House sitting/Dog sitting and observing Ohia trees, a native Hawaiian tree. Rowan took a class on Hawaiian language/culture. A hawaiian legend of Ohia tree to come soon.

a little home sick

Aloha! Well, the newness has worn off a bit, and isolation is settling in, but we are both still loving it out here. Now is the real adjustment time, thankfully this place is incredibly beautiful and welcoming. I am thoroughly enjoying the peacefulness, but we are also sooo busy with work, looking for land, and meeting people, trying our best to be social. Work is fun, here is Shannon tiling away, we are currently learning how to hook up water catchment systems, digging holes and pouring cement footings for post and pier structures, hand clearing land, and most recently have hooked up with Ira at his art gallery where we are able to help paint some of his sculptures, and care take the land. I will also be helping another woman start a cafe that is being built attached to the gallery. We will open Thanksgiving weekend.
The weather has gotten very cool in the last few weeks, and actually feels like fall. We are making fires nightly and enjoying hot chocolate with scrabble!
As you can see, Dolphin has joined us and enjoys curling up on the couch with Shannon. He is great, and makes the cabin feel even more like home.
So, that is us, please leave a note on how you are doing. We have figured out that mail can take up to a month to get down here, but please write as well. It would make our trips to the mailbox much more exciting.

Welcome to our website.

We've moved to Hawaii as of August and living in an cabin on 12 acres of forested land, close to the Volcano National Park. Since we do not have electricity in our cabin, we have limited access to email. We're fortunate to have many friends/family and want to reach out to every one of you. We've decided that a blog might be a better way to communicate with you. As of now, we're establishing our residency before we start school next fall and during that time, we've been working on all sorts of projects for different people. We've met so many cool people here in Volcano! Also with Rowan and Shannon is Shannon's long time buddy, Dolphin. He is a 12 year old lab/doberman mix (see picture).

Photo

This is our beloved cabin! Another photo to be posted soon. The kitchen is well equipped for a place that is off the grid. Our refridgerator and stove run on propane gas and we get our water from the rain through the gutters.

Photo

Spiders and other tiny harmless creatures reside in the wood pile that were to be restocked up on our front porch.

Working in Volcano

Aloha! Heres a great picture taken by one owner of the Volcano Rainforest Retreat last week. We hand cleared an 8x8 plot of land for a new kitchen alcove. Shannon then dug holes for the foundation and tomorrow we will pour in the cement.
It is raining here, lots, we didn't realize we left Portland for a place that rains even more! But, its what makes the rainforest! I think the dry season begins in November.
So, Dolphin, Shannon's dog, is here, safe and sound. A welcome addition in the fern cabin to scare away the boars! We are still busy with work, looking for land, meeting great folks, and figuring out how we fit on this little island in the South Pacific.