tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77746604073776292562009-11-08T15:31:21.750-04:30Writing my garden and my life.My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-85988265681620039752009-09-29T20:34:00.004-04:302009-09-29T20:53:48.103-04:302009-09-29T20:53:48.103-04:30

My friend Debbie is a very talented artist. These are just a few of her pieces. Her sense of colour and shape is beautiful.Glass is a challenging medium but also an extremely rewarding one. Colour becomes translucent and vivid. I like glass - stained glass, mosaics, blown glass - I like the idea of controlling a medium that has the potential to be fragile, beautiful, and dangerous. It's no secret

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-61201129179565503072009-09-19T09:48:00.004-04:302009-09-19T10:03:41.025-04:302009-09-19T10:03:41.025-04:30

It was strange having a garden blog with no garden. When I moved out of my house in February, it was sad because the garden as I knew it will never exist again. I am really glad that I documented so much. It will be lovely once we have completed the renovations and I have managed to save a lot. But the fringe benefit was that I got to start all over again with a new space in my rental home. When

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-62630916759225372872009-09-18T13:30:00.010-04:302009-09-18T22:37:39.618-04:302009-09-18T22:37:39.618-04:30

It's not hard to see why I love orchids. Orchids belong to the jungly, over-heated place that identifies where I live and where I come from. As simple as that. They belong to the land that I have claimed as my own. It's the only home that I know intimately. Several of these orchids are are indigenous to Trinidad. The delicate purple one above is Encyclia bractescens.Above is the famous Oncidium

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-46950162768240498312009-09-17T21:25:00.003-04:302009-09-17T21:59:22.503-04:302009-09-17T21:59:22.503-04:30

Trinidad is a complicated home. But when someone picks up a cuatro on a jetty down the islands and begins to sing old time calypsoes, a very tangible patriotism reminds us of what makes us all Trinidadian. Thanks to Laughing Gull for the lyrics below. Click on the lyrics to see more of where this came from.By Lord Funny (1966)Foreigners always asking meWhy in Trinidad people so happyWhat to do,

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-27797599721549841792009-09-16T17:55:00.011-04:302009-09-16T22:08:00.950-04:302009-09-16T22:08:00.950-04:30

Chacachacare is the largest of the small islands that lie off the northwestern coast of Trinidad. It has an interesting history as leper colony. The original Leprosarium was located at Cocorite but with the discovery in the early 20th century that leprosy was, in fact, contagious, the colonial authorities moved to establish an "off-shore" leper colony on the relatively remote island. According

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-58148433190884210482009-06-14T13:36:00.010-04:302009-06-14T16:47:23.800-04:302009-06-14T16:47:23.800-04:30

Last Sunday, I was very lucky to experience a sacred river festival celebrated by the Hindu organisation Hindu Prachar Kendra called the Ganga Dhaaraa Teerath.According to Creedopeida The Ganga is personified in Hinduism as a goddess: Maa Ganga (Mother Ganga).When Bhagiratha, one of the descendants of Sagara, son of Dilip, learnt of this fate, he vowed to bring Ganga down to Earth so that her

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-33739455323483688092009-06-09T21:01:00.013-04:302009-06-10T13:10:28.821-04:302009-06-10T13:10:28.821-04:30

My sister Jennifer is an interior designer, but she has many talents not least of which is the ability to lure monarch butterflies into her garden with delicious milkweed, nurture them to maturity, and even hold an umbrella over them so they are not crushed by their first rainfall. My sister, the butterfly midwife. This is the email that she sent me about the butterflies - I intentionally

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-90370552928960199102009-06-09T13:44:00.006-04:302009-06-09T21:01:49.177-04:302009-06-09T21:01:49.177-04:30

My sister in Coral Gables Miami just sent these (the pictures, not the butterflies) to me. The total email reads "I had to look up the plural of chrysalis...its chrysalides."She has been rearing (?) monarch butterflies and they are just beginning to emerge from their cocoons.We have lovely monarchs here in Trinidad as well but I have been advised by my friend Courtenay that it would be very

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-58129200675600265412009-06-01T16:44:00.008-04:302009-06-01T17:26:05.868-04:302009-06-01T17:26:05.868-04:30

My new garden is a very different space. It's all about the sunshine. This garden is very sunny and this has proven to be very challenging for propagating. My cuttings and gentle plants like my impatiens burn and quail; but for the first time, I am growing sunflowers. And not by design.These flowers have popped up where we throw out the dregs of the birdseed. All the sunflower seeds that the

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-520803804752515932009-05-29T12:47:00.029-04:302009-05-30T08:52:46.151-04:302009-05-30T08:52:46.151-04:30

I was introduced to Jamaica via Kingston and the south-east coast of the island. These areas are very different from the beautiful north-coast country which is where most of the tourists in Jamaica visit. There is a different beauty to this part of Jamaica. Treasure Beach is a sleepy village far away from the large all-inclusive resorts. It is like many small villages throughtout the Caribbean

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-4931295210257826732009-04-09T08:03:00.003-04:302009-04-09T08:56:58.913-04:302009-04-09T08:56:58.913-04:30

I love Easter. It means kiteflying season in Trinidad, gorgeous weather (usually) and a chance to think about rebirth and renewal.

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-37656075552949993972009-04-08T08:17:00.003-04:302009-04-08T08:53:24.619-04:302009-04-08T08:53:24.619-04:30

This is my new space. It's very close to my old home but has a very different feel. The Cascade valley is like many other valleys in the northern range. Big basins of green that catch the trade winds and swoop them down towards the hot city. I am surrounded by large mahogany trees, a sapodilla populated by swooping bats, and a large breadfruit tree. Cascade has its own spirit. My red sealing wax

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-15684257390229494762009-04-07T18:25:00.002-04:302009-04-07T18:34:22.219-04:302009-04-07T18:34:22.219-04:30

The concept of a death mask intrigues me.We take photography's sheer immediacy for granted. Without photography, art, or various other forms of self expression, images would live only in memory. Preserved images are a form of immortality. I don't know if death masks were viewed as a form of artistic expression as they served the purpose of documenting and preserving.Many tribal people are still

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-11736333124152757522009-04-07T17:44:00.001-04:302009-04-07T17:48:43.679-04:302009-04-07T17:48:43.679-04:30

We have moved out to renovate the house. It's strange to look back at this photo because the mango tree has been gone for some time now. What I am struggling with at the moment is saving the plants that are living through the renovation. By and large we have left most of the beds and our temporary space is a big large garden. The sealing wax palm moved with me and when we are ready to go home,

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-8699224941973664582009-03-24T06:59:00.006-04:302009-03-24T07:27:47.927-04:302009-03-24T07:27:47.927-04:30

Orchid growing is not for the fainthearted. So I have the greatest respect for people like Sandy Gibson who grow from seed. The seedlings above are grown in a sterile environment in flasks until they are ready to face the new world. It is a very time consuming business and you are not guaranteed to harvest every seed. A single cattleya seed can take up to a year to get to a viable stage in the

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-34032761752870120942009-03-23T21:17:00.000-04:302009-03-23T21:17:56.580-04:302009-03-23T21:17:56.580-04:30

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-69204121698747605792009-03-23T20:21:00.005-04:302009-03-23T20:45:49.595-04:302009-03-23T20:45:49.595-04:30

There are some places in the world that are very magical. Montpelier Plantation Inn in Nevis is my magical spot I love Nevis. And they are in real trouble with the tourism economy being hit very hard. The Four Seasons Hotel, which was the bread basket of the island, was damaged in last year's hurricane and has remained shut for renovations ever since. The result is a country with lots of people

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-72155187316839349682009-03-23T20:16:00.001-04:302009-03-23T20:40:02.038-04:302009-03-23T20:40:02.038-04:30

I am really afraid of lizards. I would probably drop like a stone if I came face to face with this beauty in the confines of a room. But they fascinate me with their colours and reptilian noses and ears. The colours on this one were particularly lovely and his pink mouth is almost scandolous in its pink-ness. Godspeed Lizard. Just not in my path

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-12506147524400031192009-03-23T20:11:00.001-04:302009-03-23T20:12:36.748-04:302009-03-23T20:12:36.748-04:30

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-28557587516953577052009-03-23T20:10:00.000-04:302009-03-23T20:10:39.844-04:302009-03-23T20:10:39.844-04:30

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-39889851364003256322009-02-09T16:45:00.012-04:302009-02-09T21:20:47.001-04:302009-02-09T21:20:47.001-04:30

When I was at school in the late 1970s, steelpan was part of our curriculum. We had to learn how to "beat pan" in Form One. We didn't know how fortunate we were to be exposed to our indigenous music. My generation grew up on pan. It was ubiquitous at Carnival time and from January to the end of February every year it was the soundtrack of our lives. Certainly we were told of the dramatic

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-11183002046656200102009-02-05T08:58:00.014-04:302009-02-05T16:25:42.096-04:302009-02-05T16:25:42.096-04:30

Bunty's show opened at the Art Society in Federation Park on Tuesday night. I had taken these photos before but wanted to wait until the show opened before I posted them. Her work in these pieces is very exciting. Aptly titled "Between Worlds" she explores this theme on many levels. Bunty was, literally, between worlds when she was was working on this collection. With the decision to close

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-69335978339004127652009-01-22T07:23:00.009-04:302009-01-24T16:19:21.949-04:302009-01-24T16:19:21.949-04:30

Bunty works out of her literal pottery barn. It is at once a quiet and serene place but it is also a place of activity with the presence of the big kilns in the background. The BBC radio rumbles along in the background while everyone works quietly. On one of the work tables lie two large cannon ball fruit. Bunty is trying to propogate the cannon ball tree by seed. Because this is another passion;

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-7021921522921692582009-01-21T20:57:00.005-04:302009-01-22T07:15:18.947-04:302009-01-22T07:15:18.947-04:30

I consider myself fortunate to know Bunty O'Connor. She is a remarkable artist whose medium of choice is clay. She lives with her husband, Rory, on a picturesque ridge in central Trinidad known as Chickland which is found in the borough of Chaguanas. This has been their home for the last two decades and daughter Nan http://thingsivefoundinpockets.blogspot.com/ and her family still live on the

My Chutney Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14729456232318829085noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7774660407377629256.post-48472068852535246132009-01-19T12:41:00.004-04:302009-01-19T13:02:15.783-04:302009-01-19T13:02:15.783-04:30

I am sure that these photos have been posted before but I wanted to remind myself how beautiful down -the-islands is at this time of year. The photo below shows Venezeula, a mere seven miles away. It is so strange to look at this continent and imagine that we were once part of this land mass. When looking at the maps of Trinidad and Venezeula, it's possible to actually see where the island

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