No More Days...

Okay, this is it. I'm no longer going to post everyday. There I said it. I have been feeling guilty about not posting everyday, but then when days go by & no one has looked at the blog or commented, I feel like I should just call it quits. But then, I remember how it feels to get the day's events off my chest & down on paper, er, something like that, and think I should keep plugging away.

So, instead of panicking when I'm 3-14 days behind, I'll simply let it be & do my best to keep you up to speed on what's happening! Naturally, the day after I decided to do this, there were about 20 people who checked out the blog all the way from Poland to Korea! But I have to be honest with myself & say that I need to start doing things that are a bit more productive - like editing the gazillion photos I have sitting on hard drives waiting to be shared with the world.

Take the previous photo from the Mother's Day post. I showed it to Jaco & he didn't think it was a photo that I had taken. He was surprised & said it was good! (Thanks Babe!) When I sent the photo to his Mom, she asked me if it was a postcard & where did I get it. It's certainly a confidence booster that they think I'm that good, but just reinforcement that I need to get crackalackin'! And now that I've said it, I'm sure you'll hold me accountable! Right?!

I have a business name registered, a blog registered & now I just need to edit some photos for the website & I'll be up & running! Oh & then there's the actual business side of it where I actually take photos & get paid for it. But that's a minor detail, no?

In any case, my love affair with blogging has become, well, somewhat unhealthy, as I've been obsessed with posting EVERY day. Realistically I could still do it, but when it's same old, same old, what's the point? The few readers I have will just become more & more bored.

If you care to still see a daily post, let me know you're out there, otherwise, I'll do my best to post once a week at the very least. More if life gets exciting!

So what have I been up to? Well, let's see. A little shopping at the V&A, making some raw cuisine - sushi & some seaweed/sprout salad, and raw chocolates tonight!

I made raw sushi with untoasted nori sheets, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, orange pepper, carrot, cucumber & of course, wasabi. Hennie enjoyed the sushi & Petro tried it for the first time ever. I was quite happy I walked in when I did, as she was about to have her first taste of sushi with a HUGE blob of wasabi on top! She thought it was avocado paste! Phew! I would have been the worst daughter-in-law ever! I'm sure she would have still had draining sinuses!

The seaweed salad was also quite yummy. I used soaked arame, chickpea, mung bean, adzuki, and lentil sprouts, along with some carrot, cucumber, and pumpkin seeds. I used the leftover dressing from the other days tabbouleh, but added more olive oil, cumin & cut up some candied ginger. It was pretty good, if I dare say so!

Lastly, the raw chocolate. My first attempt & I think it will satisfy my sweet tooth while I'm on the detox. Cacao powder, cacao butter, coconut oil, powdered vanilla, goji berries soaked in agave nectar... and then I got creative. I added some maple flavouring & pumpkin pie spice to one batch, and then I added some chipotle to another batch. That batch is officially my sexxy chocolate. It's so darned spicy, it has to be sexxy. I thought chipotle was just regular peppers that have been smoked. Not HOT peppers that have been smoked! Whoops! I then did a final batch with coconut flakes & made a chocolate bark, so to speak. Jaco enjoyed the goji berry one, as did Petro. Looks like I'll be the only one eating my sexxy chocolate. Maybe I should patent that!

On that note, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is the big Roxette concert & I'm super stoked to hear them belt out the good stuff!

Lekker slaap,

xxxxMaria

So we were driving this fast... (110 km/h)...

When we saw this car in front of us. Note the donut tire! Crazy!

Silliness! Full car too!

This friendly little spider was outside the door to our place the other morning.

Yes, those are his EYES you can see.

In case you thought he was smaller than he is. He's not.

Cool fish at the Fish Market.

The crustacean in the background had his lunch in his grasp. The fish swimming about were trying to steal his lunch. He would use his antennae to bat the would-be thieves away. It was quite entertaining to watch!

The cockroach stuck to the hood of our car. He lasted until about 80km/h. So gross.

Here's a video of Papa Roach...

Walking back home.

The stunning bouquet of flowers the flower shop was making for Mother's Day.

Where I'll be tomorrow night! Yay!

Day 513 - Trinidad

Today was a pretty day. I managed to score a ticket on a tour to a bird sanctuary. I didn't realize it was a bird sanctuary until I got there! We drove in a small bus for a good hour. I am not so great at staying awake in a bus. I dozed off & on as we wound our way up a narrow mountain road. At one point, we slowed down to see the steep hillsides covered in a mesh/netting type thing. All along the netting grew a vine & some strange kind of plant that produced a green vegetable. It looked a little like an avocado, but wasn't. I couldn't imagine harvesting all the vegetables by hand on those steep hillsides!


Arriving at the Ava Wright sanctuary, I walked out onto the platform & there were OODLES of pretty birds. Hummingbirds, purple birds, green birds, yellow... I have never seen so many different colours in one place before! It was fantastic! There were also a few large lizards that weren't so cool, but luckily they kept their distance.


Our group took a walk through the rainforest & found several different 'hangouts' where different species of birds could be found. Naturally, I don't remember their names, but you can see the photos of them below. There was a 'bell bird' that sounded like a cowbell ringing whenever the bird would 'chirp'. It was loud & the sound would really travel! If I had only wrote down the names of the other birds... darn. 


Oh & there was one passenger who told me off. For using my flash. Yeah. I commented to him how wonderful the tour was & how beautiful the birds were. He asked me where I was from. I told him Canada. He said he figured I was from the Americas because I was using my flash. He carried on to quip that using a flash is 'taboo' in Europe & no serious Photographer would be caught dead using a flash for wildlife. I explained that the flash actually helps the colours 'pop' on the birds & that I don't normally use a flash for outdoor photography. WIthout it, the hummingbirds look flat & dull. With a flash, their colours come alive & they looks incredibly vibrant. He didn't agree with me & I figured maybe I couldn't teach this Old Dog a new trick, so I did my best to avoid him for the rest of the trip. I was happy with my shots!


When I got back to the terminal, it was nearly sailaway. I had a bit of loose ends to tie up. Tonight was the leaving night for Bronwyn & Leana. I had arranged their leaving gifts. Usually the team will pitch in $10 or so to buy the leaver a gift. Often it is something from the shops & not always something the leaver wants or has room for in the luggage. 


I put on my creative hat & decided to suss out a spa in South Africa that would be close to either girl & get a gift certificate for a massage once they were at home. After that, I created a leaving card that everyone could sign & wish them well on their way. Of course, we arranged for some champagne toasts in the cabin, Amarula (a South African liqueur) as well as some snack food for our little get together. We went for dinner in the mess, as it was Leana's favourite meal tonight. After dinner, we gathered in the cabin, sat around & had some laughs, chats & good times. Eddie brought us some special Philippino salad he'd made. It will be really strange to have them gone tomorrow night. They will be missed!


Tomorrow we're back to Barbados. I wonder what the little island of perfection will bring...


xxxxMaria

 This struck me funny. I don't often see an Indian headdress outside of Canada!

 The netting to hold up the vines/vegetables

 The steep hillsides were covered in them!

 Pretty orchid

 Real Cacao pod!

 Hummingbirds... and plenty of other birds

 Apparently this is a really rare bird to see. I was the only one who saw it!

 Scarlet capped or something or other woodpecker

Nelis 

 Bronwyn tries red for a minute

 Becky tries red for a minute

 Nelis gets in touch with his Bob Marley side

Leana goes Britney for a minute