Deh Spice Necklace .....Memories of Grenada

In the outdoor market in Grenada's capital St. George's, women sit holding long, fragrant strands of the island's spices out to passersby.  "Hey darlin,  you want a spice necklace...I give you good deal?"  It is hard to pass without breathing in their scent and eventually succumbing to buying some.  They are made up of a little of everything on this spice island...nutmegs, hidden in polished mahogany shells under lacy scarlet corsets of mace,  spiky, pungent cloves, slices of saffron-coloured turmeric root and chunks of pale-gold ginger, rough curls of cinnamon bark, cocoa beans, fermented and roasted to a deep chocoate-brown, bay leaves, folded into tidy squares that give off a whiff of balsam forest, small dark disks of tonka bean, which look like exotic beads and smell like vanilla and then to fill the spaces between the spices are strings of egg-shaped ivory river seeds. " Once dey not smell so much, place deh necklace in warm water for five minutes and deh smells...dey comin back!"

This winter in Grenada was a nice balance of boat work and new adventures.  We thoroughly enjoyed our trip north to Bequia and exploring the Tobago Cays.  We were happy to get some work done on the big girl as it had been awhile since we had had the time or the conditions to do more than fix things as they broke down.

 

 

 

 

Our haul out went well and Celebrian is in a more permanent spot this year and shouldn't have to be moved.

The first thing that we needed to do was scrape the barnacles and critters off her bottom.  We knew it was pushing it not to do bottom paint this year but we decided that with the short season we could leave it for another season.  She was quite the sight when she was lifted out and it took both of us scraping for two hours to get her clean.  The tropical water at its 28 degrees C (86F) sure grows things.  Next season we will doing bottom paint for sure.

In the evening at Cool Runnings the captain was working on his glue projects....a cover for the hatch cover to protect the varnish and his sandals which have had numerous previous glue jobs.  Yes...those are granola bars holding the sandals?!?!?

We had our farewell dinner with our friends Dennis and Arlene on Tiger Lily 2 and John and Katherine on Katerina at De Big Fish Restaurant by the boatyard. 

The captain does a terrific job of battening down all of things that could blow in strong winds. One half of our nesting dinghy Goldberry fits over the forward hatch and allows it to be left open for ventilation.  The other half protects the skylight.  Rob's new sunbrella cover proved to be a good fit and we hope that it will stay attached and protect the new varnish over the summer. 

A sure sign of spring when we arrived at the cottage are the trilliums in their full spring glory.

The first day that we were home we were anxious to get out to the cottage and check on how things had come through the winter.  The weather was so inviting that we decided to move into the cottage instead of the condo.  Of course we knew it wasn't going to last and we now have the stove going; however for several days it could have been Grenada? 

Well.....maybe not quite Grenada, but pretty darn nice for Lake Huron in early May?

Home Sweet Grenada

Today is Tuesday April 23rd and we are anchored once again in our favourite harbour boat yard of Port Egmont.  It certainly is more pleasant working on the boat here than in the heat of the boat yard.

We had one of our best sails from Carriacou the other day.  We anchored off of St. George's and then moved around to our favourite south Grenada harbour.  Here we will stay until we go to Prickly Bay on Sunday to be ready for a Monday 8am haul out at Spice Island Marine Services.  We will have a busy four days in the boat yard removing and re- greasing our anchor windless, working on the wheel brake, pulling out our hot water tank that seems to be leaking, re-bedding our forward hatch, scraping the bottom, and let's not forget making love to the batteries along with a multitude of other jobs.  Then there is the usual bleach cleaning of the lockers in order to prevent mildew and the laundering of everything on the boat. We have three out of the four nights in the yard booked for Cool Runnings so I will have ample time to get our laundry done.

This picture shows Rob with our forward hatch which he had to remove and re-bed.  This hatch is over our berth.  Recently it has rained more and I have been experiencing a kind of Chinese torture of drips in through the hatch.  It is a key hatch not only for the prevention of fresh water but it takes the brunt of salt water as well.  Since putting it back in I am happy to say we have been staying high and dry.

These pictures show me doing provision inventory and cleaning.

  Since so many of our goods are stored out of sight it is important to keep good notes on what we have.  Sometimes we just reach in to a locker and see what we pull out and that is the vegetable of the day.

On our last bus trip to St. George's I stopped at White Cane Industries to pick up a tray that we had made for the cottage.  White Cane Industries, originally known as the Blind shop, was opened in June 1960 by a social worker who trained blind and visually-impaired persons in basket weaving.   In 1990 , the name was changed to White Cane Industries and over the years it has expanded to weaving of cane and straw baskets, trays, purses, mats and frames.  It is White Cane's aim to provide persons with physical and intellectual/developmental disabilites in Grenada with essential independence skills as well as vocational training.

 As you can see from the picture the people who work here enjoy what they do.

Finding clothing that is comfortable and light enough for this climate is a challenge.  Most everything in the stores here is acrylic or polyester and there is not a cotton item to be found.  Gratefully I found a tiny shop selling one hundred per cent cotton batik wear made on the premises.

This picture shows the first stages of mixing the dyes.

Upstairs these ladies were tracing out the pictures in a wax outline.  Many of the designs are free form but there are also patterns of tropical fishes and turtles.

This lady was making a cushion cover from the ends of colourful fabric.  

The dress with its designs of fish and turtles.....practical and a lovely reminder of our winter in Celebrian's home sweet Grenada.

 Every once in awhile you have to stop and smell the frangiapani.