2025, The Year of the Chill Compost Rat?
Happy New Year! I can still say that, right? Aspiring to appear here at the blog more in 2025 is my version of losing twenty extra pounds. But a writer can dream. Something else that always cycles back around like clockwork… the rats in East Hawaii. We’ve seen rats intermittently since the one-year anniversary of our great Ninja Kitty’s death. (It’s not surprising that Ninja’s bad-ass spirit—or at least his reputation—outlasted his physical form.) But there appears to be a seasonal aspect to the rodent infestations, by which I mean the times they stick around and set up camp. This Read more…
A Check-In, with a Two Plagues Return and our New BFF
Hey… you! (This is the awkward bit where it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, we have to dance around whether we really remember each other’s names.) I know it’s been a long time, but I’ve got some cool stuff coming up, so I wanted to drop in and say hey. Just a quick check-in, so here are some long-time-no-see conversational FAQs. 🌧️ How’s the weather? 🏔️ (That’s what everyone with snow wants to know.) A hot and dry January that left everyone’s water catchment tanks parched has transitioned into a wetter and cooler February. How cool? Our Read more…
Two Plagues Upon our House (or, Why I’m Asleep with my Eyes Open)
I am. So. Tired. Seriously. Not quite face-plant on the keyboard, but in the neighborhood. Why? you ask. You may recall that our bad-ass Ninja Kitty passed away in early 2022, followed a month later by our beloved canine companion Fred. Hubs and I joked that Ninja’s rat-wrangling mojo reached from beyond the grave. That is, until we hit his one year death anniversary, and rat signs began appearing in the carport. They escalated to gnawing soap in the outdoor shower, then made it inside, scritch-scrabbling overhead while we tried to sleep. I swear, they were building skyscrapers above my Read more…
Five Signs the Wet Side of Hawaii is Not, and the Intimacy of Water Conservation
I used to do semi-regular Friday Five posts. This post can’t wait until Friday. I’m hoping that it will be obsolete by then, that it will plant the seeds of its own obsolescence… 🤞 You’ve heard people joke about how washing their car made it rain. I’ve written before that I’m a Little Stitious, so I’d try car washing (Lord knows my car is dirty enough), but we don’t have the water to spare. For those who don’t remember every detail of my life I’ve shared on the blog (for shame!), The Hubs and I are on catchment water. In Read more…
Your Friendly Neighborhood Mystery Writer is Still Here
I counted 21 open flowers on this orchid, another 14 buds, and even more nubbins that promise to be buds that promise to be flowers. Talk about an over-achiever! Yes, it’s been… let’s just say a while since I’ve posted. But I’m still kicking and, per my lovely photographic evidence, still doing it in East Hawaii. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve written a bunch of brilliant blog entries, usually in the shower or in bed at night when I can’t sleep. Of course, you’ll have to take my word for them being brilliant since they never made it from the ether Read more…
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