It is a week or so since I wrote in the blog. Last Friday, Feb 20, 2009 around 4.30 pm Tony and I drove from St.Philip, where we live, to Holetown, St. James to set up a 'tent' in preparation for the following 2 days.
I shared a spot with two other women. One makes various gift items from homemade paper....made from banana leaf fibre and other vegetable fibre found locally. the other makes ceramic tiles imbedded with dried leaves and flowers from her garden.
Setting up the tent was quite interesting!! I had borrowed it from a friend and Tony and I had to figure out which poles fitted which!!....Ha Ha!! We were finally helped by this guy who walked by and took pity on us. I was so glad as Tony was beginning to lose his patience....of which he has very little!
Finally when we were all set the other two ladies came along!! The two days ...Sat. and Sun were very interesting. There were lots of overseas visitors as well as locals and my prints on canvas generated quite a bit of interest. However, it was evident that the recession is taking hold everywhere. The Brits were not spending and neither were the Americans or Canadians. I did actually sell 3 prints and was happy with that. I consider I am in a learning mode right now . I am finding out what people like and also how to display my work. I did meet quite a few other artists who are well known and successful here in Barbados. Without xception they admired my work and one said she felt I should charge more!
On Tuesday Tony and I went to the cat lady in St. Philip and managed to get two tomcats into carriers for their neutering the following day . We got home and transferred them into the ouside holding cages where they sat and glowered at us. Yesterday morning we transferred them back into the carriers for their ride to the vet. As we are doing this they are spraying in midair. If you know what tomcat smells like...then you can imagine!!!!. The hood of my car was covered in bright yellow noxious droplets as was the inside of the carriers. We had, of course protected the back seat of the car with a large shower curtain and the sides and backs of the carriers were encased in black garbage bags ...only an opening in the front of the carriers was left for air.
When we finally got to the vet for the required 8.30 arrival time the smell in my car was amazing. I just kept praying that somehow it would not be permanent! We stumbled in with our fragrant loads and the look on the receptionist face was one of horror. You may think that they smell this all the time at a vet. office but this was exceptional!...oh yes, by now one of the boys had pooed. Th vet came out to reception and said something like,"Oh my God, bring them through to the back, fast. Once they were handed over Tony took the carriers out to the back of the premises and with the help of wipes and paper towel he cleaned them up and relined them with newspaper for the journey home.
Within half an hour the boys were no longer boys and we were on our wayback to their home. My poor car is making such terrible noises I am wondering if I shall be able to take the other two males next week. When we got back to our home Tony had to dismantle the hoding cages and scrub them with bleach, along with the carriers. I put the shower curtains in the washing machine with bleach and actually have just brought them off the line and back in the house. The car does not smell at all thank God but I am so worried about it otherwise. Our pensions have been so affected by the exchange rate between Britain and Barbados that our monthly income has been cut in half. There is nothing left over for car maintenance and my volunteer work with Hope animal sanctuary will be really curtailed without a car....I am so tired right now so will close and write more tomorrow.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
dog food etc
Apart from Jane I don't think anyone else is reading this blog as I cannot seem to come up with an address for anyone to type in and get to it!.
Never mind I will plow on and see what the future brings!
The other day I stewed some chicken backs which are quite cheap, to mix in with the dried food I give the dogs. I usually add a couple of stock cubes and a little tomato ketchup as the dogs seems to really like that. The end result is quite a lot of meat and a nice rich gravy. I make enough to last 4 dogs 3 days. It does entail taking out every single big and little bone with my bare hands but it is a labour of love.
The point of this story is that after the chicken was cooked and the stock cubes added I reached for the tomato ketchup. Now, here in Barbados there are a number of brands and one has a very pretty plastic cover with pictures of tomatoes all over it. You know the kind of covering on some glass food containers...like it is vacuum applied, like a second skin. Well, Tony has a thing about pickling hot peppers and making various hot sauces. He loves them and I am so allergic it gives me an instant asthma attack if I get too close to his masterpieces! Like I said, I reached for the sauce, take off the top and slosh some of it into the chicken stew. Except that it isn't tomato but one of Tony's concoctions!!!
I was so furious...I was spluttering and coughing and swearing!!. I had to throw all the gravy away and then put the meat in a sieve and run cold tap water through it and thoroughly rinse every trace of the pepper sauce away. Then I had to pick all the bits of of pepper that were still stuck to the meat. Tony proceeds to tell me that he had made it some time ago and had told me he had used that bottle. I do remember something of the sort and asking him at the time to put a label on the bottle as one cannot see the true contents. "Oh" he says, "I thought you knew that was pepper sauce".
I collected Rosie the latest kitten from the vet yesterday. She is fine and leaping about just as before. Cats and dogs always amaze me by the the way they get over spaying and neutering.
Next Tuesday I am taking 3 female cats to be spayed. Not my cats...they belong to a blind lady who is getting overwhelmed with cats but does love them and does her best. The Hope animal Sanctuary is paying for them and I am transporting them. It is a never ending job here in Barbados....dealing with strays and trying to educate people about spayiing and neutering.
Never mind I will plow on and see what the future brings!
The other day I stewed some chicken backs which are quite cheap, to mix in with the dried food I give the dogs. I usually add a couple of stock cubes and a little tomato ketchup as the dogs seems to really like that. The end result is quite a lot of meat and a nice rich gravy. I make enough to last 4 dogs 3 days. It does entail taking out every single big and little bone with my bare hands but it is a labour of love.
The point of this story is that after the chicken was cooked and the stock cubes added I reached for the tomato ketchup. Now, here in Barbados there are a number of brands and one has a very pretty plastic cover with pictures of tomatoes all over it. You know the kind of covering on some glass food containers...like it is vacuum applied, like a second skin. Well, Tony has a thing about pickling hot peppers and making various hot sauces. He loves them and I am so allergic it gives me an instant asthma attack if I get too close to his masterpieces! Like I said, I reached for the sauce, take off the top and slosh some of it into the chicken stew. Except that it isn't tomato but one of Tony's concoctions!!!
I was so furious...I was spluttering and coughing and swearing!!. I had to throw all the gravy away and then put the meat in a sieve and run cold tap water through it and thoroughly rinse every trace of the pepper sauce away. Then I had to pick all the bits of of pepper that were still stuck to the meat. Tony proceeds to tell me that he had made it some time ago and had told me he had used that bottle. I do remember something of the sort and asking him at the time to put a label on the bottle as one cannot see the true contents. "Oh" he says, "I thought you knew that was pepper sauce".
I collected Rosie the latest kitten from the vet yesterday. She is fine and leaping about just as before. Cats and dogs always amaze me by the the way they get over spaying and neutering.
Next Tuesday I am taking 3 female cats to be spayed. Not my cats...they belong to a blind lady who is getting overwhelmed with cats but does love them and does her best. The Hope animal Sanctuary is paying for them and I am transporting them. It is a never ending job here in Barbados....dealing with strays and trying to educate people about spayiing and neutering.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
not so magic after all!!
Now I only have one blog and the other two have been deleted I cannot find my blog with all my postings on it. The only person who knows about it or reads it is myself...oh yes, also my friend Jane. I am rather frustrated to say the least!!. If Jane reads this can you please contact me and help me. How I found it myself was to put in http://sylvialighthouse.blogspot.com/ That took me to two web choices and I picked the first one which took me to a blank blog saying that the blog had been removed. I then clicked 'home' and found my description of myself page and was able to add a new post....Help me please...anyone!!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Magic!!
When I first started this blog I didn't know what I was doing!!!...Thus I ended up with three blogs....all with identical titles...I finally found out how to get all my postings onto one blog but couldn't get rid of the other two blogs!. I have now found out how to delete blogs and have done so...This is the only blog with this name. I hope people can find this one!!
Fireflies
7.00 pm. I just went out to the back garden to take my washing in before it rains. It is very dark but an almost full moon is shining through the coconut palms. I noticed that there were a lot of fireflies in and around the palm fronds....such a magical sight...sometimes there are a lot like tonight and sometimes none at all. The firefly is actually a dull looking little brown beetle and in the daylight is not at all interesting to look at. But in the dark, when it displays this amazingly bright little spark of light...on..off...on...off...and there are many altogether, the effect is so beautiful.
One of the benefits of tropical island life!
One of the benefits of tropical island life!
This is going to be a busy week for me. I am getting ready for an art/craft fair at Holetown here in Barbados on Feb. 21/22. I will be sharing a 10'x10' booth with two other ladies. I will be selling my prints, hopefully. Chris Ishmael will be selling her 3 dimensional collages all done with natural fibers and homemade papers and Judith with be selling miniature gardens in bowls. I am trying to find the last few pieces of photo printable canvas that I know are in my office somewhere! I buy this material in California...cannot get this in Barbados.
I like to print on heavyweight textured photo paper or canvas. I never print glossy photos. What I like to achieve is a 'painterly' look to my prints...either watercolor or oils.
I have to take my latest kitten, now over 4 moths old, to the vet to be spayed this Thursay , Feb 12. I am also involved with helping to get a lot (17) of cats/kittens neutered /spayed for a lady who is almost blind..I also discovered two dogs in poor condition when I did the assessment. Very nice lady and her elderly mother....but overwhelmed by numbers. This is a classic example of why animals should be neuterd/spayed!!
It is so hot today...Alice was quick about her business just now and back in to the relative cool of the bedroom. However my little office feels so hot and I wish for the umpteenth time that we had air conditioning!!
I have noticed, with all the rain we have had lately...much more than usual for this time of the year, that many of the fallen coconuts are sprouting...I think I am going to try and sell these....maybe $10 each...we are so broke with our pensions from England being effected by the recession. Tony thinks I am nuts Ha Ha!! (coconuts!) We will see. I am going to make a notice and put it by the front gate.
I like to print on heavyweight textured photo paper or canvas. I never print glossy photos. What I like to achieve is a 'painterly' look to my prints...either watercolor or oils.
I have to take my latest kitten, now over 4 moths old, to the vet to be spayed this Thursay , Feb 12. I am also involved with helping to get a lot (17) of cats/kittens neutered /spayed for a lady who is almost blind..I also discovered two dogs in poor condition when I did the assessment. Very nice lady and her elderly mother....but overwhelmed by numbers. This is a classic example of why animals should be neuterd/spayed!!
It is so hot today...Alice was quick about her business just now and back in to the relative cool of the bedroom. However my little office feels so hot and I wish for the umpteenth time that we had air conditioning!!
I have noticed, with all the rain we have had lately...much more than usual for this time of the year, that many of the fallen coconuts are sprouting...I think I am going to try and sell these....maybe $10 each...we are so broke with our pensions from England being effected by the recession. Tony thinks I am nuts Ha Ha!! (coconuts!) We will see. I am going to make a notice and put it by the front gate.
Blog overkill!!
After a few attempts to start a Blog and some encouragement from my old friend Jane I have managed to get this one going. However, I have a big problem: I actually started 3 Blogs as I didn't know what I was doing...all having the same name....Sylvia @ the lighthouse. This is the only one with any postings on it but if someone gets either of the other two as they search for my blog they will find nothing. I would like some advice from anyone who knows....How do I just delete the other two blogs...you know, shut them down, eradicate them, AGHHH!!! I have spent hours trying to do this. I did manage to delete any postings on the other two blogs but I just want them to disappear entirely!!!. HELP!!
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