Tractor!

Yay! Tractor day!

Friday the tractor was delivered. GB was at the store early in the am getting instruction.

We met at the land and waited for our new tool.

Here the tent awaits its new inhabitant.

GB jumped right on for a photo-op

so did a little bug.... illuminating the fact that the tractor is NOT a toy.

So did Luka..... he was bummed he didnt get to drive it.... but I don't think that a 2 year old driving is in keeping with the above note about avoiding injury

GB did a little mowing to test it out
Action shot
I always thought that if we ever owned a tractor, it would be a green and yellow one. But this Massey Ferguson? Red is MY color!

Unrelated to the tractor news.....
the day before tractor delivery day, Jerome loaded GB up with a bunch of bamboo.
bambusa vulgaris vittalis
here it is all loaded up in his truck
and here it is.... all planted up at the back of the property. GB did this work on his own.... and it was a long day.

New growth on the temple bamboo!

Got Contractor?

Yes we DO!

I just called Gene, our new contractor (well technically not, until we sign a contract with him). Gene came with great recommendations, can do complicated work, is easy to deal with, communicates well, came in fastest with his bid, and his bid was right on the mark.... which we think will change once we start going over the nitty gritty details.

Main thing is that he's a nice guy and we think he'll build us a great house.

phew!

We have one obstacle to complete before starting- and that's finishing up the legal easement papers.... which are well in progress and almost complete. yay!

Tomorrow, the tractor will be delivered!

More updating

GB reminded me that there was more to update.

Our pool plans are completed and going to the county for permit on Tues (Monday is a holiday here- King Kamehameha Day).

Our house plans are BACK from the county and approved. All we need is this little thing called a contractor. Also we need to finish up easement paperwork. It was seemingly done, but is now back with lawyers getting some important info added on.

GB planted some palms on the side of the pool area. He hurt his back doing so and spent awhile in bed after that. Planting things in big pots should be a two person job, at least.

We put some termite bait/ poison stuff around our house pad. After our experience with termites in our current house, we figure we'll go all kamikaze and do as much termite prevention as we can. I guess that when we pour our slab that there will be termite stuff done then as well. More is better, IMO.

Oh, and the water tank is complete and awaiting water. Until we have a roof to catch off of, we'll call a water delivery truck to fill it up.

Update

I've been remiss in keeping up with this blog!

We have been doing a bit of land work.
On house news, we have heard back from only one of the 3 contractors we met with. His bid is in the ballpark of what we figured we'd be paying, and he seems like he'll be easy to work with. We've got some great references for him and later today we're looking at a 2nd house he built. We're hoping the other contractors get their bids to us. It doesn't look good for the other guys if one guy gets his bid in weeks before the others.....

So our mower is on its way and the tractor will be delivered by the end of the week. GB and I headed out yesterday to erect a tent/ shelter for the tractor and its implements.

Of course a seemingly easy job is never as simple as it should be.

GB went to the hardware store and got all of the appropriate poles and joins.

Here he is, happily unloading the poles from the truck

Now we're both college educated and pretty handy people. But the darned thing was just NOT making sense to us. The joins seemed all wrong.... and frustration was setting in.

GB decided to go back to the store. Something was NOT right.

good thing the land is pretty close to town.

Luka and I stayed at the land. He didn't want to go for an extra drive.
We had a nice time playing. It was a beautiful day.

We discovered this really interesting plant below the pool.
This is a close up of the fruit. Weird, eh?? I think it's in the passiflora family. I first thought it was like a tomatillo or poha berry, but the leaves are different and it's viney.
And that furry stuff? kinda sticky.GB returned with the CORRECT joins, and we finished the job in about 20-30minutes. Turns out the guy at the store gave him what was on the shelf, but the parts were mislabeled.
Of course, with the snafu and extra trip to town, this little job took 3 hours. oh well.


Afterwards we walked around. Or maybe I should say rode around.