I know this update is late again. Sorry Scott. We had quite a few friends from Pennsylvania here this month. Todd's friends Keely and Tom stayed with us for a few days. We had fun going out to dinner and just sitting around talking. Soon after Keely and Tom left, our friends Scott and Maureen from Pennsylvania came to stay with us for their honeymoon. Giving them a place to stay on their honeymoon was the least we could do for the people that took care of our house and pets while we vacationed in Hawaii each year. Also Todd's friend Chris and his wife, JoAnn, came by one evening for dinner while Scott and Maureen were here. So, we cooked out and all had dinner together. Chris, Tom and Keely were all in Hawaii for a conference for Merck. It must have been very strange for Scott since he also works at Merck to be on his honeymoon in Hawaii and to have dinner with a guy from his work. October is Iron Man and we had a participant stay with us. Congratulations Amy! The Iron Man website is very cool. I was able to log on and see were Amy was in the race. It is an amazing test of mental and physical endurance. Lee, Leeah and Leecia (Sorry I probably spelled your name wrong.) stayed with us for a week. They had lived in Hawaii therefore they were very busy visiting friends.

     Todd finished replacing the roof on the lower lanai between the Garden Apartment and the coffee shack. In order to complete this rather large project, he had to remove the old roof. In the process he removed half of a bottom tooth. So my safe and careful husband who has no dental insurance now knows to not put a crow bar in his mouth. He had to replace many of the rotted support beams and some unsafely wired electricity. Our catchment system has also been removed thanks to Todd. He completely redid the gutters between the two lanai roofs. When it rains, we don't have to put every spare bucket on the lanai to catch the rain. Thanks to our neighbor Wallace who helped Todd work on the roof. Todd started construction on enclosing the lower level of the lanai between the Garden Apartment and the coffee shack. He is moving ahead at a good pace. It seems like he goes to Lowes every day for more supplies. I pruned the garden behind the apartments and transplanted some of the heliconia to other flower beds including the bed in front of the pool. Todd started to prune the ornamental fig next to the apartments and he also cut down the papaya near the coffee deck. It lost a large limb while I was on the mainland and it was blocking sun to the deck.

     Coffee picking season is winding down for us. Most of the fields are nearly done. As we are finishing up a field with the last pick, Todd is pruning and then fertilizing. Everyone is having trouble getting their coffee to dry if they dry it on a deck in the sun. The weather is not cooperating. It definitely is fig season. Our two fig trees are ripening like crazy. I never ate a fresh fig until this year and they are absolutely delicious. They are great spread on toast as a healthy jelly or also very good put in the freezer for a few hours.

     I began taking a Tae Kwon Do class. It is non-contact sparing, so you stop before you actually hit your partner. The class is fun and I am glad that I don't have to get kicked or punched (at least not on purpose). Todd starting assistant coaching wrestling at the high school near us. He is enjoying it and it keeps him out of trouble. There are girls on the team and Todd has adjusted to that change very well. He is really impressed with their strength and abilities. Buddy is up to 65 pounds and has turned into a finicky eater. He used to devour his food in the morning and at night. We were worried about him until we found out he was eating avocados every day. There are too many avocados to pick up to keep him from between meal snacking. At least his coat is very shiny.

     Congratulations to Scott and Maureen. It was wonderful having you here. We hope your Hawaiian honeymoon was special. Be careful it was our Hawaiian honeymoon that started everything for us. Before you know it you are vacationing here and then you buy a farm and move. Happy Birthday to our friend, Beryl.