Yellow Walking Iris

An unopened  flower of Yellow Walking Iris 

Chocolate Making

Some folks on the island were either enjoying themselves in the Carnival celebrations, or in camp, on the beach, by the river, where ever you were I hope you had fun. Perhaps next year I may play mas you never know…

So I was feeling a bit adventurous today and I attempted to make some Dark Chocolate from the Cocoa beans(after researching it on the web) boy that was a lot of work! I got some dried Cocoa beans from Ms. Mary, roasted them in the oven, my mom assisted me with peeling/shelling the beans which took a very long time. After we both got some water bladder on our fingers, I decided to eventually crack the beans with a rolling pin, this made shelling a whole lot easier. Then I needed to blow out the shells, I had no blow dryer, so let’s just say I got a bit light headed for a while, luckily my brother gave me some help, lol!  Afterwards we placed 30% white sugar blended it finely then added 70% crushed up Cocoa beans, the texture was very powdery for a while. We then placed the mixture in the chopper it took a long time for it to start forming a thick paste, I guess the best piece of equipment to use would have been a a coffee grinder. Then we needed to use a mortar/pestle, didn't have any so we had to improvise some more. For our first attempt in Chocolate making and not having the right equipment I must say we were impressed with the end product, it was still a bit grainy but the taste was nice if you like Dark Chocolate. We hope to get the right equipment and try this again. Attached are some photos to show off our first time in Chocolate making! 

Happy Carnival!

Roasted Cocoa beans

Shelled Cocoa nibs

Cocoa nibs and sugar in chopper 

Chocolate paste

                         

End product Dark Chocolate

Anonymous

Wanting nothing, yet needing everything

Smiling outside whilst dying inside

Watching it all fall apart, while you hold it together

Knowing that you have to keep breathing

Red Anartia Butterfly

I remember a time when this Red Anartia butterfly was commonly seen throughout the island. Locally it is known as the "Coolie" butterfly, males are bright red with white dots, while females are paler in color.

2014

          Happy New Year! 

  Peace & happiness to you and yours.

Happy Christmas!

Serene...

LIFE

Sometimes in life we need to stand up for ourselves

Trust the unknown.

When we are faced with situations

That will either make us stronger, bigger, better humans,

We need to look internally

But often we just cower away from such strengths.

Because of fear which cripples us,

We rely on others to make decisions for us

That would impact the rest of our lives.

This is your life, this is my life

Live it before it’s over!

~Din

"Clouds"

White and greys

Puffy, heavy and light

Floating, dancing and swirling
Evolving, shapeshifting and fading

Peaceful, majestic and tumultuous.

"Opinions"

The sculptor etches away

Creating this masterpiece he has in mind,

And so we too etch at ourselves, at the end of the day

Hoping to reveal our real humankind.

How honest can you really be?

Knowing only the truth will set you free.

There are days when I think it’s my last

But somehow they usually past.

On this journey we call life

We all have our own share of strife.

This somehow jolts us into reality

Where we sometimes find true tranquillity unexpectedly