Barbados Home Update...

while we are in Canada our home

is being cared for by

Nathan and Kerry Harling

of

'Gifted Hands'

http://www.giftedhandsbarbados.com/

Check out the slide show of photos

at the beginning

of this site.

Finally Finished....

Mixed media on canvas, 2 ft x 2 ft,
'The Spirit Within, #8'... available

Paint Colour Choices, Coconuts, Time for Family and Friends

One week has passed since we took possession of our new home. It has been an exciting and very full week.

 

First the task of selecting colours to paint the rooms...this turned out to be more complicated than anticipated. My usual choices of Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams were out of the question and while it is available here the paint is imported and very expensive. Berger paint is available. After talking to many and much research the product we went with was Trowel Plastics Brushing Solution, a paint product common here in the Caribbean. The walls are rough and Trowel Plastics troweled on. It took me a while to come around to using this product but we are happy with the results. We have almost finished painting each room...a variety of blues and greens... the colours of the sea. 

The floors are all tile (very happy with this as it should be easy to keep clean) and they are the colour of the beach sands. I took my inspiration from a poster on the wall in Trowel Plastics entry room. The process went something like this... drive to the paint store, pick up sample colours, take them back to the house to see how they look.

 

Back to the paint store for a sample pot, then to the house to try it out, let it dry, back to the paint store to make the final purchase. Repeat two more times!  The sunlight is very intense and alters the colour. It appears different in each room and even on each wall of a room. The paint finish is matte to absorb the light and heat. We began with the bathroom, painting the ceiling white and it soon became apparent that this was going to take a toll on our neck, back and shoulders. I did a Google search for 'beige ceilings and coloured walls and found some delightful looking rooms. So 'beige ceilings blue and green walls it is'!

  

Some may wonder why this amount of time and effort was spend on 'colour', including my husband...all I can say is...it must be the artist in me.  

The coconuts on our backyard tree were ready for harvesting...very exciting! Six in all and ten more still on the tree. Our friend Dan opened them for the coconut water with his very long and sharp machete.

  
We have one golden apple left on our tree, the monkeys came through and helped themselves. We have a Soursop tree bearing two fruits. 

We also have a bay leaf bush that is 3 feet high (at home I have one that grows to 8 inches) one lime tree and a mango tree. 

 

Everything here takes just a wee bit longer to accomplish and as our sometime neighbour from Britain said to us....'this is the charm of the place'. I love it!  We made trips to the Waterworks, Light and Power and Insurance Company. Take a number and a seat.  

Time out for a visit with friends, cousins and Uncle John, a 50th Wedding Anniversary party and trips to Oistins for fish fry Friday.

I signed up for Leslie Saeta's September 'Thirty Paintings in 30 Days' as I thought I would do a small watercolour each day. Walls are all that are getting the paint as yet.