A couple of short videos showing the dehulling process in producing coffee. Hope you enjoy them.
Peace and Guidance
A couple of short videos showing the dehulling process in producing coffee. Hope you enjoy them.
Peace and Guidance
Free Opinions Offered. No tipping required. Hours: Open when I feel like it.
Tuesday morning on the verandah felt strange. Long faces had replaced the regular sleepy-eyed faces of our group. This was our last day together and already the inevitability of parting ways was weighing heavily on all of us. The coffee was strong and was helping. Breakfast was easy as the leftover Killer Chicken was cleaned from the bone and liberally bathed in Killer's Jerk Sauce for chicken sandwiches with just a dab of mayonaise.
Mary and I retired to our rooms to start packing up stuff we wouldn't be using before leaving the following morning. Rasta Freddy was working on a couple of gifts for Mary on the back stoop. He had a coffee stick cane which he was finish sanding and polishing as well as putting the finishing touches on a cat carving Mary had chosen from his craft market stall the day before.
I finished up first and joined Penny on the verandah to share some coconut water with a shot of JB Rum when Penny asked me to give our friend Luther a call for a ride down and back from the Canoe. She reminded me that we should go early so Luther could get some fares to and from sunset at Rick's Cafe while we ate. We decided on 4:00pm as the time to go then I called Luther and arranged for a pickup.
We arrived at Canoe only to find it was closed for painting so Luther suggested we go across the street to Quality's Sea Breeze restaurant. I had always wanted to give it a try anyways so I was happy with the choice. When we got there, we were the only customers so we ordered right away and have some time drinking a beer or two before the food arrived.
The waitress was intentive to our needs and she was right there everytime we needed something. We had cold beers around on the first order but I got a Rum Punch on the second round. We didn't have a chance to talk with Quality until he finished cooking the meals and we were too engrossed with the delicious food to talk until after we finished.
We only managed to get three pictures of the meals so here they are. I normally don't eat meat (except for Killer's Chicken!) so I ordered a fish sandwich and french fries. I particularly liked the coleslaw in a lettuce leaf cup. Both the sandwich and fries were cooked to perfection.
Mary got Curry Chicken as she travels often to India and loves the curry flavoring. She remarked that the fresh vegetable selection was very tasty and the rice and peas she mixed in with the curry sauce was very good too. She said that if she were staying longer, she would be coming back for another meal.
Rasta Freddy, being a Rastafarian, ordered fish with fresh vegetables and rice and peas. He gave the meal good marks and said that only a very few places in Negril cook fish the way he likes it and that he won't eat anywhere that meat comes in contact with the fish. Quality assured him that he understands that and cooks fish separate from everything else.
Rasta Freddy suddenly shouted to a peanut man who was passing by the restaurant. He serves up roasted peanuts in a cone shaped wrapper made from a paper bag. I don't eat peanuts but Freddy bought one for me anyways. While they were lying on the table, we talked about how in the days before the readily available rolling papers, people used paper bags to roll a spliff. With that, Mary picked up one of the peanut cones and put it in her mouth and I supplied the lighter for the picture. Sure to be a classic with us.
We chatted with Quality for about an hour and I found we had a lot of friends in common both in Negril and elsewhere on the island. I don't eat out very often but this restaurant is on my short list. It was about dark and Luther pulled in to pick us up for the ride back to Y Worry Cottage.
We shared a last drink of JB and coconut water before turning in. Mary got up first and gave me a hug. She told me that this was the best vacation she had taken in a long time. I told her that it is always good to stay connected with those people who knew you best. After this trip, we knew each other just a little bit better.
We assembled again on the verandah to await my ride back to Accompong Town and Mary's ride to the airport from Killer's brother, Gary. Both drivers had agreed upon a 9:00am pickup time and both arrived together at 8:30am. I love it when people are early.
Goodbyes all around and we went our separate ways with a pledge to get together again as soon as possible.
Peace and Guidance
Free Opinions Offered. No tipping required. Hours: Open when I feel like it.
Very nice Accompong. I spent a few nights about 15 years ago in the country and the view was nice but not as nice as that. Thats exactly the type of place i plan on spending my retirement years at. Just not sure its going to be in Jamaica though. I see why you love it so much
Well, my good friend Mary is back home in Washington and I am back in Accompong Town after a two week visit that I am sure we will both remember for a long time to come. For the first nine days here in Accompong Town we managed to find time to just sit and chat about years gone by but Mary has been here before so she spent a good deal of time visiting with friends she had made before and new people she met this trip.
Before Mary's arrival, we bought a verandah seating set with one bench and two chairs padded and attached to wrought-iron frames. Almost every evening her friends and some of mine showed up to chat and to show each other movies of their grandchildren. With camera phones, some things are the same in every culture now. I think this helped Mary from missing her grandchildren so much.
November 4th and it was time to go to Negril for her last five days. We were staying at Y Worry Cottage on Breadnut Lane, the West End. We got John, a local Route Taxi driver, to take us down and my best friend, Marshall, tagged along for the ride. The trip down was great as John had only been in Negril once before and that was more than ten years ago and everything was so new to him. It was almost like bringing a "newbie" along!
We pulled in around 1pm and soon we had everything unpacked and reassembled out on the verandah. I brought down five pound of vacuume sealed, roasted Vassilly Valley coffee beans grown behind our house for Penny and some friends along with some vegetables from the farm. Penny and Marshall had not seen each other in a long while so they chatted in one corner while Mary, John and I shared the other corner of the verandah. After about an hour, Rasta Freddy arrived from his farm just in time to say goodbye to John and Marshall as they headed back to Accompong Town. Before long, Rasta Freddy was in the kitchen cooking up a nice dinner for the four of us.
We don't go out much too eat but instead Freddy cooks when we ask and we have a friend Keith "Killer" (he is called Killer in reference to the "Killer Chicken" he makes). We just need to call him and order Jerk Chicken and tell him when we want in and it arrives with a Killer sauce in a bottle along with sides like callalloo and bread etc. I normally don't eat meat while in Jamaica but I will always make an exception for Killer Chicken!
Dinner was great. Rasta Freddy made a favorite of mine, coconut rice with pumkin and ackee along with a side of fresh callalloo. Now full, we retired back to the verandah and drank a cup of fresh coffee and caught up on when we were last together four years ago on my verandah in Accompong Town. Before we knew it, it was time to go to bed so we made plans for tomorrow. Another day like today would be just fine for all of us. 38 down and 51 to go.
Free Opinions Offered. No tipping required. Hours: Open when I feel like it.
My friend and neighbor Reggae Singer Mystic Bowie https://web.facebook.com/mysticbowie has just left Accompong Town to go back on tour. His efforts to teach the children about their Culture continues to grow.
This just demonstrates what a man with a passion can accomplish. As they say in Jamaica, "Every mickle makes a muckle"
Peace and Guidancehttps://web.facebook.com/mysticbowie...type=3&theater
Free Opinions Offered. No tipping required. Hours: Open when I feel like it.
Good for you Accompong. I can tell by your posts about the place and those who live there that you not only love it there but appreciate it for what it is as well as respect it. Not everyone is that lucky so i hope you continue to enjoy it. I plan on retiring in the caribbean or with a caribbean climate and in a small comunity or rural setting like that but starting to lean towards some other countries where its a bit cheaper and most importantly has better healthcare but Jamaica is still an option. I love northern ontario but winters are long and i can always come back for a vacation when i want to make a snowman or go ice fishing lol. Enjoy your time there and please keep posting about ypur beloved Accompong.
Accompong,
My condolences to the families of your friends who past recently and to you too for your sorrow. Dealing with death is always a complicated matter but part of the life cycle that we all are part of.
"Knock and it shall be open seek and ye shall find that wisdom is found in the simplest of places,In the nick of time, knock and it shall be opened Seek and ye shall find that wisdom is found in the simplest of places, in the nick of time".
Enjoy your time, peace and love with your old friend Mary. Between Mary and your guiding light you will rejoice at the memories of your past.
Guidance,
johng
A certain passage of scripture?Originally Posted by johng
Cap
Linston's Zion Hill Taxi
Captain Dave
Yes Cap,
Matthew 7:7 I believe. Also quoted numerous times in song. Jah B (Bunny Wailer) notably.
love your storytelling bill! . . . reminds me of the times we all shared at libby and chef's . . .
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