Friday morning the "grand stand" sat deserted and quiet after Thursday night's "dancin' in the street." You guessed right! Grandstand is the little white porch in front of the little blue house next door to the little green shop on the corner across the street from our big house.
We took advantage of the "dancin' in the street" Friday night. Picture doesn't show the cooks on the right of the little blue house, and because it was dark outside when we snapped this picture from our veranda, you may have to look very closely, but it does show one bass and two snare drummers and "One-Note-Joe" tooting his long valveless trumpet. . . and one of the ladies "dancin' in the street"! Behind her is an intense game of "peppa" (poker of some sort).
(!#%$&*$#!!!! Inadvertantly deleted this picture! Honestly, blogging is maddening!!!) Will post it somewhere, sometime later. UGH!)
#$%**@!!! Darn this blog! #*&%!!! It will not cooperate! Hence, dialogue for the picture above, and the picture below, follows . . . the picture below, that is: (ha-ha)
Some have asked questions about groceries, fruits, vegetables, etc.. What you see here is some produce we purchased at the "market" . . . where farmers come Saturday mornings to sell from backs of vehicles or boxes. We carry all this stuff home weekly in a BIG PINK CANVAS BAG, bought years ago at Old Navy. (See it on the counter in the picture above.) The loaded bag is very heavy! When we get home everything is given a "Clorox bath" before it's put away (good luck with that) in our refrigerator, which is just the right size to go with our little "Easy Bake Oven." What you see in the bleach bath are tomatoes, cucumbers, papaya, cabbage, and plantain. To the left of the sink, a small round melon that cost EC$2 per pound. To the right, the big pink bag, lettuce and carrots, microwave, paper towels, etc.. (Hint: We would make good use of a cheap plastic under-the-counter-mount paper-towel holder, which we've hunted for and cannot find! Need only one, so please don't everyone run to Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree and send it to us. . . but, we do need one!) The three white cylinders behind the bleach jug is the water-filter system the mission president's wife bought in Puerto Rico for missionary apartments. Dominican tap water is OK to drink, just not particularly tasty. May not be true in other Eastern Caribbean islands.
(**This is the dialogue for the first out-of-sequence picture for this post.) Snapped these pictures of the little B&B guest house, which is only a stone's throw from our apartment, Friday morning coming home from my walk up the hill. Thought it maybe of interest. Ours is the house with the blue roof, bottom left. Don't know the neighbors to the right of the B&B . . . yet.
Same B&B . . . from our back fence.
Guys gather each and every morning at 6:00 to play "fute-ball" at this park by the round-about where I turn around to go back home. Noticed Friday morning there were not as many participants or the usual BB game on the court behind the soccer players.
#$%**@!!! Darn this blog! #*&%!!! It will not cooperate! Hence, dialogue for the picture above, and the picture below, follows . . . the picture below, that is: (ha-ha)
Some have asked questions about groceries, fruits, vegetables, etc.. What you see here is some produce we purchased at the "market" . . . where farmers come Saturday mornings to sell from backs of vehicles or boxes. We carry all this stuff home weekly in a BIG PINK CANVAS BAG, bought years ago at Old Navy. (See it on the counter in the picture above.) The loaded bag is very heavy! When we get home everything is given a "Clorox bath" before it's put away (good luck with that) in our refrigerator, which is just the right size to go with our little "Easy Bake Oven." What you see in the bleach bath are tomatoes, cucumbers, papaya, cabbage, and plantain. To the left of the sink, a small round melon that cost EC$2 per pound. To the right, the big pink bag, lettuce and carrots, microwave, paper towels, etc.. (Hint: We would make good use of a cheap plastic under-the-counter-mount paper-towel holder, which we've hunted for and cannot find! Need only one, so please don't everyone run to Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree and send it to us. . . but, we do need one!) The three white cylinders behind the bleach jug is the water-filter system the mission president's wife bought in Puerto Rico for missionary apartments. Dominican tap water is OK to drink, just not particularly tasty. May not be true in other Eastern Caribbean islands.The subject of groceries, meats, and other associated trivia, will be covered in a future edition of Dominica for Dummies.
(**This is the dialogue for the first out-of-sequence picture for this post.) Snapped these pictures of the little B&B guest house, which is only a stone's throw from our apartment, Friday morning coming home from my walk up the hill. Thought it maybe of interest. Ours is the house with the blue roof, bottom left. Don't know the neighbors to the right of the B&B . . . yet.
Same B&B . . . front view.
Same B&B . . . from our back fence.
Guys gather each and every morning at 6:00 to play "fute-ball" at this park by the round-about where I turn around to go back home. Noticed Friday morning there were not as many participants or the usual BB game on the court behind the soccer players.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010, we drove to what appears in this picture to be an island. In actuality it is the southwestern most tip of Dominica. The cement highway on the left is a little slice of heaven--a small portion of the roads and sea walls currently being financed and constructed by China. Some of the pictures that follow will show more clearly that "Scotts Head" is in reality the last bit of the island of Dominica before the it submerges itself in the Caribbean Sea. 
To the left of Scotts Head you can see a little surf blown in from the Atlantic Ocean; to the right, the Caribbean Sea. In our wildest dreams we'd never have thought about standing betwixt the Atlantic and Caribbean!
Oops! This view of Scotts Head is out of order. No problem! Simply another shot--a distant view of Scotts Head, Dive Dominica day-cruiser, empty fishing boat, and two females enjoying one of the all-too-few sandy Dominican beaches and warmth of the Caribbean Sea.
These four men were the first of many that eventually pulled their fishing net from the sea. The man carrying green fins is one of two divers we observed Tuesday. Divers seem to be an integral part of all fishing crews. Dean was told they release turtles that get tangled in the nets. Along the sea wall where we walk mornings in Roseau, we've most often observed only one diver with each crew.
By the time the fishing net was pulled from the sea, the number of 'retrievers' had increased to many--on this end--and many on the other. Sadly, the picture we'd hoped to capture of all the villagers that arrived to see the day's catch is not among the many we snapped ... without benefit of a camera view-finder. (We're soooooooooo looking forward to receiving the better camera we left at home, which as we understand is now in the proverbial mail!) It's obvious to us that many years ago someone must have taught Dominicans to "fish" for themselves, not to ask others for a "fish"! The few we've observed begging here are street people, most of whom have mental problems.
Two men and a boat. T'would have been nice capture the velocity with which they rowed when they were placing the fishing net where and when it would avail the best catch. This they did at high noon under the searing heat of the Caribbean sun. Perhaps they were comfortable, maybe even a little chilled, with winds blowing off the Atlantic.
This shot is probably too far away to capture the "too-nah" flipping and flopping to get themselves back home to the sea from whence they came. You may note a few white bodies. We assume they belong to cruisers from the Carnival ship docked at Roseau.
Unfortunately we failed to write the artist's name, (Henderson, Anderson, can't remember) or the gallery in Roseau where he sells what he "paints on canvas." Despite our over-sight, we should recognize the name when/if we want to locate the gallery. For now, we're content with this photograph of his painting of the 'cool drink' available everywhere on the island. (The drink, not the eye-catching image or the nicely painted road-side shop. We've seen no others to rival it in our travels . . .yet!)
Wondering about this mess? Sillies! It's our three most treasured items. On the far right is what we use in the evenings, particularly Sunday evenings. We've given up practically every luxury and enjoyment we've ever known, . . . except buttered popcorn! We're not willing! We paid a mighty price for it at Astaphan's but if it lasts, will be both our entertainment and joy for the next 17 months! Oh, how we miss friends, movies, restaurant food and all the other luxuries we took for granted for many years . . .
Hidden in this picture you may find a dog, a chicken and a goat. More apparent is the conveyor-like apparatus built and used by fishermen, we surmise for removing boats from the water, elevating them when repairs are needed, or simply to let them dry. ??? We may never know! The zinc 'thing-a-ma-bob' to the right, in the shade of an almond tree, is typically Caribbean--be it warehouse, storage, fence or home.
These four men were the first of many that eventually pulled their fishing net from the sea. The man carrying green fins is one of two divers we observed Tuesday. Divers seem to be an integral part of all fishing crews. Dean was told they release turtles that get tangled in the nets. Along the sea wall where we walk mornings in Roseau, we've most often observed only one diver with each crew.
By the time the fishing net was pulled from the sea, the number of 'retrievers' had increased to many--on this end--and many on the other. Sadly, the picture we'd hoped to capture of all the villagers that arrived to see the day's catch is not among the many we snapped ... without benefit of a camera view-finder. (We're soooooooooo looking forward to receiving the better camera we left at home, which as we understand is now in the proverbial mail!) It's obvious to us that many years ago someone must have taught Dominicans to "fish" for themselves, not to ask others for a "fish"! The few we've observed begging here are street people, most of whom have mental problems.
Two men and a boat. T'would have been nice capture the velocity with which they rowed when they were placing the fishing net where and when it would avail the best catch. This they did at high noon under the searing heat of the Caribbean sun. Perhaps they were comfortable, maybe even a little chilled, with winds blowing off the Atlantic.
This shot is probably too far away to capture the "too-nah" flipping and flopping to get themselves back home to the sea from whence they came. You may note a few white bodies. We assume they belong to cruisers from the Carnival ship docked at Roseau.
Unfortunately we failed to write the artist's name, (Henderson, Anderson, can't remember) or the gallery in Roseau where he sells what he "paints on canvas." Despite our over-sight, we should recognize the name when/if we want to locate the gallery. For now, we're content with this photograph of his painting of the 'cool drink' available everywhere on the island. (The drink, not the eye-catching image or the nicely painted road-side shop. We've seen no others to rival it in our travels . . .yet!)
Wondering about this mess? Sillies! It's our three most treasured items. On the far right is what we use in the evenings, particularly Sunday evenings. We've given up practically every luxury and enjoyment we've ever known, . . . except buttered popcorn! We're not willing! We paid a mighty price for it at Astaphan's but if it lasts, will be both our entertainment and joy for the next 17 months! Oh, how we miss friends, movies, restaurant food and all the other luxuries we took for granted for many years . . .
. . . All other 'things' are merely kitchen counter-top decorations! Those who know the scullery maid know how much she loves clutter . . . especially valuable counter-space clutter! We use, reuse, and re-reuse everything, including plastic bags. The empty plastic bottles become our cool water containers when we take them several times each day from the freezer. The canisters, the ones with the lime-green lids, keep staples, i.e., sugar, flour, milk powder, cornmeal, and whatever else has been in the freezer for at least 24-hours ... to kill whatever varmints that may be living there. We've used the Salad Shooter only once! (The small kitchen appliance I thought we could not live without, which occupied valuable suitcase space.) It's difficult and impossible to clean thoroughly enough to keep the teeny-teeny-tiny ants, the bane of our existence, from making their home in its grooves.
And this? It's our dishwasher! The dishwasher's best friend! . . . about the only thing she brought from home of any real worth here. Without it dishes would not be clean. (We have to settle for reasonably clean. Cold water, very HARD, cold water, does not a good dishwasher make! We hope the Hodges are enjoying the brand new water softener at their current residence!)
And THIS . . . is our combination Bosch and Kitchen Aide! We purchased it here! It serves us well!
And THIS . . . is our combination Bosch and Kitchen Aide! We purchased it here! It serves us well!
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