Making it Paradise...bits of Bajan life

Remember those trips I have been making to Oistins recently, well fish is not the only marine life I have been checking out! A few years ago, I accompanied some schoolchildren to the Belinda Cox Fish Market on a tour for Social Studies (yeah! field trips are vitally important) and discovered the turtles that have made the jetty their home. Smart turtles I say, what better place to settle than a fish market. They are always certain of a meal since fish vendors and fishermen alike make time daily to feed their fish scraps to these adopted turtles. You can read more about the habits of turtles and the relationships with fishermen here:  http://www.barbados.org/barbados-turtle.htm#.U59ZeJRdVIE  Luckily, the fishermen and vendors have no problem with allowing visitors to help out and are very happy to give you a bag of scraps and send you off along the jetty to feed the turtles. The walk along the jetty as insignificant as it may seem is a pretty impressive one. I just must say...

So, while I was gone I attended a  great organic gardening workshop. It was a gift and the perfect gift it was! It was conducted by Bajan-Brit Sharon Cooke who is owner of Garden Wall Designs.  I consider myself quite knowledgeable in the area of gardening, or maybe the helpless gardeners in my midst have made me the one eyed king in the land of the blind :)!   I was so very impressed with the many new things I learnt, not only from Sharon, but also fellow gardening students. I gleaned a wealth of information regarding plant names, indigenous species and their uses and pest control tips from two elderly ladies who were a comical riot.  The class was  conducted on a spacious verandah and one of the first things we did was to conduct soil tests on samples brought from our own gardens. This was super easy to perform, requiring only vinegar, and since good soil is key to healthy crops and beautiful blooms, it is something I plan to incorporate in my garden c...

 As a prime tourism destination, Barbados is home to many great restaurants. Literally, food from all cultures across the globe are represented on this small rock. Unfortunately, most of these restaurants are quite pricey and the average Bajan usually opts for Chefette's BarBQ Barn (think of an upscale version of BBQ's, if you are a New Yorker) when a bit more than fast food is required. Well., I am very much a cosmopolitan girl who loves eating out as much as I love cooking, and I think I have infused my children with this passion well. I love the entire dining experience and consider it to be a rather sensual affair.... I love the smell of warm bread rolls (preferably with herbs), the condensing water glasses, the aromas of each dish, enjoying wine with food, the chatter and laughter of diners, the intimate lighting...I simply love it all. And no place on this rock do I love it more than Champers Restaurant.   Located on Skeete's Hill just a stone's throw away ...

One Sunday morning we set out on our usual walk about with the plan to head to some beach. I love that we have a choice of beaches all within walking distance :). As we walked pass excellent familiar favourites such as Browne's Beach and Pebbles Beach , we kept going and settled for the beach at Drill Hall . It even has a little reef. Drill Hall sits smack dab in the historic Garrison Savannah area with the Graves End Military Cemetery and Needham's Lighthouse to its left, the Barbados Defence Force Headquarters and Garrison Savannah  itself directly ahead. We all savoured the many sights, sounds and smells along the way and the little ones had fun exploring the plant and animal life on the reef. Hope you enjoy them all as well. We entered from the military cemetery . Soo many almond trees...... and almonds!!!!! Many people are not familiar with the almond as a fruit.......here it is :) Also plenty coconuts...... notice how th...

This week was a quite nostalgic and emotional one for me. My daughter continued the tradition of both her parents in entering the world renowned  Harrison College at Crumpton Street. She joins not only myself and her dad but five of our island's Prime Ministers and several Governors General to list just a few. To say that Harrison College has a tradition of excellence in education is no idle boast. Founded in 1733 by a Bridgetown merchant Thomas Harrison , Kolij (as it's known to its alumni) has earned the stellar reputation of being the most prestigious secondary school in the entire British West Indies. Many affluent persons throughout the Caribbean have opted to have their wards enrolled there for this very reason. Kolij has retained many of its traditional practices and standards. It was very amusing to discover it has also held on to much of its old furniture....lol. The lever-operated chalkboards in classrooms have been replaced by tech savvy whiteboards but my daughte...