It's been a busy couple of days...our gorgeous bedroom window has been delivered and installed (altho our screens were damaged and will have to be replaced). Now Marlon will build a small railing on the outside of the window because the building code states that all windows on a second floor must be up so many inches from the floor, whereas we want to be able to look directly out from our bed into our rain forest... it may be that once the final building inspection has taken place, this little "gate" may just happen to fall down, and we will procrastinate (forever) on replacing it. This window has two casement windows on the side for ventilation, but the main picture window will be right over our bed, providing a great view of hapu'u ferns and all of Katie's bromeliads that have been planted on the moss-covered fallen trees to the north of the house.
Our electrician, Ross, and his assistant, Se (pronounced "Say") arrived at 7:30 a.m. yesterday. We made a fast trip into Hilo to pick up some lighting fixtures, and Ross and Se made quick work of installing the pot light boxes, stringing wire, and putting in outlet and switch boxes. These two guys are extremely professional, and not only fast, but thorough. They also don't mind making last minute changes to the plans, which helps! If all goes well, the rough electrical work will be finished today, and then we await the electrical inspection.
Our plumber, Billy, had installed all the rough-in plumbing last Wednesday. The plumbing inspection has already taken place, and Billy has already corrected the two minor issues the inspector disagreed with. So the next time we will see Billy will be after the drywall has been hung, and we're ready to install the sinks and toilet, and connect the propane hot water heater, clothes dryer and stove. Our appliances have been ordered, and should be delivered within another week, so the drywall hangers will have to work around the appliances. What can we do? It's a construction site, and we have limited storage space.
Marlon has been busy finishing up minor projects like the window installation, and making forms for the last concrete pour. One other project we were happy to have him do was to use his tractor to dig holes for five trees that will be planted on the southern (front) side of the house. We now have large holes in the lava for our Washington navel orange tree, a longan tree (a strange tropical fruit that, once peeled, looks like an eyeball, but tastes great!), a Fremont tangerine, a mountain apple (again, a tropical fruit), and a pua kenikeni tree, a flowering tree that produces very fragrant blossoms that were traditionally used in making leis. Pua kenikeni means "10 cent flower" because each bloom used to command that price. The fragrance is heavenly! We will also have a Tahitian lime and a Meyer's lemon in large pots. This leaves several other trees that we have already accumulated that will need to be planted out in the hinterlands once the uluhe is cleared: an avocado, a Manila palm, an ulu (breadfruit), a "forbidden fruit of India" which produces spicy fragrant blossoms, and a mango tree that David started from a very tasty mango we found on the grounds of Queen Lili"uokalani's park in Hilo, one of our favorite places to walk in town. The avocado, mountain apple, and ulu were all given to us by our friends Linnette and Ron who also live in Mountain View. Linnette babysat our guava starts that we brought back from Kauai in February (from Kai Guava Plantation's master gardener, Jack Gushiken, who sweetly gifted us with 6 small guava trees), and those will eventually need to be planted out, too. Anyone for a fruit salad in a year or two???
Marlon and Aiven have become family for us. We all arrived out here on the land a mere 8 weeks ago, and now, thanks to Marlon and crew, we have the lovely bones of a home. Their work is winding down here, and I think we will sorely miss their presence. True to the Hawaiian spirit of aloha, I'm sure we'll stay in touch. We are so grateful for this joyful experience, which wouldn't have been nearly as sweet if it hadn't been for Marlon and his expertise, and his very patient, hardworking, meticulous nature. We truly can't recommend him highly enough. How do you thank someone who has created a work of art that you will now call home?
Our electrician, Ross, and his assistant, Se (pronounced "Say") arrived at 7:30 a.m. yesterday. We made a fast trip into Hilo to pick up some lighting fixtures, and Ross and Se made quick work of installing the pot light boxes, stringing wire, and putting in outlet and switch boxes. These two guys are extremely professional, and not only fast, but thorough. They also don't mind making last minute changes to the plans, which helps! If all goes well, the rough electrical work will be finished today, and then we await the electrical inspection.
Our plumber, Billy, had installed all the rough-in plumbing last Wednesday. The plumbing inspection has already taken place, and Billy has already corrected the two minor issues the inspector disagreed with. So the next time we will see Billy will be after the drywall has been hung, and we're ready to install the sinks and toilet, and connect the propane hot water heater, clothes dryer and stove. Our appliances have been ordered, and should be delivered within another week, so the drywall hangers will have to work around the appliances. What can we do? It's a construction site, and we have limited storage space.
Marlon has been busy finishing up minor projects like the window installation, and making forms for the last concrete pour. One other project we were happy to have him do was to use his tractor to dig holes for five trees that will be planted on the southern (front) side of the house. We now have large holes in the lava for our Washington navel orange tree, a longan tree (a strange tropical fruit that, once peeled, looks like an eyeball, but tastes great!), a Fremont tangerine, a mountain apple (again, a tropical fruit), and a pua kenikeni tree, a flowering tree that produces very fragrant blossoms that were traditionally used in making leis. Pua kenikeni means "10 cent flower" because each bloom used to command that price. The fragrance is heavenly! We will also have a Tahitian lime and a Meyer's lemon in large pots. This leaves several other trees that we have already accumulated that will need to be planted out in the hinterlands once the uluhe is cleared: an avocado, a Manila palm, an ulu (breadfruit), a "forbidden fruit of India" which produces spicy fragrant blossoms, and a mango tree that David started from a very tasty mango we found on the grounds of Queen Lili"uokalani's park in Hilo, one of our favorite places to walk in town. The avocado, mountain apple, and ulu were all given to us by our friends Linnette and Ron who also live in Mountain View. Linnette babysat our guava starts that we brought back from Kauai in February (from Kai Guava Plantation's master gardener, Jack Gushiken, who sweetly gifted us with 6 small guava trees), and those will eventually need to be planted out, too. Anyone for a fruit salad in a year or two???
Marlon and Aiven have become family for us. We all arrived out here on the land a mere 8 weeks ago, and now, thanks to Marlon and crew, we have the lovely bones of a home. Their work is winding down here, and I think we will sorely miss their presence. True to the Hawaiian spirit of aloha, I'm sure we'll stay in touch. We are so grateful for this joyful experience, which wouldn't have been nearly as sweet if it hadn't been for Marlon and his expertise, and his very patient, hardworking, meticulous nature. We truly can't recommend him highly enough. How do you thank someone who has created a work of art that you will now call home?
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