, (i cooked Christmas dinner for 16 this year), a small propane fridge, and just about everything one needs to be comfortable.

life is very good. i am very blessed.

ok - so that's enough of an update for now. again its good to be back. i have missed being able to interact with the outside world. much aloha to you all.

 

jacob graduated high school friday (a whole year early). i designed, carved, and printed the kihe (key-hay) he is wearing as did the parents of all the students. mine is a depiction of the ying-yang symble and the big dipper. i had to give a speach about the why's and wherefor's of the design. it was a beautifull ceremony. i am enormously proud of my son.




hell and damm!!!cant seem to upload. ill ask on software. boo hoo. much aloha

 

ok downloaded mozilla and it works!!!

 

and two more

 

Congratulations to your son. And to you for obviously bringing the boy up right.
I hope my son makes me as proud.
Great pics. I wanna live in Hawaii. No I don't. I might bump into Dog the (racist) bounty hunter.

 

Hello, such beautiful pics! Thank you for sharing We haven't officially met, but I do enjoy this place... Such nice people and an answer to any question I could come up with! LOL!

Thanks for sharing the pics, and your story too... Your place sounds very nice... We worked on our place for 20+ years, and finally, we are done (unless something breaks down!) So all in all, it is a long road, but worth every minute.. I am glad to meet you :wave

 

thanks.


i am a little concerned that the world has made it to the front page news of the 'west hawaii today'. in between the pictures of the kamahamaha day parade, and an article about the seed exchange was a picture of the radio-active symbol and an article stating that n Korea has just declared war!! hopefully it will concentrate its efforts on Russia, china, or japan!!! otherwise i may be toast!.