April 2020 Journal Photos

I have gathered several stones from the yard and washed them. I also cut screens to cover the holes in the forest tray. The screens
will be covered with wet sand before placing some of the stones.

Andrea assists in selecting and placing stones in the tray.

Stones can be put on top of potting soil, but they will shift as the soil decomposes. They can also be placed on mounded cinders as
in the silver bucket, if they need to be placed higher in the pot.

This is the final stone placement. All stones rest on the bottom of the dish. These are all lava rocks, of course, from the land here.

The eleven citrus trees, waiting in water, have been freed from their pots, with their roots washed and trimmed in some cases.

The trees have been placed in the saike and covered in potting soil. I have gathered some moss to cover parts of the soil.

A final covering of washed basalt sand and watering and the saike is complete. There's a path leading through the gap in the stones
on the right. The feeling of wondering what's down that path pulls one in and helps in engagement with the viewer. Each of the citrus
by itself was somewhat uninteresting, but together in a saike they provide an appealing forest. As the trees grow and leaf out they can
only get better.

Thursday morning, April 2, I photographed this eggplant flower.

Friday morning, April 3, I copied this April calendar from the weekly political cartoons.

This is after unwiring and pruning. I will let it grow wild for a few months, then prune and wire it again.

The twin trunk (two separate trees) kiawe has been growing wild for about a year.

On Saturday I added some light colored sand to highlight the path through the woods and now the saike occupies a place of honor on our lanai table.

After pruning and some minor wiring. I put a block under the right side of the pot to show a more upright planting angle.

Here it is in its new shallower pot. It's much more dramatic looking, don't you think so?

Saturday evening we had old fashioneds made with home made orange simple syrup on the lychee tree lanai, with nachos. Cheers!

Sunday morning, April 5, Andrea and I got ready for our morning walk. The Mayor now recommends that everyone going out wear a mask of some kind.

Several people liked this pink bunny image I shared on Facebook.

And then she baked semolina bread! Both photos by Andrea.

Andrea started making some masks for us on Saturday, April 18.

Saturday evening we picked up dinner from Roy's and ate outside under the lychee tree. Photo by Andrea.

A bottle of prosecco topped it off.

Sunday morning, April 19, Andrea took this selfie with her new home-made mask.

Total cases.

Distribution of cases.

Active cases.

Death rate.

Outcomes. If the trial drugs are having any effect, it hasn't shown up yet. Death rates should decrease noticeably.

New Hawaii cases.

Monday evening, before dark, I took a photo of my front bonsai shelf. Click the image to see the full resolution version.

After defoliation. The planting angle is too extreme.

A block under the left side illustrates the better planting angle.

After repotting back into the same pot.

The same tree after pruning. It's blocked up to a better planting angle for the photo. I put it back in the sun to grow some more.

Dark greenish stone.

Gray stone with brown inclusions.

Greenish stone with smooth white layers.

A costume for the times, linked by Andrea for Becky on Facebook.