more pretty plants in punta cana

We didn't get to go to an official botanical garden while in the Dominican, but our resort was beautifully landscaped with all sorts of beautiful specimens, many identified with a plaque noting their latin and common names.

Wayne and Heidi with bananas

bourganvillia

a slingle palm tree leans precariously out to sea

Euphorbia grows a lot taller than at home

King palm

hibiscus heaven

At the resort in the Dominican Republic, hibiscus of all colours were as common as dandelions at home.  But a lot prettier.  The housekeeping staff even decorated our bathroom with them!

orchids in paradise

At the Dreams Resort in Punta Cana, orchids were perched around the flamingo pool.  I was amazed at the variety.

New orchids are lashed to a tree and kitted out with a bag of fertilizer, and are prepared to bloom soon.

critters at the resort

In February, we were at a resort in the Dominican Republic.  While over 100 cm of snow fell back home on PEI, we couldn't believe the whole world was as green and lush as our little corner of heaven at Dreams Resort.  The peacocks screamed like cats, and were pretty shy, except for one female who sat down beside me on my deck and kept me company for a while.

The six flamingos were really cool.  They hung out in this rocky pool most of the time, but one morning all six walked right past us, on a mission to who knows where.  That cold reptilian eye makes me think they don't like us much at all.

This scene was a real mystery.  The flamingo grabbed some feed from the bowl, turned its head upside down, and pushed his beak back and forth in the water.  The huge goldfish went crazy eating the feed that must be spilling from the flamingo's beak.  Now why would the bird want to feed the fish?  What was in it for him?  The only thing I can think of is that he likes his food wet.

a single straggler

A single female evening grossbeak has been hanging out with a flock of bluejays and mourning doves at my feeder.  She is very shy, and it's hard to get a clear picture of her against the white snow.  I haven't seen that species at my feeder for many years.  I hope she finds some of her own kind close by.

Another visitor is this raven.  It is one of a trio that visits the feeder to look for bread and other offerings, such as wet cat food rejected by my finicky cat.  They aren't keen on sunflower seeds or suet.

winter's back

We went away for the first week of February to celebrate our 60th birthdays.  We left a mild, easy winter, and returned to snow - lots of it.  Wayne is now in Florida (shades of last year) and I am left to do the shovelling.  First was the deck - the weight of all that snow had to go.  I uncovered the bird feeders, stocked up the peanuts and sunflower seeds, and a crowd of bluejays, starlings, mourning doves and chickadees, along with two ravens, showed their appreciation.

Later in the afternoon, I had a look at the front walkway.  It was a chore just to find the steps.  The snow was packed down by the wind, and was easy to cut into chunks.  I had to stop every few minutes to catch my breath.

The car on the left has not been touched for 10 days.  That guy will not be liberated for another week. My car, on the right, was driven yesterday, but is again covered.  The driveway has not been plowed, so I'm going nowhere today.

After 40 minutes of struggling, the steps have emerged.  The pile of snow is up to 45 inches, and I am ready for a well-deserved cup of tea.

marmelade

The Meyer lemon tree in my living room is just a scrawny thing about a foot tall.  Now that it's winter, the leaves are falling off.  But it produced 9 lovely green fruit.  I used two to flavour some applesauce made with the skins (so good and much faster to make).


To do justice to the 7 remaining lemons, I decided to make marmelade.  The recipes I found on line seemed really complicated, so I worked out a plan that turned out really well.
1.  cut Meyer lemons very thin, removing seeds as you go.  Chop into small pieces
2.  take the zest off one lemon and two oranges.  Cut into thin ribbons.
3.  cut fruit in half, and cut between the membranes.  Remove the fruit.
4.  I ended up with 3.5 cups.
5.  place in large pot.  Add the same amount of water as fruit.
6.  bring to boil, and simmer gently 30 minutes.
7.  add same amount of sugar as fruit.  Stir till dissolved.
8.  boil hard 10 minutes.  Check for set:  put a small plate in the freezer.  Put a bit of jam on the plate.  The jam should set within 20 seconds.  If it is still runny, continue to boil 10 more minutes, and test again.  Take off the heat and stir for 5 minutes to prevent floating fruit.
9.  Bottle the jam:  wash pint mason jars.  Place in a roasting pan filled half full of hot water.  Put in the oven at 200 degrees.  always use new lids.  Bring to the boil, then turn off heat.
10.  Bottle the jam, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Screw on jar rims finger tight, and set on kitchen towel.  Do not disturb for 12 hours.

The jam is bursting with citrus flavour, and not too sweet.
I have done justice to my beautiful meyer lemons!