Archive for the ‘Grand Bahama Island’ category
March 11, 2012
I posted about my Warm Winter Garden just a few weeks ago when everything was still green and ripening. Just had to post a pic of this platter of lusciousness now that we’re harvesting ripe red tomatoes and having a good time adding these beauties into omelets, sandwiches, and of course, salads, but mostly just enjoying their bright freshness simple and plain with a hint of salt and pepper. And some of the green ones might get turned into Fried Green Tomatoes. (I do love that movie. And especially the book.)
Nothing like a homegrown tomato for ramping up your appreciation of how va-va-voom life is. There’s something about their vibrant red-ness that acts like a natural can’t-miss-it 4-way Stop sign for pausing and noticing all the wonder that abounds when you look for it. What gladness is growing is your paradise? Whatever and wherever it is — enjoy!
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Categories: Books, favorite things, Garden, Grand Bahama Island, little luxuries, movies, Sunday Inspiration, The Bahamas
Tags: Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Green Tomatoes book by Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes movie, Grand Bahama, Grand Bahama Island, homegrown tomatoes, warm winter garden, warm winter garden tomatoes
Comments: 5 Comments
February 20, 2012
a soon-to-be red plum tomato ripening in the sun. photos by paula boyd farrington
There is green goodness on the vine in my Grand Bahama garden. The strong summer sun is sometimes too intense for growing these beauties, but it is just right just now in our warm winter. Fresh basil flourishes in a small patch …
… and Italian flat-leaf parsley basks alongside the full broccoli …
Along the fence, the pods of pigeon peas begin (and will be used in the traditional Bahamian dish of peas ‘n rice … the pea is similar to a black-eyed pea).
Elsewhere in the garden, it looks more like a traditional northern fall … the almond tree loses its leaves this time of year …
… and the Royal Poinciana tree that will bloom flame-red in May or June is in full winter … leafless … and busy growing its long slender seed pods …
The sunny faces of the impatiens that wilt in the bold summers smile in the shade of a tree …
… while avocados still hang heavy and heavenly on the tree …
Such a bounty of warm winter blessings. What abundance blooms in the appreciative eyes and happy heart of your paradise right now? Enjoy, enjoy ….
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Categories: Garden, Grand Bahama Island, inspiration, photography
Tags: avocados, Bahamas, basil, broccoli, flat leaf parsley, Grand Bahama, Grand Bahama garden, Grand Bahama Island, impatiens, peas 'n rice, pigeon pea vine, pigeon peas, plum tomatoes, tomatoes, warm winter garden
Comments: 6 Comments
January 22, 2012
Playing the Cowbells. photo by Paula Boyd Farrington
I love a parade. Especially Junkanoo Parades—those uniquely Bahamian celebrations of sound and bold colors and creativity—pulsed to the steady heartbeat rhythms of goatskin drums, cowbells, whistles, horns, and dancing feet. The Junior Junkanoo Parade is one of my all time favorites. Students, dedicated teachers, parents, and a host of volunteers from all over the island work countless hours creating meticulously-crafted, handmade costumes, and rehearsing lively music and dance routines to parade through the downtown streets of Grand Bahama. This year’s parade was held Saturday evening, January 14th, 2012, with a big crowd of friends and well wishers lining the streets to cheer the students of all ages on.
Junkanoo is loud. It’s proud. And totally adorable. Here’s a peek at some of the fun … congrats to all who participated and made it possible!
photo by Paula Boyd Farrington
photo by Paula Boyd Farrington
photo by Paula Boyd Farrington
- photo by Paula Boyd Farrington
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Categories: art, cool stuff, favorite things, Grand Bahama Island, indescribable, inspiration, photography, The Bahamas
Tags: cow bells, goatskin drums, Grand Bahama Island, Grand Bahama Junior Junkanoo, handmade Junkanoo costumes, island rhythms, Junior Junkanoo, Junkanoo, Junkanoo costumes, Junkanoo Parade
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November 4, 2011
We entering into Goldilocks Season on Grand Bahama. The weather is not too hot, not too cold … it’s juuuuust right. It’s the kind of weather that makes you say “aaaahh” and draws your eye extra-much to every bright yellow bit of tropical bliss …
… from cerasee bush medicine growing along the garden wall …
… to fresh guava in the kitchen …
… to more yellow elder (the national flower of The Bahamas) …
… to the way the sun bathes the palm fronds in warmth while a woodpecker taps his tat-a-tat-tat tune …
… a soft light glowing on everything … ripening the sea grapes…
photo by Caitlin Farrington
… renewed gratitude alighting in our hearts, and reminding us of so many golden days …
… giving thanks for the not-too-hot, hot-too-cold glories of November in The Bahamas! (And to how marvelous it is when the weather matches your mood … here’s to the glow of your internal paradise keeping you warm if you’re bouncing back from that too-cold-too-soon snow storm up north, or still waiting for a touch of fall—like we’ve been doing during the high humidity the past couple of months! Here’s to paying attention to the subtle and not-so-subtle shifts of season and keeping a weathered eye on the blessings that abound everywhere.) Tra-la.
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Categories: favorite things, Garden, Grand Bahama Island, indescribable, inspiration, intriguing images, little luxuries, photography, The Bahamas
Tags: cerasee, dragonfly, golden winter warmth, Goldilocks, Goldilocks weather, Grand Bahama, Grand Bahama Island, sea grapes, The Bahamas, woodpecker, yellow elder
Comments: 4 Comments
September 19, 2011
September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. This is the official day to practice saying “arrrggghh, matey”—and other plank-walkin’ talk—an occasion dreamed up by a couple fun guys who were bored one day, but had plenty of Pirattitude. They told funny guy/author, Dave Barry, about it back in 2002, and he put it in his Miami Herald column. The rest is shiver-me-timbers history, and people all over the world now use this date as an excuse to swagger about in their swashbuckling finest and to think about stirring some rum into their coffee. Or maybe that’s just me. Anyway, it’s all about having fun—and got me thinking about Grand Bahama’s own brush with fictional pirate fame.
Filming for some of Disney’s Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides took place on Grand Bahama Island, back in 2006/2007. It was a thrill to see The Black Pearl and Davy Jones’ Flying Dutchman cinema-ships up close and to catch random sightings of the cast and crew out and about on the island.
We were all swept up in the movie-making excitement—especially my daughter and her friends, who had a great time devising their own buccaneer ensembles in which to search for treasure and adventure during Ye Olde Playtimes.
Halloween at our house that year included a rather commanding and fierce-looking Pirate Princess known as Sparrowla—an imaginary long-lost sister of Captain Jack Sparrow:
Here’s to sailing the Seven Seas of Imagination and Laughter for as long as you can! Yo ho, me hearties, yo ho!
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Categories: by the sea, cool stuff, favorite things, Grand Bahama Island, inspiration, intriguing images, movies, The Bahamas
Tags: Captain Jack Sparrow, Dave Barry, Davy Jones' Flying Dutchman, Disneys Pirates of The Caribbean, film making, Grand Bahama, Grand Bahama Island, International Talk Like A Pirate Day, Miami Herald, moviemaking, Pirates, Pirates of The Caribbean: Deadman's Chest, Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, rum, The Black Pearl
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September 11, 2011
I wrote this poem in the weeks following the tragedy of September 11th. My heart wanted to wrap everyone in the healing waters here in The Bahamas—the starfish I saw was such a stark contrast to the horrific devastation, such a reminder of how amazing life can be when we’re not terrorizing one other. The poem originally appeared in Grand Bahama Island Magazine—a welcome digest my husband and I published for many years. I post it here with prayers and remembrance on this 10th anniversary of September 11th, and blessings of natural wonder and grace and hope.
Out of The Blue
The waters of The Bahamas
shine so clear and blue
reflecting a kind of peace
that is eternal and renewed
Catching sight of a simple starfish
resting of the sand beneath the waves
there’s wonder and a sense God put it there
as a natural tribute, just for you
For everyone who lost their lives
and those who labor still
to heal and defend
the freedoms we all hold very dear
Where do we go for comfort
to find the strength within
to fight the good fight without fear
to find the peace again?
We lift our eyes up heavenward
and then look here on earth
for reminders of a paradise unlost
where hope can be rebirthed
… and under the liquid surface
of waters that sparkle true blue
we gaze upon a simple starfish
and find the courage to love and live anew.
— Paula Boyd Farrington
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Categories: by the sea, Grand Bahama Island, indescribable, inspiration, love, poetry, Sunday Inspiration, The Bahamas, writing
Tags: 10th anniversary of September 11th, fight the good fight, freedoms we all hold dear, hope, natural wonder, out of the blue, peace, prayer, September 11th, starfish, waters of The Bahamas, wonder
Comments: 6 Comments
August 20, 2011
simple island joys
dance brightly in lush greenness
nature’s love abloom
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Categories: cool stuff, favorite things, Garden, Grand Bahama Island, indescribable, inspiration, little luxuries, love, poetry, Sunday Inspiration, The Bahamas, writing
Tags: garden photos, Grand Bahama, Grand Bahama Island, nature, simple island joys, yellow tropical flowers
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May 30, 2011
The color BLUE dazzles in The Bahamas. Countless variegated shades of aqua, cyan, cerulean, azure, sky, royal, indigo, and sapphire surround us in the shifting seas and are celebrated in all kinds of art—including these artist trading card collages I created for the blue-themed ARTchix challenge.
I loved making these vintage Bathing Beauty mixed media collages. The backgrounds came from photos of tropical-water-hued fabric prints in my fashion wardrobe, photographed and printed onto paper, then layered with some retro-fun ARTchix Studio images and historic postcard text.
I love splashing into waves of blue and frollicking in art.
Tra-la.
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Categories: art, by the sea, collage, design, favorite things, Grand Bahama Island, inspiration, intriguing images, The Bahamas
Tags: art, art challenge, art fun, ARTchix, ARTchix Studio, artist trading card, artwork, azure, Bahamas, bathing beauty, blue, cerulean, collage, cyan, historic postcard, indigo, inspiration, mixed media collage, royal, sapphire, sky blue, The Bahamas, vintage bathing beauties, waters of The Bahamas
Comments: 8 Comments
January 11, 2011
Now here’s something you don’t see every day. In fact, after living here on Grand Bahama Island for over 20 years, I’d never seen one until a couple days ago. Looks more like an apple or a big plum, doesn’t it?! But look inside at the familiar creamy green …
Yes, it’s an avocado! (And a perfectly ripe and tasty one too.) A quick Google search shows it’s a Florida variety of avocado that turns red when it ripens. These beauties came from a tree in an out of the way area behind the guest cottage garden. This is what they look like growing way up on the tree …
(and yes, I drew the little arrow and circle on the photo so it’s easier to find the avocado, but other than that, all these photos of the avocados are straight out of the iPhone camera, no-retouching at t’all!)
I had no idea avocados could be red. But Miss Lue knew. Miss Lue is an amazing woman who hails from Jamaica originally and is the reason we have clean clothes around here every week. And clean everything, despite my creative clutter. We are truly blessed to have Miss Lue in our lives. In addition to her generous and helpful heart, she also has a green thumb and knows about all sorts of edible island garden treasures. I only knew we were already graced to have two different varieties of green avocados in our garden, but to find a new kind — a RED avocado (I just have to keep saying that because I’m so in awe of it) — feels like winning some sort of tropical arbor triple crown!
I’m so pleased to be at the stage of life where horticultural discoveries in my own back yard are my idea of Headline News. Worthy of a special report. All these amazing trees and plants, and I’m finally getting acquainted with them on a deeper level and asking their names and stories. Pleased to meet you, Red Florida Avocado.
red-when-they're-ripe avocados
so yummy
And thank you again, Miss Lue, for the introduction!
Miss Lue: Household Heroine, Wise Island Gardener & Patient Teacher of Natural Grace
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Categories: cool stuff, favorite things, Garden, Grand Bahama Island, intriguing images, The Bahamas
Tags: avocado, avocado tree, avocados, edible island treasures, Florida avocado, Garden, gardens, Google, Grand Bahama, Grand Bahama garden, Grand Bahama Island, green avocados, horticulture, island garden, red avocado, red avocados, ripe avocado, ripe red avocado, tropical arbor, tropical horticulture
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December 20, 2010
I love this book. It’s touching. Tender. Laugh-out-loud funny. It gives you a taste of island life that goes beyond the usual idyllic picture postcard images and gets straight to the heart of things. I love these vibrant, adventurous, warming, and humorous stories so much that I helped the author (a dear friend of mine—Marina Gottlieb Sarles) orchestrate the layout of the book for publication, and I’m pleased to say it has been received as a new island classic. Well into its 2nd printing, the book has garnered fans from around the world. It’s a wonderful gift any island lover will enjoy and a great introduction and insight into Grand Bahama’s beginnings—the author, Marina Gottlieb Sarles, is the daughter of the first village doctor and nurse—and draws storytelling inspiration from her childhood in The Bahamas.
Sand In My Shoes author Marina Gottlieb Sarles
You can learn more about this delightful book by clicking here. And it can be ordered online here or via Amazon.
On Grand Bahama Island, Sand In My Shoes is available at the Coldwell Banker James Sarles Realty offices at #9 Regent Center, at the beautiful new Art of Giving gift shop at The International Bazaar (beside Island Watch Repair near the arcade), at Oasis drug stores, and at the Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO).
Falling in love with the island and getting sand in your shoes is a true treat—enjoy!
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Categories: Books, by the sea, cool stuff, favorite things, Grand Bahama Island, inspiration, intriguing images, love, The Bahamas, writing
Tags: author Marina Gottlieb Sarles, Bahamas, book, collection of island stories, funny, gift, idyllic images, island book, island classic, island stories, island treasure, Marina Gottlieb Sarles, Sand In My Shoes, Sand In My Shoes book, storytelling, tender, The Bahamas, touching, village doctor and nurse
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Paula's Paradise 