We've got our first coffee blossom. Woohoo! It's on our largest tree, which looks as though it's ready to sprout more blossoms in coming days. We may actually have enough coffee by next year to brew and share a cup. Or maybe half a cup. Factoring in all the time, sweat and money we've put into the coffee trees to date, I estimate this cup will cost roughly $30,000. And you thought that Vanilla soy latte half-calf with a twist was pricey at Starbucks. But hey, this blossom? It's a start.It was unbelievably busy at the winery today. This, despite reports that visits to the islands are way down from last years numbers. One third of the hotel rooms on the big island are empty. Still, of the people who are here, a bunch of them decided to buy wine today. Some were buying by the case. This, after my suggestion that we offer a 10% case discount. Lots of wineries do this and plenty of visitors ask about a discount. So once again, my business genius saves the day. It's amazing what people will buy if they think they're getting even the slightest deal.
We finally got our pipe fixed; the one the Ron and I Jerry Rigged to get us by. My friend Joe from the gym just happens to be a plumber. He came with his tools, parts and skills and repaired our cracked pipe lickity split. Joe is a mostly Hawaiian and a little bit Filipino man whose middle name is Finnegan. It reminded me of a young man I once worked with at a factory job I held one summer between school years. His name was Raul Murphy. He was, as you might guess, half Mexican, half Irish. But Joe is not Irish. He explained that he is named after a dear family friend. His son's middle name is Finnegan, too. He got a kick out of sharing this story with us. Ron really liked Joe.
He also likes Anthony, our neighbor. Anthony is also a Hawaiian man. He's a big guy with a strong local accent who speaks mostly pidgin. Ron doesn't always understand what Anthony is saying to him. Yet he can joke with Anthony. Anthony actually gets Ron's sarcastic sense of humor, which many people do not.
We're harvesting fresh lettuce, cilantro and basil from our garden lately, along with plenty of zucchini. Green beans are in the ground and we ate our first ear of corn tonight. It was tiny by tasty. "Greeeeeeeeen acres is the place to be.....faaaaaaaaarm livin' is the life for me......"
Sunday was the day to power wash the back lanai. I blasted the front side of the house last week. It's a very wet job. By the time I'm finished with a section of the house, I'm soaked through to my civvies. Or, as my dad called them, skivvies. Even with the water jetting with enough force to remove paint, the spider webs cling. It's really quite amazing. If someone could invent a paint that would not allow spider webs to stick, he/she would become a millionaire.
The power washer uses a ton of water, so we only use it when it's been raining regularly. That's pretty much always.
A hui hou. Aloha!
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