#naphopomo Day 30 The ending up

Today, the last day of naphopomo, began with a smile
whilst meeting up with a best friend and reading the
names of the boats at the fish market.
 'Doggy Style' caught my eye!

'T', having finished selling in town when we caught up with him,
was selling for other people and behind him, through the wire
fencing, I saw

another time, lives lived before on Melville Street.
It has been enjoyable, this daily posting of 'something'. 
I have not always risen to the ocassion, but the naphopomo
challenge was interesting.
Our 'day to day' (isolated within a frame) spoke of inner
things that we were unaware of, attuned to a moment
that otherwise may have passed by, unnoticed. Thanks
again to Karen aka Chookooloonks who brought us all
here , to this wonderful space where many lives,
lived in numerous places,that have been
shared through a lens,
with lessons loved and learned, united creative souls
of many persuasions.
It takes a special kind of person to do this, a person
who can see beyond her own boundaries to embrace,
inspire and include one and all. 
Much love Karen and thank you xxx

#naphopomo Day 26 Fixing

if something is broken

my husband will fix it.

#naphopomo Day 21 Thunderbirds are go.......

Eternally grateful to Blue Peter and having, for many years,
bemoaned the fact that some artisans refuse to make
displays for their work, I truly believed that this would be
a doddle. (The original idea of a beautifully carved
showcase had evaporated as fast as T could make it to
the garden).
Undeterred, the empty cardboard box beckoned,
accompanied by a 'eureka' moment!
Starting early (and envisioning completion within an hour or
two), things began to unravel around lunchtime. By 3p.m.
the glue was still drying and it was obvious some 'minor'
adjustments were necessary.
It is now 5p.m. the glue is still wet and I am drinking the
last of the wine.

I will leave you with

The crock of gold

Once upon a time, a long time ago, or it could have been the day
before yesterday, a woman looked out from her front step and
wondered,"Shall I dig for it now?" She checked with the moon
and watched the weather and decided it was time.

The flowers
were almost
done and the
leaves had
turned yellow
and wilted

and with the
turn of the
fork, which
was easier
said than done,
the buried
treasure was
revealed.

She carefully teased the soil from the roots and left them in the
sun to cure. The next day she sat by the pipe in the yard with a
scrubbing brush and a bucket of water and washed and scrubbed
and washed and scrubbed and washed and scrubbed some more.

By lunchtime all her golden nuggets were clean and shining.

With an aching back and a painful posterior, ('is how you sit on
the bucket' her lovely husband told her later) she settled
down on the floor upstairs in the little house, with a sharp knife and
a silver bowl, and began to chip, (just like Miss UG had taught her)

and chip and chip and chip and chip and chip and chip and chip.

Finally, her work
was done. She
put everything to
dry in the sun
next to the
cocoa beans
on the
veranda.












Naturally, despite scrubbing and soaping

she was left with the Midas touch and went to bed to dream of
Rumpelstiltskin.
To be continued...................

Burning Bush

What do you do
on those days
when the universe
appears to conspire
against you?
When hopes, dreams,
desires and the
best of intentions
are frustrated
at every turn?

T burns bush.!

Happy Monday

We started the day in Corn Buck. It has been a long time since we went up together with lunch and a purpose. The weather was kind, no rain, and a cloud filtered sun . T had begun work up there already and invited me to join him 'just to see'.

I saw

and set to, freeing stones. There is something delightful about cutting this bush, there are no monetary rewards, no fanfares or applause but once free of vine and vegetation, the stones stand for something that I cannot explain other than to say it matters.

T took the opportunity to wash the dogs' bedding in the river, spreading them out to dry on warm river stones, which have totally different personalities from the ones in the bush.

Once home I did my share and washed the white things, a task
divided into manageable bites by frequent internet visits and refreshments  between rinses, combined with some lively music to maintain the momentum.

Dinner.

 The hunter/gatherer returns with smiles and salty tales

of tangled rock snared lines,well cast,

yet destined for the deep.

 The mountain man, so adept in the river and its' pools.

was out of depth, and patience, as the sea ran with his spool

of tackle, spent, hooks, lines and sinkers,

the sun was sinking too,

when Barracuda made his move

and brought this gift to you.

Is That Time Again.........

This year's cocoa
was dry and ready
to roast.
We had to wait for a
hot, sunny and breezy
day.

The trusty
Porkert grinder
was dusted down
and assembled.


and the
still warm beans
shelled,
 (by him with
the big hands)
ground.
 (by her with
the muscle)

and then
rolled into balls
in the palm of my hand.
The house was full
of the scent of
chocolate.
Our ears rang with the
sound of people passing
and saying
"I want some of that
when you're done."

Yippee, I won a Lemonade Stand

Allow me to introduce you to two of the coolest people that you are likely to meet, when visiting Annandale Falls. Chris and Don sell souvenirs, beautiful handmade craft, and heaven scented spice necklaces. For the longest while, I have admired them and their stand, so imagine my delight when I received this totally unexpected award from Blackgirl On Mars, a writer and a teacher, who speaks from her heart, with words that have been crafted by her beautiful soul.

(Whoa, 50cents lemonade)

The Lemonade Stand Award, is for attitude and/or gratitude , and I would like it to go to;

Zen and the Art of Peacekeeping
Pohanginapete
Beyond Words
Ruthibelle
Indigomar
William
YingYang
A Kite Rises
Colouring Outside the Lines
Merry go Round

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude and/or gratitude.
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Nominate your favorites, and link to this post.

SPLASH!

I got a nice surprise this morning when I went on one of my many virtual trips , to visit my good friend Guyana Gyal. Now if you haven't visited her blog before, then you are in for a treat. This gyal can tell stories like no other. She can turn what to you and me might be everyday stuff, into a magical fairytale. Not only are her words entertaining, they are full of humour and wisdom, some sadness and lots of love, and before you think that reading is too much effort, not so, when you visit GG it is as if she has sat you down in a warm, relaxing place and then you 'hear' her voice, as though she is right there with you. So, as I said, I dropped by for another tale this morning and was knee deep with her in the river, and the pool, and watching her turn into a " water-mooma" right before my eyes, when she SPLASHED me. She did. So I SPLASHED her right back, for meeting all of the categories for this award.

I am also SPLASHING ;

Slacker for being so alluring,

Stephen for amusing me with this
Samantha for bewitching me in a magical way
Laila who impresses me in the true sense of the word and beyond
and to Sabrina , for being so inspiring.

The Splash award is given to alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive, and inspiring blogs.

When you receive this award, you get to:
1. Put the logo on your blog/post.
2. Nominate up to 9 blogs which allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you.
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog.
5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your Splash award.

Preparation of stretchers

Before I go any further, I would just like to say,
to any misdirected web surfer, that this is not
a 'how to' site, but you can find all the very
useful and correct information if you visit
Sue Vesely , which I did this morning,
after embarking on my own, personal,
canvass stretching adventure.

Having bought 2, 12' lengths of, finished, 1"x2"
wild pine, from the local builders yard, and then
setting T to work with his power saw, cutting
the 45' exactly measured angles. (I know this
because I bought a protractor specially,
once I remembered what it was called, and then
spent an interminable amount of time
marking them out. I did suggest he may
want to use a table and a vice but he seemed quite
happy and confident working bent over the old
breadfruit tree root in the yard)
My initial mistake became apparent,
having sanded down the now cut up lengths,
nothing what so ever to do with the precision
cutting of the power saw operator, or the fact
that one of the lengths of wood was thicker than
the other, oh no, the problem apparently lay
with the angles.
Undeterred, and spurred on by brute force
and determination, the industrial stapler and I
joined forces until, give or take a gap or two,
the wild pine was tamed into something vaguely
rectangular.
I now turned my attention to the fact that I did
not have any edging, not having studied
Sue Vesely's excellent site until my return
from the builder's yard.



















Cutting off the pelmet of one of the bamboo blinds
seemed to me to be the best, free and immediate
course of action and, I have to say, the little strips
seemed to work admirably, all things considered,
although wood glue would, most probably, have
been more efficient than the PVA School glue that
I found in my tool box.



















Spurred on by this success, and having finally
located the canvass, (yes, safely put away in a
black plastic bag, which is where we put things
if we don't want them to get damp or eaten, and
I only had to open four bags before I got to the
canvass and I did find that lovely fabric that I
bought last year, anyway, I digress,) and having
searched endlessly for my scissors before recalling
that my father-in-law had borrowed them to
trim the clumpy fur from his poodle, I was
delighted to discover that the kitchen scissors,
performed wonderfully well, and the end result?




















All primed and ready for action.

Seasoning Peppers

Happiness is found
in the soil under fingernails,
red mud on boots
and the warmth of your smile
as you watch peppers spill from my pocket.

Comfort

Four flour sacks,
lovingly hand stitched,
French seams,
bleached, washed, rinsed,
island breeze and sun dried,
bleached, washed, rinsed,
island breeze and sun dried,
bleached, washed, rinsed,
island breeze and sun dried,
bleached, washed, rinsed,
the sheet that does caress,
cools and comforts,
so recently, sweat soaked,
now, shower scrubbed, skin.
Priceless bed linen.

For Chocoholics

There are
still some
cocoa trees
remaining
in Corn Buck,
and despite
years of
neglect
and the
passage of
Ivan,
the remaining
few,
valiantly,
continue
to bear.



The pods
display
beautiful
colours,
from the
deepest mauve,
(not ready yet)
through to the
red
and
orange
and yellow
of maturity.






They have
to be cut
from the tree,
as they do not
fall
by their own
volition.
When they are
cracked open,
with a cutlass,
a sweet, sticky
mass
of creamy beans
is revealed,
which is scooped
out
and left to dry
in the hot sun.


This year,
instead of
taking
the wet beans
to the pool,
we are drying
and, later,
roasting,
them
ourselves.










Hopefully,
this work
in progress
will result
in
our very own
cocoa tea,
or, if I am
really lucky,
chocolate.

Cocoa riggee for Guyana-Gyal

It was fun
yesterday
flying my
cocoa riggee
kite,

that T made

from

a cocoa leaf,

with

dry fig straw

for tail

and

sewing thread

for twine.

...and to think I nearly didn't..............

Having been working so hard in Corn Buck and the house needing cleaning etc., and what with all the failed attempts I have made at posting images at Illustration Friday , (my shortcomings, not theirs) I almost didn't bother to do this, but, now, I am so glad that I did.
I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to penelope dullaghan and brianna privett at Illustration Friday and to snorkblog, without whose patient advice, none of this would have been possible.

Sorrel, story and secrets.

This is West Indian sorrel
which we grow from seed.
Sorrel is the traditional
Christmas drink in the Caribbean.
It is refreshing and delicious,
it has healing properties
and is the perfect partner
when mixed with rum.




After harvesting the waxy
calyxes,







they are cleaned,
by removing the seed pod,
and washed,
before combining them with
'sugar and spice and all things nice.'




This website
www.meredithlaurence.com/?p=37
has more information and includes this delightful
Anansi story.

I like to put ginger in my sorrel,





and
other
secret
ingredients,
which,
if you are passing on Christmas day,
you will be very welcome
to
come
and
share.

With apologies

This post was going to be

an interesting story

for you, from me,

but now, the day is spent

and so are we,

but all our dreams

will be of

'grooving'

fig tree.

Spice.

Guyana-Gyal ,
who is
'taking
stock',
sowed
a welcome
seed
of
thought,
on
'oneofthosedays'
when
the
vindictive
demon
of
self doubt, chose to gnaw at, taint and question, everything.

By saying
that
she
was
"looking
forward
to
hearing
about
my
accomplishments
in
Grenada"
I began
to
wonder
what
they
were. So often we measure ourselves against others' values, fortune and fame, but, most often, it is the little things that make us whole.
So, thanks to my patient teacher, T, here is accomplishment number one.

I
now
know;
a
spice
tree
when
I
see
one,
how to
scrape off the outer bark, pound the inner, not too hard but just enough, so that it is possible to remove the cinnamon, and leave it to dry in the sun.

I just wish I could post how it smells.