Folding Stairs

Despite designing and building a big house – especially when you consider that it’s for just two people – we’ve found that space is at a premium in certain areas. So it was great to discover these beautiful folding bamboo stairs. An incredible combination of beauty and practicality, from Bcompact Design.

Stucko the Iguana

Green iguanas wander around our property – we usually see at least one a day, climbing the giant tamarind tree, hanging out by the pool, or eating morning glories. They tend to be pretty shy and skittish, and we enjoy coming up with names for them. This guy was originally named Loki because he wasn’t quite so shy, but after this little adventure, we renamed him to Stucko. He’s borderline friendly now, having learned that we definitely mean him no harm. 🙂

Mourning Doves

Among the dozen or so varieties of birds we see every day in Guadeloupe, there are three kinds of doves: mourning doves, ring-neck doves, and turtle doves. The mourning doves are constant companions – they hang out on the terrace or by the pool, chasing away the ring-necks whenever possible; they perch on the roof, peck for seeds, and of course coo constantly.

Mourning dove and ring-neck dove

And Continue reading

Green Heron, Blackbirds in Guadeloupe

We are visited by tons of birds every day: large numbers of birds and many different species. While we see blackbirds and at least two different kinds of doves every day, this green heron is only an occasional visitor, so I feel lucky to have gotten him on video, however briefly.

Rare sighting of a beautiful green heron, plus lots of blackbirds, including a youngish one squawking constantly to be fed.

An Iguana Tail Tale

Iguana in a flowering tamarind treeThis is the story of an iguana in Guadeloupe. Iguanas come and go on our property – some we recognize for a while then never see again, while others are anonymous creatures that we never get to know. Sometimes they wander in our front door – and then usually get freaked out when they see us and hide in ridiculously small gaps behind appliances and furniture for a day or more, then sneak out when the coast is clear. Other times we barely spot them racing across the driveway or hanging out on the periphery. Generally speaking, they are extremely shy (though there are exceptions). Despite their sometimes fearful appearance, iguanas would much rather take flight than fight. Continue reading

Next Page �