When I left Hawaii on September 10th for a three and a half week long visit back home in NY, I drove through our local village of Pahoa for what I thought would be one last time. The lava flow was forecast to burn through the middle of town on September 24 or 25. I returned yesterday, October 6th, and was very relieved to be able to drive through the so far untouched village. The lava is still flowing, but at a reduced rate. Yes, it will cut through town and our sole main road to "civilization", but probably not until later this month.
While I was away, the local mood shifted from full-tilt panic and constant anxiety to one of nervous acceptance. I sure picked a good time to be out of town!
Now that I am back, I am amazed at all the progress on our building project. It's starting to look more like a home and less like a construction site. The activity today was constant, as it has been while I was gone. We passed the plumbing, electrical and framing inspections. The huge custom-made windows in the 34 foot high peaks of the two buildings are installed in the main house, and ready to go in tomorrow in the master suite. Drywall has gone up in the downstairs guest bed and bathrooms, as well as upstairs in the kitchen and powder room, and in the master suite bathroom and closet.
Lots and lots of plywood went up as backing for the tongue and groove whitewashed interior walls upstairs in the main house. Actually, I was surprised by all the interior wall plywood. Our contractor Bob Kirk explained that the architect called for it to meet sheer strength requirements in the local building code. Yes, in addition to hurricanes and volcanoes, we also have earthquakes here, and plenty of them. The good news is that they are all micro-quakes less than 4.0 on the Richter scale, and mostly imperceptible by the residents.
The exterior painting is >95% complete. From the photos, you can see how the dark green house color and the dark brown trim colors do their intended job. My husband Robert selected them so that the houses would blend in seamlessly with the colors in the garden and jungle surroundings.
If you would like the latest on the lava flow, this article covers it very well from a scientific standpoint. http://pacificislandparks.com/2014/10/07/lava-flow-front-continues-advancing-triggers-brush-fire/ If you want to know the human interest viewpoint, ask me, I am living it!
As always, there's lots blooming on our 11 acres. I included pictures of some of the garden standouts as of today, October 7.
Aloha until later this month, probably after the lava hits Pahoa.
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| By the end of the day, the last window triangle was in place on the main house. You can see the where it went above. |
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| This looks like a couple of scifi creatures climbing down a tree! |
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| Guest BR1 from outside looking through to front of house |
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| Who knew that drywall comes in four colors? All are specified to do different jobs-waterproofing, fire-resisting, mildew resisting . Contractor Bob Kirk pictured knows what they all do! |
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| Living room replete with lots and lots of plywood for shear strength to resist earthquakes |
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| Appliances delivered early in case the road is eaten by lava |
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| Me reflected in the window about to go up inside |
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| View through from upstairs powder room to kitchen and far side window |
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| Upstairs powder room and closet/TV area |
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| Back of kitchen console, and back of carpenter ;-) |
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| Kitchen |
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| Kitchen redux |
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| This is my favorite picture of this group. It shows Bob and two of his crew working together to finish the window installation in the front peak of the main house. They really do a great job! |
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| Did I mention there's lots of plywood? But it will all be covered with beautiful whitewashed tongue and groove walls by the end of October. |
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| Rails for custom barn-door style sliders |
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| Master suite from above |
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| Putting in the last part of the window |
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| Panes of glass leaning against the two utility rooms downstairs |
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| View through guest BR2 to the bathroom |
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| Looking out from guest bathroom 2 through the shower and sliding glass door to the outside |
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| Master suite interior |
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| Back side of not quite completed custom sliders for master. The screen still needs to go in the top part. |
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| Rail for slider |
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| Master bathroom |
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| Looking back at main house from master bathroom corner |
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| Fan and more plywood for shear strength |
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| Starfruit and blossoms from the tree in our fruit orchard |
There are lava flows near you? That's crazy! I assume this new house you're building won't be affected by that. Anyway, those are stunning pictures of the construction and plants. It seems you still have a long way to go, but you got the things stocked up in case you're cut off due to the lava flow, so it's all good. Good luck with the construction!
ReplyDeleteLynn Williamson @ DAL Builders, Inc.