Monthly Archives: April 2016

Amusing, Belize, Saving Money

How To Make A Gnome Happy.

New.Munchkin.Gnome.Yellow.BootsHello Everyone!  Just something short and sweet today.  Gnome likes specific things that usually allows for practical applications…this is one of them.  If you know what this actually is, you will know how to procure one.  Otherwise, you will just think it is a piece of junk and if you ever happened to have one cross your path.  Finding one of these makes a Gnome happy:

A Gnomish Object.
A Gnomish Object.

Just one of those Gnome things.  There are of course expensive shiny things that he likes…like gold…again, still immensely practical!  Ha-Ha 🙂

Amusing, Belize, Farming, Food, Pets

Thank-you Zazen Duckies!

Food.MunchkinMore harvests from the farm…the ducks have been laying so we have been eating lovely eggs.  Here in Belize, the shop bought eggs are really, really bad…they are runny and the yolks are anaemic.  You can’t even make a proper custard with them…believe me, I have tried and I ended up with a yellow snot that won’t thicken.  Thanks to our Zazen duckies for their contribution to the farm!

Duck Eggs.
Duck Eggs.

Look at the lovely fresh eggs…

Egg Tomato Dish.
Egg Tomato Dish.

I’d love an egg mold to make flower-shaped eggs like these…

Flower Shaped Egg.
Flower Shaped Egg.

I asked Gnome to make me one and he replied with,

“…add it to the list dearest…you might get it in a couple of years time if you’re lucky.”

And I said,

“Oh.”

Munchkin.Funny.Shot

Oh what a shame!

Belize, Food

A Cooling Dessert: Vanilla Agar Cubes.

Munchkin.DrinkingIt’s getting hot again in Belize as the dry season continues.  Vanilla Agar Cubes is a really nice cooling dessert for these hot days.  I managed to find agar at the Taiwanese store though I am sure that you could find some in a health food store in Belize.  It’s a really easy recipe…light and refreshing.

Vanilla Agar Cubes.
Vanilla Agar Cubes.

You just need to put the vanilla flavoured agar into ice-cube trays and set.  Agar is great in the Tropic because can set at room temperature (40C/ 104F) and sets quicker than jelly.

Agar Cubes.
Agar Cubes.

For the full recipe, check out Vanilla Agar Cubes.

Oooooh!!! Yummy without the tummy…it’s low fat too!!

Belize, Farming, Food, Plants

Bananas, Bamboo and More Harvests…

Munchkin.Back.ViewAfter the big rain, everything has started to pick up again.  We have bananas coming out of our ears; we have been making banana flour.  Also, just eating them ripe and green.  Dogs, cat, piggies and duckies have obligingly helped us out with the bountiful harvest.

Bunch of Ripening Bananas.
Bunch of Ripening Bananas.

We are going to get a ton of jackfruit this year.  I can count at least 30 fruit on one tree only.  These “big babies” can get to about 22lbs (10kgs) in weight; if you have never seen one before, they look like big alien pods once they ripen.

Jackfruit Tree With Fruit.
Jackfruit Tree With Fruit.

Ripe Jackfruit: Big Babies!!

Jackfruit Baby.
Jackfruit Baby.

We have a huge patch of Snake Plant (also known as Mother In Law’s Tongue and St. George’s Sword).  I am not actually sure what they are called locally in Belize.  Apparently, the plants have some traditional medicinal value; mashed up snake plant is put into chicken drinking water as a natural antibiotic.  Incidentally, it is quite funny that, once upon a time, I used to buy these as pot plants from Ikea to decorate my living room!

Mother In Law's Tongue.
Mother In Law’s Tongue.
Close Up Mother In Law's Tongue.
Close Up Mother In Law’s Tongue.

This is a slender bamboo often called “fish-pole.” The diameter of this particular type is only about 1 inch (2.5cm).

Fishing Pole Bamboo.
Fishing Pole Bamboo.

They split very easily:

Splitting Bamboo.
Splitting Bamboo.
Split Bamboo.
Split Bamboo.

We are going to dry a whole bunch of these to make tiles or blinds?  Something useful anyway.  I am sure that the artistic ones out there can automatically see the potential!

Belize, Farming, Plants

It's Time To Pollinate Vanilla!

3 Comments

TogetherThe vanilla vines are flowering and it’s time to pollinate.  The flowers are really beautiful; we have grown the plants up our coconut trees.  In our experience, the flowers open in early morning and start closing by about 10am so there is small window of opportunity to pollinate.  In past years, we tried to leave it to the stingless bees (meliponia) to do this labour-intensive work for us but we have only managed to get about 2 to 4 pods a plant.  If hand pollinated correctly, each plant can produce about 50 to 100 vanilla pods.

Vanilla Flower
Vanilla Flower
Vanilla Flowering.
Vanilla Flowering.
Vanilla Flower Raceme.
Vanilla Flower Raceme.

We are hoping to get a few more vanilla pods this year so Gnome has been carrying the ladder from vine to vine to pollinate.

Ladder For Pollinating Vanilla.
Ladder For Pollinating Vanilla.

It’s a rather delicate operation whilst trying to balance yourself on a ladder too…another Gnome job to add to his lengthy curriculum vitae.

Vanilla Flower.
Vanilla Flower.
Keep On Pollinating Gnome.
Keep On Pollinating Gnome.

The vanilla will be flowering for for the next 2 to 4 weeks.  So, we’ll be up early every day messing around with the vanilla for a while.  What Fun. 🙂

Oh and another Gnome Haiku describing this experience:

his aluminium

wings shudder with strain while bees

bathe in yellow pollen

Amusing, Belize, Philosophy

Haiku Gnome.

Gnome.Writing.in.the.LibrarySome of you may have noticed that Gnome has started posting up Haikus.  I think that it is a good thing and it gives us a few giggles and guffaws.  Often when we find something humourous, nobody else does so this one may purely be for our own benefit.  Though we would be pleased if these were received with joy and release  in your hearts too.  😉

So, how did this come about?  This is what happened…

I had received a pannetone cake tin from a friend and I was anxious to bake one and show a picture on my Blog.  Well, that was the plan anyway.  In my usual haphazard way of baking  I proceeded without a recipe.  Just sort of made it up.  Needless to say, the baking venture went wrong.  I was all in a tizz in the kitchen, getting myself into a maddening hysteria.  It was one of those really, really hot days.

Munchkin.Wailing

Gnome was hot and bothered too and was in no mood for my antics.  He said rather coarsely:

“If you had actually read a recipe and done it properly, you wouldn’t be in this mess!  It’s your own fault!”

Gnome.Angry.Look

Waaaahhhh!!  I was none too pleased with his reply.  It made me Waaaaahhhh!! even more.

When Gnome realised that his directness had only served to exacerbate the situation, his countenance suddenly changed.  Anger was replaced by cool placidity.  He said with unwavering surety,

“The caterpillar must grow wings in order to flutter high.”

Glowing.Gnome

Gnome had made a complete U-turn in our usual “chucking-a-maddy”script which shifted me off balance.

I paused in mid-flail.  Arms in the air.

What an obtuse reference…it was all too funny!!  We both saw the stupidity of the whole situation and cracked up laughing.

This is when we got the idea that Gnome should start writing Haikus.  Often, he is viewed as too direct and honest in his words.  So this is an opportunity for Gnome expression; nicely obtuse and obscure and uncharacteristically airy-fairy for an immensely pragmatic Gnome.

Belize

Big Rain!

Gnome.Siaking.Wet

We had an unexpected big rain on Saturday evening; it was great to see the new guttering work well with none of the usual leaks.  I have found that lately, since we have been actively looking at the weather forecast, we have got nothing right!  Two weeks ago, when there was a forecast of rains we quickly put our guttering up.  Not a drop of rain.  This time round: forecasts of endless bright sunny days so we didn’t bother emptying the big tank to put underneath the new guttering.  What happens…big rain…with no available tank to fill.  Gnome quickly ran out to shove a 55 gallon barrel underneath the gushing water.

Rain in the Gutters.
Rain in the Gutters.

This makes me think of an article that I read in an old English magazine from the 1980’s.  The writer had mentioned that during World War 2, no weather reports were broadcasted from the United Kingdom in an effort to thwart possible enemy attack.  This resulted in people reverting back to the old traditions in  weather prediction including the study of the constellation of the stars, the sky colour at dusk and dawn, etc, etc.

Some people even listened to the different “moo’s” of cows to figure out the weather!

Now, I wouldn’t dismiss this as being too far fetched as…

We had for some time (when we didn’t have Internet) listened to certain bird calls which, in our personal observation, signified rain.  The “rain-hawk” cawing is one example.  We also noticed that the Wee Wee ants come out early if there are going to be evening rains.  The other more obvious one is the croaking of frogs…we found that they only do this is unison when there is a surety of rain.  Otherwise, they are deathly quiet apart from the random isolated croak.

There of course no absolutes but the observation of nature to help predict the weather is definitely worth looking at.  Especially when the super-duper hi-tec forecasts haven’t been very helpful!