Wiliwilinui Trail

Wiliwilinui Trail snakes up above the backside of Haunauma Bay.  I'm happy it was a cloudy, windy morning... makes a hike much less dehydrating and hot

 The view is amazing

 Cookie is pondering the view of Koko Head Crater

 Cloudy view of downtown Honolulu... Diamond Head is on the far left.

 We added to the "rock mountains"

 Carley was almost blown away by the wind

At the end of the hike, Cookie was excitedly looking forward to a nice downhill trot home

Finish Line for #134

Let me just get this out of the way... I did NOT take these photos!
Obviously, a man took them, since I would have put the toilet seat down.

 The photographer is a good tile man though...

 And thank goodness the stack-able washer/dryer fits!

 The kitchen has a new tile floor, stainless steel appliances, maple cabinets, and granite counter tops & backsplash.  We are still waiting on FedEx for the bracket to hold up the microwave/ range hood.  Hawaii is not known for speedy deliveries since we are literally in the middle of nowhere.

 Added a closet in the loft with pocket doors, and laminate flooring everywhere except the bathroom & kitchen.

Also cut a window in the far loft wall for more light, and much needed air flow.

The column for the duct work was unnecessarily bulky, so it was cut back... now it's a decent size room instead of being almost cut in two.  If this place had a lanai, I would stay here instead of downstairs.  But my sweet golden retriever needs a little outdoor space, not to mention easy, quick access to some grass!

#131

 Since we needed to replace the sliding glass doors, we decided to bump out the wall and create some more indoor space.

 The condo is under 700 square feet, so adding anything at all is delightful.  It looks like we can move our love seat over, so whoever sits there can actually watch television instead of being confined to the hallway.

 Plus, we now have only one door to unlock to get in, which I think will be delightful when I have grocery bags hanging off my arms.

The only down side is that Cookie no longer has any covered outdoor space.  Our future solution is to screen in the little tiled space outside of our bedroom.  That way when it's raining, she can be out of the elements if I have to go somewhere or if we have company & she wants to hide.

Getting to the Finish Line at #134

 Added a closet upstairs in the loft by bumping out over the living room downstairs just a bit.  As long as they don't store a bunch of steel toed work boots and bricks, it should hold up fine.

 Also created a window upstairs in the loft for a little more natural light.

 This is a view of the kitchen from the entry way.  The blue board is the shared kitchen and bathroom walls .  The unfinished floor in the foreground used to be where the sliding glass door ended, making for a very small dining room. 

Here's a view from the kitchen to the main entrance.  We bumped out the door to the edge of the balcony, so now there is only one door and one key to get into the condo.  This balcony overlooks the parking lot, so we didn't give up any fabulous outdoor space.  The balcony off the living room has a view of the golf course, which is prettier & quieter.

#134 Renovation

 

The electrical box was a little scary... all of the metal was rusted through, and the wiring was outdated for the amount of appliances a normal human uses

 The shower needs to be replaced, but at least with the toilet & sheetrock gone, I can walk into the bathroom and breathe at the same time

 The windows seem to have the same orange crud as the shower... but we scored some golf balls!

 Carpet removed along with most of the garbage.  We decided to leave the carpet pad until we are ready to lay tile.

 Thankfully, under the tile & carpet was level cement, so no damage to the floor underneath all the ick

 The kitchen will probably go down to the studs like the bathroom... right now the cabinets are gone, along with sheetrock to find where the water shut off exists

But hey, the outside looks good! :)

My Dog, The Bird Killer

Who would have thought that behind that innocent face lurked a killer? 

When I'm home, I leave the back patio door open for Cookie to go in and out of the living room, so at least once or twice a week we have birds fly in through the opening.  I really don't know why they do this... the windows on the opposite wall are frosted, so it's not like they can create a flight plan through our house.  Usually the pigeons try to escape by banging their wings against skylights, or flying into the other window by the front door.  It scares me to death to have them flinging themselves all over the house. 

Cookie usually barks at them, and they are usually smart enough to stay in the air.  Then came Monday morning.  Cookie was lying by the door, and a pigeon flew into the house over her head.  It landed on the couch instead of going on the usual bird route into the laundry room.  My sweet, precious pup eviscerated the pigeon by pinning it against the pillows.  Blood & feathers everywhere.  I was SCREAMING at her to stop, but blood-lust was raging.  After what seemed forever, she ran outside with her trophy.  In my usual calm, independent manner, I called my husband at work in tears.  He may not be the most demonstrative man, but he knows I can't handle dead animals.  Thankfully, he works close enough now to drive home & clean up the carnage.  I hid in our bedroom & cried. 

I couldn't look at Cookie for the rest of the day without thinking that her cute little smile was actually a Joker-type smirk.  Ugh

#134 - First Cleanup

 It looks like the kitchen will have to go down to the studs... the walls are a mess, and it might be easier to just rip off the drywall & put up new.

 The bathroom also will be stripped down completely.  Even if it was "cleanable", I wouldn't want to ever use a bathroom that was ever as gross and smelly as this one.

 Down to the large furniture to haul off to the dump.  Should be interesting trying to keep rat poop off clothes while moving these down a stairwell.

 The bedroom loft now has no carpeting.  I think if we bleach the walls, they should clean up well.  I don't like carpeting in Hawaii anyway, so removing it would have happened even in a clean area.

We are having a big trauma over the stairs.  I want them moved to the rear wall in the back living space, so that the kitchen area can grow to a more usable size.  We'll see who wins that battle.

Our Latest Project

I submit to you #134... a hoarder's paradise
no electricity or running water --
brand new dishwasher, never hooked up & already rusting




the trash sack is the last of the garbage... the trash was almost knee high through the whole place

 after I touched this slimy staircase I had to scrub my hands

 washer/dryer are obviously new & never used

 can't quite talk myself into walking in the bathroom

 had to rip the cushions off to get rid of the rat's home... ewww

 upstairs, complete with rat droppings

 rusty, nasty electric box

 those are bloodstains.... rat fight maybe???

 yikes

 this poor guy refuses to look down

 the rats tried to chew their way through the door, then realized they could just rip the screen

 the walls are supposed to be white... I don't want to know what's on the toilet