Domestic Goddess

Sunday morning we had our Christmas lights put up all around the house.

I couldn't do much outside without getting in the way so I did some baking.



Bannana Bread, Cheese Scones and an Apple Crisp. Also prepared a chicken for a roast chicken dinner later.

Pictures of the lights in the next couple of days.

Spooky Gathering for Halloween

I know it was a week ago but it has been an extremely busy week and I have only just got around to editing the photos.

Everyone had a good time and there were some very creative head gear and costumes.








I had fun making decorations for the house which went down very well especially the colony of bats on the ceiling.






I spent most of the day in the kitchen but well worth it. We gave the dishes gruesome names which everyone seemed to enjoy, I also tried my hand at some really yucky cupcakes which were a hit.





The best get together we have had for a long time. I think theme parties are definitely the way to go, everyone has more fun. Took me a couple of days to get over it all but so glad we made it happen.

International Food Festival

On Saturday we experienced the International Food Festival at the International School, Port Of Spain.

The festival is a fundraiser for the school, there were 35 booths representing the countries of students who attend the school. You were handed a plate and could visit all the booths and sample traditional dishes from all the countries.

Of course we had to try the Palascinta from Hungary as Tim's mum makes these, the one I sampled was apple and walnut.

The Phillipines booth had the most amazing noodles which I went back for seconds.



I took the photo of the Jamaica booth as the boy serving had such a cute face and a huge smile on his face for everyone.



The parent volunteers had worked very hard and the selection of foods was amazing, we tried to sample a little from every booth. We were disappointed with the Canadian booth that was serving just poutine. I think the most interesting thing I sampled was the Pepper Pot from Guyana.

Visit to Maracas Beach

We decided to go to the beach at Maracas as we hadn't been for a while.

We packed the towels, beers, snacks and reading material and set off around 8.30am. It was a beautiful morning with sun and clear blue skies. A very welcome sight after Saturday that saw heavy rains throughout the day, the pool was almost overflowing from so much rain.

Drove through Maraval heading for the mountain road, everything looked good, up ahead we could see police vehicles and as we approached them there were no entry signs to the only road that leads to the beach.

On Saturday with the heavy rain there had been a massive landslide closing the road, residents couldn't leave their properties and we couldn't get to the beach, they expected to take all day to clear it.

Disappointed, we turned around and came home, just one of the challenges of living in Trinidad.

Giving Back

Doug and I recently met a very nice lady called Paula, we chatted and discovered that she was involved with Adult Literacy. She in fact founded ALTA ( Adult Literacy Tutors Association) in 1992. Check out the web site www.alta.tt.org

Through Stefanie's contact with the school libraries. we are hoping to obtain some books to donate. If books have out of date information or are well read and worn they are removed from the shelves of the school libraries. The tutors at the Adult Literacy always welcome simple reading books with pictures.

Whilst in Canada, I managed to get some good deals on back to school supplies and bought a suitcase of supplies to donate. The list includes :-

200 Pencils
48 Exercise books
1200 Sheets of Lined Paper
72 Coloured Pencils
12 Erasers
12 Pencil Sharpeners
15 Folders



We are hoping to deliver everything to the ALTA office on Wednesday. Gives you a good feeling giving something back to your adopted country.

Back in Trinidad

I have settled back into my Trinni way of life after my visit to Canada. I think Doug was pleased to have me back as I now get to iron his shirts.....lucky me.

Yesterday evening we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Nancy,Eric and Cory. We had a wonderful time with good company, delicious dinner and we all made it home before curfew.

We are hosting a Halloween party on the 29th October, I have been busy making all sorts of things to decorate. Today I just finished up 17 tin can luminaries, can't show pictures of what I have made so far in case anyone coming to the party sees them as it is going to be a surprise. We are also having a hand made Halloween Head Gear competition with a prize for the most creative.

The rest of today is going to be very lazy, a glass of wine and maybe a dip in the pool.

Went to the Zoo

Stefanie and Tim took me to Toronto Zoo on Sunday. We had a really fun day with a lovely picnic, the weather was just perfect and we walked and walked and walked. I am paying for it today, my muscles in my legs are painful. The young ones forget I am older than they are and not as agile.

I am sure Stefanie's pictures are much better than mine but here are a few for you to enjoy.