Anyone for coffee?

When I asked J's Mum what she would like to do while visiting us, she said she would like to visit the coffee plantation. So off we went to the Rosemary Gate Estate. 

 

We were greeted by Bill, an ex something-in-steel from Sheffield who came to live in St Helena and started growing coffee for something to do. A decade on, he and his wife Gill produce 2.5 tons a year and run a rather lovely Coffee Shop in Jamestown. They grow a variety called Bourbon Arabica from the Yemen which was originally brought to St Helena in 1732.

First we were shown the nursery area where new plants are grown from seed. These ones are about a year old.

A mature coffee plant is actually a medium to large tree so they are heavily pruned to keep them about 5 foot high.

They have beautiful little flowers with a lovely Jasmine scent.

These develop into 'cherries' which are picked once a week from October to February.

Inside each cherry is the bean, or actually two beans.

The flesh of the cherry is removed on a giant cheese grater, then the parchment beans are fermented in water to loosen the husk.

They are dried in the sun before being stored for turning into coffee. The trays of beans each need about 48 hours of sunshine to dry out and the moisture levels are monitored to make sure they  reach 11%.

Then the parchment can be removed.

Another machine! The parchment is delivered to the local egg farm for use in the nest boxes in return for sacks of chicken mature which are used to fertilise the coffee plants.

The prepared beans are pretty much odourless and tasteless until they are roasted. They are roasted on a weekly basis to ensure freshness.

Apparently you can tell when they are ready because they start cracking in the roaster and sound like popcorn.

Beans intended for espresso are roasted a little longer which releases more of the oils and makes them slightly shiny.

Then they are ground - fine for espresso, medium for filter and coarse for cafetiere.

The smell of the ground coffee was amazing but I am actually not that keen on real coffee! The Coffee Shop does a fab frappe though...

xx

Summer shirt beginnings

I have started a sewing project. It has been long in the planning - one of those things I brought in case crafty bits were thin on the ground here. As you have seen, I have found new and exciting ways to be crafty since coming to St Helena although my instincts were right in that normal crafty ingredients are hard to come by.

 

Last year I bought this book and was slightly disappointed that quite a few of the projects aren't really me. But a few are very me - I love love love this shirt. I bought a piece of material specially to make it - much more planning than I usually indulge in!

Having never made any clothing before, and being very inexpert with the requirements of using a pattern, I decided to do absolutely everything exactly as dictated by the book, rather than my usual cutting corners and making it up as I go along.

I measured myself and cut out a paper pattern really properly.

Then cut out the fabric pieces and pinned the darts. Life interrupted at this point, and when I pulled it out this evening thinking that I might sew a few bits, I discovered that it is far too dark to sew in our house in the evening. The lighting is awful and even with the addition of lamps, I'd be hard pressed to see the thread against the fabric. So, very sensibly I listened to my better judgement and it will have to wait for another day.

But I am very excited about the pink and the flowers and the contrasting placket (my new word, and one I like)!

xx

Three Billy Goats Gruff

Happy Thursday everyone!

xx

March Slow Living

Definitely slow! I can't believe I have got to the 8th of the month before stopping to think about March. As usual I am joining in with the lovely people over here.

Nourish

Does cake count? A lot of cake was baked in March for birthdays and school fund raisers and Rainbows parties.

I have also had the challenge of the potato shortage to deal with.

Prepare

I am struggling to get used to having to think about birthdays weeks and weeks in advance, but I did make and post something for J's sister and for his Mum in (hopefully) plenty of time.

Grow

The courgettes have given up but J won't let me pull them up. He has pulled off all the mildewy leaves so now we have very sad looking bald plants. We have replanted the dahlias out of their pots into the ground and they have sprouted new little leaves which is exciting. I also bought some plants from the market to try and make our space a bit more floriferous (isn't that a lovely word?).

Green

Not much here, but I did take the Smalls to the Millennium Forest to make foot prints to highlight the importance of looking after their environment.

Reduce

Making beads continues as does making plant pots from tin cans and using jam jars and Cheddars tubs for all sort of things. More re-use than recycle but better than nothing.

Create

I have made a little more progress with the Sweetie Shop Persian blanket - I was trying to join the little squares as I went along, but just couldn't get it to be tidy, eventually I unravelled all the ones I had done and sewed them together one at a time. I am much happier with the result and the strip of squares is gradually  growing. I am also trying to do a row or two of my log cabin knitted blanket each day. I still have the bug for attempting some patchwork but I haven't found the required quiet stretch to think it out. I also did my first flax work commission - a clutch bag for one of the ladies in the choir. Very exciting!

Discover

Our St Helena adventure is one long journey of discovery. Everything is new and different, but I have taken some time this month to read up on the history of the island a bit more.

Enhance

I have been challenging myself musically but learning an Easter Cantata with the little choir I have joined. It is a lovely mixture of ages and backgrounds but the music is harder than I am completely comfortable with. I sing alto which is usually harder because you rarely have the tune but this is quite hard harmonies, and there are only three altos, none of whom are very strong. Never the less we are getting there, and more importantly having fun along the way.

Enjoy

Two birthdays, plus the usual fun and frolics have made for a very enjoyable month.

How was your month?

xx

Christmas part 3

The ship brought Granny safely, and a parcel that has been on a bit of an adventure.

 

J's sister attempted to post it to us from Canada in November. but the post office didn't have St Helena on their system so she posted it to his Mum in the UK.

Granny paid more postage to send it on to here by airmail in 14 December and it finally arrived with her on 2 April.

A mini celebration was in order!

Fizz for all the family...

of the non alcoholic variety! The Smalls loved it though - the ceremony of popping the cork, the fizzing in the glasses and the clinking.

Inside the parcel were Bon Voyage cards and Christmas cards and magazines as well as presents - Granny had slipped in a few extra goodies before reposting it.

And fab gifts. Tiny Boy has hardly let his new backpack out of his sight since it arrived (he does like a bag or a box that boy), Tall Girl is plotting lots of new projects from her craft book, and Giant Baby was very tickled by his funny building sticks. I have a beautiful cowl all ready for the winter, and which Daddy would not be thrilled by an engine for paper aeroplanes? 

Happy Christmas everyone!

xx

The Grand Adventure of the Smalls

On Easter Monday I did something very brave. It might not seem brave to anyone else, and I am very happy to confess that I am not usually very brave about this sort of thing.

 

J was at work in order to be able to take Tuesday off to spend with his Mum. So I was at home with the Smalls.

It was a bit of a wet and windy day - the first signs of Autumn I suppose, but I had promised Tiny Boy that we could go and explore somewhere we had never been before.

He likes doing this, and so do I, but I find the prospect of going on my own with three Smalls rather challenging.

I put the word out that we were going, in the hope someone else would want to come too, but had no takers.

I took a deep breath and off we went. Rain coats on, a few snacks packed into the backpack in which I can carry Giant Baby when his little legs give out, and Tall Girl in charge of the map.

Now, the route was one recommended in a book of walks on St Helena published about 20 years ago.

I knew the author was quite keen on climbing over barbed wire fences but a couple more had been erected since the book was written...

Tall Girl was very good at scrambling over or under, but lifting Tiny Boy and Giant Baby was a test of strength! As was encouraging them to scramble up about 100m of almost vertical field.

Giant Baby was desperate for a carry by this point, but I didn't trust myself not to wobble and tumble right down with him in tow so I made him get to the top under his own steam.

I always worry that there will be mutiny in some deserted place, as far as possible for the car, or that one of us will take a tumble and I won't be able to get us all back.

The vertical field did cause a certain amount of grumbling and a lot of groaning but I used quite a lot of biscuit bribery to get us to the top.

I carried Giant Baby for the second half of the walk which was fine until I had to climb a stile. He really is very giant so hauling us both up and over was quite tricky.

But we succeeded. We had a nice time!

We got back to the car in one piece and with my sanity intact.

It stopped raining and we enjoyed the gorgeous scenery.

We collected interesting bits and pieces and picked a passion fruit growing wild.

We walked for 2.5 hours and covered about 2 miles.

It was hard work for Mummy, and I think I definitely would prefer company,

but if the moment arose, I would do it again.

Silly to need all my courage to take my Smalls out for a ramble I know, but we all have different hurdles and that is one of mine.

xx

Preparations

Tomorrow the RMS St Helena returns from Ascension Island and we will be ready.

We have rearranged

and tidied

and shopped

and planned

and painted

and we are ready.

Should be a fun-filled fortnight!

xx