Bamboo

Hello!

When I think of Bamboo I think of pandas and China. Don't you? Well, we have lots of bamboo here in the Dominican Republic too. In fact, there's a lot of it growing right across the street from our team house.

Look how tall it gets! See how small the fence looks?

Dominicans make lots of furniture out of bamboo. If you come and stay in our team house, you will be able to sit on some (although I'll warn you that it's not very comfortable.)

And as you fall asleep after a long day of construction and playing with kids, you'll hear creaking as the tall bamboo sways across the street.

Goodnight!

Marcie Cooper

P.S. For more information on Kids Alive Service Teams go to http://www.kidsalive.org/involvement/volunteer-service-teams/

Evergreen Trees

Hello!

I mentioned in my Mother's Day message that I was given a pinecone. I expected to see palm trees when we came to the Dominican Republic but I was surprised by the evergreens!

(Around the corner from our house)

(On a school field trip to the north coast)

A lot of furniture here is made out of pine. The only problem with it is that it often gets termites. Since we've been here, the owners of our house have replaced our kitchen cupboards and all of our doors because of the termites. I'm hoping that we won't see any more for a while!

Come back tomorrow for another kind of tree and furniture that you might not expect to find in the Dominican Republic.

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper

Bananas

Hello!
Last week we were looking at how tall our banana tree was getting and wondering when we would get bananas. This week it decided to start revealing them!

We noticed the beginnings of a bunch on Tuesday.

I missed taking a picture on Wednesday but by Thursday we definitely had some fruit. A neighbour boy was playing at our house and when he saw me with the camera he said, "They're nothing more than bananas!" I told him that bananas didn't grow in Canada. We're excited about our bananas!



On Friday there were even more.

And this is how they looked this morning.

It will still take a long time for them to grow and ripen but I'll keep you posted!

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper

Date Palm Trees

Hello!

Just after our Palm Tree Hunt, I found my little monkey boy playing with some Bible cards that another missionary family had given us. When I looked closer, I realized that one of them was all about Palm Trees!

On the back, it talked about how Solomon carved palm branches into the doors of the temple and how the people placed them in Jesus' path as he rode through Jerusalem on the donkey. It shared how people in the Middle East used the branches for ropes and brooms and how they wove palm leaves into baskets. Then it focussed on the palm trees that grew sweet, sticky, dates and described how many still grow along the Nile River and the Red Sea.

I haven't seen date palm trees here but was excited to find imported dates recently and decided to make some date squares. Most peope who tried them had never heard of them so I thought I'd include the recipe here.

Date Squares
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 lb. pitted dates, chopped
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. orange juice
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla


Base/Topping:
1 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat or all-purpose)
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter


Directions:
1. Make the filling first. Cook all filling ingredients except vanilla on low heat until dates are soft and water is absorbed. Stir in vanilla and let cool.

2. Mix all base/topping ingredients except butter. Cut in butter and work it in with fingers until well-mixed.

3. Press half of the oat mixture into a 8" square pan. Cover with cold filling. Pat remaining mixture on top.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

They are crumbly but yummy!
Thanks for joining our Palm Tree Hunt this week. I hope that you've enjoyed it!

Marcie Cooper

P.S. Click on the links to find earlier Palm Tree messages:
       Our Palm Trees
       Red Berry Palm Trees
       Coconut Palm Trees

Coconut Palm Trees

Hello!

We've been going on a Palm Tree Hunt this week and after seeing our palm trees in a cluster and then our neighbours' with red seeds we found some of our favourites: coconut palm trees!

They are very tall! Can you see the coconuts?

If you cut away the green outside you will get to the brown shell underneath. They're usually sold once that is done.

We bought this one at the market, cut it open, took sips of the milk, and ate some of the white fruit. Yummy!

Enjoy your day!

Marcie Cooper

Palm Trees: Part 2

Hello!

Welcome to Part Two of our Palm Tree Hunt! Yesterday we looked at the palm trees in our yard that grow in a cluster. Click here if you missed it. After leaving our yard, we passed our neighbours' house and saw their palm trees with bright red seeds. Their type does not grow close together like ours do.

We saw another one like it around the corner.

And a little further we saw some more!

These ones didn't have red seeds but were some of my favourites in this beautiful yard:

I think my landscaping-loving Dad would like them!

Come back tomorrow to see another special type of palm tree!

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper

Our Palm Trees

Hello!

Since yesterday was Palm Sunday, I took my kids out on a palm tree hunt. We found lots of different palm trees so I decided that this will be Palm Week here at Marcie's Messages.

We started in our own front yard and took pictures of our cluster of palm trees. When we first moved in, it was so overgrown that we could hardly see the house!


We don't have any seeds right now but they will form on the yellow branches.

The seeds are green and then turn brown and fall down. Some start to grow into new trees around the base.

Can you see the lines on the trunks? As the trees grow, the lower branches turn brown and fall off, revealing new sections of trunk as they fall.

We found the same kind of trees a couple of blocks from our house. They had filled in along a fence to form a wall of trees in front of the property. We liked to walk in their shade!

Join us again tomorrow for more of our palm tree hunt adventure.

Have a great day!

Marcie Cooper