Wednesday 28 January 2009

A Morning At Pika

Well the strike continues and so we decided to make a family trip over to Pika which we hadn't done for a while. On arrival, we discovered that Papy's cow had gotten loose and run away - it did this last Friday and he slipped over when finding it and bringing it back. So this time Bertie went in search of it, unsuccessfully. Happily Papy found it on the way home - standing on a roundabout with its rope twisted around another's rope! They think she must be en chaleur and looking for a bit of company...!

Now that he is moving around so much, it is impossible to keep him on the nice clean mat. He would much rather crawl in the dirt and stick all sorts of weird and wonderful things in his mouth! I have given up following him around and just let him be - surely doing wonders for his immune system! This aproach is not very appreciated by my Guadeloupean friends and family, who believe in keeping a child clean, but then they're not the one having to lug him around all the time!

Can you guess what this is....yup, a wasp's nest, hanging on a banana leaf! For this reason you have to be very careful when you wander around Pika. Papy came face to face with these unexpectedly last week and made a very hasty retreat, no doubt saving himself from a very swollen face!

The above wasps actually used to live inside here until very recently

And here is what they left behind - honeycomb!Hard to imagine that these huge hens were tiny chicks living in a box on our verandah just a few months ago. Now they are pecking their way around Pika (very free range! Baby JoJo loves sitting watching them a few feet away) and producing delights such as....
...these!
Here is LissaLou collecting them for Mamie before feeding the hens with mais and purima
We spent some time admiring Bertie's blossoming garden (can't post too many photos as he is going to one day put them on his own blog!) and LissaLou was given the important job of picking reddish tomatoes.
With some help! Here we pick them as soon as they have the slightest bit of red on them, then leave them in the fruit bowl for a day or two and it is amazing how quickly they ripen!

The jardiniers at work, surveying their land and planning their next stepsIt rained several times so we were very muddy by the end - time for a good clean up before returning home!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am waiting patiently for these photos on bertie's blog. Will it be before I come and take my own I wonder?
what lovely legs that man papy has!!( dont tell him I said that!)
Lovely eggs, and good to see the girls continuing their education a la compagne.

evie winter said...

LissaLou looks like she takes her role helping so seriously, that is a very focused look she has on her face.
I love how the girls have on their summer clothes even though it is raining. Every day my weather forecast on the movile says Ptp has showers, everyday!
The honey comb looks ver black - is it dirty or is that what it looks like? Did you eat it!?

Hevs said...

Bertie has finally done another entry you will be glad to know!
Oh yes, working at Pika is serious stuff Evs! There probably is a shower every day or two, but it doesnt impact on our life much except we have to remember to bring in the washing! It is hot rain!
I should imagine it was dirty as it had been on the ground - do you eat honeycombs...