31 May 2013

Late for the party

     The guest that didn't make it in time for the birthday cake.



24 May 2013

A birthday party

     Choreographed better than the Bolshoi Ballet, a birthday party 'arrived' at False Bluff early on a February day.   We were making breakfast when a boat from Bluefields - loaded with people and food and balloons and a huge cake and tables and chairs and gifts and party favors - came up the creek. And what a surprise it was!  



     Not even a bit of rain slowed things down for long.


     Three hours later everybody and everything had been loaded onto the boat and was headed back to Bluefields....except for a week's worth of left-overs, a cooler full of ice, and some memories of very good friends.



19 May 2013

WTF

     Never know what you'll find....


16 May 2013

Bermuda grass....maybe

     There's a really interesting grass that I think's in the Bermuda grass family.   It grows lavishly all over the Corn Islands but at the start of this project, not at False Bluff.....probably because when I started the project there wasn't any place for grass to grow.  Here's what it does on Big Corn where it seems to have an affinity for coconut trees, piling up against the base of a tree trunk like a ten car crash in a snow storm.  


     There's not very much of this grass to be found in Bluefields.  But there is some in the elevated front yard of the Moravian School along the main street; and it had 'dripped' out of the school yard to spring up in the cracks along the sidewalk four feet below.  I rescued some from pedestrian traffic.
      I planted the few small clumps I took out to False Bluff at the base of coconut trees - five or six trees, I think.  The grass has established itself well enough that now we're taking clumps from those patches to put at the base of other coconut trees.  And we've got a lot of coconut trees.  The picture shows where hand-sized  divots have been dug out for planting elsewhere (those divots are the size of the original plantings).


     Some people really dislike this grass, but I find it a pleasure to see and a pleasure to walk on; and since it grows right up to the edge of the beaches on Big Corn, I know salt water spray isn't a problem.   Anything that'll grow and thrive in that environment is worth planting....as long as it looks good.
      But one of the things about this grass I didn't know is the way it grows when it's starting out.



09 May 2013

Where the main 'avenida' goes

     So far there are two of these avenidas at False Bluff.  The short one,  branching off the main roadway, leads to the house. 
    The main one and its landscaping have taken up the three previous posts.  It goes from the end of our first dock (see July 30, 2011 post), past the house, and across part of False Bluff to a shady spot right at the edge of the beach.... 






03 May 2013

Even more about the fence and about lemon grass-with an edit

     The last couple of posts have been about putting up a new section of fence primarily to direct traffic flow across the property; and about planting lemon grass as an edging directly below the cross-pole parts of the fence.  Once the lemon grass has matured into big clumps, the fence won't be needed:  the lemon grass will do what the fence does now.
      A few years ago, when we were still having to buy coconut trees to plant, I lined the 'avenida' (which goes across part of False Bluff) with the tallest coconut trees I could find locally.  This roadway divides the dock part of the property from the part of the property that will eventually house small cabins facing the water.  The new fence goes along one side of this roadway, directly in front of one of the two lines of coconut trees which edge it.  And, of course, now lemon grass also lines the edge of the roadway where the fence is. 
     So we have two lines of coconut trees which meander across part of the property, with a fence along one of the lines, and a row of lemon grass.   Eventually, there will be tall coconut trees and low clumps of lemon grass.



     There's a shrub that's used for landscaping that I first saw in Bluefields.   I found it growing wild at False Bluff and have no idea what its name is.  It has glossy green leaves and bright yellow flowers - and once it gets big enough to bloom it doesn't stop.   I rooted more than a  hundred cuttings and the first ones I planted along the house in front of the kitchen - a year ago - are blooming.   The ones between the coconut trees aren't quite there yet, but when they do begin to bloom they'll add a whole other dimension to the landscaping along the dock side of the roadway.  
     NOTE:  A reader identified this plant as 'Allamanda,' prolific in the tropics of Central and South America.  Thanks Joe!
     There are three of these shrubs planted between each pair of coconut trees, just behind the lemon grass.  So what we will have, again, eventually, are tall coconut trees, mid-size blooming shrubs and low clumps of lemon grass.  
      When that happens I'll post pictures.  Until then here's the plant in full bloom and you'll just have to imagine the rest: