The Garrison

The day I visited George Washington House, I had a little time on my hands before my next appointment, so I decided to stroll across the street to the Garrison area and enjoy its beauty.

We are now at the centrepiece of the Garrison Historic Area.
The Garrison Historic Area includes Charles Fort, St Ann's Fort (now the home of the Barbados Defence Force), The Main Guard, George Washington House, The National Cannon Collection, The Garrison Savannah, and The Barbados Museum and Historical Society.

The Barbados Garrison (St.Ann's Garrison) was the largest in the British colonies during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Established in 1780 as the military headquarters for the Imperial Forces stationed here until the early 1900's, it functioned for 126 years as a British Garrison.
It was the first Garrison of the West Indies.
It was part of the defense network of the island which had 20 forts and 26 batteries around the island at the time ......this made Barbados one of the most fortified islands of the British West Indies.
Along with its strategic position, the island was very wealthy with the cultivation of sugar and the English defended it with vigour.
Any enemy ship attempting to attack the well-armed militia of the island would have found itself under continuous fire as the coastline was heavily guarded....none of them ever succeeded.
Ligon, the historian, in 1657 described the island as being "able to muster 10,000 foot and 1,000 good horse."


The Garrison Historical Area is home to several interesting 19th-century military buildings, grouped around the Garrison Savannah. Built in the traditional colonial design, they were built out of brick brought as ballast on the ships from England.
Most of these buildings now serve as offices and we will visit more of them in my follow-up posts.

With the withdrawal of the British troops in 1905, several of the Garrison properties were sold and others were donated to  the Barbados Government.
The buildings of the British Garrison hold the distinction of being one of the most well preserved colonial garrisons in the world due to the efforts of the Barbados National Trust, The Government with aid of the Private Sector as well as the Barbados Garrison Historical Consortium Inc.
This dedicated preservation of the Garrison's rich military history was instrumental in Barbados being added to the UNESCO World heritage List on June 25, 2011 as the "Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison."

The cannon at the Garrison facing the Garrison Savannah racetrack which used to be the parade ground for the troops.  
These cannon are a part of The Barbados National Cannon Collection.

The Main Guard Building is in the background.

A hoard of iron cannon were left behind after the withdrawal of the British forces in 1905.

Major Mike Hartland (now deceased) undertook the responsibility of locating and documenting the many cannon that were being unearthed around the island.  The cannon were littered all over the island and they were being found on old military grounds, gardens and abandoned properties, and even in the sea.
After the discovery of so many of them, "Major Mike" as he was affectionately known decided to contact Charles Trollope, an English apple farmer who was also a world authority on fortifications and ordnance....he was invited to the island to catalogue the collection.

He brought with him copies of the Royal Armoury archives which are stored in the Tower of London.
Yep, the English as well as the Spaniards, kept meticulous records of all their bullion. which included guns shipped to and from the West Indies.
When checked against the archive records it was found that more than half of the cannon were cast in the 17th century.
A wonderful article here on the many intriguing guns and cannon that were found.

The Barbados National Armoury was opened in 2004 and included in this impressive collection is an Elizabethan cannon of 1600, the only one known to exist anywhere in the world.  We will be visiting the armoury in the future, so look out for that post.
Let's continue our ramble among the cannon.

Details of the inscriptions on the cannon.

Cannon of all sizes

The beautiful Drill Hall building in the background is on the grounds of St.Ann's Fort.  It was once the soldiers’ barracks but now serves as the Officers’ Mess, the Sergeants’ Mess and the Corporals’ Mess of The Barbados Defence Force.

Some of the cannon muzzles are filled in.......

.....while others are open, and to my dismay, folks are using them as rubbish receptacles (even though there are many garbage bins around the area.)

There are three vacant bases amidst the displayed cannon and according to Major Jackman, these will be filled shortly with cannon found at Port Ferdinand.

Benches under shady trees  where one can sit awhile and enjoy the scenery.

The benches were designed and made here on the island.

The Garrison Savannah Racetrack
A six furlong race course.

I enjoyed my ramble around the Garrison, there was so much to see, and I love being immersed in history....just wonderful.
I also visited the Main Guard Building so we will be headed there next.

Solved!!!

You may recall that Mr. BrownBerts was having these itchy back rolling around on the floor episodes....which looked like a different kind of seizure.
After his medication finished on Thursday last week, he was still having a few episodes throughout the day, albeit of minimum duration.
My mind still wasn't convinced that it wasn't something else going on with my boy.
Last Friday night while I sat on the computer finishing off some emails, he started rolling around on his back again.  I watched him carefully, and then I watched him some more, and the more I watched, my brain began to turn over and suddenly I heard that still small voice say to me "Avon Skin So Soft."
Don't know why, but the more I watched him, it seemed that he was really trying to scratch an itch on his back by rolling around vigorously on the floor.
I hadn't used the Avon Skin So Soft in years, but I knew I had it stored in the back of a cupboard.
I found the bottle and squirted a small portion into the palm of my hand and rubbed it over Brownie's hair.  Immediately, yes I said immediately, I saw a small black spot emerge from near his rump. Upon closer inspection I saw that it was a flea. It was rather fat too. Grabbed it quickly and killed it.
Brownie settled down comfortably for the remainder of the night and slept peacefully.

The following day, I gave him a bath with a good scrubbing of dish soap and to my amazement three more fleas were found.  I couldn't believe it.  I had seen no sign of them at all.  I brush him sometimes twice a day, how on earth did they evade any detection?
Reading around on the internet, I found that others were using the Skin So Soft on their animals as well to keep away not only fleas but flies and other annoying biting creatures as well.
One lady was using it on her horse's tail to keep away the flies.
There was also a formula which I will share with you.
1 cup Skin So Soft
1 cup white vinegar
5 cups of water
Mix all together and keep in a spray bottle to use when needed (every week).

I did not mix such a large portion, but I did work the ratio out for a much smaller portion and I substituted Apple Cider Vinegar for the white vinegar as well.

It has worked wonders.
Brownie likes the smell of it, and he is flea-less and his hair is even softer...just like a baby's bottom.

I can't believe Mum is taking a photo of me with this dirty step.

I am not a lover of Frontline and other flea control substances for dogs....made my dogs sick anyway, and why should I have to wear gloves to apply a product that is going straight on to my dogs...that says a lot in my book.

I am so happy that this problem has now been solved....I was so worried that he might have had to go on medication....oh happy day.
I also used the Demon insecticide to spray around the property so the fleas should be no more....oh happy happy happy day!!!

Finally....

 

 Brownie checking out the veggie/herb  garden.

We finally had a little rain....started about 2.30pm on Friday afternoon and continued throughout the night.....the plants loved it....so did the weeds.
Then yesterday ended up being a rainy day too, but today the sun and the rain fought for dominion over the sky.....not one of the two wanted to throw in the towel...hence we had a mixed day of cloudy weather and some sunshine.

 

 I love running my weekly errands on Saturdays because they fall in line with my jaunt day schedule.
Throughout last week I received quite a few calls from friends who gave me the details to a few sales that I may have been interested in....thanks guys.
With my summer projects coming on stream from next week, they all knew that I was going to need all kinds of stuff to get the jobs done.
It's been ages since I last purchased a newspaper, and it's always easier to check what's happening online, and even better to peruse the classifieds for sales on my computer screen.
I love when I can save tons of money on my projects, and that is exactly what happened this weekend.
I am as happy as a bug in a rug....paints on special, wooden door on special and painting supplies at a ridiculously low price....boy am I a happy bug.
Next week will be the start of a busy summer maintenance season. Our hurricane season has officially started on June 1st, and from here on in, it's going to be living on the alert for any weather systems and working around the rain and the wind.

 

 Kale seedlings coming along well.

My gardening buddies and I are all delighted with the rainfall we have had so far.
The grass is beginning to look green again, and many plants that were having a peaceful slumber during the drought are now raising their heads from their dormancy.
Alas, this wave of renewed activity means that I will be cutting grass every two weeks again, and the shrubs will need to be trimmed more regularly.

 

Oh well, I guess we can't have it all.

Pancakes all around

This morning, breakfast was a sit down affair at the kitchen table.  Usually I have my breakfast of juice and fruit while sitting at my computer clearing emails and reading my favourite blogs from all over the world.
Today was different however, I had a hankering for pancakes.....no problem.....there is always some kind of quick pancake mix and syrup in the pantry for times like these.

A couple of minutes later breakfast was coming along nicely.

Apparently Brownie had a hankering for pancakes too.

The small one was made specially for him........

....cut into several pieces and placed in his breakfast bowl.

No looking up until it's all gone and the bowl is licked amazingly clean.

If I didn't know any better, that mournful look would certainly fool me.

"I can't believe all I'm getting is one small measly pancake."

"Maybe if I nudge her foot, she'll send some more my way."

Just then the vet called to check in on Mr. BrownBerts.....medication is finished and he has only had a few episodes (maybe two or three times a day) since.
"I am giving him an internal cleansing," I tell the vet.
"What does that entail?" he asks me.
"Just a small dose of cleansing herb tea every morning....I don't want him to be on drugs....I do believe his body needs a good cleansing," I reply.
"So what has he been eating?" he asks.
"Oh ummmmm......you know.......ummmmm..........you know......stuff he loves....."