Rainy Monday

Yes, it is a rainy Monday, our first rain since leaving the US way back in January.

It has rained non-stop all day today, and it’s been very lovely here in Man O’ War Cay.  The locals told us that April can be quite wet, just like New England.  No wonder it is so lush here.

We wandered through the town, along wide paved walkways just wide enough for golf carts to pass.  Lots of those here, and very few cars.  The cars that are here are models we don’t see in the US….cute miniature vehicles.

We saw a border of amaryllis planted along a fence.  They were in various stages from spent to full open and still in bud.  They were a bright, single red….just like we force at Christmas back at home.  There are lots of things that we’d call houseplants, growing as perennial foundation plants here:  Kalenchoe, “Wandering Jew,” coleus, vinca.  We even saw the biggest poinsettia we’ve ever seen!

But there are also things we cannot identify.  Some vines with huge purple trumpet like flowers, some lily-like flowers, and a huge tree covered with bright yellow flowers! I really wanted to grab a seed pod off the yellow flowering tree!…but I refrained.

Bob enjoyed visiting the Albury Boat Works that have made so many of the small powerboats we’ve seen throughout the islands, as well as many of the traditional wooden sailing dinghies used in the regattas, and most of the small inter-island ferries.

I have been looking forward to visiting Sallie’s Gift Shop ever since I learned that it is well stocked with Androsia fabrics and finished garments. Androsia is a local company (on Andros Island) where women make traditional batik on various weights of fabric.  There is light weight garment cotton, heavy canvas for making bags or upholstery, and some mid-weight cotton for household linens.  The batik motifs are all Bahamian: shells, turtles, hibicus, sharks….  It was hard to stay on task, but I think I did a good job of getting some fabrics to make presents and some small presents for my nieces!  A little something for me too!

Then there was the Albury Sail Shop, where women from the Albury family make duffel bags and every other kind of imaginable bag.  There were more bags than you can possibly imagine under one roof!  The Alburys have been making bags for three generations now.  Again, what a hard choice for me!  But I did pick a good one!

The woman on the left is the Albury who now runs this shop.  Her grandmother started the shop 60 years ago.

So what to do on a rainy Monday afternoon?  Dig out some more of my stash and start another knitting project!  I skeined this mystery yarn, rigging up a hank holder between two portholes in the galley.  I know it is merino but the tag is long gone, so I don’t know who dyed it.

I just downloaded Romi Hill’s “7 Small Shawls,” which are named after the stars in the Pleides.  I will start with “Celaeno”….very feminine and pretty.  It will be a gift.  The directions for this shawl call for over 900 size 6 beads, but I have decided to omit this since I think the shawl will be uncomfortable heavy with so many beads.  On the other hand it sure would sparkle like the night sky with beads knitted into it…

 

 

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