Looking Good!

It looks as though Ike has decided to pass us by. Although I shouldn't say looking good, as it loooks as though the Gulf Coast will get yet another visit which is terrible news. Hopefully he will go the way of Hannah and die out before he really impacts anything.

Off to the Cricket Club for the Scotland - Macedonia game, but check back later today for the wee puppy story. It's developing as we speak.

The Calm

Hannah never actually arrived but the stormy weather has lasted 3 days and has wreaked havoc on our patio. We won't veen talk about the mess of our pool! The worst victim of Hannah was our flag. Mark went out and took a photo last night so here is what 3 days of strong wind can do.



Emily is pleased to be back to school today and we were all thrilled when we woke up to an ocean of glass and a gorgeous sunrise.

Dissed

Dissed but very happy! Thankfully it looks as though Hannah has decided that we weren't cool enough to party with and she has veered off to towards North Carolina and up the East Coast (sorry Mum!).

However - this is the projected path of Hurricane Ike. See that little dot that says Tuesday 8AM? That's us directly under that dot. Hey, we're happy, it was a category 4 an hour ago! We are definitely not in agreement with Emily who says she hopes it stays a category 3 because that would more exciting!!!! Oh to be 10 and so unshakeably confident about everything.

Emily and Mark are off on a quest for milk as we have been unable to find it for two days - well actually Lisa did find it two days ago but it was $9.85 a Gallon. Lisa thinks if any store got a morning delivery it is long gone. Thanks goodness for Sundie and her foresight in bringing us powdered milk from Scotland... just in case.

Classic Bahamas

While Emily was off at her last day of school for the week, we took a drive this morning to run some last minute errands before Hannah arrives for her visit. We have been advised to listen to the radio so as we were driving we turned it on. The first thing we hear:

"An important announcement from BTC. The "911" emergency number has broken down and is currently not working. If you have an emergency, do not call "911". Thank You..."

Classic Bahamas - There are 3 major storms headed directly for the Islands and "911" doesn't work. You just have to laugh.

We also spoke to another Bahamian who assured us that there would be no storms, "the Republicans just puttin' that stuff on TV so you get interested and watch the politics."

Hmmm...

On the way home we stopped by our boarded up shopping plaza to get our mail. Even the Starbucks is boarded up.






We stopped to see how the ocean was doing. It is quite angry today. Mark got soaked.

School's Out!

We just received official notification that Emily's school has been canceled on Thursday and Friday. Lisa went to get her hair cut today (hey, you have to look good for the hurricane!) and got a little spooked when she saw that all of the stores are installing their metal hurricane shutters. I got assurances from the hairdresser that we will find our first hurricane extremely anti-climatic. For those of you asking about Emily you will be happy to know that she told Lisa, "I'm not nervous, just really excited." But she is upset that we had to cancel our dinner plans with her new best friend, "Dolce."







It is a beautiful day today. The wind is blowing and the ocean is a lot more active than usual, but it is as sunny and heavenly as ever. The patio looks a little sad since Mark has moved all of the furniture inside.

Quick Update

So we are watching the news about Gustav and feeling for the folks in the Gulf Coast. After the devastation of Katrina - which Mark witnessed first hand when he volunteered post Katrina for a week saving puppies - it must be so difficult to go through all of this again.

We are also watching the sea. It seemed very angry today although the sun was shining and we got to go for a swim, the pool tasted awfully salty from the ocean splashing over the wall.

Hurricane Hannah (yes she is now a hurricane) is now scheduled to give our little 21 mile island a direct hit. Hannah has decided that she wants to play and she will probably be joining us around Thursday for a little party. Ike wants to be part of the action so it looks as though he will visit us on the weekend. What's a weekend without a party anyway?

Mark has figured out the hurricane shutters and the ocean side of the house is securely wrapped up. Today Mark made an urgent run for cat food. Tomorrow we will move our patio furniture indoors, pack up the outdoor bar, dismantle our conch shell fountain and bring in the plants. Lisa is still trying to persuade him that we need to cut down the missiles... I mean coconuts.

This house has been standing here, right on the ocean, since the 1920's and is made of very thick poured concrete. It has been through more hurricanes than we can possibly imagine and it is telling us to relax. We are assured by many that our house is the safest place to be and have had lots of advice. We like our nieghbour Cindi's advice the best... "have a cocktail during the storm and all will be forgotten!"