I have so much to be thankful for...
.... my loving daughters and their families, my partner, having survived 4 cancers... longtime and true friends, a nice roof over my head and enough food for all of us. I'm still active....and there is much to laugh over.

Every morning that my little Daisy Dawg drags me from my bed, I am thankful that I can.

There is something about a life threatening disease that clears the brain and puts everything in proper perspective.
I seem to have little or no trouble separating the wheat from the chaff. It keeps my life much less complicated.  It is another gift I am thankful for.
I could go on... but it is not about who has the longer list.

There is not a morning I wake up that I am not thankful for another day.
Tomorrow is not my only Thanksgiving day, but is the day I really celebrate my good fortune.

I got this email and, again, I think it is 'pass on worthy'...

So, okay.. Guess what we got at the yard sale today....

Do we have to get the leather jackets or will our old 'Members Only" work
    
Sleek looking....don't cha think? 

Nice. A locking space for the helmet.. ( there will be two)

We are firm believers in brain buckets.. (helmets). The old days of riding the back country
hills has been too convincing  That is the first item  for a trip into Kona on Monday.

    No,...  I'm just warming the seat... 

Bringing it home.....

 We have always been a 'Wheeled Family'.

When the girls were younger we had a garage full of them
Cars-trucks-bicycles and motorcycles.  Our camping trips were always
planned with our wheels in mind.

Both girls just recently sold their motor cycles to make more room in their garages.
Debi filled hers up with mountain bikes.....

Steve and I had been talking about getting another motorcycle/scooter.. for those
little trips down the hill, to the store or visiting neighbors.

I am the one who has been dragging feet on that one.. but.. today when visiting
my friend Lori's dads' garage sale there it was.. calling to me. I was actually interested and
anxious to sit on it...  me!

When I flagged Steve out of the truck, he thought it was for tools because that is what
Larry specializes in... things with motors.

Never in a hurry, Steve wandered over past the scooters and was checking this one out.
It had caught his eye, too.

He gave us a couple hours to think it over... and by the time we got we had already decided.

There ya go..!

I am getting another present and they should be rolled out Santa's sleigh Thursday a.m..

The kitties are getting brave..they have decided they like sleeping on the lanai, on my chaise or on the chair.
Baby Daisy must be thinking .. who's been sleeping on my chair???
       

   The racket the other night was them wrestling in the blanket...
       

The little guy is getting more tame.. is always trying to get Daisy to play.
     
Daisy brings out her toys for them to join her in play..

Funny Face takes them and plays where Daisy cannot go and won't give them back.
She mimics Da Bruddah, but her hisses and paw swats are serious...but it seems she is trying to get with the program. It is a good sign over all, most feral cats do not play.  

Da Bruddah will play and takes the toys and pretends they are really interesting
    
         Batting at them makes them even more interesting

...or keeps them close to him so she might get with-in striking distance

        ...           ho hum.....sometimes he even feigns he isn't interested....
       

Daisy gets close and then he will do something.. like jump up and run away
with the toy leaving Daisy wondering where this is all headed..
Sometimes it will be a paw and grab at her.
A pounce toward her always sends her running the other way.
   

 She has experienced those claws too many times. To her good nature,
 she keeps trying to get them to play with her.. 

It is cute to watch critter babies make up their own play rules..

I see the progress.
   
Those blocks are over 90 pounds and the cap blocks weigh more than half that.

At first, I did not care much for the look of it, but it was certainly better than the strewn volcanic debris. Perhaps it has grown on me, because I really like it now.  It has a good clean look about it.
 
Steve is out there doing all that back breaking work. I wanted to get us some added help, but he chooses to do this himself... My help today is staying out of his way, bringing cold water and the cheerleader.
 
The big blocks are now pinned into place.. not that we feel they will move of their own volition, but, as a volcanic island, we have a tendency to shake rattle and roll. Best NOT ignore that.
We only want to do this one time.

The top caps are in place but not 'glued' down. today. That is tomorrow's project.
 
Then come the part where we back fill, the front fill, calling and moving more gravel and fill, the contouring, the  the etc...more rock, more cinder soil, more blocks...  Plenty more work to keep us busy and healthy.... and broke LOL..  

We are scheming and filling out the wall projects in the direction we were going. He has some good ideas and I am thrilled. It pushes completion dates way back, but it is a much better plan.

We are keeping an eye on that old calendar because the grass and watering system should be in before the spring so the rains can be a help to us. If you can, it is important to work with nature here than against it.

I am moving more gravel and composted soil around.... picking out the 'over 1 inch blue basalt'  to cover the soil in other tree plats... doing the usual watering and pruning chores and keeping the inside excitement to a minimum.

... and now it is time to to create something fabulous an gormet for lunch.

We'll keep you posted~

In the words of the very special and missed Gilda Radner..."It's always something! " 
 

Hello friends,
Just wanted to say HI! and let you know about what the excitement was
in my busy day today....

I was making my early morning rounds when ...
I think I see a kitty!!!!

Yes, there is a kitty there

What is this????

Ouch! CLAWS!!!

 
Extending peace paws

Are you coming back?
 

Heh Heh h... That was fun!

I hope there are no claws in your day.
Daisy~

... well, it's my Christmas anyway.... .
I have been waiting to get really rolling with the back yard and this morning ...
it was almost like running down the stairs and finding my wish...
and under my tree is a HUGE shiny new red Truck.

The truck wasn't the wish.. Like Santa's big red sleigh...  it was delivering
......Rock!!!

       A big pile of rock
      

        MY ROCKS!
       
                                   ......  all 12 plus ton of 'em.

Of course I'll share. Steve dug up the trench where some of the 3/4 base will be the foundation for the stacked concrete block wall.
We've decided that we'd like to add some interest to the back yard and change the elevation and level the area  where grass ( did I say that word out loud?) will be and the the smaller paths will run behind the wall and go to the lower level gardens,  layered in gravel!

                        My yard Rocks!
                          
                      You thought I was kidding~    
                      My back yard once had soil, but the winds kept blowing it away.
                      I'd rake up the rock and the next thing, it was all rocks again..
                      I am sure that is the stuff on my kitchen table  
  

                 Earlier this morning, even in these high winds I decided
                 to go ahead with moving the old temporary Iris bed
               

              To it's new permanent home outside the front patio
      
       Of course, I'll have to put some kind of rock topping or the winds
       will blow the soil next door.
       Do you see that rose bush.. it is an oldie called Mde. Cecile Brunner.
       Ever since I discovered this tiny jewel at Hearst Castle in the late 60's,
       I have lived with one. 
       It is the only one on this Island.  At least I think so...I tried for 5 years to
       locate one here, without success.. and finally, because of some fluke of fate,
       I was blessed and it was legally shipped in, but wrapped in wood shavings
       and X-rayed... ( no soil).
       It had to go to some special official place and get tested to insure there was nothing
       that would be introduced onto our Island. Expensive to do one plant at a time. Most
       on line nurseries just do not want the hassle.
       I would never have imagined that the treasures I love living with would be denied me.
       It is with my 'new eyes', that I ask you to enjoy yours.  
      

         Daisy asked if I would play... She must have been feeling left out
      
                ....so I took the rest of the day off to be her toy...and blog.
        
                             You All Have A Nice Day!

        
This photo brings new meaning to the words 'canning'.

My Papaya trees with my favored red/strawberry Papaya are growing so tall we cannot get to the fruit, even with a picker stick.
I was lamenting my predicament with local friends....complaining loudly, that neither of us are going to get fruit for a while if we had to wait until the new plantings 'come in'.

One Hawaiian lady said to "can it".
I was sure I had not heard that right.. after all....the whole idea is F R E S H fruit.
I must have been making faces...

"No! not that kine.. save your cans... when you cut the tall away, cover the top with cans...ladis. (like this)...she give me a hand motions....  Yes?"

Hawaiians always seem to end a statement with a 'Yes' as though it is a question. It is actually pleasing to the ear.

"I never heard such a thing but I will try~"

She nodded in the affirmative as did the rest of the gathering.

So here are my 'canned Papaya'....  makes sense... Yes?

I received this from a friend of mine... and found it interesting enough to be 'Pass It On' worthy. I have taken the liberty to add my notes at the bottom. 

A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would .   With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American .   Good idea . . .   one light bulb at a time . . . . C heck this out . I can verify this because I was in Lowe's the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments . They were all made in China . The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there . They were made in USA . Start looking . In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job . So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track . Let's get behind her! My grandson likes Hershey's candy . I noticed, though, that it is marked m ade in Mexico now . I do not buy it any more . My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now .   I have switched to Crest . You have to read the labels on everything . This past weekend I was at Kroger. (Can be true for any store.)  I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets . I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, "Everyday Value . " I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price . The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland , Ohio . So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here . So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets . . . yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada . The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price! My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors! If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies! (We should have awakened a decade ago . . . . . . ) Let's get with the program . . . . help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U . S . A .

 

You got that right!
I still have a choice where I spend my American dollars. Sometimes it is hard to tell the country of origin.
Labels can lie...
Just because it says it is made in America, does not mean it is made 100% in North America.
We will find that unscrupulous companies marry their foreign built sub-assemblies here and say it is American manufactured....

Right now, your labels can lie to you.
*What we need is laws that tell us what percentage of a product is produced here.
E-mail your Congress person and insist that they forward bills that will label what percentage of the product produced is here.

Do you even know who your Congressional people are? and how to contact them?

*One huge decision we can make is to get pro-active and force the US government to stop rewarding the companies that do out-source our manufacturing and office jobs away from America.
E-mail your Congressman and tell him/her what you expect. If they do not, put your next vote elsewhere ! ... and take your friends with you.

Companies are getting pretty savvy and understand our desire to only buy American. They will do everything they can to make us think it is American and American jobs...

What is needed is to return All the jobs here.. Imagine what a vulnerability it is to you to have your banking and medical information floating out there without your knowledge, your control, or American laws protecting it. 

So, be label wise and look into your purchases and transactions. 

The 'Funnyface' kitten has returned.

I blogged about capturing her earlier than I had her scheduled...

We took her and got her the kitty 'Spa treatment', Neutered, her cat vaccination, her other shots, Frontline application .. all that expensive stuff.

That afternoon, we brought her home and put her into a wire crate and set her up just inside the garage door so she could see she was in familiar territory....as she needed her time to recoup.

      
-Litter box.... she did not have a clue what that was.
-Newspaper liner for the tray which she was obviously reading because she kept turning the pages
-A new furry tennis ball.. the only thing furry/fuzzy I could find in the garage and she could play with it if she felt better.
-A couple towels in a planter.. for cozy snoozing.. and a few more outside the planter. Almost immediately, she got tossed the planter  bed out of the corner.
-Food and water.. in containers that she was already familiar with from pre-spay days.
Then, except for one side of the crate, I covered it with towels to be a nice cozy place,

I sure took the heat from the cat  people when they saw the ball... Ferals don't play with balls... duh! She sure cuddled next to it

She made herself pretty much at home... and I spent a few hours out there talking with her and getting her used to my being so close.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was toying with the idea of taming her before releasing.. but wondered then because of concerns that her neutered brother (that seems to watch over her) may move off....

Yesterday morning, several things happened that made me question whether I was helping or hurting her situation. 

Someone, I will not mention names ...(not me) turned on the Shop Vac that was stationed with-in feet of the crate. Yes, after untold months of sawdust on everything,  'someone' decided it was time to clean. GRRRRRRRRRRR!

Another incident where the edge of a sheet of plywood caught the edge of the cage and freaked her out.     

That was not the last of it.. The darn Francolin birds that come to the garage door to be fed were determined to eat the kitties food and screamed in her face to toss out the goods. They are bigger than her and obnoxiously louder than most anything on this planet.

After each incident, I'd sit and calm her and then clean her cage... 4 times! ...with a freaky feral kitty inside. Her spookie mother did her no favors. 
I could not take any more chances... strangers... car honking.. I moved her to the lanai where I could keep and eye on her. She is used to seeing Daisy at the distance ...Daisy is usually a full story above her and behind railings..

Funnyface kitty calmed down but she did not freak...

At 4:00 I decided to get her over to the feed station so that her brother could see her when he came at 5 ish... Instead a neighbors pit bull dog came over... she always escapes through  their plastic fencing and went spastic. Funny face just honkered down.
The quickest solution was a few well placed rocks and that took care of the dog. I called to the neighbor that her dog was out... and he came to retrieve her. 

Gosh, you'd think that after the dog escaping at least a half dozen times they'd figure it out they need to fix or change the fencing!

It was amazing the kitten settled in again ... but she did and then, in a sudden flash, she figured out where she was.. ( home territory) and went beserk trying to get out of that crate.

In all the time I have known of her, I have never seen her so active. She pawed at leaves, raked rocks into the crate and tried to paw a planter that she used to snooze in over to the crate.
She tested and retested every square inch of the crate she never worried about in the days before.

Fearing she would have a heart attack yet, I sat and talked to her.

Finally 'Silver kitty' came and was hollering for his dinner.

She heard him and watched, frozen.
   

At first he paid no attention to the crate as I mixed his wet and dry foods.
All he wanted was those first bites on the fork. Then I turned to give some to Funny Face and she yowled at him and they were rebonded. I opened the door to the crate..He went in inside and they did the rub and push face thing.

Altho' it was less than 5 minutes before they realized where they were and the door was open
I had backed off. They both shot out of there and into the trees , disappearing for the rest of the evening.

I just knew I had seen the last of her/them.. but at 5:30 this morning I head a familiar call under my bedroom window He sleeps under the house so he hears my every stirring. When I went down the steps with food he was there hollering ..impatiently.
I looked around for the Funny face and did not see her.
My heart dropped, she used to be there.. just lagging behind.

He ate fitfully and walked off. I almost cried.. "No Funny Face ", I said to Steve. I returned inside the house to make the coffee.
In just a few minutes, Steve walked into the house and said quietly "she's here'.