July 2025 Journal Photos

The bonsai hau in a round pot.

I will repot this bonsai ficus Benjamina. It's too low in the pot, hiding the nebari (rootge) and it's
leaning backwards a bit. The overall tree structure is not unpleasing, but it's problematic. One learns
more from problem trees than from the easy ones.

Defoliated.

Repotted.

Wired. I wired last because the planting angle was wrong before. No crossed wires!

On our evening walk Thursday a neighbor gave us this magnolia blossom, photographed by Andrea Friday morning.

The bonsai ficus Benjamina after pruning and repotting into a same sized pot, photographed Friday morning.

Joleen came over for Independence Day dinner. We had pupu on the lychee tree lanai.

Cheers! Happy fourth.

Kendrick came over from next door. We talked about hula, hunting, and fishing. I showed him the glass float decoration I made from
the Maui deer antler he gave us. He was impressed and photographed it. He and Ashley gave us mangos from the tree next door.

We had a wonderful dinner of oven chicken and fresh corn. Later we played the culinary game. Joleen won.

Sunday afternoon I attended the Philosophy Metup Zoom session. The topic was antinatalism.

Kilohana, Andrea, Joleen, Charline, Jill, and Alice. We had cocktails and pupu indoors.

We moved outdoors for the lei making.

Everybody pitched in.

Charline and kilohana at work.

Kilohana making a lei poʻo, haku style.

Jill made rope lei with double stranded ti.

Hula with Andrea, Charline, and Joleen.

We arrived 20 minutes early and I photographed the chapel.

We started with the McCandless plot with a Dr. Joseph F. Rock, botanist, explorer, etc.

Patricia, in lavender, was our tour guide. She grew up just up the hill from the cemetery. Photo by Andrea.

A Civil War section with cannon on the corners.

The Judd plot. Our tour guide Patricia is a fifth generation Judd.

The weather was drizzly off and on. Photo by Andrea.

Auctus produced a promotional image for social media on Friday.

We went to the back lanai of Kūali‘i hear mo‘olelo (stories).

More stories at the Kūka‘ō‘ō Heiau.

We finished in the hau tree arbor with more mo‘olelo.

Before I left I saw two youngsters walking along staring at their phones. I guess every minute of screen time is valuable.

Pat called the meeting to order a little after nine, as usual.

I worked on the two trees to the left. The ironwood I donated to the drawing. It was won by Monica.

The July meeting is our annual potluck lunch. I had a full plate. Yummy.

Andrea volunteered at ‘Iolani Palace kama‘āina day and left before I did but took this photo after I got home.

Close-up of my lau hala band hat as we get ready for class to begin.

There was a good turn-out. We played plant bingo.

In the upper part of the canoe garden.

The lower part of the canoe garden.

Kanoa, Jenny, and docent with heiau and rain in the background.

The space station Lego set we sent to Malia's kids arrived in Virginia. Lili built that.

The coloring books drawn by my SHS class of '67 classmate Andrea Evans Winton arrived today.

Descending the staircase at the Kahala Hotel, we paused for a photograph at the orchid wall.

Tourists played at the raft while we waited for the seminar to begin. Photo by Andrea.

The speaker, Rich Downs, brought a full size model of a manu o Kū (bird of Kū). Kū is one of the four major Hawaiian gods. Photo by Andrea.

Rich Downs gave a comprehensive and interesting talk. Photo by Andrea.

After pruning and repotting into a concrete training pot. Autograph trees work best as octopus root (neagari) style.

The three books in the trilogy. I am 80 pages into the fourth book now.

Beautiful stained glass window over the entryway to the Holy Nativity sanctuary.

Stained glass behind the altar.

Army Corps civilians gave the talk and handled questions for 45 minutes afterward.

Threadfin Bistro is in a small nice old shopping center called Kilohana Square.

The menu and a film promotion pin for each guest.

We were seated at a table for two and soon more guests began to arrive.

Ready for the duck leg course with red wine.

Cheers!

Dessert was mango mouse with tapioca and a "coconut dream" cocktail.

A delicious meal.

We went inside for the tiramisu and ice cream dessert. Then we played the gourmet game. Andrea won big time.

Tuesday's tour by people from Papakolea was split in two. This is my half. Andrea took the second half.

The two groups gave a combined oli at the heiau.

Papakolea gave us lei. Afterwards, Andrea and I went for lunch at the Waiole Tea Room (now called "Waiole Kitchen and Bake Shop").

At our table waiting for the food to be brought. Photo by Andrea.

Our table was by a mirror.

I had the BLTA sandwich and Andrea had the chicken salad. I had two spam voicemails. Photo by Andrea.

After unwiring, pruning, and potting into a smaller plastic bonsai pot. The tree has been further shortened.

I have gotten the concrete pot ready with wire screens over the two drainage holes and I have threaded 1.5 mm hold-down wire through the holes.

Emma likes my office chair as much as I do.

The hau tree repotted into a concrete growing pot. It wasn't well potted in a round pot.

Friday I completed my manuscript for the fourth book in the series. My trilogy will be a tetralogy.

Saturday morning: The kiawe tree after pruning and at the proper planting angle.

The first thing one does when doing repotting work (I call it work but it's really play) is get the pot ready. I have threaded 1.5 mm hold-down
wire through the drainage holes. Later I covered the holes with aluminum 1/16 inch screen and wet washed sand.

Attacking the root ball with a root rake.

The bonsai kiawe in its concrete growing pot. The two lower branches are held in a lowered position by a single guy wire under some roots.

Walking to the theater.

At the celebrity photo-op. Andrea looks fabulous.

A nice looking set.

A penthouse in the 1970s.

We gatered on the Diamond Head sidewalk until everyone arrived.

Employee Bruce let us through the Diamond Head entrance.

We gathered in the cafe for introductions.

We started with the central courtyard.

Next we went to the Chinese couryard on the Ewa end.

Three HOMA docents told stories to us.

There were koi and guppies in the fish pond.

Many of carried tour stools around with us.

In the Chinese wing.

Georgia O'Keeffe. Click the image to see the full resolution version.

We ended the tour in the upstairs Hawaiian art gallery.

Waiting for the meeting to start. I brought the two best euphorbia cuttings I had taken to root from the donations to the club show.

Meeting in session.

After removal of the wire, dead branch removal, and shown at a better planting angle.

Repotted into a plastic training pot.

A sunny day with trade winds. Click the image to see the full resolution view.

Andrea and I went to Kahala Mall after lunch.