The magical, fantastical tree.

Dear Tree-lovin' Friends and Fellow Travellers,

Yesterday, soon o' morning, there me was, with 2 family members, swooshing past rickety homes surrounded by trees.

It was all romantical like in them tv movies about old times, and like in that Netflix show, Anne With An E. Fog swirling, and homes shut up to keep warm. I coulda just smell the coffee and toast, jam and bake beans for breakfast.

But y'know what was wrong with the picture?

Not a coconut tree in sight. 

This part o' Florider here is too cold for them. They need sunshine, and they want breeze to make them swing like Car'bean dancers.

When I get me own home, the first thing I gon do is plant a couple o' coconut trees.  

Coconut tree is the most fantastical tree in the universe. You can lay back and watch it sway against the sky, make broom with the branches, oil from the coconut, and drink the water. It would take a fat book to list off what and what we can do with the various parts and produce of that tree.

It is the one tree that practically every child in my own native land does learn to draw. 

Even the crafts-people carve it into they work.

Granted, you can't risk hugging a coconut tree. Cos, depending on the mood of the tree, it can pelt you with a coconut and if that land on you' head, you might think a meteor drop on you when you see them stars swirling 'round you.

Speaking of dropping from a coconut tree, you can imagine what happen here one night?

I know y'all don't believe what you seeing. But I telling you, it is true. I hear the tale with me own two ears, well, one and a half, seeing that I got part hearing in the left ear after a childhood problem with a' ear quack.

Y'all stay safe from all things falling...sky and so on and so forth. 

Til next time, neena xx.

Funny Friday frases to show off to your friends: KETCH DIS!

Dear Friends, Fellow Explorers, Travellers, Curious Cats & Culture Vultures like meself,

Welcome!

I trying to: 

to buy the yat...fancy boat...so that we can go sailing on the glorious sea.

Ketch is a good word, you don't think? 

On land, you can:

On the sea, you can:

Strict warning though! You don't want to:

Or else, you gon:

Think of all them pirates and parasites that gon be interested in you' yah...fancy boat!!!

Hmmm...oh! Hey! I can paint it to look like a big-big ocean wave.

Imagination is a fantastical thing, eh? With it, you don't feel no boredome at home, you can roam from here to Rome in you' magical mind. Look what I find...a mosquito net that look like sea foam.

Time to hop out and take a li'l walk, me dears. 

Take care and dream away about wonderful places and things and words, neena xx.

Yatch yahtch yacth yacht

My dear, dear fellow Travelling Friends in this vast ocean of madness we call world and humanity, 

Here me is, still dreaming of owning me own yatch yahth yacth yacht...schuuups...maybe the day I learn to spell that bleddy word, I gon achieve me goal.

When I get me own ya...fancy boat...I ain't gon drop me waste into the sea though!!

I gon have a special loo or two that pasturise everything. Then, when it good and clean, only then I gon drop it into the water. When y'all see fat, happy fish, you gon know the cause.

What you mean, what I gon do whole day on me ya...fancy boat? 

I gon do everything I do on land. 

Sew. Doodle. Think. Eat...I gon cook food that don't come in plastic and wrappers and cardboard packages. My mother gon be with me...so I gon create a special garden for she to spend happy hours in. I gon sleep, listen to music, talk on the Internet. I gon write. And stare at the ocean.

Staring at the ocean can drive you crazy with gladness though. 

You can only stare for a few minutes, then you got to look away. The light of the rising and setting sun, the mid-morning twinkle, the light of the moon, shedding truth about beauty, on the dark sea, can do things to you' heart and mind that make you want to jump up and down with joy.

Imagine how you gon look to them coast-guards passing by. 

Why I talking so much about the ocean today?

Apart from the fact that the ocean is me, and me is the sea and I miss it...what with me being inland in Florider with Ma...today is World Meteorological Day. Y'know, the day when we recognise that keeping the sea alive is very important to the whole of We.

Speaking of Ma, I better go and cook lunch. (I getting hungry).

Ciao for now, oodles of lurve, neena xx

P.S. Y'all please come and visit me on me ya...fancy boat.

English ain't de only language: Gyaff

My dear Friends, Travellers, Visitors, Passersby, Culture Vultures, Linguists,

The other day, I stub me toe so hard, I see stars, the universe sing tweet-tweet and go 'round in circles.

But not to worry, I ain't voylent. I didn't wish a million trumplings on nobody.

I only holler straight out loud: "Aiyeeee Gospodgee!!!" 

Forgive the spelling, I ain't know it, but not to worry, I ain't in the habit of cussing like Lucille the tantaria.  A nice lady from Ukraine teach me. She say it mean, "Ohhhh my God!" For when you in pain or get a shock.

How me love strange words and expressions.

Peace. Love. Garlic. Small. Good. Big. Very good. Hello. How are you? Honey. I love you.

Strange words is like new fruit. They can make me tongue curl and rebel if they tart, or they tickle me taste buds if they 'specially sweet. I nibble a new one here, or chew long and slow like cow in a hot field. Burp and bite again.

I am so glad I don't think like them people in certain countries (I ain't naming names) that feel English is the only language worth speaking.

Good thing the whole world ain't arrogant about language. If  you travel to other countries, you gon find not everybody will bad-mouth you for not knowing they language. In fact, you gon find people willing to teach you new phrases, different expressions. 

I know this for sure in my own native land. People only too willing to teach you. (Careful, some o' them very mischievous, and would teach you to say things you' mother and father ain't gon be too proud to hear).

We's a very gregarious lot. Garrulous. It ain't matter where you go in my own native land, you gon find people willing to share they words. In other words, we love to gyaff.

How you respond to the gyaff and the hyperbole-stories that they gon full-up you' ears with, is up to you.

YOU CAN SAY THIS.

OR YOU CAN QUIETLY WALK AWAY.

Far as me concerned, not being able to travel don't stop me from discovering new words. 

Leh we gyaff...let's gyaff.  Whaz some of the favourite words and expressions in you' country?

Plenty lurve, neena xx

Amna

Hello, hello, hello.

Warm outside but the inside cold. I ain't understand this foreign weather at all. But lemme don't complain, eh? I got food in me belly and roof over me head.

Waaaahhh...who I fooling? I want to go market and gyaff (chat) with all body like I useta do in Guyana pre-covid.

Anyway, back to the non-complaining...look-here one lady from Guyana, living in Merica, who decide she gon make the most o' she time at home. 

Let she-self tell she story like the others before.

The Bird that Tried

Maybe you have heard the story of the bird who tried to put out a flame.

If you haven’t, then listen as I tell it to you now. The king, Nimrod, had set a huge fire and thrown the Prophet Abraham into the flames to kill him in punishment for his faith. A bird perched on a tree saw the flames and wanted to put out that flame. .It flew to the river and took a few drops of water in its beak and threw them on the flames. Back to the river it went and brought a few more drops, dashing them on the flames, back and forth and then again.

A crow perched on a tree nearby saw the bird flying back and forth with the few drops of water and mocked it saying, “What can a few drops of water do to put out that flame? You are trying to do the impossible.”

The bird replied, “When I die and go before God, He will not ask me if I put out the flame. He will ask me., ‘What did you do?”

There was a period of time in Guyana’s political history when the government chose to place a ban on all imported items. This placed a heavy burden on the people who had to find ways to cope with the new life style of having to make do. Life was a constant battle. I had to learn to make clothes for my children and myself. In addition I made every single item of linen in the home – linens, bed linen, tea towels, cushion covers, curtains with cheap materials bought at exorbitant prices on the black market. Answering to the creative urge that refused to be submerged, I acquired new skills.

As the politics changed, so did the culture. Markets re-opened, resulting in cheap items from China pushing those old skills into oblivion. No one wanted to learn the old fashioned, anachronistic skills anymore. Technology took over and fingers that were extremely facile on the keyboard were useless with needle and thread. Me? I was never any good with the keyboard.

After fifty-seven years and many thousands of students later I retired from teaching, my life-long profession. Retirement never posed a threat as I had dreamed of what I might do to stay occupied. I thought of doing something for charity. Using YouTube, I started making jewelry which I sold. The proceeds ($3,600:00) I donated to an ORPHAN SPONSORSHIP program. The money gave four orphans for a period of time enough for food, clothes, books for school and for their incidentals. However, I had to stop with this as it was affecting my eye sight.

But the creative urge caught up with me again and I taught myself water color painting. The greeting cards which I made, I sold. Under my daughter’s tutelage, I learned to use acrylic paints and painted pictures which I sold to friends and family members. The proceeds from all these efforts were used in a specific charity project which will be described if you read on.

I have attached a few pictures of the cards and the acrylic paintings that I did.

Now into our lives comes the Covid pandemic and we are in lockdown. I read of people. getting bored, depressed, overweight, fractious, angry, resentful, scared, even divorced. I didn’t want those things for me . With renewed vigor, I started a new project in the year of Covid. . I named it WATER FOR LIFE PROJECT. From the sale of greeting cards, and acrylic pictures, I raised enough funds to complete my project.

It was one of the more enjoyable and productive time periods in my life. I painted for hours at a time answering to the creative urge. My husband would sit on the swing nearby and look on. In May of 2020, I donated $3000.00 to Zakaat Foundation of America to provide clean water to a place where none was accessible. The foundation chose the village of Kulela, Pusiga District in Ghana. They dug a well for the villagers. The women you see in the picture now do not have to walk three or more miles to fetch jars of water for their daily use. This well has freed up time for them to plant, to earn, to look after their children and more importantly, have clean drinking water, which will.prevent water borne diseases.

My new project is to raise enough funds for either another well or to support project “ Education for Women”. The aim of the latter project is to supply the school where they live with sewing machines that will be used to teach women and young girls how to sew. With this skill at their finger tips, they can open their own tailoring and dress making businesses or be employed in a garment factory. They can earn money to raise their standard of living.

I’m now making embroidered items for sale as well as the greeting cards. You see dear reader, those anachronistic skills can now, in some small way, help someone , somewhere. I use the different skills in the card making process- water color, gouache, card crafting, crochet, pressed flowers and beading.

There is also, an element of Islamic belief that motivates me. This kind of charity is known as “Sadaqah Jariyah”.

“Sadaqah Jariyah” is a charity that goes on into perpetuity. The Prophet (SAW said that providing people with water has huge rewards for anyone who does this deed.

Education is also seen as a “sadaqah jariyah” because it will help women to acquire a skill that will go on to help them earn for their families.

It would disturb me if it were to be thought that this blog post is to blow my trumpet. In Islam, the acts we do for charity must be for their own sake only and not to be broadcast. My niece and my daughter have nagged me into sharing this experience. Also, those family members and friends who helped me along the way will know how much their kindness has done.

And most importantly……

Like the bird that tried to douse the flames with a few drops of water, I try too.

I know in my heart that my efforts are like a drop in the ocean of poverty and want and need.

But dear reader, I will know that I tried.

My thanks and gratitude go out to all my family and friends who have supported me in my efforts. You too will share in the blessings.

What you think, me dear friends and visitors?

Want to support Amna in she projects?

You can contact she at she site here:  

https://channieblog.com/2021/03/09/the-bird-that-tried/

Or email she here. 

Cheers. And y'all staan good (stay well!). 

Love, neena xx

Selfie.

Dear Readers, Travellers, Passers-by, Friends and Strangers,

Y'all ever google y'all self? (I don't know why, but saying that sound a li'l vulgar, nah?)

I don't normally google me. But one day this week, I been looking up "Caribbean literature online" and I come across this:

"As one of the strongest female Caribbean voices who has been blogging consistently, Guyana Gyal is clearly a pioneer of Caribbean feminist blogging."

(Guyana Gyal...that was me on the now closed-Guyana blog).

I feel a li'l shame to admit, but it make me feel good. 

Maybe I should start doing selfies.

I sitting here trying to pout.

To do a duck-mouth.

Because, apparently, that is what you got to do.

I ain't too fond of doing selfies for some reason though. I always come across like this: 

Bazzodee - stupidee - gone!

The worst one was this!!

Wha' de heck happen here?

I ain't got nooooo idea how it happen. Was in a' ole mirror with flaws, in we family home.  I come to the conclusion that selfies ain't for me.

I gon start doing sketches instead. Like self-portraits.

Awww...look how I cute, eh?

I better go cook lunch before my poor Ma drop down with hunger, and the next thing you know, people gon be saying how I been too absorbed with meself. 

Have a good day until next time,

neena xxx