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Our Hawaiian Vacation: A Relaxing Day in Kona

Sunday morning, September 9th, found Bob and I at the Kona Inn Shopping Village once again.

Kona Inn Shopping Village

We arrived at the shopping village before the stores were open. That was the plan. The only reason we drove to downtown Kona again was so that I could take a few more pictures.

Gray Cat at Kona Inn Shopping Village

I took several pictures of the cat, but I am sharing only two with you.

Big Yawn From Being Tired of All the Pictures
or
“Go away, leave me alone.”
I caught the cat mid yawn.

I spent several minutes watching wave after wave roll in at Kailua Bay.

Bob took this picture of me on the seawall watching the waves roll in.

One of the waves

I watched several crabs crawling all over the rocks that kept getting washed over by the surf.

Hawaiian Crab

We decided it was time to go, when we saw chairs being placed in the lawn for the morning church service. What a view, though, for a church service!

If you have read my blog posts from the beginning about our Hawaiian vacation, you will recall that several days ago a pair of Kalij Pheasants visited John and Dorothy’s yard.

I captured a photograph of the Female Kalij Pheasant at that time.

Around noon on September 9th the pair made a return visit. I captured a photograph of the Male Kalij Pheasant.

Male Kalij Pheasant

Don’t the two Kalij Pheasants make a cute couple?

We relaxed at home until around 4:00 pm, at which time Dorothy, John, Bob and I went to Honokohau Harbor in Kona.

John has a fishing boat that is approximately 25 feet long.

John’s Fishing Boat is the one in the middle.
I received this picture from Dorothy, after we had returned home from Hawaii.

John launches his boat from Honokohau Harbor. He had planned to take us all out on the boat for a fishing trip. That plan didn’t materialize for a couple reasons. John had taken the boat out of the water before Hurricane Lane blew over the Island of Hawaii. He had not put the boat back in the water by the time we arrived. John would have put the boat back in the water; however, he wasn’t feeling 100% during our visit. Before our arrival one of John’s toes got infected, and he was prescribed an antibiotic. The antibiotic caused an upset stomach. John missed out on a few of our sightseeing jaunts because he wasn’t feeling well.

We went to Honokohau Harbor to go to the Harbor House Restaurant, where we enjoyed cold beverages and snacks (French fries, onion rings and cheese poppers).

Honokohau Harbor, as seen from inside the Harbor House Restaurant.

We learned during our first trip to Hawaii that you come to this restaurant for a schooner.

The Harbor House Restaurant serves its beer in thick, 18-ounce chilled glasses called schooners.

Honokohau Harbor
Do you see the storage sheds along the stone wall?
This is where John will put the storage shed he purchased the previous day.
John’s boat slip is somewhere in front of that wall.

After we had enjoyed our refreshments, Dorothy and I walked to the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park beach. John and Bob stayed at Harbor House Restaurant for another round.

We were still on the harbor grounds, when we saw a chicken.

I like the green color on the chicken’s wings.

Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park beach

Dorothy had hoped to show me green sea turtles. The tide was in higher than she had ever seen. We didn’t see any turtles.

We turned around and walked back to the Harbor House Restaurant.

Another photograph of Honokohau Harbor

We collected the boys at the restaurant and returned home.

At sunset we watched as the sun slipped into the ocean.

Sunday’s Sunset

A truly wonderful way to end a day!

Bad Kitty!

See the photograph holder that is lying on the floor?

Patches doesn’t want anything sitting on the stand in front of the TV!

Black Kitty

I wrote about Black Kitty earlier this year.

Black Kitty (a feral or stray cat) had been coming around our house at least twice a day since the end of July. We fed it twice a day. We went away on vacation in September for a couple weeks and had a neighbor feed Black Kitty and Patches, our indoor cat. On September 23, when we came home from vacation, our neighbor told us that Black Kitty came around at feeding time, but did not eat. Our neighbor assumed Black Kitty was being fed elsewhere. That wasn’t the case.

Before we went on vacation, Black Kitty would not allow us near him. The closest encounter Black Kitty would allow was looking at each other, with a glass door between us. Soon after returning home from vacation, we saw Black Kitty. We stepped outside and called to him “Hey Black Kitty”. In the past Black Kitty would just look at us. He would not come to the porch, until we had gone inside and some time had passed. This time was different. Black Kitty came running to us.

I believe Black Kitty knew he was in trouble and put his trust in Bob and me to help him. Black Kitty had been injured. His chin was scratched badly, and he had a broken canine tooth. He had a very bad smell to him, and he was very weak. We were able to capture Black Kitty in a cat carrier. We took Black Kitty to our vet, where he was administered antibiotics and tested for feline leukemia. At home we applied good dewormer and flea removal products. We later had him neutered, vaccinated, and the broken canine tooth removed. Black Kitty became a resident of our home in late September.

I took this picture of Black Kitty on September 26. His chin looks better than it did, when we first caught him. Where Black Kitty’s chin is scratched, it had been turning brown. The antibiotic is working because his chin is looking more healthy.

I took this picture of Black Kitty on September 28. He allowed Bob to comb his hair. Doesn’t he look handsome? He no longer smells. Black Kitty prefers to be indoors, not outside.

On September 30, Black Kitty met Bob’s daughter and our granddaughters.

October 2
Black Kitty likes his new bed.

October 20
What a sweet kitty!

Unfortunately, we could not keep Black Kitty. Patches, whom we have had since February 2011, was a brat. She would not accept Black Kitty. We were told on numerous occasions that it takes time for cats to get along with each other. Neither of us had the heart to wait “enough time” for the cats to get along.

On October 31 I posted a plea on Facebook, asking for someone to please adopt Black Kitty. Valerie, who lives about 45 minutes from our house, answered my call. She has a 2-year-old male cat named Brutus, and she wanted a companion for him. She wasn’t looking for a kitten as a companion. Black Kitty seemed a perfect choice for a companion. We re-homed Black Kitty with Valerie on November 7. Black Kitty likes his new home. According to Valerie, Brutus is having a hard time with Black Kitty. Black Kitty doesn’t let much faze him. He loves Valerie’s son and spends a lot of time on his lap or follows him around like a puppy. I hope in time that Brutus and Black Kitty will be friends. Thank you, Valerie, for adopting Black Kitty!

Black Kitty

I wrote about our black feral cat for the first time here. Black kitty has been coming around, to be fed, for about 3 weeks now. I captured a couple photographs this morning that I wanted to share with you.

Black kitty, deciding whether or not to come up on our front porch.
She decided NOT, until I was out of view.

There are four eyes looking at me!

Our Feral Cat

We have been feeding a black feral cat for several days. The cat comes around at least twice a day and eats every morsel that we place in the dish. Until today I haven’t been able to get good pictures of the cat. Whenever it sees me, it runs and hides. I figured out a way to outsmart the cat. I captured the photographs shared in this blog post from the comfort of my living room, via the Remote Control feature of the Olympus Image Share App. I am very pleased with the experience!

THOUGHTS OF A FERAL
by Annette Easdon

I sit beneath the bushes as she fills my dish each day,
I only venture out to eat when she has gone away.

I know it will upset her when I turn away and hide,
As every day she tries her best to get me by her side.

I wish that I could let her know that I don’t want to run,
And hope that she will understand it’s nothing that SHE’s done.

I’d like to have her stroke me and pat my weary head,
But fear will overcome and I’ll run and hide instead.

For all the kindly people who feed the strays each day,
I pray the Lord will care for them as they have cared for me.

We Grow Grass

Our cat, Patches, is an indoor cat. We do allow her to accompany us outside to our front porch. We keep a close eye on her, though, so she doesn’t wander off or go out on the street. When Patches is outside her favorite pastime is to prance down the front steps onto the sidewalk, where she nibbles on grass. The ground has been covered with snow since early January. We thought Patches might be missing her daily grass intake, so we began to grow cat grass indoors for her.

Patches likes the cat grass that we grow for her.

I like the planter in which we grow the cat grass. My friend, Barb, gave it to me several years ago, on my last day of employment with an internet service provider.

This is one of several articles that I found on the Internet that discusses questions you might have about cat grass, for example: Is grass good for cats? Is it necessary? and Why do they eat it?

Take Me Too, Mommy

My husband and I spent the weekend in Niagara Falls, NY. On Friday, as I was packing for our 2-day vacation, Patches watched. At one point, she looked as though she asked “take me too, Mommy!”

Patches stayed home and was well taken care of by one of our neighbors.

Please check back this week, as I will share details of and photographs from our weekend getaway in future blog posts.