Mummy- 28th May 1941-14th September 2007

Mummy lost her battle with breast cancer at 2.00pm on Friday 14th September 2007. She has been battling since November 1995.
This is May this year and she went down really quickly after this. She loved Daddy, Jennifer and I, and all the animals that people our lives. I can't believe that she is gone. Her funeral is tomorrow and I ask everyone who reads this to say a prayer for her.
Mummy with her cousin Uncle Julien Hobson.

How do you sum up a life in minutes? How do you describe all that now lives in us because of her life?

She was so loved. The complete centre of the family. The hub around which we all revolved. It was inconceivable that cancer could take her away from us. She loved us with a ferocity that knew no bounds and could never bear to consider that she would have to leave us.

She has fought so hard over the last 12 years that this may be her defining legacy, But there was so much more to her.

She loved her husband, children, horses, dogs, cats, and gardening. We learnt tolerance and kindness from her and, for all that know our family, a ridiculous love of animals. A steady stream of kittens, puppies, ducks, macaws and budgies to name a few, paraded through our childhood home. Each with its own distinct song. Mummy loved music. In her last days, her ipod was a source of tremendous comfort. While she never sang to us, and I seriously doubt that she sang to Daddy, she did have an endless repertoire of ditties for each animal that could vary from day to day. She read voraciously and while, deeply spiritual, never accepted dogma on face value. She lived her Christianity and was one of the easiest people to talk to, always striking up conversations with the oddest people in the strangest places.

She loved Mayaro, playing Pada with Uncle Jack and Auntie Shirley, walking on the beach, visiting to fire a few, and enjoying Melvina’s cooking. Our parents were highly social and enjoyed nothing more than having people over for drinks and old talk. She loved the excitement of carnival, sewing for Wayne Berkeley and playing with him for years. Her bags were always packed and she adored traveling with Daddy and they became quite the globetrotters in recent years, truly enjoying their empty nest years. We will all feel her in the garden, in the kitchen, in the orchids that have come down from her grandmother.

She taught us to love life and embrace it with grace and compassion. It was a privilege to have her as a mother.

So goodbye for now, Mummy. You are still so alive in each of us but we will miss you every second of every day until we meet again. I wonder who will choose your earrings for you in heaven? Or remind you to wear lipstick? I hope you make lots of friends there and let them know how lucky they are to have you there.

I tend to be a bit uncoordinated with my text and photos so for everyone who logs on to find no words, check a little later. I've usually gone to bed and left the photos uploading :)
This the family's home "down the islands" and we try to go at least once every six weeks. It's lovely down there and in August the magnificent Savonetta trees are covered with lilac blooms. These trees obviously thrive on these little islands because they are endemic and spread easily all over the main off-shore islands of Gasparee and Monos. They are quite rarely seen on the mainland.
I love this photo of the morning sun hitting the eaves of the house. My mother-in-law Christine has an amazing eye for colour and the reds and greens of the house are perfect for the lush background.
The hammocks provide lots of entertainment for the under 10s in the bunch, and as a result, the grown ups have to stake their claim early.The detail of this crab shell is amazing, There was no living breathing crab behind those glassy eyes. I'm not sure if they outgrow their shells but I imagine they must because there was no one home.
Morning in the bay and all is well in the world.
This vine is very prolific (VERY). It sends off silver curling shoots in addition to this lovely flower. I think it may be related to the morning glory family but I'm not sure. I did have it in my garden but could not control it. Since it clearly did not respect who the alpha was in the relationship, it had to go. But I love to visit when I meet it somewhere else.
Sun vandas. They don't grow down there but they could. This is just a bunch I took down to decorate our table.

This is the house in the next bay. And no, not all "down the islands" homes look like this one. Isn't it remarkable? The landscape behind gives a fair idea of the topography of the land with its obvious jungle appearance. It is not actually as dense as it appears but we have had a lot of rain recently. Snakes are not as much of a problem as you would expect here. There are some boa constrictors but I have never heard of the mappepire or fer de lance being found on these islands. Giant, monster, nightmarish, big centipedes yes! Vampire bats-yes. And the very worst- sandflies-YES, YES.

Fragrant Flowers

Tonight is the 6th anniversary of 9/11. All that I can offer is what comforts and reminds me that there is still remarkable beauty amidst all the ugliness in the world.

Following are excerpts from an article on Fragrant Flowers that I had done earlier in the year. As a whole, it is one of my favorite pieces. The photos are by Michelle Jorsling who does such amazing work.

The song of scent is the same all over the world. Evocative and primal, it speaks to our deepest soul, conjuring up moods and memories long forgotten. And nowhere is it sung louder than the recesses of the tropical garden. In the milky light of pre-dawn morning and at the magical dusk hour, the choruses are in harmony, dipping and swooping in a medley of sweet overtones, musky notes, and even an occasional bite of bitter to round off the balance. And for every siren call, there is an answering suitor.
Coffee Arabica

I had planted three Arabica coffee trees high on the hill behind the Flamboyant tree. The first time they burst into flower I was overjoyed. Inadvertently it seems that I had discovered one of the best kept secrets of the gardening world. It took me some time to find the source of the intoxicating smell wafting through my early morning garden but there they were, spiky bursts of china-white against the deep shiny green leaves. All in full bloom. The flowers do not last but make up for their short lives with an exquisite biting perfume.


Cattleya Wendy Patterson
Deep in the rainforest, scented orchids can be found swaying high in the canopy. Vanilla pods are, in fact, the seed pods of a particular species of climbing orchid (Vanilla planifolia) found in warmer climates

Gardenia Jasminoides Variegata
By sending out a deliciously fragranced morse-code, the flower can exert a powerful pull and thereby ensure life. It is also why white flowers are often odorous with sweet, musky notes, ensuring that they are “seen” by pollinators.
Cattleya Gaskelliana



Quisqualis indica (rangoon creeper)


Gardenia Tubeferia Kula
Cattleya Mari Song (very fragrant)

A garden fragrant with subtle perfume is not complete without the addition of at least one or two scented orchids. Many varieties send forth multiple sprays of fragrant blooms that last for several weeks. Perhaps the best known specimens are the large, blowsy Cattleyas with their vivid range of striking colours. They are often seen with contrasting colours on the tubular, fringed lip. Less well known, but no less beautiful, are Oncidiums such as the popular Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' with its distinct chocolate smell and the Dendrobiums (one of the largest orchid genera), well recognized for their popularity in the cut flower market.


Datura Mollis (Brugmansia)

Spathoglottis ungiculta or fragrant ground orchid (smells like grapes)

The power of smell has uncanny power to move us. Even the most subtle whiff can bring back a plethora of memory and emotion

Strophantus Gratus

Anise, bay leaf, bergamot, cardamom, cedar wood, eucalyptus, gardenia, geranium, iris, jasmine, lavender, lemon, lilac, lily of the valley, moss, neroli, orange, patchouli, pine, raspberry, rose, sage, sandalwood, tuberose, vanilla, vertiver and ylang-ylang- each bearing your personalized script. If you had to smell happiness, which one would it be?

The beautiful and the strange

Beautiful and deadly. How does nature think these things up? For those who do not know, this is a portuguese man o'war, a particularly nasty floating beast that I've always thought of as a jelly fish, but it is not one apparently. According to Wikipeida " it is commonly thought of as a jellyfish but is actually a siphonophor."
Okay then.

The sting is excruciating and can sometimes leave welt like scars for years after. The tentacles can extend up to thirty feet behind it. I just wonder why it is so beautiful.

Once again, I cut and paste liberally from Wikipeida.

"According to a study done by Dr. Geoffrey Isbister of Newcastle, Australia's Mater Hospital between 2003 and 2005, the best treatment for a sting is to apply hot water to the affected area. Hot water used in the study was fixed at 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). The hot water eases the pain of a sting by denaturing the toxins.^[2]

Applying ice to the area of the sting is also a fairly effective way to suppress the pain. Ice works by making the toxins less active and reduces the sensation and therefore pain of the area of skin around the ice. Additionally, ice constricts blood vessels, reducing the speed at which the venom travels to other parts of the body, including the brain; heat has an opposite effect. It was originally thought that applying ice was the best way of dealing with Man O' War stings before the study was conducted. Lifesavers around the world still use ice to treat the stings of this species.

The Portuguese Man O' War is often confused with a jellyfish, which is incorrect and may lead to improper treatment of stings, as the venom is different. A second sting may lead to an allergic reaction.

The sail portion is covered in a slime which counteracts the sting from the tentacles, and can be used for a quick cure. Look for a beached Man O' War, to get the slime from the sail, as attempting to touch one in the water is dangerous as you may come in contact with the tentacles. A normal jelly fish does not have this slime nor remedy.

The Loggerhead Turtle is apparently immune to Man O' War toxins, as the turtles are commonly seen feeding on the Man O' War."
This picture was taken on Mayaro beach at Easter. When we were growing up, there was a common assumption that the best treatment for a sting was to, ahem, empty a full bladder on the welts. Whether this started as some sort of demented homeopathy, who knows, but the trend continues up to today. So on top of being nearly half dead with pain, you were then subjected to even further indignities. Clearly these were the days before Antisan.

Does anyone remember ti marie or pricker bush? Does anyone under 40 even use the word "pricker" anymore? The leaves of this weed close tightly when touched and this trick never failed to amuse. These frondy leaves hid sharp little thorns that were commonly known as "prickers" and running barefoot everywhere, we lived with them as a necessary evil. One of the most remarkable things about this little plant is its premonition of dusk. With the setting of the sun, the leaves would close tightly and go to sleep for the night. With the closing of the ti marie we would know that it was time to head home as dark would be upon us soon.
Water water everywhere. It is rainy season.

Ripley in the Forest

Believe it or not?!
This is stranger than fiction. The leaves of the incense tree are little mini-incubators for insects that set up residence for their eggs in the intra-cellullar spaces of the leaves. This is the beginning of the neighbourhood. Paradoxically, if the leaf senses that the area is becoming too crowded and presumably its own resources may be compromised, it creates "fake" homes. Basically saying to the expectant mamas- no room at the inn.



This is a crowded neighbourhood about to pop.
Most of these have moved on and left their home and the leaf high and dry. There is a particular butterfly that does this and the plant allows it because a symbiotic relationship is set up between insect and plant as the butterfly returns to the plant to pollinate the flowers. I only know this because Courtenay, my very knowledgeable guide, filled me in on this info.


This particular plant is the incense tree and it produces a red berry that smells divine and is a very potent insect repellent.

You could not dream up the things that go on in the rain forest. I was never very good at physics but somehow I have a dim sense of mathematical perfection in these minor miracles.
A member of the bactris palm family. This is one scary palm.Tiny white mushrooms deep in the forest. Each serrated edge more perfect than the other.
Courtenay has a great blog. He's well worth visiting- http://pariasprings.typepad.com/
Thanks Courtenay. My bites have finally disappeared so I'm ready for my next forest foray.

Maracas Drive Food

Have we taken street food to another level? It seems that the world is just beginning to discover Trinidadian food. I say this because for a long, long time, most Caribbean food was lumped under one banner. Trinidad's cuisine is different to any other island. In fact, each island is entirely unique. Certainly there may be general culinary adages such as rice and peas but for the most part, each island has very different cuisine.On the way to Maracas beach, the street vendors have taken street snacks to a new level. Pineapple and mango chow with heavy doses of chadon beni, fudge and salt prunes are just some of a few of the things that you can snack on while driving along the winding coastal road.
For all of us who grew up in the seventies, our school yard diet was a steady stream of red mango ( bright red pickled mango that had a chinese origin) and salt prunes which we would store in the pockets of our convent skirts and suck surreptitiously through the sticky, humid after lunch periods. We also lived for sno cones, aloo pies and tamarind balls.
Dixie biscuits and crix have always been in our lives. I don't know who the first baker was who miraculously stumbled upon the first crix recipe. I hope it was a Eureka moment. Little did he know the role that this little biscuit would play on the national stage.


My daughter has only just learned the joy of chow. Mango chow, cucumber chow, pineapple chow. If it grows on a tree, chances are that it can only be improved with a little lime, salt, garlic, chadon beni and pepper. I still love the bite and peel delicacies that appear throughout the year. Topi Tambo (or Tippi Tambo if you are from South) with its crunchy water chestnut/potato texture, Chataigne, the delicious bread nut, Peewah with its bright orange skin and nutty kernel are just some of my favorite things. I am never happier than when I am reading on the couch on a Saturday afternoon with a big bowl of anything that I can peel and eat.
A true farine and avacodo kind of girl.

The Incredible Beauty of Flowers

My wild orchid is a magnet to the bees. I imagine that they must all know the signs. Maybe a delicious whiff of pheromone on the breeze.

The information below is courtesy http://www.ttorchids.net/index.php
This is the Trinidad and Tobago Orchid Society's Data base. It is well worth visiting as they have excellent examples of species orchids that grow in our rain forests. The two below are both wild and indigenous to Trinidad.



Catasetum macrocarpum (Male Flower) Colour of sepals and petals vary from concolour green to green with wine red spotting. Lip colour varies from concolor green to bright yellow on external surface and red on internal surface.Flowers have a unique pollination mechanism. When the pollinator - usually a euglossine bee - lands on the lip a trigger mechanism on the column shoots pollen onto the back of the insect. This one has popped up on my frangipani tree.



Oncidium luridum is commonly known as Brown Bee. Colour varies from clearpale green or yellow to olive green with brown spotting, crest of lip usually has a rose purple splash. Natural spread varies from 1 to 2 cms. The flowers are appear on a long stem (5ft) that hangs down through the trees. Each spray can contain up to 100 flowers. This one is on my mango tree.





My "sexy pink". It flowers all year round unlike the orange which is seasonal. Its whole important name is heliconia chartacea from the family heliconiaceae


A close up of Pontederia cordata commonly known as pickerelweed. It is relatively new to Trinidad as far as I know. I thought it was quite exotic and considered myself quite the collector to have it; until I discovered that it is classified as a weed in the USA. What a beautiful weed!

Big blowsy beautiful cattleya. Horticultural Hussies.
Everything about them just screams overdo. But you can't help being very, very impressed with nature's coquettish behaviour.

Why I love this country

These photos are from my friend Carol Stone.
If I ever did have to leave, these are the things that would break my heart. The drive to Mayaro with its unique sound and smell. The corner that rounds from the Sangre Grande old road to Manzanilla always signified summer holidays. The sound of the wind in the coconuts and the ocean breeze meant that we were nearly there. We could see the sea!
I have seen this peaceful scene in many guises.
It is where the swamplands meet the Atlantic sea and it can be idyllic or horribly violent depending on the tides. On the opposite of this scene are the brackish mangroves and this is the only place that I have ever seen an anaconda in the wild. Supple and powerful, wrapped up in the roots of dense undergrowth, we were past it in a flash. A horrified glimpse from the backseat of a car.



This is Mayaro beach. It is quite simply beautiful. Not in the Maracas, north coast beach type of way but in the walk for miles and stare out to the horizon and imagine nothing between you and this sea until Africa way. As children every piece of detritus that was washed up, we imagined coming straight from an exotic ship wreck. It was also the beach that turned deadly beautiful at Easter time with the scores of Portuguese man-o-war that floated onto the beach trailing their lethally beautiful purple tendrils, irresistible to legions of daredevils, popping them with coconuts while running from the searing stray splash.




Sunset at Crown Point in Tobago