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Gabrielle Gweneth

Gabrielle Gweneth

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Guineps, Seagrapes and Sugar Apples

You know those times when you feel out of sorts and can’t quite put your finger on why? Or you know the why, but the thing that’ll put you right again is slippery, vague, just out of reach? That’s how I’ve been the last week or so. It’s mental and physiological: I’ve been getting up way too early, often before 6am, regardless of how late I go to bed. I haven’t needed my alarm in over a week. Life has been carrying on pretty much as normal though, and one thing that brightens all my days is the fruit of summer! I know technically summer is over now, but it’s still warm here and I think this late summer/early autumn period is the best time – fruitfully speaking 😉 – of the year. Let me show you a few reasons why!

guinep tree guineps on tree

These are guineps. At their best they are sweet, a little tart and juicy. I mean, squirting-from-the-shell-as-you-bite-it-open juicy. Luckily for my mum and I, that’s the kind we have growing on the tree in our yard. They are sooo good. I ate two big bowl-fulls two days in a row last week and then told myself I should take a break before I got sick. At that point my tongue was feeling permanently puckered.

handful of guineps open guinep

Vendors are all over the streets selling guineps by the bagful, for all the unluckies with no access to a tree. Guineps have a hard protective shell  that you crack open with your teeth, so they can handle being tossed around where other more delicate fruits, like seagrapes, cannot.

seagrape bunch seagrape treehandful of seagrapesAt their best, I think seagrapes taste the way purple looks. They have a deep, smooth sweetness, almost like a red sangria. Like guineps, they have a big seed inside; when they’re overripe the fleshy covering just manages to hold itself together and melts away once it meets the gentle heat of your mouth.

sugar apple on tree closeup sugar apple

These funny looking bumpy things are called sugar apples. Each one of the bumps has a seed encased in a creamy, sugary lobe. When they’re ripe sugar apples have to be handled with care, because any one of those bumps can easily be pulled away from the whole. Sugar apples are fun to eat, although if you’re not a fan of seeds in watermelons then you probably won’t enjoy dealing with these either. My Aunt Ruth has the biggest sugar apple tree I’ve ever seen in her backyard, and I leaned gingerly at the top of a ladder to take the pictures of the fruit still on the branches. They’re hard to spot because they blend in so well with the leaves!

halves of sugar apple half sugar apple and seeds

I have no idea what nutrients are in any of these fruits, although I’d guess vitamin C in guineps and antioxidants in seagrapes. While there’s definitely room for this kind of information on our food, and it’s sorely lacking for everything that grows locally – I think the focus on “superfoods” can cause us to distill foods to their functionality, and take a little of the joy out of eating, you know? Seagrape trees look so cool, and the fruit itself is pretty. Hunting sugar apples is like playing a game of I Spy, and I marvel at how easily they come apart in your hands when they’re ready. Guineps make this great *pop* when they crack open, and their texture is like no other. I eat all of these because they taste good, and there is so much more to them than their nutrient qualities.

sugar apple seeds

Anyway, I’ll step off my little soapbox now and wish you a happy weekend. Also, I’d love to hear what you do when you go through those unsettled periods in life. Thanks in advance for your tips!

sugar apple tree

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Heya!

I’m Gabrielle, and you know how they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day? I like mine with a side of recipes. I can’t contain my enthusiasm in the kitchen, so this space is for me to share my adventures with you. Read More…

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Tuesday, 11:15pm. ⁣ ⁣ Thanks to Glasgow I’ve Tuesday, 11:15pm. ⁣
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Thanks to Glasgow I’ve discovered the unique pleasure of a light-but-late-night walk. 🌙☺️
These beautiful pink flowers sprung up in my neigh These beautiful pink flowers sprung up in my neighbours’ front garden recently. They’re right on the sidewalk, facing the main road, so I see them whenever I’m outside. Since they’re on the corner, I also see them when I look out my living room window!⁣⁣
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They’re *delightful* aren’t they?! They weren’t here last year so I’m really thankful to  whoever planted, or scattered, these seeds. I think they’re poppies but I’m not sure, so tell me if you know!⁣⁣
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Yay for…⁣⁣
🌸 summertime⁣⁣
🌸 people with green thumbs⁣⁣
🌸 small things yielding big joy⁣⁣
🌸 feeling loved by the stranger who made this joy possible for me 😊
One thing I’ve noticed travelling solo is how ea One thing I’ve noticed travelling solo is how easy it is to meet people. ⁣
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When you’re on your own locals and other solo travellers are far more likely to come up to you, or strike up a conversation, than when you’re in a group. I’ve made friends with so many more strangers being alone versus being with even one other person. ⁣
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Living in Glasgow, now that we’re getting out of lockdown, doesn’t seem to be that different! The people here are really friendly, and twice now, standing at this spot (one of my favourites) during my afternoon walk, I’ve had great conversations with strangers. ⁣
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The first one challenged me to a skipping contest (I accepted. And won 😉. ) The second, on Monday, just wanted to talk. ⁣
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Our conversation ended up being pretty long, which surprised me since on the surface we had nothing in common. But when I think about it, I realise we connected on the level of our stories: immigrants alone in a new country. ⁣
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We skipped the small talk about the weather and went straight to our homelands. I learned more about Lebanon in that afternoon than in my entire life, including the fact that they serve 7 appetisers before a meal! 🤩⁣
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It’s amazing how sharing stories helps you feel connected to people, even ones you’ve just met. ⁣
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Now I’m curious: when was the last time you had a great conversation with a stranger? Do you have a fun story about meeting someone new?
When you’re building a business it’s easy, too When you’re building a business it’s easy, too easy, to skip over the foundational work that sets you up for focused, long term growth. You need money 𝘯𝘰𝘸, so you prioritise doing all the things that will bring it in the door. And that makes sense! ⁣
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But avoiding the foundational work, or doing it in a haphazard manner, will bite you in the butt. ⁣
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You need to know, for yourself and for your clients:⁣
🪄𝘩𝘰𝘸 your background and skills are unique, and create a powerful connection between you and your people⁣
🪄 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 differentiates the way you deliver your service or product from everyone else⁣
🪄  𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 you’re taking your business in the long run: what’s the number one value that guides your work?⁣
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Even if you started your business out of necessity - like the pandemic yanked away your job stability - these questions are at play in the work you’re doing every day.⁣
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They’re shaping the future success of your business whether you’ve got a handle on them or not.⁣
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So you should probably have a handle on them right? ⁣
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What if I told you that I could help you sort all this out in just a few conversations - and that it could be fun! That we could lay the foundation for a multiple six figure business…. with stories? 🔥⁣
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I’ve worked with clients who do everything from creating handmade, bespoke tea blends to providing leadership coaching. ⁣
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Regardless of industry, if you’re in business and want a framework 100% aligned with your unique stories that maps out your positioning for years to come, I can help. I’d 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 to help. ⁣
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I’ve got 4 spots available to work with me this month. Ready to feel powerful and inspired by your OWN bad self? Let’s talk! Send me a DM or go straight to my calendar and book a call. 😉
Scotland is 𝐬𝐨 beautiful y’all. I went out Scotland is 𝐬𝐨 beautiful y’all. I went out of town for the weekend, to the northeast coast, and I felt - finally - like I was in all the instagram pictures I’ve been swooning over since I moved here.⁣
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Thanks to @emmaseabuckthorn I went cycling and on long walks to cliffs and a castle. I also tried a bunch more Scottish dishes - like Cullen skink! It’s the bomb.com! - and overall felt a lot more grounded to life 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. Not inside my computer or across the ocean, where most of my family and friends are. I get lots of comments from y’all about how amazing my life looks, but don’t let the ‘gram fool ya! It’s not all rainbows and I’ve felt painfully lonely at times over the last year and a half here. ⁣
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Anyway, on Monday I spent the day in Edinburgh with a dear friend from high school, who I hadn’t seen in ages, and that was wonderful. We saw the Queen! Like for real for real. We were having a picnic lunch outside her palace and not long after she drove right past us. ⁣
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It feels like summer! And I’m so glad. 😊 How’d you spend your weekend?
Flashback to around this same time in 2017! ⁣
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I was in the studio recording the narration for my story, Rushin to Bacchanal: When Caribbean Festivals Collide, for podcast Afropop Worldwide. ⁣
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This was the culmination of months of interviewing and script writing, a project that built on research I did for my master’s degree on Junkanoo and The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. ⁣
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Such fun times! I lived my best life talking to people about their experiences and opinions, and then wrote a story about it! Similar to what I’m doing today. 😊⁣
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What were you up to 4 years ago this month? #fbf
What’re your hobbies? Reading’s one of mine! I What’re your hobbies? Reading’s one of mine! I wasn’t always sure that it actually counted as a hobby, since I’m not physically doing anything, but then I realised - Lots of people find other ways to fill the time that I spend reading! Like, there are other options! 🤭 😄⁣⁣
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Around high school I became uncomfortably aware of the lack of books with characters, settings or contexts like mine. ⁣⁣
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Where were the stories of people from the Caribbean? Little girls who grew up anticipating mangos and scarlet plums, afraid of stingray encounters and taking Emancipation Day (our Juneteenth) for granted? ⁣⁣
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Representation matters, and we can’t rely on people that aren’t us to do all the representing for us. It’s not even that they’re all being wilfully malicious or exclusionary…. they’re just living their own version of normal. ⁣⁣
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So how are you representing yourself in your business? Connecting who you are and the work you’ve done to the bedrock of your marketing and positioning? ⁣⁣
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The meaningful, memorable way you can do all that is through stories. ⁣⁣
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If you need help, we should talk. Book a free, 20 minute call with me and we’ll find one story you can start sharing today! The link’s in my profile. 🙂⁣
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P.S. I literally had a library card before I had a place to live in Glasgow. 😅
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