Easter Blooms

Hibiscus
Caladium
Yellow Allamanda (Allamanda cathartica)
Not sure what this plant is, but it spreads easily. My fiance insists that it is a weed. Well, weed or not, I still think that it is pretty.

Orange/Gold Canna Lily. I will just let that burst of color speak for itself.
Spider Lily ( Crinum ??)- first bloom


Copper plant (Acalypha wilkesiana)
Brides Bouquet (Plumeria pudica)
Ti Plant or as we West Indians call it, Red Sister. I love this plant, not just for its brilliant color, but it seems almost indestructible, I haven't come across any insect that dares to interfere with it, at least not so far. (fingers crossed)
Red Ginger

Bibliophilia

'Bibliophilia is the love of books. Accordingly a bibliophile loves books, but especially "for qualities of format." A bookworm loves books for their content, or otherwise loves reading in general. Bibliophilia is generally considered to be incorrect, but some would say it is a new, recent, usage. The practice of loving or collecting books is dubbed bibliophilism, and the adjective form of the term is bibliophilic. Also, a bibliophile may be a book collector.' ~from Wikipedia

OK!!!! I love collecting books and reading books, I even like reading about books, this is no secret, at least not to those who know me well. Recently, while reading about books on my favorite website, Amazon.com, I came across this blog stream called 'A cure for bibliophilia?' My first thought was "wha, it's a disease!?!" My second thought was "why would I need to be cured!?!"

Reading further I found that it was a blog stream of persons, who like me, share a sort of perverted passion for books. We buy books when we already have a mountain of them, waiting to be read, on shelves and various other objects around our home; we steadily cruise online looking for the next great bookstore; we refuse to go to the library because, of course, these books must be owned, not simply borrowed; we categorize them according to author or by fiction and nonfiction, or by read or unread, etc.

How thrilling it is to find that I am not the only one plagued with this affliction. If there is ever a cure found for this disease called 'biblophilia', kindly refrain from informing me, as in this case ignorance will surely be bliss.

Say your peace at the amazon blog stream:

http://www.amazon.com/tag/fiction/forum/ref=cm_cd_ys_rt_tft_tp?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1X9OILUVOYVZ7&cdThread=Tx3SKYEVJ72LF47

By the way.....currently reading 'Astrid and Veronika' by Linda Olsson. I realized recently, that I have a preference for novels which feature women as the protagonist. Guess that comes from being one. This novel has mixed reviews, some seem to love it while others were left feeling a little unstatisfied at the end. I have only read the first few chapters, but so far I have a good feeling about this one.

Garden Shots

Canna (pre bloom)
Canna in bloom and absolutely lovely. I have been waiting for months for this plant to bloom. Loves it!!!!
A mix of purple and fuchsia colored bougainvillea
Close up of Duranta erecta. The varigated leaves of this plant make it a special treat in my garden.
Hibiscus

Desert Rose (Adenium obesum)
Pygmy Date Palm ( Phoenix roebellini) and a very small Sago Palm on the leftPurple Bougainvillea and Duranta erecta (Pigeon Berry)
I love this shot of the front of the yard taken on an angle.
Christmas Palm and Bougainvillea

Trip to Brimstone Hill Fortress

At the Base of the Fortress

Heading up

View of the town of Sandy Point from the Fortress

Cannons

Above are some photos taken during my son's school visit to the Brimstone Hill Fortress, located in Sandy Point, St. Kitts. It is one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring locations on the island and is one of the major tourist attractions. My son and his friends had a good time exploring it's length and breath.

Examples of Carib drawings (earliest inhabitants of the island who were eventually eradicated by the English and the Spanish)

Heading back down to the base

According to the website,

"The Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of historical, cultural and architectural significance: a monument to the ingenuity of the British military engineers who designed it and to the skill, strength and endurance of the African slaves who built and maintained it. One of the best preserved historical fortifications in the Americas, it is located on the island of St. Kitts in the Federation of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis in the Eastern Caribbean."

You can learn more by checking out this link.

http://www.brimstonehillfortress.org/

Garden Shots of my West Indian Garden

Here are some shots of my yard taken over the past few weeks.

Small selection of plants at front entrance of house.

Plumeria Pudica (Frangipani) and Red Ginger (Alpinia Purpurata)

A Papaya tree (one of two in my garden) which is still very young, not sure whether it is male or female. It hasn't started bearing any fruits yet. Unfortunately, if it is a male I won't be seeing any fruits from this one.

Beginnings

This is my first post and my first day as an official blogger. Break out the champagne!!!! Wow, I'm actually a little nervous about this, not to mention excited. Ok then, well let's get started. Of course, I must start off by mentioning what I am currently reading .....drum roll please...."Breath, Eyes, Memory" by Edwidge Danticat. Pretty good read so far, it is actually one of the few books I have read this year that is borrowed and not owned.

Yesterday, during a bout of depression, I broke my new year resolution to not purchase any more gardening books, at least not until summer, by ordering not just one but three books on tropical plants from Amazon.com. Sure they were all under $15 but still.....I have no will power. I currently own two books devoted to the subject, "Plants for Tropical Landscapes - A Gardener' s Guide" and "Paradise Found: Growing Tropicals in your Own Back Yard." Both are pretty good in their own way, the latter is full of simply gorgeous photos of tropical plants, it also offers some suggestions on design. The former provides a more comprehensive list and breaks them up into sections, such as, ground cover, small shrubs, large shrubs, palms, etc.

Here is a photo of one of the books I ordered yesterday....now tell me how am I supposed to resist not buying it with cover photo as rediculously sumptous as this....Anyway that's my official excuse, the cover was too irresistable.

You must be saying to yourself, for her to be sucked into buying a gardening book based almost solely on the cover design, she must be new at gardening, well to that I will say, "yes, you are correct" I am new at it, however I have always loved a beautiful garden, it's the feeling you get, a sense of serenity and awe. It's what adds color to life