Museum of Natural History

This shell is an ammonite, a marine animal that became extinct about 65 million years ago. Just around the same time the dinosaurs disappeared. The shell's unusual colouration is found only in ammonites from Alberta, Canada and is a result of millions of years of high temperatures and pressures which account for the iridescent effect.

Ammonites were named for the Egyptian God Ammon whose horns resemble the ammonites spiral-coiled shell. When the animal was alive, it stuck its tongue out of its shell with long tentacles protruding from its mouth. It sucked in water and squirted it out using jet propulsion to get around.
I did not make this up; it is taken verbatim from the plaque at the Museum of Natural History. I really enjoy visiting museums because the very concept of 65 million years makes me feel very happy and very sad at the same time.

We were also lucky to see a live display of snakes and lizards. I am not a reptile lover but there were some very interesting specimens. According to the map this boa is native to Trinidad and Tobago but I can't say that I have ever come across it. He was, like me, a long way from home.

I was also able to see a green mamba. Green mambas have assumed mythic proportions in my mind. There is that awful scene in Barbara Kingsolver's novel "The Poisonwood Bible" where the green mamba strikes and kills the child.
But this green mamba was surprisingly innocuous looking. It lacked the menace of the vipers and the garish-ness of the coral snake and other poisonous creatures that alert us with their vibrant, too-bright hues.
The mamba was innocent looking. Gentle almost. If I had to cast the part of the snake in the Garden of Eden, my vote would go to the green mamba.

All that poison in one small package.

Peace to the World

It's been a Christmas of rings.

Christmas Fare

It's Christmas Eve and I'm a long way from home. So I made some Ponchecrema, a Trinidadian rum-laced eggnog that is very much part of our Chirstmas tradition.
This was my improvised recipe made with ingredients from the nearest grocery in the Berkshires. Ponchecrema Recipe
6 eggs
2 cans of condensed milk
2 cans of evaporated milk
Approx 18oz good rum
Good dash of nutmeg

Place first three ingredients in blender. Blend vigourously. Pour into jug. Add rum and stir. Chill. Serve in short highball glasses with lots of ice. Add dash of nutmeg before drinking.

To further get into the Chrismtas spirit - I roasted chestnuts for the first time. In the oven.



Blackberries are another novelty that we do not get in the Caribbean. So when we come across them, we buy them by the bucket. I couldn't resist hauling them out onto the counter and shooting them tonight. They are so pretty, it's hard to eat them. I always feel as if I am living out an Enid Blyton fanatasy when I eat blackberries!

Apples are apples all over the world. But I can now say that apples do taste better when eaten closer to the tree.

One of the nicest things about having a blog is that you can go back to see what you were doing one year ago.
Merry Christmas world. From me to you.

Niche 2009

I spent last weekend in Nevis for the annual NICHE food festival. It's no secret that Nevis is one of my favourite places on Earth and it was great to get back and see everyone again. We visited Mansa, the organic farmer on Friday morning and had a wonderful tour of his farm. The flower of the guava reminds me a bit of the coffee flower. It is not as fragrant but is absolutely beautiful. I find it amazing that these pure, almost virginal flowers go on to produce big, sturdy fruit. They would be beautiful on a table.

Mansa's fruit juices and wines. Ross kept saying to Mansa, what's that extra flavour in the sorrel? Bois Bande, replied Mansa proudly, Bois Bande!!!! It seems that Bois Bande does not carry the same potent response in Nevis as it does here in Trinidad. Anyway we advised to use sparingly, just in case.

Our Niche pan man.

These tomatoes are straight off the land. They look it, don't they?

Mansa uses this fruit to make jewellery. Each pod is a slighly different shade. I'm did not get the name of the tree.

New Camera -Canon 50D

I

I am just making my way around my new camera.

Of Paphs and Vanilla

To nonchanantly throw around the name "paph" is a risky thing. You run into the possibility that serious gardeners will mistake you for one of their own and then you will be tragically, out of your depth. I am making tentative steps towards growing "paphs" or PAPHIOPEDILUM (say it: paf-ee-oh-ped-i-lum...the Slipper Orchid), I am now the proud owner of Paph. Maudiae; who like a true slippered-lady, is most kind and tolerant of learners. She has come home with a striking flower just to cut a little style.

The pictures really do not do justice to the beauty of this flower. I suspect that I may be a true slipper-lover but it remains to be seen whether the feeling will be reciprocated. Growing conditions are quite similar to phaleonopsis.

Unfortunately I have never been successful because I still do not have a proper orchid house.

So it was with a certain amount of vicarious-ness that I brought Miss Slipper home. At the moment she is ensconced on my windowsill, keeping company with my fussy ferns. I hope they make her feel welcome and reassure her that it is not my intention to kill her! As the rainy season is coming to an end, I will try with tomatoes again. I find growing them in the rain a useless and frustrating exercise. But I had fairly good results last year so I shall try again.

Do not be fooled by the casual nonchalance of this leaf. It is the shy VANILLA plant. Apparently it is likely that I shall have to hand-pollinate to get a pod, but I am willing to dress up as a large insect if the prize is a vanilla pod.