Life on the farm

       

In the rural areas of Tonga and the small villages the animals roam freely. It is not unusual to see a cow walking on the street which got tired of it's tether. But they were  mostly chickens, dogs and PIGS which entertained me.
I love pigs and took plenty of pictures of them . I wanted to hold the sweet little new born ones but they were impossible to catch.
The pigs come home in the evening to eat and sleep when they hear their masters call  which sounds like " baa"  "baa" and "maa"  "maa".

The farmers who own plantations feed them coconut and greenery.It seems like quite a skill to watch Latu hold a coconut in one hand and half it with a big machete.

 

 Ginger was quite a character

do you love me, Mommy?

Puss'n coconuts

best place on earth

 

 Feeding  on coconut

best bath I ever had

  Just a little bite please!!

maybe I try the ocean this time

The nerve of that guy

please feed us!!

ouch!!

naptime

My friend Tito

At certain festivities a ceremonial pig is slaughtered.The more honorable the person , the larger the pig.

This is the sad fate of the very large pigs. .Other than for ceremonial purposes they have no use since they are made up of mostly fat.

        

My Tongan Adventures

Perhaps it is vain to create a blog with only pictures of me in it. But my friends and family want to go with me on a few of  my adventures.  It is impossible  to describe how wonderful and exciting it really was.So here are a few pics to give you a glimpse into a beautiful island.  

                                            


This is Amelia Pahula , my wonderful hostess and I after a dance where I was given this lovely garland 

     There is nothing more yummy than Coconut milk right out of the nut 

                 
                                       The hibiscus grow in tall bushes or trees and come in many colors.
   

                      
                   We went to so many beaches and each one was more beautiful than the other.

                                  another lovely beach

                               

                       walk through the forest

                            
      
at times we squeezed through small crevices in this very interesting cave

                        
a well deserved lunch after the strenuous rock climbing

                     

 going down was a lot harder than going up. And this goes straight up. The picture makes it look so easy. We literally hung from ropes with dear life and found footholds no larger than our hand. 

                                     
                Back at the farm cleaning Taro roots

                                 at church picnic with Ofa

                      at the market selling Taro

First snow storm at Lower Branch Road.

We did not get as much snow as predicted. But when it came last night,it turned my yard into fairy wonderland. My wash line looked awesome and I was hoping that it would still look the same in the morning.Luckily , it looked even more spectacular. Camera in hand,
 I stomped through the snow, hearing bits and pieces drop from bushes and trees. I was waiting for the sun to come out to brighten things up a little, but she did not cooperate.
Neither did the chickadees,being much too busy to pose for my camera .
In no time the beauty had disappeared.
How wonderful , that we have means other than our eyes and spirits to capture the wonders of nature for a while.

                           

Flowers of Tonga

Flowers of Tonga.

      Everyone knows , that I love flowers and I love to take pictures of them. Some of them were quite spectacular in Tonga. The hibiscus, growing on bushes everywhere came in all kinds of colors. I do not know the names of most of them, but they might all brighten up this blizzard day.