Hi guys.....in this post I’m going to talk about me. Yes…..I know you’ve been curious as to who is this GaFra person whose real name is G ail Francis. Yep…I know my “About page” doesn’t say enough so why should you even buy from me…well this may help. I’ll tell you more about me and where my head is at.

I will do this as if it’s a photo album, as every photo has a story to it and this is how you will learn who I am.

This is me when I was 5 years old. I lived in Curepe and my father was a labour officer and my mother a secretary with one of the Utility Ministries. One thing I remember more than anything was that my father bred doberman pinchers and he trained them. I remember a time when my father bred his pincher with another high bred doberman.

That was a thing then where high bred dogs were mated to improve the line. These dogs were very expensive, so after the female was mated she had quite a few puppies. I remember daddy putting about 4-5 boxes with pups around my bed so that they could stay warm and I would hang over the side of the bed and stick my finger in the box so that the puppies can suck my finger. That was so cool and cute.

I was comfortable around dobermans, we had one called Devil and I would ride his back, play with him. He was extremely smart, even young as I was if I was rough with him he never bit me. My father would train the dogs to follow commands and were taught to never harm me or my brother. one day one of the dobermans, can’t remember which, while my brother was playing with him he got too rough and hit the dog and the doberman started to growl and snapped at my brother. He only nipped him but my father went ballistic. He dragged the dog to the back and via punishment told hi to never do that again. He never did.

There was one doberman we had that was extremely stupid, he did the dumbest things and my father got fed up of his behaviour and that was also the first time my father got a dog other than a doberman. he bought an albino German Sheppard. My father decided to sell both dogs. I was very upset as I really liked him. Daddy sold them both to a Security Firm. Later on I found out that the German Sheppard ran away and they were never able to find him, he must have been trying to get home but never did. The security firm after a few months asked if they could test Trouble the doberman we sold them. They wanted to make sure that he wasn’t still friendly and playful towards his former owners.

So my father and I went to a grocery and there was Trouble tied to the front with a man standing next to him. Trouble looked like a soldier, not moving, starring straight ahead, not making a sound. They asked me to approach him slowly to see how he would react. As I approached his eyes started to focus and he started to growl so I stepped back. He didn’t know me, he was no longer our dog.

Port of Spain, the Capital of Trinidad & Tobago

This is a photo of the Capital of Trinidad and a beach in Tobago. Trinidad is the business and party island while Tobago is the rest and relaxation island with the beaches. We have sunny weather 80% of the time with a rainy season around May and June.

Carnival Queen Costume from Trinidad & Tobago.

Trinidad is known for the best Carnival in the World. Or Carnival takes place in March and lasts for 2-3 weeks with the main days being the Carinval Monday and Tuesday where the bands dance and covort through the streets in their specific bands as they head towards the main stage at the Queens Park Savannah where each band is judged for the Carnival Band of the Year Competition. I’ve played mas once with Peter Minshall, aCarnival Band designer and well known Artistic Designer. It was great fun and I have to do it one more time.

My favourite part of Carnival was Jouvert. It occurs the day before Carnival Monday, starting at 3:00am in the morning until 9-10:00am Carnival Monday. Every band wears simple shorts and T-shirt and is either covered by chocolate, mud, or paint, depending on the band you’re in.

Me after returning from Jouvert in Trinidad and Tobago.

My Jouvert band called “The Duck Crew” covers us with paint. I used to play with a band called “Coco Devils” that covered us with chocolate, That felt really nice and you smelt wonderful after you washed off the dried chocolate.

Whichever band you’re with it’s amazing fun and helps you release the year’s tension. That felt really nice, smooth skin and you smelt wonderful after you washed off the dried chocolate. That’s what Jouvert is all about. I’ll tell you more in my next post.

ABOUT ME

Hi guys, I’m Gail Francis better known as “GaFra”
Welcome! This is just one of my 3 sites, I also have: gafra.org and triniartsudio.org. I’m a business woman, mother of 4, Artist, friend to many and a Leadership Management Coach with LMI.
Learn more about me, visit my other blogs as well.

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FROM MARTIN WITH LOVE

Art & Poetry, are they the same? Romantic poetry is beautiful, deep and tells you a lot in a few words.

Hi guys.....I am on a campaign to publish some poems my husband wrote to me almost 28years ago....yes people the courting poems. Now in thinking about I realised that I am prejudiced. When I think of someone who is artistic I think about artist or as the markets have shown me those who can create amazing things with their hands. Things for the kitchen like mittens aprons, handmade soaps etc.

One young girl produced all of these.

Handmaid kitchen aprons, mittens and pot holders

But I never thought about poetry as Artistic until I started transcribing my husband's deep romantic poems into an ebook. It takes a special type of writing skill to be able to express yourself romantically in the form of a poem. As with all the creative mediums, poetry is another way to release the pented up emotions that are riding you.

As I read the poems after all these years and while transcribing them over into an ebook I saw the creative dexterity it took to write poems where while you read you feel what the person is feeling and the torment, joy or sadness they were experiencing when they wrote the particular poem.

So what exactly is the definition of poetry? It's defined as: Ideas given intensity by the use of a distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.

So my husband had a rhythm and it was based on what he was experiencing with me (I guess I was giving him a hard time) during his period of trying to gain my affections.

It's the same with Art. You're in a type of rhtyhm when you're painting and it's all based on your emotions at the time. Okkkk....I know you're curious.....So what's the story?

Well my husband was my best friend but I didn't see him or even thought about marriage. In fact I was eyeing some other guys and telling him about them....I mean he was my best friend and who else would I confide in? Not knowing that he was serious about me. Eventually I realised how amazing he was and what a great husband he would make...

So WHALA!!!!! That conversation came up....the big M word...and so we decided to get hitched and we've been together 28years outside of the 2 years we went around before we got married. So 30 years in total, with four great kids....a boy 27 and 3 girls 26, 24 and 23.

Yes I had a child every year for 5 years so some people don't recognise me, not pregnant. Lol and my husband and I run a business together. In reading his poems from those days I saw the turmoil and pain he was experiencing through that time of wanting but not being able to have.

I felt a little guilty, but that is a part of life and loving but my realisation was how emotional the poems were.

I will be offering them on this site as soon as I figure out how to publish it properly because they are good and I want him to feel proud of them despite the memories they bring back although we can laugh about them now.

Time heals all and thank God for these different outlets that allows us to vent and at the same time create.

Keep following my different posts and get my Free Planner below or check out my more advanced planners on my Shop page. There are a few FREEBIES there.

I FIGURED OUT HOW TO PUBLISH IT BY THE TIME THE WEEKEND WAS OVER. YEA!!!!! CHECK IT OUT!!!