Travel with JoY

I'm sitting up in bed in our little cottage in Trinidad, writing this post. One of the things I find so amazing is that there is no glass in the window behind me. A bat just flew in and flew out the french door at my side. I'm inside a mosquito net in a sleeveless gown, barefoot and very comfortable after a shower. It was a bit warm today, maybe up to 85 or so, but we rarely felt it since we are under the canopy of large trees and our deck is on the north side of the house. I painted out there today while Yata wrote a song in the study, a room with another glass-less window overlooking the plains and mountains to the north. This sort of lodging wouldn't be for everyone; in fact, Nick, our son, asked me how we kept the rats out. Actually, we have a resident guard cat Lulu and two dogs besides. There are too many dogs in our neighborhood, a common problem on many of our trips to less developed countries. But regardless of the bats, and such, we love being in such c...

We've been here for over two weeks now. There is a really thriving art and music scene here. Almost daily we meet more artists: painters, musicians, potters, writers, film-makers and more. Rory and Bunty took us to a concert at the National Academy of Performing Artists for a concert of the faculty and some visiting faculty from the US. We followed that up with a trip a few blocks away to the “pan yard” of Phase II, one of the favorite Pan drum Orchestras. They were in “practice-mode” preparing for the first phase of competition which will culminate in a huge show, Pandemonium, in the main open air stadium downtown Port of Spain in less than a month. Pan orchestras are something really exceptional about Trinidad. They are made up of up to 125 players playing anywhere from two to nine drums at a time. Each drummer's drums are positioned into a metal rack on wheels. They practice their one song that they will compete with each year, specially composed for them, over a...

Trinidad I Yes, we are in the West Indies, Trinidad to be exact, having come from frosty Wisconsin (WI) we are lavishing in tropical warmth, barefoot. Sorry to incite any envy, but how else can I tell you what we are doing without mentioning this. The weather is one of the main reasons we leave WI in the winter. But the weather has been interesting here. It's supposed to be the beginning of the dry season but instead the rainy season is lingering into January. What that means is that its been raining a lot! A couple days this week it rained in sheets most of the day and all night. The ground is soggy and the air is humid to say the least. We tried to go for a walk but got rained on and came back to our sweet cottage. The cottage is situated on a four acre tropical garden in the center of the country, in the countryside. We have a deck off the kitchen which looks out towards the hilly grasslands and to the mountain range in the north. Trinidad is also a bird watcher's ...

Trinidad Tobago in the south eastern Caribbean was our destination. We were flying out of way sub zero Wisconsin. The morning we left to catch our airport shuttle to MSP it was 17 below zero Fahrenheit. So cold that when you drew air in to breath, it actually made your cold-sensitive teeth ache. That was a first! But we could put up with that knowing we'd soon be in a steady equatorial climate, warm and humid, for two months! I was transporting artist's materials (warned not to tell TSA that they are paint) acrylics to be exact. I have been a watercolorist – the easiest to travel with, an oil painter- not so easy- and a pastel artist- the pastel sticks show up on the xray machines looking like bullets or shells as they are composed of heavy metals such as cadmium and cobalt-which need to be left out like a lap top if carrying through security. I have recently started using acrylics which have the advantage, or disadvantage of drying quickly. I hadn't had ...

 We've just finished up day one of the Fresh Art Tour where art collectors of all stripes have had a wealth of art to peruse, absorb, enjoy and purchase. The fifteen sites on the tour here in Western Wisconsin, Pepin, Peirce and Buffalo Counties, have opened there doors to folks from as far as St. Louis (and possibly further) in large part due to a very nice article in Midwest Living this last year. We may be able to print tshirts bragging that we 'Survived the Fresh Art Tour of 2014' due to reports of snow overnight. Will you be one of those intrepid visitors? Four paintings, two watercolors and two oils found new homes today. Thank you Adoptees/Collectors, Sharon M and Betty R.

Paris, mai oui! We loved it. Our little apartment in St. Michel, just a half a block from the Seine and one between Notre Dame and the Louvre. We loved the food: Tipoly's Lebanese Moussaka Manouch, the chocolate shops, the macaroons flavored with lavendar, mint, lime, chocolate, raspberry and more. We loved dinner at the Restaurant on our corner where Yata had grilled duck breast with a honey pear sauce and I had the Sea Bass with Beuree Blanc (white butter, lightly toasted). They served wine in little ceramic pitchers that you then poured into your wine glass to share. Then in Montmarte the Creperie Lepic that served, beside Yata's gluten free savory crepe and regular dessert chocolate crepe, the best salad Montmartoise; red green bib lettuce with bacon, wonderful waxy yellow potato slices, boiled egg and toasted walnuts. Not sure what the dressing was, it was subtle. Oh, they also serve on top of the salad, a soft cooked egg. So the yoke can serve as so...

Safaa as learned from Samila at Villa Gonatouki in Essouira, Morocco February 2014 J. Accola 1 whole chicken olive oil angel hair pasta, one pound 1 cup of golden raisins 1 cup of almonds 1 red onion chopped 3 cloves of garlic minced 1 cup cilantro 1 cup parsley 2 cups chicken broth 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground tumeric 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper pinch of saffron powdered sugar and cinnamon to garnish Pasta: Prepare angel hair pasta by breaking up into 1in. Pcs. Drizzle pasta with olive oil Prepare steam bath Set noodles over steam and cover. Steam for about 10-12 min. Remove, sprinkle with salt mix and return to steamer for another 12” Remove and add golden raisins Sprinkle with water, mix and put back on steamer another 12” or until soft. Chicken and Veggies: Cut up chicken and remove skin and any excess fat. Saute in olive oil: red onion, garlic, chopped cilantro and parsley Sprinkle ...