Aloha Garden of Peace

Hey friends!

These are exciting times at the Aloha Garden of Peace! I (Rachel) have been home for almost 3 weeks now and we are making steady progress!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mark and I visited with friends and enjoyed lunch and dinner at two different parties. At the first one, a good friend of ours encouraged us strongly to be getting free mulch every day that we go into Hilo. We agreed that we need to do this, and in addition, have mulch delivered to us to fill in some big pukas (holes).

We built a dog house for Honua, (a puppy Mark got in July) using materials on hand: pallets, plywood, metal roofing, 2x4s, a tray, and a synthetic dog bed.

We set up a cooking station and have been cooking 1 meal per day, often including rice, lentils, soup, & veggies. We are still having raw fruit for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch.

I walk Honua almost every night, usually about 2 miles, sometimes 3 miles if there is time.

When I got back to the Big Island, I found that Mark had set up our camping tent (which lets in ventilation and light! YAY!) under a carport with a tarp. Our camping tent is situated on an 8 X 8 platform about 18 inches off the ground. Inside are two mattresses, making for a comfortable bed. Best of all, we can wake up early and see the sunrise from our bed!

Monday of this week, Mark cut several (maybe 10?) trees down with his chainsaw. While working with him near the front of our property, I was eager to have a home for all our tools, so I suggested that the next day we repurpose our Big Max Garden Shed for… TOOLS! It took all day yesterday, but we began and made significant progress on this project. We got all the tools out of our big tent and all the stuff that was in the garden shed out. What to do with the large plywood box that Mark had made for our bed was pondered. We decided to put top of the bed against the wall and stand the bed frame upright near the door on the right as you enter. The bed frame that Mark built is now a garden tool closet! Today’s work when I get home is to get our garden tools out from under our big tent and put them away in their new home. Also wonderful was that I was able to merge and organize all of Mark’s tools and my tools. This is huge :)! Another major benefit of this is that the aisles of our big tent are much better! I am so grateful!

Another news item is that very soon I will have a nursing website through my brother Gabriel’s Share the Practice server up and running!

Much love to all of you!

Rachel and Mark McClintick