Happy New Year everyone.....best wishes for 2010!
Happy New Year
Barry and Marta
Happy New Year!
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Monthly Archives: December 2009
Wild Potato Vine
Every year before Christmas, I watch for the Ipomoea vine growing in the bush.
Finally, after weeks of looking I spotted this showy, red flowering vine on my neighbour’s property. I’ve been watching out for the Ipomoea vine also known as the Christmas vine and or Wild Potato. I’m thinking this last week has been rainy and cool and all of a sudden, I’ve noticed bright splashes of red adorning the tree tops and in this case, on a Poisonwood tree. Perhaps the rains coaxed the blossoms to open.
A brilliant red flower and a mass of buds on this Ipomoea vine.
Usually, the Ipomoea blooms for the holiday season starting in October but as I said, I saw my first one only the other day while travelling down Venetian Road. I wandered over onto my neighbour’s property this afternoon to take pictures of orchids and found this Wild Potato growing on a tall poison wood……a little difficult to photograph as I didn’t want to touch the poisonwood.
The Ipomoea grows throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands and is one of the prettiest with brilliant red flowers.
Watch for these flowering vines as you travel the roads of Provo…….it’s impossible to miss with those bright red flowers that stand out amongst the green foliage.
Marta
Ruddy Turnstones at Sharkbite
This little Ruddy Turnstone dropped by for tidbits while we were having lunch at the Sharkbite.
Lunch at the Sharkbite in Turtle Cove Marina is always interesting……….the Ruddy Turnstones create quite a show as they vie for the choicest bits from the lunch time crowd and at night, you’ll be lucky to catch sight of the “resident” bull shark that hangs out looking for food.
Lined up all in a row along the ledge of the Sharkbite Restaurant's deck.
Ruddy Turnstones are a common visitor to our shores and some are even year round residents. They seem to love the Turtle Cove area but then you can hardly blame them especially with such a variety of great restaurants with an easy food supply. They become habituated and really, we shoudn’t be feeding them but it happens everywhere……..ie. the gophers or ground squirrels at the buffalo paddocks in Banff were always such roly poly fat little things from all the visitors feeding them.
Birdwatchers can see the Ruddy Turnstone almost anywhere especially in Turtle Cove.
Drop by the restaurants in Turtle Cove on your next holiday on Provo. Lunch was great at the Sharkbite……..some of the best conch chowder I’ve ever tasted!!
Marta
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone and A Happy New Year
Wishing you all the very best at this special time of year.
Marta and Barry
Christmas Beach Baby
Christmas wishes and flowers to Oma and Opa in Germany from their little munchkin
We took little Malaika down to the beach close to Harbour Club Villas. She loves to play in the sand and even though the weather today was a little overcast, it was Christmas picture perfect! The light was gentle as she crawled all over the sand as we tried to get her to forget the santa hat.
Red hibiscus and a red Santa hat as Malaika enjoyed the sand at the beach
There was no one else on this little beach as we tried to get Malaika to smile and laugh for the photo……she was just too busy with the flowers.
I managed to get a huge smile as she waved the Christmas star back and forth to catch the breeze.
Christmas wishes to all.
Marta
Christmas Potcake
Here's Ava the potcake pup that was adopted recently by our guests at Harbour Club
We received recent photos from Joe and Christen of their little Potcake named Ava that they adopted in November while here on their honeymoon. Jo writes “Ava is an utter joy and we couldn’t be happier with her. She’s the best souvenir I’ve ever brought home from a trip. Attached you’ll find some recent photos, including her about to eat a Christmas ball, her donning her fancy jingle-bell collar, and her first romp in the snow (we’re supposed to get 2 feet tonight). EVERYONE loves our dog and she’s as friendly as could be.
Here's Ava with her "jingle bell" collar and just waiting to see what goodies Santa will bring her.
Please, if you are able to help in any way……. contact Jane at Potcake Place, the fine potcake friends at the Turks and Caicos SPCA or call me at 1 8666 456 0210. They are always looking for people to take potcakes to Canada or the USA to join their new “forever” families. Adopt one if you can or make a donation towards the fostering and care of these little puppies. Thanks to Joe and Christen, Ava is one happy puppy who’ll spend her first Christmas surrounded by the warmth and love of her new family.
Marta
Christmas Wild Poinsettia
Wild Poinsettias grow throughout the islands and we're fortunate to be able to see them growing wild.
The wild poinsettia is found throughout our islands. It has leaves that are shaped like a lance and are often tipped with a deep red towards the centre. This cluster of red leaves gives the impression of a flower but the actual flower is found at the centre and in the photo the flowers have grown into green seed pods. Poinsettias are a favourite at Christmas time and many will buy the cultivated variety.
A floral bouquet of wild poinsettias and wild plumeria or frangipani in the gardens of Harbour Club Villas.
These beautiful wild flowers are found growing wild almost everywhere you go. The milky sap from the poinsettia is used as bush medicine and is a remedy for warts and corns.
Marta
Hummingbirds
A male Bahama Woodstar Hummingbird perches for a while as I took his picture
The pool area at Harbour Club Villas is the place to birdwatch and frequently we see these beautiful tiny creatures as they hover from flower to flower especially liking the flowers on my firecracker bushes. The Bahama Woodstar is the only hummingbird that is found regularily in the Turks and Caicos. They are generally green on the top of the body with a brown underbody. The female is rather dowdy and drab where as the male has that magnificent irridiscent purple throat which shimmers and glints as the sun catches it.
This tiny female looked like a baby not quite used to flying as she takes a rest on a vine under our palm tree.
The only time I manage to snap a photo is when they perch and rest for a while. These little guys can fly every which way…up, down, left, right and backwards too. When they hover their wings flap at about 50 times per second. Humming birds have a very fast heart and breathing rate and therefore they need to feed every ten minutes or so throughout the day.
A humming bird sits on her small nest built on a forked branch.
One of our guests at the villas was an avid bird watcher and she discovered a nest with only one egg in it. I can’t believe how tiny hummingbird nests are. This one was precariously built in the fork of a three foot tree which was more like a twig. The cup shaped nest is built out of plant fragments and silk from spiders’ webs which is all glued together with her own saliva.
A female sits on her eggs.
A female hummingbird will usually lay two white eggs which take about two weeks to hatch. A further three weeks in the nest and then the young are ready to fly. Unfortunately this twig like branch was bent over in a strong wind and the egg flew out and broke. I would have loved to have seen the young but this was not to be.
Enjoy nature around you and watch for the colourful Bahama Woodstar hummingbirds while you enjoy your vacation here on Provo.
Marta
Leeward Beach
A deserted stretch of beach out at Leeward.........you know this is one of my very favourite areas as usually, we are the only ones there.
Wild Flowering Vines
Tiny purple flowers on a vine that I found today.
I’m not sure what made me look down on the ground but I’m glad I did. We have a rocky bank by the villas that we cleared some weeks ago and now there are many tiny clumps of creeping vines that are like a ground cover. Miniature little flowers with pointed petals are blooming all over and they are so pretty.
These little flowers are really quite lovely and if you didn't look closely, you'd miss them
I haven’t been able to come up with a name for them. I also found what I think is a variety of Creeping Day Flower in a very pretty blue. Some seeds must have blown in and they started to grow under one of my coconut palms.
Tiny, unique looking blooms of the Creeping Day flower.
Several months ago, I came across a plant with pale white flowers at Harbour Club Villas that I identified as a Creeping Day Flower. This one has blue flowers and the same leaf structure so I’m assuming it is a variety of the same plant. Again such small flowers that under normal circumstances you’d miss.
Amazing how many small low to the ground vines there are here in the Turks and Caicos Islands
Keep a close eye out for these miniature flowering vines. They are exquisite with their delicate blooms.
Marta