Tuesday 31 July 2012

Holders Farmers Market

Where are we off to today?  The farmers market of course!!!
Holders Farmers Market is an organic market held on the historic Holders House grounds every Sunday from 9am-2pm.



A shaded canopy of trees lines the driveway entrance

Holders House (owned by the Kidd family) is a 17th century plantation house which happens to be one of the oldest plantation houses on the island.
Holders House also hosts Holders Season, a musical and theatrical event which is staged in an open-air theatre style.
Holders is also the home of the first polo field in Barbados, and hosts many international tournaments annually.

The market is the brainchild of Jack Kidd, whose philosophy is to give back and you will always get back.


The Holders organic farmers market strives to host vendors who are truly interested in the environment and whose produce is pesticide free. 

Here you can find both locals and visitors alike enjoying the atmosphere and chatting with each other, and purchasing whatever tickles their fancy.
Vendors offer for sale a wide variety of items such as arts and crafts, sculptures, paintings, soaps, plants, home made jellies, jams, chutneys, flavoured oils, local fruit wines, and of course local produce.


Locally made soaps and skin products


Lots of incense and Bugg Off sticks to choose from

BPA (Bisphenol A) used to make plastics is now declared a toxic substance


Flavoured oils and marinades


Locally made wines from every conceivable fruit on the island


Pottery and sculptures






Jewelry

Trinkets made from our local Mahogany tree wood

I didn't try the bangers, but I'm told they're GREAT!


Healthy cakes and pastries

Exotic condiments




Lovely paintings


Nutmeg products

All different kinds of honey

A large jar of honey filled with delicious honeycomb

Honeycomb on display..how intricate and amazing at the same time


My friends also had some produce for sale

What mangoes?  They were gone in a flash!!!




Lovely paintings

 Local fruit juices


Plants and more plants


Yes, there were massages available as well
Look who's really running the whole show

Reminds me of the black and white scotch whiskey dogs


You know I have griped before about our agricultural lands being sold off for housing projects. This has led to a high food import bill (about 90%) for the island.
The organizers of the farmers market are trying to create an awareness of organic foods in Barbados, and to this end they are doing a great job.
Can you guess what I came home with?
Yup,  a bottle of local wine (Bayleaf) and a jar of  All Purpose Marinade suitable for vegetarian meals......perfect for moi.


What a lovely day!

Monday 30 July 2012

The Lady lies.....

I am somewhat of a movie buff..... lots of movies, including the old black and white movies of yesteryear.
Several of them left distinct impressions on my mind while growing up, and as I grew older, I gained an even deeper appreciation for the great works that they were.
My dad in particular was instrumental in molding my admiration for the old actors and actresses on the silver screen.
To this end, who can forget Claudette Colbert in her many outstanding roles?
Claudette Colbert, was born Emilie Chauchoin  (nicknamed Lily) on Sept 13th, 1903, in France, but was raised in New York. She moved later in life to Barbados, and settled into a 18th century plantation house "Bellerive", where she entertained such guests as Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan.
This famous American actress with over 60 movies to her credit died on July 30th, 1996 at the age of 92 after a series of strokes, at her "Bellerive" home in Speightstown.
She is buried at the St. Peter's Church cemetery situated at Godings Bay, in a crypt with her husband, Dr. Joel Pressman.

The quaint chapel at this cemetery is completely hollow.










Have no idea who this guy was but he was helpful with directions to the grave

Last month on a trek to Speightstown, I mentioned that Claudette Colbert was buried here in Barbados, so I thought it fitting to acknowledge the16th  anniversary of her death, by visiting her grave site to pay my respects.

The crypt is painted in a light orange hue, and is flanked by two potted pink desert roses.






It rests at the bottom of a flight of stairs.





 The urn on the right contains the remains of Claudette Colbert's mother Mme. Chauchoin - the two did not get along, hence it is some distance away from the main crypt.



The plaque on the crypt

Some of Claudette Colbert's movie achievements include:
It Happened One Night (Oscar)
Private Worlds
Since you went Away
The Hole in the Wall
The Big Pond
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (Golden Globe)
Cleopatra
 
oh and one more....
The Lady Lies

Trivia: Due to an injury to her nose, there was a bump on the right side, so she considered her left side to be her best side, and most of her film shots were of her left profile, even having an entire set rebuilt once so she would not have to show her right side.

One of her personal quotes: "Most of us don't know about happiness until it's over."......so very true.



This link will take you to a Vanity Fair article that depicts her life in its entirety.




Sunday 29 July 2012

Flea Market Day

I don't know if you're like me, but I love finding a great bargain.
Yesterday, me and my girlfriends set out early on a flea market excursion to see if we could find "the greatest bargain."



The Plantation Flea Market is hosted once a month, every last Saturday of the month. It is advertised as The Ultimate Flea Market with DJ music and free admission with lots of stalls.
These included crafts, clothing, foodstuff, plants, cosmetics, household items, veggies and fruits, books, face painting for the kids, and lots of health related items like massages, blood pressure and sugar/cholesterol testing.

My friend had a craft stall.






All variety of stalls



Clothing stalls



Another friend had a jewelry stall



Lots of fresh ground produce



After wandering around for a while, it was time for a quick snack.
Fish anyone??  Flying fish cutter and local delicacy fish cakes.


We did what most women do........shop.........that innate gene that only women seem to have, kicked into high gear, and yes, we shopped.
We bought books, foodstuff and clothing, and left quite happy with our purchases.....off to find more bargains at other weekend sales.



Friday 27 July 2012

Juicing is good for you..........NOT!

Juicing is good for you.
Yeah juicing!!
Apparently this is the best way of ingesting our daily recommendation of fruits and veggies.
Today, I am the bearer of bad news.  I am here to tell you that juicing is not all that it is touted to be.
Grabbed my toothbrush to brush my teeth..........and nothing......no familiar soothing hum....nada.......zilch......
Realized the battery in my toothbrush was "juicing", and so the darn thing didn't work.
You know how these batteries are sometimes, they "juice" all over the place, releasing all the battery acid into the electrical components and rendering them useless in the blink of an eye.



Replaced it with a new battery but still nothing.  Well what do you know?  Juicing isn't that great after all.

My overworked toothbrush was all juiced out.

Thursday 26 July 2012

What's the deal???

For just over a week now, this guy has been greeting me every time I go out to use Beast.


Lizard on rear side view mirror
Barbados anole (Anolis extremus)

Why oh why would he choose to chill out here?  An entire garden to run around in, and he chooses here.
I have no idea what he wants.  I've shooed him so many times before I drive off, so he doesn't get hurt. However, every time I return home, within minutes he's settled himself back in the same position.
Maybe he wants to hitch a ride somewhere when I'm leaving...but how would he know where I'm off to?  Sometimes even I don't know which direction I'm headed.....yeah I'm like that.....especially if it's a nice sunny day and I want to be outdoors.
I think he may be molting.....since his skin looks rough and calloused from his head to middle torso. His tail section looks like an extra piece of droopy skin hanging way off.
The reality of it all, is that he is just playing it safe. This may be the safest place for him to molt, away from the garden and away from those other dragon-looking lizards, Guyana Kentropyx borckiana which are larger. Since these "Guyanese lizards" as I non-affectionately refer to them arrived on the island (most probably on cargo from Guyana), our native anole lizard population has dwindled.
Our green anoles seem to be headed for extinction. So I'm happy that he has chosen Beast to molt happily away on.
But then again, I think he wants to check himself out in the mirror while he's doing it.....
Is he a pervert or just a plain old vain guy..........hmmmm.


Wednesday 25 July 2012

Off we go again....

Being the daughter of an old nurse, I knew that Brownie's foot was not coming along as well as it should be after this amount of time. Therefore I decided to pay another visit to the vets.

Honestly, my foot is so much better........I'd really prefer to stay here



Even though the limp was not as pronounced as before, I still believed that he should have been placing his foot on the ground by now, but not with any pressure....however, he continued to keep it lifted out of harm's way.

On our way to visit the vet, we had to make a stop.....


Brownie is now getting accustomed to traveling in a vehicle, so he was looking just a tad bit uneasy. He did enjoy looking out the window at everything that passed by.
There was hardly any traffic on the road, so we arrived quite quickly.



After a thorough examination by both vets, it was proclaimed that he would need to be on half dosage of the painkillers for a few more days.  The foot was healing slowly.
Brownie liked being surrounded by everyone, including the admin staff and also some friendly summer interns......he was lapping it all up.
The head rubs, and the "Brownie!"  salutations were just his cup of tea.
Then the head vet trimmed his nails....pedicure perfection...he was in heaven.
It's a good thing we visited today too, since he is leaving on holiday tomorrow to travel to Devon and other lovely parts of England for a few weeks....lucky him.


Home again, home again, jiggety jog........


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