African lunch !

It all started out with Yvonne asking me to handle the Heart of Palm she brought in from Cotonou, Benin just yesterday... Of course, I'm used to eating heart of palms, mostly in Brazil, but the most I have had to handle so far, was the can opener... 

 

Of course, right from the beginning, Naïs, showed much interest, as usual, when any tap is opened and water is flowing. So, she 'assisted' me on the kitchen counter by the sink.

 For a moment, Due to Mina's insistence in scrutinizing my attempts to remove the heart of palm's husk, I thought she might be a vegetarian. This did not prove true...

 

I eventually made some progress in removing as much as 50% of the 'biomass' before reaching the softer more easily digestible at the heart of the matter...This seems more appropriate as Panda food than a delicacy. Still, fresh heart of palm has a much smoother taste than the canned stuff in brine.

 Part II

The Gamba/Banana

Worldwide, marine shrimp species vary much in size and coloration. These West African babies are huge! The size of a banana! check it out!

 Cooked however, they tend to look like most shrimp, once fried or steamed... However, tastewise they were definitely fantastic, maybe because they are 'wild' as opposed to the 'farmed' type....  - NB. I  have no qualms over farmed seafood including salmon...!

They tasted even better because of Monoprix, this week, as the chain is giving away one free for one bought of a series of items including wine... (ask Brian!) This Chardonnay did fine.

 Xuxú, followed our procedures to the table, apparently fulling approving of the results.

The plate lent itself to some imaginative decoration, maybe for a next St. Valentines!

 All in all I would say, Life is Good!

 

 

Rio's Botanical Gardens

I guess the view from above as seen in this spectacular cool morning in October is one of the best of Rio - (credit - O Globo). You can hardly see Rio below and how urban sprawl has defaced its mountain sides with favelas and gray condos rising on the coastline. However, just below the Christ the Redeemer monument is another of Rio's more natural marvels, the Botanical Garden..

Botanical friends in the Botanical Garden

I'm always fascinated with the Imperial Palm trees...

I find bromeliads very friendly - maybe the cat equivalent of the Plant Kingdom

Love the water plants

And their oriental gardens

 

The lotus was not in flower today

Reminds you of a tick ?

And nymphs to ensure the water supply of the gardens!

The very bizarre, very delicious, very smelly, and very  messy  'jackfruit'

On a more serious note, part of the bromeliad collection

Bromeliads, ferns, water and sunlight - the perfect combination

Bird of paradise

The End

I had a farm in Africa...

No, actually it was in Brazil... (-22.520974 -43.786731 copy & paste these coordinates on google maps and you'll get there...) 

But it could have been across 'the pond' ... 

Those were 'the days' ! So much happened...The property had once produced coffee. Its orchard had exotic trees like Portuguese chestnuts, North American pecans, camphor from India, jambo and jackfruit trees. The windows had tinted glass decorative pieces in the corners, which came from Portugal. Behind the manor, Australian eucalyptus (including the fragrant citriodora good for the sauna and to concoct cheap home made mosquito repellent), by the slave quarters, pink kapok trees, especially beautiful in the fall. We embarked on a few projects. Fish farming, cattle ranching, organic vegetable gardening, Passion fruit. We discovered capivaras locally, and raised two orphan capivaras. A big surprise for us urbanites was the subcutaneous parasitic fly - Dermatobia hominis - We extracted 11 from the head of one child. The 'geographical worm' Ancylostoma braziliense normally confined to the intestines of dogs was found on some of the children's feet and ankles. 

Our farm house, inaugurated in 1858 !

 

 Our 'family dog'  Horus the great dane was huge, and had proportional interest in assisting us locate fish lost in the mud of our ponds...

We had not only exotic fish, but native small crayfish

Modesto was our associate, friend and fisheries engineer - we produced tilapia

We built ponds and got good at it... We had our own D4 Caterpillar bulldozer piloted by Benedito

Froidefonde's garden

It's nice to have friends in the country
Especially when these love nature, flowers, and culture their friends and their environment. We are lucky to have Dominic and Gisele. In a recent visit to the Froidefondea, Dominic took me around the property, situated in the rural outskirts of Mareuil-sur-Arnon a medium size tributary of the Cher river in Dept 18 (Cher) in central France.

For every geometry, plants can help design a new composition

Organic, old-time, fresh tomatoes, a neighbor's present...

Looks pretty, but they are actually Spanish beans...and delicious

These not only look good, but keep some insects out of the way

Color  and  Texture added to the landscape

Dominic and family find and transform nature into art... is he a 'Berrichon' version of Brazilian Franz Krajcberg (http://www.frans-krajcberg.com/fkmanifeste.html)

Rock plants for rock walls...

A horse's head...

Uncle Otto !

Otto Landahl as 'The Crofter'

Otto Landahl - our own in-house family Swedish actor, who actually worked with Ingmar Bergman, as can be checked in the Bergmanorama site. His bio in the IMDb site is short " Born on 22 October 1889, Härnösand, Västernorrlands län, Sweden, died 31 March 1949, Helsingborg, Skånelän, Sweden . The actor Otto Landahl comes from large family with 8 siblings. He was born in Harnosand, in the north part of Sweden, where he lived with his family. Later on he moved to South Sweden, to Helsingborg, where he worked on Helsingborg Theater and performed in 8 plays directed by Ingermar Bergman."

The 'Crofter'

His roles included: Kalle, the cook in the 1952 film ‘Adolf i toppform’; the crofter in the 1948 film ‘ Each Heart Has Its Own Story’; Verkstadschefen in 1946 ‘Youths in Danger’; a Professor in 1945 ‘Sten Stensson kommer till stan’; Måns Olssonin in 1944 ‘Skåningar’, Elvira's Father 'Mikael' in 1943 Elvira Madigan, Kalle in 1939 ‘A Cruise in the Albertina’, Pastor Borg in 1937 ‘Laila’; and Aslak in 1935 ‘Fredløs’. 

as Kalle, the cook on the 'Albertina'

The play is Rekviem, directed by Ingemar Bergman in 1946 at the the Helsingborg Theatre.
Otto is fourth from the left.

Otto also worked at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm in 1934, in the Othello by Shakespeare classic play. His first child was born out of wedlock, and his mother (sister in law for Per Oskar ) took care of that child. Later on he met his wife to be, also an actor. She had an accident which left her permanently disabled and eventually died still very young. Apparently she was the love of his life, as he never remarried and dedicated himself to the theatre instead completely.

California Wilderness

I'm jealous! Being the 'house Biologist' I am naturally inclined for Nature walks and trails, and try to make them whenever, wherever possible. But the pictures below show a recent hike and camp-out in the California / Lake Tahoe area done by Michael, Nicholas and friend adventurers... Check out the crispness of the air, the apparently very cool waters of the lake, and the degree of communion with nature these guys had!

California trailblazers...

and their competent guides...

A 'natural' friend...

NOT sand! --- Snow! Brrrrr

Cliff hanger!

Rock surfing?

The quest for the sun...