We are situated under the thick rainforest canopy on several acres. It is home to thousands of bird, fresh-water, insect and flora and fauna species. Each morning we wake to the cacophony of jungle birds all expressing their vocal desire to get on with their day. Once the sun shines on the river the Ulysses, Mountain Green and dozens of other varieties of butterflies astonish us with their iridescent colours and activities. As the Dry Season has commenced we also have many vibrantly coloured dragonflies come and settle in the lotuses in our pond. Sunning themselves to reenergise. Evenings see the occasional huge Bat Moth flitting about, the ghost geckos under the veranda darting about to have a feed on small insects and the fire flies give a terrestrial  flickering display to amaze onlookers.

Baking, Cooking and Jamming

It will be a few weeks before I share any recipes except to say that since Francesca and Mr T departed for cooler climes – I have been so enthralled with all the Francesca taught me about sourdough and making cheap dairy products. The jamming, conserving and pickling is a legacy from my Granny and we spent many winter hours on the farm collecting fresh produce which ended up in the larder..We used the Vacola system and the wood-fired washing copper for bulk produce. What great learning grounds. In the Tropics our seasonal fruits are yellow passionfruit, citrus, acid-free pineapple, red dragon fruit, red papaya. A plethora of combinations to play with resulting in some scrumdiddlyosious goodies. I’ve been playing with the sourdough recipes and have par-invented small breakfast seeded loaves for my B&B guests. As for the soft cheeses and labneh – can’t make enough! Yogurt is being churned out at 2 litres a day.  As it’s the cooler months here, kitchen work is easy and I’m using it as an excuse to put off making the B&B beds – well until the last minute!