Real FFF and Nature Friday - Celebrating Too - by Phod

Today is a busy day here on the blog. First, we are going to acknowledge that Lady thought last Friday was the final Friday, but today is . . . .perhaps she is in another dimension (this is what we are working with here people - our help needs help!) So a bonus FFF this month!

Signs of spring are here

The air is full of great smells

Stop taking my picture

Turkey friends

First signs - see the buds?

Smelling the air

I am too busy sniffing to pose!

Thanks to Yamini and Rosy and Sunny again for the real days.

Now on to celebrating: Tomorrow is the day we celebrate my approximately 12th birthday!

Tasty Thursday - Real Whipped Cream

Regular readers may be aware that usually, on Sundays, the Man makes pancakes. Last weekend the Lady made real whipped cream. Usually we get the stuff that comes from the can. 

 Even if we had to wait . . . 

It was worth it! (The spilt food couldn't even distract us!)

We now expect this every weekend! 

Wordless Wednesday - Action From Winter

 

Travel Tuesday - Saint Lucia - by Lady

While this was the poorest island we visited (it is the 5th poorest in the Caribbean with a gross national income of $9 520 US - compared to $64, 310US in the US and $52 390US for Canada), this was my favourite island. I fell in love with the mountains, not a surprise as I have crafted a life to live in them.

 

After switching between English and French control 14 times, Saint Lucia is currently a member of the British Commonwealth. Just over 180 000 people call the island home. Like the others, tourism is essential to the economy.

We took a bus tour across the island. This was like a crazy long rollercoaster, but less safe. The roads were steep, narrow, and everyone drove too fast and tailgated. Somehow we made it from the port to our destination and back in one piece. This was definitely not a trip for those who get motion sickness.

Usie in the bus - just in case we didn't make it back alive:)

               

Looking down at our ship

A cove

  
We stopped to look at the Pitons. The Pitons are what is left of two lava domes (also referred to as volcanic plugs).  Our tour had us stop and look at them but not climb them, as some tours did. (A reason to go back).

Taken at a stop on the way back down as the sun was setting

The main stop on our tour was La Soufriere Drive in volcano. You can drive right up on the crater. It is the youngest and only live volcano on the island. It is expected to erupt again. I know when I think of active volcano, I imagine fire. However, Soufriere's above ground activity, is hot springs and bubbling mud.

Volcanic activity

After the volcano, we made a stop at a small garden. 

Here our guide told us all about the plants on the island and while I retained nothing, I enjoyed this small stop. 

As we were about to leave the gardens, we got a tropical shower. It didn't last long and for part of the drive down, we were followed by a rainbow. 

I hope you have enjoyed the beauty of this mountainous island. Please come back next week for the last instalment of our Travel Tuesday when we visit St. Kitts. 

Mischief Monday - Snow and Contest

 Well, the real mischief is likely Lady was too busy to get to visit everyone on the weekend. She went to 2 musicals on the weekend! When she was at home, she had household tasks to do and more importantly love to give us. 

Now onto the fun!

Here are the contestants and the dates they picked. (If Lady got your date wrong, please let her know, she will fix that!).

Who will be this year's winner? The optimistic in mid-April, or will the last of the snow leave after May 7th, making June the winner (we hope it is long gone before July 4 - if it is still here, we may move). 

In Celcius

We got more of the white stuff on Saturday. With a bit more coming. 

Hmmm, the driveway has snow on it again

Why is it snowing again?

Stay tuned!

From a still white wonderland!

FFF Nature Friday - Last Days of Winter

Winter stretches out

Breath in the promise of spring

As sun warms our skin

These pictures were taken on a solo snowshoe last weekend. The snow leading to the trails being too deep for the dogs. 

Thanks to Aunty-Yam for hosting FFF and Rosy and Sunny for hosting Nature Friday.

Reminder to click HERE to join our when will the snow be gone contest!

Watch Your Back - by Lee

Dear pals,

I had a very stressful four days last week because my arch nemesis, Charlotte, was staying next door. Unfortunately, the snow barrier kept me from running over and trying to fight with her. However, she and I exchanged a lot of words. 

If I was inside and heard her bark, I barked. If we were both outside, we barked a lot. Sometimes Callie joined in.  There were a lot of rude words exchanged. 

Until we can meet in person Charlotte . . . . 

Editor's note: Charlotte is Callie's grandfather's dog. She is a weimaraner. When he lived out here he had a lovely one named Ghost. However, he fostered a not so nice one Shadow, who attacked Phod several times. Since then, both dogs have been cautious around his weimaraners. I am not 100% sure why Hailey has decided she hates Charlotte. She truly wants to fight her. While Charlotte barks, she is very fearful and when Hailey comes towards her, will try and run away. As she only visits occasionally, we just keep Hailey on leash if we know Charlotte is around (and we usually do because we hear her bark!)

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Reminder to click HERE to join our when will the snow be gone contest!

Wordless Wednesday - Lazying Around

 

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Reminder to click HERE to join our when will the snow be gone contest!

Travel Tuesday - Bonaire - by Lady

Our third port was Bonaire, the B in the ABC islands. Like the others, tourism is essential for the economy and it is one of the most popular diving spots in the Caribbean. All around the island are yellow stones, marking diving spots. I was sure we had a picture of one, but I can't find it. Bonaire is special municipality of the Netherlands, and it uses the US dollar as currency. About 20 000 people live on the island.  It is famous for it's flamingos and while we saw a lot, we didn't get a good picture. 

Our tour, driven by a local guide, started on the north of the island where the first European settlers arrived.  For the first few years, slaves were required to walk the 3 hours one way daily, to the salt fields. 

Our first stop was a church that slaves had carved out of a cave.  After nearly 100 years, it is still in use. 

The church

As there is no spot of stained glass, stories from the Bible are presented around the church like this.

View from the top of the church

Our next stop was a museum.

This traditional house, showed off how the wealthier people lived on the island over the past 130 years. It is also where we tried a cactus alcohol. 

It had very low doors.

Around the museum, as in many parts of the island we saw cactus fences. 

I wish I remembered the name of this plant

On the drive we say many donkeys

We also passed a place where they were land sailing. 

Our last stop was the salt fields. Fun fact, they are currently owned by a Canadian company and all the salt is sent to Canada for further processing.

The ponds are pink because of a microorganism that makes them that colour

As mentioned earlier, when they first arrived, the slaves were required to walk 6 hours per day to and from work. After a few years, slave houses were built across from the salt fields. 

I didn't like posing by them, as I felt it made it an 'attraction' and I wanted to capture how small the house was, so I used me as a marker. 

inside

I took some time standing in a stunningly beautiful spot on the planet to sit with slavery and all of the misuse of humans, historical and present. I didn't want to get lost in the misery that can come from such thoughts. I held it, and resolved to remember and do what I can to make the world a better place. 

The horror and the beauty.
Accepting two things can be true at the same time.

This felt like a heavy post, and as a historian at heart, I think it is important for us to all acknowledge our shared histories - the good, the bad and the ugly. Next week's post, a visit to St. Lucia, will be back to looking at nature. 

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Reminder to click HERE to join our when will the snow be gone contest!