Welcome to Cuckoo for Coconuts. We started this blog as a way for friends and family to keep track of our doings as we charted a new course in Hai'ku, Hawaii. Since then it's grown beyond our immediate circle to include fans from around the globe. Being both designers and nature-lovers, our posts encompass a wide range of topics, but mostly they are about our day-to-day lives here in paradise. Neither of us has ever lived west of the Mississippi, let alone across the great pacific. Needless to say, we'd have to be a little "cuckoo" to make this leap.
We learn something new everyday. Thanks to the internet we can work and stay connected with the rest of the world. A big part of our lives has been consumed by our decision to live off the grid. The infrastructure was in place before we moved but maintaining the electric and water facilities is a daily concern. As a result we don't take these things for granted as perhaps we once did but also realize how much we can control what we consume with small changes. And we save money in the process.
In any of the projects we undertake for the property we are looking to reuse and recycle materials, with little impact on waste and resources. Our baking is in response to the abundant fruits we have growing and our cooking is inspired and supplied by our vegetable garden. Our landscaping is mainly fueled with plants we've propagated or cultivated with an eye out to make sure we aren't encouraging anything that's invasive to the local flora. With no winter to halt the growing process, we witness the changes that vegetation can make quite readily. And from time to time we post before and "now" pictures to emphasize just how much things have changed around here.
When we left our 9-to-5 lives in New York City, we knew we were taking a big risk. Was it worth it? I guess that's what this blog is meant to answer.
