Mummy- 1941-2007

I still can't believe that my mother is not alive. I do feel orphaned even at 42. My father put this together- it's a compilation of her passport photos and it really hit a nerve with me as I remember her at every stage. And she always looked the same to me. She was still very young when she died at 66 but breast cancer took its toll. I miss her every day and think of all the things that we haven't told her this year. Grief is an extraordinary place.

St Kitts

St Kitts has been appearing in my dreams. If it is possible to feel a kinship with a place, this island would be the one place that I have travelled to and felt it immediately. Strange feeling, but a lovely one. I was in the mood to revisit it tonight and pulled up some of my old photos. I wish I knew the name of this beautiful flower. It grows on a large tree and I found it in the main Basseterre Square.

Despite having a Boabob tree in our savannah, I had never noticed the flower. It has an almost paper-like texture and is the lovely colour of tea stained cotton.
An example of early Georgian architecture in the churches. St Kitts was one of the oldest colonies in the British West Indies and much of the region's history can be dug up here in the museums and churchyards. The churches, in particular, have such a beautiful, austere look. In a region that was subjected to a spate of earthquakes and devastating fires that often wiped out whole towns in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is amazing to see these buildings still standing.
The cathedral in downtown Basseterre is beautiful in its symmetry. I believe this is the Catholic cathedral which is fairly unusual as St Kitts or St Christopher as it was known, was never a Spanish colony (please correct me if I am mistaken) and, as such, Catholicism was never as strong a presence as it was (and is) on islands like Trinidad. Tomorrow we head off for a Western Caribbean cruise. It's our first family vacation with Daddy since Mummy died in September and I hope he is going to enjoy it. They have done this particular cruise several times and I think it will probably bring up a lot of memories. But we are all looking forward to it.
I will have my laptop this time around and hope to blog on some of the places that we visit. We are heading to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and back to Miami so I hope to document some interesting things.

Woodpeckers in the Garden

We see the woodpeckers from time to time and know that they have arrived by their characteristic knocking. But I have never seen a pair travelling together. Once again Wikipedia came to the rescue and I quote from their site The Crimson-crested Woodpecker (Campephilus melanoleucos) is a very large woodpecker which is a resident breeding bird from Panama south to northern border regions of Argentina, and on Trinidad.
The habitat of this species is forests and more open woodland. Two white eggs are laid in a nest hole in a dead tree and incubated by both sexes.
The Crimson-crested Woodpecker is 36 cm long and weighs 250g. It resembles the Pileated Woodpecker of North America, but within its range the confusion species is the Lineated Woodpecker.
Adults are mainly black above, with a red crest and white lines down the sides of the black throat and shoulders, which meet in a V on the back. The underparts are white, heavily barred with black. They show white on the wings in flight.
Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat and red on the front of the crown. In adult females, these plumage features are black.

The Strange things I saw in New York

This was not a fashion statement. It really was so cold that the dogs needed coats. I even saw one with custom made booties. Everyone in Manhattan walks their dogs. Meaning, I assume, that all of these dogs live in apartments or townhouses. The dedication that it takes to be a pet owner in a large city is admirable. While I have five dogs and two cats, the dogs entertain each other, chase a few lizards, lie around or when particularly bored, uproot my plants. Could I live with them in closer proximity to me? Hmmmmm. This is so not the scene that you think you are going to come across in uptown Manhattan. I haven't seen laundry soap like this in years. We don't even get it like this here. So of course I had to investigate what was in this haberdashery. It got better, believe it or not.
Lo and behold- Matouks gets around. Here it was in this little, West Indian/Chinese/multi-ethinic, everything you need to whip up an exotic recipe, store. And we Trinidadians know that you can't beat a Matouks Pepper Sauce
Okaaay then. Dried something fishy. Who would look at this and say.....yes!! That has to come home with me today. There's no accounting for culinary taste.

And it wasn't cheap!

Thanks World

Thanks everyone who has visited and made comments on the blog. Thanks blogger team.

Desiderata- Sometimes a Reminder is Good

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter;f or always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantmentit is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Dusk in the Garden

This is my favorite time of day. Dusk. Lights are just coming on in the houses, dinner is cooking and all the lovely smells from the neighbours' simmering pots come wafting by. The speed of a tropical twilight is not to be underestimated. It seems to come up from the ground rather than fall from the sky. First the shadows lengthen and then the sky goes from blue to violet and then suddenly into clear night.
This orange heliconia is particularly vibrant and prolific. The bracts last for weeks on end. And this variety only grows to about 3 feet which is very manageable in the heliconia world.

One of my favourite begonias. I have never seen it flower but the leaves are so flamboyant that perhaps the flower is very insignificant. This variety catches easily by piece and provides much needed depth of colour in green beds.

Fern fronds make me happy.

This tanager is quite young with the pin feathers still showing on his chest. I have no doubt that his mama and papa are still close at hand, keeping a watcful eye. He has come for the bananafest that I have on my bamboo feeders every afternoon

Sunday afternoon on the Savannah

You can jog, walk, shoot the breeze or just chill under the lovely flowering pouis.

Or you can stop for a icy cold coconut water. Mr. Coconut will lop the head off for you with a cutlass (machete) and you can drink it straight from the nut. After it's finished, slice in half and eat the nutritious jelly on the inside. Yum! Great after a jog or good for a quick pick me up.

Mr. Coconut seller has an interesting life. There's not much that goes on in Port of Spain that will get past the vendors around the savannah. Just a stone's throw away, you can find the oyster vendors with their aphrodisiac molluscs served up in a spicy cocktail sauce.