Ulu, aka Breadfruit

Breadfruit (ulu) is something of which we have become quite fond here on the islands. It's all about preparation and after experimentation we have come up with a recipe we love.

We got this little keiki (baby) from a farmer down in Hana Town.

We named her "Lil' Ulu"

Arrived December 21, 2010

As you can see below, our tree is doing very well.

Nearer to now: September 1, 2012

A fully developed fruit ready for preparation

Latest Arrival: "Man Fern"

Sister Katie Neighbor Lady rolled in on Tracy's birthday with this present for her garden.

One of the names for it is: "Man Fern"

Gee, I wonder, why?

Interestingly, scientifically speaking, it's biological classification defines it to be of the family Dicksoniaceai, suitable, I suppose.

The Hawaiian name is Hapu'u.
(pronounced hah-poo-ooo - accent on the "poo" and the "ooo" sounds like the "ooo" in you, too!

Here is a photo grabbed from Google Images that shows Hapu'u much more grown up and old enough to wear clothes!

Breaking News: Man Fern Get's More ... "Manly"

Man, what a fern!
MAN FERN!!!

After such and long and successful display of bulbous growth - looks like the kids are coming.

Check back for updates.

Welcome Home Meli!!!

Meli is Hawaiian for honey

(Pronounced May-Lee)

Her Mom is a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel and her Dad is a Chihuahua

Arriving - 6 weeks old

Truly cute with a nice attitude and appears to be friendly, responsive and maybe even smart!

Always interested

Sleeps well through the night. That may have something to do with her being allowed to sleep in our bed.

We're off to puppy training school in a couple of weeks. Five one hour classes (one a week) with other dogs and people. Tracy wanted a baby so that it could be trained early and properly - so far so good. The chickens have had a few things to say, but they're getting over it. The bees could care less.

What's the buzz? I'll tell you what's happening!

Finely time for some bees. Tracy went to bee school and graduated with the equipment and a hive full of bees (a colony).

The bees had to be picked up and moved at night. So on the afternoon of the big day we set up the stand and equipment in preparation for their arrival. Chose the banana patch because it's downwind from the house and provides some shelter from the wind and rain and plenty of sun with just a little shade.

 As dusk descended, Tracy and Gabe drove up the hill and picked up the bees, drove them home in the trunk of the car and Gabe placed them on the stand in the dark. Next morning it was time to open them up and let them begin orienting in their new environment and get to work.

Adding a bit of smoke while opening up their front door.  Smoke confuses the bees, causing them to slow down and move closer to the center of the hive, where the queen usually is.

Tracy couldn't resist opening up for a quick inspection

 Tracy and Gabe Shalitmontagne watching the action. Gabe comes from Seattle having grown up in our old West Seattle neighborhood. He bought a one way ticket to Maui and is off on a Wwoof'ing adventure. After a short work/trade stay with us he's moving on to an organic farm here on Maui for the longer term. What's WWOOF you might ask?

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

 We finished quickly with a minimum of interaction and left them to settle in.

 A couple days later it was time to play "Find the Queen" and do a more in depth inspection.

 Pulling out a frame. Notice brave Tracy - no hood, no gloves but lot's of love and no stings.

 Again it became evident that we should not invade too much so we cut short the Queen search before we found her. Another reason we quit was the photographer (that's Neil) was the only person to get stung - one time on the right cheek (facial, not other). We were trying to photograph the frames so that we could take a close look at the photos in hopes of finding the Queen. Neil was standing up close with the camera, in their flight pattern, and got nailed.

It's been a couple of weeks now and the bees are very active and appear to be thriving - sweet, wild, local honey on the way!

Just a Reminder

"Not So Almighty"

A Whale of a Whale Watch - Best Day Ever!

Friday, March 2 2012, 11:30am HST at Ma'alaea Harbor, Captain Jay motors in to pick us up.

~remember to click the pics to see them full size

The boat is a 60 foot Catamaran with twin Caterpillar engines

Jay has been a skipper for the Pacific Whale Foundation for nearly 25 years and a great new friend of ours!

Along for the ride: my Dad, wife Dodie & Tracy


First sightings

Thar she blows!

A mom and her calf




The next 3 pictures are explained below:

A 40,000 pound mother Humpback breaches. The second picture is a zoomed in version of the the first. The 3rd is the amazing splash made as she landed back in the water.

Just what the skipper ordered!

A whale's tail with Molikini in the distance. Molikini is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater off the south shore of Maui & popular destination for SCUBA and snorkelers 

This 4,000 pound newborn (2 to 4 weeks old) stuck around our boat with it's mom

and did multiple breaches for nearly an hour.

(Zoomed in version of picture above it)

~remember to click the pics to see them full size 

For more about the whales and whale watch information from a previous post, click here:

VonhofMills: Humpback Whales

Big Day

Today, 2/23.2012 we and our chickens are celebrating their FIRST BIRTHDAY!

We coaxed them over to the party with one of their favorite treats, walnuts, which they eagerly devoured in a matter of seconds. They came through for us as well with 4 eggs this morning. Happy Birthday to:

Blondie    Delores    Betty   &   Ruby.

(Balloons courtesy of Google Images - Photoshoped in by us) We're hoping the balloons don't look too fake - somewhat fake is OK because after all, this whole chicken birthday thing is kinda, well, fake, sorta, ya? But those eggs are real and very much appreciated!
~Click the pic for a large view~

Little (big) Changes

Here in the tropics changes in weather are more subtle. We don't get the same dynamic climate changes that we were used to on the mainland. Some people miss this, contract a form of "Island Fever" and have to get outta here! What we have discovered is that there are still just as many changes, they are just far more subtle. As we have acclimated to these micro climates and micro changes they have become, albeit small, increasingly more profound. The subtleties have become magnified! That being said, here is an example:

Here we have a rather spectacular rainbow (click the picture to see it full size and notice the subtle double), aka "AFR" (Another F'ing Rainbow). Maui is famous for rainbows and we see them almost daily, hence the acronym. What we hardly ever see is one like this. The normal weather pattern  here on Maui comes from the trade winds which blow from the northeast and east 90% of the year. That means that our rains come from the east and because the sun sets in the west, we normally see rainbows in the east around sunset. The sun being low in the west and the rain clouds hanging out in the east = rainbows. The exciting thing about this rainbow is that it's in the west! Why you might ask ...  maybe, you're asking that, maybe? Well I'm going to tell you. This time of the year (winter) is usually when the 10% part of our weather patterns happen. The winds reverse at times and blow from the west. This is called a Kona wind here (Kona means west in the Hawaiian/Polynesian languages). So, what's happening here is the "Kona's are blowing" and they are blowing up against the mountains in the west causing rainfall over there. This picture was taken just after sunrise. I'm standing in our front yard and the camera is pointing west with the wind blowing in my face.
A rare, complete reversal of the norm and therefore, very EXCITING for our Maui micro-minds. Aloha!

It Takes a Little Horse Sense to Get An Egret Off Your Back

There are lots of Cattle Egrets here and some of their favorite places to lurk for food are: On the backs of cattle (duh), on the backs of goats and on the backs of horses. These 3 hosts appear to have different degrees of tolerance for these Egret hitchhikers and the horses seem to have the least.

Here's what happened in our next door pasture:

Egret in favorite position for grabbing bugs and parasites from both the horse's back and from stuff stirred up by the  grazing.

 Horse becomes frustrated and heads into the trees. (FYI those are Ironwood trees)

The brush off

Success! Egret free! Horse is happy and the Egret is sitting nearby in the pasture hoping for the opportunity to hop back on for more lunch.

~Click the pics to see them larger~