Friday Night Limer No.1: Risée Chaderton
We asked Risée, one of ZiNG’s favourite photographers, to reveal her perfect Friday night lime. Based in Barbados, this former party girl is now a single mum whose crazy nights out have now become crazy nights in, but she wouldn’t change it for the world…

As a Trini friend once told me as we sat on my front patio watching the traffic snake its way into Port-of-Spain, ‘any day is a good day for a lime’.

As a Caribbean woman I understood this in theory, but my time living in Trinidad really showed me the true meaning of the phrase. Great limes can involve trendy clubs, restaurants or even the local rum shop, but more often nothing but the company of good friends is required to make your lime a success. Liming does not require a great deal of planning, nor does it require large numbers of people – one or two good friends, a drink or two, an appropriate meeting place, and voila! We liming!

Two friends on a street corner can turn that street corner into a trendy liming spot. The only pre-requisites are friendship, conversation and drinks. In fact excessive planning is likely to turn your lime into a party, and that is an entirely different thing.

Liming, for many former party girls like myself, once included bars, Cosmopolitans and the most fashionable clothing. Now any lime that can involve a gaggle of curious children seems to be the preferred option.  A Friday evening lime for me will often start with a trip to the park with a group of like-minded moms, then to the local pizza parlour, followed by a gathering at whoever has been brave enough to offer up their home for a thorough wrecking by the combined force of our offspring. The goal is as much to have fun and share our experiences as it is to wear out the children so we can get a decent night’s sleep and do it all again in a few days.

Shared laughter fills the house, screaming children populate the halls, toys are casually stepped over and, amidst it all, good friends still manage to chat, share stories and relax.

Part of the ease of the evening is the comfort of doing things together, and even though liming for me has changed, the principles and the elements still remain the same: good friends, good company, love and laughter. Kiddies in tow don’t stop the lime, they add to it! l