2010 year in review

2010's

Greatest Joy - surrounded on all sides by friends and family for this momentous occasion

pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-wedding

Constant Creative Challenge- starting, maintaining, and directing the future of this blog
pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/03/inaugural-post

Favorite Quote-

"DO WHAT YOU CAN, WHERE YOU ARE, WITH WHAT YOU HAVE."

-TEDDY ROOSEVELT

Greatest Self Discovery- visiting my ancestral heritage and deciding to keep the last name I always thought I would lose.
http://pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/05/hjelmeland.html

Biggest Before and After - tis the reason, we've worked all season . . . coming soon!

Wisest Purchase - out with the old (a leaky, creaky '92Toyota Surf) and in with the older! ( '91 Landcruiser that spent the lonely last 6 years in a garage, hence the 35,000km)

Favorite work- styling for Tropical Imaging
http://pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/10/amazing-grace-photo-shoot.html
http://pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/10/more-amazing-grace.html
http://pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/10/oean-club-photo-shoot.html
http://pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/12/point-grace.html


Most Influential Films-
please see conscious media network for these and many more

Strongest Desire - a healthier world. Please watch the above films, please saturate this infomation into your life,  please spread the word.

Saddest Goodbyes -

Cecil Aspiros-Gaudet was lost to cancer.  All the cigerette addicts out there, please stop smoking for your own health and the for the health of those around you.

Arthur Arnt was also lost to cancer, most likely caused by Agent Orange exposure in the Vietnam War.  Please educate yourselves on all the casualties of war, take a stand for a peaceful world.

Craig Shirley, 23 years old, was lost to a snowboarding accident.  For all the mountain riders out there, please wear helmets and encourage others to do so, it could save a life.

Tico the Thompson's Cove Dog - A Canadian black wolf dog, abandoned in the late 90's by his dive instructor owner who left the island.  Tico lived at the Moyer's residence, looked after some years very well by various renters, some years not at all.  After an aggressive pack of dogs moved into his territory, Tico wandered down the road looking for new caretaker's.  Luckily he found the Lawson's whose children took a shining to him even in his advanced age.  He spent his last year deaf and mostly blind but with company of a pair of potcakes and a family.  When I heard he was on his last leg I went to pay my final respects, perhaps only a day too late.  I'm sorry I missed you Tico, you were an angel and were well loved by many!

Take a moment to say goodbye to all you may have lost in 2010, to be thankful for all the blessings, and the burdens, you were lucky enough to experience within the last year.  Then move on to wishful thinking:

Goals for 2011!

We are at long last prepared to pass along our first dreamhouse so we can begin anew:

Get the TCI Rubbish Runner's club up and running!

pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/09/international-coastal-clean-up-day

Start a TC Millwork reclaimed and driftwood collection

http://pepperandpikey.blogspot.com/2010/04/driftwood-decor.html

Take our compost and fruit and vegetable garden to the next level!

What are your goals for the coming year?  Whatever they may be, I hope you accomplish them.  Cheers to the last evening of 2010, may it be festive and a pleasant welcome to the new year!

Native Pine and more on Middle and North

I recently had the opportunity to pay a brief visit to North and Middle Caicos on a scout for Turks and Caicos Productions.  The always efficient big blue unlimited coordinated my adventure.  I arrived at Heaving Down Rock (color coded great map found here) shortly after 6am to check in with the ferry.  This was my first experience using TCI Ferry Service/Caribbean Cruisin' and by the end of the day I was thoroughly impressed; timely departures and arrivals, courteous and professional staff, and a swift and steady boat ride despite fairly large and in charge swells.  As soon as we arrived at the Sandy Point Marina in North Caicos, Cardinal Arthur and his taxi greeted me and we immediately got to chatting.  I quickly discovered Cardinal Arthur is a 5th generation Turks and Caicos Islander, his legacy pre-dated by his father, Clementine Arthur, and his father's father, Cain Arthur.  The original Arthur was an African slave who labored in Bermuda before his assignment on John Lorimer's Haulover Plantation in Middle Caicos.  To read more about Haulover, please click here.  Cardinal's mother, Ida Forbes (another long standing Turks and Caicos namesake) passed away when he was only twelve years old.  Cardinal shared many stories of his boyhood and  I learned a great deal of Turks and Caicos history in a few hours.  He pointed out many "fire gardens" (slash and burn farming techniques) full of pumpkin, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, bananas, papayas, tomatoes, and stalk after stalk of corn.   He pointed out native sopadilla and wild cherry trees, reminiscing how as children they would pick and eat the fruit as they stumbled upon it.  When I asked Cardinal about  a giant agave on the side of the road, he proclaimed that's "sisal!" and then explained how it was prepared.  First you would strip the leaves, then soak them under water for 15 days.  Once the fibers became soft then they would be woven into rope. 

  Our first stop was to Whitby beach, and the old Whitby Hotel, which Cardinal confirmed was the hot and happening place to be in the 1980's.

The Whitby hotel used to be accessed by a small inlet channel they made into a mini marina complete with dive boat operation.  A storm filled in the access and perhaps that was the start of the decline.  When I inquired about the giant Causarina pines in the area, he told me they were relatively new, he wasn't certain if they were even around as early as the seventies. 

 A fire garden dotted with white cranes

After stops at Horsestable Beach, several grown over ruins, and farms in Bottle Creek, we passed the Ready Money Farm just before arriving at the causeway.

Curalena Higgs-Phillips, a cultural crusader whose forefathers settled in Ready Money Garden, keeps up a charming little village there with local crafts and foods.  I have yet to meet Curalena, but I look forward to the day I do, hopefully at one of the many cultural events she organizes there.  To see this vibrant woman in full color and hear more of the Christmas traditions of Turks and Caicos past please see below:

After crossing the causeway we were soon after at Mudjin Harbor, hands down my favorite beach in all of Turks and Caicos.  Cardinal explained that "Mudjin" came from "Bermudian," a somewhat obvious deviation that was unknown to me before. 

Cardinal said in his youth they would often catch and eat ducks such as these.



Not far away there was an entire flock of flamingos, a rare sight on Providenciales but an apparently common one in Middle.

Next we headed to Bambarra Beach



Near the thatched huts we came across this conch shell that Cardinal explained was most likely very old as it was knocked using the old method; the pointed end of another conch shell.

Our final stop was to a little port and dock looking over Pelican Cay.  We found huge lobster shells from a recent catch.  Cardinal could name when most of these sloops were built and by whom.

As we turned around the loop in front of the old (and now unused) airport to make our way back to Sandy Point, Cardinal stopped and let me have a lingering look at this Native Pine that he had planted some years ago.  This was the first time in my memory that I had seen a living Native Pine.  Being a member of the Environmental Club I had read about the Caicos-Pine-Recovery-Project and over the years had seen many photos of the dead and dying forests.  This was the first time I could clearly see the shape of the tree and the needle structure of the branches; what a beauty even when sick.  Since 2005, an estimated 90% of the Caicos Pine population has died.  Please contact the DECR to find out what you can do to help.  Let's keep the Caicos Pine a part of the Turks and Caicos.  I'd like to start a Christmas tradition of cutting a Causarina, and planting a Caicos Pine in it's place in the fuure.  Thanks to Brian Naqqi and his seedlings, we may just have the opportunity to do so.

All images by pepperkeystacie

My thanks to everyone who made my day island hopping so pleasant, and especially Cardinal Arthur for making it educational.

Happy Holidays!

Image via mydesignchic

Image from greige

  We have been experiencing some extra refreshing nights here on island.  Nights that actually justify a scarf or boots, must say, so nice to have even a small touch of winter!  Here are a few pretties that have been elevating me into the holiday spirit.



All three of the above images saved to my craftmaking-must-do folder from marthastewart

 

Victor Schrager, countryliving



Anthropologie via well-worn

A little island inspiration from Robertson Holiday via loveembellishments.blogspot

Locally, I pass this incredible spiraling Christmas vine, otherwise known as the wild potato vine or ipomoea

Point Grace

All images by pepperkeystacie

Last week tropical imaging and I wrapped up an amazing shoot for Point Grace.  I was thrilled to be asked to style for this project as the property is quintessential Caribbean, one of the very few boutique hotels that stay elegantly true to their roots.  The tropical imaging photo and video crew and I met beforehand to brainstorm ideas on how to capture this beautiful hotel as graciously as she stands in person.  Here is the inspiration board I brought to the table.

From top left:
Tom Sheerer, housebeautiful, and  Madam Cupcake from simplyseleta, Paradise Found from Velvet and Linen, eddieross, faucets.com, and pks

Our intentions were to capture all the Caribbean charm that makes this boutique hotel unique from any other Turks and Caicos resort.  We are very pleased with all our efforts to bring a fresh perspective to Point Grace; see a small selection of the images here, the commercial here and the movie here.   My gratitude goes out to the lovely hotel staff who were accommodating to all our needs, to our gorgeous local models, and to Andrew, David, and Preston of the Tropical Imaging team.  I adore working with you all! 

TCSPCA Christmas Fair Sat Dec 18th 10am to 1pm

Several of the Graceway Gourmet market vendors will also be there so you can get some last minute holiday shopping in!  Come one, come all!

Holiday Art and Craft Market Saturday at Graceway Gourmet

 

Happy Holidays!  Please come by the Graceway Gourmet today, Saturday Dec 11th, from 9am to 1pm for all your holiday shopping needs.  Our table will have plenty of goodies from rag wreaths and fresh pine wreaths, to decor items such as pillows and art, to clothing and accessories including the very popular scarf/necklaces and shadowboxes! 

All images by pepperkeystacie

FYI-I will not be bringing any large works to the market, you can find my paintings at framing-grace-gallery.  This recently finished jellyfish and the top shelf palm leaves pieces are still available.

Christmas Silent Art Auction for Provo Children's Home

Images by Jeff Blanchard from his album Around Provo via facebook 

 This evening, Thursday Dec 9th, Vino Tiempo Wine Bar will be hosting a silent art auction to raise funds for the Provo Children's Home from 6-8pm.  The PCH was started in 2007 with a mission to provide a safe haven for any child in need.  Tickets are $25 and include wine, canape's, and live jazz entertainment by Craig Archibold.  Please call Dorrell on 244-1400 for more information.  If you are unable to join the festivities, please click here to see the childrens wish lists and the homes daily operating needs or to make a donation.   

Wed Day

Image via http://www.stylemepretty.com/

Proof that you can get away with a summer dress paired with a cozy scarf.  Great idea for all those December brides hosting their wedding island style!

The TCFAF's Nutcracker

 Images above by Kelcey Marr Grandsire, images below by Kristin Franke Mann via facebook

Last night we attended the Turks and Caicos Friends of the Arts presentation of the Nutcracker at Brayton Hall.  The fantastic images above speak for themselves; vibrant sets, gorgeous costumes, and a very talented cast made up of both professional dancers and TCI's own theatrical and performing arts best and budding talent.   Today the matinee performance at 2pm will be your last opportunity to be transported back to childhood with this production!  Huge thanks to the entire cast and crew, including Pages-To-Pirouettes, for all their hard work, enthusiasm, and ultimately bringing such a magical dose of holiday cheer to the Turks and Caicos.