Latest sightings

Being ignorant of so many things , the time is long overdue for me, at least, to try to identify the birds, flora and fauna etc, that we see on a daily basis.

A broad winged hawk, with prey
My first 'action' shot, male Carib Grackle flying from female,

My second 'action shot' female Carib Grackle in hot pursuit.
Together again, but not on speaking terms.

Cuckoo family?

Tropical Mockingbird?

Caribbean Elaenia? Look closely, click to enlarge and there is a delightful little bird that built it's nest in this coconut tree, unfortunately I have no idea what it is.

Again

If the batteries hadn't gone on the camera, I would have caught this Lesser Antillean Bullfinch thiefing ripe plantain in the kitchen.

And finally? Kingbird?

still a way to go yet then, but with thanks to the following website

West Indian Natural History

I am learning.

A True Story

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who lived in the village with his mother and father and six of his nine brothers and sisters. He was a happy boy who loved to help. Whenever his mother went to town to sell the vegetables that they grew in the garden, he would always go to help her. He would walk through town and up around the houses on the hill selling cive and thyme, door to door, returning with the money he had made when he had sold everything. Despite being helpful and brave enough to go and sell, even though he was only six years old, the little boy had a problem. He had such a bad stammer that he could hardly speak. In those days, when an adult called you , you immediately had to answer, 'yes,' followed by the name of the person that called. Not to do so meant blows. The boy was unable to do this without first stamping and stamping his foot, until, eventually, he would fall down and only then would the words fall from his mouth. Consequently, his legs were covered in scars and bruises from when he'd fallen down. He was embarrassed by his lack of speech and if anyone should laugh at him, his temper was short and he would give them one cuff without hesitation. One day, in the market , a little old lady, from St. David's, came to speak with him. The boy knew her well as she also sold her garden produce in town . She gave him a special shell and told him that he was to drink from that shell , and only that shell , for six months and his stammer would be gone. The boy went home and his parents agreed to try the cure and everyday for six months, whenever he had a drink, the boy drank from the shell. Sure enough, after some time his speech improved, until, in the end, except for when he was very nervous, excited or in too much of a hurry, the stammer disappeared.

The shell and the story lay forgotten in the yard, for years and years and years, until one day when the boy, now a man, was weeding the dasheen and found the shell that gave him his voice, to tell this story.

A bit of fluff

Having been bitterly disappointed to discover I was a Chardonnay, sorry Sauvignon Blanc, instead of a Merlot, when I did the 'What wine are you?' quiz, that I found here;

Blog procrastination at Musings on society ,

I thought I'd give this a go, which I found here;

carrasdream.blogspot.com,

looking forward to help arriving, in the meantime, think I'll make some more coffee.

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

The continuing story of the hunter, gatherer

For
those
of
you
who
are
unfamiliar
with
this
particular delicacy, these are crayfish from the river. There are a number of different varieties, including;
Buntail,
Reds,
Ling,
Lamay,
Wild
Margaret
and
the
one
shown
here.
Kakado.


T caught them the other day and they have been skulking in the freezer since then, waiting for me to deal with them. Personally, I like my crayfish shelled, heads and innards removed. T prefers to throw them in the pot and eat them as they are, in a 'nice broth', which he swears is, 'good for the body'.
When I summon up the enthusiasm to clean them, we will probably make fishcakes, see previous post Fishcake for the recipe, replacing titiree with the crayfish.

The reason the task of cooking and cleaning falls to me, follows the memorable occasion when T decided to 'treat' me to 'crayfishcakes,' as a surprise for when I came home from work.
I was a little dubious but delighted, when my plate was put in front of me, and there were perfectly cooked fishcakes, with no evidence of legs or whiskers. It was only upon biting into one, accompanied by a resounding audible crunch, that it became apparent that T had solved the arduous cleaning task by placing the whole lot in the blender.

www.free-burma.org

Nobel Peace Prize

If you would like to sign a petition nominating Burma's Buddhist monks, for the Nobel Peace Prize, you can do so here;

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/nobel007/

Free Burma Bloggers

Tomorrow, October 4th, is Free Burma Day for Bloggers to show a united front, in support of the people of Burma. I would urge all bloggers to take this opportunity and give over their blog, website etc, for tomorrow and post one of these graphics instead.
Please go to http://www.free-burma.org/ for the graphics and more information,
we have a voice , we can be heard, let us use it.


http://www.free-burma.org/



http://www.free-burma.org/


http://www.free-burma.org/


www.free-burma.org

Burma

Spread the word.

http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/

http://themoderatevoice.com/society/life/15402/burma-senior-general-sir-show-us-these-children-are-alive-and-unharmed/

http://uscampaignforburma.org/index.html

Manager wanted

Monday dawns bright and fresh and we start the day with a light step and a new resolution.Since embarking on this new path, I have been surprised by my complete lack of organisational skills. Previously, when working for other people, I have always known what to do, in what order, how to delegate, problem solve, prioritise, plan ahead, schedule tasks etc, etc.

Now, however, I seem to have turned into a completely mindless, daydreaming jelly, with no sense of direction and the purpose, whilst promising, keeps getting lost in distractions and dreams. Well, obviously, we'll have to put a stop to that, or as my Auntie Joyce used to say, "this won't buy the child a frock", so, I have imposed a timetable with objectives and completion dates and, as I am already 13 minutes late, I will have to curtail this post and get to work. I would be delighted to hear of other people's discipline.

Catch of the day

T

and

The

Warrior

Princess

went

fishing

yesterday

and

came

home

with

Transformation

On

waking,

feeling

fractious,

fickle

and

fraught,

the

day

doomed

to

failure,

when T brought breakfast of French Cachou, fresh from the tree.

Food, inspiration and love, on a plate. xxx

Wash day

Our

washing

machine

has

no

on

or

off

buttons,

but

it

does

have two manual programmes. The first of which is the heavy soil, which T operates admirably.It includes jeans, garden clothes, towels and sheets. I am responsible for the delicates, girly items, underwear and anything that I don't want to be bleached, scrubbed or wrung to death. Before coming to live here, anything requiring hand washing lurked at the bottom of the laundry basket for a period of time, gestating towards annihilation or rejection, until I would risk throwing it in the machine rather than leave it lying there any longer. Initially, I admit, I found hand washing difficult. I had no notion, no desire, no technique. I watched and learned and, gradually I found a rhythm, a system, a liking for the water and the suds, the rinses and the wringing.

It is unlikely that I would feel this way if there was only one programme and I had to wash for three adults and three children, as my sister in law does, but, for the two of us,?

I like it.

Tatou

This
morning
on our
way
to
the
other
garden,
a man
called
me .






He asked
if I had
ever
seen
a
Tatou
before.
Thinking
that
he was
a hunter
who
had one
to sell,


I told
him
"yes",

he
asked,
"a live
one?"





I
have
only
seen
one
ready
for
the
pot.



A large
Tatou
can
fetch
$25 U.S.
and
is
a
delicacy.






She
was
being
looked
after
by
a
young
boy
and
was,
happily,
enjoying her own dinner.

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.

Earthly Delights

Yesterday,
we planted,
65 cabbage
plants,
some
sweet
potato
slips,



100
lettuce,
65 parsley
and
some
bell peppers

he

was

changing

his

skin

as

was

I.

Fishcake

Occasionally, these little fish, Titiree,can be found in large shoals

in the Carenage bay in St. George's. T tells me that they swim up

the river, to spawn perhaps? Having searched the net, ha ha, I can find no information about them but here is T's recipe for using them in fishcakes.

Titiree Fishcakes;

Ingredients

1lb of fresh Titiree

1 onion diced small

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 cive chopped small

fresh thyme to taste

1 tablespoon of freshly chopped chadon beni

1 seasoning pepper, chopped small

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

salt and pepper to taste

4 oz all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

water to mix

Oil to fry

Method

Wash and drain the Titiree, pat dry with kitchen towel.

In a large bowl, gently combine all the above ingredients except for the flour, baking powder, egg, water and oil, using a large metal spoon, adding the Titiree last. Stir.

Cover and leave on one side.

In a separate bowl make a batter by adding the baking powder, to the flour, then gradually whisk in the egg , adding water if necessary, to make a liquid similar to that of pouring cream.

Pour sufficient batter -you may not need all- into the seasoned Titiree mixture, to create a nice dropping consistency.

Stir well but carefully.

Heat enough oil, (medium to hot) about 1/2 inch deep, in a heavy bottomed frying pan.

Take a large metal spoonful of the mixture and carefully let it slide into the frying pan.

Repeat for each fishcake trying not to let them touch each other.

Using a fish slice, turn when the batter has little holes through it -about 5 mins- and the underside is golden brown. Finish cooking the other side. Rest on kitchen towel.

Serve with bakes, hot sauce, pear and green salad.

Reflections

Just recently
I was
reminded,
by a visitor
to this island,
of this wall.









I used to
drive past
here
every
day
without
really
giving
it a
second
glance.


It has been
a long time,
yet the
image
still remains.
Right next
to this
building,
a new road
and bridge
have been
built,
ironically,
with the assistance of the Chinese government, I think.
This time
in the
islands'
history
is still
not openly
discussed
or taught
in schools.
10 men
remain
in prison
and families
from all sides are still hurting. The wall, whether or not one agrees with its' sentiment, seems to serve as the only public memorial of that time.

Come for a stroll with us!

• 

Value

There comes a

time when we

all need to

sweep and

clean and

sort.

That time was yesterday for me.

Due to hurried, impromptu, previous, searches, the papers, certificates, documents etc., the proof of who you are, lay, in a disorderly bundle, at the bottom of a plastic storage box.
Sifting, sorting and identifying took the best part of a productive day.

I was rewarded by that delightful, if shortlived, feeling, of space and clarity and purpose.

The 'studio' was refreshed and ready.

In amongst everything, I found this little gem. A list of words from a game of Scrabble, played many years ago, when we got bored playing by the rules and gave each other extra points for creativity, using our remaining letters.

Boule- French delicacy, sort of cross between pastry, ice cream and chocolate.

Does not make you feel bloated, helps you slim and tastes delicious.

Burano-Cross between a meercat and a rabbit. Found in deepest forests in Africa.

It can be distinguished from other, similar looking animals by the pink and fluffy area
under its' tail.

Seworc-Disease of the big toe, usually the left.

Goicuiey -Ancient art of thatching , as in "Will you please 'goicuiey' my roof for me?'

Tevidiamn- particular make of organ.

Gankoity- the circle in the ice that the Inuit fish through.

Nicaragua

Asi Es Mi Pais
www-ni.laprensa.com.ni/especiales/huracan-felix-2007

Time for change?

We went to get some new tyres for our vehicle. This man got new tyres and a take away dinner.

Green Heron

This little chap has taken up residence in the breadfruit tree. He appears a little confused with the world right now. Darrel, from Green Withens Birding , tells me the Green Herons he saw here in Grenada, were quite tame. He doesn't seem very bright, the heron that is, not Darrel, but we will get along fine, providing that he limits his appetite to the wood ants and not the lizards. Would have thought he would prefer living down by the river? Perhaps he just likes company.

The big picture.

Sometimes, it takes an image such as this one from NOAA, showing all the storms and hurricanes since 1851, to put things in perspective.
Every little line holds a million different stories. Story is healing, when it falls on a listening ear.

Felix

A bit slow off the mark today but we only just got our electricity back after our visit from Felix. Now, I know, I should be accustomed to this by now but, well,... I'm not. We're all fine though, and, as far as I can tell, everything is back to normal, except for one or two 'isolated incidents', unless, ofcourse, those 'incidents' were yours -sorry for that.