WATER ROCKETS

This past Tuesday we set sail on a whale watch with Pacific Whale Foundation. I was a little worried that we would not see much activity because from the shore we saw NOTHING. But once we set sail... we were treated to the best whale watch we have ever been on. Mom had already been on a watch last year, but this trip was grandma's first whale watching experience. The boat gets pretty crowded and I was worried she would not really be able to see much from her seat. It's really hard for her to stand for long, but she gave it her all and made it to the railing several times. Other passengers were quite polite and tried hard not to block her view. She was indeed treated to an amazing show of over 20 whale sitings... maybe more. I'm ready to go on another watch before the season ends. 

Our chariot awaits.

Before you board they honswaggle you into posing for a picture that they want you to purchase for $10 when you leave the boat. Guess who fell for it hook, line and sinker. Well, it is a really good shot.

Getting situated on the lower deck. The view from here is actually just as good if not better than the upper deck if you ask me.

The railing right in front of our seats. Standing here you get an unobstructed view as the boat takes you out into the deep blue.

Not long after heading out we spot our first pod. A mother and baby and two male suitors.

This is the baby whale. While the 2 males were vying for mothers attention, the baby was not having any of it. It was on it;s back, flapping that tail about constantly for 15 minutes. This is a form of communication between the mother and baby.You can just see its flippers sticking out of the water.

More baby "talk".

Not sure if this might be mother or a male suitor.

A classic tail descending the water on a dive.

Here you can see all 3 adults. 2 going opposite directions and one right in the middle of them facing away from the camera. That may be the female being harassed by the 2 males. At this point The captain had stopped the engines because the whales had actually gotten too close.

Pacific Whale Foundation's vessels are required to follow "Be Whale Aware" guidelines for minimizing disturbances and preventing collisions in areas where whales and dolphins are present. These "Be Whale Aware" guidelines set vessel speed limits and limit the amount of time that can be spent around whale pods. In addition, Pacific Whale Foundation captains strictly adhere to all Federal and State laws which prohibit approaches to humpback whales within 100 yards. To eliminate any guesswork about the 100 yard distance, Pacific Whale Foundation's vessels are outfitted with Laser Range Finders.

After about 15 minutes of just floating and waiting for the whales to resurface... This guy shot out of the water like a rocket about 40-50 yards from the boat. RIGHT THERE! I kept the heads of the spectators in this shot so you could see just how close we really were. This guy actually breached 4 times in less than 2 minutes. It was absolutely mind boggling. 

Detail of above breach.

Even closer detail.

2nd breach.

2nd breach as the whale rotated itself counterclockwise mid-air.

Detail of above shot. This is the under side showing the outline of the mouth.

SPLASHDOWN!

This is a sequence showing a fin slap which is another form of communication.

A whale doing what is called a "spy hop". That's when a whale sticks it's head up out of the water to have a look around.

Not only did we see whales, but many flying fish. Can you spot it in the upper part of this image?
Detail on the bottom is a little blurry. Buggers are fast.

The whales are not the only thing worth viewing. This is a shot of Lanai.

And a shot of West Maui and Lahaina Town to the left.

TUESDAY'S TEXTURE 011111

In honor of today being the first day of the new PLASTIC BAG BAN here on maui, I thought it might be appropriate to show shredded brown paper that is going into our compost pile. I was pleasantly surprised to see that even Lowes had brown bags.

CUCKOO REVUE 2010

Hand crafted ribbon lettering, coconut crafts, hand knit golf club covers and handmade ribbons for Simple Times, John;s parents enjoying the warm January temperatures and new year plantings.

January started out with John's mom and dad coming for a 7 week visit filled with days fishing, sightseeing, and relaxing while I spent the month making projects for Amy Sedaris' new book "Simple Times - Crafts for Poor People".

Visiting the buddha in Lahaina, in the kitchen making fried cinnamon tortilla strips and homemade pata for lasagna and whale watching in Kapalua.

February we were still entertaining John's parents while his mom cooked almost every day. This was the first time they had seen the Humpback Whales which winter here in Hawai'i.

Swiss chard ravioli, a last dinner on Maui at Sansei, staining concrete, Mom, Nick, Heather and Brandon, Whale wtach and a bamboo birthday hike.

March brought the Giordani's 7 week visit to an end and we had about 2 weeks to recoup and take care of a few home improvements before Conn's family came for a 4 week visit.  Lots of whale sightings and bamboo forest hike for John's birthday.

Touring Haleakala's backside and a stop at Kaupo Store and a wall of waterfalls. Waimea Canyon, Glass Beach, Nick conquering his fear of caves and the Kilauea Lighthouse on the 2 day whistle stop tour of Kaua'i.

We were able to introduce Conn's family to new parts of the island like the back side of Haleakala and we even crammed a 2 day trip to Kaua'i right before they departed Maui.

Ideal Bookshelf book submission, sealing the tiles and tile installation on the office lanai, Kekoa's dad "Big Daddy", and the new kitchen tools.

Mid-April found us putting together the "Ideal Bookshelf" for our book collection that was painted for the Curiosity Shoppe / Jane Mount show. We finally got our office lanai tiled, Kekoa's dad became a regular visitor and we have now become quite close to him. The kitchen faired really well this month with the addition of the long desired KitchenAid mixer and the so hard to find scraper. We were also interviewed and featured on the blog Seeds and Fruit by Kathy Epperson... which led to the design of her new book series - Field Trip.

The view from the office window facing East to Hana. The Java Plum and Christmas Berry trees were getting extremely tall so we cut about 15-20 feet off the tops to reveal what we call Hana Twin Peaks.

May found us tending to the yard and garden area that had suffered for almost a year and a half since we started construction on the new office.

Vanilla ice cream in the making and the new book shelves.

May continued to be full of catching up on home related projects. We finally found some bookshelves and had them shipped from IKEA. Then there was the KitchenAid ice cream maker that needed to be tested. 

Yard work, gardening, concrete staining, wore yard work and the actual painting from Jane Mount for the Ideal Book Shelf project.

June saw the purchase of our new and MUCH need laptops. Our old ones were 7 years old and while they still worked... they were slooooooooooow. More attention to the yard and house this month.

Building a better berm, John visits his family in upstate NY and celebrates his parent's 50th anniversary at the Mohonk Mountain House.

July saw John heading back to NY for his parent's 50th Anniversary as well as visiting old friends in the city.. But before he left we had some landscaping work done, traded in the old... ok not old... the other car for a new gray model that better suits our personalities. Conn's high school friend Jenny and her son Brian, who now lives on Kaua'i, visited on their way to and from Indiana. 

Breaking ground on the shed, nursing a Japanese White Eye after it hit the window, building and planting.

August ushered in the building of the new garden shed from the leftovers of the old garden shed we tore down over a year and a half ago. Conn's obsession with birds is never ending and of course there is always something to plant.

Raising walls and the roof ad finishing touches to the shed, The Hawaiian stilts at Kanaha Pond, Big swells  hitting Ho'okipa Beach.

September we were still working on the new shed. We finally made a visit to Kanaha Ponds to view the wintering birds and the big waves starting showing their faces on the north shore. 

Maui County Fair, a Kapalua hike and Star Noodle Birthday dinner, Guri Guri, fresh coat of paint on the shed, the end of the tent and THE NOBLE CHEF EVENT at the Fairmont Kealani.

October found us at the Maui County Fair and doing a hike in Kapalua on Conn's Birthday finished off with a fantastic dinner at Star Noodle. We finally tried Guri Guri, finished the construction of the shed... with a few bits to add on like shelving and a rain catchment system (which will be detailed in an upcoming post). The Winter winds rolled in and finally helped in dismantling the construction tent. The vent for THE NOBLE CHEF / Maui Culinary Academy that Conn designed all the printed collateral and new logo for took place at the end of October and we were lucky enough to be able to attend and partake in the delicious food from around the islands.

Leonard's Bakery and Diamond HEad on Oahu, Simple Times, John on the "set", charred pine tree in Poli Poli Spring State Recreation Area , international treats and Thanksgiving dinner at Hali'imaile General Store. 

November took us to Oahu for 2 days to do some work with several clients including Leonard's Bakery and more importantly - shopping. Simple Times - Crafts for Poor People hits the stands, John landed a set assisting gig for a Lands End catalog shoot, we got a sweet treat delivery fresh from Paris full of chocolates and sugars from dear Deb and her ohana. Thanksgiving was spent hiking Poli Poli Spring State Recreation Area and going out to eat for the easiest Thanksgiving day dinner ever at Hali'imaile General Store.

Mama's Fish House, The first proof of FILED TRIP, a temporary gate in the attempt to keep out wild pigs, more planting, holiday parties, the new troff to be used as water catchment on the shed, sotting the first whales of the season on the north shore and our bamboo and garland holiday "tree"... the other one did not make it's way out of the box in the garage.

December saw our 10 year anniversary and we celebrated by going to Mama's Fish House. We had wild pigs invading the yard and making a few messes, yard work, parties, whale watching and sad holiday decor.

Conn's Design work for 2010: New Logo for Gurman Container + Supply Corporation, The design of the new book, FILED TRIP, The cover design and hand ribbon lettering for SIMPLE TIMES as well as some very fun crafts inside, A new Logo for a new Floral Wholesaler, New + updated Identity for Melissa Foster Cook of Brilliant Life Design, Art Announcements for Parnell Corder, A CV for hair and make-up stylist Giorgio Baroni, and THE NOBLE CHEF 2010 Logo and printed materials ... just to name a few.

John's Design work for 2010:  The new logo and blog design for hapa | hale, Logo re-work and in-store signage for Leonard's Bakery on Oahu, A new blog design for Grace Supports, Identity for Island Endodontics on Oahu, Logo and Flyer design for an iPhone app called BUCKET LINK, the Website Design for a new Recipe site called Asian Supper and Icons for FIT LIFE a division of Rodale... to name a few.

We somehow managed to keep ourselves very busy with new and continuing clients to whom we are very thankful for their business. MAHALO!

Again, we ate really well and enjoyed the adventure of finding new ways to use the fruit and vegetables from our yard...

...despite being so busy, we always take time to stop and enjoy the tropical flowers...

...Conn obsesses over the birds, especially with the purchase of a new telephoto lens and...

...we introduced you to TUESDAY'S TEXTURE, and we plan on bringing you a new weekly post starting next week.

...we broke for rainbows and...

...we always try to stop and enjoy the vibrant light shows from sunrise to sunset.

Please visit us often in 2011. We will continue to chronicle our adventures and discoveries, food and friends, textures and more. And who know what critters will be showing up here next. That's always fun.

To those of you who visited... we loved hearing from you and hope you enjoyed your visits. 

Mahalo and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

A hui hou,

c+j 

SPRAY IT DON'T SAY IT

We're finally done painting the bulk of the shed. Here's a pic showing how it looked all primed.

 

At first I thought we'd save the time and primer by just priming the parts that had bare wood, which was about one third of the surface area. The rest was painted already since we reused wood from the old shed. But then I feared that I'd encounter problems putting on the final colors. Trying to get even coverage over those two disparate tones didn't seem like a good plan, so I went ahead and primed the whole thing, only doing a light spay over the old painted parts.

 

I have a love/hate relationship with our paint sprayer. I love it because it was cheap, I hate it because it's cheap! Actually, it's ok. It has served us well, but there are drawbacks--the gun doesn't swivel so I end up wrangling with the hose a lot trying to get the right position from which to spray. And it's a pain to clean and keep the spray nozzle clear of hardened paint bits. But it makes up for these shortcomings by maximizing time and effort, especially in the under roof areas that would be laborious and time-consuming to paint with a brush and roller.

 

This is our paint sprayer. Costco purchase with a coupon. It's airless so the motor only kicks in when you are spraying. Also, it's not very loud. There is only one spray nozzle though and you can't vary the width of coverage.

 

Done with the top layer of Green Grove. The bottom layer was sprayed with a color called Loam (seen in the next pic). This type of siding (known as T1-11) presents problems when using a sprayer. It has a very rough texture which means I had to hit it twice as many times as the pre-painted areas, especially when those two differently textured surfaces are side-by-side. Also, it's hard to get the paint sprayed into the grooves at the same coverage rate as the flat surfaces which means going in afterwards with a brush and just jamming the paint in there. Finally, I had to ease up on my distance and spray strength when I came close to the smooth-surfaced trim, otherwise it would glob on whereas on the heavily textured surface of the siding, that wasn't a concern.

 

Here is the outside finished. I don't know why I didn't just prime over the orange. The doors will ultimately be some shade of orange so I guess I thought there was no need.

  

 

There I am spray painting the first coat for the interior. The paint droplets look like snow in the blast of camera flash.

 

For the interior paint, we headed over to Community Work Day to see what they had in the way of free paint. They accept unopened and opened containers of paint and offer them to anyone in the community who can make use of it. We picked up two slightly-less-than-five-gallon buckets of white and mixed them together. It resulted in an off-white, vanilla color. No primer for the inside, just two coats of the free stuff.