Setting up Satellite
Billie the guard dog
Joshua and I shipped all of our goods — and Steady Betty, our home on wheels — over to the Big Island at the beginning of December. Everything was scheduled to arrive in early January… but thankfully the barges ran behind schedule. 🚢😅
And I say thankfully because we had a whole lot of prep work to do before our home (and all our stuff!) could land.
First order of business?
Mow the yard — or at least the sections where three very necessary items would soon live:
A Costco carport tent to serve as our storage and work space while we build out the container home
A cleared area to park Steady Betty while we nest during the build 🚚
A spot for Bitty Betty — our trusty little 1982 Toyota farm truck
Sounds simple enough… until you factor in farm life on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. 🤣🌧️🌱
An updated solar system is high on the sanctuary’s project list, especially since the generator has gone down (and all attempts to revive it are still just that — attempts). This means electricity at the main house is scarce and used with intention. Charging batteries for an electric mower? Let’s just say it takes patience. 🔋☀️
Then there’s the land itself. Life at Aina Iki Ranch comes with abundant rain — which we’re deeply grateful for — but it also means lush, thick, heavy grass. Beautiful? Yes. Easy to mow with a battery-powered mower? Not so much. 🌧️🌿
And just to keep things interesting, our mower prefers to be pulled rather than pushed. Of course it does. 😆
“Why not let the goats handle it?” you might ask. 🐐
Well… goats need a shepherd. Otherwise they’ll happily “mow” absolutely everything in sight. Just take a peek at my blog about our Satsuma tree for evidence. 🌳🍊🤣
Despite the hiccups, the power juggling, and the stubborn mower, we cleared the satellite land just in time to raise our storage tent. 🙌🏽✨
And of course, our trusty sidekick Billie supervised the entire operation — rolling in the fresh-cut grass and keeping guard like it was her full-time job. 🐕💛
Progress on the sanctuary may not always be fast or glamorous, but it’s steady — just like Betty. And we’re grateful for every small step forward. 🌺🌞
