Strawberry, raspberry, blueberry? An adventurous Canadian who left the frozen north to explore places in the sun, I am on a taste test of the world, out to sample everything I can find. Right now I am first mate on the sailboat "Diva" and alongside Captain Phil, we will be sailing throughout the Caribbean. Come on, hop aboard for the ride!
I can't believe it's January already. I can't believe it's January and the holidays are all finished. I can't believe it's January and I am so comfortable here in Jamaica in my shorts and tank top. (Sorry to all of you who've been in the deep freeze. I'm trying to be sympathetic. Really.)
So let's pretend that we're not all done with fun and festivities yet and I will share some holiday pictures with you. It was lovely to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with old friends here in Jamaica. The Captain and I definitely feel like we belong here, and so many friends in Montego Bay seem to easily accept us showing up again for all the holiday parties. It's really only the immigration officers that are fussy about these things.
Ah well, one more "home" to add to my collection...
Christmas Eve was just the Captain and I, enjoying a 'gala night' of food on the boat. In an effort to re-create my own family's tradition of enjoying sweet and savory appetizers before we opened presents, I bought Solomon Gundy, Jamaican pickled fish spread. We always had pickled herring (or rollmops) and I thought this would be similar. Except...what is the Jamaican's favourite ingredient? What is my Northern European ancestors' least favourite ingredient?
Did I hear someone say "chili peppers" in the front row? Bing, bing, bing! You are correct. That stuff was way too spicy for me and was banished to the bottom of the fridge in disgrace.
Washed away the taste of Solomon Gundy with some lovely red. Found this wine in a grocery store in Panama and bought several bottles, of course.
Christmas Eve spread. Note our "some assembly required" tree made a comeback this year. In addition to the fish paste fiasco, we had homemade liver pate (by the Captain), pickled artichoke hearts, smoked salmon, brie, blue, and gouda cheeses, homemade pineapple salsa (by the Crew), lots of different crackers, and pineapple crumble with whipped cream for dessert. Just thought you wanted to know.
Christmas Day dawned warm and sunny, as usual. We opened stockings, had chocolate for breakfast, then a lovely brunch with friends, and later dinner with more friends. Too much good food, too much to drink, too much sitting in general - you know the drill.
The Christmas orchid, which the Captain bought for his Crew. It's still blooming away, seemingly happy to live in our cockpit.
Gene, the host of Christmas brunch, and Richard, neighbour and J22 sailor. Both wearing red tops, so swap the shirts and who knows who is who?
Gene's alternate Christmas tree.
Several days earlier, the Christmas lunch at the Yacht Club involved a fun day on the water with youth and adults sailing the Pico lasers. Since we have a front row seat in the cockpit of Diva, I took a few pictures and am therefore inflicting more boring sailing pictures on you.
Making sailing look easy.
The sailing day involved "tricks," so check out this video of Richard sailing backwards and Evan's disgust at being passed while going forward. And now we know why Richard wins all the races...
Part of every good youth sailing program, the trusty rescue dingy was out and about.
But wait, I'm sure it says YOUTH sailing - that's not a youth, is it?
Jim, J22 skipper and "youth" in disguise.
New Year's Eve brought its own extravaganza, with a party up in the hills of Jamaica at the Harper residence.
Lighting paper lanterns - a tricky task in the breeze.
Up, up, and...
...crash and burn in a tree. Well, this one did. But there were others that made it to the great beyond.
