Behind Our House

We went for an evening stroll up the hill behind Bertie's sister's house (Evs might remember having taken much of the same walk with us a few years ago). Not a bad view really!

It was a much longer walk than we had thought so quite a lot of complaining from one LissaLou on the way up, but a bread and nutella stop improved things vastly! JoJo was particularly excited by the cows below - animals are definitely his thing right now.We decided to take a short cut over the above field, only to be met by a wire fence between us and the path. Uh oh! Nothing for it but to squeeeeeeeeze on through! Then we met another one! This time we caught Bertie in the act of squeezing!

Two hours later we made it back - 8pm and the sun still high in the sky. Can't get used to this northern hemisphere! (Nor can the girls, they are convinced they shouldn't be going to bed until it is dark....)

Piou Piou, The Friendly Chick

We haven't been doing very much this week, just chilling out, or rather boiling out! It is so hot, I often go in the girls' room and find them resting on their beds and I can sympathise!

Today Bertie was at Pika preparing for our Campfire tomorrow which started off as a small do for friends and family and now sounds like half the town has been invited....

At home, we carried on with different activites in the company of our friendly Piou Piou. Have I mentioned him to you? He is LissaLou's schoolfriend's little chick and Mamie is babysitting him whilst they are away in France. Only, I am not sure how much she is remembering that they will be taking him back!

The initial plan was to take him to Pika and put him with the other chickens, to protect him from the mean mangoost that ate his sibling, but Mamie said the other chickens and hens wouldn't accept such a small chick on his own, so he stayed for a little while. And then a bit longer. And now he is still here and there is no more talk of taking him to Pika!

Piou Piou is a people chick, loving company. He sits next to Mamie and Papy, or if possible on their shoulders! He wanders around all day pecking at food (a chick with fine taste, he enjoys JoJo's spilt porridge, and today's brown rice was gobbled up!) and making the noise that gave him the name. There was no one around downstairs today so he must have been feeling lonely - he hopped upstairs and proceeded to wander around our flat, eating who knows what under my bed and pooing all over the place. He also loves water melon so I put that out for him, until JoJo got hold of it.

Needless to say, JoJo in particular loves Piou Piou and follows him around pointing and saying "nah!" which is his excited response to most animals in books or live. Thankfully he hasn't squashed him yet; in fact, as fascinated as he is, he is also scared of him and usually ducks away at the last minute.

Mamie told us with a chuckle that whilst all the other hens in the neighbourhood go to bed at sunset (the ones opposite us fly up in to the trees, quite a sight!), Piou Piou stays up faithfully at Mamie and Papy's side until 11pm or whenever they shut up and turn the lights off! Definitely a people chick!

Beefing It Up

Our neighbour's son came round on Saturday selling beef as he had just slaughtered his cow (which had been pastured near Pika), so Bertie put our names down for 2 and a half kilos. It turned up yesterday morning for a bargain €20 and this morning I set myself to chopping and cutting and grounding before freezing - it was a long process! Thanks to mum who gave an experienced hand and had the bright idea of sharpening the knife on the stone wall!
In the end, I put about 700g in my little blender to try and make minced meat - not quite as good as a real mince machine would produce but it did the job! I have been searching for mince for weeks so it was lovely to be able to make a spaghetti bolognese at last (I also slipped in the red wine Evs brought me from the plane - delicious!).

I have frozen 1 kilo of chopped beef, which I shall no doubt put in a stew or casserole of some type, and I have frozen a steak of 350g for Bertie and I to enjoy one evening (with a glass of orange juice for maximum iron absorption!). I was feeling rather cheated as I surveyed the big bone that was included, until mum came up with the obvious suggestion of making beef stock and that is now boiling up with some veg and a bay leaf - umm, it smells lovely!
Following all this beefiness, I decided to have a look online for more info on this subject and I found this website of particular interest. Bertie has assured me our cow was definitely grass-fed (no grain-fed cows in Guadeloupe he said emphatically, and judging by all the cows randomnly grazing in fields along the side of the roads I can believe that!) and it was nice to find out how good for us that is! It is lower in fat and saturated fat and higher in Omega 3 fat and vitamin E - hurrah!

However, I was interested to note that as a result of it being less fatty, it is much easier to overcook, leaving you with dry food. I had noticed this in my bolognese, so I will have to pay more attention to the cooking process next time.

I have been reading about people who buy half or quarter of a cow straight from the farmer and I am musing on the possibility of doing this back home. You would need a mighty big freezer - and what happens if the power goes off for a long time... Oh yes, that only happens here in Guadeloupe!

Anyway, if you have any beef recipes that you would recommend, do let me know!

Ti Bou

Our long-awaited birthday trip to Ti Bou arrived on Wednesday amongst much trepidation. Would the weather be ok, after days of rain....would it actually be open given all the strike action....would we survive a full day there with our three and niece and LissaLou's classmate... would we have another car to be able to get everyone there and back....

Happily God answered much prayer on the subject (on my part anyway!) and it was yes to them all in abundance, as we enjoyed a beautifully sunny day in a very quiet Ti Bou (a few people were there at the start and the end of the day but otherwise it was just us, as if we were in our private garden and park!). LissaLou's friend's mum also came and it was lovely to have an extra adult, an extra car and her conversation. The girls all enjoyed a fantastic day and we came home six hours later (I think it is fair to say we got our €12 worth!) tired and happy.

First stop there was the farm, with a selection of expected, and slightly unexpected, animals. Would you expect to see a camel in the West Indies!

Then on to the play section, with lots and lots of trampolining....And scampering on the bouncy slide. This was new since our last visit and involved going through a mini obstacle course to get there! Here was CassCass, very pleased with her effort!Does this take anyone back a bit... Yes, it is CassCass two years ago with Tatie F-L in the very same place!I tried to recreate the shot and look what I got! Actually, there were a lot of tears from her in the first couple of hours for some reason but she was the picture of happiness after we had eaten!Another blast from the past! CassCass in the ball pit...And now Baby JoJo in the ball pit! He wouldn't lie down for love or money - then I discovered it was wet, so no wonder!This was the nearest I got to recreating the shot with CassCass!Baby JoJo was delighted to make his first visit to a soft play place. And so were we....until the whole thing tipped over and caught his finger! Ti Bou is a nice place, certainly for Guadeloupe, but on the health and safety level there is still a lot more that could (and should) be done. What are they doing with their €12.....! Mummy chilling with her not so Baby JoJo

We didn't try this feature during our last visit - go karting!

My niece even persuaded me to get on, and boy was it fun speeding down the track and overtaking all and sundry! Though LissaLou did not take lightly to being overtaken and stopped and wept, nearly crashing our cart in the process. Hey, it could be Formula 1!Keeping up with the big folk...well not quite!
They have one of these in Shoreditch Park, Hoxton!

The girls, especially our niece, could not wait to go into the pool, but we made them eat first to their distress! However, we didn't follow the local tradition of waiting an obligatory two hours after eating before going in, thus saving them further grief!

We had the pool all to ourselves - actually, I didn't go in as I was watching Baby JoJo and keeping warm! LissaLou and her friend showed off all they had learned in their Friday morning swimming classes and then they all bombarded the slide. Unfortunately it was a very unslidey slide, so between their heads disappearing at the top and their feet arriving at the bottom there seemed to be a good two or three minutes!

Baby JoJo enjoyed the water very much, splashing and swallowing alternately!Now LissaLou wants to go back for her birthday but I think we might just have a party instead!

A Quiet Family Gathering?

No such thing in this family!

Saturday saw us at Pika with
- 2 grandparents
- 1 great aunt
- 2 brothers
- 3 sisters
- 2 daughters in law
- 2 sons in law
- 13 grandchildren
- a family friend and son
Bertie's dad looked around in satisfaction and told me, "tu vois ca? c'est meme pas toute ma famille!" Then later went and took refuge in a quieter place!

The following pictures are not for those of a sensitive disposition!

Our aim was to kill one of Papy's pigs. This was done by Bertie, his BIL and the latter's cousin. Our neighbour helped and then butchered it for us.

I didn't see the actual slaughter but they were taking off the hair when I arrived. Normally they use a razor (Gilette perhaps?) but this time the Haitian BIL used his method of putting in the fire then taking off the rest with a knife. The sausagy intestines are used to make boudin - I don't feel any more inclined to eat it! We have been eating pork ever since!
Tee hee, guess who is horsing...er I mean piggying around! The girls love sucking, chewing and spitting out sugar cane and here they are begging Papy for some.

It takes a pro to cut it up with the machete and still have the fingers intact!
Here is Bertie's auntand his dad...see the family resemblance?!A fine spread had been preparedThis is the nearest I have found to recycling here so far - old fridges are used to store the drinks in, filled with lots of ice!Bertie made a lovely BBQ (chicken...and pig of course)
The bread fruit was boiled on the hob

And we all sat down and enjoyed it

Here are a few of the shots from the day. The adults chatted, the kids played with an old trolley and on the hammock, which was the subject of much dispute.

Here are the cousins enjoying it
And proof that sucking the thumb is genetic...and not from my side of the family! There are at least two other cousins who do, plus Bertie's thirty year old sister!
Having a nice rest
Having a nice swing!

We cleared up and returned home as night fell, with three very tired children. And one tired mummy!

Pika

Bertie's dad has a very large piece of land a mile or so away from the house, which they call la campagne. Well, it may have been the countryside once upon a time but modern life has caught up and it is now next to a very busy main road and velodrome. He goes there every morning (and afternoon when chatty relatives are in town!) and works exceedingly hard (impressive, given his 70 something years) then returns with...
mangos, starfruit, passion fruit, guava, pineapple, bananas, plantain, local cherries, cithere, limes, sugar cane...
yams, sweet potato, malanga, manioc, madere (all some kind of tuber)...
lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, hot peppers, carrots, breadfruit, coconuts...
and no doubt various other things I have forgotten.

Today we took the girls along to visit, but it took them a while to get into it as there were no toys (to quote LissaLou!). We told her to use her imagination and eventually she did!

It is beautifully fresh there, a lovely change from the warmth at home. Bertie helped his dad do some work - his company is ever so much appreciated! We played with one of the cousins, visited the pigs, fed the hens coconut, gave the cow some water, took lots of photos which I look forward to putting on. There are two kittens, the other three were eaten by a dog whose owners foolishly let him off the lead.

When we got home, Bertie's dad complains (rightly) that people don't touch the food and it goes to waste, so I made the most delicious fruit salad which has become our favourite snack. It overcomes the problem with exotic fruit that they are a lot of effort to prepare to eat and very juice and messy. I am constantly being told everything stains, one day I will get out the vinegar and see if it can work its wonders even with coconut water or kennet juice!

London Zoo

People ask how I manage with three small kids and I say it is usually ok...as long as I keep my expectations low for what I can get done. And I mean very low! I would add to that, as long as I don't have to get anywhere important by a specific time! This morning we had to be at LissaLou's nursery by 9.30am with all our packed lunches etc ready for our day out at the zoo, and it was nothing short of a miracle that we were there on time. With more or less everything we needed. If you don't count CassCass telling me at the bottom of the outside stairs (where there is no going back!) that she didn't have any knickers on...!

With LissaLou waiting for her nursery coach, we dashed along to the bus stop and waited...and waited...and waited... As typical of London buses, we saw many go by without space for us to squeeze in and I began to lose hope that we would be there on time, so I did a very exceptional thing and waved down a taxi! Normally we wouldn't consider such a frivolity, but it was great fun and CassCass was delighted to sit next to me with her seatbelt and survey the world from this new perspective! The great thing with black cabs is that they fit even the largest buggies in with no need to fold. Bliss!

CassCass enjoying taxi life

When we had all finally arrived at the zoo, we wandered around and enjoyed the animals. The giraffes and gorillas were particular favourites - there was a mother with her new baby, very cute! We marvelled at the messiness of the camels (the sign next to them said "Bad hair day"! apparently they shed their hair in spring). It was fun to see some animals mentioned in one of our current favourite books, Happy I'm A Hippo - meerkats and warthogs. The girls were pleased to see the lions, though they were pretty inactive (and the daddy lion was called Lucifer as his lion number is 666 - hmm). I stayed clear of the snakes etc - shudder - but we all loved the butterfly house and marvelled at moths that are born with no mouth as they just live a few days and live entirely from the food supplies they were born with. The monkeys were great too, especially the ones that use their tail as a fifth arm - so agile! The otters can be seen both above and below water and there was so many of them rolling around on one another.

Above - gorilla, girls, warthog, okapi
zebra, giraffes, meerkat
otters, penguins, butterflies, pelicans
heron, flamingoes, camel
and finally, we didn't see any crocodiles, so we had to make do with the one on Baby JoJo's top!


But the highlight of the day was...THE BOUNCY CASTLE!!! Sigh! Which, I hasten to add, cost £1 per 5 minutes! I will get on my high horse about these places which add in such features at a high cost and in very obvious places, making it very hard for poor parents to resist all the nagging that ensues...If you must put them in (and I don't see why, as the point of going is to see the animals), either include them in the price or hide them away somewhere, please!



In the end (and due to an empty purse) we gave LissaLou the choice of an ice cream or a go on the bouncy castle. She went for the later (waiting 10 minutes for the pleasure!) and on getting off immediately requested the ice cream because she was hot! Needless to say, she was offered water! CassCass was a bit subdued all day and just went with the ice lolly, spending most the day in the buggy. She made it out to play in the playpark though!
Our overall conclusion was that it was a pleasant day out - free for LissaLou and reduced for us as we were with the school - but it was just too overwhelming for the girls. LissaLou complained that there was too much to see. It would also have been nice for them to have had more hands on activities with the animals. I wouldn't recommend taking little children for the full price of some £50 for a family!

Another Trip To The Farm

Farms are great places to take small children; this time we met up with some friends just off the M1, very convenient as they came south and we went north. It was pretty chilly and a bit rainy, but we enjoyed the day greatly. Here is the gang:

Next stop was the playpark where there was great merriment and exertion - and that was just the dads!This farm was much more hands on, and whilst we missed the sheepdog and bunny demos, the girls got to groom a pony, feed a lamb and milk a cow. Unfortunately, CassCass was so terrified by the noise, she didn't manage the cow and eventually didn't even want to be in the same barn as the animals! The look of concentration was justified - these lambs sucked so ferociously that if you eased up for a second, the bottle was gone!
CassCass lost her bottle approximately one second after this photo!Can you see the milk?!A few of the animals - baby lambs all piled up on each other, so cute!

Now when I am feeding Baby JoJo I am thankful I am not a pig...It's Hamish the Highland Coo! (see here if you don't have this in your library!)Daddy and one worried little girl!
Okay, enough of the animals said CassCass, and off we went to the indoor playpark. Crazeeeee! LissaLou whizzed up and down on the slides, and CassCass even tried them out (including one pretty steep one) before having a meltdown. We mums enjoyed a cuppa before the dads went off from some crazy golf (Bertie lost - evidently all the skills he has honed on the golf course aren't transferable!), leaving us in charge of four children - how glad we were when they returned! I mostly videoed this part of the day but I haven't worked out how to put them on the blog. Don't they take ages for people to download too?

Finally, a trip to the shop, where CassCass appropriately purchased a sheep and a cow, and LissaLou typically purchased a Princess wand and tiara!