VonhofMills

Simply Put

2012-01-23T18:34:00.005-10:00

If we were "religious" this would be ours. Covers our political views as well.
Done by Bruce Edwards December, 2011:

"Not so Almighty"

~Amen

New Neigh-bors

2012-01-22T19:25:00.003-10:00

We heard, about 2 years ago when we first started talking about moving into our place here, that we might get some new neighbors next door. Well, it finally happened:

Just moved in last evening. It's the field right next to us.

Tracy paid a visit this morning in her jammies welcoming them to the "hood'"

Brother John

2012-01-18T09:53:00.003-10:00

John came to visit for the first time in mid January.

Somewhere along the Hana Hiway

Maui Sunset taken by John from our front yard!

More Firsts In the Yard

2012-01-10T14:36:00.007-10:00

We seem to have had a lot of them over the last 6 months and here are a select few:

8/29/2011

Turmeric flower. Grows well here, the root is a tasty spice and very very good for us humans. We were amazed at the beauty of the flower and it stayed beautiful for about a month. Turmeric is sometimes referred to as the poor man's saffron.

Closer view

First Kabocha Squash

10/8/2011

These are sometimes referred to as Hawaiian Pumpkins here.

The inside story - very delicious

Our patch grew out in all directions easily covering a 50 foot radius. The plant is still producing with at least 3 still on the vine. Total harvest will probably be around 12 -15 of them. Size ranges from biggest like a bowling ball on down.

First rather gnarly sweet potato harvest

10/13/2011

Pretty ugly pile, but we did enjoy a few good meals with them included.

First Compost Harvest

10/13/2011

Perhaps the most exciting "First" of all. The soil here needs lots of amending causing us to be diligent about composting. We call it "Food for the food" - every scrap of organic waste is collected and used. This was our very first look at the results.

We were thrilled to see such luscious soil. No bad odor, filled with bugs and bits, beautiful stuff.

Knowing how our chickens love the bugs Tracy couldn't resist bringing Blondie over for some snacking ... ants, ant eggs, potato bug types, cock roaches, beetles and even centipedes were all there doing their part in the composting process. Blondie wasted no time gobbling them up and continuing the cycle by giving us poop and fabulous eggs!

One last look at the joy!

Author's note: If all this raving about compost and natural cycles rings a bell it might be because you've read, "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. If you have not read it and this sort of thing sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend it - it has changed my life, altering my perception and consciousness regarding our natural world today.

Liliko'i

2012-01-08T18:49:00.003-10:00

As you may have noticed from previous posts, I have a liliko'i disorder (aka Passion Fruit). I have a passion for them, indeed! They grow on a vine so we built a special "fence" and planted 3 of them - all started from seeds gathered here. This brief post is just about two different kinds of rather beautiful flowers that appeared on our vines at different times and obviously indicate different varieties.

7/25/11

11/26/2011

We extract the juice from the fruit and freeze it in ice cube trays and then store the cubes in zip locks. Used for drinks, marinades, syrups and our fave: Roasted Liliko'i Chicken.

Full Moon Over the Koa Tree

2012-01-05T18:56:00.002-10:00

'Twas the December, 2011 full moon that was also a full eclipse.

From our back yard. Caught this just after sundown between clouds which eventually covered our whole sky so, no eclipse at our house but the next day we heard from many people on the island that is was one of the best ever!

More Underwater - the glorious green turtle and it's habitat

2011-07-24T09:41:00.000-10:00

Happy coral reef

Always a thrill to come across these

Coming up for air

This day was a happy accident in that my cheap little underwater camera set-up actually took some

decent photo's - always having trouble with focus. Trying to figure out why is worked so well this day????

Firsts

2011-07-13T16:47:00.082-10:00

One down and dozens to go!

FIRST EGG - JULY 9, 2011

First Bites - 6 Pullet Egg Omelet -July 17th
So far just one of the four is laying. Called pullet eggs due to small size and our gals are still under a year old.

FIRST LILIKO'I (Passion fruit)

FIRST BROCCOLI!

FIRST YACON

A tuber kinda like jicama only sweet, very juicy and crisp. Quite a surprise that it's excellent raw. Also sometimes called Peruvian ground apple ('cuz of that sweetness, I suppose).

Roots at harvest time. (acquired through Google Images)

Toyota dashboard garden produces first tomato!

46th Annual Makawao Paniolo Parade

2011-07-02T12:12:00.244-10:00

"Friends and families gather Upcountry each year to celebrate the Fourth of July with a weekend filled with cowboys, cowgirls and country western festivities that make smalltown Maui so special. And what better place to celebrate than Makawao Town, with its rustic charm reminiscent of the old Hawaiiana days, a place many local folks are proud to call home." (Maui Weekly)

Baldwin Avenue - the heart of Makawao Town (Makawao is pronounced mock'-ah-wow),

the start of the parade route.

The parade kicks off with the kids' stick pony race. You can witness many riding styles here.

The leaders breaking away.

This little buckaroo is sporting a fine steed!

Strolling along in last place, the crowd erupted, cheering him on to finish, but the big fuss was just too intense. A few seconds after this, he dropped his little pony in the street and ran off into mom's arms.

It takes all kinds to watch a parade:

Tracy & Betsy in line at Komoda Bakery to get

"Donuts on a Stick"

Cars:

Horses & Riders:

Whoa, big fella!

Clowns

Hawaiian Slack Key guitar band rolling along on a flatbed trailer.

Pretty much anybody can be in the parade!

"Rainbow Rentals" rents portable toilets and gives away free T.P. to those lucky enough to be in the front row.

Truly beautiful float near the end of the parade.

As the parade ended a rain squall came by and the crowd dispersed rather quickly.
In the background is the street sweeper truck bringing up the rear in cleanup mode.

It was a sweet little hometown parade and well worth the 10 minute drive from our house.
Fun from a photographer's point of view as well - such an abundant variety of subject matter.

Maui Film Festival and the Celestial Cinema

2011-06-30T14:49:00.015-10:00

The annual Maui Film Festival is held in June and it's a marvelous event.

(promotional photo)

It all starts in a grassy parking lot about 2 miles from the venue. Here we are parked with our niece Julia who spent 2 weeks with us, waiting for the shuttle bus ride to the
"Celestial Cinema"

Part of the experience is to arrive early and line up for the shuttle.

Buses staged for starting time. First one rolls at 6:15. The show starts at 8:00

The venue is a golf course located on the south shore of Maui in the Wailea/Makena area. It's known as the Gold course and there are 3 other full size golf courses in this immediate area. After getting through the ticket lines, it's up the hill onto the fairway which becomes the Cinema each evening during the 8 day event. After claiming some territory on the grass with beach chairs and blankets, it's time for a walk up the hill on the golf course for beautiful sunset views - the main reason to be early birds!

From the top of the fairway looking southwest. The uninhabited island of Kahoolawe is seen in the distance.

Sunset is upon us. You can see the amphitheater shaped area beginning to fill with people in front of the 30 foot by 50 foot screen. This huge screen is put up and taken down each day. Golf course by day, Celestial Cinema by night.

Maui sunsets are famous and plentiful.

As dusk comes, the crowd grows.

It's just about show time and people are still arriving and settling.

A rather dapper movie goer all dressed up for a big night out!

Under the stars, with gentle warm breezes flowing, a fifty foot screen with awesome sound and friendly people - it all adds up to home theater at it's best - Maui Style!

The Eastern Sky - Morning and Evening

2011-05-26T20:27:00.001-10:00

A couple nice pictures of the sky from our back yard

Taken just before sunrise in early March

Taken 5/22/11 just before sunset

Chicken Chronicles

2011-05-24T13:10:00.006-10:00

It's been 3 months now since we got our baby chicks. Here's the story:

Presenting the "Coop-de-Ville"

Tracy found the plans for this palacial poultry pad online. Complete parts list and step by step directions that we found to be nearly perfect. Another name for this type of design is "Chicken Tractor." Named so probably because it is made to roll around your yard both fertilizing it and giving the chickens fresh stuff to peck at. Pictures were taken before completion (no screening yet, along with other details). We pick it up at one end and roll it around like a wheelbarrow and seem to move it about every 3 or 4 days.
We were very fortunate to have guests right at the time we had the plans and had finished acquiring most of the materials. John & Susie McLeod from Seattle. John likes to stay busy, so he took a look at the plans and said, "let's do it!" We had a blast and really appreciated John's leading roll in the creation. John insisted on top quality including pre-painting all the wood with 2 coats of primer and 2 more coats of the finish paint, both gluing and screwing all pieces and we fastidiously adhered to the old rule, "measure twice, cut once." Big thanks to John for the quality work and inspiration!

But is wasn't all work and no play for John:

Here he is taking a well deserved break on the back patio.

(He's gonna hate us for this)

With the "coop" completed it was time for some babies:

Four little girls came home on Feb. 23rd. They are a day or two old here. They spent the first few weeks on the covered, screened-in lanai (porch) in a box with a heat lamp.

After a couple of weeks they were briefly introduced to their new home outdoors. This went on daily for the next while, spending a little more time outside each day.

A couple weeks later they were spending the whole day outside in the coop and at night we'd roll it into the garage.

Chicken Whisperer

In the garage one day Tracy was just hanging out leaning on the edge of the cage watching the girls cluck about when slowly they just started climbing aboard - HER! On this day I came up with Tracy's new title. They're about a month old at this point.

A couple days later I caught them hanging out on the coup. By the way they have names, ya know: Betty, Blondie, Ruby & Delores. They say you should never name farm animals in case you have to eat......ah, we'll deal with that later.......

First portrait

Two month birthday

Huge celebration!

(be sure to click the pic for full size)

This shot taken 3 days ago on the their 3rd month birthday!

We expect eggs at about 20 weeks which works out to either really late July or early August.

We had no idea how much fun it would be having these gals around. So far so good regarding predators. These days they spend most of their time roaming around the yard fluffling about. They are very well behaved, always returning to their coop and even putting themselves to bed up in their clubhouse each night around dark.

Oh yes, the cost? Well we figure the eggs will probably cost us about.......$25 a dozen???

-;)

What do "The Girls" do when it's time for bed? They play GODZILLA!!! Here's a 5 minute video which shows their rules... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ1N2v1fUIk

New Underwater Flora and Fauna Photos

2011-05-05T15:22:00.002-10:00

On a recent snorkel trip we discovered a sheltered bay with pristine, placid water; ideal conditions for snorkeling.

(Once again, remember to click on the pic to see it larger)

We had many first's during this snorkel, the most outstanding being the almost immediate discovery by Tracy of this huge ball of fish called a bait ball. It's made up of 100's, perhaps 1,000's of Bigeye Scad. It attracts hungry predators, naturally. In the shallow waters of the bay the most prominent bigger fish and predator is the Bluefin Trevally. We discovered that both of these fishes are members of the Jack family so, we realized they
EAT THEIR OWN!!!!

Bluefin Trevally moving in for lunch

Lunch (Bigeye Scad)

The Bluefin swim right into the center of the ball scattering it. As the ball separates the Scad swirl back around the Bluefin in an effort to get back together in the ball.

Closeup of the Scad

Closeup of the Bluefin Trevally. The one front and center was about 3 feet long. Totally harmless to us and surprisingly tame. They are just about the only larger sized fish that come into shallow water to feed on coral and the fish it attracts. For this reason they are a prize catch for shore fisherpersons. These and their big relatives, the Giant Trevally range up to over 200 pounds and the locals that can catch them are considered heroes and statewide treasures. The Hawaiian name for these is Ulua (pronounced Ooo-loo'-ah)

Here is an Ace-Eye Hawkfish settled into the coral perching like a hawk would perch in a tree - just watching and waiting for prey.

A kind of Pufferfish. So far we are unable to find it's name. NO, WAIT! It's a

Stripebelly Puffer. Whew.

Reef Lizardfish

Blackside Hawkfish

Day Octopus - most octopuses are nocturnal

Parrotfish

Cornetfish and Cowrie

The Cowrie is actually a sea snail . The shell itself is often spelled Cowry. The term "porcelain" derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (porcellana) due to their similar translucent appearance.

The one pictured here was feeling threatened so all you see is the shell. When not threatened the shell sort of opens up and you see more of the fleshy snail/slug parts.

Update to Post in January Called "Giant Step Forward"

2011-04-12T20:43:00.004-10:00

Back in January we announced here on the Blog that the County of Maui had banned all plastic grocery bags from all stores. (scroll back/down a bit to find the first post in January). I clipped this picture from one of the local papers showing the effect.

It's quite an amazing and very real change and everyone we've talked to is happy about it. The before picture was taken last July. The law went into effect Jan. 11 and the after picture was taken in mid March. Don't you think it's worth it?

Haiku Ho'olaule'a Flower Festival

2011-03-09T10:54:00.002-10:00

The Haiku (our town) Flower Festival was last Saturday and it was a rainy, cool day. That didn't stop us (or many others) from attending. It's a free community event and fundraiser for Haiku Elementary School, Haiku Boys & Girls Club & Haiku Community Association. It features live entertainment, local food, farmer's market, grower vendors, Maui-made arts & crafts, silent auction, small & big games for keiki, and more! We had fun talking story with plant people, vendors, friends and neighbors. Ho'olaule'a means celebration in Hawaiian.

Made up of about 250 small square pots with individual flowers in each, assembled to make this welcoming greeting.

Possible winner at the flower arrangement competition booth, perhaps?

Tracy talking plants with a local vendor.........that's not her horse in the background but from the looks of her it should be!

Our friends Syd and Karen who recently moved here from British Columbia showed up to play as well.

Rain protection

Sven cooking plenty chicken for the people. This is a great system: Half of a 55 gallon drum for the fire. The wood used here is Kiawe (kee-ah-vey). It's a relative of the mesquite tree and is abundant on Maui - also considered invasive so it's a win-win in the fact that it grows like a weed and needs to be chopped back often and it's a fabulous wood for grilling. The chicken is on a heavy metal woven wire grate and suspended from 3 points and connected to a tripod of 3 metal pipes (tipi style). The grate can be spun and swung back and forth which is important because the wood burns long and hot. Sven had started the fire at 8 am. It was about noon when I took this picture and he had not touched the fire the whole time. I purposely took the picture at a slow shutter speed to get the spinning effect. It looks like it's spinning much faster than it actually was (shutter speed a little too slow, makes Sven a bit blurry as well). While hanging out and talking, Sven offered to either make me one or help me make one. I can see it now in our big back yard cookin' up da kine!

I suppose all things should be considered at the Flower Festival.

Ya gotta love the "Surfin' Coffin Table"

Giant Step Forward

2011-01-14T09:48:00.003-10:00

This is a picture taken outside of the Maui dump on the down-wind side. Those beautiful trade winds blow through the island and the dump, blowing all of this around and depositing it in the brush, hanging all over fences and all tangled up in the sugar cane fields. It's been a massive, ugly mess for years!

The good news is that this is all going away, hopefully forever.

On 1/11/2011 the ban on all plastic bags on Maui took effect - it actually hapened! I happened into the Walmart in Kahului a few days after the ban began (I was unaware of this at the time) and noticed the shoppers rolling out with carts full of loose purchases. As I walked in and looked down the row of checkout counters I saw no bags of any kind - not even paper. I thought WOW even Walmart is doing it! They now have inexpensive reusable bags available: 25 cents for the small one and 50 cents for a bigger one and still no sign of any paper bags.

Now on to banning plastic water bottles - whoopie!

Peek-A-Boo View of the West Maui Mountains

2010-11-02T06:49:00.002-10:00

Or should that be PEAK-A-Boo?

Taken from our front lanai (name used here in Hawaii for a roofed porch) just after sunrise today. Camera is pointed pretty much due west. It's rare to see these mountains clearly, they are almost always shrouded in clouds. The normal trade winds blow from the east and northeast and slam into higher parts of this mountain range. Clouds build up through the day and end up nearly completely covering the mountains. That's why the rainfall up there is 400 inches a year. The trade winds have stopped (a rare occasion); I think that's why there are no clouds.........
BTW - the front lanai? Great place for a morning cup of coffee!

One Year On Maui

2010-10-22T11:45:00.001-10:00

October 20, 2010 marked our one year anniversary living on Maui. Our good Seattle friend Pamela Dore was here to celebrate with us.

Someone said that a lot of people move here but leave during the first year. If you make it a year most likely you'll stay. We're staying............no doubt about it!

(Photo by Pamela)

It's About Time

2010-10-16T12:30:00.009-10:00

We've been very busy.......NOT Blogging - enough with the excuses.
We've moved into the new house (Sep. 1), hosted Tracy's Mom Ruth and 2 of her friends, flown to Kauai to see my Dad and his wife Dodie at their time share, flown back to Maui to prepare for Dad & Dodie's stay with us here, then Tracy flew to Seattle for her Mom's surprise 80th birthday party and returns this Sunday. On Tuesday next our good friend Pamela Dore arrives from Seattle for a week stay....................and through all this we've been moving in.
Here's the recap with a few pictures:

Staring with moving in, we were too busy to grab camera's but I did get this shot:

September 1, 2010 - a big day. Our 20 foot container arrived from Seattle completely filled with our stuff. There's Tracy checking off the boxes and bundles as they are removed from the container, unwrapped, inspected and then placed in the house per our directions. Nice service!

Also, the cable guys were there pulling the final coax through the underground pipes into the house so that we could get hooked up to internet, phone and TV, same day. Somewhere around 200 boxes, some still stacked in the garage. Moving lesson #1 - If you have to think about it, don't pack it. We moved way too much stuff, especially when one of the reasons for the move is to simplify and downsize. On the flip side, though, it's nice to have some good kitchen knives and some bowls and pots and an extra towel.

Soon after, Tracy's Mom (Ruth at the top waving) came with her friends :

Ruth Johnson, Karlene Chavez & Sandy Denoff, arriving Maui.

Happy reunion

The Maui Ocean Center is a fabulous Hawaiian Island sea life aquarium - not to be missed if you visit the island.

http://www.mauioceancenter.com/

Sandy & Karlene playing at Baby Beach - north shore, Maui, near where we live.

Hanging out on the last night of their visit. We had a blast with them here and so did they, so they say!

Kauai:

We stayed with Dad and Dodie at the Mokihana in Kapaa, about 20 min from the airport in Lihue. Here they are now, out for a little put-put on the "Moki" grounds. We had a nice room overlooking the ocean. This old style complex is located on the east side of the island

On day two Tracy and I had the privilege of using Dad's rental car for the day. They were quite content to remain pool side at the Moki. Our first goal was an early morning snorkel on a south shore beach we heard about, called Poipu Beach. The northern swells that come in the fall and through the winter have come to all the islands in the last few weeks, so even on the south shore of Kauai the waves were kinda big and messy. But we got into the water and had some fun, especially with a pretty strong rip tide that carried us down the beach in record time.
After some breakfast we were still hoping for a good snorkel so we headed back around the east side and on up to the north shore, all the way to the end of the road at Ke'e Beach.

Well that sign made it clear......but it was evident why, the waves up here were plenty big and nobody was even swimming. Here, we realized there was no place on this island for snorkeling anywhere that day.

So we took a walk down the beach in the tree line.

The part of a tree you rarely see.

After wandering down the tree line path for awhile we decided to walk back on the beach.

Here's Tracy wearing the sassy new hemp hat that her Mom bought her at the hemp store in Paia, Maui

Looking down the beach, I could see somethin' happenin'!

That huge wave crashing against the cliff got my attention. Woa, some really big waves down there!

So, I added my big lens (70-200 for those interested) and started shooting. Little did I know what I would capture.

A shot of a lifetime! It looked like those huge waves were crashing against the cliff and then racing back out and colliding with the next monster wave coming in. That's got to be 100 feet high or more.

Another day and a road trip with Dad & Dodie to Waimea Canyon

Astoundingly beautiful! Kauai is known for these colorful roosters running wild anywhere there is food! This proud fellow was in the parking lot of one of the many canyon overlooks.

And now, Dad & Dodie come to Maui:

We did a lot of different things including a visit with neighbor and good friend Katie. She has a beautiful 6 acre property just four blocks up the hill from us and she invited us for a tour. Here are Dad & Dodie relaxing in the shade of her most beautiful and favorite Koa Tree.

Katie offered to take this picture:

Big thanks to Katie - wonderful hospitality and friendliness.

Last night visit hanging out in the living room (is this becoming a tradition?). We had a great time in both Kauai and Maui. I realized that I have not lived with my Dad for this amount of time since 1964. We totally admire he and Dodie. They are active and interested and alive and well!

Roger Van De Vanter

2010-08-25T13:17:00.008-10:00

I did a "photo essay" recently regarding this fine gentleman.

What i mean by photo essay, is a story in text accompanied by a photo album.
I sent that out to a lot of friends in the form of an email with a link to the photo gallery. We thought this should be posted on the Blog as well. So, if you've been there, done that, ignore. If you haven't, enjoy!

Here is the text with the link to the photos included near the end:

Roger Van De Vanter

So, Tracy saw an add on Maui Craigslist titled something like, “Antique/artiste estate SALE (Haiku)”

Haiku is where we live so Tracy perked right up, next morning we drove right up......and only about 6 blocks up from where we live. Another new adventure had begun!

We arrived at 7:00am and there were only a couple other people there so we were able to meet Roger right away and begin talking, and listening, and finding out things like, nothing had a price tag, only he could tell you a price and it took him a long time, telling stories about the item, eyes darting around and drifting off into other items and their stories and then if he wasn't interrupted too often during all of that, maybe you could come to some price agreement.

His place was covered with a huge collection of his pottery.. It also included shelves of bonsai plants – some that he'd been growing for 45 years, and handmade furniture, rare and valuable Chinese furniture, made, well, by.......Chinese, a long time ago. Also, hand made and painted kites, lot's of potted bamboo and, and.....and just amazing! Everything chaotically placed and piled around his yard on tables and shelves, in boxes and shipping containers – you get the picture. He is the epitome of mad genius, artist-potter.

My mind was reeling with memories of another mad genius artist-potter of whom I was made aware a few years ago by a good friend. My friend and his family have been collecting the works of this potter for several years. Named George Ohr and referred to as the “Mad Potter of Biloxi,”he is a one of a kind, for sure. If you are interested, do an online search for him and check his story and his work. Totally eccentric, totally mad and utterly facinating.

Who is Roger Van De Vanter, you ask?

He's an artist, a potter, a shoe maker (known for creating the multi-colored, layered rubber in elevated shoes which, at the time, Cher made popular), a self-proclaimed bamboo freak, a bonsai master, a kinetic sculptor aka mobile maker (see more about this in the photo gallery), a kite maker and completion kite flier (more about this in the gallery as well), a wood worker, to include carving and furniture making and a surfer..............but mostly a potter.

Roger's Bio reveals a history of art school study, 3 year apprenticeship with Tasho Shimeoko (master potter and living legend) in Gefu, Japan, owner of pottery studios, a cobblery studio and Professor of Fine Arts/Ceramics at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California. In 2000 he left the Laguna Beach area of California and moved to Haiku in Maui. His work has been purchased and exhibited by many private collectors in the United States, Japan, the White House, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Now he is moving back to California to continue his business, “Eccentric Ceramics” in Oceanside. We got to know him really fast, I took a bunch of photos and did several prints as gifts to him and we are sad to have met such a dynamic, interesting character and new but very close friend just days before his departure.

So it goes.

The photo gallery that was created to accompany this writing is located here:

http://neilvonhof.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=13087064&AlbumKey=HAu6d

The link takes you to a slide show format. You can control the speed or abort the slide show and review the photo's in various other ways by hovering over the show so that the film strip pops up at the top and over to right you can click on “Return to Gallery,” Note that there are comments beneath each photo.

Where's the Beach?

2010-08-18T21:31:00.000-10:00

Our most favorite, local beach has pretty much vanished! This whole section of Baldwin Beach has disappeared. Here are the pics from 'before', taken in May and 'after' taken yesterday.

All the sand you see here in this picture taken by our friend Pamela Dore is now gone - all the way back to the tree line, the whole distance of the tree line down to the end and even the spot where Pamela was standing when she took this - gone. The camera is facing east in this picture.

The picture below was taken from right at the edge of the tree line pretty much down at the end of the trees looking back (west) right at the place where Pamela was standing in May.

Here it is now, taken from just in the tree line looking west. That sand in the first picture is all really gone. All those logs, stumps and roots showing were completely buried under a few feet of sand back in May and that sort of little bay was all beach covering all the water you see in that little bay now and far out past that point of sand furthest back in the picture. The swimmer you see would be standing on the beach if this were back in May.

Wha happen??? So far we aren't really sure. However, the best story we've heard so far is that this happens every summer when the trade winds shift so that they are coming more from due east (behind the photographer in this picture) and the wind and the waves wash all that sand west down around that point to another part of the beach. Then as winter comes the winds shift, coming more from the north and northeast and move the sand back. We shall see............

It's still nice there however, We sat under the trees in the shade at a point where there was clear entry into the water and if the beach was there on a day like this there would have been lots of people and a full parking lot. We counted only about 10 people in the whole area. Nice and peaceful, had a great swim and a great day.

First Snorkel With Underwater Camera

2010-08-03T10:02:00.005-10:00

We love snorkeling and we see so many fish and other sea creatures that we finally made the plunge (npi) and got a little underwater camera set up.
Ended up with this camera: Nikon Coolpix S610 and this underwater housing: Fantasea S-610
The setup functioned well (no leaks) but it's very hard to get good shots mostly because all the reflections off of the water proof housing make seeing the LCD display nearly impossible so, we just shot a bunch and hoped for the best. The real magic was Photoshop. I was able to rescue these few out of the 50 or 60 shots we took.

Threadfin Butterfly Fish

Yellow Tangs - click to enlarge and look for the tiny white "tang" back near the tail. There is one on each side and they are razor sharp and there to discourage predators . If beeg fish tries to eat'm, it'll feel that tang and spit 'um right out.

Blackfin Snapper

Green Turtle

Parrot Fish - Hawaiian name Uhu (pronounced ooo'who)

Convict Tang Gang

Christmas Wrasse (click on this one for sure to get a better look)

Herd of Goatfish - they hang together near the surface, close to the shore

Oh yes, almost forgt this most famous creature:

Pointing Tracyus Snorkelus - rarely photographed in her native habitat!

Kitchen Progress

2010-07-14T20:03:00.002-10:00

The granite counter top was installed today along with the placement of the gas range, sink and refrigerator (covered with cardboard left of the range). The 9 foot ceilings in this house add a feeling of spaciousness. It's beginning to look like we'll be moving in around early September.

Good News

2010-06-17T18:18:00.000-10:00

'Nuff Said!

Tracy Gets Published in Another Blog!

2010-06-09T18:25:00.001-10:00

Our old friend and neighbor in West Seattle, Eric Shalit has a great blog dedicated to gardening. He asked Tracy to do an article on the transition from PNW gardening to Hawaiian gardening.

Check it out here and enjoy! Box Turtle Oasis

Giggle Hill

2010-05-31T12:16:00.004-10:00

Funny name (explanation below), beautiful place. Just about a mile and a half up mauka (up the mountain) from where we live right now. We had heard many times that you can climb to the top but never got around to it until now.

Our destination was to get on a trail and find the top, the tip-top. We had heard of a least 3 possible trails. No problem finding finding a trail and it was a fairly steep but short climb. What we found up there was a pretty awesome surprise. Notice the tall trees silhouetted at the top.

These are Cook Pines, often confused with Norfolk Pines. Both are plentiful on the Islands. They are very hard to tell apart - easier when they're older. The Cooks can grow to 200 feet and were used for ship's masts in the days of Captain Cook. He "discovered" them (and also the Norfolks) and brought them to Hawai'i.

Hundreds of them populate the top of the hill, Magnificent! I would guess that many of these are right around 200 feet tall.

A friend suggested that this could be Tracy out for a walk with her pet dinosaur. Pictured, I would guess, is Deeno's right rear foot.

OK, as promised the story of the name "Giggle Hill"

"In the 1940s, during World War II, Kokomo Road was a very busy area. At “Giggle Hill” the 4th Marine Division would train, rest and camp. The area got it’s name during that time because it’s rumored that female giggles could be heard coming from the wooded area up the hill where soldiers and spunky little ladies would meet after dark. The author couldn’t find any women (they would now be in their 80s) who wanted to talk about it “on record,” but assures you that the trees of “Giggle Hill” have many juicy stories to tell, if only they could speak."

Oh those "spunky little ladies" don't ya just love'm?

Another use for Cook pine wood:

Also, on this outing we stopped by to say hello to one of Tracy's new friends owned by our good friend Betsy.

Oatsey

Kama'aina

2010-05-31T10:45:00.002-10:00

Another silly but fun milestone for VonhofMills

Kama'aina (pronounced kama eye' na) literally means 'child of the land' and has become a term used for long-term residents of Hawai'i.

Having these new licenses means we can prove we are Kama'aina and get big discounts and bargains! (Not really that big and not really that many, but it's fun to think you're special).

If you look closely at Neil's you'll see a humorous error.

Hint: Neil said that if he ever gets arrested he'll insist on being incarcerated in the womens prison.
(Click to enlarge photo)

New House Progress Report

2010-05-28T18:58:00.010-10:00

Dropped by today - nice day, nobody there. Good time for some pics.

Click here for another walk-through video done just before Neil took the exterior photos

Things are moving along a little slower than hoped, but we are happy with the care and quality and don't mind being patient. All the sheet rock is hung and primed and the polished cement floor has been completed as well plumbing and wiring.

This photo is taken from the front porch of the new house. Looking down our driveway you can see the other house (duplex) - red arrow. Beyond it is the road. On June 15th we will move into the upper unit of the duplex. This will put us on the land and make things much easier. We can start planting, help with the finishing touches and more easily coordinate the arrival of our household stuff, which has remained in storage in Seattle since we left.

Sometimes I just like a photo. I can't explain it, I just like it. This is the back of the garage.

The opened double slider glass door (to the right) goes into the master bedroom. The master bath shower is going to be outside. There will be a deck outside of the double door. We'll walk out on the deck and into the private shower area which will be to the right of the door as you look at it from this view. Outdoor showers are very nice in the tropics! The inside part of the master bath will have a full sized tub, commode & sinks as well as lot's of cabinets for storage.

Another milestone was the installation of the septic system last week. In digging the drain field lots of nice sized stones were unearthed which will be used around the yard for landscaping and such.

The beat goes on.............

Our Recent Guests

2010-05-27T07:40:00.004-10:00

We like to make mention of our visitors. We love you all and appreciate your interest and desire to come and see us, consider it an honor to host you in our home and, of course, we love showing off Maui.
We've kept a record of visitors since we arrived last October. We've had 78 days of guests. If we were to count the "other half" of the couples who've stayed here the days go up 43 to a total of 121 individual person days. We've loved it!
So, the following 3 posts below mention our latest guests. It starts with the most recent and as you scroll down you go back in time.

Pamela Dore Arrives - May, 2010

2010-05-26T19:04:00.017-10:00

(Click on a picture to enlarge)

Arriving from West Seattle on the 4th of May for a 6 day stay.

Pamela had a big wish list and at the top was going surfing! Our friends Terry & Lisa Dorries led the way to a good surf spot and Terry provided a surfboard.

Testing the water

I tried shooting a Hi-def video for the first time with my recenlty aquired Canon 5D Mark II camera. Not so good but I learned a lot. Like, when shooting Hi-def you really need a tripod or, better yet, a Steadicam rig because it's almost impossible to hand hold without having camera shake resulting in a jittery mess, like this one!. But here goes anyway. Pamela wasn't out there more than 5 minutes before she caught her first wave.
Click here:

Pamela catches a wave video

Waiting for the next ride.

Standup Paddle Surfboarding is becoming very popular. This guy came surfing by as Pamela stared at another missed wave. He was very proficient, all over the place, catching waves and riding them in, then paddling back to grab the next one.

Coming in - happy surfer

On another day we took a drive out the Hana Highway into the jungle.....

First stop was a favorite little bay that is an easy drive to an overlook and a short walk to the edge. Being the extreme collector of "Jump Shot's" that she is, we had to get a couple. Especially special because of her proximity to the 800 foot cliff edge! (Click to enlarge)

Windy

Our destination down the Hana Hwy. was this grove of Rainbow Eucalyptus

Closeup (photo by Pamela)

A friend planted these very rare bananas in this area. The are bright red and fuzzy. One day in Haiku he told me how to find them. They were back in the jungle off the road in a swamp, this variety needs an abnormal amount of water. He asked me to photograph them for him. That was a few months ago, so, it was fun to return and see that the number of these have increased - a successful experiment, I'd say.

Do you think Pamela & Tracy ate some of those bananas?

There were more adventures as well as plenty of rest & relaxation, but time came for the goodbye dinner out. One of our favorite restaurants in Paia is Cafe Mambo. It has become tradition to take our guests there for..........you'd never guess.........Paella! Then one can say, "I had Paella in Paia" which is, well, fun to say and quite delicious - in fact the best we have ever had!
(BTW Paia is pronounced Pah-ee'-ah and Paella is pronounced Pah-ay'-ah)
(Photo by our server using Pamela's camera)

Pamela left us with many great photos. This panorama is of Baldwin Beach, our local hang-out 15 minutes (by auto) from where we live. That's Neil and a bit of Tracy there on the shore. You'll usually find us way down near the end to right under the shade trees. Come on by!
(Click to enlarge)

Robin & Jeanne in April

2010-05-26T12:37:00.009-10:00

In April Robin arrived. She has family in Honolulu so she set up her trip to swing through Maui on her way home to Poulsbo, WA. A couple of days later Jeanne arrived from Northport, WA.

Jeanne Robin

Hanging out in the morning.

Late afternoon at Ho'okipa Beach Lookout near where we live and great place in the winter for surfers, sail boarders and kite surfers all going off at the same time - and yes, it can get sort of cool here.

Robin stayed for 5 days. One thing she loved was snorkeling and we managed to get in two good trips. The first was right after we picked her up early in the morning at the airport. We proposed heading straight over to one of our fave. snorkel spots across the island and she was totally up for it and ready to go! Nothing like starting off the day with a good swim/snorkel and then breakfast at the Kihei Caffe. Robin left on the 15th.

Jeanne stuck around:

The Inverted Massage Chair Position

Induces silly thoughts and nonsense!

Jeanne stayed busy and active, seeing friends on the island who have horses, swimming, making new friends and lot's of exploring.

She's a go-go adventurer and couldn't wait to get Tracy and head up the slopes of Haleakala for a Zip Line adventure. Here she is ready to ride!

Info here: http://www.zipline.com/locations/haleakala

Here is a video of Jeanne jumping off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLI7cAFNbMs

Marilyn & Sevag in March

2010-05-26T11:25:00.007-10:00

Tracy's niece Marilyn and friend Sevag arrived around the last week of March.

They were here during Spring Break so there was lot's of running around on the sunny, white sand beach side of the island swimming, snorkeling and sun bathing.

Sev dug himself and easy chair...........

This little known beach is one of our favorites. Down at the other end it's called Turtle Town. Great snorkeling and, of course, many Hawaiian kine Green Turtles to behold.

Marilyn with little Auntie Tracy................

Big congratulations to Marilyn! Just graduated May 21, 2010 from San Diego State University. Here she is on "The Day" with big sister Natalie and Sev. This is a major accomplishment for Marilyn and we are filled with pride and admiration.

GOOD JOB MARILYN!
(We swiped this photo from Marilyn's Facebook page, Natalie, you're cute!)

ART of TRASH - until May 15th!!!

2010-05-11T07:49:00.004-10:00

Tracy helped a little to set it up and we still haven't been to see the finished show!!!

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-9SsJ1D2t4 Aloha!

Maui Cruiser

2010-05-10T12:54:00.004-10:00

A popular form of transportation here on the Island is called the "Maui Cruiser." It's a cheap, funky, older, small car that's got a lot of miles on it, but still passes the safety inspection that's required yearly for all vehicles here. Because of the strong trade winds in Hawai'i, an emissions test (which would probably disqualify many Maui cruisers) is NOT part of that inspection and is not required anywhere in the state.

So, as gasoline prices creep up,

and because of that big V-8 Engine and Auto Transmission in our still much loved Ford Van, "Morrison" we decided it was time to go shopping for a "Cruiser". Of course, the best way to do that is Craigslist. If you are curious you can go to Craigslist Hawaii, click on the Maui tab and then search "maui cruiser" and check out the marvelous inventory of crap on wheels. It's fun to read the descriptions and about half include photo's.

Didn't take long to come up with this deal. I should have taken these picture before we cleaned it up, it looks pretty darn good here, and it is, actualy.

It's a 2000 Ford Focus ZX3 Hatchback with a 2.0 Liter Dual Overhead Cam 4 cylinder engine and a 5 speed transmission and only 93,000 miles! The price was right at $1,500.00 with a MPG of 25-35 (the van get's around 15 at best), we'll feel a little better about those snorkel trips to the other side of the island that we like to do once or twice a week.
Nobody would enjoy riding in the back seat for very long however, so the Van abides as our airporter and island hopper for any more than the two of us.

Hittin' The Road With Mr. Toad

2010-04-25T13:02:00.011-10:00

So, the other day we helped some friends move across the island to their new home. Our job was to haul all the fragile house plants. This is where the big Ford van comes in handy because it's enclosed so the plants were saved from the high winds of a "back of the pickup" beating. Here we are at the new place: (Our van not pictured)

After we finished our little mission and after congratulations and salutations, I went out to the van to put it back together which mostly meant spreading out the carpeting that had been rolled up out of the way to avoid dirt from the plants. As I was stuffing the carpeting back under the spare tire I ran into something soft & squishy that suddenly hopped out!

Evidently he'd hopped aboard at our house and came along for the ride across the island. After trying to capture him (he was still in the van) with the idea of perhaps containing him and returning him back to our side of the island (the wet side), he suddenly took a surprisingly large pee on the floor of the van. We could NOT abide that behavior so, he was gently removed, He vigorously hopped off into a neighbor's yard and we headed to a nearby beach for a swim. Here is a closeup of this rather magnificent creature: (Remember to click to enlarge)

Tracy shoots a video of the inside of the house complete with music soundtrack!

2010-03-27T15:54:00.004-10:00

Just think, pretty soon there will be walls and such.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HThQ2JglGCs

New Rental House Coming Along

2010-03-27T15:29:00.014-10:00

REMEMBER, CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT.

We dropped in on the new place yesterday and took a few pictures and had a good meeting with the owner/builders. It was a very rainy week and progress has been slow. The next step is to get the roofing on so no more rain gets in and things can start drying out. This view is of the front of the house - garage is back right behind the pickup.

This is the front entrance. We scored a big bonus today by finding out that our builder, Cinco, will enclose this whole front porch with screening so that our kitchen, living, dining area will increase to nearly double. Here they call it a screened in lanai. We can dine out there, leave the front French doors open all the time and basically expand our living area greatly.

Back yard - room for lot's of plantings for which we are already planning.

View from the back corner of the property toward the back of the house.

Back in the corner there in front of the door opening with the windows on either side there will be a patio slab. This is a great spot for outdoor grilling and get together's. That mound of soil and shrubbery will be gone. This is a fairly private area. Just one neighbor on the other side of the horse pasture that borders us and those neighbors have big hedges and trees planted for their own privacy.

What happens to house with no roof in tropical rainy season.....this is the front entrance. It will have a double French door system as mentioned above. Looking inside all the way back will be the kitchen and then dining and living room up to the doors. Master bedroom and bath and laundry room on the left and guest room and second bathroom and kitchen pantry on the right. Also, all the way back and to the right is a hallway to the breezeway which goes straight back to the 3rd bedroom and office and to the garage.

Not the greatest front yard picture. It shows the driveway into our house. Had to park the van there because that's where the graveled road ends and, for that day, where the deep mud from the week of rain starts. The van is very light in the rear end and has bad traction. We have been stuck about 3 times in situations where even a normal car would have had no problem.

The one and only mature tree on the property - a Christmas Berry tree. It's a wonderful shade tree and it will be a nice hang-out place this summer.

We mentioned above that we are planning our plantings. A couple weeks ago there was a big local flower festival and we picked up these three sprouting coconuts. They will go into the ground in another month or so. Coconuts take a few years to grow up and make more coconuts, but it will be fun to watch them grow.

We also got this sweet little Valencia orange tree.

Other plantings on our list are: 3 kinds of Avocado: Sharwil for winter, Green Gold for spring & Murashige for summer. Meyer Lemon, Tahitian Lime, Liliko'i vines, Apple banana, & Breadfruit, to name a few.

Daylight Saving Adds an Hour Between You and Us!

2010-03-12T13:13:00.007-10:00

Just a reminder that when this happens Sunday morning very early, where ever you are in the US other than Hawaii, you have to ADD an hour to the time difference between us and you. Hawaii does not have Day Light Saving Time.
So, for instance, for you on the West Coast the time difference will go from 2 hours to 3 hours and we'll be 3 hours earlier than you. So if you wake up early in the morning and decide to call, say at 7am, it will be 4am here - you'll get nothing but sleepy heads. We'll do the same for you: if we call you at 10 at night that means your phone will be ringing at 1 in the morning.
Have fun springing forward!

Snorkeling in South Maui with Natalie & Omar

2010-03-11T13:56:00.002-10:00

Nothing like some snorkeling with Natalie and Omar.

Beer at "Dumps" in the sandy Living Room

...and when you don't have snorkeling weather - you hit the Maui Ocean Center

Walk Through on West Kuiaha

2010-03-08T18:40:00.006-10:00

We've done another walk-through and things are moving along. Really looking forward to moving into this newly built rental this Spring/Summer. Check it out!

West Kuiaha - Return

2010-03-04T15:05:00.004-10:00

We've almost "secured" this very nice home as of our meeting this morning. Just a little paperwork and we'll soon have a completion date and more plans to make. This time - for the long haul.

All Dressed Up and Out on the Town

2010-03-03T09:08:00.004-10:00

Benefits of welcoming house guest's. Good friends from Seattle took us to Mama's Fish House for drinks and pupu's and took our picture along with our luxury liner in the parking lot. Thank you John & Suzie!

Still looking for our new home.

2010-02-17T22:46:00.007-10:00

We're presently in a lovely home, complete with outdoor cats (Little Terror & Mr. Magoo) and just up Kokomo from Haiku Town. We love being here but still need to find our more permanent landing pad, complete with room for chickens.

Every evening they show up at the front screen door reminding us that it's time for dinner

Our favorite prospective digs are just to the east of us, on West Kuiaha. It's a new-build and we've been there twice, to meet the owner builders.

2010-02-16T14:39:00.011-10:00

"I spoke to a baby gekko yesterday...

and I think he was listening."
-Tracy Mills in the front yard Feb. 2010

John and Susie - wonderful friends and guests.

2010-02-05T15:04:00.004-10:00

Before and after pedicures on Oahu...

Wonderful visitors from outerstates, John & Susie. We hope we'll soon hear the pitter patter of their little feet in our hallways, again!!!

Dear Tamara

2010-01-15T15:08:00.005-10:00

We were so happy to have her visit, even though she had a cold. We can't wait for T & S to take another jump at Maui. Being the best real estate agent we've ever met, Tamara also took the time to find us a great agent on Maui, who took the time to help us search for our new rental home. A great connection made with Jeannie Wenger.

Leslie in January

2010-01-06T11:08:00.002-10:00

Leslie, after the holidays and on her way back to Burma. We had a wonderful time laughing with her!!

Bruce's Cartooning of Neil, myself & Deborah on Hana Hwy

2010-01-04T15:33:00.001-10:00

2009-12-29T11:26:00.000-10:00

We've had so many wonderful friends and family peoples visit us on Maui - we've had a blast hosting!

This photo of a painting of Neil's regular walk up a nearby road named East Kuiaha, was painted just around New Year when Bruce & Deborah Edwards stayed with us. Bruce's work is found here.

Buzzzz-click, snap, whirrrrrrrrrrrrere back!

2009-12-15T17:50:00.011-10:00

I could write 20 pages full of excuses for "failure to post." But we'll spare you. We've had guests for 3 of the last 5 weeks, THANKFULLY! When guests come we basically jump in on their vacation and have lot's of fun and get distracted from house hunting, plus good food and fabulous fellowship. Next guests in about 2 weeks. So, in the process of moving through this, the Blog has been pushed down the priority ladder a few rungs.

Speaking of guests, we went on a whale watch with Tracy's parents: Ruth & Eric. Some folks have mentioned that they are anticipating some good photo's. Welllllllll - let me tell you what I found out. When you go on a whale watch you should either go as a sightseer or (in my case) a photographer, but not both.
I had my 400mm (equivalent) lens on the camera so I could get some really good closeups. What that means is that you spend the whole trip looking through the view finder at a very small patch of water (because the lens is so zoomed in you don't get much field of view). The result is shots like this:

Don't forget you can click on the photo's to enlarge them!

And this:

And that was about it for me.........always missing the good part, when they breach. The sightseers had the best day so far according the boat crew. 7 breaches, 3 whales, perfect weather, calm seas and winds - da best!

I did catch one breach, but way out there and very out of focus:

So, it goes. I got some tips from another photographer at a camera shop the other day which I am anxious to try next time - next time I go and choose to be the photographer, that is.

So, among the sightseers on the boat were these happy folks:

That's Tracy's Mom and Dad, Ruth and Eric and Tracy herself! It was 8 in the morning as we headed out of Maalaea Town into Maalaea Bay where the whales were rumored to be.

'Twas a happy day...................................for the sightseers!

Many thanks to the Pacific Whale Foundation for a really good day. We have joined the Foundation as a way to support their efforts in studying and protecting these magnificant creatures. Also, we get beeg discounts on future whale watch trips for all our friends, family and, of course, for us!

2009-12-01T11:51:00.007-10:00

Paul and Laurie were our first friends to stay with us and we learned a lot about Maui because of them. We'd been spending all of our time settling in to our first home so we hadn't done much exploring until they arrived!

This was the afternoon of the second day.

On the trip, we stopped about a million times, to view rainbows, waterfalls, beaches, bays......

Humpback Whales

2009-11-24T13:40:00.003-10:00

A news headline in the current Maui Weekly read:

The Return of the Whales - They're back!

It turns out the Maui is thee place for these whales during their winters in the Pacific Ocean.
They spend summers in Alaska eating tons of krill a day getting fat and then in October/November they start heading south (between 2,500 and 3,500 of them) and the majority of them like it right here off the south coast of Maui.
Why Maui you might ask? Read a brief page about it here.
They have their babies, hang out and then head back, sometime around May. One interesting note is that they don't eat here - not anything, they live off their thick layer of blubber acquired from feeding up in the cold waters during the summer.
This is new and unexpected news to us and we will be exploring it further with Tracy's parents starting next week when they arrive for a seven day visit. We're booking the whale watch boat today!
Other interesting Maui/whale links:
Pacific Whale Foundation
Whale Trust
I'm hoping to get pictures from the boat.........stay tuned. They guarantee whales to watch, if none are found they give you a free pass to try again. Also, the laws here seem strong and well enforced - "It is unlawful for anyone, without special permission, to come within 300 yards of the humpbacks in the known calving areas and 100 yards in all other areas."
Aloha!

Dusk Walk in the Neighborhood

2009-11-12T21:08:00.006-10:00

Walked out the gate and up the street as evening began it's slip into night.

The road, up which we are about to walk.

Sights to behold

Thinking there is a profound message here.

Looking back down our road.

Further on we encountered this grand tree person seemingly a well positioned sentry watching over the affairs of the area.

Death With Dignity

Being a forager and an opportunist, I was more than delighted to discover my very first avocado tree with fruit nearly ripe for the picking. I will watch it and descend upon these luscious orbs with my 10' fruit picker when they are ready for harvest.

Fantastic flora!

Upon return we were greeted with this. Further words unnecessary.

New Plates

2009-11-08T17:56:00.026-10:00

The old '73 Ford van draws lot's of attention around Maui - probably because it's old, looks so clean and shows no rust!

One problem since we arrived is driving around with the Washington plates, one (of many I suppose) major tip off that it's Haole's at the wheel.
No more, got re-registered and got the new plates and the safety stickers (far right hand side on the bumper) on Friday.
Now were locals! Hah!

Some of you asked for more van pics: click here, here and here for more.

Purple Home Fries

2009-11-08T14:28:00.002-10:00

This is the second time (we bought two) cooking this strange potato-beast. As I cut the unit into sections, I noticed a white "sap" coming from around the edges and wondered, again, if it was really taro, not a potato.

It looks like a sweet potato on the outside; sort of tan and with some of the usual sweet potato features.

Turns out, it's Hawaiian Sweet Potato and makes a nice homefry.

I love the color and we'll purchase again so an even wilder appearing dish might be made.
Should we try to grow these? Now we need to learn about growing potatoes and if it's feasible in our Haiku, wet. 600' altitude.
TM

Living in the greenhouse

2009-11-04T20:17:00.009-10:00

Just took a short walk through the garden this morning and took a few shots of things growing in our yard: First up is Noni, a very bitter fruit that is very good for you. It's made into juice and you'll see it in healthfood stores. Read about it here.

Walking by our pond I caught a glimps of Billy. He's one of two resident bull frogs. They are both named Billy. Ask Tracy about that.

Ok, so.....that's one of those, then. It's probably 3 feet taller than I.

Liliko'i - grows on a vine and tastes so fine. I watch these like a hawk and pick them when they begin to turn yellow. Read more at the post called "Favorite Eats."

Mailbox adornment. The delightfully odiferous Brugmansia. The smell is tropical, sweet and wonderful, but don't eat them.

Breadfruit. These little one's have a way to go before ready to eat. They get as big as a football and a lot heavier. Messy to work with and not much of a flavor, but done right they can be OK.

Polmelo. Like a mild grapefruit. There are 4 or 5 trees of them here.

The banana. Stalks of these are everywhere on the property. This one just happens to be hangin' out right next to the house. We can reach it from our porch.

Limes. Gotta have'm. We gott'm. Just one tree but it seems to be adequately prolific.

Finally, just a pretty picture of another stalk of bananas. There are a few more things out there to show off. I'll get to them soon. Check back!

Beautiful Sunday

2009-11-01T18:11:00.001-10:00

Awoke to the the hardest rain that we have experienced, so far. Sitting on our screened lanai (porch) with morning coffee, rain pouring down all around, but WARM - T-shirt and shorts warm, all we could do is smile and feel thankful.
Within an hour the clouds blew away and the tradewinds picked up to a nice 10-15 miles an hour, sun came out and the rest of the day has been perfect. Bright blue sky, clear air and temps. here in our shady haven probably not more than 78.
A friend from the island showed up with a dozen chicken eggs from her backyard coop, a large bag of bananas, some liliko'i and lemon grass for Tracy to plant. Plenty aloha all around!
Now we're heading toward dusk and the rain clouds are coming in and piling up against the mountain and waves of sprinkles to rain and back around again and again. Rain feels really good here.

What's in the garden?

2009-11-01T18:07:00.003-10:00

Plants just outside the front door.

Days going by

2009-10-30T18:55:00.001-10:00

Long time, no posting. I was afraid this would happen. A whole lot going on every minute makes it hard to get to this. Add the fact that I don't have a desk and have the computer and keyboard/mouse and monitor all sitting on a single bed wooden frame about 16" off the floor makes the task even more daunting.

We've cleaned up, settled in and are finally getting into what's important - daily ocean swimming and walking on the beach. Our goal is swimming at least five days a week (we'll pass on Sat and Sun due to crowds of tourists and locals).

Eating is pretty fun too! Still dropping into restaurants a little more often than we will when we have the kitchen set up and stocked. We are discovering all sorts of interesting fish, fruits and other "f's" (flora and fauna). Today we were munching on Longan aka Dragon's Eye and had Ono and Mahi-mahi burgers for dinner.

So, first photo's are next........more about food, of course.

Stay tuned....................................................

Favorite Eats

2009-10-30T18:52:00.000-10:00

This is one of my favorite Hawaii treats. On the left is a ripe papaya. The two things on the right are liliko'i. Liliko'i is also known as Passion Fruit and Hawaiian locals sometimes refer to them as pokas and the most common Hawaiian type is light yellow on the outside instead of the more common dark purple found in New Zealand and Australia. The yellow variety is sometimes referred to as haole poka. Do recognize "haole?" It's what Hawaiians also call white people. Now you got the connection, ya?

So, to eat'm you gotta whack'm open. Then remove the seeds from the papaya and toss'm. Scrape all that yellow pulp and seeds in the liliko'i into where the seeds were in the papaya.

Now you just grab a spoon and eat'm up! You can either crunch the seeds or just swallow them. They're good for you too! The tart, unique, citrusy flavor of the liliko'i goes jus right with the papaya. Great way to start the day!

In Maui

2009-10-23T19:47:00.001-10:00

Jus got Internet up at the house.......we are baaack, on line that is. Arrived just right, on Maui Tues. Got the van from the dock, got 20 box's from overwhelmed local post office, got to the house where we find some issues but.........workable, after monster unload of luggage and boxes (beeg sweaty kind work) took showers and went to local restaurant for dinner, driving home in dark after, on steep hill ran out of gas, had fun backing down pitch dark narrow road right above busy Hana Hwy. and meeting very helpful friends and neighbors. To sleep at 3:00am PDT......recovering now, beautiful days, lot's of work cleaning up this house, meetings with nurses for T - getting lists of supply together for shopping soon in Kahului - Costco, Savers (Value Village), Target.......ya know, "stuff" stores. I keep finding Tracy wandering the grounds staring at flora and fauna with huge grins, she is totally thriving in this climate already even though we have yet to hit the beach and the ocean. Today should be the day!
Aloha for now! New phone number (land line) 808-214-6136
N&T

Just about off to Hawaii

2009-10-16T11:41:00.005-10:00

It's a very rainy October Friday afternoon, hanging out in our hotel in Seattle, settling final affairs. Yesterday we drove away from our beloved West Seattle house for the last time. Months and months of planning, work, challenge and fun culminating in a single instant. Mission accomplished! The house is empty and clean and the new owners are moving in today. The Volvo wagon is sold and it's replacement, our "new" '73 Ford window van awaits our arrival, on the dock in Kahalui, Maui.

We fly on Tues. next, grab the van, head to the Haiku Post Office to pick up boxes, maybe jump in the water, grab some groceries and head for the new digs.
80 Waipuhia Place
Haiku, HI 96708

Then, let the decompression begin. We are feeling that learning to relax, slow down, merge into Hawaii time, might be somewhat challenging after such a habit of go, go go..........but, what a fun challenge - no complaints from us and no worries!

VonhofMills

Simply Put

New Neigh-bors

Brother John

*****More Firsts In the Yard*****

Liliko'i

Full Moon Over the Koa Tree

More Underwater - the glorious green turtle and it's habitat

**********Firsts**********

46th Annual Makawao Paniolo Parade

Maui Film Festival and the Celestial Cinema

The Eastern Sky - Morning and Evening

Chicken Chronicles

New Underwater Flora and Fauna Photos

Update to Post in January Called "Giant Step Forward"

Haiku Ho'olaule'a Flower Festival

Giant Step Forward

Peek-A-Boo View of the West Maui Mountains

One Year On Maui

It's About Time

Roger Van De Vanter

Where's the Beach?

First Snorkel With Underwater Camera

Kitchen Progress

Good News

Tracy Gets Published in Another Blog!

Giggle Hill

Kama'aina

New House Progress Report

Our Recent Guests

Pamela Dore Arrives - May, 2010

Robin & Jeanne in April

Marilyn & Sevag in March

ART of TRASH - until May 15th!!!

Maui Cruiser

Hittin' The Road With Mr. Toad

Tracy shoots a video of the inside of the house complete with music soundtrack!

New Rental House Coming Along

Daylight Saving Adds an Hour Between You and Us!

Snorkeling in South Maui with Natalie & Omar

Walk Through on West Kuiaha

West Kuiaha - Return

All Dressed Up and Out on the Town

Still looking for our new home.

John and Susie - wonderful friends and guests.

Dear Tamara

Leslie in January

Bruce's Cartooning of Neil, myself & Deborah on Hana Hwy

Buzzzz-click, snap, whirrrrrrrrrrrrere back!

Humpback Whales

Dusk Walk in the Neighborhood

New Plates

Purple Home Fries

Living in the greenhouse

Beautiful Sunday

What's in the garden?

Days going by

Favorite Eats

In Maui

Just about off to Hawaii

More Firsts In the Yard

Firsts