⛄ 2022 Fiftieth Week 🌬️

December 24, 2022December 24, 2022Leave a comment

“Passion rules reason, for better or for worse.“ – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Declutter the house.

Last Week: Was a bit lively but slowly wearing down with a sore throat cycling through the family.

This Week: The storm knocked down my green house again, I forget about these extreme winds.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Tired.

Physical Health: Sick.

Social Health: Tentative.

Creatively Use and Respond to Change

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week my dad came back the kids always get off routine when anyone comes or goes so it’s a bit tough getting them settled back into their chores ext. We were able to return the lost dog pretty fast the next morning after we found it.

Reflection – Designer: Put the desk in the office, that was really cool, but not using the room much yet, still used to using the hall office more.

Sunday: Last week I found out we had a watermelon growing under our pumpkin, now pickle worms have burrowed into it. Next time I have to tie a bag around it, I hesitated to take action and now we lost the watermelon. I went to see a friend’s dance recital and tried to buy steer manure but it is so often out of stock. At least I got to drop off some peat moss and vermiculite for a new garden. I got some oregano as a present, I hope it does well I think it is very healthy as an anti-inflammatory. My kids were sick with scarlet fever and it was nice to be able to leave them at home with their aunt.

Reflection – Builder: Just a week later and I’ve changed my mind, we had our big winter wind storm due to the high elevation of our peak diving fast all the way into sea level we get extreme winds during the winter it seems like, the Kona Low Winds… so pretty big tarps get picked up and snapped, huge trees get knocked over, most of my garden is all messy right now… but actually 1. Extreme Wind 2. Extreme Rain 3. Pests those are my biggest challenges in the garden then of course there is me being inconsistent and ignorant.

Monday: Two weeks ago sick, last week better, his week sick with the flu after recovering from a strep throat. I wanted to get a schedule going but haven’t been doing well about it lately.

The goal was: 6AM Exercise B25, 8 AM garden, 10AM spend time outside, 11 AM music, 2PM be a good person, 3PM draw, 5PM clean the house, finish the paperwork when the new desk comes, and 6PM get organized. But the kids were too thrown off by being sick so it shifted to getting through meals and light English home work.

Reflections – Gardener: I have hope for the future, but specifically this week the greenhouse is knocked down, everything is broken or breaking, it will take time to get back to zero, it is sad to see everything get knocked down by the storm.

Tuesday: Last week I felt brain dead. This week I was really sick, so I guess it was coming on from last week.

Reflections – Habit Engineer: I still want to get back to exercising, but not in the middle of this flu, when it’s over. Lately I’ve noticed I don’t have the strength to do garden stuff some days because I’m sick, but I don’t want to slowly loose all the strength I had either.

Wednesday: Last week I stayed home, this week I stayed home too, I miss my friends but I don’t want to get them sick either, many have little kids and I would hate if any babies got scarlet fever bad from my kids. I got even more sick than I was and wasn’t able to do any paperwork so now I’m behind in that. I got sick enough to stop feeling guilty about what I wasn’t able to do, I was very nauseated and couldn’t walk down the hallway without being dizzy and sitting down, there wasn’t much I could have done that day.

Thursday: Last week I made a spontaneous front walkway cinder block garden. I just put some oregano transplants in there. It went through the storm really well, humble looking but stands up to this climate well. I was really frustrated adjusting to my dad coming back, he is very active and gets things done and I am not that much able to be like that when well, but especially not when I am sick or the kids are sick. It kind of rubs salt in my wounds being around my dad who gets things done and seldom gets sick, but I know there are costs to his productivity, I put people first and productivity second on purpose and I remember him taking care of me second and working first and it degrades a relationship. So we all make choices and do what seems best or possible and we all have different skills, but standing next to my dad I always feel disappointed I can’t get things done at his pace and I don’t think I ever will. But the things I can do are different things, working at a slower pace makes more things possible and especially most people need to go at a slower pace so working fast leaves you alone often. A lot of inadequacy and disappointment bubbling up today.

Friday: Last week I was optimistic about the garden and life. This week I was frustrated with being sick and the kids being sick and wondering how I will have energy to tidy the garden when it is worse than before and I have less energy and how I will catch up on paperwork when I haven’t been able to set down to work on it for so many months now. I don’t trust myself, but I know I am sick so I don’t hate myself, but still I lack confidence that I will get my life organized even when I do get better.

Gratitude

Something new this week: The cinderblock garden was finished in time to see it did really well in the storm.

Something good this week: We all survived scarlet fever.

Something unexpected: We released a green anole we caught after keeping it for a few days, it was pretty seeing it go free.

🌬️

⛄ 2022 Forty-Ninth Week 🌻

December 13, 2022December 16, 20221 Comment

“Kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is wrong, and can cause harm.” – Terry Goodkind 🕊️

GOALS THIS WEEK: Exercise B25 at 6AM, spend time outside 10-11, draw 3PM, music 11, clean the house 5PM? garden 8-9 AM, finish the paperwork when the new desk comes, be a good person 2-3 PM, and get organized. 6-7 PM.

Last Week: Was reflecting on priorities, goals, life, wishes, and productivity.

This Week: Want to get on track.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Reflected a bit, organized and got more grounded, it feels good.

Physical Health: Well again.

Social Health: Out of hiding.

Creatively Use and Respond to Change

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week I was wondering how life will flow between gardening and dancing and school for the kids. I hoped I could find a way to do gardening and all the errands. I went to the South, West and North side of the island, it was my first “Kona Sunset” I see what people are talking about with that now. On our side the sun sets over the mountains, it’s fine, but on the other side it drops into the ocean and it’s pretty stunning. It was a really fun day, I felt young again and alive. Part of it was at the beach, the beach is such a safe place for me, it’s almost always nice. I think the consistency that it’s always there and that it’s been there from my childhood to now is the only consistency I’ve ever had.

Reflection – Designer: I’m happy that my desk is coming soon, moving all the toys to one room has been helpful, when I got that tip from a friend I didn’t know how to do it, but now that I have the toys all in one room instead of the bedrooms and living room, it helped me move all my kid’s belongings into their bedroom rather than split between the bathroom and bedroom, it helped me put all my stuff and the camping stuff in the “office/bedroom”.

Sunday: Last week I went out in the rain and worked on fixing the pond I felt like Jack Johnson because it was raining and I wore a blue raincoat… This week I found out we have a watermelon growing under our pumpkin, the local wild rooster dug up the watermelon bed, but this one watermelon survived, I’m so excited. Very irrationally excited, I feel abundant and successful and ingenious. I cut the lawn by hand with edge trimmers, I really like feeling the soil, seeing the land, feeling the grass, I wouldn’t get that experience with the weed whacker. I want to feel the land and hold the plants and listen to the garden, I don’t like to hear the noise of the weed whacker over the voice of the birds and the plants, no not at all. I didn’t realize how well chickens fly I walked up to these three and one flew over my head about 20′ and landed on the tarp… guess a 6′ fence won’t help…

Reflection – Builder: Our main asset and main problem in my area are both the same, water, it’s beautiful during the wet season and it’s wet during the dry season, but the wet season is pretty intense. Also the volcanos never stop shaking the land so remembering to make everything flexible for shaking which isn’t really earthquakes but the volcano caldera dropping, so it’s a hard horizontal motion more than a rolling motion… so far, so good with the rock walls I’ve built, but remembering to take into account that shaking. Also the abundant pests from chickens, pheasants, rare birds, song birds, slugs, flea beetles, white flies, caterpillars ext. Rain makes working slower because some days I do feel like working in the rain, but other days I don’t, yet it gives me a chance at a garden that is rain watered, which is awesome, and it has the spiritual sense that God tends the garden. That’s the old regional stigma of the mountain, people tend the lower farm land, but the mountains belong to the spirits, because the plants there don’t need tending to grow. There is also a strong sense of forest up here, even though the houses are spaced closely, there are enough trees and birds to make it feel like a forest anyways. So I’ve had some luck fixing the electrical and plumbing, but did notice that protecting the electrical from rain is a priority thus I’m adding special connectors and boxes that have rubber valves and channels to keep some rain out.

Monday: Last week I was sick. This week I feel a lot better, slight sore throat, but thankful for mullein tea that helps so much. Just did banana exercise for the first time in a long time.

6AM Exercise B25, 8 AM garden, 10AM spend time outside, 11 AM music, 2PM be a good person, 3PM draw, 5PM clean the house, finish the paperwork when the new desk comes, and 6PM get organized. It felt weird to give be a good person an hour, but since I did it for my other goals I just went with it.

I feel so good, I just exercised for the first time in over a month and I’m not ill and I’m not having any allergy or GI issues and wow I feel so good. I picked up a new used bunk bed, brought it home and put it together. It was a dream come true, I wanted to build a cute bunkbed for a long time. My son has the bottom and my daughter the top we are going to decorate the bottom as a fire station and the top as a forest hide away, looking forward to using the space in a more creative way, it felt like we didn’t settle in when we moved here because we weren’t sure how long we would be here. After moving a lot as a kid I often don’t settle into a place and I felt bad realizing I didn’t give my kids that feeling of unpacking and being “home” somewhere, but that’s in the past now, now we are settling in well to Hawaii and I’m happy.

Reflections – Gardener: Going to put up some vertical plant pockets and see how that goes, don’t want to do under the eaves because I don’t want to water I want the rain water, so somewhere that faces South probably or even wrapped around a tree maybe… I have a lot of cherry tomato seedlings so maybe a mostly tomato bed.

Tuesday: Last week I started doing more exercise, art and music I was tired out with all the changes to our routine, this week I feel better than last week. This week we are all sick and I feel brain dead. The winter reminds me of being a child, the winter makes me wonder if I’ve done enough, I don’t know? I’ve done more than ever before, I could be more organized, more productive and more responsible, but I don’t think I’ve ever done better so I hope it was enough and that some of the work I did this year will make next year easier. Like when we made the light brackets for our seasonal lights and bought them, the next year switching them was much easier than that first year and the first season was hardest then the others that year. Things did get easier over time when infrastructure went into place and decisions were done being made.

Reflections – Habit Engineer: I really felt good when I worked out I should try to do it more, I had more strength and energy and felt more happy and optimistic about the future than I had since the cold seasons started. Usually I try to exercise 3 times or 5 times a week, but this time I’m going to try to match or exceed my last week by 1, so whatever I get done this week I’ll be okay as long as I match it next week.

Wednesday: Last week I had fun at the beach. This week we stayed home, I thought we were going to go, but my daughter was too sick and then my son and I weren’t well either so we ended up staying in. The kids are making their way through English, I like to cover English extra in the winter. I miss my friends when I don’t see them, but I like that they will survive without me, I would feel so trapped and smothered if they “needed me”. I really enjoy the conversations and smiles of my friends now, we are a diverse group so there are lots of different topics and many like building, gardening, art I enjoy and even deep breathing and prioritization of tasks I find really helpful and it’s just nice to see my friends doing well and hear about their gardens and see them still surviving this island that can be isolating and difficult to stay on financially.

Thursday: Last week I moved the arch way for the berries. This week I put down the first round of cinder blocks but didn’t bring them to the strawberry bed, instead I put them by the front walkway. I’m hoping it will be easier to keep the front tidy and I actually like that style a lot. We took the trash out, got the mail, made a meal plan, got groceries and toys since the toy store is the grocery store too. The mundane stuff doesn’t feel good still, but laying the cinder blocks does. I feel guilty I don’t enjoy doing the responsible stuff even if I do get it done, I don’t want to feel guilty about it, but I usually do. I am really excited about building with more cinder blocks because they will stand up to this extreme rain much better than wood did and I feel like they are within my capacity budget wise and strength wise and skill wise. I don’t know much about wood working, but I can place blocks and even pour concreate or mortar with rebar, I learned those things from my dad and I did them myself and I feel so good about working with stone in general from natural lava rock to cinder block to poured concreate or mortar (my favorite) I really enjoy working with stone more than wood which feels like it takes forever to finish (first tying it down to drive it is annoying, then cutting it is stressful, then painting it is tedious, then painting it more after the primer, only then building with it, yuck) and is really expensive where I live.

Friday: Last week I got to spend some time painting and I had a great time. When I saw the chickens they were so cute, I wasn’t mad, but I should put a net down over the plants I want to protect I guess, there tear into potatoes and watermelon but leave other plants like morning glories and sun flowers alone. We have some beautiful sunflowers now, but I remember when we just had dandelions my daughter loved them and she would go to her “secret place” right by the road very public and sit with the dandelions which were her “beautiful flowers”. I guess a flower only needs to be yellow to be beautiful. Our Mexican sunflowers are growing up well, the hedge isn’t finished but it’s good to see them growing in they will give us privacy but also will give beautiful flowers that don’t need much maintenance as well as leaves that are super nutrient dense for fertilizer tea. I can’t wait for that day when our whole house is surrounded by a wall of sunflowers. I thought it would be bamboo, but bamboo harbors a lot of mosquitos so perhaps I will have some bamboo, but less than the sun flowers. The mammoth sunflowers are nice too, where I don’t want a permanent hedge they are easier to manage.

Gratitude

Something new this week: Our first sunflower bloomed.

Something good this week: I started working with cinder blocks and realized it wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be due to the heaviness.

Something unexpected: Our first sunflower bloomed, it was beautiful the kids and I all loved seeing it together, our garden is a hot mess, but it has these little beautiful aspects to it now, I have hope for the future of it producing healthy food and beautiful areas to revitalize our souls.

🌻

⛄ 2022 Forty-Eigth Week ❄️

December 3, 2022December 3, 2022Leave a comment

GOALS THIS WEEK: I want to start exercising, spend more time outside, draw more, do music, get the house cleaned, finish the paperwork, be a good person, and stay organized.

Last Week: Was reflecting on priorities, goals, life, wishes, and productivity.

This Week: Want to draw up a schedule.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Passed through the darker moods after Thanksgiving, that was a dark day for me in the past, now it’s a regular day whatever trauma it held has lifted so it’s just something I don’t do now, but not something that kills my day.

Physical Health: Pretty decent probably fighting off stuff but pretty well overall.

Social Health: Prefer to be alone and think about where I want to put my things and how to change my schedule now that the kids are getting more mentally settled into school. I want to take our school organization to the next level.

Creatively Use and Respond to Change

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Two weeks ago I potted onions into treys, last week I tried a breakdancing meet-up. This week I’m wondering how life will flow between gardening and dancing and school for the kids. I hope I will be able to do gardening Sunday, perhaps trash, groceries and dance Saturday, and cleaning Monday, maybe Friday I can meal plan so I’m ready at the store Saturday? During November I’ve been thinking about the edges of the garden, this week I’m starting to shift to the principle “creatively use and respond to change” which I think is a good principle to have. It’s helping me leave the fear of the big storm or losing everything to slugs or all the past failures to be consistent as a gardener behind. So we did the trash run and dancing and it was nice, but what we didn’t do was shop.

Sunday: Last week I was helping some students. This week I ordered some new markers. My daughter is in Studio Art right now, she has advanced a lot in drawing and writing.

I was thinking of having her do a short narrative of her life for writing practice. I wrote my own and it was a good exercise, 1 sentence per year wasn’t too overwhelming and was still reflective. I didn’t have the childhood I wanted, but at least as a parent I’m remaking my relationship with childhood things. In a lot of ways my parents failed I don’t see how they could have not failed. Like find GI treatment in the US, it’s hard to find a doctor who knows anything about it. It’s not that they failed but that they didn’t try just a bit more that leaves me more bitter.

Monday: Last week, super tired but managed to make pizza. This week went grocery shopping and picked up medicine for my daughter, it felt so tiring running errands. It still feels like we have a mountain of trash built up, we keep taking it out but it seems like there is so much more. It feels like laundry, trash, dishes never stop, school, shopping, kid’s birthdays. I want to get ahead in cleaning and the garden, but it feels like I never will. I was happy setting up a toy parking garage for my son, but so tired that it was kind of a sad desperate feeling not knowing when I’ll not feel exhausted next, I think I’ll feel better after the paperwork that I have pending. There are good moments during the day, but I feel like I’m leaking blood I’m so tired.

Tuesday: Last week was a birthday party that was surprisingly fun. This week my daughter is sick and on antibiotics and I’m sick and although I’m happy we cleaned up a lot of clutter and mess, I am also exhausted in general. I’ve been avoiding thinking about December, but now I’ve decided to put myself on a paperwork schedule and try to use December to finish the financial report, but also the 501 application for our non-profit group, whether or not I have time to go to the beach, that’s my December goal, I can catch up with the garden in the spring but the paperwork might as well get done. I’ve been doing more exercise, art and music with the kids somehow, but it hasn’t become a habit yet, so it’s draining and I’m happy the kids progressed so much and happy they enjoy it, but bleeding energy in a way that feels unsustainable.

Wednesday: Last week we brought blueberries, pumpkins, wheat, strawberries, and sunflowers to the harvest festival, it made me happy for what we had and also want to do better next year. This week I chose to stay home for my daughter to rest and take her meds ext. I built the lizard cage for our now dead lizard that was kind of a weird experience. We have cleaned up a lot lately and decluttered, we have done a lot of good things and made progress in skills, communicating and things like swimming, rhythm, hand writing, but I wish I felt more closure over all. It feels like I’ve been randomly throwing together the school year and life and meals and I wish life was more planned and smooth than it is. But then how would I adjust to a pet’s death, how would I adjust to sick kids, how would I adjust to a storm tearing down the back yard, this year we survived and did a few good things, but it was painfully chaotic and disorganized.

Thursday: Last week I did a little gardening in my own yard on the pond laying land on a hilltop for the waterfall feature. This week moved the arch way for the berries, moved the old garden bed rocks, laid down weed cloth after cutting the weeds back, stapled the weed cloth into place, decided on a cinder block design because of the extreme rain here. I was a bit tired, the electric cutter was helpful, a lot of my tools were rusty, I should take better care to bring my metal tools inside, they rust badly outside in the greenhouse. Whenever I do a lot, I can see there is 100x or 1000x more to be done and it’s a weird feeling of bailing out a boat with a spoon, I don’t know if I weed more than the weeds grow in a year, but putting down weed cloth might help, I don’t know if I take out more pests in a year than just walk into the yard, but I learn more about what doesn’t work. I’m hoping that when I know more things will fit into place, and it’s possible, I learn a lot more each year about plants, work, consistency, myself… We put up our winter snowflake lights on time, I was surprised with how much I did in all arenas, but also daunted by everything left to do.

Friday: Three weeks ago I wanted to start exercising, spend more time outside, draw more, do music, get the house cleaned, finish the paperwork, be a good person, and stay organized. Last week our gecko died and it made me a little sad, but I still want to make positive changes this month to put some good habits in place for next year. I got to spend some time painting today, my son and daughter did too, it was nice, it’s something all three of us like, we also all like the garden so I hope we can do that more and get that more organized soon. Two hens and a rooster have been messing up my front garden, but it’s a little cute because I do like chickens and I like their clucking. Supposed to go get compost tomorrow morning and I probably will, but I don’t know for sure because if it’s a rainy day the compost is much heavier and I don’t know if it isn’t more important to get cinder bricks into place for the bed than to get free base soil for the bed that isn’t built.

Gratitude

Something new this week: Starting Mountain Magic tomato seeds, nothing sprouted yet, but hopefully soon.

Something good this week: I decided on a garden redesign for strawberries and blueberries in the backyard, I don’t know what will happen later, but it seems like it will be nice right now, right now it’s a beautiful dream and the kids look forward to it with me.

Something unexpected: My husband was sick so I told him to drink Mullein tea before getting sick and he decided to try it.

❄️

🦋 2022 Forty-Sixth Week 🦎

November 26, 2022Leave a comment

GOALS THIS WEEK: I want to start exercising, spend more time outside, draw more, do music, get the house cleaned, finish the paperwork, be a good person, and stay organized.

Last Week: Was reflecting on priorities, goals, life, wishes, and productivity.

This Week: Want to draw up a schedule.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Dark moods, overwhelmed at times, but my son being around lifts my spirits frequently and I am excited to be doing some things I am passionate about at times (such as dance and art).

Physical Health: Fighting something off, but comfortable at least.

Social Health: I want some time to reflect and get my house in order.

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week I was potted the onions into some “soil treys” and started expanding the top pond. This week we have company and to be honest, I want to be out in the garden working on a bed for the onions and the shape of the pond instead of spending time with people. On one hand, I see a lot of improvement in the kids’ behavior, teamwork, and listening to my rules and schedule, which is cool, but on the other hand, I see my home and garden messy and needing repairs, and those things not getting done with no one else to do them. Most of all I want to repair where the pond is broken. I accidentally emptied out the main pond and that was embarrassing, at least the fish could use the water change. Our backyard was hit hard by a hurricane-like storm called a Kona Low so going outside you see a lot of little damage and things and it’s hard to know what to do first, but on the upside I had been dying to move things around, so mixed blessings for it to be destroyed. I remember the aquaponic grow bed falling out forward and splashing down into the main pond all at once, the tarps all getting shredded by the wind and water, and the biggest tree getting pushed over. Being there was interesting, it gave me respect for the power of nature (even more) and also made me greatful to be inside, but I also know how things broke as opposed to my dad, who was away. The things he made were just broken, I at least got to see what stood and what fell and how to design for that. It was hard getting out of the house, but when we did we were able to do breakdancing for the first time, that was really fun.

Sunday: Last week I lived my best life building a pond and clearing the garden. This week I was helping some students, I was happy to be there for some math errors because when you see what math errors students are making it’s a lot more possible to help fix them. At the same time I worry that my pond will stay a big mess since I didn’t work on it at all this weekend, the supplies for that are piled up by the door, I was excited to buy them, excited to put them in, but if a long time goes by and I can’t work on it, I worry I will lose my place and momentum, I guess I struggle to trust myself.

Monday: Last week, I saw the first morning glories blooming on an Ohi’a tree, it was a metaphor for me of I guess me as a transplant to this new island and being able to live here and thrive or being able to make a difference in life and do things that have an effect on the world. It was one thing I wanted to do and see and it actually got done over time. I was so tired over all, my son has been waking up with growing pains, ice helps a lot, just got to remember we have it and what to do in the middle of the night. I didn’t do much Monday except be tired, managed to cook some pizza and bacon, but really couldn’t be super productive or even normal productive today.

Tuesday: Last week I did some more of the Mexican Sunflower hedge I can see that the ones I put in a few months ago are doing really well, fast approaching my height. This week was a birthday party, so in school training my daughter to use the dictionary and covering weathering from sand on rocks and that kind of stuff in science. It was a nice birthday party, not too much, but enough decorations, enough friends, good music, a cute cake, super awesome without being too much. I got to see the garden which was beautiful, tons of coffee, a lot of edibles, some ornamentals but not too much, really pretty set up, but so organized and functional (everything my garden is not). Someone reminded me you can take deep breaths to fight the feeling of overwhelm and I’m trying to remember that.

Wednesday: Last week we went to the beach and I noticed my son was better at swimming. This week we brought kid-grown produce, some blueberries, pumpkins, wheat, strawberries, and sunflowers, it made me happy that we grow a variety of things, even though we don’t have a large amount of stuff, we have some cool and diverse things for the kids to look at and enjoy. I felt inspired to grow more wheat and corn next year, but also happy we had something the kids got to grow themselves. This is the most peaceful I’ve ever been during the holiday season, I don’t feel pressured to participate in things I don’t want to do, I guess it’s the elders in your life that push that, kids don’t care if they get presents for x holiday or y holiday. I do like decoration, good food, and gratitude, but I don’t feel like it belongs to any day or group of people anymore, I think those things are there in all seasons for all people willing to take the energy to do those extra steps towards festivity.

Thursday: Last week I visited the train garden. This week I did a little gardening in my own yard and started the process of using the new electrical stuff I ordered bit by bit. I tidied up a little too. I worked on the pond actually, cutting back weeds, cutting down vines, laying land on a hilltop for the waterfall feature, I cut the extra liner with a sickle from the garden, it worked really well, I was investigating where the old leak was, but didn’t get that far before it was time to stop. The rain had filled up some of the new pond, it looks pretty. I made chocolate chip muffins, but they weren’t as good as blueberry. I was happy I had got back to work on the pond, I started the front West rock wall too and put some strawberries from a broken pot in trees, I moved the pot, moved an avocado tree that I’m not sure will make it. We lost our pet lizard Jumpy… I will miss Jumpy, but he did always look ill.

Friday: Two weeks ago I wanted to start exercising, spend more time outside, draw more, do music, get the house cleaned, finish the paperwork, be a good person, and stay organized. Last week I wanted to also, but I knew it would take some strategy. This week our gecko Jumpy is dead, but we bought a $200 cage for him so I wonder if we should get another gecko or not. It felt like a hectic week this week, I feel like strings of all the loose ends I started and didn’t finish are wrapping me up in a huge net of unfinished business. I wanted to cut the pumpkin plants from last year, but I didn’t yet because we had guests, the kids seemed full of joy but also tired from the change in light as well. We were able to link a Nintendo account I had been wanting to get linked since March, which felt nice, I thought that would be an issue forever.

Gratitude

Something new this week: The morning glories I wanted have succeeded, I hope to put in more, but I’m already captivated by their beauty and it works in harmony between the land that was here and what I put in and that was really important to me.

Something good this week: I looked up a cure for hives, TCM Traditional Chinese Medicine has one that works in clinical trials not just to bring them down, but to keep them away, I suffered so long with hives on a daily basis, now I’m better, but it feels like completing a cycle to find a cure anyways.

Something unexpected: Jumpy our gecko died, I should have expected it, but I didn’t, when I really like pets I can’t be honest about their mortality expectations.

🦎

🦋 2022 Forty-Fifth Week 🧅

November 20, 2022November 23, 2022Leave a comment

GOALS THIS WEEK: I want to start exercising, spend more time outside, draw more, do music, get the house cleaned, finish the paperwork, be a good person, and stay organized.

Last Week: Made it through being ill and the kids being ill.

This Week: Want to think about when to do what.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Settling into the fall/winter transition and invigorated to be alive again.

Physical Health: Medium.

Social Health: Glad to have friends, but also want to reflect a lot more, I feel like I’m digesting a lot of thoughts right now and I need time to think.

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week passed in a blur, did a study montage with a friend’s son, enjoyed it, it was kind of a weird study marathon, but I hope it helped somehow. Today is the first day with just my family in a week and we all miss our exchange student. But I was able to pot up the onions into some “soil treys” and start expanding the top pond, cut weeds to walk to the top of the little hill, did the basic shape of the waterfall dams, dragged the pond liner out, unfolded it, then the day was over already, so. Got to do some touch ups on the sides and surrounding stones, but it’s good to have the liner there I think so I know how big it really is and avoid redoing work because the liner is too small or big.

I really enjoy the different views the different parts of the garden have. I hope to make this top pond deeper than it was and prettier, the middle pond needs some repair still, I hope to get to that tomorrow. I also want to separate the fish pond and this pond so any leak won’t kill the fish, and maybe move the blue pond up to the hill someday too…

Sunday: Last week fall weather hit hard, which feels like a monsoon in our area. This week I’m used to the new weather and mostly better from being sick for about a week. I feel good now, weeded to put in a new veggie bed, but realized I might want yet another pond there. Worked on the top of the middle pond more using cut grass for underlayment which was cool, but wasn’t an option last time because I didn’t have grass then. Moving the logs around felt fun. It’s been awhile since I watched Carl the Landscape Guy’s pond video, I started watching it again to refresh my memory. He has a lawn and soil, that’s different than me, I have to cut back weeds, then I have to build up over lava rock instead of digging down, but I do have a natural slope so I don’t have to work as hard making a hill. I don’t have any bricks, I may have used some if I had some, but I blew my budget for the month already so I’ll try to use either what I have or scrap wood from the storm. So if I can tomorrow I’ll work on leveling out the dams a little bit better, perhaps with logs under the liner. Right now the bottom section is doubled over the old top, I can cut that and reuse it for the broken middle section. I wanted to make sure the liner fit and I did that, but I could definety do a little more shape work on the dams before testing the liner with water.

So A. Cut the old liner.

B. Shape the bottom dams.

C. Cut the weeds around the top to walk.

D. Start shaping the top dam.

E. Rock my bottoms near the shelves, then level the top stones, foam the stones near the shelf, rock the bottom of the shelves after the dam.

F. Lay the pipes along the sides tuck the liner and rock both sides of the edge shelf.

G. Remove excess foam.

H. Fill with hose to check water flow.

I. Build the top waterfall.

J. Foam the top waterfall securely.

K. Rock the top section.

L. Set up the plumbing.

M. Set up the electrical plugs for the pump.

N. Set up any lighting (I don’t have a lot yet).

O. Set up box (waiting to buy it).

P. Rock and neaten the sides hiding the liner.

Q. Fill with small stones supporting the larger stones. .

R. Boarder of path.

S. Large stones for raised bed.

T. Plants.

U. Level paths and plant areas.

V. Weed cloth on rasied bed and path.

W. Mulch on plant area.

X. 16-32 mm gravel on pathway.

Looking at this I think I will expand the veggie tunnel to in front of the koa tree instead of where it is… the koa tree is six feet tall now.

Monday: Last week, I did the first activity of the Digital Illustration Class, an eye, which was fun. I was also overwhelmed with my garden and I am still right now. I didn’t water the Comfrey yesterday because the little can was missing from the green house. Today I did water the comfrey with pond water, I found some borers in the pumpkin, I cut the tomato which was doing bad from Early Blight, I trashed it instead of compost, which was a little sad. I put more soil in the garden and more mulch because it was a really shallow bed.

This front area isn’t perfect, but I’m happy to see the morning glories climbing the trees and the pumpkin has made almost a full circle around the tree. I like the front rockwall that I built, I like the sunflowers growing there, I’m sure it will be more beautiful when the sunflowers add their color, but it’s on the way. I was grateful to get composted mulch from East Hawaii Organics, next time I can get more I just have to remember to bring a bucket for transferring and a pitchfork to load (instead of a trowel…). I hope my watermelons will do well, not sure at this point. Loosing the tomatoes was okay, I noticed from the beginning flies were coming inside where they were and that they looked like they had early blight, I’ll start again. Going to try Mountain Magic this time around, it’s supposed to resist Early Blight.

I want to put a bottom pond in, so I got a liner for that, a power box for the top one, I want to get the ponds fixed up so that I can build a better aquaponic system, I just need to make a few adjustments so the system doesn’t get clogged.

Tuesday: Last week I was doing some extra science tutoring and it was very rewarding to have a student who was open minded and enthusiastic about doing some states of matter experiments, making some hypothesis and seeing that real life gives us results we don’t expect.

This place I set aside a border in the spring wanting to grow rhubarb, then was busy with the kids school and camping and scouting and didn’t come back until October. Adding a weed cloth and brown mulch path helps so much, when weeds grow through or on top they are much weaker than otherwise and when they grow across I can see immediately where to cut them back to, it gives me a place to store the compost from East Hawaii Organics for now. I put vermiculite, sea kelp powder, steer manure, chicken manure and composted mulch into the grow bed with straw, I enjoy working with straw, it really has a farm vibe I like. Cutting back the weeds out of this area is going to be way easier and passing through this area is going to be way easier, the plants are going to grow better with this soil, yes I would like to have made it on site with no waste and carbon foot print, but I didn’t have the mental and physical energy to do that this time. I am just starting to learn how to do compost and leaf mulch and I don’t think I would want to garden if I had to wait however long it takes to make all my own soil. I do really like taking the time to load the composted mulch from East Hawaii Organics, it’s not too much cheaper to buy the containers and make an extra trip, but it feels really good to be a part of them diverting waste from the landfill and standing as an organic non-profit in our area, I feel grateful when I’m driving home and when I’m adding to my garden, I don’t know if I should be finishing out the compost further or not, but I am happy I’m finally starting to source local stuff. I think when I do start to get a better compost system set up I will set it up here next to the green house and I’ll call it Southeast Hawaii Organics as a tribute to East Hawaii Organics compost system. My favorite thing in this garden is my son’s apple tree. I’m building a little planter next to the path on the right I’ll move his other apple tree there so you can walk between the two someday. There is a No. 1 Idea hydroponic system I want to try to build right next to the rock wall, still mentally debating it… Love the idea but in ground would be more my style and plastic would feel safer than glass with so many kids in my life. I’m excited to see the front garden going through so many changes, I’ve been learning a lot about landscaping helping friends in our Farm Together Program.

I want to do the Mexican Sunflower boarder today, I took a lot of cuttings two days ago, but it’s really hard trenching them into my poor and rocky soil. At least this time I have an augur and a mattock, the first time I did 100 with a trowel and at the end it broke and that really seemed fair for it to break. I kind of knew it was the wrong tool, but I still don’t know exactly what the right one is. I did do a bit of work, cutting back the weeds to walk to where I am going to work is usually the worst part, because I don’t see any progress on the goal task, but it’s a necessary part of being able to work on the goal.

Wednesday: Last week we stayed home from the beach sick, but some people went and that is cool, that we can take time off but the community doesn’t collapse. This week was art week, we didn’t have painting, but we did have oil and water, so it was fun having principal boxes, we did double leg takedowns. I spent some time with my family in the beginning of the day and it was awesome watching my little boy swim, he really picked it up without me noticing.

Thursday: Last week I soaked 8 kinds of onions, this week they are growing into pretty good little transplants. I visited the train garden, built a little desk, was learning more about what plants the gardener liked, what building they were planning, still trying to get a feel for the garden and landscape, checking out drainage ext. It’s a different garden then mine, more frogs, hoping they eat the other pests, but not sure at all, still trying to make sense of that ecosystem.

Friday: Last week I wanted to start exercising, spend more time outside, draw more, do music, get the house cleaned, finish the paperwork, be a good person, and stay organized. This week I still want to, but I definitely feel tired by the seasonal weather changes and want to be strategic. I made a soup by myself, it was a bit salty, but pretty close to on target, so that surprised me, it always surprises me how much work goes into some dishes. We made nan and it was pretty decently good, not like the restaurant, but pretty decent, even though I like fry bread better alone I like nan bread better with soup, I think I’m like nan bread, I make room for other people to be themself in my life.

But anyway, the week was a good week overall, caught a small gecko named Jumpy, had some good times in the ocean, pretty good week despite the unwanted invites to winter stuff and feeling of doom the end of the year seems to have.

Gratitude

Something new this week: The onion starts came up a lot better indoors than when I tried to grow them outdoors in the past.

Something good this week: I really enjoyed the ocean the way I used to when I was growing up, as if it is magic, as if it is okay to have fun.

Something unexpected: We caught a little baby gecko named Jumpy, I think they are easier than frogs and chameleons because they can eat non-live foods so I’m willing to try to see how it goes keeping jumpy.

🧅

🦋 2022 Forty-Forth Week ✏️

November 13, 2022Leave a comment

GOALS THIS WEEK: Surprised to be cleaning the house for the end of the year already.

Last Week: Wanted to make some more strategic plans and think about what to cut out to make time for paperwork.

This Week: Got to make it through the kids being ill before I can realistically do extra new habits.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Been dark and gloomy and angry, but also grateful and satisfied and aware of what’s going on in my life and mind.

Physical Health: Sick with what is going around town again.

Social Health: Noticing where I need to be assertive, set boundaries, take more time to myself, but also it’s hard because I am a bleeding heart for my friends.

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week putting sunflowers in was cool because the flowers were a gift to me, a gift into a gift, something beautiful about that. This week passed in a blur, had my daughter’s friend for a sleep over, trying to encourage good study habits, you wonder if what you say falls on deaf ears about school leading to skills that matter, but you never really know if the school work really does matter for a kid without knowing where they are headed, where the world is headed, what jobs or pursuits will even exist in 10 or 20 years? But though the school work or maybe school may not matter, being the captain of your own soul and your own life I think will always matter, so time management, opportunity cost, good communication, honesty with yourself, I think learning any of that is worth the effort.

Sunday: Last week a lovely Halloween party after going to the zoo. Here I am a week later and I can’t believe it’s only been a week. Fall weather hit hard, which feels like a monsoon in our area. It feels dark, cold, somehow the days feel tired and it seems not just our family, but most families are sick with the cold weather transition. I can’t believe just last week we were franticly getting ready for Halloween and hoping to do things with the year still, now it feels like there is only one breath left in this year. I am halfway inspired to do something cool with these last slivers of year, but halfway tempted to gather strength for next year and start reflecting on what I am and who I am now.

Monday: Last week, was Halloween day, it was a nice night singing with the kids at home. This week I spent my whole garden budget, this week I haven’t yet been able to catch up with gardening, but I didn’t know I would be sick. We did do some Krita Art Class, and I did the first activity of the Digital Illustration Class, an eye, which was fun. I guess I’ve slowly gotten used to the computer tablet over time. We did some Duolingo classes, I haven’t been as active as I wanted to be with that as an individual, but I am happy to have started some other students with it.

Tuesday: Last week I was reflecting on the Permaculture Principal: Use the edges and value the marginal, it did inspire me to clean and garden, but being sick and especially the kids being sick drained me so that not a lot of progress happened between last week and this week. I try to surrender to the fact I will lose days and weeks to being sick and to taking care of my kids, but emotionally I still resist accepting that I won’t always make progress toward what I care about. A student caught up on science class, the first in his family, when I asked what he wanted to do he said “Scientist,” which is awesome. There actually are a good amount of science jobs in this area, Oceanography, Astronomy, everything at the college, it’s not a bad job market in our location.

Wednesday: Last week wonderful day, we did karate three times, we did giant bubbles. This week we stayed home from the beach sick, the complete opposite. But I did do some Non-Profit Corporate Bylaws Paperwork and I have more to do… A student caught up on math class today, it was nice, emotionally we moved from I’m not a good student, to I’m a good student, but I hate math, to I’m a good student and I don’t hate math, but it is boring and from I’m not going to do it to I’m going to do it and don’t know why I need it to, I know why I need it, I am going to do it, but I don’t like it. Eventually, I want to get to I am good at math, and math is a tool that helps me do things I really enjoy.

Thursday: Last week I did research crop rotation and think about what I wanted to do. This week I am soaking 8 kinds of onions to see what grows well where I am and start crop rotation at step 1 the Alliaceae family. Covered a bit of reading coordinated some paperwork stuff. I am now feeling positive about the longer 501 process, that being so hard it is also a good opportunity to set the tone for the future of what kind of conduct, values and principles we expect to take place when we are gone if the Adventure Scouts are sill around to ensure that it doesn’t become cookie laundering for just girls, while boys go on kayak trips and adventures.

Friday: Last week got two tubs of yard waste off a fence. This week did our cooking, which I was tired to get started on. We covered some English, which I remembered not liking, and set up some foreign languages. I was proud one of the students was exercising and jealous also. I want to start exercising, I want to spend more time outside, I want to draw more and do music and get the house cleaned. I want to finish the paperwork and be a good person and stay organized, will I ever do all those things?

Another week bites the dust… and another one’s gone.

Secret Forest to Farm

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. Doing a second germination. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Morning Glory – Germinated in 1 day via cup of water to paper towels > grow bags > Distributed. Growing well. 🌱 They look good some are vining now. Some pest damage on the leaves, center holes medium size.

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! Some that went into the community are growing fruit already. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinated in a few weeks paper towel method, spouts are so tiny, but doing well.

Raspberry – Germinating…

Koa – Germinated first week and kept staggered germination. The one from last year is looking beautiful.

Something new this week: Did a kind of accelerated learning boot camp with a student for the first time, interesting, I hope it was helpful for them.

Something good this week: I stayed home from the beach because we were sick and didn’t feel bad, which is good, something shifted with my boundaries where I enjoy my friends, but don’t feel obligated to take care of myself or my family first.

Something unexpected: We has a guest who asked me if I was ever going to use the fountain top in the garden, which just came.

✏️

🦋 2022 Forty-Third Week ⛅

November 7, 2022Leave a comment

GOALS THIS WEEK: Celebrating and realizing the year is almost through.

Last Week: Taking stock and making it through the three birthday pile up in the end of October.

This Week: Want to make some more strategic plans and think about what to cut out to make time for paperwork.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Feel like almost at peace with the year, kind of want to do MORE.

Physical Health: Fighting off flus, drinking tea, pretty comfortable, but not all the way normal.

Social Health: Trying to ignore my friends more and do more paperwork, or hang out “smarter”.

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week we came home from camping. This week putting sunflowers in, it was cool did about 50, but, definitely need to weed that garden further… these Mexican Sunflowers are pretty, but their leaves make great fertilizer and they create a great farm ambiance which is food for the soul. The bright yellow is such a healing color for my heart, I’m surprised the heart’s colors are not officially yellow. This garden is on a steep slope, I’m not an expert at working with that, but I think perhaps those grid messes filled with soil or gravel would shore up paths and plant levels…

Sunday: Last week we had my daughter’s friend over. This week a lovely Halloween party after going to the zoo for Halloween pictures and a different friend stayed over, who we hadn’t had over in a long time. The party was so beautifully done with glow sticks and buckets, tons of food, a spooky trail, trick or treat, a memorial altar with candles. It was so cool and so thoughtful. My kids didn’t want to wear their costumes, I should try to remember not to get them expensive ones, because they can’t tolerate being uncomfortable. It’s a time of year death is on my mind, but it’s nice having company in the fall because I like to be a hermit in the winter.

Monday: Last week, we started playing Pokemon cards online it was a cool thing to start doing, I didn’t realize how well made they made the online system. This year Day of the Dead rolled into Halloween then ever before, but it was nice singing with the kids, bringing out our dead pets and butterflies lights, and experiencing a celebration of our dead that was actually fun, I guess it replaced the Obon we missed, where we would have danced around and remembered our ancestors in the summer if it hadn’t been canceled for the 3rd time by the pandemic. Good riddance it seems like to shutdowns that I don’t think were done in a smart, effective way. If there are no masks in 2023 it will be better than 2022, I didn’t know I liked showing off my face, but I guess I do and I know I like breathing well in hot weather and not having one more thing to remember that is a fight with my kids.

Monthly Garden Budget

This is for the pond, I hope to repair it. $35 for a 100-foot cord. $25 for the electrical spike, so $60 of electrical that you don’t even notice in a pond. Tape to fix the leak that has been on my plate all year bothering me at the back of my mind $17, new top peice for the the waterfall $38 and $83 so like $197 for pond repair/upgrade.

$38 for the train garden edging.

For the garden we haven’t started yet, $20 of decor to try to kick off the theme, $25 of veggie beds that will still need soil.

$30 of grafting stuff for more avocado-tomato experiments at least the greenhouse is back up so I have somewhere for these kinds of tools to be.

So I spent November’s budget on Halloween Night, but mostly I made these notes to see how long it takes me to install this stuff.

Tuesday: Last week started cleaning up the office after camping. This week the house could use some more cleaning. Use the edges and value the marginal is the permaculture principle for this month, maybe I can use that to help me clean up the house not only to help with the garden.

Wednesday: Last week we had a music week at the beach. This week was wonderful day, we did karate three times, we did giant bubbles. It was kind of painful how nice of a day it was. It’s painful feeling the peace and joy and knowing it’s a high water mark, or thinking that. It’s painful thinking those not with us are gone and we can so easily forget them and be in the moment and someday we will be gone and other people will party like it’s their birthday like we did today. I don’t know what makes it painful, but it is painful. It was nice seeing kids not usually happy, happy, seeing kids that got to know eachother more opening up, it was just a nice day with clean water and good company and abundance of everything good from art supplies to laughter to help to good weather. The kind of day that spoils other days.

Thursday: Last week I did an installment of a train garden. This week was much different, visited a friend, noticed my garden was growing. It’s so rainy today, it’s quite soothing, but really makes me feel like staying inside. I didn’t do a lot of outside farming, but I did research crop rotation and think about what I wanted to do.

Friday: Last week we did some drawing for once! I had been wanting to do that for a long time. Got two tubs of yard waste off a fense, but it seemed difficult to get started, kind of a chaotic day with the yonger kids and emotional one with the older ones. The garden is doing well overall though. I learn a lot from group thinking and have a lot of fun, but it also kind of keeps me from reflecting. Some times I feel like I need silence to catch up with all the words I’ve said, heard and thought throughout the day or week. I’m grateful to have friends and community, it gives me perspective and insight and new ideas, but also I feel like there are too many good ideas and too few good actions for my taste and I want to make sure we don’t get side tracked as a group more than I want to be a part of as an individual. I get scared to loose track of plans vs ideas and jump from idea to idea without further details, planning and action, that’s not something I’m interested in chasing or encouraging, it’s not something I value and although I’m guilty of having those tendencies I want to make sure I commit to being more consistent and focused bit by bit rather than less consistent and focused. It’s human nature to want to do a lot, but it’s not the path to the future I want to bite off chunks and spit them out or choke on them.

Another week bites the dust… and another one’s gone.

Secret Forest to Farm

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! Some that went into the community are growing fruit already. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinated in a few weeks paper towel method, spouts are so tiny, but doing well.

Raspberry – Germinating…

Koa – Germinated first week and kept stagared germination.

Something new this week: Buying fountain repair stuff, I’m excited to try to fix that.

Something good this week: The kids enjoyed the slime and bubbles. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t…

Something unexpected: The strange happiness of watching pumpkins grow.

⛅

👻 2022 Forty-second Week 🪦

November 1, 2022Leave a comment

GOALS THIS WEEK: Celebrating and realizing the year is almost through.

Last Week: Camping always takes a lot of clean up.

This Week: Plants waiting to be tended.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Enjoying the fall, but it does feel hectic as well.

Physical Health: Doing medium okay energy, but kind of fighting being sick.

Social Health: Feel kind of overwhelmed, almost forgot about the math decathlon.

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week my husband came to visit. It feels like a long time ago already now. This Saturday was the day we came home from camping, hiked the lava tube and sent my husband back on the airplane. One day of camping is kind of enough for me right now with my 3-year-old. The kids made movies this time around, I was happy with the amount of kids who participated and the attention to detail they showed. I added music with Movavi and had the videos up on our website, adventurescoutshawaii.org pretty fast, so pretty proud of myself actually.

Sunday: Last week I put down the path and new garden bed I was so happy so much got done. A new garden bed makes me feel like a farmer again. This week we had my daughter’s friend over, so we were doing some joint study, a lot of spelling, reading, language study ext. It was good for us because she would throw spelling fits with me, but together with her friends she didn’t want to throw fits so it saved us a lot of spelling fits. It’s been more work adjusting to more kids, but it’s been helpful overall now that a lot of time and curriculum has passed I can see how they add relevance to one another.

Monday: Last week, my husband said I could have a $300/month budget to work on the garden. This week we started playing Pokemon cards online and did some study groups. It was fun to see the kids happy, but on the other hand, my paperwork is just waiting I can’t do it with constant interruptions. I didn’t want to stop “working” on our projects to do the paperwork, but also I haven’t finished that, so there is that conflict between responsibility and creativity that never seems to go away in my heart. It’s been a fun year compared to most the years of my life, but also draining to navigate the post-pandemic social norms.

Tuesday: Last week got a domain name for our scout group, adventurescoutshawaii.org. This week started cleaning up the office after camping, not everything is clean, but a lot more got done this time than in the summer, camping is hard, but I’m getting used to it more and more. My kids both worked hard in reading and completed their English classes. I’m proud of my kids, they are both really smart, the older they get, the more I see it, but as a result I feel that I have to do more with them since they can understand it, so it becomes a cross to bear in a way that I feel they could be finishing their basics faster and doing advanced work mixed in with it.

Wednesday: Last week my daughter had her 7th birthday party. This week we had a music week at the beach, it was bittersweet to see some friends before they had to leave, but I think good to see them too. It was the Math Decathalon and it was nice to have it over for the year actually. I’m happy with what got done, but I also want to shift to more creative pursuits as the seasons shift. I’ve gotten used to the pain of loss more this year than I expected to, the economy is shifting a lot of people away from where I live, people who stay have to pair down to what is essential, work double hard just to live normally or leave.

Thursday: Last I was getting ready for camping. This week I did an installment of a train garden, that was fun, also watermelons, which got stalled to plant and I wonder if it will affect them, they also may have early blight from white flies or just been over eaten by flea beetles. Told a friend I want to wake up and do paperwork in the mornings and I do want to… but so far I haven’t made the habit. Things are not perfect, but the little garden projects that I have done have soothed me and calmed me down, definitely my ikagai, where as teaching the kids is my duty, gardening is my passion and writing is my therapy. It could be a different mix for a different person, but that’s how it is for me.

Friday: Last week camping was fun. This week it seems like I need to organize and also check in with my plants. Had some friends over, it was a bit hard between cooking and teaching, every time I do both I know I prefer teaching to cooking. My mind keeps spinning at night lately, something pretty uncommon for me, when I was young I had to write my thoughts down to sleep sometimes, maybe I’m returning to the person I used to be, who I can barely remember.

Another week bites the dust…

Secret Forest to Farm

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! Some that went into the community are growing fruit already. 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinated in a few weeks paper towel method, spouts are so tiny, but doing well.

Raspberry – Germinating…

Koa – Germinated first week and kept stagared germination.

Something new this week: The story boards from camping were filmed, and that film is online so kids can see their own work on the internet, I find that really cool.

Something good this week: Installed a train set I was putting off.

Something unexpected: My kids finished their school work, so they can do more creative stuff and work ahead.

🪦

🎃 2022 Forty-first Week ⛺

October 26, 20221 Comment

GOALS THIS WEEK: Trying to get through kid birthday and camping.

Last Week: Been pushing hard in the garden.

This Week: The front watermelon bed has been going well.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Gathering strength to exercise and do paperwork and take care of my plants.

Physical Health: Doing much better, but still burning off a stomach flu with fevers here and there.

Social Health: Almost forgot about the math decathlon.

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week bought soil to replant my son’s apple tree and then also some linoleum. The apple tree got replanted this week. My husband came to visit the kids late Friday night and the kids are really happy to play with him. It wasn’t bad having time apart and it also is nice to have time together again and help with the cars. It’s nice for my husband to notice how much the kids change and grow, I think being apart helps make it easier for my husband to see that, though I see it too. Went to a cool break dance event and it was really inclusive and fun and I was surprised how awesome it was to be there with friends and talk and play and enjoy the creative arts, which I always push aside but that always revives my soul.

Sunday: Last week my daughter got in trouble for breaking the rules of what she is allowed to do on tablets. This week I had a great time in the garden, I put down the path around where I wanted a veggie bed all year. I put weed cloth and mulch and then filled the bed with chicken manure compost, steer manure compost, Norwegian Kelp and vermiculite.

Forest to Farm

4. Mulch Paths 5. Add Soil Bed 6. Add Plants

1. Decide on Shape 2. Outline Shape 3. Lay Weed Block

Monday: Last week, I was pretty ill. This week we did a hike to see the lava in person for the first time, I was happy my son was happy. Amazing how much better I felt this week vs last week, I have my full strength and engergy back and I’m open to new things and new ideas, when I was sick I felt very careful not to start anything new that I probably couldn’t finish. My husband said I could have a $300/month budget to work on the garden and I really hope he doesn’t regret that or redact that later, because I’m excited to develop a plant start program, that’s where I feel like I fit into the community well.

Tuesday: Last week catching up on my journal and cleaning. This week, got a domain name for our scout group, adventurescoutshawaii.org, it was a long time in coming, but good we did that, we should also get a bank as well. Baked blueberry cake, chocolate cake and more chocolate cake for my daughter’s birthday party. Getting through the mochi and cake felt like it took all afternoon after laying hay mulch in the morning, and completing the pathway and moving the green house. This week was the first round of Amdro bait on Tuesday right before moving the green house, cutting down a tree and rebuilding the green house with the new wood. When I was moving the fallen down green house I remembered the rise stronger together banner down town and I felt a commitment to get back to where we were before the Kona Low and hurricane Darby.

Wednesday: Last week decided on a war with fire ants. This week my daughter turned 7, and I have to admit I like older kids better than little kids. I’m glad my daugther had a nice birthday with her friends, I was stressed about it, but then it was really fun and relaxing. So many people helped decorate or brought food or gifts, it was really awesome. I brought nasturtium flowers that I grew to repell squash vine tunnelers, it was pretty fun. We also had the coin microscope out for the kids, it felt pretty good between fun at the beach, friends and the microscope, though I do miss teaching karate class more often.

Thursday: Last week realized I didn’t have banana aphids, but rather flea beetles. Well I was getting ready for camping, a student of my student was finishing up Kindergarten math seven months early, he outpaced my own kids who had a head start of many years. That’s pretty cool, a lot of early learning focuses on 0-5, but this student was 5, so it’s cool to see for myself that 5 isn’t too late to start accelerated math or learn a new passion as compared to the 0-4 range. Actually, I’ve been learning cooking and dancing this year for the first time and I’m 37, so it’s really never too late, especially if you have a better method of learning. Like learning in a fun way, or learning from a master, or learning with friends, those hacks can help give you the advantage age may not give you.

Friday: Last week my daughter got a new bike, she had an old one, but getting a new one revived her interest. This week camping was fun, high interest in movie making, light saber personal values craft, the principal box craft, it was nice having help to load up after, it was nice not worrying about food, the after hike was nice, overall it was a good time for me and a good time for the kids, of course kind of draining, but I think years later the memories the kids have will be worth their weight in gold.

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinated in a few weeks paper towel method, spouts are so tiny, but doing well.

Raspberry – Germinating…

Koa – Germinated first week and kept stagared germination.

Something new this week: Helping the kids learn story boarding to make movies camping was really interesting, because as story teller and an artist I never did comics, nor animation, nor story boarding, so I never connected the art of story and the art of art before in real life and I think it was awesome that kids about 5 years old were not only able to, but well suited to put together making story boards and then filming the shots. Children are so powerful in creative realms.

Something good this week: My family helped me with the camping trip, loading, delivering, picking up, that’s awesome.

Something unexpected: I have a lot of new friends this year, I didn’t set out to make new friends, but a lot of people lost friends during the pandemic and shifted around socially after, so here we are.

⛺

🎃 2022 Fortieth Week 🏔️

October 15, 20223 Comments

GOALS THIS WEEK: Trying to clean the house after being sick.

Last Week: It’s hard to remember now, only a week later.

This Week: Little garden projects, hoping they go well.

HEALTH OVERVIEW:

Mental Health: Doing between alright and not alright, I guess it’s called stressed.

Physical Health: Had a stomach flu really bad Monday, but feeling better today.

Social Health: Two birthday parties in addition to my daughter’s, in addition to Halloween, in addition to camping, in addition to day two of the math decathlon, so I kind of wish people spread out their kids more geez.

LIFE JOURNAL:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

–Mary Anne Radmacher

Saturday: Last week we placed a watermelon bed. This week it felt like everything was delayed, pests took over the plants, from pickleworm, squash borer tunnelers, banana aphids, white flies, this is the first year slugs weren’t a main issue at least. A squash borer tunneler catapillar jumped out at me while I was holding a vine trying to figure out what was in there… that was kind of helpful and also starting. I can’t remember if it was Friday or Saturday that we went out to the garden, I feel like it was Friday actually, but then what did I do Saturday? I guess I bought soil to replant my son’s apple tree and then also some linoleum.

Sunday: Last week laid soil into a watermelon bed. This week covered a lot of English Language, some Earth Science, and some Astronomy. At night my daughter got in trouble for breaking the rules of what she is allowed to do on tablets, so that was unfortunate for me that she felt like breaking the rules, because I don’t really enjoy punishing her, but I really feel compelled to push her away from the edge.

Monday: Last week, I overspent on camping stuff. This week I threw up at least four times and was pretty ill, it was so nice my sister helped my with my kids who also had friends over, I really appreciate that she had the day off that was lucky for me. The kids were good, they did a lot of math actually and other school work like English without much help and without much candy, instead saving for game time. They also spent a lot of time singing Pumpkin Jack, by the Singing Walrus, together, which was really cute.

Tuesday: Last week went to the olympic pool. This week catching up on my journal and cleaning, this is becoming nostalgic already, I guess after 10 months things feel nostalgic. We cleaned the kids’ bedroom, my daughter decided to move back into my son’s room again, so they are sharing a room now, which is cool, going to get them a bunkbed someday. For a long time I felt like I didn’t know where home was, now I feel like it’s here in Hawaii, no matter where my husband moves later, I feel at home here now.

Wednesday: Last week we had a wonderful block day and made poi. This week I’m happy with the changes to the kids room, happy overall with school, feeling sick though. It was different not going to the beach, the day goes by and it’s not bad, but I do think it is usually worth the extra effort to see the kids friends on a normal week. Spent a lot of time over analysing the possible fire ant war cost and trying to decide on if I should poison them or leave them alone. It was kind of paranoid and isolated like Branch from Trolls…

Thursday: Last week we identified some bugs. This week I realize I didn’t have banana aphids, but rather flea beatles. So, resting up from the stomach flu and not much else except school. Hitting reading hard, math going well, this year my daughter got really good at telling time, decimals and started fractions, she got better at hand writing and a bit at typing, the only thing lagging is kind of essay composition. My son is doing great, but to advance in math he needs to write the problems out so he is learning manual writing and is good 0-3, so 4-6 is next. School is going well, music lessons are going well, I should be more happy about it, but I’ve been kind of demotivated temporarily since having the stomach flu.

Friday: Last week went to the pool, picked up mulch, and dropped it off, pretty productive day. This week productivity fell off due to the stomach flu, but both kids made it to 80% in English so that we will probably do a double year in English actually and still do some extra music and drawing stuff. I’m happy the kids are doing well, I had fun watching Sustainable Me tomato video today and it inspired me to go clean up my tomato plants a little, but then didn’t have time before my dad wanted to go to get my daughter a birthday gift. She ended up with a new bike, wish there were more places to ride around us, but at least she is interested again.

How’s it Growing?

Cherry Blossom – Waiting for cold germination. ⌛

Lavender – Cold stratified, germinated via heat mat single-side paper towel and light. The seedlings look fine. 👍🏼

Sunflower – Germinated in 3 days after 24 hour soak. Grown. Distributed. Growing well. 👍🏼

Roma Tomato – Germinated in 2 days via paper towel. Grown. Distributed. Some early blight! 👍🏼

Clover, Alfalfa – For the Hilo Garden A. 🔮

Blueberry – Germinating…

Raspberry – Germinating… seem all gross, not sure if it’s just the way the seed capsule is.

Koa – Germinating via paper towel.

Something new this week: My daughter started riding bikes again after a small fall on a hill she had stopped for a few years.

Something good this week: When I watched Sustainable Me Tomato episode it brought me back in time to when I started gardening and I wanted to grow to eat, before I found out about all the slugs.

Something unexpected: I was surprised how much my attitude changed when I thought I had banana aphids caused by fire ants vs when I thought I had flea beetles, I stopped being mad at ants and was just more calm in general.

Born to Be Alive

Grateful to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love…

Category: Uncategorized

⛄ 2022 Fiftieth Week 🌬️

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⛄ 2022 Forty-Ninth Week 🌻

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⛄ 2022 Forty-Eigth Week ❄️

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🦋 2022 Forty-Sixth Week 🦎

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🦋 2022 Forty-Fifth Week 🧅

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🦋 2022 Forty-Forth Week ✏️

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🦋 2022 Forty-Third Week ⛅

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👻 2022 Forty-second Week 🪦

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🎃 2022 Forty-first Week ⛺

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🎃 2022 Fortieth Week 🏔️

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