Iron

A curl in a fence on a balcony overlooking the ocean at Anse Chastenet, St Lucia.

Corn

Here's some close-up pictures of the corn I grew in the back yard this year. Corn is hard to grow because the bugs like it. It was going strong at the start of July but is really pooped out now that the rain's died down.

A Pink One

It might be obvious that zinnias are my favorite flower; they are easy to grow, old-fashioned, colorful, detailed and delicate, wild and tough. This frilly giant was one of the first to rear it's head out back this year. It's so soft and pink I wanted to rub my face on it! But I didn't. That would be itchy.

Aria In The Garden

Here is my lovely cat, enjoying a lovely summer evening in the garden.

Donkey

Chillin' on the hillside north of Soufriere, St Lucia.

Bougainvillea

In a wall at Anse Chastenet, St Lucia.

The Grass

This is why we love Bianca.
Because she does cute stuff like this. Nawngh.

The Heat

So much hot hot heat this summer, thank goodness for little bits of rain! The garden still swelters and is mostly neglected because of it. It's gotten tall though! Here are some pictures of it's progress.I have ears of corn this year! I planted "Sweet Gentleman" last year with no luck--the stalks were stumpy and dry and the little ears puffed up with fungus. I planted leftover seed this year and the stalk are green and tall, even though the seedlings got very pot-bound and I had to untangle all of their little roots from one another. I think the couple of weeks of rain hit at just the right time for these guys to thrive. The ears aren't as robust as you'd see at the store or anything, but still it's a pretty cool start.
We've gotten a number of really tasty Roma tomatoes this year. All of our tomato bushes are huge right now, but they aren't producing much fruit since it's gotten really hot. Tomatoes, zinnias, and sunflowers.
Here's the side yard. Still waiting for some Moonflower blooms on that huge trellis. That's a thick clump of Lemongrass growing out of the zinnias in on the right. Lots of tall Tarahumara White-Seeded sunflowers this year with many blooms. They attracted a fleet of bees, butterflys, and other bugs. Bianca lurking through the cosmos.
I have a garden clean-up planned for this week. Stay tuned!

Street

At long exposure of a garage party and a passing car after the Fourth of July fireworks.

Black Sand

Peppery sand in the late afternoon at Anse Chastenet Beach on St Lucia.

At Night

I took this photo in the grass after the fireworks on the Fourth of July. The figures in the background are other watchers gathering their blankets and chairs to walk back home.

Ginger Flower

Seen somewhere in our travels on St Lucia. The root is used to make the spice, and smells wonderful.

A Hermit Crab

A little hermit crab puttering around Anse Cochon beach on St Lucia.

Anse Cochon

To got to one of our favorite places on St Lucia, you have to turn off the main road, and travel a few miles down a very steep, poorly paved side road, until you come to a more-lowly-still unpaved road through the trees. Here you either hold your breath and hope you don't meet any one coming the other way, or park your 4WD in the shrubs and walking a quarter mile to Anse Cochon.
And this is what you will see: a calm, tawny little beach anchored by a little resort and a gathering of fishermen at the ends.
Catamaran tours stop by for a few hours, but the beach is so hard to get to, it doesn't feel crowded.
Sea birds watch fisherman bringing in the catch for the Friday night fish-fry at Anse La Raye.
It was fun to sit an watch them work.
We wanted to have a relaxing vacation, but avoid the usual tourist-trap, sequestered feel of so many resorts catering to foreigners. At times, being in an outsider in poor a foreign country outside of the cocoon of an expensive resort was, I'll admit, intimidating and at times a little scary. Maybe a little too much adventure! It didn't feel that way here. This was a beautiful place to be able to just be, and swim. I watched a scared little hermit crab scuttle into the shade. I felt a school of tiny silver flying fish go skipping past me through the bay.

Ladera

Here is an excellent place to have a drink.
Perched between the Pitons, the bar at Ladera Resort overlooks Jalousie Bay and provides a, may I repeat, excellent place to order a drink and watch the sunset from up high.
A view of Petit Piton to the south.
Ladera is gourgeous, with beautiful grounds, open-air rooms and private pools. We wanted to stay here but it is mucho, mucho dinero. So we visited once for sunset, and once for dinner instead.

La Haut Plantation

We walked up to this little hotel up the hill from Villa Des Pitons for lunch one day. You can see the surrounding jungle and rich green interior mountains very well in these photos!

A Guest

I'm sure this little friend at Anse Chastenet wanted to share our lunch, but he didn't get to. Watched us the whole meal though.

Caterpillar

This colorful caterpillar I'm sure ate, enjoyed and destroyed many things in my garden this spring. But live and let live.

Larkspur

Here's some pretty purple Larkspur, growing next to my mailbox since this May.
Not sure How it got there; I haven't planted any Larkspur this year.

Cosmos

Here's a half-eaten purple Sea Shell Cosmos with a yellow Lady-Beetle friend. It was growing in my garden just a few weeks ago.

Bird Flying Over The Water

We saw this bird, which I believe is a type of frigate, at Anse Cochon beach in St. Lucia. He was watching the fishermen in the bay very closely.

Visitors

I had some little visitors pop up in my garden overnight.
They came in twos and threes after many days of unusual July rain.
And made their home in the low grass in the back of the garden behind the house. And stayed for only a few days.
And then went away.