This morning, we got up a tad later than usual at 6am.  We sat down to have a hot honey drink whilst drunken baymen (black stingless bees that buzz and bumble in a swaying motion) swarmed around us  trying to steal honey from our mugs.  It wasn’t that comfortable because every-time I took a sip, the bees would make a mad swoop for the mug and I would cough and splutter trying not to swallow a single bee!  What a way to start the morning!

This is a typical day in the life of Munchkin and Gnome.

We mixed up a batch of soap; this time we made Chocolate Vanilla Cookie which is fragranced with a blend of essentail oils to give off the smell of oven-baked cookies.  They appear marbled at first but with time, they assume a uniformity with a light chocolate brown colour.

Gnome then went off to procure a large stick…wahooo!!  The Big Stick is coming out so coconut products will be available soon!

I went off to wash the dogs…they were actually really well-behaved today as I soaped them and then doused them thoroughly with Sulphur-Lime Dip (a Gnome Bored-in-Belize concoction) which is used against fleas, tics, mange and ringworm.  It is great stuff and works well…however, we all end up smelling of rotten eggs.  Afterwards, I had a shower and doused myself in lavender oil.

Next, we both donned our respectable clothes to go into town to assume our identities of Doctors Munchkin and Gnome (or “The Doctors” as we are known in Punta Gorda).  We had an appointed patient review.

So, we did our doctoring stuff and as Gnome was walking down the path, he spotted a decaying tree with a whole load of oyster mushrooms growing on them.  You have to be on the look-out at all times for mushrooms to pop up!  They were such beautiful clean specimens.  We picked the whole lot of them and I was so pleased with our find that I let Gnome store them in my town hat.

We also spotted White Goods on a Pick-up!  Our Pick-up game that we like playing where we spot white goods on trucks for points.

Munchkin: Sloooow down!  What do you think it is…a washing machine?  Or a mini freez…

Gnome: Quit blabbering!  Take a picture now!!  We’re turning left now!!  Pronto!

As we were leaving Punta Gorda, we stopped off by the sea to have a hot drink together (yes, I brought my food bag with the thermos flask…no biscuits this time).  We stared out at the choppy sea and marvelled at the enormous amounts of seaweed on the shore.  This will be a Munchkin and Gnome project for the future…this particular seaweed is called “sargassum.”  It is of particular interest to us because it is actually used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  It is named Hai Zao and it is used to dissolve phlegm, act as a diuretic and relieve oedema.

Homeward bound back to the farm where I cooked up curried ripe jackfruit and lentils for lunch:

Will post recipe this week!  Too much to write about…

And that was just the morning of a typical day with Munchkin and Gnome!