Hey there everyone,
It has been super busy here with our new business opening up and the tourist season in full swing. Our deli is growing both in popularity and in product base. So many people come in and ask for something specific like Meatloaf and then it becomes one of our best selling items. This has happened so many times it is hard to keep our freezers full. Today Barry is getting our order off of the ferry from Nuku'alofa of Baby Back Ribs and pork chops. Something we have not seen here in the 3 years we have been around. I can't wait to get my teeth into those!
Big shout out to the Oyster Rally that just left Vava'u. Thanks to them we have been able to prepay our rent for the year and now we can concentrate on growing our business and even getting some time to go fishing.
You can see the products that we offer at www.facebook.com/falaleudeli/
Ok, enough of the shameless business plug!
The garden is growing great! It turns out that basil and oregano love the soil in our yard. We also have broccoli, brussel sprouts, cilantro, sage and dill growing. And now that we have decided to stay in Vava'u for a couple of years at least we are building a bed to grow pineapples.
Wow, so much has happened in the past couple of months it is hard to stay focused on one subject. Our friends from Australia have returned to Vava'u and they bought a fishing boat that we hope will be in the water next week. I will be sure to post some pictures of that! And now that Vava'u finally has some decent internet I should be able to post a little more often. Just let me know what you want to see and I will get some pictures for you.
Until next time.
Have fun and play safe!
Thursday 7 September 2017
Thursday 13 April 2017
Getting the garden going
My wonderful and always thoughtful landlord brought me a truck full of prime top soil a while ago so that I can start my own garden in the yard. So here are Vise (pronounced Veesay) and Barry taking the dirt from the truck in the rain; which they both say is the best time to do any hard work because it cools you down as you work.
After looking at all the things that we buy in the market compared to the ease of growing your own my husband and I wanted to have a small garden in the yard for a few plants that we need for our deli such as Oregano or Basil. While we were sitting outside with Vise (our landlord) we got into the conversation about growing these items and were to get the seeds from.
Seeds!!
Vise just started laughing as us. We are such funny foreigners I guess. He brought over all that dirt and made a garden bed for us, grabbed one branch of Rosemary that I bought at the market that day and stuck the cut end of the branch in the ground.
"That is how we grow things here!" he said "We need no seeds!!"
And apparently it is that easy. Now I have Basil and Oregano growing and I have started some strawberries, grapes, lemons and pomegranate in the small pots that he brought over as well. I just know that we will have the rest of that garden area growing with more herbs as we find them. I never thought of just taking stuff we bought and sticking it in the ground.
Barry has been cutting off the top of his pineapples and planting them and now he wants a place to grow potatoes too. I am so glad that he is the gardening type. I don't mind gardening but he is the one that prowls the yard every day with a watering can to see if the pineapples are rooted yet or notices if the banana trees have grown any taller. I am glad to watch and wait for things I can eat to sprout.
After looking at all the things that we buy in the market compared to the ease of growing your own my husband and I wanted to have a small garden in the yard for a few plants that we need for our deli such as Oregano or Basil. While we were sitting outside with Vise (our landlord) we got into the conversation about growing these items and were to get the seeds from.
Seeds!!
Vise just started laughing as us. We are such funny foreigners I guess. He brought over all that dirt and made a garden bed for us, grabbed one branch of Rosemary that I bought at the market that day and stuck the cut end of the branch in the ground.
"That is how we grow things here!" he said "We need no seeds!!"
And apparently it is that easy. Now I have Basil and Oregano growing and I have started some strawberries, grapes, lemons and pomegranate in the small pots that he brought over as well. I just know that we will have the rest of that garden area growing with more herbs as we find them. I never thought of just taking stuff we bought and sticking it in the ground.
Barry has been cutting off the top of his pineapples and planting them and now he wants a place to grow potatoes too. I am so glad that he is the gardening type. I don't mind gardening but he is the one that prowls the yard every day with a watering can to see if the pineapples are rooted yet or notices if the banana trees have grown any taller. I am glad to watch and wait for things I can eat to sprout.
Friday 17 March 2017
Sweet Limonade
I made the most amazing Limonade today because someone decided to drop off 2 50 pound bags of limes! Last week someone else dropped off a big bushel of Hopa (plantain bananas) and the week before that still another person dropped off a basket full of Coconuts.
I do not yet know who dropped off the limes but when I do find out I will make a lime pie for them as a thank you.
I find it absolutely amazing that people will just drop by and leave food for you without coming to the door to say hello or leave a note to tell us who these generous people are. They don't want you to know who they are. Completely selfless and humble these people just try to help!
But I think I know who left the limes. Sam came by the other day while I was making some limonade and he asked me if this was something I do often but I only make it when limes are in season and you can get 15 for $3. Today I have so many limes that they will last me for many months. Barry and I will sit and juice all of these and freeze the juice so that we can have limonade all year long instead of just a few months a year.
When Sandy dropped off a whole bushel of bananas I made her banana bread. Now every time she wants banana bread she drops off bananas. I think she is the one who dropped off the Hopa last week but I have not seen her yet to ask her.
There may not be a whole lot in Vava'u but the people here more then make up for the lack of department stores.
I love it here.
I do not yet know who dropped off the limes but when I do find out I will make a lime pie for them as a thank you.
I find it absolutely amazing that people will just drop by and leave food for you without coming to the door to say hello or leave a note to tell us who these generous people are. They don't want you to know who they are. Completely selfless and humble these people just try to help!
But I think I know who left the limes. Sam came by the other day while I was making some limonade and he asked me if this was something I do often but I only make it when limes are in season and you can get 15 for $3. Today I have so many limes that they will last me for many months. Barry and I will sit and juice all of these and freeze the juice so that we can have limonade all year long instead of just a few months a year.
When Sandy dropped off a whole bushel of bananas I made her banana bread. Now every time she wants banana bread she drops off bananas. I think she is the one who dropped off the Hopa last week but I have not seen her yet to ask her.
There may not be a whole lot in Vava'u but the people here more then make up for the lack of department stores.
I love it here.
Monday 16 January 2017
Pictures!!!! For Christmas!!!
So ....
As Barry and I are sitting here in Vava'u for Christmas and, being the off-season most others are away, we were invited by our wonderful and always welcoming landlords to attend the 50 Anniversary Gala of the Catholic Church High school.
This was a wonderful event where nearly 5,000 people attended in temporary pavilions set up over tables set up on about 1.5 acres. This was on the front grounds of the Catholic high school with about acres of 3/4 acres of green space inside the horseshoe.
While waiting for the festival to start the music started and people went onto the central area to dance and enjoy their event.
If you look carefully at this picture you will see a woman in the centre on the ground. This woman is so excited for the day and for the festival that she has dropped and started rolling in Joy and happiness. This is a common sight in Tonga. People yell, whoop, dance and roll to express their joy and excitement when they have a festival like this.
On the tables the food is wrapped in serving size packages and is piled high on the table. Barry (handsome man in the picture) and I literally had to eat our way to our plates so that we could put the food on our plates!
Everything on the table was available eat or take home. People came, ate and left leaving room at the table for others to come and eat as well. This picture shows only one table but in each tent is 12 tables and there must have been 100 tents. The amount of food and people was truly amazing.
While the dancing and presentations continued during the feast the different groups or families would take the field and present their gifts to the school and to the dignitaries that were there for the festivities.
As Barry and I are sitting here in Vava'u for Christmas and, being the off-season most others are away, we were invited by our wonderful and always welcoming landlords to attend the 50 Anniversary Gala of the Catholic Church High school.
This was a wonderful event where nearly 5,000 people attended in temporary pavilions set up over tables set up on about 1.5 acres. This was on the front grounds of the Catholic high school with about acres of 3/4 acres of green space inside the horseshoe.
While waiting for the festival to start the music started and people went onto the central area to dance and enjoy their event.
If you look carefully at this picture you will see a woman in the centre on the ground. This woman is so excited for the day and for the festival that she has dropped and started rolling in Joy and happiness. This is a common sight in Tonga. People yell, whoop, dance and roll to express their joy and excitement when they have a festival like this.
On the tables the food is wrapped in serving size packages and is piled high on the table. Barry (handsome man in the picture) and I literally had to eat our way to our plates so that we could put the food on our plates!
Everything on the table was available eat or take home. People came, ate and left leaving room at the table for others to come and eat as well. This picture shows only one table but in each tent is 12 tables and there must have been 100 tents. The amount of food and people was truly amazing.
While the dancing and presentations continued during the feast the different groups or families would take the field and present their gifts to the school and to the dignitaries that were there for the festivities.
As the people bring their gifts of cloth, blankets, tapa, and mats to be presented to the school a young lady in traditional clothing is covered in oil and does a very delicate dance. The woman in blue is going to the young lady to put a $2 bill on the young ladies oiled skin as appreciation for the dance and a donation for their family/group. One girl made $600 during her dance.
All in all it was a very interesting experience and I hope we get invited to the next one.
This picture is showing some of the handicrafts that are available at the market. Everything is hand made by the sellers and the selection is always because of this.
The market is also the main place to buy all of your produce. This is the closest thing that Vava'u has to a grocery store. Each table is individually owned and items for sale depend on the availability. For example pineapples can be bought for 5 for $10 in November and December but they sell for $10 each the rest of the year because they are not in season.
For all imported food items you can buy those at the Chinese shops. Meat is bought at the Chinese stores as well but everything is frozen and the quality is not anything near as good as we get in Canada.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)